SONS OF THE TIGER PART 11

As presented in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU Nos. 29 and 30.

"FLESH OF MY FLESH!"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: Ron Wilson, Sonny Trinidad, Rudy Mesina & Pete Lijauco

"THREADS OF EVIL... WEB OF HATE!"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: George Pérez & Sonny Trinidad

The Plot: (DEADLY HANDS #29) On the handball court where the girl, Cheeky, was killed, a riot breaks out as the neighborhood citizens blame White Tiger for her death. With the help of Blackbyrd, D'Angelo, and the police, White Tiger fights the mob off, but is consumed in his fury until Blackbyrd punches him. Meanwhile, Jack of Hearts leaves the hospital to find White Tiger, while at the Ayala apartment, young brother Filippo reveals to Awilda that he was running drugs for Maris, the man killed trying to abduct Jack of Hearts at the hospital, and only Maris can deactivate a bomb attached to Filippo. Elsewhere, Lin and Lotus receive a call from Bob's agent regarding his estate, while Bob himself struggles to survive in the snowy Canadian wilderness. And in Africa, Brillalae tells Abe it is his destiny to wear the costume he carried in his suitcase, and to become... the Black Tiger.

(DEADLY HANDS #30) Jack of Hearts finds D'Angelo and Blackbyrd and learns that White Tiger has left them to continue his quest for "El Tigre". Jack next visits Daily Globe publisher Barney Bushkin to gather facts about his father's murder, and learns that El Tigre is a ship from Chile which the drug-runner, Maris, was going to meet before he died. Meanwhile, White Tiger sees hallucinations of those who have died since he became a hero -- but the moment is interrupted when he hears Awilda below, being accosted by a gang after Filippo. White Tiger saves his brother and sister, and Filippo reveals the bomb wired to his body. Elsewhere, Bob struggles through the wilderness and runs into a polar bear, while in New York, Lin and Lotus visit Bob's agent and refuse to take their friend's money. In Africa, Abe, wearing the black costume, leads the bedouins in an assault on a military convoy.

SONS OF THE TIGER PART 10

As presented in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU Nos. 24, 26, & 27.

"TIGER, TIGER... BURNING BRIGHT--"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: Keith Giffen & The Tribe

"WHITE TIGER"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: Jim Sherman & The Tribe

"...DEATH IS A GAME CALLED HANDBALL!"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: Ron Wilson & The Tribe

The Plot: (DEADLY HANDS #24) White Tiger, Detective D'Angelo, Blackbyrd, and Awilda rush the injured Jack of Hearts to the hospital. While the doctors examine Jack, White Tiger reveals his true identity as Hector Ayala to the others. Meanwhile, Abe Brown awakens in a bedouin camp, to find Brillalae, the woman who switched suitcases with him in New York, tending to him. The bedouins also have the hijacker, Mole, captive, and they want Abe and Mole to fight over the costume inside the case. From a dune above, Mole's compatriots, Scratch and Table-Top, watch. Back in New York, Lin Sun and Lotus have been unable to reach Bob Diamond by phone, so they send him a telegram. But up in Canada, Bob has been buried by an avalanche during the filming of his movie. At the hospital, Jack of Hearts' power goes out of control until White Tiger calms him down -- but moments later, costumed men arrive, demanding that Jack be turned over to them.

(DEADLY HANDS #26) At the hospital, the White Tiger, Blackbyrd, and D'Angelo fight the newcomers, eventually defeating them. In Africa, Abe fights Mole, somehow catching a bullet from the criminal's gun. Mole falls into a pit of snakes and dies as Brillalae crowns Abe winner of the duel. In New York, Lin and Lotus recieve word that Bob was lost in an avalanche, while in Canada, Bob emerges from beneath the snow to find the film crew has departed, and he is alone in the wilderness.

(DEADLY HANDS #27) Searching the South Bronx for the mysterious "Tigre", White Tiger, D'Angelo, and Blackbyrd meet a girl named "Cheeky" playing handball at the local junior high school. The group then heads on to a bar, where they question the patrons and get into a fight that leaves nearly everyone dead, save our heroes and the bartender, Whitewash. While Blackbyrd and D'Angelo question Whitewash, White Tiger leaves the bar and bumps into Cheeky. She has a handball someone asked her to get autographed by the Tiger, but it explodes in her hands, killing her.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART THREE - THE LIEBER YEARS LIMP TO AN END

One positive thing I will say about these old Captain Britain stories is that the pace is frenetic. It feels like reading a comic strip, where every storyline leads directly into the next, with no downtime in between. I assume this is due to the weekly schedule of the series. On top of that, Cap's adventures went black-and-white about halfway through the Skull storyline, which adds to the "newspaper strip" feel of the whole thing.

Case in point: Immediately following the Captain America/Red Skull storyline, Brian Braddock passes out in his bed and dreams about nutty ol' Lord Hawk, a hermit for whom Brian constructed a robotic bird some time back.  To keep him company. A. Robotic. Bird.

Anyway, at precisely that moment, Lord Hawk has decided to take his bird out and terrorize England because things aren't how they used to be.  If I recall correclty, he wanted to return to a simpler time, when men and their robot birds lived off the land, and all those pesky modern conveniences weren't around to get in their way.