“Yesterday’s” Comic> Hardcase #4

“Maybe we should become some kind of ultra force.” “Nah, nobody would be interested in that.”

Hardcase #4

Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (September, 1993)

“Strangers In The Night”

WRITER: James D. Hudnall

CO-PLOTTER: Steve Englehart

PENCILER: Roger Robinson

INKER: Larry Welch

COLORIST: Moose Baumann

LETTERER: Tim Eldred

EDITORS: Hank Kalanz & Chris Ulm

After some initial disagreement, Candy manages to calm Hardcase, still getting over last issue’s fight. After a shower he tells them how the Squad was formed after a similar cosmic event to the one that created the Strangers gave the quartet their powers. They were doing well as crimefighters and celebrities until a group called Aladdin came to recruit them. Not trusting an alleged government agency they never heard of after already working with a government liaison, the Squad turned them down. Days later they were attacked by NM-E, who killed most of the group, left Hardcase’s friend in a coma, and turned him away from crimefighting. Telling this story to the Strangers now makes him see the possible connection between Aladdin and NME, and since the Strangers met their own suited goons, they decided to check the place out, only to be captured by the various Ultra agents already working for Aladdin…including one the Strangers already know, but you’ll have to wait for The Strangers #4 to see where that goes.

Lucky for me that’s next in the reading order I’m using. I wonder if I ever get to learn what happened to Prime?

What they got right: While the numerous zaps from space is a lazier origin than the one Stan Lee created for the X-Men (I wonder if he was jealous?), it is still a decent way to create Ultras beyond all the freaky science stuff we’ve seen from Prototype and Prime’s adventures, including the heroes themselves. This didn’t lead to the heroes fighting each other due to some misunderstanding, and they team up right away. Zip-Zap (who shouldn’t be throwing stones at glass houses when it comes to bad names) makes fun of one of the Aladdin agents, Dust Devil (showing up after he makes a Bugs Bunny reference and didn’t capitalize on it when this guy showed up), but I’ve seen worse names last issue. Dust Devil, Foxfire, and Wareagle are actually decent names compared to Needler, Trouble, and Gun Nut.

What they got wrong: Granted Foxfire being another flyer versus something actually fox related was a misstep. Grenade is surprisingly jealous of Candy flirting with Hardcase to calm him down, given how mild it is and they aren’t a couple. Then again, Choice looks a bit jealous as well, and she only just met Hardcase. Granted he does mention that from the moment he got his powers women were tossing their phone numbers his way at the audition he was at when he got ultra-ed. At least Atom Bob immediately being interested in Choice makes sense. They’re also pretty quick to drop their secret identity names despite remaining in full costume. Finally, the double-cover spread is fine, but why is the trade dress on the left side, which would be the back of the comic instead of the front?

What I think overall: This story seems better than the previous one, despite jumping a few hoops when it comes to connecting Aladdin to NM-E enough to get the Strangers involved in the investigation. Curious to see where this goes with the next issue of The Strangers and how it affects Hardcase’s own comic after this.