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.)

Cochran explains how he wound up in the Bermuda Triangle when he took off from the naval base to fly to the aid of a lost aircraft:

Though greeted by the Incas as a god, he was severely burned in the crash, and now wears a half-hood to cover the scarred side of his face.

As noted above, the character referred to in the prior issue as the High Priest is now called the Jaguar Priest. He seems to be a cult leader, with a group of robed figures who can apparently transmutate into jaguars at his command, and with an army of random historical knights on pterodactyls carrying out his siege. He also possesses a degree of telekinesis, gesturing to lift a large urn and send it flying into Skull's back.

My Thoughts: "Hey, it's our last issue! Let's get Jack Kirby to draw the cover!" is a bold strategy. I mean, I don't know if someone on the SKULL team had been trying to secure Kirby for a cover, or if Kirby himself somehow found the series interesting and wanted to contribute, but whatever the case, it seems really wierd that after a bunch of covers done by guys like Ron Wilson and Rich Buckler (after Gil Kane handled the first two), SKULL gets its sendoff with a cover by the King himself. But I suppose that's neither here nor there, other than to note that this is easily the most exciting of all the series' eight covers.

Clearly cancellation came unexpectedly to SKULL. The final issue ends on a heck of a cliffhanger, with our hero unconscious and about to be dragged, with his friends, into the dungeons of the city of gold. I assume something different was going to go in the "next issue" spot until word came down that the series was canned, and we wound up with the hurried memo about this being the final issue.

All I really have to say about this one is that, to follow up on my criticisms of the prior installment, much of it could've been combined with issue 7. If 7's dino-fight had been cut severely short as I suggested, we could've seen Cochran's origin last issue and then ended on a cliffhanger where he and the others are attacked by the dino-riding knights. I know, I really like to second-guess the writers of stories from forty-plus years past, but I can't help myself. When I see bad pacing and glaring examoples of water-treading, all I want to do is figure out how to fix them.

Anyway, I guess Skull and the others spent the rest of their lives in that dungeon, The End.

Eh? They didn't? They had their story resolved a year later in a 2-part MARVEL-TWO-IN-ONE team-up with the Thing, written by none other than Skull's creator, Marv Wolfman? Well then, we'd better examine that story next week! See you then.