My Rating
“Three Strikes, Yer Out!”
Somewhere inside the New South Wales Solar Observatory, the year 1992, a Mark-II Sentinel stands dormant. High up on the machine’s right shoulder the mutation known as the Abomination uses his extraordinary strength to lift a scavenged head unit into place. A young woman named Cynthia Chamler begins to climb up the nearby scaffolding to make the final welds to armor plating.
A few hours later Cynthia and Emil Blonsky hold a half-hearted celebration as the Sentinel’s power systems are brought back online. This is the day Cynthia Chamler’s name will be remembered by the world. Today Cynthia transfers her consciousness into a robot killing machine!
The young woman moves over to a nearby station and places a cumbersome helmet on her head. Several cables run from the back of the helmet into a computer server behind her. The Abomination watches as Cynthia types in a few command functions, then her life-force begins the transfer from flesh to silicon circuits.
Suddenly an unknown failsafe protocol triggers inside the memory circuits of the Mark II. As Cynthia’s mind tries to readjust to her new body her thoughts begin to be overwritten. Her new objective is now the Sentinel’s original objective…exterminate all X-Men!
Will the X-men be able to stop the upgraded Sentinel before it destroys Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters? Can Psylocke recover from the coma sustained from the battle? Does Storm have the power to envelop the entire planet in cloud cover to block deadly solarstorm?
“Leftovers”
High above the Atlantic Ocean overlooking a scientific research platform, electronic eyes study the recent attack on the crewmen running the operation. Dr. DeFinkess and his entire team of scientists have been transformed into liquid metal. What unknown alchemical force was responsible for the assault on the Oracle Inc. outpost?
Three hours pass before help arrives. A sudden eruption from the steel gray waves as a figure skyrockets to the platform above. It’s none other than the king of the seven seas, the Submariner. Namor has arrived just in time as his company’s assets have been hijacked by an eco-terrorist known as Diablo!
What ancient island city rests on the ocean’s floor near the Oracle research platform? Will the Submariner ally himself with the master of alchemy to save the Earth’s ozone? Who is the red menace who watches the events from a hidden base in the clouds?
“The Coming of… Squirrel Girl!”
The cold autumn air has arrived early this year as the Atlantic jet stream blows through the northeastern part of the United States. In the forest six miles from Stark Industries Tony takes note of the changing foliage as the Iron Man suit streaks between tree branches. What a perfect area for Tony to test out his latest tech dubbed the “Collision Avoidance radar”, or CAR for short.
Jarvis helps calculate the final trajectories as Tony mentally cracks open the champagne bottles. Then something large lands on the back of the Iron Man suit as Tony banks left around a large red oak tree. It’s something humanoid, but before the CAR software can pick up a visual all sensors go black! A large fur covered object wraps around Iron Man’s helmet.
Tony is sent crashing down to the canopy floor as the uninvited guest quickly dives towards a low hanging tree branch. Iron Man quickly recovers from the faceplant and brings up visual scanning. High above in a European ash tree sits the oddest looking teenage girl he has ever seen. The young woman is dressed in some type of rodent costume. Tony, say hello to the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!
Is this strange looking girl friend or foe? Can the mighty Iron Man defend against the combined might of Monkey Joe and the Squirrel Scouts army? Is that Doctor Doom?!
Reviewer Notes
I’ve been seeking this book ever since I read the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series. Even though Ryan North and Erica Henderson truly brought Doreen Green to superstar status, we have Steve Ditko to thank for this wonderful character. The one thing I love about the Squirrel Girl stories is the injection of slapstick humor, especially when the squirrels are involved. I would definitely recommend getting the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series if you can find the complete run.
As far as the other two stories go, they are enjoyable, but with my limited knowledge of the X-Men and Namor series I had no skin in the game. Was Cynthia Chalmers a big part of the X-Men storyline? Who is Red Raven and her Bird People? It’s hard to get emotionally involved in a story when there are so many unknowns.
The art in this book is totally 1990s. There was a definite style associated with these books. Thank God the artists didn’t give Namor cargo pockets and big shoulder pads. The Psylocke costume was definitely different than I remembered. Were there two different Psylocke characters? In any case, I’m giving this 80 pages of awesomeness 4 out of 5 stars.
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