Comic Books: February 2006 Archives

One of my favorite shows about the movie industry is on IFC (Independent Film Channel): Dinner For Five. Hosted by Jon Favreau (Swingers), it's like have dinner with five people in Hollywood. The guest list changes each week and includes people in both television and movies. One week Michael Chiklis was a guest, along with producer Michael De Luca. De Luca, obviously a big fan of the Shield, starting asking Chiklis about Aceveda's sexual assault and if this was planned from the very beginning of that season. Just last Friday, a very cool episode was shown with Kevin Smith taking over Favreau's place as dinner-boss, and the guests included Stan Lee, J.J. Abrams, Jason Lee, and Mark Hamill. Abrams told fascinating stories about how he sold his first movie scripts while in college (one of them was Regarding Henry), and how he started "dating" Tom Cruise (after he watched the first two seasons of ALIAS on dvd) and became director of Mission Impossible 3.

Stan Lee's told a story regarding Marvel Super Special #1, featuring KISS. This was a big event at the time. Marvel put Steve Gerber (Howard the Duck) on the book, who wrote a wild tale about KISS fighting Doctor Doom. Marvel obviously hoped this would lure rock fans to their superhero line. On the cover, it actually says: Printed in real KISS blood. Lee said that he took an airplane trip with all the KISS members to the printing plant, which was most likely Sparta, Illinois. They were met at the airport by the police, who escorted them all the way to the factory. Roads were blocked off and traffic was halted so that Gene Simmons and company could shed a few drops into the printing ink. As Lee said, and as Don King would say, Only in America! I wonder what Stan the Man could possibly discuss with the KISS gang on the airplane flight? Nuff said.

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I just saw this Spider-Man 3 teaser poster at the Comics Continuum. It's not a black and white photograph, so is it Topher or Tobe? Click to enlarge and let me know...

I'm betting on Topher, as Venom. Or maybe Peter wearing the black symbiote costume before it goes to Topher. Topher as Peter Parker's opposite number is genious casting.

After crankiness comes guilt. To restore balance to the Force, I must talk about the good things in comics. I held up my fanboy nose at Bruce Jones' Warlord #1, but back in the day, he was the undisputed king of short stories. Jones wrote a number of memorable short stories for Warren's black and white horror magazines, such as Creepy and Eerie. He worked with a variety of notable artists, such as Richard Corben and Berni Wrightson. Jones' short stories always had an O-Henry twist at the end that gave you a kick. I'll never forget the story called "Jennifer" from Creepy that he did with Wrightson. Clarice, a girl born with a ghastly face, casts an uncanny Lolita-like spell on men. Jones' story works perfectly with Wrightson's black and white artwork. In tracking this down on the Internet, I discovered two things. One, there is a great recap of Jennifer over at Datajunkie's blog. Two, there is actually a filmed version of this on Showtime's Masters of Horror! Starring Steven Weber from Wings, who actually adapted it for Dario Argento to direct. I gotta see this ASAP.

After Warren fell apart, Jones went on to work for Marvel (Kazar) and Pacific Comics. At Pacific, Jones edited two anthologies: Alien Worlds (science fiction) and Twisted Tales (horror). He wrote all the short stories with A-list top talent on the art: Al Williamson, Val Mayerik, Scott Hampton, Dave Stevens, John Bolton, Mike Ploog, as well as his friends Corben and Wrightson.

Looking over my collection, I remembered that Jones even drew a few stories himself (see the panel above), and he's a very capable artist. In this particular story that he wrote and drew, Jones displays an ability to tell a story from a kid's perspective. His artwork really sells that feeling of innocence.

It's no secret that Mike Ploog is one of my favorite artists. He wasn't working much in comics after he left Marvel, but Jones coaxed him back for a short story. This one involved a man, completely downtrodden, who has an affair with a hooker. The hooker keeps demanding more and more material possessions. He keeps working and getting promoted to give her curtains, televisions, furniture, etc., until he can't take it any longer.

Jones moved on to Eclipse, where he edited more anthologies. He teamed with his Kazar artist, Brent Anderson, to produce a limited series called Somerset Holmes. Somerset was a unique series featuring a woman as the titular character, suffering from amnesia, on the run from people who want to kill her. In a way, it reminded me of the first few issues of the Hulk that Jones worked on with John Romita Jr. and Lee Weeks. Great characterization, fantastic feelings of suspense and mystery. I recalled Somerset having a pretty good ending, but the Hulk lost me half way through the big conspiracy.

I'm rambling on because I think Bruce Jones is a good writer. Too bad we can't have him do some anthologies. With decompressed storytelling all the rage, there's no popular outlet for short stories. God, I had better stop before I cry over my Gold Key digests. Nuff said.

I'm cranky again. I tried to make a pledge to myself, not to be cranky for just one day. Then I read this week's new Warlord #1 from DC Comics and fell off the wagon. It's written by Bruce Jones and drawn by Bart Sears. Jones decided to reboot the series from scratch, starting in the present day, with test pilot Travis Morgan crash landing in Skartaris. Skartaris, for those who don't know, is one of those Pellucidars, Savage Lands, Lands-That-Time-Forgot places. Located in an extra-dimensional realm (rather than the Earth's core), Skartaris has sorcerers, demons, barbarians, ancient kingdoms-perfect for any family vacation. In the new first issue, I thought the black and white pages that retold Morgan's origin were flashbacks. A few pages later, when almost nothing happens in the present, I realized I was wrong. It is a complete reboot. We see Morgan's plane go down, but most of the story centers on Tara, a princess who's about to be rodgered to death by a barbarian fighter unless she gets some big muscle protection. Enter the stranger from another land: Travis. I just told you the entire plot of Warlord #1 in half a paragraph!

It's OK and I suppose I shouldn't shoot down a title based on one issue. But I can't understand why it was necessary to reboot Warlord. It's hard to imagine now, but Warlord was one of DC's most successful titles when it was published in 1976. Written and drawn by Mike Grell, I often found Warlord to be more interesting than Conan, because it took a man from the 20th century and plopped him into a savage world. Grell pretty much institutionalized the double-page splash that occurs everywhere now, on pages 2 & 3. He developed a colorful cast of supporting characters (especially the women) and villains Morgan teamed up with various heroes in the DC Universe, including Green Arrow when Grell wrote that series. I can't see throwing all of this away.

Bruce Jones has done this before, ignoring everything that has come before to do his own thing. Hulk and Kazar are prime examples. I would rather that Jones had kept the history, tweaked the characters to modernize them, and add new layers of mystery into Skartaris. Oh well…how many old farts are left to recall the old Warlord, which ceased publication in 1988? Venting all of this hasn't made me any less cranky. It's time to break out those Partridge Family 8-tracks. Come on get happy! Nuff said.

I'm done pissing and moaning about The Other storyline, Peter Parker's bone-spikes, or that crazy new costume. You fanboys are buying this in record numbers, so I'm just too old and inflexible. Amazing Spider-Man 529 is a bit better than the previous issues, and it ties into Civil War. Peter gets the new costume from Stark and it enables him to fly. Which I don't get at all--do spiders fly? Oh well, they don't shoot you in their eye with their webs, so maybe I'm inconsistent. I'll just have you young ones know that Spider-Man flew before. That picture above was from ASM 328. During the story arc in ASM 326-329, Peter inherited the power cosmic of Captain Universe, which enabled him to defeat Count Nefaria, Magneto, and the Incredible Hulk! Yeah, it was weird then, it's weird now.

I'll tell you what is even weirder: Tony Stark talking out of that eagle in Peter and Mary Jane's bedroom. I'd run for the hills if that happened to me. Want to bet there isn't a camera in there, despite what Stark said? I'd move out ASAP. We've been watching Tony Stark getting more closely involved in Peter's life for the past year, and now we see what this has been building toward. Is it me, or is Tony Stark really different here than in his own mag? Nuff said.

I should just say Nuff said right now. Joss Whedon and John Cassaday are back, with a vengence! Astonishing X-Men 13 is so good, so smooth, it ends before you know it and leaves you wanting more. Much more! On page 1 you'll get the return of you-know-who and see Whedon tie some things back into Grant Morrison's run. The new Hellfire Club is awesome. And this is all integrated with the latest events in the Marvel Universe: fewer mutants and Nick Fury is absent from S.H.I.E.L.D. Oh my god, six weeks until ASX 14? Nuff said.

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Spoilers ahead. I've never been a big fan of the new Batgirl. She debuted in the Batman crossover event No Man's Land with a startling mask that had the mouthpiece stitched together. Turns out that the new Batgirl, who we later discovered was an Asian girl named Cassandra, was taught not to speak by her father, David Cain. Her mother was Lady Shiva, one of DC's most deadly assassins, who routinely fought Batman, the Question, and Black Canary. Cassandra's inability to speak was one reason I never got into the character, even though a good portion of Batgirl's 73-issue run involved her learning to talk and read. Now with the Infinite Crisis turnover, there are various rumors that there will be a character called Batwoman. What would happen to Cassandra?

In Batgirl 72, Cassandra was actually killed by her step-brother, stabbed right through the heart. The last few issues of Batgirl have been as bloody and violent as Kill Bill. Cassandra was on a quest to learn if Lady Shiva really is her mother (yes), but in order to confront Shiva, she had to fight the League of Assassins (a terrorist outfit run by Ra's al Ghul's daughter Talia). Batgirl 73 opens with a dream sequence where Cassandra is talking to the ghost of The Spoiler, and then it turns out that Cassandra is alive--rejuvenated by one of Ra's Lazarus Pits. Shiva has resurrected her for a pretty stupid reason: yeah, you're my daughter, and now we're gonna fight to the death. Stupid, stupid. Cassandra snaps Shiva's neck and impales her on a hook, dangling above the Lazarus Pit. Cassandra whimpers, "Sorry, Mom." Not sorry because she did all of the above; sorry because she can't grant Shiva's death wish. You just can't raise your kids with decent values anymore! Leaving Shiva above the Lazarus Pit means that the little minx will be back.

Cassandra walks off to wander the world, abandoning the bat-costume. This is the last issue, so it's a permanent change. Will Cassandra become a new hero or a really wicked villain? Her past history indicates that she has a fucked-up psyche and is one seriously damaged chick. I think she would be an interesting nemesis for Batman, she since knows all of his secrets. Nuff said.

External Links:
Wikipedia's entry on Cassandra Cain

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Spoilers abound, droogies. The pick of the week is Daredevil 82, featuring the new writer, Ed Brubaker, joined by his Gotham Central artist, Michael Lark. Both the story and art exceeded my expectations, which were already set pretty high. I had doubts about Matt Murdock being in jail, about why he wouldn't be given special treatment, and Brubaker answers all of them as part of the main story thread. He carries all of the plot threads and characters from Bendis' run and has Matt getting into even deeper shit now that he's in prison. A blind superhero with super-sensitive hearing and smell, stuck in a grimy jail cell, with Kingpin, Hammerhead, the Owl, and Tarantula as neighbors? That's my idea of hell. The artwork is superb. I wondered how Lark would draw Daredevil in a costume-only because I think he excels at drawing normal people and things like police\spy dramas-but he does an excellent job. I've always loved his artwork, but I've never seen it look better.

I'm not going to recap the plot, suffice to say if you like Daredevil, if you liked Bendis' run, or if you were a Sleeper fan, then this is a must-have comic. As for the spoiler, well, Marvel already spoiled it a few weeks ago. Foggy dies. We read this in the Marvel solicitations, and then Joe Quesada confirmed it in this Newsarama interview. I think it's to Brubaker and Lark's credit that I still found Daredevil #82 to have a powerful impact even though I knew what was coming. But if I hadn't known…I probably would have needed a stiff drink to recover. It's a shame that Quesada lessened the impact of such a great book.

When Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada took editorial control of Marvel Comics a few years ago, one of their first policy decisions was to clamp down on spoilers in the Previews solicitations. I thought this was an excellent idea. They went a little overboard at first, almost saying nothing in the blurbs, just showing the cover. Combined with the ban on overprinting and reordering, this made it hard for retailers to beef up their orders when a big event occurred. The excuse Quesada gave was that he wanted the retailers to order big on Daredevil 82, but they could have done it a bit differently. They could have just said that someone close to Daredevil dies-the first person I might have suspected was Milla, because no woman lives for long when they are around Matt.

Marvel is doing this trick again, with their upcoming one-shot, Death in the Family, featuring the Fantastic Four. They tell you in the solicitation that Sue Storm dies and it's not a hoax. In the latest Newsarama interview, Quesada not only confirms it's not a hoax, but they're gonna kill off two members of the F.F.! Mark Waid killed off the Thing and brought him back to life, but I enjoyed the heaven-trip and the nod to Kirby as God in the end. Quesada says these upcoming deaths are permanent, but unless you are killing H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot or Medusa (the Inhuman substitute for Sue Storm), death just seems like it's becoming cheap. I don't know. Call me crazy, but I just think these things are better off being surprises. I'll always remember reading Uncanny X-Men #137 and being floored when Jean Grey died for the first time. Or Daredevil #181 when Elektra died for the first time. Or the first time that I read the Bucky flashback when he tries to stop Baron Zemo's rocket. Big impact. And they all came back. Sheesh. OK, I really liked Resurrection Man--he died and came back to life in every issue. Nuff said.

External Links:
Quesada discusses Daredevil 82 on Joe Fridays 34
Quesada discusses Fantastic Four Death in the Family on Joe Fridays 38

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Have you ever eaten two things that should not be combined? Like a peanut butter sandwich with anchovies, or one of those fusion pizzas with Chinese sweet and sour sauce? Well, that's how I felt reading New Avengers 16. The first half is getting me so excited, there's practically jelly emanating from my pores. Yeah, Bendis has me all wet and lathered up with this powerful new enemy. Now we know where all that mutant energy went to after House of M! This enemy is so powerful, I don't even think the New Avengers can stop it. I'm going, yeah Bendis, yeah Daddy-O, you're the Man, you got your mojo back! Then after the S.H.I.E.L.D. director-chick finally calls Stark Tower, I turn the page and go what the fuck is this. An ad for Hostess Fruit Pies? Turn ahead several pages. No. It's a real story. Turn back. "Untold Tales of the New Universe Starring: Kickers Inc".

Kickers Inc? This is one team I hoped I would never, ever see again. I remembered reading this would be a back-up story, but I assumed that meant, like, five pages, tops. It's eight pages. I think one page would have been one page too many. Kickers Inc, in case you don't remember or weren't born yet, was part of the Marvel's New Universe launch back in the 80s. They were a group of football players who became superheroes. It's on the top ten list of all-time bad superhero comics. Sheesh. This is truly the team that is back because No One Demanded It, True Believers! Can I get a refund for 75 cents, please? Next time give me a backup of any ex-Avenger. Even D-Man could be more entertaining than this! Nuff said.

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Frank Miller made quite an impression at Wondercon, with a couple of articles appearing this week after it ended. Peter Hartlaub at the San Francisco Chronicle talked to Miller and extracted more information about the new Batman graphic novel that Miller is drawing. It's going to be titled "Holy Terror, Batman" and it's going to be a whopper at 200 pages. Miller has finished 120 pages so far; previous rumors indicated it was going to be black and white, like Sin City. Batman isn't going to fight Republicans any more...

"I wish the entertainers of our time had the spine and the focus of the ones who faced down Hitler," Miller said. "I just think it's silly to have Batman out chasing the Riddler when you've got al Qaeda out there."

Yeah, but the minute you make superheroes enter into real world conflicts, it's just not realistic. Batman could invade Iraq all by himself. The Flash could find Osama Bin Linden in a few minutes of super-speed searching and bring him to US Navy aircraft carriers in the Gulf. That's why Roy Thomas wrote that story about the DC heroes not being able to go to Europe or Japan during World War 2.

I am constantly confused by Miller's politics. Is he liberal or conservative? He bashed Reagan in Dark Knight Returns and took swipes at big corporations (Starbucks) in Dark Knight Strikes Again. Yet Miller loves punishing criminals mercilessly through his characters, and now he's going after al Qaeda.

Miller also made an appearance in Berkeley for a screening of Sin City that benefited the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. There are some good behind the scenes info on Newsarama about how Miller worked with Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke.

External Links:
Who needs comic-book villains when real ones lurk? Not Batman.
SPACE Channel Video showing Holy Terror pages
CBLDF's Benefit Sin City Screening Report.
Frank Miller Wondercon Spotlight Part 1
Frank Miller Wondercon Spotlight, Part 2

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A lot of people who are reading Infinite Crisis are not hardcore DC fans; even if you are a DC fan, you may not have read the Flash for the past 20 years. What is the Speed Force and who were those guys in Infinite Crisis #4? To answer that, we are going to go back to the beginning-to Barry Allen, the Flash of the Silver Age of comic books.

Barry Allen always assumed that his origin was tied up with a bolt of lightning striking his laboratory. The chemicals that splashed over his body supposedly transformed him into the scarlet speedster. But in a flashback shown in Speed Force Special #1 (1997), we could see that Barry started to doubt this theory. After an encounter with a villain called Cobalt Blue, who seemed to withdraw the speed power from both Barry and Wally West (Kid Flash at that point), Barry suspected a greater force was at work.

Everyone knows by now that Barry Allen died in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series. He went out like a hero, running circles around the Anti-Monitor's machine in order to destroy it. However, what most new fans won't know is that this is only half of the story…

In 1988, DC published Flash Annual 2 (Vol. 2), featuring the Secret Origin of Barry Allen. It was written by a wonderful writer named Robert Loren Fleming and drawn by Flash's co-creator, Carmine Infantino. In this story, which actually covered most of Barry Allen's life, we see at the end that he transformed into a creature of pure energy…

…and eventually became a lightning bolt, going back in time and striking Barry's lab full of chemicals. In effect, he created himself. Who knows if DC's current generation of writers remembers this annual? Is it still canon? But I like it, only if I can say that the lightning bolt is not an endless, repeating loop, and that it eventually goes to the Speed Force. We would have to wait seven years to ask these questions...

In Flash #1 Vol.2 (1987), we see that Wally West is making good on his promise to become the Flash (which he stated at the end of Crisis). His speed power is nowhere near Barry's, as he can barely match the speed of sound. A trip across America to deliver vital supplies takes an hour and Wally's so exhausted at the end that he has to scarf down a ton of fast food to restore his energy.

Wally's quest to regain Barry's speed was a recurring theme in the new Flash's first 90 issues. When Mark Waid took over, Wally's scientist friends kept telling him that it wasn't possible for any human being to run as fast as Barry. After a trip through time, (courtesy of Zero Hour) Wally runs past the speed of light-but he pays a price. In Flash 95, Linda stumbles through a doorway to find that Wally is becoming a being of pure energy!

To make matters worse, Wally's seen a glimpse of the future-that he will die saving Linda-dissipating into pure energy. Despite all of Wally's best efforts to avoid his fate, it comes true at the hands of Kobra. In Flash 99, Kobra fires an energy weapon at Linda. In order to stop it, Wally must run faster than ever before. He saves Linda and explodes in a flash of light.

In Flash 100, Central City has a big problem. It is sealed off from the rest of the DC Universe, and Kobra's terrorist cell is in control. Linda Park proves she is no pushover and manages to survive on her own. Just as Kobra finally corners Linda and gets ready to kill her, Wally returns, surrounded by bolts of lightning. He defeats Kobra using speed powers we've never seen him wield.

Marvel released The Punisher: Bloody Valentine last week, and it's the best Punisher story I 've read in years. I'm not a big fan of what's been done with the Punisher recently, but Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have a script that delivers action, humor, and...romance. Yeah, it's fucking unbelievable, but the Punisher gets all soft and mushy on this assassin called Suspiria. He dropped her off a roof in a previous tale, not that Suspiria holds much of a grudge: "I spent nine months learning how to walk again. All you had to do was visit Home Depot." Suspiria is one tough chick: she's good with guns, knives, and she's smarter than the Punisher, because she's got tons of money and ample resources. After they blow up a warehouse full of WMDs, Suspiria whisks the Punisher on an airplane bound for Europe. Punisher knows he's in for a good time: "She looks good, damn good...so I put up with this round-the-world tour for information I could have had hours ago with a little force." He gets laid three times in this book, nothing shown but implied, but hey, it's the most sex the Punisher has had since his wife got killed. Paul Gulacy's artwork complements the script beautifully--he makes Suspiria a bad-ass and sexy chick without going over the top. He also recaps the Punisher's origin in a very cinematic way, and contrasts that against the death of Suspiria's husband. If you're a Gulacy fan, you should definitely check this out. Nuff said.

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I was blown away by this week's issue of Superman. "This Is Your Life - Part I" is an Infinite Crisis crossover that is really worthwhile. We see "our" current generation Superman getting pummeled by another blue clad figure--who has to be Superman I. I am sure we will see the entire fight in Infinite Crisis #5, judging from the Jim Lee cover. With each blow, Superman receives memories and visions of the elder Superman's life on Earth 1. The way this is told by Joe Kelly, using various narrators (Ma Kent, Lois Lane, Clark Kent) is just marvelous. It's also a jam issue, artistically speaking, with Ed Benes, Tim Sale, Jerry Ordway, and Howard Chaykin.

You can understand Superman I's point of view more clearly through this story. He's part of the first generation of superheroes. He has lived through World War II and the McCarthy era that forced the JSA to step down. He see evil in very black and white terms because the villains he fought had no shades of gray. And he loves Lois Lane more than anything in the world. We see a lot of Superman's courtship of Lois in these flashbacks, drawn by Howard Chaykin, which gives a nostalgic, Cary Grant\Kathryn Hepburn quality to their relationship. Fans of the Justice Society and the All Star Squadron won't want to miss this one. Hopefully the remaining chapters will be just as good. Nuff said.

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I've got two thoughts on Green Lantern 8. One, the story was incredibly lame. Two, the artwork by Carlos Pacheco was incredible, especially this double page spread...

Cowabunga! All of my favorite Corps members from the 80s, ripe for my Windows desktop (double click the pic to get a super-sized view). Pacheco amazes me with his love for 70s and 80s superheroes, which he read over in Spain. He can make any story great with his awesome pencilling power. However...

...this story is just pure leftovers from Superman Annual 11 ("For The Man Who Has Everything") by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. In this rehash, Green Lantern and Green Arrow team up to fight Mongul, and get waylaid by his Black Mercy parasite plant--the one that makes them dream of a perfect, happy life before it kills them. Even though they know in advance what this fucking thing does, they still fall into the trap. Yeah, sure, it's interesting that Hal is buddies with Sinestro and that Ollie is a loyal family man with four kids. But the story has only one way to go, the same one that Alan Moore wrote: eventually the heroes wake up and butt kick Mongul. But in Moore's story, Mongul got his comeuppance, at the hands of Robin no less!

Johns is content to have Hal Jordan simply teleport Mongul back to his homeworld. What the fuck? Is this how a man without fear acts? Mongul's father destroyed Coast City and fractured Jordan's mind enough to let Parallax take over. Mongul is a mass murderer who makes all of Earth's dictators puny by comparison. Jordan has an obligation to bring this thug down. Instead, he just gets rid of him. I don't get it. Jordan's a member of an Inter-galactic police force. I can only assume that Infinite Crisis has shattered Geoff Johns' mind. Nuff said.

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I didn't immediately geek out over Daredevil #81 because, well, we've been geeking out way too much over Bendis' work lately. He's supposed to be our mortal enemy, after all, for tearing up the Vision like that. But the conclusion to his final arc was superb. Matt Murdock's life is trashed beyond belief. Warren Ellis asked a question in one his Bad Signals:

"...what *does* make a Marvel character work? (Answer: tragedy.)"

I can't think of a Marvel hero with more tragedy than Matt Murdock. Think of all the times he's been punched, shot, stabbed, and sliced. The girlfriends that died? The ex-girlfriends came back to life? And now it might happen to poor Foggy.

I still can't imagine anyone putting Daredevil in the same jail cell with the Owl, Kingpin, and Hammerhead. (Isn't anyone bothered that Hammerhead is appearing in the Sentry now and he's out of jail?) But it's gotta be that way for dramatic license.

There's a really cool podcast that Quesada conducts with Bendis and incoming writer Ed Brubaker on Marvel's web site. Brubaker said that he has two choices with Daredevil: put the genie back in the bottle (the secret identity) or push the situation even further (he's doing the latter). Word Balloon has a nice podcast interview with Bendis on Daredevil and many other topics, including decompressed storytelling. Nuff said.

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Ah, the Winter Soldier story concluded in Captain America #14 this week. I think this panel is one of the greatest moments in Marvel history...

"Remember who you are." If you're confused about what happened afterward with Bucky and the Cosmic Cube, this interview with Brubaker at Newsarama should clear it all up:

"...Bucky didn't make a wish. He just destroyed the cube. My feeling was at that last moment, he just wanted to be anywhere than where he was right then, full of grief, having just tried to kill his best friend. He just wanted to go home. So when he disappeared, that's where he went. The only real home he ever had..."

I hope that Brubaker and Epting stay on this series for a long time. It hasn't been this good in decades. Nuff said.

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