Secret Origins (1986) 15 (2)

Secret Origins (1986) 15

Jun 1987

The Secret Origin of the Spectre!

by Roy Thomas, Michael T. Gilbert, Agustin Mas, Carl Gafford, Robert Greenberger

23 pages

Police Detective Jim Corrigan and his date Clarice are apprehended by crime boss Gat Benson. Corrigan is killed by Gat’s men but his spirit is not allowed to pass into the afterlife. He remains an Earth-bound spirit. He uses his new found abilities to save Clarice, twice, from almost certain death.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 6

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 6

Jan 1973

The Moorlands Monster!

by Gardner F. Fox, Gene Colan, Tom Palmer, John Costanza, Roy Thomas

Rachel, Frank, and Taj return to the present through a mirror but Dracula and Lenore are not there waiting for them. The trio of vampire hunters find themselves in the Moorlands. They learn from Lord and Lady Dering that one of their servants has gone missing. 

Rachel, Taj, and Frank split up. The vampires corner Rachel and almost kill her. Frank kills Lenore with Rachel’s crossbow. Dracula escapes but Frank and the others continue to pursue him. They talk once again to Lord and Lady Dering and learn about their son, Randolph, who is hideously misshaped and frequently referred to as a monster by others.

Grimjack (1984) 4

Grimjack (1984) 4

Oct 1984

Legacy

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

John Gaunt is hired by Paul Caedmon, rockstar Jim Lanyon’s manager, to protect Lanyon from a deranged follower, Lee Travis. Caedmon is convinced that Travis is going to try and murder Landon. Gaunt hunts down Travis but the man proves to be a handful and escapes from Gaunt’s first attempt to deal with him.

Gaunt eventually gets his man but not in time to stop him from killing his intended target, Anna Lanyon, Jim’s wife. 

Secret Origins (1986) 15 (1)

Secret Origins (1986) 15

Jun 1987

Death Like a Crown

by Andy Helfer, Kevin Maguire, Dick Giordano, Adrienne Roy. Bob Lappan, Robert Greenberger

16 pages

Sensei, the leader of the League of Assassins, sends Matson, a man with one hand, to assassinate a candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America. Vashnu and Maxwell Loomis, agents of the goddess Rama Krishna, intercept the assassin and redirect him to kill high flying acrobat and circus performer Boston Brand aka Deadman.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 5

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 5

Nov 1972

Death to a Vampire-Slayer!

by Gardner F. Fox, Gene Colan, Tom Palmer, Artie Simek, Roy Thomas

Dracula and Taj pass through the mirror into a dimension populated by demonic creatures. Dracula puts up quite a fight with the creatures native to that dimension but they are too much for him. He protects Taj knowing that at some point he may need to feast on the mute man’s blood. Together they flee until they find another dark mirror and pass through it.

Frank and Rachel search for the incantation that will allow them to pass through the dark mirror. They find it with some help from Whitby (Ilsa Strangway’s servant) in an unlocked safe. Frank and Rachel step through the mirror and wind up in the past in the time of her grandfather, Abraham Van Helsing.

Grimjack (1984) 3

Grimjack (1984) 3

Oct 1984

Blood Relations!

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

Grimjack goes to see BlacJacMac. He tells him about seeing Mac Cabre, BlacJacMac’s father, at the Fallen Angel. Together they pay a visit to Mac Cabre’s former base of operations, Blackfriar’s Hall. They find that BlackJacMac’s old room has been transformed into a laboratory where more specimens like Butcher Boy are being grown in tanks.

Mac Cabre and his henchmen find Grimjack and BlacJacMac nosing around. Father and son get into a fight that involves fists and other weapons. Grimjack deals with Mac Cabre’s henchmen and then lends BlacJacMac a hand by cutting off Mac Cabre’s hand. Grimjack uses grenades to lay waste to the laboratory and Blackfriar’s Hall.

Grimjack and BlacJacMac don’t notice it but someone is watching them as leave, Dancer, Mac Cabre’s boss, and Katar, Dancer’s enforcer. 

Terry and the Pirates (40.B)

Vol. 6: 1945-1946

By Milton Caniff

 

Air Cathay

Mar 12 - Jul 21, 1946

This is the second of four stories in what Carl Horak, author of the Terry and the Pirates Companion, considers to be the fifth and final era of Caniff’s run on the strip. This era began in late Nov 1945 and ran through the end of Dec 1946 and is called On Final Approach in the companion book. 

The Wikipedia article on Terry and the Pirates breaks the entire series down into 60 arcs. It breaks this arc down into the following arcs:

57 - "Mustering the Post-War Crew" (3/13/46 to 5/17/46)

58 - "Unrequited Revenge" (5/18/46 to 7/16/46)

12/08/24

May 18, 1946 - Baron de Plexus returns and is looking for a way to smuggle cargo. 

The Dragon Lady claimed to be the Baroness de Plexus in early 1945. Baron de Plexus hasn’t been seen since late Jun 1939 when the Dragon Lady tried to poison him. 

Green Arrow (1983) 4

Green Arrow (1983) 4

Aug 1983

…Showdown at Sea!

by Mike W. Barr, Trevor Von Eeden, Dick Giordano, Tom Ziuko, Ben Oda, Len Wein

Green Arrow, Black Canary, and CIA Agent Jones strike an oil tanker which has just captured Abby Horton’s yacht, the Lady A. The only known sample of synthetic fuel is aboard the yacht. Lash, the captain of the tanker, finds it but Green Arrow is his on his tail.

Green Arrow catches up to Abby’s relatives long enough to discover that Cynthia was the one responsible for the murder of her mother. Cynthia thinks she has killed her husband and is about to kill Green Arrow when Sinclair revives long enough to shoot and kill her. 

Ollie resigns from his role at Horton Chemicals and hands the business and the money he inherited from Abby over to Max, Abby’s brother. 

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 4

Tomb of Dracula (1972) 4

Sep 1972

Through a Mirror Darkly!

by Archie Goodwin, Gene Colan, Tom Palmer, John Costanza

Ilsa Strangway invites Dracula into her home. She offers him a magical dark mirror. What she wants in exchange for the mirror is for him to make her a vampire. She has heard that feasting on the blood of the living restores Dracula’s youth and that is exactly what she wants. Dracula accepts her offer, takes her in his arms, and makes her a vampire.

Frank Drake, Rachel Van Helsing, and Taj set a trap for Dracula and Ilsa Strangway, after the pair of vampires head into town to find some potential victims. Ilsa tells Dracula all about the dark mirror, before they leave. It can be used as a portal to other dimensions or the past.