DAREDEVIL #187

"OVERKILL”
Writer/Storyteller: Frank Miller | Penciler/Inker/Colorist: Klaus Janson
Letters: Joe Rosen | Editor: Denny O’Neil | Supervisor : Jim Shooter

The Plot: While Daredevil deals with his increasingly erratic hypersenses, the Black Widow fights a contingent of Hand ninjas in the New York City Morgue, but they escape with a corpse. Meanwhile, Daredevil begins a search for Stick in order to get help managing his senses. But the Hand find Stick first and attack him, though he manages to fight them off.

Daredevil is assaulted by a group of thugs looking to take advantage of his weakened state, but a cab driver rescues him and chauffeurs him to Josie’s. There, he learns Stick failed to show up for a pool game. Finally, DD staggers home to find Stick and three shadowy men conferring inside his brownstone.

Elsewhere, the Hand ninjas return to their lair with the corpse they recovered, and perform a ceremony to bring it back to life. The process is a success and Kirigi lives once more.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: After two issues featuring a new corner box (which seems to show Daredevil stumbling like he just tripped over the ottoman), this issue returns to the old one. The stumbly corner box will be back next month.

FANTASTIC FOUR #247

"THIS LAND IS MINE!"
Story and Art: John Byrne | Letterer: Jim Novak | Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: In Latveria, Doctor Doom describes to the Fantastic Four how his homeland has fallen since King Zorba assumed the throne. The group is approached by a child named Kristoff, and then by his mother, who is elated to see Doom. She fills the FF in on the tyrannical rule of Zorba, but is subsequently killed by Zorba’s robotic secret police.

The FF and Doom defeat the robots and go into hiding with some Latverian citizens, where Doom continues to assert that he is a more benevolent leader than Zorba. Meanwhile, Zorba, mad with power, releases Doom’s killer robots to wipe out the populace. Once again, the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom join forces to defeat these new foes. Two hours later the final robot is vanquished, but Doom has vanished from the battlefield.

Inside his castle, Doom releases his right hand man, Boris, from captivity, and then confronts Zorba. Zorba swears Doom will never rule while he is alive, so Doom rectifies the problem. He then returns to the Fantastic Four and gives them leave to depart Latveria. Mister Fantastic accepts the offer under the condition that Doom will devote himself to the peaceful restoration of his land.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #233

"WHERE THE @¢%# IS NOSE NORTON?"
Scripter: Roger Stern | Artists: John Romita, Jr. & Jim Mooney
Letterer: Diana Albers | Colorist: Glynis Wein | Editor: Tom DeFalco
Lost & Found: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Realizing that underworld informant "Nose" Norton may hold the key to their exposé on the Brand Corporation, Robbie Robertson, Ned Leeds, and Marla Madison convince Jonah Jameson to offer a $1500 cash reward to the first Daily Bugle employee to find the missing stool pigeon. Spurred to action by the reward, Peter Parker -- as Spider-Man -- combs the city for Norton.

Meanwhile, the Brand Corporation wants Norton silenced. Their own men are on the hunt as well, and they hire the South American terrorist called the Tarantula to kill him once he is uncovered. Brand finds Nose around the same time as Peter and Bugle reporter Ben Urich, who have decided to split the reward.

When the Tarantula arrives to kill Norton, Peter changes to Spider-Man and fights him off. But private investigators working for Brand arrive and gun Norton down, claiming he fired upon them first. After the Tarantula escapes, Spider-Man changes back to Peter and informs Ben that he has photos of the entire altercation.

HERCULES: PRINCE OF POWER

"WHAT FOOLS THESE IMMORTALS BE" | "FOR THE LOVE OF GODS"
"WHOM THE GOD WOULD DESTROY!" | "NOT JUST ANOTHER GALACTUS STORY!"
Conceived and Executed by Bob Layton, Writer/Artist
Art Assist: Luke McDonnell | Embellishing Assist: Sam De La Rosa
Letterer: Rick Parker | Colorists: Christie Scheele with Bob Sharen
Editor: Mark Gruenwald | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Before reading this story, I was only familiar with Bob Layton's writing via a couple of his early X-FACTOR issues. And those issues were, to put it mildly... not good. So I was prepared to encounter something ranging from anywhere between bad and mediocre when I opened up HERCULES: PRINCE OF POWER. Imagine my surprise, then, to find this a very fun, highly enjoyable little adventure!

The story begins with Hercules returning to Olympus following his recent years on Earth. But upon his arrival, Hercules immediately begins partying too hard for the liking of his father, Zeus. Zeus exiles Hercules from Olympus, but rather than sending his son back to Earth, where he is a god among men, Zeus orders Hercules to travel the wider universe, among beings who are closer to his equals, to teach him some humility.

Hercules begins his travels aboard a magical chariot, and soon meets the Colonizers of Rigel, a race of aliens who explore the galaxies in search of knowledge and habitable worlds. The Colonizers befriend Hercules and ask him to bring one of their recorder robots along on his journeys, to get a record of his adventures. Hercules gladly agrees.