Comics Reviews: Firestorm 54, Vigilante 36, Warlord 112

Firestorm #54 – “Rock n’ Roll Fantasy” – Paul Kupperberg/Michael Bair/Bob Smith

This one is obviously filler, since it makes no reference to the ongoing storylines. It starts with a guy named Steve Brockman trying out for a rock band. The band are impressed by his cool, home-made guitar, but unfortunately Steve can’t play it worth a damn, so they tell him to get lost. Steve vows to show the world what a great musician he can be. Some time later, Ronnie Raymond and Doreen Day are hanging out at a club. The band starts playing and the crowd goes wild, dancing like crazy to the music. We see the singer/guitarist is Steve (now calling himself Trash) and he’s modified his guitar to do something to people’s minds. As crowd members start passing out from the sonic assault, Ronnie triggers the transformation to Firestorm, pulling Professor Stein from a lecture he was attending. (Luckily Stein feels the change coming and gets out before disappearing in front of everyone.) Firestorm appears in the club just as Trash’s sound waves start bringing the building down. Firestorm saves the crowd from falling debris, but can’t get close enough to attack Trash because of the sonic waves he’s sending out. Before Trash can kill anyone with his loudness, Firestorm lures him outside, but that kinda backfires when Trash heads for a nearby park and starts causing mayhem there. Firestorm stuns him by reflecting some of his sound waves back at him, then buries Trash under a mound of dirt. That doesn’t hold the crazed musician for long and he busts free, blasting Firestorm and the bystanders with more deadly sounds. Professor Stein suggests removing the air around Trash, since sound can’t travel in a vacuum. Firestorm creates a bubble around Trash and evacuates the air, making his guitar useless and knocking him out from lack of oxygen. After transforming the guitar into a water fountain, Firestorm lets the cops take care of Trash. As they’re taking him away, Firestorm realizes Trash isn’t really a villain, just a screwed-up kid who wanted people to listen to his music.

Vigilante #36 – “Mask of Death” – Paul Kupperberg/Denys Cowan/Kyle Baker

This issue takes place after Vigilante Annual #2, which I’ll be reviewing in a couple of weeks. It starts with Adrian Chase and Marcia King on a plane getting ready to take off for London, where they plan on starting a new life together. But before the plane even gets to the runway, four terrorists aboard take it over. Adrian’s first instinct is to go after them, but Marcia reminds him he’s unarmed and any heroics will get innocent people killed. In Manhattan, Vigilante (aka Dave Winston) is roughing up some crooks, trying to get a line on the guy who’s been eliminating mobsters for months. Nobody knows where the guy is and Vigilante almost gets shot trying to find out. In New Mexico, Valentina Vostok (better known as Negative Woman from the new Doom Patrol) talks to a General named Peterson, who mentions the hijacking and says one of her operatives might be on his way to fight the terrorists. (They don’t say what group Valentina represents, but I assume it’s Checkmate.) Unfortunately, this operative (Peacemaker) is crazy; he goes around wasting terrorists and believes their souls are absorbed into the helmet he wears, speaking to him from beyond the grave. Vostok thinks they should let Peacemaker have his shot at the terrorists, but Peterson is worried the public will find out Peacemaker works for the government, so he wants Peacemaker stopped. In New York, Vigilante hears about the hijacking and heads to the airport, arriving just in time to see Peacemaker sneaking in through the plane’s wheel-well. Peacemaker slips into the cockpit and blows away one terrorist, distracting the others long enough for a flight attendant to open an emergency door and deploy the escape chute. Vigilante uses the confusion to climb up the chute into the plane and confronts the terrorist leader, who’s trying to get into the cockpit. The leader goes for Vigilante, but Adrian trips him as he runs down the aisle. The other two terrorists bust into the cockpit, where Peacemaker kills them. As the rest of the passengers flee, Peacemaker goes after the terrorist leader, but Vigilante tries to stop him. Peacemaker blows Vigilante away and Adrian goes nuts, attacking him. Peacemaker beats the shit out of Adrian and takes off. Adrian jumps out of the plane to examine Vigilante’s body, blaming himself for Winston’s death because he walked away from being Vigilante. Adrian reclaims the mask, which doesn’t make Marcia happy, since she knows her chance at a normal life just went out the window. She tries to convince him to give up the Vigilante identity, but he refuses, saying every time he’s done that it’s gotten someone killed. Peacemaker changes back to his civilian identity, but realizes the head terrorist got away in all the confusion, and decides to stick around and finish him off. Meanwhile, Valentina reads the reports of what happened and worries that Vigilante (whoever he is) might compromise her operative. She’s right … Adrian has made a vow to find Peacemaker and kill him.

Warlord #112 – “The Obsession” – Michael Fleisher/Ron Randall

In Kiro, Machiste has triumphantly regained his throne and his people are rejoicing, but Mariah can’t help thinking about Morgan, thinking he needs her help. Morgan and Shakira are in the underwater ship, zooming under the Inland Sea. They’re attacked by a giant eel, but Morgan ejects right through its head and they swim to shore. In Kiro, Mariah gets a sword that’s an exact replica of the one Morgan gave her years ago. An old woman gives Mariah a necklace, claiming it’s a love charm, causing anyone she desires to fall obsessively in love with her. Mariah tries to refuse the necklace, but the old woman puts it around her neck and leaves. On the shores of the Inland Sea, Morgan and Shakira are attacked by horsemen who think Shakira is their princess. They knock Morgan out and Shakira plays along, trying to figure out how to handle the situation. In Kiro, Mariah’s obsession with Morgan grows beyond her control and she finds a wizard, paying him a lot of gold to transport her to Morgan’s location (although she’ll have to wait until the planets are in the right alignment). Meanwhile, Shakira realizes she’s been mistaken for a princess named Orana, who was kidnapped a week ago. She tells her “subjects” that Morgan saved her, so they let him go. He notices someone reacting very strongly to Shakira’s presence. Turns out he’s in league with the kidnapper, a Baron who’s in line to inherit the throne. The Baron killed Orana’s father, but kidnapped her to learn the location of the hidden treasure vaults. He isn’t sure if this is Orana or not, so he sends a couple of men to check the cave where they’re holding her. Morgan sees them leave and follows, pounding them after they lead him to the cave where Orana is being held. She looks exactly like Shakira and begs Morgan to get her back in time for her coronation, otherwise the Baron will inherit the throne. Shakira seems to be enjoying the life of a princess, but likes it a lot less when the Baron’s assassins try to kill her. She transforms into cat form (letting them know she’s not really Orana) and Morgan shows up in time to fight the assassins, shooting the last one before he can kill the real Orana. She thanks them for their help, although Shakira’s a little pissed off about not becoming a real princess. She soon forgets about that when Mariah shows up and starts making out with Morgan. I guess the necklace does work.