Strange Combat Tales #1-4 and Amazing High Adventure #1
Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 8:12 pm
This is an obscure series from the 90s. Most stories published under the "Epic" banner aren't 616, but the handbooks have referenced this series, so it's among the few Epic stories that are 616. I hope I've gotten the formatting correctly below.
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #1 (Oct 1993)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
1st Story:
APPEARANCES:
British soldiers, Marsden, Zombies, Erik Charnier, Baroness Ursula Lichter, Colonel Denholm Sykes, Julian Drake, German soldiers, Belgian soldiers, French soldiers, British pilots, German pilots
SYNOPSIS:
Flashbacks:
Master occultist Julian Drake has a number of disciples, including the Baroness Ursula Lichter. His teaching technique includes drugs and sexual debauchery, but eventually Lichter decides to break out on her own. She poisons two of Drake’s disciples and frames him for the murder, testifying against him in court. Drake is convicted and sent to a secure asylum.
1917 (The “current day” portion):
Occultists Erik Charnier and Baroness Ursula Lichter agree to create an army of zombies for the German Imperial Army. In response, the British military frees Julian Drake from his asylum cell, offering him a full pardon if he will stop Charnier and Lichter. During his incarceration, Drake has realized that his mystical abilities did in fact corrupt him both morally and rationally, and so he has foresworn the use of his powers. Nevertheless, desiring revenge against Lichter, he agrees. He’s taken to the front lines in France and attempts to fight his way through no-man’s land to the German side, but the fighting is too intense and he’s captured. Charnier and Lichter taunt him over his helplessness, since he isn’t using his powers. Eventually they take him in a zeppelin to show off their zombie army cutting a swath through the Entente’s forces. Drake finally decides to use his powers and kills Charnier, cutting the zombies off from their energy source and returning them to lifeless corpses. Lichter invokes power from various entities, including the Lovecraftian being Zariatnatmek (spelled “mik” in Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward), which backfires and causes the zeppelin to explode, killing her. Drake is thrown free of the explosion and falls toward Earth (whether he survives is not revealed).
2nd Story:
APPEARANCES:
Colonel Jedediah Edge, Union soldiers, Laura Nicks, Gorlaks
SYNOPSIS:
Union Colonel Jedediah Edge pulls himself out of the water after having been submerged due to his boat being sunk by a Gorlak attack vessel.
NOTE:
To be continued! Gorlaks first named in issue #2. Also, the end of #2 reveals that this story is an in-universe fiction story printed in a pulp sci-fi magazine during World War 2. That would presumably make this an alternate Earth story (since in-universe fictions are often classified as taking place on alternate Earths), but no alternate Earth number has so far been supplied in the handbooks.
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #2 (Nov 1993)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
1st Story:
APPEARANCES:
Union soldiers, Colonel Jedediah Edge, Gorlaks, Laura Nicks, Confederate soldiers, Colonel John Durham, slaves, alligators
SYNOPSIS:
Flashback (or is this a flashforward? Time travel is confusing):
Alien Gorlaks from the 22nd century invade Earth, but when humanity fights back, a large explosion causes one of the Gorlak ships and United Nations soldier Laura Nicks to travel back in time to 1862 during the Civil War.
Flashback:
During a Civil War battle in 1862, Laura Nicks suddenly appears. The Union troops are initially afraid of her, but she convinces their commander, Colonel Jedediah Edge, that the strange lights and rumors of monsters they’ve heard are true and that she can help destroy them.
“Current” portion in 1862:
Edge takes his troops, along with Laura, deep into Confederate territory in Tennessee, attempting to locate the Gorlak base. They are captured by Confederate troops led by Colonel John Durham, only to learn that the Confederates are hunting the aliens as well. Putting aside their differences, Union and Confederate troops, assisted by Nicks, eventually locate the base. While the troops stage a frontal attack as a diversion, Nicks sneaks into the Gorlak base on a suicide mission and detonates a bomb. Afterwards, Edge decides he can’t fight fellow human beings anymore and decides to take his men west out of the war, offering to let Durham and his men join him.
NOTE:
Again, this story is in-universe fiction.
2nd Story:
APPEARANCES:
Flying Tigers, Tony Argento, Wil Neale, dragon
SYNOPSIS:
1941: Tony Argento reads “Rockets Red Glare,” written by fellow American volunteer in China Wil Neale and published in the pulp magazine Weird Science Mysteries, and is upset with the ending of the story. Neale is too busy to defend his authorial choices, however, since a patrol calls in just as they encounter a giant purple dragon in the sky.
NOTE:
To be continued!
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #3 (Dec 1993)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
1st Story:
APPEARANCES:
Japanese pilots, Flying Tigers, Wil Neale, Tex Dawson, Tony Argento, dragons, Major General “Ol’ Leatherface” Rennault, Ming Tang, Quoi Tang, ninjas, Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese soldiers, White Lotus sect, Huiyuan, Japanese soldiers, demons, animated human skeletons
SYNOPSIS:
June, 1941: American volunteer pilots Tony Argento and Wil Neale become involved in a plot by the White Lotus sect in China to engineer a Japanese victory. They fear that if Chiang Kai-Shek’s nationalists prevail, they will be overthrown by the Communists and Chinese culture will be destroyed. With a Japanese victory, the Chinese people would be forced to turn back to their old culture and gods, which would unify them against the occupiers. Thus, the sect uses ancient magic, demons, and dragons to attack the nationalist forces and American volunteers assisting them. Thinking that only mythic beings can fight mythic beings, Neale has tigers painted on all of the Americans’ planes, thus providing the famous name for the Flying Tigers. Argento and Neale track the White Lotus leader, Ming Tang, to her hideout. Argento is killed by Neale succeeds in wiping out her supernatural forces. In despair over the coming fate of China, Ming kills herself. Six months later, Neale commands his own squadron of Flying Tigers and their fame has spread widely.
2nd Story:
APPEARANCES:
Arabian horses, Oriana Leone, Lt. Pete Lupo, NYPD, U.S. Marines, Robert, Henry, John, Guy Greene, Charles
SYNOPSIS:
1993: Oriana Leone is excited to be landing at JFK International Airport in New York City, since she has found the Spear of Longinus (aka the Spear of Destiny) buried with the mummified remains of five crusader knights. Because of the significance of the find, a major police and military presence is at the airport to protect the artifact and remains. Once the plane lands and stops moving, a cargo door opens only to reveal the knights charging the police, having returned to life and seized the spear.
NOTE:
To be continued! The knights are named in issue #4.
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #4 (Jan 1994)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
APPEARANCES:
Robert, Henry, John, Guy Greene, Charles, Arabian horses, NYPD, U.S. Marines, Adriana Leone, Lt. Pete Lupo, Mingia, Doctor Menzies, Oliver Cromwell, tyrannosaur, Janus, Peter Barthelmy, New Yorkers, English soldiers, Muslim soldiers
SYNOPSIS:
Flashbacks:
During the crusades, Peter Barthelmy, a priest in the besieged city of Antioch, discovers the true Spear of Longinus (aka the Spear of Destiny). He and five knights take it into battle and kill thousands of Muslim soldiers. Barthelmy entrusts the protections of the spear to the knights, who gain immunity from age (and limited immunity from injury) as part of their charge. The knights eventually return to England, taking the spear with them. Centuries later, during the English civil war, Oliver Cromwell, secretly an evil occultist, seeks the spear to guarantee victory for his army. Many priests are murdered, but they refuse to reveal the location of the spear, and the knights remain in hiding.
“Current” portion:
1993: The knights protector of the Spear of Longinus attempt to flee JFK International Airport with the spear, but the NYPD forces them to drop it during their escape. Dr. Adriana Leone retrieves the spear and takes it to the Natural History Museum where it wil be examined by her boss, Doctor Menzies. After she leaves, Menzies consults with the living severed head of Oliver Cromwell, the most prized portion of his collection of arcane artifacts. Cromwell plans to use the spear to muster another army and begin conquering territory. Leone and NYPD lieutenant Pete Lupo suspect Menzies is going to steal the spear, so they return to the museum just as the knights return and fight for the spear. They successfully seize the spear and flee, although losing two of their number in the process. Leone and Lupo follow the knights, who inform them of their history and mission. Meanwhile, Cromwell finds Menzies useless and uses his mystical abilities to force Menzies to decapitate himself, then takes Menzies’s body as his own. He mystically broadcasts a challenge to the knights to bring the spear to Times Square or he will unleash a bloodbath on New York. The knights, Leone, and Lupo show up on time and a battle begins. In the process, two more knights are killed, but the remaining one finally calls upon the power of the spear to kill Cromwell and his goons. He charges Leone and Lupo with the spear’s protection to replace the dead knights, and the three of them walk away with the spear.
NOTE:
The Spear of Longinus has appeared in a few other Marvel stories which apparently place the spear in Germany during World War 2 (I haven’t read those stories, so I can’t comment on the specifics). This story never explicitly says that the spear wasn’t there at that time, so a future writer could probably add a retcon that says the spear was returned to England after the war so that it could be found with the mummified knights by Leone. I should also point out that since there are no mentions of any superhuman beings in New York, perhaps this story should be considered to have taken place in 616’s year 1993, rather than subject it to the sliding timescale. That would explain why the Avengers, Dr. Strange, etc., aren’t involved.
Placement suggestions:
ARGENTO, TONY
SCT 2 /2
SCT 3
BARTHELMY, PETER
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
CHARLES
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
CHARNIER, ERIK
SCT 1
CHIANG KAI-SHEK
SCT 3
CROMWELL, OLIVER
SCT 4 (20:7-21:1)-FB
{SCT 4}
DAWSON, TEX
SCT 2 /2 ~ SCT 3 (1:5-2)
SCT 3
DRAKE, JULIAN
SCT 1 (13:1-)-FB
SCT 1 (13:3)-FB
SCT 1 (13:4)-FB
{SCT 1}
GREENE, GUY
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
HENRY
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
HUIYUAN
SCT 3
JANUS
SCT 4 (21:3)-FB
{SCT 4}
JOHN
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
LEONE, ADRIANA/ORIANA LEONE
SCT 3 /2
SCT 4
LICHTER, URSULA
SCT 1 (13:1)-FB
SCT 1 (7:2)-FB
[SCT 1]
LUPO, PETE
SCT 3 /2
SCT 4
MARSDEN
SCT 1
MENZIES
SCT 4
MINGIA
SCT 4
NEALE, WIL
SCT 3 (1)
{SCT 2 /2} ~ SCT 3 (2:4-2:5)
SCT 3
RENNAULT
SCT 3
ROBERT
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
SYKES, DENHOLM
SCT 1
TANG, MING
SCT 3
TANG, QUOI
SCT 3
I wasn't sure what to do with the in-universe characters from Neale's story in #2-3. They're not 616, but the story might take place on an unnumbered alternate Earth. Since it's unnumbered, I'm not sure whether they can even be included at MCP, but here they are just in case:
DURHAM, JOHN
SCT 2
EDGE, JEDEDIAH
SCT 2 (5:2-13)-FB
SCT 2 (1-2)
{SCT 1 /2} ~ SCT 2 (3:1)
SCT 2
NICKS, LAURA
SCT 2 (15:4)-FB
SCT 2 (5:5-13)-FB
SCT 2 (1-2)
{SCT 1 /2} ~ SCT 2 (3:1)
SCT 2
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #1 (Oct 1993)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
1st Story:
APPEARANCES:
British soldiers, Marsden, Zombies, Erik Charnier, Baroness Ursula Lichter, Colonel Denholm Sykes, Julian Drake, German soldiers, Belgian soldiers, French soldiers, British pilots, German pilots
SYNOPSIS:
Flashbacks:
Master occultist Julian Drake has a number of disciples, including the Baroness Ursula Lichter. His teaching technique includes drugs and sexual debauchery, but eventually Lichter decides to break out on her own. She poisons two of Drake’s disciples and frames him for the murder, testifying against him in court. Drake is convicted and sent to a secure asylum.
1917 (The “current day” portion):
Occultists Erik Charnier and Baroness Ursula Lichter agree to create an army of zombies for the German Imperial Army. In response, the British military frees Julian Drake from his asylum cell, offering him a full pardon if he will stop Charnier and Lichter. During his incarceration, Drake has realized that his mystical abilities did in fact corrupt him both morally and rationally, and so he has foresworn the use of his powers. Nevertheless, desiring revenge against Lichter, he agrees. He’s taken to the front lines in France and attempts to fight his way through no-man’s land to the German side, but the fighting is too intense and he’s captured. Charnier and Lichter taunt him over his helplessness, since he isn’t using his powers. Eventually they take him in a zeppelin to show off their zombie army cutting a swath through the Entente’s forces. Drake finally decides to use his powers and kills Charnier, cutting the zombies off from their energy source and returning them to lifeless corpses. Lichter invokes power from various entities, including the Lovecraftian being Zariatnatmek (spelled “mik” in Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward), which backfires and causes the zeppelin to explode, killing her. Drake is thrown free of the explosion and falls toward Earth (whether he survives is not revealed).
2nd Story:
APPEARANCES:
Colonel Jedediah Edge, Union soldiers, Laura Nicks, Gorlaks
SYNOPSIS:
Union Colonel Jedediah Edge pulls himself out of the water after having been submerged due to his boat being sunk by a Gorlak attack vessel.
NOTE:
To be continued! Gorlaks first named in issue #2. Also, the end of #2 reveals that this story is an in-universe fiction story printed in a pulp sci-fi magazine during World War 2. That would presumably make this an alternate Earth story (since in-universe fictions are often classified as taking place on alternate Earths), but no alternate Earth number has so far been supplied in the handbooks.
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #2 (Nov 1993)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
1st Story:
APPEARANCES:
Union soldiers, Colonel Jedediah Edge, Gorlaks, Laura Nicks, Confederate soldiers, Colonel John Durham, slaves, alligators
SYNOPSIS:
Flashback (or is this a flashforward? Time travel is confusing):
Alien Gorlaks from the 22nd century invade Earth, but when humanity fights back, a large explosion causes one of the Gorlak ships and United Nations soldier Laura Nicks to travel back in time to 1862 during the Civil War.
Flashback:
During a Civil War battle in 1862, Laura Nicks suddenly appears. The Union troops are initially afraid of her, but she convinces their commander, Colonel Jedediah Edge, that the strange lights and rumors of monsters they’ve heard are true and that she can help destroy them.
“Current” portion in 1862:
Edge takes his troops, along with Laura, deep into Confederate territory in Tennessee, attempting to locate the Gorlak base. They are captured by Confederate troops led by Colonel John Durham, only to learn that the Confederates are hunting the aliens as well. Putting aside their differences, Union and Confederate troops, assisted by Nicks, eventually locate the base. While the troops stage a frontal attack as a diversion, Nicks sneaks into the Gorlak base on a suicide mission and detonates a bomb. Afterwards, Edge decides he can’t fight fellow human beings anymore and decides to take his men west out of the war, offering to let Durham and his men join him.
NOTE:
Again, this story is in-universe fiction.
2nd Story:
APPEARANCES:
Flying Tigers, Tony Argento, Wil Neale, dragon
SYNOPSIS:
1941: Tony Argento reads “Rockets Red Glare,” written by fellow American volunteer in China Wil Neale and published in the pulp magazine Weird Science Mysteries, and is upset with the ending of the story. Neale is too busy to defend his authorial choices, however, since a patrol calls in just as they encounter a giant purple dragon in the sky.
NOTE:
To be continued!
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #3 (Dec 1993)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
1st Story:
APPEARANCES:
Japanese pilots, Flying Tigers, Wil Neale, Tex Dawson, Tony Argento, dragons, Major General “Ol’ Leatherface” Rennault, Ming Tang, Quoi Tang, ninjas, Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese soldiers, White Lotus sect, Huiyuan, Japanese soldiers, demons, animated human skeletons
SYNOPSIS:
June, 1941: American volunteer pilots Tony Argento and Wil Neale become involved in a plot by the White Lotus sect in China to engineer a Japanese victory. They fear that if Chiang Kai-Shek’s nationalists prevail, they will be overthrown by the Communists and Chinese culture will be destroyed. With a Japanese victory, the Chinese people would be forced to turn back to their old culture and gods, which would unify them against the occupiers. Thus, the sect uses ancient magic, demons, and dragons to attack the nationalist forces and American volunteers assisting them. Thinking that only mythic beings can fight mythic beings, Neale has tigers painted on all of the Americans’ planes, thus providing the famous name for the Flying Tigers. Argento and Neale track the White Lotus leader, Ming Tang, to her hideout. Argento is killed by Neale succeeds in wiping out her supernatural forces. In despair over the coming fate of China, Ming kills herself. Six months later, Neale commands his own squadron of Flying Tigers and their fame has spread widely.
2nd Story:
APPEARANCES:
Arabian horses, Oriana Leone, Lt. Pete Lupo, NYPD, U.S. Marines, Robert, Henry, John, Guy Greene, Charles
SYNOPSIS:
1993: Oriana Leone is excited to be landing at JFK International Airport in New York City, since she has found the Spear of Longinus (aka the Spear of Destiny) buried with the mummified remains of five crusader knights. Because of the significance of the find, a major police and military presence is at the airport to protect the artifact and remains. Once the plane lands and stops moving, a cargo door opens only to reveal the knights charging the police, having returned to life and seized the spear.
NOTE:
To be continued! The knights are named in issue #4.
STRANGE COMBAT TALES #4 (Jan 1994)
By Rob Stofega and Aubrey Singer
APPEARANCES:
Robert, Henry, John, Guy Greene, Charles, Arabian horses, NYPD, U.S. Marines, Adriana Leone, Lt. Pete Lupo, Mingia, Doctor Menzies, Oliver Cromwell, tyrannosaur, Janus, Peter Barthelmy, New Yorkers, English soldiers, Muslim soldiers
SYNOPSIS:
Flashbacks:
During the crusades, Peter Barthelmy, a priest in the besieged city of Antioch, discovers the true Spear of Longinus (aka the Spear of Destiny). He and five knights take it into battle and kill thousands of Muslim soldiers. Barthelmy entrusts the protections of the spear to the knights, who gain immunity from age (and limited immunity from injury) as part of their charge. The knights eventually return to England, taking the spear with them. Centuries later, during the English civil war, Oliver Cromwell, secretly an evil occultist, seeks the spear to guarantee victory for his army. Many priests are murdered, but they refuse to reveal the location of the spear, and the knights remain in hiding.
“Current” portion:
1993: The knights protector of the Spear of Longinus attempt to flee JFK International Airport with the spear, but the NYPD forces them to drop it during their escape. Dr. Adriana Leone retrieves the spear and takes it to the Natural History Museum where it wil be examined by her boss, Doctor Menzies. After she leaves, Menzies consults with the living severed head of Oliver Cromwell, the most prized portion of his collection of arcane artifacts. Cromwell plans to use the spear to muster another army and begin conquering territory. Leone and NYPD lieutenant Pete Lupo suspect Menzies is going to steal the spear, so they return to the museum just as the knights return and fight for the spear. They successfully seize the spear and flee, although losing two of their number in the process. Leone and Lupo follow the knights, who inform them of their history and mission. Meanwhile, Cromwell finds Menzies useless and uses his mystical abilities to force Menzies to decapitate himself, then takes Menzies’s body as his own. He mystically broadcasts a challenge to the knights to bring the spear to Times Square or he will unleash a bloodbath on New York. The knights, Leone, and Lupo show up on time and a battle begins. In the process, two more knights are killed, but the remaining one finally calls upon the power of the spear to kill Cromwell and his goons. He charges Leone and Lupo with the spear’s protection to replace the dead knights, and the three of them walk away with the spear.
NOTE:
The Spear of Longinus has appeared in a few other Marvel stories which apparently place the spear in Germany during World War 2 (I haven’t read those stories, so I can’t comment on the specifics). This story never explicitly says that the spear wasn’t there at that time, so a future writer could probably add a retcon that says the spear was returned to England after the war so that it could be found with the mummified knights by Leone. I should also point out that since there are no mentions of any superhuman beings in New York, perhaps this story should be considered to have taken place in 616’s year 1993, rather than subject it to the sliding timescale. That would explain why the Avengers, Dr. Strange, etc., aren’t involved.
Placement suggestions:
ARGENTO, TONY
SCT 2 /2
SCT 3
BARTHELMY, PETER
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
CHARLES
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
CHARNIER, ERIK
SCT 1
CHIANG KAI-SHEK
SCT 3
CROMWELL, OLIVER
SCT 4 (20:7-21:1)-FB
{SCT 4}
DAWSON, TEX
SCT 2 /2 ~ SCT 3 (1:5-2)
SCT 3
DRAKE, JULIAN
SCT 1 (13:1-)-FB
SCT 1 (13:3)-FB
SCT 1 (13:4)-FB
{SCT 1}
GREENE, GUY
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
HENRY
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
HUIYUAN
SCT 3
JANUS
SCT 4 (21:3)-FB
{SCT 4}
JOHN
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
LEONE, ADRIANA/ORIANA LEONE
SCT 3 /2
SCT 4
LICHTER, URSULA
SCT 1 (13:1)-FB
SCT 1 (7:2)-FB
[SCT 1]
LUPO, PETE
SCT 3 /2
SCT 4
MARSDEN
SCT 1
MENZIES
SCT 4
MINGIA
SCT 4
NEALE, WIL
SCT 3 (1)
{SCT 2 /2} ~ SCT 3 (2:4-2:5)
SCT 3
RENNAULT
SCT 3
ROBERT
SCT 4 (18:3)-FB
SCT 4 (18:6-18:7)-FB
{SCT 3 /2}
SCT 4
SYKES, DENHOLM
SCT 1
TANG, MING
SCT 3
TANG, QUOI
SCT 3
I wasn't sure what to do with the in-universe characters from Neale's story in #2-3. They're not 616, but the story might take place on an unnumbered alternate Earth. Since it's unnumbered, I'm not sure whether they can even be included at MCP, but here they are just in case:
DURHAM, JOHN
SCT 2
EDGE, JEDEDIAH
SCT 2 (5:2-13)-FB
SCT 2 (1-2)
{SCT 1 /2} ~ SCT 2 (3:1)
SCT 2
NICKS, LAURA
SCT 2 (15:4)-FB
SCT 2 (5:5-13)-FB
SCT 2 (1-2)
{SCT 1 /2} ~ SCT 2 (3:1)
SCT 2