In the main tale, Arcturus Rann and Marionette wind up in a New York City flower shop. The proprietress and her beau exchange goodbyes and the beau winds up being Plantman! Rann wants to head for the hills but Marionette convinces him to stay and fight for the missing woman's honor against Plantman and his carnivorous plants! It's Plantman so he gets his ass handed to him.
In the backup tale, the first installment of Tales from the Microverse, we get to find out what's happening on Spartak, namely the resurrection of Prince Shaitan.
Pat Broderick did a great job in this issue. Unfortunately, the joy that may have given me has been tainted by the knowledge that he frequently disregarded parts of Bill's plots. Still, the man knows his way around a Micronaut.
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After sorting out the Mack truck from the cover art, Acroyear, Microtron, Cilicia, and Bug wind up at McDonald's just in time to foil a robbery by the world's worst burglar in a pretty hilarious encounter. They are finally reunited with Marionette and Arcturus Rann and go looking for Biotron and the Endeaver.
In the Tales from the Microverse segment, Slug sees all is not well on Homeworld and the signs lead her to... Prince Argon? No!!!!
Well, I happen to know Baron Karza shows up soon so I guess we'll get the inside scoop soon enough. Even though I'm aware of his personality clashes with Bill Mantlo, I'm still happy to have Pat Broderick as the regular artist at this point.
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Biotron, stuck repairing the ship as usual, leaves Odd John's barn to scavenge parts. He winds up in a scrap yard and startles a bum, who grabs a strange wand and gets possessed by the Molecule Man! Biotron gives Molecule Man a running battle until he finally eludes him, just in time to meet up with the other Micronauts back at Odd John's barn.
The was a pretty good issue. Biotron usually doesn't get much play but was star of the show here, barely eluding the Molecule Man. Pat Broderick's art is going a long way toward making me forget Michael Golden isn't ever coming back.
The back stories were decent. Microtron rolling in on Marionette and Arcturus Rann getting down was hilarious and it was nice to touch base with the events on Homeworld, which I assume the Micronauts will find themselves in the middle of in another issue or two.
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The Micronauts get the hell out of dodge but something takes over the Endeavor's computer systems. The Micronauts find themselves at some kind of installation where they battle Computrex, an evil sentient computer. As Computrex tries to take control of Biotron, Rann is forced to relieve his past memories and nearly beats Marionette to death in the process. Heavy stuff.
In the backup story, Shaitan's uprising continues and he encounters Prince Pharoid. Slug's on his ass, though.
While people compare Micronauts to Star Wars, it's far more a love letter to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, primarily the epic Lee and Kirby run on Fantastic Four and Kirby's Fourth World. The Micronauts feel more like a family than an Avengers style team and the character designs are Kirby-esque. I shouldn't be this excited to keep reading a comic from 1981.
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The interior is better. After all the biological Micronauts except Bug get some action, The Micronauts battle The Fixer and Mentallo. Eventually, they get the upper hand and Rann pries the secrets out of Mentallo's mind, being that they serve HYDRA and HYDRA is being controlled by someone in the Microverse. The Micronauts decide to go to SHIELD for help and it's roll the credits.
In the backup story, we're told the origin of Baron Karza and Argon winds being host to Karza's personality. I smell another epic confrontation on the wind...
The interior was better than the cover but The Micronauts are due to fight someone besides earthbound super villains. I'm looking forward to the inevitable return to the Microverse and Micronauts vs. Karza II.
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A ton of stuff is packed into this issue, a reminder of what we've lost in the name of decompression. The Micronauts help SHIELD repel a HYDRA invasion of the SHIELD helicarrier and protect the ESPers from Hydra agents. However, it is not enough to stop Baron Karza from seizing control of the Enigma Force from Arcturus Rann and reducing Marionette to atoms...
... sending her back into Microverse, where she warns everyone of the coming of Karza. But it's too late! Karza has control of the Time Travlers! We're all fucked!
Ahem. A ton of stuff happened. Turns out SHIELD has a collection of Microverse artifacts. For some reason, that made me very happy. Bug releases Dagon, another Acroyear, and there's a big damn fight. Mantlo didn't shy away from big events and there's a big one coming. Microwar II is going to be spectacular. Random thought - the Spacewall is a lot like the Source Wall separating the New Gods' universe from the DC universe.
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SHIELD and HYDRA duke it out on the helicarrier while Baron Karza battles Commander Rann. The Micronauts are betrayed by Dagon the Acroyear and Biotron might be dead. The issue closes with SHIELD on the verge of defeat and Rann comatose at Karza's hands.
Yeah, Mantlo really didn't mind throwing the Micronauts from the frying pan into the fire in almost every issue. Big stuff is on the horizon. I kind of wish they hadn't already revealed the fate of Marionette, though.
Bug teaming up with Dum Dum Dugan was my favorite part of the issue. I can't wait until Dagon gets what's coming to him for what he did to Biotron. And Karza's defeat, of course.
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Microwar II comes to a head. SHIELD and HYDRA battle in Fantasy Land, a stand-in for Disneyland. Karza looks to be on the verge of victory until Shaitan betrays him and dies a second time. Acroyear and Karza battle it out with the fate of two universes in the balance. It ends as expected, with Acroyear and the Worldmind defeating Karza, leaving a naked King Argon behind.
So the team is reunited here but Biotron is presumably dead, Rann is in another coma, and Spartak is probably devastated. Mantlo really knew how to push a guy's buttons.
I'm guessing the next issue will be the aftermath. Good thing since I need a breather. Mantlo and Broderick did a fantastic job of portraying such an epic scale conflict.
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Doc Samson guest stars in this issue that sees Bug, Marionette, and Acroyear go into Commander Rann's mind to save his life, kind of like Fantastic Voyage meets Doctor Strange. Meanwhile, Dagon means to kill Rann with only Microtron standing in his way.
For an aftermath issue, this one had a lot going on. Cilicia calls Acroyear a coward for leaving the team. The truth behind Dagon is revealed. Bug, Marionette, and Acroyear go up against Nightmare and finally save Commander Rann.
The Micronauts are returning to Homeworld in the next issue which makes this a good stopping point for me. In the next installment, I'll tackle issues 30 to 38. Until next time, Micronuts!
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