Longbox Junk - Mark Hazzard: Merc (Part 2)

 Welcome to Longbox Junk, the place to find all the comic reviews you never asked for!

Continuing on with my look at all 13 issues of one of the most unloved series to come out of Marvel's New Universe, Mark Hazzard: Merc. Part Two will cover issues five through nine of the run.  

Part One FOUND HERE was a bit of a surprise.  It was an interesting and pretty well done dive into a main character who was a broken man, addicted to violence and trying to reconnect with his family and the "real" world.  Not the BEST comic story I've ever read, but pretty good.  

In MY humble opinion, if the series would have stopped with the first four issues, it would have made a nice little mini-series. . .but there's nine more issues to go, right?  Peter David is gone as the writer of the series, so what happens now?  Will the new writer (Doug Murray for all of the issues at hand) continue David's solid character-driven work?

LET'S FIND OUT!

MARK HAZZARD: MERC

PART 2: ISSUES 5-9

MARVEL - NEW UNIVERSE (1986)

ISSUE FIVE

That's What Friends Are For!

COVER: Gray Morrow

THE COVER:

It's. . .okay.  Not bad, not great.  Just riding right down the middle of the road.  Overall, it's pretty well done, but one thing that REALLY bugs me about this cover is the "blast" effect from Hazzard's weapon.  It looks like it's supposed to be a Stryker shotgun, but the way the "blast" is illustrated, it looks like a flamethrower for some reason.  Instead of blasting straight out, it's got a weird little downward angle at the end that I just CANNOT unsee!  Other than that, it's an okay cover.

Let's get inside!

THE STORY:

SCRIPT:  Doug Murray
PENCILS:  Mark Beachum
INKS:  Jack Fury (?)

One of Mark Hazzard's mercenary partners and longtime friend from Mark's time in Vietnam named Mal approaches Mark with a problem.  His sister, Phoenix, has been kidnapped by a biker gang and he needs Hazzard's help to rescue her.  Mark immediately agrees, and the two of them enlist another friend of Mark's, a martial arts instructor called "Priestess".

Priestess will be the distraction while Mark and Mal infiltrate the biker gang's hideout and rescue Mal's sister.

The plan goes off without a hitch.  Priestess keeps the bikers occupied in the bar downstairs while Mark and Mal sneak upstairs and grab Phoenix.  When the gang finally realizes what's happening, the mercenaries are forced to make their escape under fire.

But the leader of the biker gang, Ramon, isn't letting Phoenix go so easily.  They lay siege to Priestess' martial arts school until Mark agrees to fight Ramon one on one later that night.  Mark senses something is off about the whole situation.

Mark shows up to the place that he's supposed to fight Ramon and discovers Mal setting explosives and planning an ambush.  Prior to arriving, Mark talked to some witnesses to Phoenix's abduction and discovered that she's actually Ramon's girlfriend and went with him willingly.

Mark Confronts Mal and his friend confesses that he just didn't want his little sister going out with biker trash.  The bikers arrive for the fight and Mark has to save them from Mal's ambush.  As the two friends fight, the bikers attack but are killed by Mal's explosives, leaving only Ramon alive.

Mal's sister is finally able to talk some sense to her brother before Mark is forced to shoot his friend.  As the police arrive, Phoenix leaves with Ramon, Mark leaves with Priestess, and Mal is just sad and by himself.

The End. To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Okay then.  Absolutely no mention of Hazzard's legal troubles.  No mention of his son.  Pretty much NO connection with the prior four issues beyond the characters of Mal and Hazzard themselves.  It's almost like the story that Peter David had written doesn't exist now.  

I was wondering where the series would go after David's departure and this is where it went. 

The story itself is okay.  A commando raid on a biker gang hideout to rescue a prisoner, only to discover that she was there because she wanted to be.  It's a fairly simple and well-worn story path, but it's not a bad framework to hang some action on.

The problem here for me is that there was ALREADY a story in progress and this seems like a soft reboot of the series coming out of nowhere.  It's a bit jarring and feels unnecessary.  

I have a bad feeling about this.  Let's see what happens next.

ISSUE SIX

Clients

COVER: Mike Zeck

THE COVER:

Now HERE'S some good stuff!  Probably my favorite cover of the series so far, courtesy of the great Mike Zeck.  I'm a sucker for character portrait covers and this is a good one.  Zeck's use of a solid black background gives this cover a great look.  Very nice!

Moving along!

THE STORY:

SCRIPT: Doug Murray
PENCILS:  Vince Giarrano
INKS:  Manny Hands (Get it? GET IT?)

TRIGGER WARNING:  This issue deals with an extreme right-wing politician who uses law enforcement to intimidate or remove citizens who oppose him. If the previous sentence triggers you in ANY way, then skip this one and meet me back down in issue seven.  Everyone in that's staying in?  Let's do it!

In an unnamed, vaguely Germanic country in "Middle Europe", Mark Hazzard and his mercenary teammates, explosives expert Mal (who is apparently completely forgiven for lying to Mark and almost getting him killed last issue) and Treetop (The crew's helicopter pilot and a friend of Mark's from Vietnam) are on a job to protect a controversial hard right-wing politician seeking election named Kurtz.

Protesters begin to get out of hand and Kurtz's personal bodyguards (wearing on-the-nose brown shirts, of course) brutally beat a woman in front of Hazzard.  He gives the bodyguard a deserved beating of his own. . .upsetting both Kurtz and Treetop, who was the organizer of this particular job.

Leaving the team's hotel headquarters for a break after a heated argument with Treetop about how this job was arranged without consulting Hazzard, and that he wouldn't have taken it if he'd known what a raging A-Hole their client was, Mark is attacked by one of Kurtz's thugs.  

After showing the thug what a bad idea THAT was, Hazzard runs into the woman who had been beaten at Kurtz's rally earlier.  Frieda takes him to her home and her father, a veteran of WWII shows Hazzard some old films that show Kurtz overseeing executions in the town as a member of the SS.  

Frieda and her father ask Hazzard to help get rid of Kurtz and Mark coldly tells them that he's a professional and can't break a contract.  

The next day, Hazzard tries to convince Mal and Treetop that they're on the wrong side.  They don't agree.  They're mercenaries and the "right" side is the side that's paying them.  They won't break the contract.

Later, at Kurtz's next rally, Mark witnesses one of Kurtz's thugs infiltrating the crowd of protesters and stabbing Frieda!  Mark flies into a rage, pulls his gun and starts shooting.  Kurtz flees the carnage as Mal and Treetop try to stop Mark from chasing him down.

Mark shoots Treetop in the leg and informs his former friends that he's quitting.  Then leaves to finish Kurtz off.

Mark pursues Kurtz to his heavily-defended home.  He shoots his way through a small army of Kurtz's thugs and finally confronts Kurtz in his office.  As the fascist politician begs for his life, the police arrive, along with some reporters.  They record Kurtz begging and Mark leaves him alive, knowing that the public humiliation, along with the dead protester, will be enough to finish his political career.

We next see Mark back in the states, locked out of his apartment because it's owned by Treetop (who was the money manager of the mercenary crew).  He makes his way to his friend Priestess' apartment, and it's pretty clear they're about to become more than just friends.

The End. To Be Continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

In this issue, we get another self-contained story that completely ignores just about everything Peter David established in the first four issues.  I see now that Doug Murray IS doing a soft reboot of the series by destroying Hazzard's relationship with the mercenaries we met in David's opening issues and bringing in his own cast of characters (more of this in the next issue), with Priestess being the first.

With that in mind, I guess I need to understand that Issue Five was actually the new first issue of Mark Hazzard: Merc.  From THAT point of view, this series looks like it's moving toward one and done single issue stories, heavy on the action, and leaning into the "Merc" part of Mark Hazzard: Merc.

As far as the actual story at hand in Issue Six, it's not bad.  Mark Hazzard vs. Fascism.  It's black and white.  There's the bad guys, here's the good guys.  A bit heavy-handed, but not bad.  Murray is still establishing HIS cast of characters, so there are some strange parts like Mark suddenly deciding to shoot a guy he's been friends with for about twenty years, but overall a decent one shot story.

Let's talk about the art.  The artist on this issue is Vince Giarrano, which is a name that SHOULD be familiar to any Batman fan of the 90s.  If not, then let me refresh your memory. . .

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #20 

Giarrano had a BIG hand in the Batman books during the 90s and especially during the "Knightfall" story arc.  His angular, exaggerated art style is a unique signature look that's pretty much one of those "love it or hate it" sort of things.  

This is some of Giarrano's earlier work.  It is NOT what you would expect when you see his name on something.  I'm gonna be honest here and say it's not great.  It's just okay.  There's none of the weird Giarrano style or flair present.  It's pretty clear he had a major evolvement in style going forward from the 80s to the 90s.  

Overall, taken from the new perspective of this being the second issue of a new series, it's not a bad little standalone story.  It just feels a little weird in spots because Murray is still deconstructing what was established in the first four issues.

NEXT! 

ISSUE SEVEN

Incentives

COVER: Mike Zeck

THE COVER:

Another one by Mike Zeck, but compared to the great portrait cover on the previous issue, this one is disappointing.  Hazzard's proportions just look off and weird, especially his head.  The plane is cool, but much too close and large.  It's not a terrible cover, but Zeck can do better.

MOVING ALONG!

THE STORY:

SCRIPT:  Doug Murray
PENCILS:  Val Mayerik
INKS:  Val Mayerik

We begin somewhere in Central America at some time in the recent past before Issue #1.  Mark Hazzard and "Sergeant Major" Peel have finished training a band of rebels and wish them luck in taking over their country.  

We then shift to the present, where Mark and his son are enjoying a day together at the museum.  Mark gets a call from one of his Central American contacts begging him to come help free the rebel leader (known simply as "The Commander") from a state prison before he is executed.  Mark agrees to take the job, even though they aren't able to pay him anything.  He considers The Commander to be a friend.

Mark cuts his family day short and leaves to gather a team.

Mark needs a pilot (since he shot his friend, Treetop in the leg last issue), so the first stop is Ritter, a mercenary who refuses the job because there's no pay, no incentive.  Mark's next stop is to try and make amends with Mal, his former best friend and partner.  Mal also turns Mark down.  He hasn't forgotten Mark shooting Treetop.

Finally, Mark goes to Sergeant Major and Doc. . .a Vietnamese medic he met during the war.  She and Sergeant Major agree to go on the mission.

We shift scenes to the Jungles of Central America, where Mark, Doc, and Sergeant Major are leading a small band of rebels during their attack on the massive state prison where The Commander is being held.

Doc and Mark fight their way through the prison to grab The Commander while Sergeant Major and the rebels fight the government forces outside.  They manage to make their escape with the badly-wounded Commander into the jungle.  

When they arrive at their rendezvous with the rest of the rebels, they are ambushed by Esteban, the rebel second in command.  He was the one who betrayed The Commander so that he could be the leader of the Rebellion.  

Hazzard and his team are caught by surprise and the battle begins to look desperate until a single A-10 Warthog fighter bomber appears and devastates the rebels.  It's Ritter.  He finally decided that being able to test his new plane was worth not being paid for the rescue job.

Mark isn't happy with Ritter's showboating, but they survived the ambush and The Commander is ready to keep fighting.  Doc stays behind to keep an eye on The Commander while his wounds finish healing while Mark, Ritter and Sergeant Major head back to the states.

The End. . .To be continued.

THE REVIEW:

Another one and done story, with Murray introducing more of his own characters to replace the original mercenary crew.  At least this issue gave us a bit of a nod to Mark's family drama. . .a page and a half total in three issues, but at least it's still sort of there.

The story itself is a pretty bare bones framework.  Basically an introduction to Doc, Ritter, and Sergeant Major as three new mercenaries and not much more than that.  A bit of explosive prison break action and an ambush at the rendezvous point, and it's done.  

It's not a BAD little story.  It reads quick and isn't very memorable, but it's pretty good for what it is.  

NEXT! 

ISSUE EIGHT

Cestus Dei

COVER: Mike Zeck

THE COVER:

You'd THINK the guy Hazzard is sneaking up on would smell the cigarette smoke.  Other than that, Mike Zeck delivers a pretty solid cover with some nice detail.  There's not much more I can say about this one.  Let's get into the story!

THE STORY:

SCRIPT:  Doug Murray
PENCILS:  Gray Morrow
INKS:  Vince Colletta

Mark Hazzard is having a bit of a problem.  He can't find mercenary work because nobody will hire a merc who broke a contract and went on a public shooting spree in a European city, with one of the people getting shot by Hazzard being a fellow merc (Issue #6, above).  

Eventually, he gets a mysterious message.  He flies to Italy and meets a representative of a secret sect of the Catholic Church.  They want to hire him to retrieve an artifact called "The Ring of The Fisherman", along with one of their priests, Father Capistran.  Both taken by terrorists outside of Beirut.  

Mark is introduced to Father Kevin Johnson, a member of "Cestus Dei", a secret military arm of the Church.  Hazzard doesn't like being told who he has to work with, but time is short and off they go.

The next day, after flying to Lebanon,  Mark finds an old connection who owes him and quickly discovers the location of the terrorists and is given a contact in the city.  Shortly after, Mark and Father Johnson are ambushed.  They realize the terrorists are aware they are on their trail.

Arriving in the city, Mark and Father Johnson meet with their contact, who confirms the location of the terrorists, but the contact betrays them and leads them into another ambush!  The heat is on, but they move on the contact's information anyway.

The contact's information was solid, even if he wasn't.  Mark and Father Johnson find the terrorists hiding in an old church.  They go on the attack and manage to retrieve the ring, but the priest the terrorists had taken hostage is killed during the fight.  

Upon returning to Italy with the Ring of The Fisherman, Mark reveals to the mysterious priest that hired him that he discovered papers in the church.  He knows that their secret sect is actually banned and not part of the Catholic Church any longer.  That the Ring was going to be their way to "Buy Back" into the Church.  That they KNEW terrorists were operating in the area and their illegal dig team was in danger.  

Hazzard knew too much.  The priest commands Father Johnson to attack.  Mark beats him easily and demands payment. Returning to New York City, Mark gives all the money to a local church. 

The End. . .To Be Continued.

THE REVIEW:

Not a bad little one and done story here.  It has an interesting premise with shades of "The DaVinci Code" in secret sects of the Catholic Church with forbidden knowledge, along with a hidden military branch.  This comic came out 16 years before The DaVinci Code, so it was pretty interesting seeing some of the same themes at play.  It doesn't dig TOO deep into those themes. . .really more of a framework for the action, but still probably the best story in these five issues so far.

We've got Gray Morrow back on art in this one.  This time backed up Vince Colletta on inks.  Say what you will about Colletta. . .and there IS some controversy hanging over the prolific comic veteran, but his dark lines definitely improve Morrow's pencils here.  At least in MY humble opinion they do.

Overall, not bad.  Not great, but a pretty good read.

AND FINALLY. . .

ISSUE NINE

Decoy

COVER: Mike Zeck

THE COVER:

Mike Zeck gives us another solid cover here.  It's not a masterpiece, but Zeck's covers have been a nice improvement since the first handful of issues.  I like Hazzard's defiant glare.  It says that somehow, some way, some terrorist hind is about to get kicked.  It's a nice little detail that tells a story without a word.  

Let's get inside!

THE STORY:

SCRIPT:  Doug Murray
PENCILS:  Andy Kubert
INKS:  Adam Kubert

A former associate of Mark Hazzard, a mercenary by the name of Lincoln "Stryker" Griffin, hears about Mark's problems finding work and decides to let him in on a big job he's got cooking.  Along with Mal (who Hazzard is friends with again? Okay) and Hazzard's new pilot, Ritter, the four mercenaries head to the Middle East.

Once there, they split into two teams, each carrying a shipment of mysterious cargo.  Mark and Ritter go by air in a rickety WWII transport plane, Griffin and Mal go by land in a truck.  

We follow the two teams as they journey across the Middle East to their ultimate destination, Afghanistan.  Mark and Ritter have the harder time of it as they find themselves flying into the war zone of the Iran/Iraq war!  They are shot down and captured by the Iranians. 

In the meantime, Mal and Griffin are hauling cross-country, ramming barricades and dodging patrols.  They successfully manage to reach their destination and off-load their cargo. . .weapons for the Afghan Mujahadeen  fighting Soviet occupation.  Stinger missiles to take down Soviet helicopters, to be exact.

It turns out that Hazzard's cargo was just farm tools.  They were the decoy while the real weapons were with Mal and Griffin.  The Iranians who captured Hazzard and Ritter are NOT pleased to discover their informants were fooled.  

The Iranians brutally torture Ritter and Hazzard, trying to find out where the actual weapons shipment was.  Hazzard tries to make a break for it, but is recaptured and knocked out.  When he comes to, he finds himself in a courtyard tied to a stake next to Ritter while a firing squad prepares to go to work.

Despite Hazzard's desperate attempts to bargain, the Iranians execute Ritter.  They keep Hazzard alive for further interrogation.

Back in New York City, Griffin has gathered Mal, Treetop, Sergeant Major, and Priestess to inform them he's got information on where Mark is being held and that he's going to publicly executed in about a week.  

But he's got a plan to get him out. . .

To Be Continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

So what we have here is the first part of a continuing story that will go on for the remaining issues of Mark Hazzard: Merc.  It's actually a pretty good little tale of misdirection and misfortune that introduces us to yet ANOTHER new character, Lincoln Griffon. . .who, as we will see, will become a major character in the remaining issues, and it could be argued the new MAIN character of what's left of this series. But more on that coming up in the last part of this series review.

The story itself moves at a nice pace and features plenty of action.  It seems Murray is getting more of a feel for the series as he goes.  Too bad this is the first chapter in what is the closing story arc.  It's getting better just when it's getting ready to end.  It's a bit disappointing. 

So the story is pretty good.  Let's talk about the art.

We get a surprise appearance by one of my favorite artists, Andy Kubert!  In MY humble opinion, Kubert is a modern comics legend who is STILL going strong to this very day!  And to add to the goodness, he's got his brother, Adam on inks!  I wonder if the Kubert brothers lost some sort of bet to end up on this unloved series doing a fill-in job.

Anyway, what can I say about Kubert's art?  It's gritty, realistic, and perfect for this kind of story.  This issue shows what Mark Hazzard: Merc COULD have been.  Unfortunately, it's only for one issue.  Gray Morrow does the art for most of the remaining issues, which isn't BAD, but once you get spoiled with some Kubert art, it's hard to go back.

CONCLUSION

The second batch of issues from Mark Hazzard: Merc take a complete swerve from what Peter David was working on in the first four issues.  Mostly one and done stories except for the last issue, with writer Doug Murray giving us a soft reboot of the series and establishing his own cast of side characters, with stories leaning away from inner conflict and toward the military action advertised on the covers.

Issue Five is basically Issue One, with the actual issues One through Four telling a standalone story that is all but ignored for the rest of the series.  Was this a good thing or a bad thing?  Was the shift what caused the swift cancellation of the series, or was the writing already on the wall and Murray just marking time?  I don't know the answer to these questions, but sort of wish I did.  Information on Mark Hazzard: Merc is a bit sparse, to say the least.  This series review is the only real in-depth look, as far as I can tell.

In MY humble opinion, I like the change.  Don't get me wrong, I liked Peter David's four issues for what they were, but this is more like how I imagined the series would be when I started reading it.    It sort of reminds me of old DC war comics like Star Spangled War Stories once Unknown Soldier became the focus.  One and done stories easy for new readers to get into, with recurring characters and themes for returning readers.

Overall, Issues Five through Nine of Mark Hazzard: Merc are a pretty good read.  Not great, but not bad.  Very heavily reminiscent of Bronze Age war comics.  

Up Next. . .

Let's wrap it up!  What happens next with Mark Hazzard?  Well. . .maybe not what you might expect.

Oh, and BONUS!  I'm also going to throw in an appearance by Mark Hazzard TWENTY YEARS after this series was cancelled.  What was Mark Hazzard doing in a comic book from 2006?  You're gonna find out!

Be there or be square. 

Longbox Junk - Mark Hazzard: Merc (Part 1)

 Before we get started, I'll take a moment to address the extended break I've taken from Longbox Junk. 

Over the past year or so, life has been throwing a LOT of stuff at me. . .work stuff, family stuff, and especially health and medical stuff. . .all at the same time.  It's drastically lowered my motivation to do just about ANYTHING, and I've been in that place for a while now.

 If you've been in that mental place, then you know what I'm talking about. I'm getting better, though, so let's just leave it at that and get back into some Longbox Junk!

What better way to jump back into the Longbox Junk saddle than with a bit of New Universe?

*I know.  I USUALLY do a bunch of horror comics during October, but let's ease on back into this.

I've touched on the sad, short life of Marvel's New Universe before, with my review of the first issue of Justice, found HERE.  Boiled down, it was an ambitious experiment by Marvel to celebrate their 25th anniversary by giving readers a whole new "universe" populated with original new characters, not bogged down by 25 years of sometimes convoluted history and continuity.  

Unfortunately, for many reasons (some of them behind the scenes drama at Marvel that had nothing to do with readers) New Universe was a dud.  Four of the debut titles were cancelled within a year.  The rest struggled along for a few more years before the whole project was folded.

Mark Hazzard: Merc was one of the four launch titles that were cancelled in New Universe's first year.  It was the only one of the four that got an Annual.  It was a bit of an odd duck to begin with.  New Universe was supposed to be a more "realistic" universe, and Mark Hazzard leaned HARD into that idea.  

It's a military comic.  There are no powers.  There are no heroes.  The title character is a professional mercenary. . .a killing machine who has become detached from anything resembling a normal life.  It was different than anything else Marvel had out at the time. 

I'm going to be going through all 13 issues of this strange little artifact of the 80s.  Since this is a series review, the individual entries will be a bit shorter than my usual reviews. . .more of an overview with some commentary.   Enough introduction!  Let's take a look at Mark Hazzard: Merc!

MARK HAZZARD: MERC

PART 1: ISSUES 1 - 4

MARVEL - NEW UNIVERSE (1986)

ISSUE ONE

Bad For Business

COVER: Mark Beachum/ Joe Rubenstein

THE COVER:

It's. . .okay.  This isn't really the kind of cover that grabs me and makes me want to take a look inside.  It's not BAD, but at the same time, it's not really good.  It's definitely aimed at Punisher fans.  In MY humble opinion, the covers of ALL the first issues of the New Universe comics didn't do a great job of grabbing readers (maybe with the exception of Star Brand).  A bit of a stumble right out of the gate.  

Moving along.  Let's get inside this thing!

THE STORY:

SCRIPT: Peter David

PENCILS: Gray Morrow

INKS: Gray Morrow

Mercenary Mark Hazzard is introduced as he accepts a job in Central America for a Revolutionary group that hires the mercenary unit he leads to take down the despotic ruler of their country, dead or alive.  

We follow Hazzard as he accomplishes the mission like the violent and unmerciful professional he is.  But when he sees the people who hired him are just as bad, if not worse, than the man he's just assassinated, he breaks the deal and tries to rescue the former President's daughter.

A desperate escape ensues as the nation collapses around Mark and his men.  The President's daughter constantly tries to escape what she believes to be an abduction instead of the rescue Mark intends.  She does manage to get away and is quickly gunned down by some of her father's own soldiers.

Mark begins to realize the futility of the violent life he's chosen when he watches the President's daughter die.  Despite the protests of his men, Mark decides to skip the next assignment and try to reconnect with his own son, who he has neglected for too long.  

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

When it comes to first issues I basically ask just TWO simple questions:

 First, does it introduce the characters and their situation in a new reader-friendly way?  Second, does it make me want to read more?  Two things.  That's all I ask. Is that too much?  You'd be surprised how often comic publishers can't even accomplish those two simple little things in a first issue.

So, do we get a good introduction to Mark Hazzard and his world here?  I'll give that one a yes.  Peter David is pretty much a legend in modern comics.  He's a master storyteller, and you can definitely see his signature touch here in the underlying conflict between Mark Hazzard, the man of violence and action vs. Mark Hazzard, the sad man disconnected from his own family and the rest of the "real" world. 

 It's an inner conflict of the sort that David honed during his many years of writing Hulk.  Truthfully, it seems Peter David is slumming a bit here.  This kind of story is sort of second nature to his writing style, and he makes it look easy.

Although the story is mostly focused on the violent overthrow of a Central American nation, David deftly gives us plenty of background through flashbacks to Hazzard's three tours of Vietnam, Mark's own distant military father, and his broken relationship with his family.

Second question.  Does this first issue make me want to read more?  Thanks to Peter David's great writing, I'd say yes.  The picture is painted of a violent man beyond redemption, but IS he?  It's a pretty good hook.  

On the art side of things, prolific longtime comic artist Gray Morrow delivers.  This is by no means his BEST work, but it's solid and tells the story well, even if Morrow doesn't step too far out of the lines to try and give us something special.  It's not GREAT art, but it's good art, and actually better than some of the other New Universe first issues.  

Overall, this was a pretty good first issue.  Not a comic masterpiece, but solid work from two great professionals.  Peter David and Gray Morrow make a pretty good team here.

Let's see what's next, shall we?  WE SHALL!

ISSUE TWO

Balk

COVER: Mark Beachum/ Joe Rubenstein

THE COVER:

This one is just bad.  I think the red machine gun is what REALLY sets me off on this one.  For a series that was trying to be a grounded look at the life of a broken military man trying to reconnect with family and reality, a red machine gun just completely fails the whole mission.  The art itself is okay, but the whole concept of this cover doesn't reflect ANYTHING this comic has to offer.  It's a bit of joke, to be completely honest.

Enough of this.  Let's get inside.

THE STORY:

SCRIPT: Peter David

PENCILS: Gray Morrow

INKS: Gray Morrow

First, I'm not sure if it's some sort of printing error, but my copy of issue two is extremely washed out.  Some pages can barely be read, so I only put a couple of page scans in this one. Apologies for the crappy quality.

Mark Hazzard decides it's time to reconnect with his son, Scott.  He surprises Scott by agreeing to attend one of his baseball games.  His ex-wife, Joan is skeptical and her new husband, Greg is angry at Mark trying to insert himself into their lives after two years of being totally absent.

Greg vents to one of his clients, Henri Graymalkin, without realizing Graymalkin wants Mark Hazzard dead for interfering with his business sometime prior to the first issue.  Armed with the information of exactly when and where Hazzard will be, Graymalkin dispatches three assassins.

At the ball game, Mark tries his best just to be there for his son, but he can't help taking control by intimidating the coach into letting Scott play more.  

During a break, the first assassin attacks Hazzard in the bathroom.  After taking him down, Mark returns to the game, only for the second assassin to strike.  Mark stabs and kills him in full view of the crowd.  The third assassin sees he's out of his league with Hazzard and takes one of the young ball players hostage to try and make his escape. 

The horrified crowd watches as Mark makes it clear he's willing to shoot through the hostage to take down the assassin.  When the hitman's gun jams and he tries to get away, Mark kills the defenseless man.   

Mark's ex-wife is livid and berates him for bringing his violent world along with him to a Little League game of all places.  Later, at the gym with his mercenary team, Mark wonders if it's even possible for him to have a normal life.

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:  

Peter David continues to dig deep into the conflict between the violent world of Mark Hazzard, Merc vs.  the sad world of Mark Hazzard, divorced dad.  It's really what he seems to do best.  It's the same sort of  "Man vs. Monster" inner battle that played out over his many years of writing Hulk.  

This issue really illustrates the conflict as Mark Hazzard's violent world collides with the normal world of people just going to a Little League game.  His later anguish over not being able to live a normal life could have come straight from a comic featuring the similarly tortured Bruce Banner.  

On the art side, Gray Morrow's work in this issue is actually a bit improved over that in the debut issue (it might be hard to tell with the state of the pages I scanned).  The art is nothing fancy, just good solid art that tells the story at hand, but doesn't try to step outside of what it's supposed to be.

Overall, I'm getting the impression that this is a sort of undercover Incredible Hulk story. . .with guns.  That's not a BAD thing.  Peter David is best known as a Hulk writer, so it makes sense that he's brought that along with him into this series.  

NEXT! 

ISSUE THREE

Philadelphia Freedom

COVER: Mark Beachum/Joe Rubenstein

THE COVER:

Okay, not bad.  Not great, but I like this one.  It's a gritty portrait of the main character that succeeds with simplicity.  I admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for portrait covers.  This isn't the best portrait cover I've ever seen, but it's a big improvement on the covers of the first two issues.  

Let's check out the story!

THE STORY:

TRIGGER ALERT!

The next two issues deal with Mark Hazzard working for the Israeli Mossad against Palestinian terrorists in Philadelphia.  The Israelis are the good guys.  If the previous two sentences triggers you in ANY way, meet up with me again in part two of this series, which picks up with issue five.  You have been duly warned.  Everybody in that's staying in?  Okay, let's do this!

SCRIPT: Peter David

PENCILS: Sam De La Rosa (as Jack Fury) & Alan Kupperberg

INKS: Sam De La Rosa (as Jack Fury)

After the violent events of last issue, Mark Hazzard is being grilled by the police over his involvement.  Luckily for Mark, the investigating officer is a friend of his, and we're introduced to Lt. Claire Burnett.  She's willing to give Hazzard the benefit of the doubt, but tells him not to leave town during the investigation.

Immediately after agreeing to stick around, Mark gets a call from an old contact in the Israeli Mossad named Jacob Ram with an out of town job in Philadelphia as the bodyguard for an Israeli diplomat during a parade .   Mark initially tells him no because of something that happened 3 years ago, but when Ram tells him an old rival of Hazzard's named Jarret Wolfson will also be on the job, Mark agrees. . .as long as he can be in charge.  He sees it as an opportunity to rub an old grudge in Wolfson's face.

In Philly, there's immediate friction between Hazzard and Wolfson, but that's the way Hazzard wanted it anyway.  They meet the Israeli diplomat, Eli Wisenthal, and the parade begins.  As expected, Palestinian terrorists attack!  During the battle, the terrorists manage to grab Wisenthal and escape while the Philadelphia police arrest Hazzard.

Hazzard's Mossad contact breaks him out of jail.  The terrorists have holed up in an apartment building and are threatening to kill their hostage, Wisenthal, unless Israel releases over 200 terrorist prisoners.  Jacob Ram is convinced the only way Wisenthal makes it out alive is if Hazzard goes in.

After a tense room-to-room shootout, Hazzard rescues Wisenthal and lets Jacob Ram know in no uncertain terms to never call him again.  He's put together that Ram purposely made him and Wisenthal  the expendable fall guys so the Mossad could draw the Palestinians out and interrogate the survivors (which we see Ram doing toward the end of the issue).

Mark returns to New York and is rewarded for his efforts by getting arrested by Lt. Burnett for leaving the city while under investigation.  

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

This issue doesn't really explore the two conflicting sides of Mark Hazzard, but instead focuses on his worse tendencies and addiction to a violent life.  He breaks the trust of a friend, takes on a job he doesn't really want to do for a person he doesn't really want to work for, then gets arrested and almost killed several times JUST to settle a grudge with an old rival.

The focus is on action here, with a good helping of international politics thrown in.  We do get some character development for Hazzard as we explore a bit more of the Merc side of Mark Hazzard: Merc.  We learn he's got a history with both the NYPD and Mossad.  

I like that Peter David didn't really give us an "origin" issue, but starts Hazzard's story in the middle of it, with little bits here and there filling in the sketch of the character as we go along.  This issue was a nice break from the dark inner conflict of the first two issues

On the art side, the ongoing issues with the New Universe in general begins to show up here, with a new art team and two pencillers for this single issue, with the series only three chapters deep.  That said, the art team delivers nicely.  

This was an action-heavy issue and the art has a nice sense of movement and motion.  I liked Gray Morrow's art on the first two issues, but prolific comic veteran Alan Kupperberg, along with Sam De La Rosa (working under the alias of Jack Fury, who we will be seeing a LOT more of next issue) gave me a nice change of pace here.

Overall, this is probably my favorite issue of the series so far.  A solid story with good art, lots of action and a bit of character development.  Nothing wrong with that.

Let's wrap this up!

ISSUE FOUR

Bar None

COVER: Unknown (probably Jack Fury)

THE COVER:

I couldn't find a solid source for the cover artist on this issue, but if you take a look at the massive creator credit list below, it's not surprising.  The New Universe problems were starting to kick in.  That said, it's not a bad cover.  It's got a nice sense of motion and some interesting detail going on.  It's not a GREAT cover, but at least it's got some presence.

Let's check out the story!

THE STORY:

SCRIPT: Peter David

PENCILS: Alan Kupperberg, Gray Morrow (as Jack Fury), Jim Fern (as Jack Fury), 

Art Nichols (as Jack Fury) & Sam De La Rosa (as Jack Fury)

INKS: Gray Morrow (as Jack Fury), Jim Fern (as Jack Fury), Art Nichols (as Jack Fury) &

Sam De La Rosa (as Jack Fury)

AKA: The most artists I think I've ever seen on one single random issue!  

Let's recap:  Over the past three issues Mark Hazzard has. . .

-Killed two men in full view of  dozens of spectators at a Little League baseball game.

-Has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism in another state following a deadly public shootout in broad daylight witnessed by hundreds of people at a parade. . .after being warned not to leave New York while the baseball killings are investigated.

-Broke out of jail with the assistance of a foreign intelligence agency.

-Has been arrested a SECOND time upon returning to New York.

To add insult to injury, his ex-wife and her new husband are like, "Can you PLEASE just go away again?", while Mark's son is like, "You're cool, dad!  If you have a problem, you just shoot it!", which was NOT what Mark wanted in reconnecting with his son.  

This issue starts with Mark sitting in jail and reflecting on the dire consequences of his actions over the past. . .well. . .in comic book time, this series has covered about ONE WEEK.  His kid is loving the violence, the Feds are NOT so pleased, and neither is his NYPD contact, whose career is taking a hit over her trusting Hazzard to stay in New York instead of putting him in jail like she should have.

But along comes Agent Dirkson, of "The Company" AKA a Federal Agency interested in a man of Mark's violent talents to carry out some jobs definitely NOT approved by Congress against citizens of the United States.  

It's one of those offers that can't be refused.  Mark is looking at hard time.  Dirkson can make that all go away.  So he'd be crazy not to take the offer, so Mark takes it, right?  RIGHT?  We'll see.

Little does Mark or  Dirkson know, but there's a mole on the NYPD.  He's Irham, a member of the Palestinian terror cell Mark took down last issue.  He meets up with Besq, the brother of one of the said terrorists who Mark killed.  Besq is bent on revenge and Irham helps him put his plan in motion.

They steal a bus and begin kidnapping people Mark has recently been in contact with. . .Dirkson, Lt. Burnett and her husband, and even Mark's lawyer.  When Hazzard shows up at midnight to give Dirkson his answer about working for him, he's met by the two terrorists and their hostages.

Mark let's himself be taken prisoner after the terrorists kill LT. Burnett's husband.  But as the bus leaves, they are ambushed by Mark's mercenary team.  A firefight breaks out and Mark and his team manage to kill the terrorists and rescue the hostages. . .but they are forced to make a hasty escape when the NYPD starts showing up.

The next day, Mark visits with his son.  He didn't take Dirkson's deal and is trusting the legal system to keep him out of prison.  He's out on bail, but what happens next is completely up in the air.

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Once again, Peter David gives us a pretty good "worlds collide" story as Mark realizes that his son is looking up to him in a completely wrong way, and that his actions have affected other people's lives in a terrible way. . .Lt. Burnett is being investigated and her husband is dead because of Mark.

  In the end, faced with a choice of solving his problems with violence by working with Dirkson, or facing the consequences of his actions and providing a better example for his son, Hazzard chooses the high road.  It brings a nice touch of humanity and hope for redemption for the character and leaves what happens next wide open.

This was Peter David's last issue, and he closed off his time writing Mark Hazzard: Merc in a great way, making his four issues a very nice little self-contained story arc.  This series was never collected, but I think these first four issues would make a decent little Trade.

On the art side of things.

Take a look at the creator credits up there!  That's FIVE pencillers and FOUR inkers on this ONE issue!

Most of them working under the alias "Jack Fury" to keep the title splash from reading like a who's who of 80's Marvel fill-in art talent.

New Universe was notorious for its unstable roster of writers and artists, and we get our first taste of that here.  There are five artists at work here, and you can definitely see it.  Mind you, they're five pretty good artists, so it's not as bad as you'd think, but there are places where the switch is a bit jarring.

Overall, this was a good wrap-up for Peter David's time writing this series.    

CONCLUSION

Mark Hazzard: Merc is one of the most unloved New Universe titles.  I think maybe Kickers Inc. would be the only New Universe series to top a "worst of" list over Mark Hazzard: Merc.  

This is a series you can collect the entirety of from the bargain bin, and if you do gather the whole run, you might as well forget about reselling anything other than the first issue, and even the first issue would be a big "maybe" for a buck or two.  What I'm saying is that this series IS Longbox Junk in the minds of many collectors.

BUT. . .

If you're a fan of Peter David's writing, don't sleep on what he did here.  It's worth checking out.  He deftly transferred the dual conflict he spent over a decade perfecting with the Hulk to the four issues he did of Mark Hazzard: Merc.  Instead of the more familiar man vs. monster conflict, he shifted it a bit to give a story about violence vs responsibility.  

In four short issues we get (1) a man who realizes his life has gone to hell, (2) tries to fix things, (3) falls back on his old ways, and finally (4) faces the consequence of his actions.  That's a pretty heavy load for four issues of a military action comic to carry.  Peter David is a good enough writer that he makes it look easy.

Like I said above, this series was never collected, but at least THESE four issues would make a nice little trade paperback.  You can find these issues pretty easily in the bargain bins, so I would definitely recommend comic fans who might not know about this decent little Peter David story go do a little Longbox Junkin' and check it out.

And that's that for Part One of my look at Mark Hazzard: Merc.  This was Peter David's last issue and he left things completely open and up in the air.  What happens next?  Find out in Part Two, coming soon!

Be there or be square.