At the end of issue #2, which I reviewed in October of 2009, poor Mark Harris was helplessly strapped to an operating table, a mind-controlled Dr. Elizabeth Merrill standing over him with a scalpel in her hand, ready to dissect him for the fiendish Mr. Schubert! As issue #3 opens, Schubert leaves Dr. Merrill to her work; Mark struggles to escape but is too weak. Just before Dr. Merrill makes the first incision, Mark lets loose a sonic scream. It not only gives Dr. Merrill pause, it also destroys her mind-controlling bracelet and destroys a window. Since they’re underwater, the ocean soon fills the room, refreshing Mark.

Mark grabs Dr. Merrill and quickly swims her to safety. He then also saves Dr. Simon and several sailors who were also under Schubert’s control before going after Schubert himself, who escapes via a Seatopia’s mono-rail station. Schubert laments that he is cursed to be an “intellectual giant” while the rest of the world is filled with “mental mediocrities.” But Schubert has a plan: he’ll “cleanse” the world with his mist, transporting millions to Seatopia, “re-educating” them and returning them to the surface. Free will is hardly something to be missed for a world without crisis, a world ruled by Schubert.

But first, Schubert has to contend with Mark Harris, who has followed him to the mist chamber. Schubert is pretty darn strong for an older, portly gentleman, and after stunning him with a blaster he manages to knock Mark away from him with a chair. He then decides to destroy Seatopia just to get rid of Mark and releases the mist, which he has modified to destroy anything. Schubert makes his escape in a mini-sub, leaving Mark to his doom. Or not.

Man from Atlantis #3 Front – Copyright 1978 Marvel Comics Group

Mark realizes he can escape through the mini-sub’s launch tube and does. He’s able to catch up with the mini-sub and grapples with it, attempting to stop Schubert from making his getaway. But Schubert fires up his afterburners and Mark is forced to let go. Sadly, he is then caught between two batches of mist and is disintegrated. Mark catches up with Dr. Merrill and the others aboard the Cetacean and announces that Schubert has fallen victim to the real secret of the Bermuda triangle (whatever that means).

Once again, the artwork isn’t all that great. Schubert’s beard and sideburns are all over the place, Dr. Merrill looks like a lifeless husk, and fairly often characters have no color in their eyes, or their lips or other body parts. I can’t even describe some of the facial expressions. They’re just plain weird. And there seem to be a lot of advertisements in this book. It runs 32 pages but 15 of them are ads, among them full pages for Super Sea-Monkeys, Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew t-shirts, assorted Star Wars items, Marvel’s Devil Dinosaurs, Synometrics, Hostess Cup Cakes and a Super Bodybuilding Course.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #2
2. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1, “Man from Atlantis”
3. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1

Gold Key’s comic book series based on The Twilight Zone ran for 91 issues from November of 1962 to June of 1979. It was never published monthly, often coming out every other month or every few months. During 1966 a years subscription cost 65 cents in the United States, 90 cents for Canadians and $1.15 for all others. This particular issue includes eight stories plus a black-and-white story on the inner front cover (the outer front cover has advertisements). The main story, which runs 11 pages, is called “Second-Hand Clothes.”

In it, a poor beggar finds a $20 bill. He buys three used suits with the money at a used clothing store. The clerk tells him he’d be surprised who used to own them. He walks out wearing one of the suits and is stopped on the sidewalk by a man in a fancy car who calls him Mr. Fairchild. Deciding to go with the flow, the beggar gets in the car and pretends to be Mr. Fairchild. Before long, he begins acting like Fairchild, mercilessly firing an elderly employee before being attacked by an angry man. The suit is torn and he tries on another. The same servants who embraced him as Mr. Fairchild now throw him out as an enemy of their employer.

The Twilight Zone #18 Cover – Copyright 1966 Gold Key/K.K. Publications, Inc.

The beggar soon learns he is Nick Bruno, criminal extraordinaire. He is nearly killed when a rival gang attacks but he escapes and puts on the last suit. The store where he bought the clothes is gone, now a deli, and the clerk insists he doesn’t know the beggar. He looks at the label on the suit and it takes him to the Plaza Men’s Shop. The next day, he shows up there and is warmly greeted as Mr. Fuller. Fuller has been missing for seven months; Fuller’s father is thrilled to see his son again. The beggar decides to become Mr. Fuller, feeling that he really is the man.

Serling closes the story: “A wanderer, a man without a name, puts on second-hand identities when he wears second-hand suits! Can he remain bob Fuller or when he takes off that suit will he once more be a stranger in the twilight zone?”

The next story is titled “When the Lights Go Out!” and runs four pages. Supposedly based on a true story that took place in August of 1959, a strange glowing object flies over the Minas Gerais District of Brazil. As it does, the power goes out. Then it returns suddenly. Later, on April 18th, 1962 in Nevada, a blip on the radar. In Utah, the Air Force scrambles its jets. An explosion takes place in Eureka, Utah and the power goes out again. Could all these mysterious power failures be the work of a UFO? What about the massive failure that occurred in the Northeastern part of the united States in the fall of 1965? Was that a UFO?

The next two stories are one page each. In “The Dead Man’s Train,” the engineer of a train is found dead. The doctor insists he has been dead for a half hour. But the train obeyed every signal. Who was at the controls! In “The Man in the Green Coat,” the prime minister of England has a nightmare in 1812 in which he is attacked by an assassin in a green coat with gold buttons. He insists on going to work and is later killed by a man in a green coat with gold buttons.

“Programmed Vacation” runs six pages. Mr. Bentlow, owner of Bentlow Computers, Inc. decides to have his house completely automated because he hates people. His entire vacation has been programmed into a punch card. Things start out fine, with his dinner brought to him in bed via a conveyor belt and a book handed to him by a robotic arm. Later that night, things go terribly wrong. Food is brought to him, a book hits him in the head, a toothbrush is jammed into his mouth, a straight razor nearly takes off his head. When he tries to destroy things they are fixed. He can’t get out of the building. Two weeks later, the programmed vacation over, Mr. Bentlow finally escapes and is overjoyed to see other people.

The Twilight Zone #18 Page – Copyright 1966 Gold Key/K.K. Publications, Inc.

The second to last story, “The Impressionist,” runs seven pages. Jackie Allen, famous impersonator, is confronted by the ghosts of those he impersonates. Bela Lugosi as Dracula, Clark Cable, Humphrey Bogart. It is time for Jackie Allen to be himself. But he doesn’t even know who he is anymore. He’s afraid of the audience, afraid of people and doesn’t want to be himself. But he is forced to live life as himself forever in The Twilight Zone.

The final story is another one pager, “Strange Reunion,” in which an elderly woman on a passenger vessel nears death. She cries out for her son, who ran off to Australia fifteen years ago. The doctor decides to ask a random sailor to pretend to be her lost son. The jokes on him, however, when the sailor turns out to actually be the son in question. The woman recovers and the two share twenty years together.

The black and white one page story on the inner front cover is called “The Mysterious Gambler” and includes no dialogue, only captions. John Robertson discovers a way to control dice with the power of his mind. A mentalist is eventually hired to use his own mental prowess to defeat Robertson. It works and Robertson never gambles again. In addition to these stories, there is also a one page short story called “The Green Children,” about the Green Children of Woolpit. In the story, however, the children were discovered in August of 1877 near a Spanish village rather than in England during the 1100s. Two children are found, colored green, speaking a strange language. The boy soon dies. The girl, however, learns Spanish, loses her color and explains that the two came from “a land without sun, where it was always twilight.”

As the scan at the start of this post indicates my copy of this issue has severe damage along the top of the front and back covers. The color has been torn away and bits of the paper stuck to the first page. The damage on the back cover is even worse. But aside from some minor water damage to the interior, the inside pages are in fine shape.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: Chilling Stories from Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone
2. 50 Years of The Twilight Zone
3. Rod Serling Conference: Celebrating 50 Years of the Twilight Zone

I reviewed the first issue of Marvel’s short-lived comic book series based on NBC’s popular The A-Team back in August and the second issue in early December. With the trailer to the upcoming feature film version starring Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper coming out earlier this month it seemed like the perfect time to review the third and final issue. Both Dwight Schultz and Dirk Benedict will have cameos but not Mr. T. Will it be worth watching? Well, it can’t be any worse than the 1999 film version of The Wild Wild West.

As the cover makes very clear, this issue involves an airplane, meaning B.A. somehow has to be rendered unconscious or else he’ll never get in the air. The story begins with the team in the Nevada desert, having followed instructions from Amy Amanda Allen, awaiting contact with their new employer. It turns out to be none other than cowboy star Wild Jack Munroe. Wild Jack wants the A-Team to capture a new super secret spy plane code named Redbird. The government isn’t doing anything about it so Wild Jack wants to show Washington what a real American can get done.

The A-Team #3 Cover – Copyright Marvel Comics Group

It’s never explained which country developed Redbird; the team finds it on a small Caribbean island. They capture a truck, sneak onto an army base and quickly split up. Face is soon accosted by a female soldier who takes his silence to mean he was wounded in the throat. B.A. rewires some computers and then hitches a ride in an oil drum courtesy of Murdock. Hannibal then drops a capsule in the oil drum to knock out B.A. so they can get him on the plane. Instead of handing it over to Wild Jack, however, the A-Team decides to blow it up instead rather than embarrass the government. They lose their fee but otherwise everything works out in the end. B.A., of course, isn’t thrilled to wake up and realize he was drugged once again.

Amy Allen makes a brief appearance on the last page of the issue, meeting the A-Team after they parachute out of the plane above Miami Beach. Wild Bill is shown cursing the A-Team, troops from the small Caribbean island being executed and Colonel Decker angrily tossing a stack of paper in the air. There’s a minor subplot — and I do mean minor, it only lasts two pages — involving Wild Bill’s daughter Lynn, who takes an interest in Face. The feeling is mutual, but Hannibal tells him to “cut the lost-calf expression” and Lynn is never seen again.

As always, while the characters are recognizable as the A-Team, they are also vaguely generic, especially Face. Murdock is also somewhat generic but he has his hat and leather jacket, while Face doesn’t have anything to differentiate him from any other character.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: The A-Team #2
2. Bookshelf: The A-Team #1
3. Bookshelf: Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

I reviewed the first issue of Marvel’s short-lived comic book series based on NBC’s popular The A-Team back in August, noting that I am a huge fan of the series and lamenting the fact that the artwork “left a lot to be desired.” One odd thing I forgot to mention was the way Templeton Peck (the character played by Dirk Benedict in the series) was referred to as “The Face” rather than simply Face or Faceman (Face Man?). I don’t recall the series ever using “The Face,” although occasionally someone may have referred to him in the third person as “The Faceman.” Anyway, this issue continues using “The Face,” including on the cover.

The story, titled “Who Kidnapped Kuramoto?,” begins with the A-Team — Hannibal, Face, B.A., Murdock and Amy — driving through San Francisco, with B.A. behind the wheel, Face working on updating his little black book, Amy fixing Hannibal’s makeup and Murdock engrossed in an issue of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. Synergy! Then, suddenly, a dog runs in front of the van and B.A. swerves to avoid it, smashing the van into a tree. Everyone is okay and before long Murdock and B.A. have replaced a damaged tire and Hannibal is able to make contact with a client named Mr. Kuramoto.

The A-Team #2 Cover – Copyright Marvel Comics Group

Kuramoto and his brothers run a video game empire. While on a vacation with their father to the Grand Canyon, a gang of men clad in purple hooded jumpsuits and wielding swords abduct the father. A ransom demand of $10 million is paid but he is not returned. That was two years ago. The brothers hope the A-Team will have more luck. Luckily, Hannibal recognizes the outfits the kidnappers were wearing: they’re the Sons of the Desert. To make a long story short, Amy and Face pose a reporter and photographer while Hannibal and B.A. pose as telephone repairmen. Murdock waits in a helicopter to swoop in when needed.

Unfortunately, the Sons of the Desert own no telephones. Hannibal and B.A. must combat trained fighters, with B.A. up against a sumo wrestler. Before long, the jig is also up for Amy and Face. But all is not lost. It turns out Papa Kuramoto staged his own kidnapping so he could get away from his materialistic sons and their crazy world. He was able to finish building the fortress the Sons of the Desert call home with the ransom money his sons paid. The A-Team are allowed to leave unharmed. What a shocking turn of events.

As was the case with the first issue, the artwork is decent but far from perfect. For the most part the character are recognizable, if a little bland. And as was the case with the first issue, this one was probably written before Melinda Culea (who played Amy Allen) left The A-Team. You can’t tell from the scanned image but my copy of this issue has some water damage along the bottom third, with waving on every page. You actually can’t see it when looking straight on at the cover, which is probably why it was said to be “Near Mint” by the seller. The back cover displays the damage a bit better. There’s also a crease in the lower right that goes throughout the entire book. It is certainly readable, though.

On a somewhat related note, who knew that Galoob produced a six inch Amy Allen action figure in 1983? According to Blasts from the Past the figures are “a rare find as not many figures” were produced. Here’s a picture of the figure carded.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: The A-Team #3
2. Bookshelf: V #2
3. Bookshelf: The A-Team #1

With ABC’s remake of V drawing 14.3 million viewers (and earning a 5.2 Nielsen rating in the coveted Adults 18-49 demographic) I decided to review another issue of DC’s comic book adaptation of NBC’s 1984-1985 version. Issue #3 came out in April of 1985 and, once again, the cover artwork had absolutely nothing to do with the story. But that’s not uncommon with comic books. At the end of issue #2 (which I reviewed in August), Mike Donovan, Juliet Parrish and another resistance member, Hart, had been imprisoned by a town working with the Visitors and things didn’t look too good.

Perhaps not surprisingly, things turned out considerably better in issue #3. Willie and another resistance member, with the help of young Billy, were able to free the others. They were soon attacked by Visitors and Boyce (the other resistance member) was killed. After splitting up, Juliet and Hart were captured by the Visitor leader. Billy, hiding in a building, tried to free them but was killed shortly thereafter. Juliet and Hart were taken aboard the Visitor ship.

An enraged Mike burst into Billy’s funeral and berated the townspeople for working with the Visitors. He begged them to help bring down the Visitor ship but to no avail. So, he and Willie went out to get the job done themselves. The two taped grenades to the top of the geysers above which the ship was floating and when the geysers went off the grenades were thrown into the air. The resulting explosion successfully knocked the ship out of the air.

V #3 Cover – Copyright DC Comics Inc.

In a shocking turn of events an armed crowd of townspeople suddenly arrive on the scene and the battle is joined. Juliet and Hart, after escaping from a holding cell on the ship, meet up with Mike and Willie and the four run for it. The ship explodes and the Visitor leader escapes. Unfortunately, he’ll have to meet with an angry Diana. Mike, Juliet and the others take their leave of the town, which is firmly on the side of the resistance, secure in the knowledge that Billy’s death meant something.

The issue ends with a Visitor named Lorne pulling up outside Nathan Bates’ office in a cart said to be carrying Ham Tyler and Chris Farber. But Bates is in for a surprise: Ham and Chris are forcing Lorne to bring them close enough to Bates to kill him.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: V #2
2. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1
3. Bookshelf: V #1

Unlike the giant-size premiere issue (read my review here), the second issue of Marvel’s comic book adaptation of NBC’s Man from Atlantis contained just one story. Titled “Into the Bermuda Triangle,” the story opened with Dr. Elizabeth Merrill asking Dr. Miller Simon to call Mark Harris from the exercise-pool, declaring “We may have a mission!” And they do indeed have a mission.

While conducting training exercises in the vicinity of the Bermuda Triangle, a strange white mist enveloped a large group of Navy ships. Some 1,000 men disappeared when the ships emerged from the mist. The Navy wants Mark to investigate. He agrees (over Dr. Merrill’s objections) and before long the two are aboard the Cetacean preparing for Mark to dive. Once in the water he sheds the diving gear he was wearing (to protect the secret of his biology) and swims off. He is soon overtaken by the same strange mist.

Man from Atlantis #2 Front – Copyright 1978 Marvel Comics Group

Mark is shocked to materialize in front of Mr. Schubert who should, given the events in the first pilot telefilm of the series, be dead. But Schubert is far from dead and he has plenty of men and women under his control, using the same hypnotic bracelets from the first pilot. That doesn’t work but for some reason Mark stupidly agrees to tour Schubert’s underwater complex. He spots Drs. Merrill and Miller, their minds under Schubert’s control, and is then suddenly attacked.

He’s able to take care of the attackers but is then shot in the back by Dr. Merrill and collapses. When he awakens, he’s strapped to an operating table, weak from being away from the water, and Dr. Merrill is standing over him with a scalpel. She’s preparing to dissect him in order to uncover the secrets of his biology. The comic ends on a cliffhanger that teases “The SECRET of the MIST!” (but will Mark live to discover it?).

Like the first issue, the artwork here is barely passable. Mark has disturbingly large muscles, Dr. Merrill looks more like a creepy doll than a woman and Schubert has the strangest sideburns. And for some reason, in some panels various characters are missing any color in their eyes.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #3
2. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1, “Man from Atlantis”
3. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1

I’ve already written about the second of two tie-in novels based on ABC’s The Young Rebels (titled The Sea Gold Incident, by William Johnston). You can read my article about the show here. In addition to those two novels, Dell published one comic book in January of 1971 that contained two complete stories, each running for sixteen pages. Interestingly, the issue contains no advertising save for black and white ads on the front and back inside covers and a color ad on the back cover.

In the first story, “Phantom Army,” Isak Poole is captured by the British at Overlook Hill. He was trying to make it back to Jeremy Larkin to warn him that the British were in possession of the hill, a strategic point near Chester, Pennsylvania. Luckily, Henry Abington spots Isak being taken to prison and, along with Jeremy, plots to free Isak. Instead, Isak is set free by the British in an attempt to set an ambush for General Lafayette’s forces, who lack any cannons and are low on powder. And there’s a traitor in the mix.

The Young Rebels #1 Cover – Copyright Dell Publishing Co, Inc.

Jeremy convinces Lafayette to scale the steep side of the hill while a fleet of boats filled with straw mannequins distract the British. It works, and the hill is retaken. The British captain congratulates Lafayette on a brilliant strategy, but Lafayette waxes poetic about the cause of the American Revolution and the two lament the fact that war forces good men to kill one another.

The second story, “Greek Fire,” opens with Henry test firing a catapult to use against the British. But Jeremy arrives with news: a regiment of soldiers have arrived in Chester and nobody knows why. The three split up in the hopes of learning more. It turns out that the British plan on surrounding and capturing General Washington! But the British general relies more on astrology than military strategy and the Yankee Doodle Society is able to convince him to postpone his attack by firing a flaming rock into the sky.

The delay gives them the time to construct three additional catapults that they then use to destroy all four British ships at once. Incredible! Assisting them is Elizabeth Coates, who is able to get close to the general and learn when he plans on attacking.

The Young Rebels #1 Page – Copyright Dell Publishing Co, Inc.

Once again, the likenesses of the characters isn’t all that great. Jeremy, Henry and Isak look only vaguely like the actors playing them on television. Elizabeth fares even worse, with very plain features. But the stories capture the tone of the television series, especially the second one with its message of peace and harmony.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1, “Man from Atlantis”
2. Bookshelf: The Young Rebels – The Sea Gold Incident

I’ve read a fair number of comic books based on the various Star Trek shows. Some of them have been quite good while others just couldn’t reflect the chemistry of the cast or the tone of the series. This issue of Gold Key’s comic book series based on Star Trek, though, is just terrible. The story isn’t awful but its conclusion includes a huge plot hole. The real problem? The artwork. It’s almost unrecognizable.

According to the Star Trek Comics Checklist, the artist for this issue was Alberto Giolitti, a man who never saw a single episode of Star Trek and worked solely from photographs. So it’s actually impressive that he managed as well as he did. Still, that doesn’t explain why Scotty (played by James Doohan) was depicted as a tall, blond man when the character had black hair and while not short, wasn’t a towering figure.

Star Trek #10 Cover – Western Publishing Company, Inc.

Furthermore, there are some issues with the color of the uniforms. Although Captain Kirk occasionally wore a green shirt, none of the other characters did. Scotty, for example, wore a red uniform. Spock’s was blue. So was Doctor McCoy’s. Not in this issue. Kirk, Scotty and McCoy all wear green uniforms (so does Sulu, who wore a gold uniform in the series). Spock does have the correct blue uniform. For some reason, the uniforms only occasionally include rank insignia.

I don’t recall ever seeing a communicator but there were plenty of phasers. They have holsters! And look only vaguely like the phasers from the show. They look more like standard ray guns. Plus, they’re red.

As for the likenesses of the actors, at times they’re pretty spot on. Spock, of course, has his pointy ears, although they’re a little longer and pointier than they were on television. Even with the ears, Spock occasionally doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to Leonard Nimoy. The same goes for McCoy and Kirk. Sometimes they look like DeForrest Kelly and William Shatner, sometimes they’re vague. As mentioned, Scotty is a tall blonde man and never once looks like James Doohan.

Star Trek #10 Page – Western Publishing Company, Inc.

The story, “Sceptre of the Sun,” is in two parts. It opens with Kirk, Spock, Scotty and McCoy facing off against a pair of giant rock giants (“Jim, the phasers have no effect on these things!” “Keep firing Bones–if we don’t stop the rock giants, the Enterprise is doomed!“). We then flash back to the Enterprise making its way to Starbase 10 when, suddenly, the ship is grabbed by a giant space genie. Kirk, Spock, Scotty and McCoy then disappear.

They meet Chang, a sorcerer, who wants them to bring him the Sceptre of the Sun, a powerful mystic device that he can use to defeat Xandu, his arch-enemy. He threatens to destroy the Enterprise if the men don’t do as he demands. So, with a woman named Marla as a guide, the four set out across the burning desert. They face off against the rock giants, meet a group of humans from Earth (they left during the Eugenics War and Chang was among them) who want to help them.

After retrieving the sceptre, a huge robot attacks! Spock is able to destroy it and realizes that not all is as it seems. Chang transports everyone back to his fortress and then turns one man into a toad. He grabs the Enterprise was a tractor beam and then creates a giant creature to kill Kirk, Spock and everyone. But Spock walks right through it! Chang isn’t a sorcerer and everything they’ve seen and battled was just an illusion.

Star Trek #10 Back – Western Publishing Company, Inc.

Hrm. So, those rock giants were illusions? The giant robot that Spock jumped on and blew up was an illusion? The giant space genie that grabbed the Enterprise? An illusion? That doesn’t make much sense. None at all, really. Anyway, even if these were all illusions, the tractor beam dragging the Enterprise to the surface of the planet isn’t. Kick has Sulu blast the fortress with the ship’s phasers and the tractor beams disengage.

Chang dies after being lightning hits his sword and the humans are left to their own peaceful devices. Kirk and the others return to the Enterprise, hoping that there aren’t any other Changs out there waiting to destroy them.

Related posts:

1. Star Trek Season 3 Blu-ray to Include Alternate Pilot
2. Bookshelf: The Young Rebels – The Sea Gold Incident
3. New Exhibit: Star Trek Promotional Spots, 1987-2001

At the end of the first issue of DC’s comic book based on V (I reviewed it back in February) Mike Donovan, Julie Parrish, Willie the Friendly Visitor and other members of the resistance had crashed in the desert near a small town. Ham Tyler and Chris Farber, meanwhile, were attempting to commandeer themselves a boat. Judging by the cover of issue #2 I would have expected to see a Visitor, fake skin hanging from his slimy green face, threatening to kill a young boy (or girl).

That didn’t happen. The cover lied.

If you look at the cover closely you’ll notice that the Visitor has three large spikes sticking out of his forehead. They were seen in the original miniseries as well (I don’t recall off the top of my head whether the spikes/horns were shown in the sequel miniseries or the weekly series) and I’ve always wondered how they were so well hidden by the fake human skin worn by the Visitors. Were they supposed to pull back into the skull or fold over or something like that?

V #2 Cover – Copyright DC Comics Inc.

Anyway, the issue opens with a large panel featuring Julie’s bare legs dead center on the page. That’s not subtle at all. Before long, Julie and Mike (and another Resistance member named Hart) discover that the town of Sparkling Springs has a comfortable arrangement with the Visitors. In return for weekly access to the town’s hot springs, the Visitors gave the townspeople crystals that stimulate awesome growth for their plants and offered them rejuvenating medical treatments. What a bargain.

As for Ham and Chris, they overwhelm a few drug runners and find themselves the owners of a shiny boat filled with weapons. They fight off four flying Visitors (they use jet packs that were never shown in the series) who then return on a flying platform (also never seen in the series) and blast the boat. So, Ham and Chris plant some plastic explosive and dive overboard. The boat goes boom and most of the Visitors are killed. But not Lorne, their leader, who is working for Nathan Bates. As the issue closes it looks like Lorne is going to get his comeuppance.

The fine folks of Sparkling Springs imprison Julie, Mike and Hart for “their own good” because the Visitors will be arriving in the morning. Unfortunately for all involved the Visitors decide to show up early! That can’t be good. I’m excited to see what happens next. Can Willie and another, unnamed Resistance member rescue Julie, Mike and Hart? Will the springs of Sparkling Springs be destroyed so the Visitors can no longer benefit from them? Will Ham and Chris kill Lorne or use him to get to Nathan Bates? We’ll have to wait to find out.

One last note: on page 17 after blowing up the boat, Ham and Chris swim away. Ham thinks to himself “As my hero on TV likes to say…I love it when a plan comes together!” Ah, a reference to The A-Team in a comic book based on V. It’s 1980s synergy.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: V #3
2. Bookshelf: Bonanza #25
3. Bookshelf: V #1

I am a huge fan of The A-Team. It’s one of those shows I can sit down and watch at any time regardless of the episode. Well, except for the fifth season. Those aren’t the best episodes. It doesn’t matter that nobody ever dies or that the episodes are incredibly formulaic. It’s just an incredibly fun show. Marvel Comics released three issues of a comic book based on the series, the first of which was published in March of 1984. That was near the end of the show’s second season when it was at the height of its popularity.

I don’t know exactly how long it takes to produce a comic book but I’m sure it takes a while. That explains why the character of Amy Allen (played by Melinda Culea) is included in this first issue (and perhaps the other two as well). Amy was written out of The A-Team halfway through its second season; its likely that this issue was written before the decision was made to drop the character. Or maybe the writer and/or artist(s) just loved Amy Allen/Melinda Culea.

The story of this issue sees the A-Team hired by diamond entrepreneur Roger Townshend, whose diamonds are being stolen. Mario Ronda, an old friend of B.A., is somehow involved, although B.A. doesn’t believe it. The team has to fly to Puerto Rico (B.A. is hypnotized by a man pretending to be a pilot) and they bring along Townshend’s assistant, Lucille Priss. She’ll pose as Amy’s aunt and try to point out the thieves, the Lopez brothers.

The A-Team #1 Cover – Copyright Marvel Comics Group

B.A. tells Mario to steer clear of trouble; Mario worries (in thought bubbles, of course) that B.A. knows the truth. Before long, the real truth comes out: Mario’s an FBI agent working undercover. A chance discovery by Amy reveals Lucille Priss — Townshend’s sister-in-law — as the mastermind of the stolen diamonds. She even tries to frame Townshend’s son, her own nephew, in order to both hurt Townshend and get the company for herself. Mario and B.A., meanwhile, take a cruise back to the United States, their friendship intact.

The surprise twist that Lucille Priss was the villain came as a shock, I admit it. She wanted Hannibal and the others to think Townshend’s son was the traitor and used a disguise to make it look he was involved with the Lopez brothers. The artwork, unfortunately, left a lot to be desired. As always, I wonder if legal issues were involved with the likenesses of George Peppard, Mr. T and the rest of the cast. The characters are recognizable but far from perfect.

Hannibal, thanks to his white hair, stands out, as does B.A. for obvious reasons. Murdock, Face and Amy, however, bear only the vaguest of resemblances to Dwight Schultz, Dirk Benedict and Melinda Culea. The story also suffers from a severe lack of both guns and car crashes. There are two fistfights and Murdock does get to fly a helicopter, at least, but that’s about it. There’s no montage of the team working to design an ingenious weapon to get out of a jam. But at least Hannibal gets to say “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: The A-Team #3
2. Bookshelf: The A-Team #2
3. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1