Dazzler #3 (1981)

 

Dazzler #3 (May, 1981)
"The Jewels of Doom!"
Writer - Tom DeFalco
Pencils - John Romita, Jr. & Alan Kupperberg
Inks - Danny Bulandi & Armando Gil
Colors - Bob Sharen
Letters - Joe Rosen
Edits - Fingeroth, Jones, Shooter
Cover Price: 50¢

Ya know... I write a lot.

There's some hackneyed saying about writers (though I wouldn't describe myself as one), that they have so many "bad" pages in 'em before they finally "get it"... and everything just comes together. With me... I feel like it's kind of the opposite.

It seems like the more I write, the less gooder I am become with my grasp of the English language. It might sound like I'm kidding... but, I assure you, I'm not. I literally sit here trying to think up the right words to use... many, many, many times every article. I don't remember it ever being like that before. Maybe I'm losing my mind? Maybe I am become more dumber than was? I dunno... you be the judge... or something!

For now though, let's Dazzle!

--

Today's story opens with... Dazzler dropping a bunch of exposition. At least this time out, she's just thinking all of it to herself, rather than saying it all out loud. Anyway, she's getting bombarded by sound... which she is doing her darnedist to transmute into light. Turns out this is only a test... she's dropped by the Baxter Building, and asked Reed to give her mutant powers a goo. Johnny is a bit annoyed, having assumed she was there only to see him. Worth noting, poor Ben Grimm is doing that thing he always seems to be doing at home... carrying something huge and heavy from ova here-- to ova there. Wotta revoltin' development.

Since this is a Marvel comic, and we've got some guest-stars... it's not long before an outta nowhere action scene breaks out. Dazzled by the Dazzler, poor Ben drops the heavy whateverthehell on his favorite bunion -- Johnny has a laugh before going to prove that Daz can't do anything to best him -- so, she skates over to a wall and procures a fire extinguisher to shut him up. Sue then appears right in Ali's path, which sends her skidding off into Reed's oversized rubbery mitt.

With all the tea kettles now settled, it's time for us to find out what today's issue is actually going to be about. Johnny spies something very troubling in the newspaper... turns out, Doctor Doom's jewels (ew!) are going to be displayed at the United Nations. From here, we get a quick 'n dirty retelling of the events of Fantastic Four #200 (November, 1978), wherein Prince Zorba Fortunov of the Latverian Freedom Fighters wrested the crown of Latveria from Doom. Doom lost his throne... and his marbles. And now, the FF are worried that this exhibit might draw him out of hiding.

After a somewhat flirtatious farewell between Dazz and "Torchy", we shift scenes over to the United Nations, where the Doom Jewel Expo is about to begin. Latveria's mustachioed ambassador to the U.N., Dr. Arturo Frazen is present. He finds this entire to-do to be a sham. He also considers Zorba to be a weak and ineffectual leader. He mentions something about the crown jewels winding up on the international market... though, I'm not totally clear here on whether that's his goal... or his worry.

Over to Boss Hogg's, where Dazz is given her next gig. Much to her annoyance, it's a charity show for UNICEF. Now, she has no beef with the fine folks at UNICEF, it's just that -- she needs that chedda... she's about to be booted from her pad. She's also introduced to her new meathead manager, Lance Steele... who looks just as porny-creepy as his name might suggest. Lancelot tells Ali that they'll get on swimmingly... so long as she obeys his orders. I guess when you rely on a dozen of your super-powered pals to bully a man into offering you a talent contract... maybe don't expect to be given the cherriest of gigs?

With nowhere left to turn to, Alison decides to head home to visit (and attempt to make peace) with her father, Judge Carter Blaire. She is warmly met by Nana... and, initially, embraced by dad. That is, until she reveals that she's not exactly here to beg for his forgiveness. She hasn't changed her mind about going to law school, following in his footsteps, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'm not sure exactly what she's here for... probably help with the rent, and some cold cuts to keep her half-eaten box of baking soda company in the fridge. He gives her the boot... again.

Well, at this point we're eleven pages in... howsabout we get that dude from the cover into the story? We head over to a castle in the Bavarian Alps, where Doctor Doom is met by some red-cloaked messenger... who reveals that Zorba sent the crown jewels over to the United Nations... Doom's not worried nor impressed. That is, until he finds out that the Merlin Stone was among them! Doom decides he must act.

We rejoin Arturo Frazen, who's still gazing at the jewels at the U.N. As luck would have it, security is a bit lax right now, because... get this... that UNICEF concert is taking place right there! As the massive crowd begins to form, Frazen hires some goons in "punk rock attire" to help him swipe the loot. As the concert's getting set up, Lancelot Steele is giving the orders backstage. Looks like nobody really cares for him... nor takes him seriously -- and well, they probably shouldn't.

After busting in on Dazz's dressing room, where she hasn't even had the chance to (literally) let her hair down yet, Lance spots the "Punk Rockers"... and decides he's gonna serve up some knuckle sandwiches... no questions asked. Only, by the time he approaches them, he comes to find he's far more outnumbered than he originally thought. He gets his ass kicked. Lucky for him, Dazzler overhears this beating... and she just so happens to have a new analog iPod with which to pump out some transmuted funk.

She skates over to the meathead's rescue, PWAPing the baddies but good. Meanwhile, on stage -- the show has already begun. We see Boss Hogg off to the side wondering where his "personable and proficient protégé" may have gotten off to. If you were to guess that Ali was in the middle of like a 75 page fight scene, you'd be getting warm.

Okay, okay... it's more like a four page fight scene... but still, a tad bit too long in this idiot's opinion. Anyway, once the "punk rockers" have been soundly thwarted... Ali gets zapped in her shoulder. This, as you might imagine, manages to get her attention. She turns around to see that she's in the shadow of... DOOM. And, if the art here is to be believed, she's the only thing standing between him and the nearest toilet... and, lemme tell ya -- it's an emergency!

Meanwhile, lotsa pieces are falling into... and out of place. Lance pulls himself to his feet... but is in too much pain to really do anything. On stage, the act before Dazzler is about to wrap up their set... and, thanks to Janine from Ghostbustas, Boss Hogg knows that neither Dazz nor her Lunkhead manager are around. Right then and there, Osgood announces that Dazzler is off the show... and will, ya know, never work in this town again. Worth noting, (I think that's supposed to be) Johnny Storm is in the crowd waiting to see his new obsession in action.

Back to Dazz... as Doom, gentleman that he is, helps her to her feet so he can dollop some exposition into her dome. The Merlin Stone, ya see... is a gem (well, a collection of gems actually) imbued with some magical hoo-doo by the wizard Merlin himself to make its owner invincible. Doom had already sent the Fantastic Four back in time to track the jewels down... way back during his first appearance in Fantastic Four #5 (July, 1962). Only, rather than return to the present with them -- the FF brought back only worthless chain.

In the interim, Doom was able to procure one of these gems... and also locate the second (in a nearby dimension). He assumes that with two of the Merlin Stones, it'll be a cinch to track down the rest. As he goes to reclaim the one from the exhibit... Dazzler attempts to stop him! And so, well... you know... it's time for a(nother) fight scene! Dazzler does manage to get a few good shots in... serving a whopper of a dropkick to go along with her light show. Ultimately, Doom wins... because, well, he's Doom.

We wrap up with Doc loading Dazz onto his... frankly adorable little rocket sled/scooter... and flying into the night. He believes he might have use for her yet... and, perhaps we'll find out exactly what that is... next time!

--

From the crem de la crem of Marvel's heroic pantheon to... one of, if not the premiere villain in the universe. Dazzler just can't help but to fail upwards, eh?

Still having a really good time with this. I feel like, maybe we're overdoing it a tad with the action... perhaps even overcompensating with it. I wonder if there was a conscious decision to try and keep this book from being "too girly" or "too soapy"? I dunno about y'all, but... I mean, this is a character outta the X-Men... and, it didn't get much soapier than that... I think I'd be okay with Dazzler following in that tone. We are getting bits and pieces of "soap", in Ali's relationship with her father... and her day-to-day financial woes, so that's cool. It's also still very early in the run, so -- maybe the Bullpen is trying to establish the book in such a way where it's not dismissed as "slice of life" fluff?

I dunno... I'm probably thinking too hard.

The story we did get here... to use a phrase I tend to overuse... was a bit Dagwood Sandwichy. Lotta moving parts... many of which felt kinda unnecessary. Arturo Frazen's scenes were a bit confusing... his motivation wasn't made clear (at least not to a dullard like me) until the end... and, I mean... the entire robbery attempt wound up being a non-issue page-waster anyway. I dunno, maybe next issue will see some more hot 'n steamy Arturo and the Punk Rockers action?

The art was... uneven. Not bad... just not as good as it was in the first two issues. Romita's pencils were not helped in any way by Bulandi's inks... and the shift from John Jr. to Alan Kupperberg, while not jarring, was somewhat noticeable. It Marvel's banking on Dazzler being their premiere Direct Market exclusive (for now), it'd probably be best to keep the artwork consistent, at least for the first half-dozen to a year's worth of issues. At least in my opinion. Having multiple pencilers and inkers involved in a regular-sized issue reeks of running up against Dreaded Deadline Doom... and, makes the series feel like it's an afterthought.

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, as... like I said, the art isn't bad. But, for it only being the third issue... consistency needs to be key. Again, at least in my opinion.

Overall - another fun outing with Disco Dazz. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes... and I hope you are as well!

--

Letters Page (wow, that was quick!):

--

Interesting Ads:

Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men #1 (1983)

Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men #1 (April, 1983)

"Something Slimey This Way Comes!"

"Obnoxio the Clown's Abuse Page"

"Jury Duty! ~or~ Oy the Jury"

"Dear Flabby"

By Alan Kupperberg

Edits & Creator of Obnoxio - Larry Hama

Chief - Jim Shooter

Cover Price: $0.60

Man, 1983 was a weird year for the top-selling books on the market.  DC had the New Teen Titans in those Drug Awareness Specials... and the X-Men had their State Fair of Texas giveaway, and... whatever this is.

What "this" is... is, another oddity I'd first discovered while scouring the pages of Wizard Magazine's price-guide.  I'd see a listing for "Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men"... and, just like with the Dallas issue, I wanted more than anything to know just what in the hell it was.  It took me a long while of hunting... but, then... probably like 10 years ago, it suddenly became 50-cent bin fodder in my neck of the woods.  I think I've even got like 3-4 copies of it over the years, because I was always worried that I didn't actually own it.

So, it might go without saying that... yeah, I owned it... but, I never got around to actually reading it.  Gonna fix that today, and pass the "savings" onto you!

Worth noting: The Indicia for this issue just calls it "Obnoxio the Clown Vol.1 #1"... but, in the interest of, ya know, actually getting anyone to read this post, I'm gonna call it "Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men #1".  I mean, Marvel themselves used the X-Men name boost circulation... so, why shouldn't I?

More worth noting: This piece isn't intended as a "catch all" for Marvel's Crazy Magazine.  While I've got a short stack of 'em in a closet somewhere, humor mags were never my bag.

Let's do it!

--

Our first story opens with Obnoxio the Clown arriving in Salem Center, where he'd been hired by Professor X to perform for Kitty Pryde's some-teenth birthday.  Ya see, young Ms. Pryde is a hyooge fan of Marvel's humor mag, Crazy... of which, Obnoxio the Clown is the "star".  Well, the very moment the clown arrives, Cerebro starts pinging like crazy... alerting the Professor to the fact that there's a new mutant on the scene.  In fact, the pinging is so powerful, it overloads some sort of feedback loop, which knocks the Prof completely unconscious!

Cyclops rushes in to check on the commotion, and is shocked to see his mentor kayoed on the ground.  He rushes outside to call the rest of the team to action... as it looks as though the mansion is currently under attack.  If you're thinking that Obnoxio the Clown has just been outed as a mutant... well, not so fast, kemosabe - Obnoxio may be a lot of things... a scumbag, a drunk, and a snappy dresser... but he ain't no mutant.  The thing that made Cerebro ping is... the most sensational (non-Eques) Mutant Character Find of 1983: Eye-Scream!  Uh, yeah... a mutant with the power to transform into whatever flavor of ice cream he so desires.  A mutant who only appears in this very issue, and never again.  Dawn of X, my ass.  How you gonna kick off a brave new era of X-Men comics, and not bring back Eye-Scream?!

Meanwhile, Obnoxio the Clown goes to ring the doorbell of Xavier's... and accidentally triggers the trap-door under the floor mat.  Ah, the classics!  This sends him down to the sub-basement of the joint... where he needs to think up a clever way to escape.  He settles on lighting one of his CO₂ chargers for his silly seltzer bottle with his stogie... blowing out the double-tough walls of the dungeon with a FRUMP.

Obnoxio winds up walking right into the X-Men... who immediately assume he's the enemy.  Even Kitty Pryde, the self-professed Crazy fanatic doesn't seem to recognize her hero!  Worth noting, our clown refers to the X-Men as the "Legion of Super-Pests", which is sort of cute.

Nearby, Eye-Scream makes his way to the vaunted Danger Room... which, uh... has just an ordinary door with the sign that reads "Danger Room" on it.  I was expecting so much more.  Now, the door is locked (duh), but our new favorite mutant has something of a skeleton key in that he can, ya know, turn into ice cream.  And so, he takes the form of... a banana split?  That's not an ice cream flavor, right?  That's just something you make with ice cream... Oh well, we'll allow it.

So, Eye-Scream is in the Danger Room... and the X-Men have their hands full fighting (and getting their butts handed to them by) Obnoxio the Clown.  I mean, it's really quite embarrassing for our heroes.

By now, Eye-Scream has figured out how to activate the Danger Room... which triggers all manner of traps and gimmicks.  Obnoxio finds himself trapped within... and the X-Men are locked out.  Now, the Danger Room door looks like a blast-door or something, like they might have on the Death Star... but, whattayagonnado?

The Danger Room begins filling with water... leaving poor Obnoxio to use an inflated rubber chicken as a breathing apparatus.  Lucky for him, on the other side of the door, Wolverine is slicing and dicing with his claws.  It isn't long before the hobo clown is rescued.  Wolverine, however, looks like he's about to exact a bit of revenge on the ol' painted jester.

That is, until he gets a psychic summons from the once again awake Professor X.  They head into the Danger Room command station... and find the Prof, and Eye-Scream... that latter of whom is "on ice", as in frozen stiff.  Not sure how or when that happened... though, Obnoxio did throw a cream pie at him a bit earlier.  I guess that's as good a guess as any?  He informs the crew that Obnoxio is their guest... and is here for Kitty's birthday.  Kitty doesn't seem to have the foggiest idea what he's talking about.  Anyhoo... the day is saved, and the clown leaves.  Whatever happened to Eye-Scream is anybody's guess...

Next we get a one-pager called "Obnoxio the Clown's Abuse Page", where our hero personally responds to readers of Crazy Magazine's missives.  It's... well... uh, it's drawn nicely enough.  It isn't funny by any definition of the word... but, well... it's there!

Our second feature opens with Obnoxio taking the train back from Westchester... so, we might assume that this is a continuation from his run-in with the X-Men?  I'm going to say it was... otherwise, why would I bother even covering it?  It's a long ride... and a long walk.  Once he finally returns to his palatial abode, he is stunned to learn he's received a summons for Jury Duty!  What's more, it's a summons to appear that very day!

And so, we follow him down to the courthouse, where he's sat in a great big room full of other unfortunates with summons's's's to appear.  It's... uh, not very funny.

Our hero steps outside to have himself a smoke... when he happens across a heist in progress.  A gaggle of black-clad geeks are in the process of stealing... mannequins?

The bad guys are completely out to lunch, and as such... they try and lift and swipe Obnoxio himself!  Once they realize he's, ya know, a smelly old pervert and not a limbless mannequin, they drop him and scatter like... well, things that scatter.

They run right into the court room, with Obnoxio hot on their trail.  The Clown stops to chat with Dennis the Menace's father for a moment, and the Judge decides to adjourn the court until after the pending chase scene.

The chase goes outside the building, where the would-be robbers run into a... regular dude, and get knocked off their feet.  The Police arrive, and arrest 'em... and all looks to be good.

When reporters begin to arrive, Obnoxio begins juggling... hopeful to get some good publicity.  The judge decides to excuse our hero from serving on a jury... and so, we follow him home.  This time, he's greeted by a stack of bills.  Wonk, wonk, wonnnnnnk?

Finally, we wrap up the issue with another one-pager.  This one's called "Dear Flabby" and is credited to "Abigail Van Kupperberg".  It's an advertisement for Marvel subscriptions disguised as an advice column.  It ends with Obnoxio being straitjacketed and dragged away.

--

Well...

This sure was... somethin', wunnit?

Such a weird little one-off... the only issue of Obnoxio the Clown.  The Clown himself would only go on to appear a couple more times... and has now been relegated as hailing from Marvel Earth-80360... which, I suppose, is the Marvel Earth of Crazy Magazine.

Now, while I didn't find this nearly as funny as I think I was supposed to... you know me... I'm a real sucker for lore.  I love the fact that this contains the only appearance of a Marvel Mutant... back in a time where mutants weren't popping up all over the place!  Back in 1983, there were... what... a few dozen of 'em?  And... to think, Eye-Scream was one of 'em!  Hell, Eques and Eye-Scream were both bona fide Marvel Mutants before the glut!

I always find stuff like that so interesting... and, it's somewhat shocking that Eye-Scream never made another appearance... you'd expect him to be ripe for a cameo in an issue of Deadpool or something silly like that.  But, nope!  He's a one-and-done!  And yes, I did refer to my 198 Files to see if he retained his powers after M-Day.  He, sadly... does not get a mention.

If only Marvel didn't just bring back the Fallen Angels concept... otherwise, I might pitch one of my own: Eye-Scream, Eques, Alchemy... maybe toss in Thumbelina too!  If anything, it'd be a ton more fun than the recent Fallen Angels miniseries!

Overall, while this was rather unfunny... almost aggressively so... it looked great, and I can't say I didn't have a good time reading it (at least the X-Men half).  The jury duty backup... kinda lost the plot.  I wasn't sure what was happening or why... and it ended with a bit of a dud.

Worth nabbing if you find it on the cheap... maybe get this bugger slabbed for whenever Eye-Scream gets his own Marvel movie.  I mean, he's not the worst candidate for one!

--

(Not the) Letters Page:

--

Interesting Ads:

Uncanny X-Men at the State Fair of Texas (1983)

Uncanny X-Men at the State Fair of Texas (1983)

"Battle at the State Fair of Texas"

Plot - Jim Salicrup

Script - David Kraft

Pencils - Kerry Gammill & Alan Kupperberg

Inks - Chic Stone

Letters - Rick Parker

Colors - Marie Severin

Editor in Chief - Jim Shooter

Publisher, Dallas Times Herald - Tom McCartin

Hey gang, long time - no write.  Been a minute since my last purely-prose piece, and I apologize for that.  Been kind of busy with the X-Lapsed program, among some other creative endeavors I've been embarking on.

Today, we're going to talk about a weird one.  A book that, for the longest time, I doubted even existed.  A book that haunted me, as an X-Men completionist... "X-Men at the State Fair", the "Dallas Giveaway" that I would see month-after-month in the Wizard Magazine Price Guide.  Nobody I knew had ever seen the thing... and none of the comic shops I frequented could tell me exactly what it was.  I had one guy tell me it was just a comic strip in the Dallas newspaper's "funny pages".

I even emailed Gareb Shamus of Wizard to ask about this... and, all he could tell me was, that it existed.  This was like... twenty-five year ago!  In the years that followed, I'd forgotten all about this weird little curiosity... then, as I was perusing a cheap-o bin late last year... I was absolutely gobsmacked to see the very object of my mid-90's X-Obsession!  Worth noting, I paid farrrrrr less than $25 for my copy.

I've been wanting to cover this oddity for awhile now, and figure... hey, why not today?  I hope you all enjoy this piece... if, for no other reason, it's probably something that isn't shared a dozen times a day on social media!  Lots of fun Dallas-centric adverts at the bottom too!

--

We open with the X-Men having themselves a run-of-the-mill training session in the Danger Room... which, I mean, is as good a way as any to introduce these characters to the poor unsuspecting readers of The Dallas Times Herald.  After some SNIKTing and BAMFing, the X-Men take care of the "threat" placed before them... and, it's not a moment too soon.  Ya see, Professor X has just received word of a new mutant pinging Cerebro... a new mutant, who lives in the Dallas Metropolitan Area.  They're going to have to hurry if they wanna beat Magneto from drafting the newbie to his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!

Wanna meet this new mutant?  Let's do it.  We join Magneto, who's prowling around the Dallas Fairgrounds, when he happens across a young stable boy named Danny.  He knows in an instant that this is the mutant for whom he's searching, and invites the kid out for a chat.  Looks like Danny's never heard the saying "Don't talk to strangers"... especially those in trenchcoats, because he's more than happy to let this weird old man buy him a hotdog and a Coke.

It's here that we get Danny's secret origin.  One day, while tending to the horses, he doubled over in great pain.  From there, he transformed into, get this, a Centaur!  Thankfully, he was able to transform back to his more humanoid form at will.  Magneto heads back to his "sinister-looking airship" he'd arrived in to... well, talk to himself about all the evil he and Danny will do.

At this moment, however, the X-Men are approaching Dallas.  They arrive, looking like quite the motley crew... and decide to divide and conquer, breaking into smaller teams in order to x-pedite their search for this new mutant.

The whole first day of their search turns out to be a bust... but, our mutants must've bought the week-long pass for the Texas State Fair... because they're back to the grind the following day.  Xavier, Kitty, and Piotr decide to check out the Cotton Bowl, where it looks like Texas and Oklahoma are playing... when, the Professor gets a strong sense that the one they seek is nearby.  He sees Danny... and a trench-coated old man, who he immediately suspects is Magneto.

As Magneto spirits Danny away, he x-plains that the X-Men are mutant traitors... who will only do him harm.  Danny's... not the sharpest bulb in the shed, so he believes him.  Even after Magneto hurls a motorcycle at poor defenseless Ariel, Danny's still a believer.

Magneto then... abandons Danny.  He doesn't want to face off with his foes until he is certain the boy will join his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  Danny, now all by his lonesome, with Kitty Pryde hot on his trail, runs to hide in a nearby stable.  It's there he finds... Magneto in his full cape 'n bucket-head uniform.  Also... the X-Men show up!

Magneto jumps before Danny... then causes all of the metal in the barn to come flying toward them, which makes it look as though the X-Men are attacking them.  This further gets Danny onto his side of the argument... and, our new mutants shape-shifts into his Centaur form to engage in battle.

While Danny rears back in front of Xavier, Wolverine attempts to slice n dice Magneto.  The Master of Magnetism is all "uhh, you realize you're attacking me with metal, right?" and hurls Wolverine up into the ceiling.  Ya know, one'a these days Magneto's just gonna rip the metal right outta... uh, nevermind.

At this point, Colossus decides to take a stab at Magneto.  Yes, Colossus... the fella who is completely covered in... ya know, metal.  With ease, and probably a laugh, Magneto hoists Piotr through the roof and into the air.  The baddie yells for "Eques" to follow him skyward.  I guess they worked out that Danny would be called "Eques" off-panel then?

Danny doesn't ask any questions... and follows his man into the skies above Dallas.  Once high enough, Magneto decides to drop Colossus... sending him soaring back into the barn below.  And this is where Magneto and Danny find themselves at odds.  Ya see, dropping Colossus like that... might've hurt the horses in the stable!  I mean, screw the mutants... gotta keep the horses safe!  Eques attacks Magneto... and, uh... is oddly effective in doing so.

Magneto lands with a BOOMP! right at the feet of Big Tex, the horrifying giant statue of the Texas State Fair... who, gives ol' Mags a boot on the butt for good measure.

We wrap up with Professor Xavier x-tending an invitation to Eques to join the X-Men... which, our boy politely declines.  He does however give props to Storm for whupping up the wind and making it look as though Big Tex done punted Magneto.  She says it wasn't her... and she thought it was due to a Cyclops optic-blast.  Welp... no, turns out... it was Big Tex himself.  With a wink, we're outta here!

--

Okay, lemme start by saying.  Wow... Blogger's new format suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.  Oof, I hate it.  Trying to get all this pictures in place almost made me "tap out" and leave this piece half-done.  Okay, deep breaths... we made it this far... let's talk about this weird little comic.

It was... ehhh.  I mean, certainly not something (from a storytelling standpoint) that I should have looked forward to checking out for a quarter century... but, it was serviceable enough, and gave our characters a decent amount of "shine".  

The creative on this was solid... dialogue came across well, and the story itself was... I dunno, alright, I guess.  It put over the Texas State Fair, and even gave the city of Dallas their own gen-u-wine mutant hero... that is, until Forge makes his debut about a year later.  Dallas would also be the locale of the "death" of the X-Men during the Fall of the Mutants in 1988... so, our heroes would go on to have a bit of history with this city.  Sadly, Eques doesn't take part in any of these later stories.

In fact, poor Daniel Wiley won't ever show up on another page after this very issue!  And to prove what a yutz I am, I even just now dug out my copy of the "198 Files" that came out following Wanda's "No More Mutants" boner during House of M, to see whether or not this fella wound up retaining his powers (hey, Alchemy did!  Why not Eques?).  Sadly, Eques did not get an entry in that issue.

Despite this one not really rocking my socks, I must admit that I had a really good time covering it here... and I'm happy to have finally shared it.  I hope those of you still with me enjoyed... and I'll try not to be such a stranger 'round these text-not-audio-parts.

--

(Not the) Letters Page:

--

Et-Cetera:

--

Interesting Ads: