Phoenix Vs. Beyonder--No Contest!

Because some days...

...you need to see John Romita, Jr. draw the nuPhoenix fighting the Beyonder, just because...

But first, a cosmic interlude...

I've always liked JRJR's art, especially the way he lays out pages. In some ways, he's a better whole page artist than an individual panel artist. Your mileage may vary, of course...

Goodbye, Alcatraz...

Or not...

Remember when Bendis retconned the Beyonder so he was "just" a mutant Inhuman, and not really the sentient manifestation of an entire multiverse? Good times, those, even though it never made a lick of sense in the context of any of the Beyonder stories...

Yup, mutant Inhuman more powerful than Phoenix. Got it.

Anyway, that's all I got this post. Sorry if it was kind of rambly.

From Uncanny X-Men #202 (1986)

Zatara And The Dead Presidents!!

Yeah, yeah, I've been doing a lot of Zatara storys lately--I go wherever the comics winds take me.

Also, sorry for the muddy panels here. Hey, DC, how about a Zatara Omnibus, so someone can clean up the surviving art a bit? Hmmm?

Anyway, there's a gang of counterfeiters running about town!

Yup, when you're Zatara, money talks!

That little letter C is a clue--an artist/engraver is being held prisoner by the gang, and forced to make plates for printing money, so he put his (tiny) trademark in each one as a message in a bottle.

That's enough for Zatara to track them down, and give them their just desserts!

YOW!! Don't frak with Ben Franklin!

I'm glad they didn't forget the poor, neglected $2 bill...

If only Hamilton had shot that well in the duel...

The guys are lucky...Harriet Tubman would have kicked the butts much more thoroughly

Oh, man...what about the $1000 bill? Or $5000? $10,000? C'mon, Zatara, animate the $100,000 bill, so we can see Woodrow Wilson kick ass!!

Imagine what Zatara could do with Bitcoin!

From World's Finest Comics #20 (1945)

Dial E For Eternity--Zuvembies!!

Our tale begins on a dark and stormy night...

Well, the Haitian authorities aren't too broken up about Redd's escape:

Yup, pass the problem on to some other nation!

What are Dr. Redd's crimes? Well, our first clue comes in yet another bookkeeping error in Eternity!

Oh, come on, Kid. We've seen plenty of cases where some mook just walked away from Eternity!!

Ahh, but this case might be different!

"Obeah-brutes"??

If this weren't 1949, I would suspect that the writer was just avoiding the use of the word "zombie" to stay clear of the Comics Code.

It becomes even more interesting when a quick and dirty Google search seems to indicate that this story is the only place that the phrase "obeah-brutes" has ever appeared!!

So why not use "zombie?" Or "zuvembie" (a term Marvel borrowed from a Robert E. Howard story when they wanted to do zombies in the 1970s)? Only writer Bill Woolfolk could tell you...

Anyway, Dr. Redd reaches another country...

Hey, zombie obeah-brute servants are great!!

We soon learn that Redd's crimes go beyond reviving the recently dead, when he decides to rob the first casino he sees:

Kid chooses that moment to show up...

...and he calls for:

Sohrab! This is your first appearance (although Kid did summon his father once...)!

However, as god a fighter as Sohrab is, he's helpless against foes who can't feel pain and never tire!

The obeah-brutes take out Kid:

And take the money!

Gun-weilding zombies!! You gotta love it!!

In a very important bit of foreshadowing...

Wow, I wonder if that's going to come into play later?

Kid hasn't met Redd yet, so he wonders why obeah-brutes need money...

Well, there's quite a zombie crime spree.

And local authorities are kind of clueless when it comes to the mysteries of obeah!

Redd wants to pull off one last job--a big one!

But Kid is ahead of the game for once, and guesses that "the world's richest girl" will be the next target:

So, how do you stop a speeding train?

Put a zombie on the tracks!! (Zombie On The Tracks really should have been the title of Dylan's latest Bootleg Series release...)

Kid still hasn't learned that you can't go hand-to-hand with obeah-brutes.

So he calls upon...

Giuseppi Garibaldi?!? He was a great general, but there's not a lot of history to indicate that he was a great hand-to-hand fighter, so this is a summons that probably isn't going to work.

Told you.

Kid gets captured along with the girl, and Redd silences him:

He gets the million dollars ransom, but proves he's a right by planning to kill Grace anyway!!

Throwing her off a cliff might not be the most "painless" end I can think of.

Fortunately, Kid wakes up just in time!

Jacques Charles, who made the first manned hydrogen balloon flight!!

But how can Kid finally put an end to this?

William S. Hart!! Now, I would have thought that you'd want a real cowboy, and nor just an actor, if you wanted some serious precision shooting. But Hart does a fine job, removing the fetish from Redd's control.

Which means--obeah-brute rebellion!!

Well, that was convenient!

And so back to Eternity, to balance the books!

Crazy story, with a bunch of original summonings, and zobies with guns. Good show!!

This was the 81st Kid Eternity story, and our standing are...

Abu	1
Achilles	4
Adam	1
Alden, John	1
Antony, Marc	2
Apollo	1
Aramis	2
Arnold, Benedict	1
Arthur, King	2
Astor, John Jacob	1
Athos	2
Atlas	3
Attila The Hun	1
Attucks, Crispin	1
Baden-Powell, Robert	1
Baker, Lafayette	1
Barry's father	1
Barton, Clara	1
Bernhardt, Sarah	1
Bertillon, Alphonse	4
Blackhawk	1
Bloodhounds (Legree's)	1
Bluebeard	1
Bolivar, Simon	1
Boone, Daniel	1
Bowie, Jim	1
Boyd, Belle	1
Brady, Diamond Jim	1
Brady, Matthew	1
Breitbart, Zishe	1
Bridger, Jim	1
British Tank crew	1
Bucephalus	2
Bunyan, Paul	3
Byron, George Gordon	2
Caesar, Octavian	1
Cagliostro, Alessandro	1
Calhoun, John C.	1
Canary, Martha “Calamity”	1
Cannon, John W.	1
Capulet, Juliet	1
Carden, Foster	1
Carpenter, Daniel	1
Cave Man	1
Charles, Jacques	1
Cherry Sisters	1
Christian, Fletcher	1
Clancy, Patrick	1
Cleopatra	1
Cody, “Buffalo” Bill	2
Colt, Samuel	1
Columbus, Christopher	2
Corbett, Jim	3
Corcoran, Peter	1
Cortes, Hernan	1
Crillon	1
Crockett, Davy	1
Cronson, Gerald	1
Crusaders	1
Crusoe, Robinson	1
Custer, George Armstrong	2
D'artagnan	2
d'Aubigny. Julie	1
Daedalus	1
Dagger Dan	1
Davis, Richard Harding	1
de Bergerac, Cyrano	2
de Leon, Ponce	1
de Rais, Gilles	1
Decatur, Stephen	1
Discus Thrower	1
Dockstader, Lew	1
Dracula	1
Drake, Sir Francis	1
Dupin, C. Auguste	1
Earhart, Amelia	1
Edison, Thomas	2
Emery	1
Ericson, Leif	2
Fagin	1
Fairbanks, Douglas Sr.	1
Faraday, Michael	1
Fink, Mike	1
Frankenstein's Monster	1
Franklin, Ben	1
Galahad	1
Garibaldi, Giuseppi	1
Geronimo	2
Goliath	1
Gotch, Frank	1
Gothicus, Claudius	1
Grant, Ulysses S.	1
Graymalkin	1
Greb, Harry	1
Griffiths, Albert	1
Grimm, Joe	1
Gulliver, Lemuel	1
Hamilton, Alexander	1
Hart, William S.	1
Hatfield, John	1
Hathorne, John	1
Hauser, Kaspar	1
Henry, Patrick	1
Hercules	2
Hermann, Alexander	1
Hickathrift, Tom	1
Hickok, Wild Bill	1
Hippocrates	1
Hitler, Adolf	1
Hodges, Joe	1
Holmes, Sherlock	4
Hopkins, Matthew	1
Horatius Cocles	1
Houdini, Harry	3
Houston, Sam	1
Hyde, Edward	1
Hyer, Tom	1
Ikhnaton	1
Ismail, Yusuf	1
Jackson, Andrew	1
James, Jesse	1
Javert	2
Jeffries, Jim	1
Johnson, Martin	1
Jones, John Paul	1
Jove	2
Kamehameha	1
Khan, Genghis	2
Kidd, William	1
Lafayette Escradille	1
Lafayette, General	1
Lancelot	2
Larsen, Wolf	1
Laughing Cavalier	1
Laveran, Charles	1
Leander	3
Lee, Robert E.	1
Legree, Simon	1
Leonidas	2
Light Brigade	1
Lincoln, Abraham	1
Lister, Joseph	2
Macbeth's Witches	1
Marable, Fate	1
Marshall, John	1
Masterson, Bat	1
McGrew, Dan	1
Mercury	5
Merlin	1
Mesmer, Franz	1
Milo Of Croton	2
Minutemen	1
Mix, Tom	1
Montague, Romeo	1
Montezuma	1
Morgan, Henry	1
Mounties	1
Mulgrew, Jason	1
Murphy, Charles	1
Napoleon	1
Nation, Carrie	1
Neanderthal	2
Nefertiti	1
Neptune	1
Nightingale, Florence	1
Noah	1
Nobel, Alfred	2
Nobody	2
North Wind	1
Nostradamus	2
O'Brien, David	1
Oakley, Annie	1
Og	1
Orpheus	1
Osceola	1
Paddock, Charley	1
Pasteur, Louis	1
Penelope	1
Perseus	1
Pheidippides	2
Pied Piper	1
Pinkerton, Allan	1
Plastic Man	1
Pocahontas	1
Poe, Edgar Allen	1
Porthos	4
Post, Wiley	1
Prometheus	1
Quixote, Don	2
Reilly, Sidney	1
Revere, Paul	1
Richard the LionHeart	2
Richtofen's Flying Circus	1
Rin-Tin-Tin	2
Robespierre, Maximilien	1
Robin Hood	3
Roc	1
Rogers' Rangers	2
Röntgen, Wilhelm	1
Russell, Lillian	1
Rustum	1
Ryan, Paddy	1
Samson	3
Sandow, Eugen	1
Sayers, Tom	1
Schleyer, Johann	1
Selous, Frederick	1
Serra, Junipero	1
Shakespeare, Willaim	1
Siegfried	1
Silver, Long John	2
Skunk, Jimmy	1
Socrates	1
Sohrab	1
Solomon	1
Stanley, Henry	1
Steinmetz, Charles	2
Stogie	1
Sullivan, John L.	2
Svengali	1
Tecumseh	1
Tell, William	1
Thalfi	1
Thor	3
Thumb, Tom	1
Thurston, Howard	1
Tiglath IV	1
Tuck, Friar	1
Tut-ankh-amen	1
Twain, Mark	1
Ulysses	1
Uncas	1
Valjean, Jean	1
Vercingetorix	1
Villa, Pancho	1
Villon, Francois	1
von Helmholtz, Hermann	1
Vulcan	2
Washington, George	3
Watson, John H	1
Webster, Daniel	2
Whittington, Richard	1
Wright Brothers	1
Xanthippe	1
Zapata, Emiliano	1
Zbyzko, Stanislaus	1
Zorro	1

NEXT--A day at the races!! And the 250th character summoned by Kid!!

From Kid Eternity #13 (1949)