ACW #607 – Wild Dog

Action Comics Weekly #607 (Wild Dog)
“Moral Stand, Chapter Seven: Legionnaire’s Disease”
Writer – Max Collins
Pencils – Terry Beatty
Inks – John Nyberg
Letters – Gaspar Saladino
Colors – Michele Wolfman
Editor – Mike Gold

Wild Dog… Moralists… let’s do it.


—

We pick up right where we left off last week.  Wild Dog is kicking the tar out of the Moralists who invaded the Moline News.  As the baddies grab their guns, he climbs a ladder leading up to one of the printing presses so he can begin unloading.  Why he didn’t just do that last time, I’ll never know.  Jack manages to smoke a couple of fools, and buy himself a few moments of breathing room.

Meanwhile, “Sir” (the Moralist in black) commands the last standing Moralist foot soldier to jam on out before the explosives they rigged go “boom”.  Wild Dog sees this go down, and decides to pump one into the white-clad grunt.  Sir, returns fire… in the form of armor-piercing bullets, one of which manages to wing the Dog’s right arm!

Wild Dog ain’t screwin’ around anymore… and so, he leaps from his perch, tackling Sir to the ground.  He locks in a headlock, and threatens to break the Moralist’s neck unless he un-rig the explosives… which he does.

Wild Dog then sneaks outside, where he runs right into… Lou Godder!  Lou tells “Jack” to get into his car so he can get him outta there before the police arrive.

Ya see, what this means is… Lou Godder knows that Jack Wheeler is Wild Dog!  Back at Wheeler’s Garage, Lou reveals that he’s known it from the start… but he didn’t want to know, ya know?  Lou cites Jack’s friendship, and the fact that he’d saved his daughter (back during the mini-series) as reasons why he won’t turn him in.

We wrap up back at the Moline News, where Sir is being taken out in cuffs, while Andy Flint and Graham Gault look on.  Before he can stuffed into a squad car, however, he… explodes?!

—

That was one breezy read… well, the first half anyway.  Wild Dog continued his fight with the Foot Soldiers… who, proved to be rather poor shots, thankfully.  What’s more, they didn’t really do much to avoid the fire from the Dog himself… they kinda just stood there!


Let’s talk Lou Godder.  I like the idea that he knew all along that Jack and Wild Dog were one and the same.  Stands to reason that an investigative journalist of his repute would be able to suss this out.  It also really says a lot for Lou’s character that he didn’t just immediately “break” the story in the Moline News.


So, this only leaves Graham Gault out of the “original four” who doesn’t know Wild Dog’s true identity… at least, so far as we know.


This chapter ended with a bang… well, a boom… which, I swear this is like the third Wild Dog segment to end with one’a those.  I like the idea of “Sir” going boom… because, Dr. Moral Whatshisface would definitely have a contingency to stop and of his captured followers from breaking under interrogation.


We’re heading into the home stretch… only two chapters left for the ol’ Dog until he goes on hiatus.  It’s sure going to be strange going forward without both Blackhawk and Wild Dog!


Tomorrow: Clark Kent, Reporter with the X-Ray Eyes!