Downtown,
Hawkeye is engaged in pursuing and fighting Bob-Cat and his Claws, a team of
acrobatic thieves. Their antics cause a traffic jam in which we see millionaire
Winston J. Kranpuff in his limo, bristling at the delay; this man has a secret
though: he is able to mind meld i.e. project his consciousness into another’s
body and control their actions. He used this for private and immoral gain until
middle age when he turned his attentions to the world of high finance and
became rich through insider trading. He uses his power now to possess a police
officer and order his chauffeur to drive over the sidewalk. Kranpuff’s current
worry is that he is nearly ninety years old and likely to die soon so he must
give thought to taking over another’s body permanently. When he spies Hawkeye
from his office window, contending with Bob-Cat and the Claws across the
rooftops, he has an idea. He casts his mind into the hero’s body but then discovers
he does not also assume his abilities. Hawkeye’s sudden clumsiness and incompetence
surprise the bad guys but also let them get the upper hand. Kranpuff escapes
from Clint’s body, leaving Hawkeye to take down the baddies. Clint wonders what
caused him to black out and hopes it won’t happen again. Winston J. Kranpuff,
however, has died at his desk, his last minutes occupied by being a superhero.
“A
Farewell—With Arms” 3.5/5
Writer:
Bob Layton. Pencils: Bob Layton. Inks: Jackson Guice. Colors: Paul Becton.
Letters: John Workman.
Synopsis:
In Olympus, Hercules discovers Dionysius, God of Wine, seated on a
thermonuclear missile. He explains that he was shamed by She-Hulk’s easily
beating him and desires to die with a bang rather than a whimper. Herc is
unable to talk his friend out of his plan by various appeals so he tries to use
force. But Dionysius conjures up Sgt. Butcher T. Washington, a mercenary with
an advanced tank, giving him twenty minutes until the bomb detonates to defeat
Herc. After contending with the multitude weapons on the tank, Herc finally smashes
it to bits so Washington whips out an Adamantium garrote to strangle Herc.
Shocked to see a fellow divinity in danger, Dionysius teleports Washington and
the bomb away to the middle of Fort Knox.
Dionysius
throws himself on Zeus’ mercy for the crimes of making contact with a mortal
and attempted suicide. Zeus strip the God of Wine of his powers and exiles him
to a place of punishment: which is revealed to be a bar with “Dion” as the
owner/bartender.