My Rating
“Power Times Four!”
Trapped for nearly two millennia beneath the burning sands of the Sahara Desert, N’Kantu, Chieftain of the Swarili tribe, awakens to a world he no longer recognizes. His first journey into modern Cairo ends after a violent confrontation with archaeologist Doctor Skarab and a small force of Egyptian soldiers. The forgotten warrior is eventually subdued, but nothing can keep the Living Mummy down forever.
One year later, inside the Egyptology wing of New York City’s Museum of Natural History, N’Kantu rises again.
Surrounded by relics from ancient Egypt, the Living Mummy finds himself confronted by reminders of the civilization that once enslaved his people. Memories of Pharaoh Aram-Set, the sorcerer Nephrus, and his own horrific transformation come flooding back. Rage consumes the ancient chieftain.
N’Kantu goes berserk!
The Living Mummy rampages through the museum before bursting onto the streets of Manhattan. There, N’Kantu encounters Doctor Skarab for a second time as the NYPD pushes the confused warrior into a darkened alleyway.
Then something unexpected happens.
A strange spectral light surrounds N’Kantu. In an instant, the Living Mummy disappears, leaving the police and academics completely baffled by his sudden vanishing act.
The tortured soul of N’Kantu has witnessed plenty during his long existence, but nothing could prepare him for what comes next. A strange magic, seemingly more powerful than anything wielded by the Egyptian sorcerer Nephrus, has pulled the Living Mummy into another dimension.
Waiting for him are four godlike beings.
They call themselves the Elementals.
Ancient, powerful, and claiming to predate even Atlantis, the mysterious beings have plans for Earth. Unfortunately for them, their plans involve subjugating a man who spent his mortal life fighting against slavery.
They may have picked the wrong mummy.
Has N’Kantu been transported into an alternate dimension, or does he now walk through the Egyptian underworld of Neter-khertet? Who controls the elemental constructs attacking him without mercy? What do these four ancient beings want with Earth? Most importantly, will the great Chieftain of the Swarili ever bend his knee to another master?
Collect the series to find out!
“The Little Gypsy Tea Room”
Bruno has a problem.
The burglar points a loaded .38 at an elderly Gypsy fortune-teller and demands that she hide him from the approaching police. He has managed to escape the pinch for now, but the night is far from over.
If Bruno can find a concealed space somewhere inside the little tea room, he might just walk away a free man. Of course, that depends on whether the old fortune-teller is willing to play ball.
Bruno has the gun.
The old woman has something far more dangerous.
She knows what comes next.
Can Bruno escape the police dragnet closing in around him? Will the mysterious fortune-teller help a desperate criminal? What does she see waiting in Bruno’s future?
Sometimes it is better not to ask a fortune-teller what tomorrow has in store.
Reviewer Notes
Damn, will N’Kantu the Living Mummy ever catch a break?
The poor guy spends two thousand years trapped inside a mummified body, wakes up in a world he doesn’t understand, gets shot at by soldiers, chased through Cairo, dumped into New York City, surrounded by artifacts from the civilization that enslaved his people, and then gets magically kidnapped by four godlike supervillains.
Somebody give this mummy a vacation!
Writer Tony Isabella and artist Val Mayerik deliver one hell of a supernatural brawl in “Power Times Four!” This issue also introduces the Elementals, four ancient beings who claim to have existed before Atlantis. I had never heard of these characters before reading this issue, but they certainly make an impression. They give off a strange mixture of mutant, Inhuman, and ancient-god vibes. Whatever Isabella has planned for them, they are definitely operating on a much larger scale than the soldiers, archaeologists, and sorcerers N’Kantu has faced so far.
I also like what this development does for the Living Mummy concept. Supernatural Thrillers #5 introduced N’Kantu as Marvel’s reimagining of the classic mummy, but by issue #8 the series is already moving beyond the traditional monster formula. We aren’t dealing with a bandaged corpse slowly chasing archaeologists around a tomb anymore. N’Kantu is becoming a full-fledged Marvel supernatural character, complete with alternate dimensions, ancient civilizations, super-powered enemies, and threats to the entire planet.
The irony also works beautifully. The Elementals expect N’Kantu to submit to their authority, apparently without understanding who they are dealing with. This is a man whose entire identity revolves around fighting slavery and oppression. N’Kantu killed Pharaoh Aram-Set while leading his people to freedom and then suffered two thousand years of imprisonment for it. If there is one thing the Living Mummy probably isn’t going to do, it is bow before another group of would-be masters.
For me, however, the artwork remains the biggest attraction. Val Mayerik knocks it out of the park with his pencil work. N’Kantu looks huge, battered, and powerful, while the Elementals allow Mayerik to cut loose with some wonderfully strange character designs and supernatural action. This may still have the basic DNA of a monster-of-the-month comic, but Mayerik gives the fights enough scale and energy to make the story feel much bigger.
Then Marvel reaches into the crypt and pulls out a little vintage material with “The Little Gypsy Tea Room,” a reprinted Stan Lee and Steve Ditko story. The plot is pure old-school supernatural camp: criminal threatens mysterious fortune-teller, criminal believes he has everything under control, and the universe prepares to teach criminal a lesson. You can practically smell the twist ending coming before you turn the page.
But who cares? We get classic Steve Ditko artwork paired with a Stan Lee supernatural story. It doesn’t get much campier than that, folks.
Overall, Supernatural Thrillers #8 feels like an important step forward for N’Kantu. Tony Isabella expands the mythology, the Elementals provide a much larger threat, and Val Mayerik gets plenty of opportunities to unleash the Living Mummy across the page. I came into these issues expecting a fairly straightforward 1970s monster comic. Instead, Marvel seems determined to throw N’Kantu into increasingly bizarre corners of its supernatural universe.
Fine by me. Let’s see how weird this gets.
I’m giving this ancient relic from 1974 four out of five stars.