My Rating
“The End Of All Things!”
“The Book Of Job – Part 01 Termineus/Terminus”
Deep in the Florida Everglades a small group has gathered at the edge of a secluded pool, the place in the marshlands known as the Nexus of All Realities. Sheriff Donald Robert Fillmore readies his men as they anticipate the Man-Thing to emerge from the damaged portal. His whereabouts are unknown to them, but this matters little. The adopted son of Jack and Gwyneth Burke has been missing and assumed kidnapped by the swamp monster.
Within minutes a small rowboat emerges from the cold mists of the vortex, inside sits the boy name Job. A huge mass of a figure lumbers close behind the child. Man-Thing has returned to the mortal plain but he is not the same. An ancient deity has possessed his body thanks to the magical staff discovered by his wife, Ellen. Things are not lost as of yet.
Will the two gods from a long forgotten pagan religion allow the destruction of the Nexus to all Realities? Can the possessed Man-Thing break free of K’ad-Mon’s control before his son Job destroys the Nexus Fragment? Is this the end of Earth as we know it?
“Love Is Colder Than Death – Part 03”
Detectives Len and Phil have come to the lower east side Catholic Church in search of a serial killer with an appetite for blood. Their only lead is an elusive homeless man named Lump. At first their investigation listed the man as a possible murder victim but the evidence is mounting against that theory. There is only one man left to interview, Father Adobe.
The Catholic Priest provides outreach services to all of the street dwellers and transients who roam the streets near the harbor area. The two men sit at a pew near the rear of the church observing Father Adobe clean near the confessional booths. The man is clearly non orthodox in his language. Len guesses a lifetime of mingling with the unwashed masses can take its toll on even the most pious. The only lead the two manage to get is a name – Jack Russell.
Three blocks north of the church, a heavily armed retrieval team has just entered the sewer system. Each man is equipped with night-vision goggle, body armor, and various automatic weapons and shotguns. Their orders are to shoot to kill, the target is known only to the squad leader.
Will Jack Russell find the true killer under the streets of New York city before it’s too late? Has Father Adobe lost faith in heaven and mankind? Can Brother Steven maintain control of his vampire sect?
“A Funeral In The Woods – Part One”
The new Magistrate, Yuen Fu Sheng, is not used to hearing the word “no” from the peasant farmers of his province. When a population is taxed to the point of starvation however, what else can they offer? For Yuen there is only one answer, slaves!
Yesterday afternoon the new magistrate received summons from the Forbidden city. The Emperor is eager to meet his new servant and per tradition a tribute must be provided. Yuen Fu Sheng prepares his men for the long trek north to the Chinese Capital. Tomorrow they march!
What is the legend of the hopping corpse which has the mountain village in such an uproar? Are the woods surrounding the trade route really haunted by mysterious ghosts and fox spirits? Who has ordered the macabre funeral procession to travel at midnight? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
We get three more stories with no endings in this issue of Strange Tales volume four. I’m a little bummed out as the Werewolf By Night story arc continues beyond this book, but from my research the follow-up scripts are written but never published. Did Marvel wash their hands of Jack Russell and the adult themed Strange Tales label?
The Man-Thing story continues with the quest for the Nexus Fragment. I found the story interesting but the art in this one is horribly bad. To me it looks like Marvel hired a really bad tattoo artist to airbrush his way to victory. On top of that I strongly suggest leaving the Copperplate fonts out of the letterer’s playbook. Speaking as an old man, the wilder the font the harder it is to read through trifocals. Did I just age myself?
I did enjoy the third story but it was too short. After reading the 2023 run of Doctor Strange, the Hong Kong Jiangshi boss Billy totally reminded me of the hopping ghost. Chinese mythology is packed with cool demon and ghost stories. If it wasn’t for the atrocious airbrush art in story one I would have given this issue five out of five stars. I have to dock points for the experiment in airbrushing. This issue gets four out of five stars.
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