Giving Thanks The Solicit Table Isn't Entirely Barren

November's solicitations were better than I expected. 2025, I was down to almost nothing by the end of  the year, and then it built back up (briefly) in the spring. There aren't a ton of new things I'm interested in, but "any" is better than "none." Although, I would swear when that Hector Plasm mini-series wrapped last year, Cereno said there was another one coming out this year. No sign of it so far!

What's new? Marvel has the first issue of Friendly Neighborhood Mary Jane, where MJ is now a producer, trying to get a project off the ground, despite sabotage attempts by the Chameleon. So it feels like Ashley Allen is taking a cue from the short-lived Amazing Mary Jane series, where MJ was basically acting like a producer and problem-solver for Mysterio's biopic. Not the worst idea, although I'm not enthused about Phil Noto as artist. But on the plus side, I saw a Venom solicit that said the symbiote's back with Eddie Brock, so maybe MJ's out of symbiote hell. Fingers crossed! 

Red 5 has The Agony of Stars, a 4-issue mini-series by Kim Ousley and Etienne Derepentigny about a serial killer targeting the retired members of an elite police squad. And Antarctic Press has Fang Hunters, which sounds like a humorous Western crossed with horror elements, in outer space. It could be a complete mess with all that stuff (one of the vampire bounty hunting crew may be a gorilla, if the cover is accurate), but it might work.

Abrams has Lantern Pass, by Serge Lehman and Peeters. It seems like kind of the standard plot of some investigators from the city coming to an insular community and stirring up things the locals would rather keep buried, but the cover was very cool. So if that's representative of Peeters' work, it might be worth it for the atmospheric art alone. 

What's ending? Generation X-23 wraps at 10 issues, to the surprise of, probably, no one.

And the rest? I am, however, surprised that Marc Spector: Moon Knight isn't wrapping up at 10. I figured this entire run was building to some new Midnight Suns book MacKay was going to write, but nope. Instead Moon Knight and Tigra are teaming up with Hank Pym, no doubt so Marc and Hank can compare who's fucking up more lately. D'Orc's 10th issue also involves the title character teaming up with someone better off being avoided, but it's a golem that wants to kill him.

I don't think The Deadman is ending at 6 issues, although the solicit saying 'last first adventure' makes me wonder. Batgirl 25 bring David Cain into play, so I guess Brombal's going for a mirroring of Cass' first ongoing, where it was mostly focused on David, but the 25th issue was a throwdown with Lady Shiva. Daimon Scott's going to be drawing some of it, at least.

Fantastic Four is done with DNX tie-ins, and North is not going back to the time travel well - yet. Vampyrates! is wrapping up its first arc with the pirate (pyrate?) crew learning a big secret, but under fire from a hostile fleet. Chachu and The Matron are both on their fourth issues, and Lilith: Blood and Burlesque 2 has the title character fighting for her life against a demon butler.

Marvel's also releasing one of those facsimile versions of Emperor Doom,  an OGN I had been toying with getting. This might be cheaper than the versions I see in the places I usually look, so maybe I'll get that.

Eephus (2024)

A pair of adult rec league baseball teams meet for the final game at their local field, before it's paved over to make room for a new middle school. The game carries on from the afternoon into the night, with the few fans, the umps, and even some of the players drifting away. The rest keep playing, determined to see the game through to the proper ending they think the field deserves.

The film moves at the pace of a baseball game, which is to say, leisurely. We see a lot of the game action. The actors were expected to at least approximate playing, and you can tell which ones had more experience, especially when it comes to sliding. But these are mostly middle-aged guys, playing a game they loved for decades. Greying beards, scraggly hair and beer guts. They shouldn't look graceful, and they sure don't.

Apperson Paint's leftfielder could do a pretty convincing Santa Claus impression, based on his body shape. The Riverdogs' pitcher has a goofy windup that suggests he saw Craig Kimbrel and decided to look even stupider. Apperson's back-up pitcher has the mustache and pitching motion of an escapee from the Dead Ball era. Their catcher, by the later innings, is sitting on a footstool behind the plate, because his knees can't take it. 

That's part of what's perfect about the film. In a sense, this game means nothing. The teams aren't playing for anything other than bragging rights. Guys on the same team are all wearing different shirts, united only by colors. Apperson's coach leaves (reluctantly) mid-game because he was about to miss his niece's christening. Another guy gets fed up and just drives away. Yet that guy also got incredibly pissed when the other team, knowing he was on a diet, started taunting him by calling out different types of food while he was batting. Then the ump made them cut it out. 'Am I in a deli? Am I trying to sell you ham?' was my favorite line.

The Riverdogs' first baseman keeps bragging about the fireworks he bought to set off after the game, even lying about what a deal he got on them. Their goofy pitcher, after taking a line drive to the chest, ices it down in between innings with a beer. When their coach tells him not to put that one back in the cooler, Troy shrugs and pops the beer, taking a long swig. When one player finds no coach at third base to advise him, he decides to just be his own third base coach, including having fake conversations with himself. This does not go well.

Later, when Troy says he needs a breather, a random guy (actually former major leaguer Bill "Spaceman" Lee) who just showed up because he played on this field decades ago and wanted to see it one last time, agrees to pitch an inning. In his slacks and polo shirt. Then Troy resumes pitching the next inning like nothing happened. Despite one player pimping his home run to dead center with a nice slow trot around the bases, or another guy screaming at his teammate for being too conservative in whether to send runners or not, this is nothing like a serious game.

And yet, given multiple opportunities to call it, they keep playing, unwilling to let it end in a tie. The first baseman tries bribing one of the umps to stick around longer, using pork loins he won in a meat lottery. When it gets too dark, they drive their cars onto the edge of the field and use headlights. The scorer tries to ump from the empty press box. Players wander the woods retrieving baseballs because they're running out. Whether for pride, or just a refusal to let go of something that's been a big part of their lives for who knows how many years, they won't just, stop and say enough. The game ends only when it truly ends.

Which makes it sound like some horrible, purgatorial existence. I don't think that's the vibe intended, but watching them stagger around like blind men, trying to field baseballs they can't even see, has a certain feel of torment to it.

But release is no blessing. The losing pitcher sits down on the mound, head between his knees, dejected he couldn't pull off the win. Even though he was probably the victim of an umpire who couldn't actually see anything by that point. (I wasn't sure if the ump/scorer was blinking so much because he was getting sleepy, or he just had bad night vision.)

There are frequent asides in between innings. Two children of one player wondering why these adults care so much when they're not actually any good. An elderly man who has probably been coming to this field for decades, explaining to the mother of the children that you don't eat pizza at ballgames, and why do they need a school anyway? The kids can get experience working at a ballgame, flipping burgers or selling hot dogs. Two stoners spend a couple of innings standing beyond the outfield fence, asking snide questions of one of the players.

All of them wander off into the wider world long before the game concludes. It was just a temporary diversion, and once they got bored, or cold, or hungry, they decided to find something else to do. The only ones left were the players, and even if the winners are too weary to really celebrate, their dugout is significantly more talkative afterward than the losers. They're tired, they're sore, some of them will be hungover tomorrow. Some of them are already hungover. But hey, they won. If this is the end, they go out on top.

Simple Soul's Afire

This is probably not true, but I might as well believe it, as I have more faith in John Allison than whatever an internet search would tell me.

Volume 3 of Bad Machinery, The Case of the Simple Soul, finds Tackleford beset by a series of fires over summer vacation. Unfortunately, our mystery-solving squads are less than full strength, as Jack and Shauna are now in luuuurve, and spend all their time smooching or staring into each other's eyes.

Disgusting, and yet, it opens up new avenues for investigation. In between discussing whether being dismembered is an activity better shared, Shauna and Jack discover a large, shirtless man who lives under a bridge. What sheltered existences, that they've never seen a meth addict. Jack doesn't want to interrupt his summer of luuuurve with an investigation, so Shauna passes word to Charlotte and Mildred. 

Who promptly decide what this guy needs is some spiffing up, so he can meet a nice lady. I, uh, eh, but, sigh, OK. I now see what Shauna brings to the table: she's the only one not completely bonkers. Though Mildred and Charlotte seem to get along, Mildred doesn't have the pull on Lotte that Shauna does. At least in terms of distracting her from disastrous ideas like washing a fox. Meanwhile, Sonny and Linton are, despite their best efforts, being drawn into investigating the fires by the new kid at school.

Colm, when not nicking things from the store for thrills - I assume that's what, 'for the craic' means - develops an immediate and doomed crush on Charlotte. Although he seems to get his head turned by most every woman. The French assistant, the local scandal rag writer Erin Winters. Just like a real teenage boy! I miss those confusing, hormonal days. Well, mostly I miss my hair, and my shoulder not making clicking noises when I rotate it. Also, I note here that according to Linton, Charlotte's derisive nickname is Potty Grote. Which makes me think, given childrens' desire to rhyme, her last name is pronounced "grotty,", when all this time I assumed it was "groat."

Anyway, when things aren't progressing fast enough, Colm passes the info about Troll on to the fire department. In John Allison's world, firemen are apparently what cops here in the U.S. are like: Aggro lunatics with too little supervision and too much access to dangerous implements. But it's the girls' unsuccessful attempt to send the big fella on a date that gets a full-blown mob going. This does allow Shauna and Mildred's dads to show they're sensible people who recognize the dangers of mobs, but does not help Miss Perks find a proper fella.

From there, we get a few red herrings before a last-second, out of left field reveal of the true firebug. Incidentally and totally not significant, wink-wink, this is the first story that involves Charlotte's future mystery-solving sidekick Claire. Who has a huge crush on Colm and is the daughter of the fire chief. This story demonstrates a side of her I'd not seen any evidence of in Wicked Things, so it was quite surprising seeing how she started.

Sunday Splash Page #441

"Caldera Sunset," in Avatar the Last Airbender: Ashes of the Academy, by Faith Erin Hicks (writer), Peter Wartman (artist),  Adele Matera (colorist), Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt (letterers)

I reviewed this 7 weeks ago, so we're not going too heavily into the story itself. It's about how reactionary forces will argue against changing things, usually on the value of tradition, or the importance of respecting the past. That if you try to change how something has always (for a particular value of "always") been done, you're saying everyone's ancestors were wrong, or the past is wrong, and why do you hate the past? Mostly though, the way things are suits them fine, and they don't want to even risk losing what they've got by changing anything.

That's not exactly news to anyone watching the world around us, so I'm going to talk about Mai. She is, after all, my favorite character in all of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

What, Calvin is fond of the drily sarcastic lady, who is also an ace at throwing daggers? A shocking reveal to be sure.

But I like that she's a quiet character, reserved with her emotions. Not by choice, mind; her parents drilled it into her from early on to be still and quiet and well-behaved, because it would reflect poorly on them if she didn't. In Ashes of the Academy, Hicks shows in flashback that Mai's father encourages her to makes friends with Azula because it would be good for him, before catching himself and saying it would be good for her. Which I think downplays how much her parents regard her a tool for social climbing.

For a long time, years, Mai obeys, but it's malicious compliance. When we first meet her, she casually remarks how there is no fathoming the depth of her hatred for the conquered Earth Kingdom city her father has been appointed governor of. She doesn't say it loudly. There's no physical demonstration. No stamping her feet or wailing or throwing anything. That would be unseemly. But she won't play ball and express any happiness for her father or what this means for their family in terms of status. She remains quiet, reserved, dignified, but also blunt.

Life with her parents is miserable enough Mai is glad for Azula to show up with a mission. It's just swapping out whose thumb she's under, and it's to someone more powerful and ruthless. Which Azula makes clear when she tests Mai during the proposed prisoner exchange. There's a silent beat after she mentions it seems foolish to trade King Bumi, powerful earthbender that he is, for a child (Mai's baby brother), where she watches Mai. Mai watches her back, knowing it's a test. If Mai insists on the swap, she's defied Azula, and revealed her little brother is important enough to her to do that. Which means he's leverage. Which means he's in danger.

Keep in mind, Azula has already tried shooting her own brother in the face with lightning by this point. Whatever her legion of apologists might argue - and they are almost as obnoxious as Vegeta and Scott Summers apologists - Azula is bad news for anyone that doesn't do what she wants.

But at least with Azula, Mai will get to travel and fight and see new things. Which seems to be a big deal with her, she gets bored easily. So it's a little surprising she's settled into working at her aunt's flower shop at the start of Ashes of the Academy. Most of the rest of the cast are roaming the world, settling disputes or rebuilding their homes. Mai's life seems to have stalled. The teaching is an opportunity to try something new, and in her own way, show the next generation there's a better way of doing things than treating your friends as potential enemies to undermine or settling disagreements with honor duels.

Because she does believe in what Zuko's trying to accomplish. She just isn't going to blow smoke up his ass or let him walk over her. She may have stood up to Azula out of her love for Zuko, but she also learns to stand up for herself. Which, given that he's the brooding, morally conflicted guy most of the fandom is hot for, means she takes a lot of shit for not being "good enough" for him. She threw something at him once! Yes, the letter he left behind to break up with her, and never mind that time Zuko threw a guy across the room and yelled at Mai for daring to talk to said guy.

She objected to his keeping secrets from her! Yes, the secret that he was taking advice on governing from his genocidal, abusive father, something Mai would surely have told him was a stupid idea. Because it was. Also, Zuko didn't tell her there'd been attempts on his life, because he seemed to think she needed to be protected from that, after she already risked her life to save him from Azula. But feeling that he doesn't trust her, and that she doesn't have to put up with that, is apparently unreasonable.

They're both damaged teens with basically zero adults to model a healthy relationship so, yeah, there's some hiccups. But Zuko gets googly-eyed basically any time he's around her in Season 3, and is still trying to show he trusts her in Ashes of the Academy, so he's clearly not given up on rebuilding a connection with her. And Zuko's basically the only one who gets Mai to genuinely smile in Season 3, and she does end up accepting the job as teacher, even though he failed to consult with her before nominating her for the position.

Which is the sort of theft of control that she should probably resent, given her history with her parents and Azula. Yet Mai only actually gets irritated when she thinks Zuko's checking up on the job she's doing. Basically, when she thinks he's doubting her professionalism and commitment. And the issue is resolved with a quiet conversation. As Ty Lee notes, no knives or firebending! Progress!

Anyway, I'd definitely buy more of these ATLA graphic novels if they'd focus on Mai. I've always kind of wanted to see one where she returns to Omashu to make amends for her family's time as invaders. Partially because it might be good for her, mostly because I want to see what weird tests Bumi would put her through as penance, that were really just him fucking around (and maybe trying to teach her something about herself.)

Saturday Splash Page #243

"Ballroom Black Tie Blitz," in U.S.Avengers #2, by Al Ewing (writer), Paco Medina (writer), Juan Vlasco (inker), Jesus Arbutov (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)

At the conclusion of his New Avengers volume, Al Ewing had Roberto Da Costa take the step of placing his "Avengers Idea Mechanics," under the U.S. government. They no longer risk imprisonment if they confront a threat on U.S. soil, but now Da Costa's got a boss: Captain America.

Unfortunately, it's HYDRA Cap, aka Stevil Rogers. The book spends half its 12 issues - 5 through 9, and issue 10 deals with the fallout - on Secret Empire tie-ins. Some of the attack comes from within, AIM scientists angry their boss sold out to "The Man." Of course, they're helping HYDRA take over the world, so they just end up working for a new "The Man," but no one ever said people like that possess any level of self-awareness.

And at least we aren't told Sunspot actually anticipated all this and Stevil's playing into his hands. Nope, Da Costa gets blindsided and spends most of the tie-in near death in a holding cell, until Toni Ho works out something that lets him use his powers without dying (he got poisoned by Terrigen Mist during that whole mess where Marvel put the X-Men at cross-purposes with the Inhumans.

. . .Which came after the period where the X-Men were at cross-purposes to the Avengers, because the Avengers objected to risking the entire planet on Cyclops' unsubstantiated belief the Giant Space Firebird That Might Be His Second Ex-Wife was coming to Earth to restore mutants, but before the period where the X-Men were at cross-purposes to the Eternals, because the Eternals objected to mutants getting immortality. More crosses in the X-Men's recent back history than End of Evangelion.)

Of the other 6 issues, the first three are about some refugee criminal loser from an alternate timeline future who's looking to loot all the nice stuff 616 has, because it isn't a post-apocalyptic wasteland (yet.) He's ultimately a pathetic dope, obsessed with making things that look impressive but are actually crap, and constantly backstabbing his lackeys because he thinks he deserves everything and should never have to honor his promises. He sets up in some half-constructed Murderworld, gets someone to build him a power armor out of gold (which is a bad idea), and folds like a house of cards on a wobbly table.

The last two issues involve the team traveling to space to locate missing team member Cannonball. Who, it turns out, has been sold to that planet of Skrulls cosplaying as gangsters. Except now they're cosplaying as Archie Andrews, sorry, Richie Redwood, and his crew. Albeit, only a very particular era and version of the Richie Redwood lore. It's basically Ewing poking at people who complain about representation or things changing in their comics, which, OK, sure.

The roster is mostly different from New Avengers. Wiccan and Hulking are gone. Ditto White Tiger, Power Man, Hawkeye and Songbird. Squirrel Girl and Toni are the main holdovers, and Toni was more Tech Support/Science Exposition Delivery Device in the prior volume. Now she runs around in a huge armor suit filled with "non-lethal" weapons. Like pulse cannons. Not lethal! Just really painful. The pain is how you know you're still alive! Her girlfriend, Enigma, is trying to get Toni to stop with the weapons, non-lethal or otherwise. Squirrel Girl remains delightful, though not nearly a big enough presence in the book to really elevate it for me.

There's also General Maverick, previously an antagonist, now a liaison who keeps getting involved with the missions. His "dollar store Thunderbolt Ross" shtick is not aided when he gets an implant that lets him transform into a Red Hulk for an hour a day. Which he punctuates by yelling, "Hulk Plug-In, Get to Sluggin'!"

That's, that's just awful. I'd rather be punched by a Red Hulk than have to hear him yell that. Yes, I know it's a play on that '70s cartoon with the kid who transforms into the Ever-Lovin' Idol of Millions via his "Thing Ring." That does not make it not awful. Does Avengers Idea Mechanics not have a Marketing Department?

Paco Medina draws 8 issues, with Vlasco as his inker. Paco Diaz draws the other 4, and mostly inks himself. Jesus Arbutov keeps the look of the book fairly similar throughout, rarely going to dark or murky with the colors or tones. Even when things are going badly, the book is mostly bright and things are easy to see. I think it's the notion that the world is not past saving, even if the fascists are winning at the moment. In that first, 3-issue arc, the Captain America of that alternate timeline future (Luke and Jessica Jones' daughter) outright tells the team there was supposed to be a horrible event last year, and Sunspot's crew somehow prevented it from happening. Nothing is set in stone, there's still light in the world, so don't stop trying. 

Medina and Diaz's styles aren't what I'd call wildly distinctive. Neither gets too experimental with layouts or panel perspectives. Things are kept straightforward, easy to follow the action and the sequence of events, easy to see what characters are doing. Medina's toned down the excesses in proportions I remember from when he was drawing Daniel Way's Deadpool, while Diaz struggles with hands looking oddly small at times, or selling some of the emotional beats. The characters sometimes look more like someone trying to act shocked than actually being shocked, if that makes sense. There's an example in my review of the back half of the series.

Random Back Issues #173 - Peter Parker: Spider-Man #91

All right, it's the good Identity Crisis! What? I'm entirely serious.

Spider-Man's been framed for the murder of some guy named Joey Z. By Norman Osborn, because this was post-Clone Saga, when they made Osborn into Peter Parker's Kingpin, aka, the guy that's behind everything that goes wrong in the hero's life. In response, Peter adopted 4 new costumed identities, which makes getting ready for a clandestine meeting with Arthur Stacy (Gwen's uncle) and a Detective Snipes tricky. MJ has a good laugh at his expense, so Peter throws on his regular duds in a huff.

Snipes had some 'lab boys' analyze a sample of Spidey's webbing, and it doesn't match what was used to suffocate Joey Z. The mayor and D.A. are getting pressure from 'the private sector' (read: Osborn), and they don't care. Spidey figures the only person who could approximate his webbing is The Trapster, and, lo and behold, he's got a price on his head. The issue started with him handling some members of the Hand (?!) that tried to collect.Also, the Trapster's look now involves him tying fabric around his head like he's a ninja.

Peter's ready to hunt Trapster down and do a little enhanced interrogation, but Stacy points out that kind of direct approach is what started this (he got physical with Norman.) I would argue that only proves he didn't get physical enough. He needed to tear Osborn's head off and drop kick it into a furnace. But fine, Peter will try and take advantage of Paste Pot's desperation.

MJ wasn't happy about Peter going out as Spider-Man with a price on his head, and the cold shoulder is in full effect as they cram for midterms at the university library. Peter tries to get her to talk about it, but MJ needs to study. Besides, Peter will just do whatever he wants, so what's there to talk about?

Peter tries again outside the library, now in the Dusk outfit he picked up in the Negative Zone, but he tells MJ he's doing this no matter what so, she was right. He's going to do what he wants. Maybe Peter needs to add a debate and rhetoric class to his course load. Also, MJ comments she sometimes thinks she'd be better off if she just didn't know about the secret identities and all that. Careful what you wish for and all that.

Elsewhere, Trapster's walking down the street, mulling over his wasted life (paraphrasing) when a mysterious figure grabs him by the scruff of his coat and quotes Terminator 2. Because the Shocker's looking to collect the price on Trapster's head. Stop laughing, he's serious! Seriously chunky, and I don't think it's just Romita Jr.'s tendency to bulk everybody up like they've been hitting the wheatcakes extra hard.

Despite doing a lot of darting out of the shadows to hit-and-run, Peter keeps running his yap like he always does. Leave it to Howard Mackie to not understand Peter was supposed to behave differently in the different costumes, in addition to acting differently. (He does do better in the next issue.)

The fight is a mess, in a bad way. It feels like Romita Jr. and Mackie aren't in sync. At one point, Dusk punches Shocker in the back of the head. On the next page, we get a long shot of Shocker seemingly alone on the trashed roof, but in the very next panel, he is, for some reason digging himself out from underneath rubble. Then there's what looks like a blast from his gauntlets, except it's from behind him and Romita adds little surprise lines around Shocker's head like he's being surprised. Then a small panel of Trapster looking, something, before Dusk sweeps over the Shocker again.

I think what's happening is, Peter knocks the wreckage on the left side of the first panel on top of Shocker in the second panel, and that's what he's blasting. There's a barely visible "Get over it!" on Shocker's shoulder in the middle of the 2nd panel, where they didn't put a speech balloon. That's probably Dusk's dialogue. 

Anyway, Shocker loses, Dusk stops Trapster from gluing the valves of his heart shut, says he's also someone Norman Osborn screwed over, and they should work together to get even. Look, even if this is not a particularly good example, I stand by my claim this Identity Crisis is better than Brad Meltzer's version. It's that low of a bar to clear.

{8th longbox, 52nd comic. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #91, by Howard Mackie (writer), John Romita Jr. (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Gregory Wright (colorist), Richard Starkings and Kiff Scholl (letterers)}

Let It Go, Before It Drags You Under

I don't think I was ever a particularly big fan of Vicious, Spike's old partner from his crime syndicate hitman days, and the closest thing to a final boss Cowboy Bebop has. Spike's never afraid of Vicious, or hesitant to face him. If anything, he's almost psychotic at times about wanting to kill Vicious. And Vicious is usually content to make Spike fight through two or three dozen goons to get at him. Which, while entirely appropriate for a villain, doesn't do a lot to burnish his credentials as a badass.

Yes, you kicked Spike out a window, after he'd been shot three times mowing down your cannon fodder. Bra-vo. *sarcastic golf clap*

Rewatching the series this spring made me, if anything, even less impressed. Vicious spends most of the series steadily taking control of "The Syndicate", until he's basically the Kingpin for the entire Solar System. He's got dozens of guys ready to die for him. Money, power, influence, drugs, weapons, all that stuff at his beck and call. And, upon reaches that pinnacle, Vicious decides he's got to finish Spike off once and for all. Bring the entire syndicate down on him, the proverbial anvil to crush a cockroach.

Meanwhile, Spike is barely managing a subsistence-level existence as a bounty hunter. Living on a beat to hell scow of a spaceship, with a grumpy ex-cop and a woman who's a walking advertisement for those gambling addiction hotline numbers. Given how readily Spike bails to pursue any lead on Julia or to get at Vicious, I don't think he's really happy with that life. Either it's the best he thinks he can get, or the best he deserves, or he just doesn't see the point in trying for anything better without Julia.

Watching the finale, having seen Spike's life over the previous 20+ episodes, all I could think was, "Vicious, sweetie, you won the break-up. Move on."

I'm sure Vicious would argue there's some higher ideal behind his actions. That once you're in, you're in until death. That Spike, by trying to leave for a peaceful life with Julia, betrayed the ideals of The Syndicate as surely as Vicious claimed its leaders did when he staged his coup. If you let one person get away with leaving, The Syndicate looks weak.

So Spike has to be killed as an example, even though the life he's living could serve as a cautionary tale to anyone thinking about bailing. Stick with the Syndicate, at least you'll die in a nice suit, instead of in a second-rate blue suit that makes you look like a broker on a losing streak.

And refusing to let it go gets Vicious killed. He loses everything he got almost as soon as he got it, because he wouldn't let go of an old grudge. Of course, Spike would argue they both were supposed to die years ago, when things first came to a head. This was just both of them finally realizing it. The heart still pumping blood, even if there's no conscious mind to make use of it. So maybe they both got what they wanted, in the end.