Broken Frontier

The caption on the first page was simple enough:

“Hang on to your hats, true believer … This is the big one!”

Was it ever!

When they said Micronauts #35 was a “special issue,” they weren’t just blowing smoke.  Of all the issues of Micronauts, this is the one that sticks out in my mind.  Reading it, I realized the storyline was barreling towards something big.  Just how big I didn’t realize for several months—although I should have seen the signs. 

The issue begins with Prince Argon, wearing the armor of Force Commander, openly condemning the Micronauts.  “Dog soldiers!  To your fighters!  This day do I, Argon—Force Commander and King of Homeworld—declare the Micronauts outlaws and traitors to the realm!”

And that’s the most serene moment in the book.

This comic should have come with a “you must be this tall to read this book” disclaimer, because the rollercoaster pacing doesn’t let up.  We’ve got armored warriors on horse- and ostrich-back, explosions, demons, jaunts to Earth, talking swords, and the origin of the entire Microverse, all rolled into one double-sized issue.

Because I hadn’t been reading every issue of the Micronauts, I had to piece together the back story.  Basically, the Micronauts had been tracking down three mystic keys that could unlock the secrets of the Enigma Force.  Prince Argon—last seen (by me, at least) as a hero held captive by Baron Karza—now ruled Homeworld, and he wanted the keys for himself.  He had decked himself out in a suit of black armor similar to the long-dead Karza, and his attitudes had shifted from the heroic to the despotic.  The Micronauts have learned that the Spacewall separating the Microverse and the Macroverse is in danger of collapsing, and only the Enigma Force can heal the rift.  But when the Micronauts refuse to hand over the keys, Argon declares open war on them.

But, really, who cared about all that?  My concerns about not being able to catch up with the story flew out the window on page 5 … when Acroyear chops a spaceship in half.   

With a sword.

“I pity you,” Acroyear says as proton bursts bounce off his armor.  “If you will not listen to reason, then you must be made to understand the language of the sword!”

With that, he slashes the attacking ship into a billion pieces.

Marvel’s Master of the Mystic Arts Dr. Strange guest-stars in this issue.  Having learned of the possible collapse of the Spacewall, Strange traced clues in the Macroverse to the lost tomb of Prince Wayfinder … on the Microverse world of Dead Zone.  There, he encounters a group of almost Lovecraftian demons, who reveal the secret of the creation of the Microverse and their subsequent banishment.  The demons don’t want the Enigma Force to seal the rift, because their moment of freedom is at hand. 

The Micronauts meet Dr. Strange, and he helps them with their plan to use the three keys to reawaken the Enigma Force.  But King Argon has other plans.

As far as villains go, Argon was a weak reflection of Baron Karza.  Despite his obsidian armor, he comes across as a sniveling coward who schemes and plots from behind an army of soldiers.  I’m not complaining.  No one could really compare to the Baron, and it’s important for every bad guy to carve out his own niche—even if it’s a weasly little niche.  I just felt as though the Micronauts would spank the King of Homeworld all over his dominion if they ever got their hands on him.  But Argon has at least one trick up his sleeve that makes him a formidable enemy:

“Your plea falls on deaf ears, Commander!  Either you shall hand the three keys over to me—or my Death Squad shall strip them from your corpse.”

I love teams of villains assembled for the express purpose of trashing a team of superheroes.  I always called them the hunt squads.  (The Death Squad just wanted to sound meaner, I guess.)  Some of my favorites have included the bounty hunters in Dreadstar, and the Marauders and Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Mystique’s crew) in X-Men.  The Death Squad was sort of the “anti-Micronauts,” with a member ready and waiting to tangle with each of the heroes.

The Death Squad consisted of Ampzilla, a big T-Rex looking guy with laser guns on his head (and, yes, it’s hard to think of him now without the voice of Austin Power’s Dr. Evil running through my skull.  ‘You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have a giant dinosaur with a frickin' laser beam attached to his head!’); Battleaxe, an armored warrior with an axe for a hand; Lobros, a lobster-looking guy with a taste for insectivore flesh; and Centauria—half horse, half woman, all warrior.  Each baddie (except for Battleaxe) actually had an action figure counterpart, although Ampzilla, from what I hear, is the Holy Grail for Micronauts toy collectors.  And, conveniently enough, each had an opponent to square off against.  Ampzilla battled the equally large Devil.  Lobros settled a species-wide hatred with Bug.  Battleaxe pitted his armored axe versus Acroyear’s blade.  And—chick fight!—Centauria tried to trample Marionette.

Commander Rann didn’t have an opponent of his own, but he was more concerned with the Enigma Force. “Guided by the siren song of Fireflyte, Commander Arcturus Rann withdraws from the epic battle.  He allows himself one final glance at his beloved Micronauts.  He may never see any of them again.”

To make matters worse, Argon attempts to strike a bargain with the ancient demons, promising them dominion over the Macroverse if they give him the Microverse.

The Micronauts come through in heroic fashion, defeating the Death Squad and delivering a little witty banter.  My favorite comes from Devil.  Devil was a relatively new addition to the cast, a big pink monster who looked a little like the X-Men’s Beast.  His ominous name and ferocious looks notwithstanding, Devil is a peace-loving creature, as his banter with Ampzilla illustrates:

“On Tropica, Devils only fight to see who can be the happiest.  We do it with flowers.”

Meanwhile, Commander Rann and Dr. Strange open the tomb of Prince Wayfinder.  The talking Star Sword transforms the two of them into Captain Universe, and they manage to heal the Spacewall and save both of their worlds.  The fairy-like Micronaut Fireflyte uses the totality of her life force to banish the demons.

“Her song is the song of a vengeful Enigma Force … sweet yet commanding.  It does not slay, but binds … showing mercy to those to whom mercy is an alien concept.  And then, her song is over.”

But even with the riddle of the Enigma Force solved, the Spacewall repaired, and the Death Squad defeated, Argon has the Micronauts surrounded.  His Dog Soldiers prepare to open fire. Just when I thought all was lost, Microtron and Nanotron come to the rescue.

“Look, milady Marrionette!” Acroyear cheers.  “‘Tis our space-spanning craft—the Endeavor!”

The Endeavor swoops over the battlefield, blasting a path through an army of Dog Soldiers.  The Micronauts board the ship and make a hasty retreat. 

Whew!  A double-sized issue never flew by so quickly!

The issue ends as it began—with Argon’s angry declarations:

“Flee beyond the farthest star if you wish, Micronauts!  This day you have stolen from me the power that would have made me overlord of all existence!  The sword in the star glows no longer!  The Enigma Force has been snatched from my grasp—it again resides in the subconscious of Commander Rann!  For that I will never forgive you, Micronauts!  For that I declare you traitors most vile!  From this day on, the Micronauts shall never know a moment’s peace!”

Issue 35 was a hard act to follow.  In the next few issues, the Micronauts returned to Earth and encountered the Fantastic Four, Nightcrawler, Dr. Doom and even Arcade.  Fun adventures, sure, but I always thought the stories worked best when they took place within Inner Space.  In another dozen or so issues, the comic made a move to the direct market, and the heroes returned to the Microverse, where they learned the final fate of King Argon

But we’ll leave that for next time, when I bid farewell to the Microverse with a look at another great villain—Baron Karza himself.

• • • • •

Cullen Bunn's fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. His comic series The Damned will be published by Oni Press in late 2006. You can find out more about his work here.