This version of the Manhattan Guardian does his superheroing for a newspaper of the same name, but at the moment he's on a more personal mission. His girlfriend Carla was abducted by the Subway Pirate All-Beard, and the Guardian's attempt to get on board falls short. Worse, the train seems to vanish into solid rock! Well that's obviously just some Scooby-Doo shit right there. Look for a switch hidden on the rails.
Or it's something that requires an ancient word, as another Subway Pirate, No-Beard (Hooks or No-Hands would be as accurate), shows up with his own train. He's got the word, and a subway map on human skin to guide him, so the Guardian agrees to help in exchange for a lift. Both pirates are the 'Foundation Stone, the Heart of New York. A six-sided stone of power left here by the city's ancient architects.'
Up ahead, All-Beard's chucking hostages in front of his train as a sort of sacrifice, but he might spare Carla to be his chronicler. That's about when No-Beard and the Guardian catch up, Jake boards the other train and goes to town on All-Beard's guys. He gets to Carla and the remaining two hostages in time for them all to jump off at Dead Man's Junction, but one of the hostages doesn't stick the landing. Still, 2 out of 3 survived. 66.67% rescue success rate! If we don't count the ones All-Beard threw under the wheels before Jake caught up.
Better than the pirates managed, as only the two captains walked away from the landing in the chasm. No-Beard's cabin boy, "Hands", even uses his dying breath to declare All-Beard the best pirate, and No-Beard, 'only ever. . .OK.' All-Beard reaches the fabled spot first, and finds a big room with glowing blue water and chains hanging from the ceiling. There is a big crypt or sarcophagus in the center of the room, and All-Beard ignores No-Beard's warning that the chains are radioactive to wade out to search it, finding a single die inside.
No-Beard challenges him to throw it to determine which of them dies, and it cuts back to the Guardian, still leading Carla and the other guy, Bill owner of an arthouse cinema out of the tunnels. Carla asks if her father, who was wounded when she was abducted, is OK. He was not, and in the aftermath of a funeral, Jake wants to quit. The editor, a grumpy white face on a computer screen with its eyes hidden in shadows, insists that he can't, or the death of Carla's dad was for nothing.
The issue ends revealing that one of the two captains survived, though he's not looking too good, and his crew may or may not have been reduced to radioactive living skeletons.
{9th longbox, 195th comic. Seven Soldiers: The Manhattan Guardian #2, by Grant Morrison (writer), Cameron Stewart (artist), Moose Baumann (colorist), Pat Brousseau (letterer)}
4 comments:
Wow, I read all of Seven Soldiers and I don't remember this at all. Which is a shame as this one seems quite weird, even by 7S standards.
Other than the fact Klarion (and No-Beard makes reference to Klarion's people at one point in this issue as well) finds the die later on and it becomes relevant to stopping the Big Bad that the 7S are ultimately meant to face, I'm not sure how much this specific issue really ties into the larger plot.
But I read these as I tracked them down, so not even close to the actual order they came out in. I'll have to do that at some point, see if it clarifies things.
I think I remember that Klarion's village is under New York and is accessed via the subway, so that ties in with what's going on here.
I was reading 7S because of Klarion, which I was reading because I was following Frazer Irving's art. I know I read Manhattan Guardian but I remember nothing about it and I don't even remember him being in the main 7S story, he made that much of an impact as a character.
On Klarion's village, yep, you are dead on there.
As far as the Guardian in the main story, I'd have to reread to make sure, but I vaguely remember him on horseback, either leading the public to safety or trying to rally them not to panic. Kind of a poor man's Captain America bit, maybe?
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