My Rating
“Night Of The Living Bones”
Somewhere beneath the ruins of an ancient European castle, Doctor Adam Spektor and his secretary, Lakota Rainflower, descend into a forgotten world. The psychic impression which drew Spektor to the site grows stronger with every step. Strange inscriptions cover the crumbling walls, leading the occult investigator to a disturbing conclusion. Long before mankind walked the Earth, this place may have served as a temple to the mysterious Dark Gods.
Deeper inside the ruins, Spektor and Lakota discover two unusual artifacts. The first is an almost-human skull, while the second resembles a glowing metal spike that tingles with supernatural energy. Before Spektor can properly investigate either object, the underground chamber begins collapsing around them. The pair barely escape with their lives, but the skull remains buried beneath the rubble. Perhaps some secrets were never meant to return to the surface.
Unfortunately for Doctor Spektor, this particular secret refuses to stay buried!
Could this ancient artifact once have belonged to Dagar himself? Can its connection to the Warrior Gods break Ostellon’s control over the dead? Or will Doctor Spektor and Lakota Rainflower become the newest members of the Master of the Living Bones’ undead army?
“Burial At Fallen Leaf”
Lakota Rainflower was no stranger to the supernatural when she accepted employment with Doctor Adam Spektor. Her first encounter with the spirit world came years earlier, when she was still a teenager living on the Fallen Leaf Reservation in South Dakota. It was there that Lakota witnessed the sudden death of her people’s beloved medicine man.
Bearclaw was one of the wisest and most respected members of the Sioux tribe. During one of his ritual dances, the elderly medicine man’s heart suddenly stopped, leaving the reservation without its spiritual leader. However, even before Bearclaw could receive a proper burial, an argument erupted between Lakota’s father, Chief Ironbow, and the medicine man’s successor, Red Dog.
Before his death, Bearclaw had promised his powerful medicine necklace to Lakota. Red Dog sees things differently. As Bearclaw’s successor, he believes the sacred necklace and its magic rightfully belong to him. What begins as a dispute over tradition soon raises a far more disturbing question in Lakota’s mind. Did Bearclaw really die of natural causes, or did someone help the old medicine man into his grave?
Will the spirit of Bearclaw return from beyond the grave to reveal the truth? What mysterious powers lie within his ancient medicine necklace? Did Red Dog have something to do with the medicine man’s sudden death? Lakota Rainflower is about to discover that some secrets refuse to remain buried!
Review
We have our first big crossover event in The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor, and it is a doozy. As Spektor and Lakota battle the ancient necromancer Ostellon, we learn that this agent of the Dark Gods has crossed paths with both Tragg the Caveman and Dagar the Invincible. I love seeing this type of interaction in lesser-known comic book series. It makes the Gold Key universe feel much larger than the individual titles might suggest, while rewarding readers familiar with the publisher’s other characters.
Ostellon also makes for a fun adversary. An ancient sorcerer commanding an army of living skeletons is exactly the type of villain I want to see Doctor Spektor battling. Don Glut packs quite a bit of mythology into the story without losing the monster-comic atmosphere that makes this series so enjoyable. The connections to Tragg and Dagar could easily have felt like nothing more than a gimmick, but here they help establish just how long Ostellon and the Dark Gods have been causing trouble.
I also want to give kudos to writer Don Glut for bringing Lakota Rainflower’s Native American background into the backup story, “Burial At Fallen Leaf.” As a resident of South Dakota, it always thrills me to find references to the state and its Native American history in older comic books. The story also gives Lakota some much-needed attention away from Doctor Spektor and provides a glimpse into her earlier encounters with the supernatural. I would have liked a little more room for both stories to breathe, but overall this is another entertaining issue. I’m giving The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor #7 three out of five stars.
