SKULL THE SLAYER #8

"RIDERS ON THE SKY!"
Writer: Bill Mantlo | Artists: Sal Buscema & Sonny Trinidad
Letters: Denise Wohl | Colors: George Roussos | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: In the golden city, the Incas celebrate Skull and friends surviving their test in the dinosaur pits. Captain Cochran, known to his people as Viracocha, the Feathered Serpent, explains to Skull and the group that he was stationed at a Miami navy base in 1945 when his plane was sucked into the Bermuda Triangle warp and he crashed on the prehistoric island.

Meanwhile, the traitorous Jaguar Priest escapes confinement in the city's dungeons with the aid of his secret followers. He arrives in Cochran's throne room in time to watch as Skull, Ann, Jeff, Doctor Corey, and Cochran are attacked by pterodactyl-riding knights from various time periods. Despite Skull's power belt, the heroes are overcome. Skull is knocked out and the Jaguar Priest orders his prisoners sent to the dungeons.

Continuity Notes: This is the final issue of SKULL THE SLAYER, with the "next issue" blurb (see below) advising fans to write to Marvel if they want to see the series revived.

Cochran was a topographer by trade, and has spent his time among the Incas mapping the world, noting that in this era, the continents have not begun to drift apart yet. (And not to beat a dead horse, but I still really don't think this is what Marv Wolfman had planned for the series. I'm pretty sure he intended the island to exist firmly in the present day, with the Tower of Time creating the illusion of a time warp for those who were sucked into it.)

SKULL THE SLAYER #7

"BURY MY HEART IN THE CITY OF GOLD"
Writer: Bill Mantlo | Artists: Sal Buscema & Sonny Trinidad
Letterer: Karen Mantlo | Colorist: Petra Goldberg | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Skull, Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey are esorted by the Incas to their city of gold, where the High Priest, leader of the group's captors, presents them to their king. Meanwhile, in the United States, Senator "Stonewall" Turner meets with Freddy Lancer about Lancer's plan to head into the Bermuda Triangle and find Skull.

Skull and friends are dropped into two separate pits, where they find themselves up against hungry dinosaurs. In one pit, Ann, Corey, and Jeff fight two pterodactyls, while Skull battles a stegosaurus in the other. Ann stabs one pterosaur with a spear while Jeff shoots at it. When Skull's energy belt begins to glow, the High Priest turns on his king and throws the monarch into the pit with Skull. Nonetheless, Skull's strength belt allows him to kill the stegosaur. Meanwhile, Ann finds some grenades on a soldier's corpse and hurls one at the remaining pterodactyl, killing it.

In the aftermath of the fight, Doctor Corey captures the treacherous High Priest, while the king unmasks himself as one Captain Victor Cochran of the United States Navy, who has been trapped among the Incas for thirty years.

SKULL THE SLAYER #5

"MAGIC, MYTH AND MADNESS!"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: Sal Buscema & Sonny Trinidad
Lettering: Karen Mantlo | Colors: Michele Wolfman | Editor: Marv Wolfman

The Plot: Demons, sent by Slitherogue and Morgan Le Fay, burst into Merlin's chamber to attack Skull, the Black Knight, and Merlin. The heroes fight off the creatures, but when Merlin casts a spell, he goes cataonic. Skull realizes that Merlin is a robot and smashes him to prove it to the Black Knight. Meanwhile, Slitherogue resurrects Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey, giving them to Morgan Le Fay as her army against Skull.

Elsewhere, the Black Knight brings Skull to the castle of King Arthur, where the Knight activates the robotic monarch to warn him of Morgan's attack. Moments later, Morgan leads a horde of demons, plus Skull's former friends, in an attack on the castle. Arthur's robot knights are activated and the battle is joined. Amid the chaos, Ann, Jeff, and Corey confront Skull, but Corey is hit by a stray arrow. This snaps everyone out of their blood-crazed stupor. As the battle winds down around them, the Black Knight finishes off Morgan. He approaches Skull and reveals himself as a robot too, then Skull and his friends head for the Tower of Time's doorway out of the Arthurian era.

Continuity Notes: There's one footnote in this story, referencing issue 1 when the death of Skull's brother is brought up. However there is also a non-footnoted flasback to last issue as Jeff, Ann, and Doctor Corey all recall their respective death scenes.

SONS OF THE TIGER PART 12

As presented in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU Nos. 31 & 32.

"DARK WATERS OF DEATH!" | "THE TIGER-SONS MUST DIE!"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: Joe Staton & Sonny Trinidad
Tones: Michele Brand (issue 33)

The Plot: (DEADLY HANDS #32) White Tiger and his brother, Filippo, arrive at the waterfront, where the Tiger boards the freighter El Tigre. Filippo soon follows him aboard, just as Jack of Hearts arrives. Jack and Filippo are confronted by a group of costumed men, while White Tiger prowls the ship. Elsewhere, Danny Rand and Shang-Chi arrive at Misty Knight's private detective office, where Misty is speaking with Blackbyrd, who wants help in finding White Tiger. Danny and Shang-Chi agree to join in as well.

Back on the freighter, White Tiger fights his way to a sinister executive named Wender. Meanwhile, Blackbyrd, Iron Fist, and Shang-Chi approach the ship via helicopter. The two heroes disembark to join Jack of Hearts' battle on deck, but Blackbyrd is shot down. The chopper crashes, sending El Tigre drifting down the river, but Blackbyrd survives. White Tiger fights off Wender's men, while Shang-Chi and Iron Fist help rout Jack of Hearts' opponents. Filippo is injured and makes his way into the ship, where he finds Wender babbling about White Tiger. Further into the ship, Filippo meets up with his brother to find the drug-runners in their board room, all dead of self-inflicted gunshots.

White Tiger confronts Filippo, realizing that his brother is actually the leader of the drug-runners and that he was never a junkie. Filippo pulls a gun on the Tiger, who is joined by Jack, Shang-Chi, and Iron Fist. Filippo reveals his plans to join Fu Manchu's organization, but is shocked when he views a recording from Manchu stating that Filippo's operation is beneath him. Realizing he has no way out, Filippo arms the bomb attached to his chest. White Tiger and the others escape, but the ship blows up with Filippo, his men, and his drugs aboard.

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.