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Ultraforce #8

May 1995
Marv Wolfman, George Perez

Ultraforce #8 cover

Story Name:

Heaven on Earth


Synopsis

Ultraforce #8 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
In Miami Ultraforce members Prime (Kevin Green) and Prototype (Jimmy Ruiz) are flying on patrol, and arguing over the best way to do it. Prototype favours starting in the centre of their patrol area and progressing in ever-widening circles. But Prime insists it best to start at the edge and circle inwards, and the secretly-young boy inside the overmuscled adult Prime body quotes the Spaceman & Spiffy cartoon as authority. And Prototype concedes the argument.

Then they fly to a police emergency at Metabio Research. But the scene is confused by the sudden appearance through a dimensional rift of a helmeted man with a photonic sword calling for someone named Sersi as the rift closes behind him. (Marvel readers and anyone who's looked at the cover know he's the Black Knight (Dane Whitman).) The cops tell him to drop the sword, as does Prototype as he blasts him from above. The cops also urge the Ultras to go away to avoid making the situation worse, and Prime says shouting at the guy just enabled him to dodge the blast.

BK slips away but Prime tells screw-up Proto to leave it to him as he gives chase. Dane is desperate to stay free so he can find Sersi (after they 'ported from Avengers Mansion together in Av#375). But he runs into Prime's rock-hard chest. Ignoring the big guys babble about school monitors and detention the Knight ignites his sword again and slashes to stun. But he's stunned to see that he's torn a gash in the chest and green gloop is flowing out.

Prototype catches up with them and swoops down to carry BK off, asking him what he did to his buddy. Our guy says he doesn't know what happened, and Avengers don't kill. Ruiz of course doesn't know who the Avengers are. Giving up trying to persuade him he's 1 of the good guys BK frees himself and falls into the Atlantic Ocean. Now it's Prime's time to catch up as Dane wades ashore and tells them he's the Black Knight and he wants to talk. Prime agrees to that, and BK suggests they get away from the beach crowd.

At Ultraforce's hotel-like HQ they allow the 'visitor' to have a shower while a speedy dry-cleaning service freshens up his outfit. Prime even gets some boots for him to replace those he had to kick off in order to swim. Proto admires the photon sword while Dane tells them he came from a parallel world where he's a member of the equivalent to Ultraforce called the Avengers. He says the group was started by Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp but many others have filled the ranks in the years since then. He then gives a slightly biased account of how he got here. A 'madman' Proctor travelled the multiverse killing versions of Sersi. With the help of the alien Watcher the Avengers defeated him but Sersi killed him with his own sword. This deed infected Sersi with a dangerous madness so the Watcher opened a rift for her go to another dimension. Dane loved her so he couldn't let her go alone, and went with her. But somehow they got separated.

Prime picks up on the name Thor and recalls that Hardcase has told them about a Thor he met (in Godwheel #3) and that *he* came from another reality. BK picks up on the fact that Thor was here and *found a way home*.

But then there's an explosion on the roof, and armoured Prototype fires his jet boots to smash through the ceiling. Prime follows through the hole complaining that he could have used the stairs, leaving Whitman still in his bathrobe. Up above they find a costumed woman with a hi-tech 3-wheeled car/bike who says she's their new recruit Siren who's just come from the big problem at Metabio. Our pair are confused so she goes into more detail.

She says she'd just returned from an assignment in Bosnia when the UN asked her to join Ultraforce and gave her this prototype Trifighter (which accompanying visuals show us can covert to a VTOL plane). On the way here she checked out the alarm at Metabio and was told there had been a containment field breakdown but they had it under control. But she was suspicious so she sneaked inside to investigate.

But we also see her thoughts which tell us she's really a thief who was hired to steal something from the lab. She had detailed info on the many security measures she had to bypass. But the fingerprint glove she had didn't work so she had to kick the lab door in, setting off the alarm that alerted the police and the Ultras. Inside there were 4 pulsating blobs of energy in a containment tube. She ignored them and started to download the genetic data she was there for. But the blobs went crazy and the download failed, so she got out quick and wound up here.

Outside her thoughts she concludes her lies by saying that Metabio's containment field was faulty and she points to multiple lights in the sky over the lab. Black Knight now clothed joins them and they all head for Metabio, Prime carrying BK.

When they get there firemen are holding back a Dr Tagahashi who tells them that the Angels are loose and they must evacuate the area. They see that the lights have winged human form, and 1 of them merges with a policeman to become 2 lights.

Meanwhile Contrary is flying Ghoul and Topaz in her spherical airship to 1 of her secret bases underground in a desert area. She shows them many vehicles they can use (1 of which may look like that of Siren). Ghoul comments that their dead (#5) young member Pixx would have loved them. Then they get a call for help from Prototype.

Proto is carrying as many civilians as he can to safety while Prime is doing the same by the busload. Siren is ushering people to safety on the ground, but many are still being taken. Contrary's ship arrives and she uses her transporter beam for 2 dozen at a time. In the air Topaz uses her staff to blast the lights while Ghoul pilots 1 of the craft Contrary had shown them. Black Knight tries to get Tagahashi to explain what the Angels are. Ghoul contacts Contrary to tell her that he senses something strange about them. But she's more concerned by seeing Prime being taken over by 1 of them.

Meanwhile in Africa Sersi emerges from a spacetime rift with a dangerous gleam of madness in her eyes.


 

Review / Commentaries


Ultraforce #8 Review by (August 10, 2024)
The cover labels this as Countdown to Black September part 1 of 5. The other 4 parts are #9, #10, Ultraforce/Avengers Prelude and UF/Av. Av/UF presumably doesn't count because Marvel did that 1.

The inkers were Keith Aiken & Mark Morales.
Editors: Phil Crain, Hank Kanalz
Malibu's colour credits are as usual complicated:-
Colour design: Lydia Nomura, Emily Yoder, Janice Wismar, Renee Paniccia
Colour editors: Ruth Yasharpour & Sharleen Gaertner
Colour: Gone Fishin'

Black Knight fails to mention several things in his account of how he got to the Ultraverse, most of which might have made Ultraforce less likely to trust him and Sersi:-
The villain Proctor was an alternate timeline Dane Whitman/Black Knight, complete with an Ebony Blade with a blood curse. That curse plus the Gann Josin link with his Sersi drove both of them mad. His Sersi destroyed their Earth and he killed her.
Our Dane and Sersi were resisting the curse and the Gann Josin side-effects, so far. But her fellow Eternals suspected that Sersi was also suffering Mahd Wy'ry, a mental breakdown they were prone to.
When our Sersi killed Proctor with his own Ebony Blade its curse infected *her*. That and the Gann Josin and Mahd Wy'ry were now driving her mad. That's when she chose exile and Dane joined her.

Contrary originally organised the Ultraforce. She has a dubious past and used to run a school for teen Ultras, rather like Marvel's Emma Frost. And she dresses rather like her too. Prime and Prototype were founder members (#0) along with Ghoul and the now-dead Pixx. Hardcase was also on the team then but after returning from the Godwheel he's had his own problems to deal with. (But he obviously still had time to tell them about Thor.) Topaz joined in #1.

Siren is Jennifer Pearson, the daughter of Rick Pearson, the Eliminator, and previously appeared in his mini-series. She was genetically engineered by the shadowy government Aladdin organisation.

Prime tells Black Knight that he's heard of Thor because of his appearance in the Godwheel mini-series. That was published very soon after Marvel bought Malibu Comics. Godwheel connects via the Rune/Silver Surfer 1-shot to Warlock & Infinity Watch #42 which is a tie-in to the Atlantis Rising event. BK & Sersi left the Marvel Universe in Avengers #375 which was published a year before the takeover so it is unlikely that the creators of that issue had the Ultraverse in mind as a destination. Whatever the plan was it has been changed to this storyline. But whatever Marvel chronology you apply will almost certainly have Av#375 before Atlantis Rising, which implies that BK&S's journey was through time as well as between universes.
This is reasonable enough. But an event in #10 will confuse things further.




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Main/1st Story Full Credits

George Perez
Unknown
Unknown
George Perez (Cover Penciler)
George Perez (Cover Inker)
Chris Young (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Plot: . Letterer: Patrick Owsley.
Editor: Unknown.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Black Knight
Black Knight

(Dane Whitman)
Plus: Contrary, Ghoul, Prime, Prototype (Jimmy Ruiz), Siren, Topaz, Ultraforce.

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