Broken Frontier

All right, this is the last time I write in this column about The Micronauts … at least for a while.  But how could I cover my all-time favorite comic series and leave out #50—the issue that begins with this bit of wonderful writing:

“Like a dark phoenix rising from the ashes, the ebony-armored malefactor has ripped himself from the horrific husk that had been Force Commander, king of Homeworld!  Sound the funeral march!  Baron Karza is back!”

This was the first comic I bought in an honest-to-goodness comic book store.  I’m not sure if you remember the first time you walked into a comic shop before, but for me it was like discovering a holy place stocked with four-color religious pamphlets.  Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined such a wonderland existed.

(All right … once, many years earlier, my older brother’s girlfriend convinced me a mall in Raleigh (about an hour away from where I lived) had a shop dedicated to nothing but Star Wars merchandise.  Keep in mind, only the first movie had been released at this point.  I couldn’t wait to get to that store.  When I finally got my chance a month or so later, I walked around that mall four or five times.  Little did I know at the time, my brother’s girlfriend was more interested in Bud Lights and Light sabers.  My hopes were dashed.)

Until, in another mall (this one in Georgia) I walked wide-eyed into the shop, breathless as I looked over the shelves of comics.  Out of all the hundreds of books before me, one caught my eye more than any other—The Micronauts #50.  First of all, I loved the book.  Second of all, there’s something magical about 50th issues.  Third of all, it had Baron Karza on the cover.

Over the course of this column, I’ve identified two of my favorite villains:  Dreadstar’s Lord High Papal and The Micronauts' Baron Karza.  Both nasty in their own right, but if this was an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch, Karza would be wearing Papal’s spine as a championship belt.

I know, I know.  The best villains are those who have at least one quality with which the reader can sympathize.  Not so with Baron Karza.  For me, he was the measuring stick against which all other villains needed to be upheld.  And he was totally, unabashedly evil.  He relished in it.  Take for example:

“My power has grown in darkness …!  The life of Argon, and all those I had him slay, fed my evil!”

Or:

“Since my last defeat, good has had its day.  With my resurrection, it is again evil’s turn.”

Or my personal favorite:

“I am Karza.  I am evil.  One can no more slay evil … than one can erase the Sun!”

And of course, this time he was more evil than ever, and he needed brave heroes to face him.  But I wasn’t sure if the Micronauts could take him down this time.  It certainly seemed that they’d be lucky to escape with their lives, let alone triumph.

Baron Karza had been defeated by both Acroyear and Commander Rann on different occasions.  And he makes short work of both of them on the day of his rebirth.

“Foul, fetid fiend!” Acroyear yells as he charges Karza.  “It is you to whom I owe my sorrow!  To slay you, I drew upon the soul of my planet … It cost me my world, my throne, and the heart of the woman I love, I sacrificed all … Today is the day you die!”

But Karza is unimpressed.  “Fool!  I have already died … twice!  What will killing me a third time accomplish?”

And when Commander Rann, the only man Karza truly fears, duels psychically with the villain, Karza’s plans for conquest are bolstered:

“Had the Enigma Force been yours to command, my mind would be reeling!  Thus, you possess no power save that of your own indomitable will—and I can deal with you as I would any foe!”

Even without the power of the Enigma Force at his command, Rann stands bravely against Karza.  As he dons his Space Glider weaponry, he says, “If my Micronauts go down in defeat, I prefer to die beside them!”

And I wasn’t so sure if he would survive to the end, because it seemed like this issue was being used to clean house.  Characters who had been around since the beginning of the series were dropping like flies.  Baron Karza’s return came with a fairly hefty death toll.

So, here it is, a body count breakdown, page by page:

Page 1) King Argon’s Force Commander armor lies in a shattered hulk from which Baron Karza has torn himself.  Argon’s life-force streams from the sundered remains of the armor.  (Maybe Argon technically died last issue, but the grim image of his remains is enough to give him an honorary death this issue.)

Body Count: 1

Page 9) Devil, the jovial, fur-covered behemoth from a peaceful world has had a rough time since his companion Fireflyte died in issue 35.  A Soul Survivor, a member of an alien race that siphons—you guessed it—souls, managed to stow away on board the ship and attack Devil.  Devil dies, but undergoes the Chrysalis Change.

“Devil dies … and a new Fireflyte is born rising from his ashes.”

Body Count: 2

Pages 12 and 13) Baron Karza turns his back on the Micronauts to dish out a little hurt on those around him. 

“In his left hand, the ebon evildoer holds the beauteous Lady Slug—in his right, the withered old Duchess Belladonna.  Each woman’s mind occupies the body of the other.”

Karza deals a cruel blow to Slug, who is trapped in the old woman’s body.  He induces a heart attack and lets her fall to her death.  Belladonna, who had struck an evil bargain to keep herself young, has a change of heart in her last moments.

“Y-you killed her!  You struck her down in cold blood!  You monster!  You evil, inhuman murderer!”

“Such strong words, Duchess!” says the Baron.  “I do not understand!  Would you have had Slug live to compete with you for that beautiful body you inhabit?  Why?  Now you’ll have no rivals for your Baron’s love.”

“L-love a heinous horror like you?  I—I’d rather die!”

Oh, Duchess.  You never taunt a villain like that.

“I am always willing to oblige a lady, Duchess!” the Baron says as he cracks her neck.

Body Count: 4

Page 15) Pharoid sees his beloved Slug (or, at least Slug’s body inhabited by Duchess Belladonna) die.  He unleashes the fury of his Star Scepter upon Baron Karza, but the only affect is Baron Karza blasting Pharoid into oblivion.

Body Count: 5

Page 17) As the Death Squad face off against the Micronauts, Marionette leaps onto Centuria’s back, grabs a handful of her hair, and snaps her spine.  For me, this helped set the tone for the remainder of the series, as the Micronauts had to result to ruthless tactics if they hoped to survive Karza’s reign of terror.

Body Count: 6

Page 18) Bug drives a sword into the face of Death Squadder Lobros.

Body Count: 7

Page 19) Fireflyte and Commander Rann square off against Battleaxe.  Fireflyte cracks Battleaxe’s armor, and Rann blows the helpless villain to kingdom come.

Body Count: 8

Page 20) Acroyear plunges his sword into Ampzilla’s chest, and the big lizard dies with a Godzilla-like “REEUNK!”  And, just like that, the Death Squad, who has hounded the Micronauts for 15 issues, are no more.

Body Count: 9

Page 22) We take a one-page break from the carnage before the Bioship unleashes a barrage of thorium bursts on Baron Karza’s troops.

“Dog Soldiers give up the lives they’ve stolen from others and die in droves.”

I’m not sure how many victims are in a ‘drove,’ so for simplicity’s sake we’ll say 10.

Body Count: 19

Page 28) For the next several pages, Baron Karza hands the Micronauts their Micro-derrières, but he doesn’t kill any of them.  He’s enjoying whooping up on them a little too much to dispatch them so quickly.  But eventually he turns his attention on the forces of the rebellion standing against them and blasts them to bits.  I don’t know how many of the rebels died, but it looked like at least a drove to me.

Total Body Count: 29

So for a 30-page book, the average number of deaths leaves one page that’s not dripping with gore.  Surely there have been more brutal comics, some with death tolls in the hundreds I’d imagine, but Micronauts #50 blew me away with the hopelessness of the battle against Karza.  Here was a villain they had defeated twice, but he only came back more powerful than before … and if this issue was any indication, this time he was unstoppable.

So that’s it for The Micronauts … at least for a while.  Hope you enjoyed the walk down (my) memory lane.  As I was finishing up this installment of the column, I realized that every comic I’ve discussed has been published by Marvel.  While I admit most of my favorite titles have come from Marvel, next time I’m going to look into something altogether different.

Here’s hoping whatever comic I dig up will feature a villain even half as cool as Baron Karza.