In case you missed it, and while you might be better off because it was crap, this story continues from a promotional live-action short film. I posted it for the previous Saturday Night Showcase if you want to be up on current events or just need some riffing fodder. It makes FMV game videos look good.
Guess he saw the video, too.
Firearm #0
Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (November, 1993)
WRITER: James Robinson
PENCILERS: Mike Wieringo & Rob Haynes
INKER: John Lowe
COLORING: Keith Conroy (designer) & Foodhammer!
LETTERER: Tim Eldred
EDITOR: Hank Kanalz
For those of you lucky enough to miss the video portion of this story, Alec Swan is known by the nickname Firearm thanks to his really big gun. He didn’t stop the Ultra known as Duet, a merging of a demon and a hired killer named Felix, from killing the blackmailer Cant (I forget his first name and I’m not going back to watch that garbage) when Duet shoots up a police precinct to get to him, or a woman who was the one of the blackmailed, who was silently killed in a diner. Duet captures the blackmailer’s girlfriend
Alec’s client is killed but Cant’s girlfriend tells him where to find the blackmail evidence, revealing that he was attached to making snuff films. (Hello, 1990s comic clearly not for kids.) He follows one of the other people involved only to find it’s actually a cult filming their executions, and the client’s son is going to be sacrificed to a demon. Alec breaks up the production, but Duet manages to gather the leftover energy from the dispelled demon to supercharge himself. Alex manages to kill Duet when he forces him back into his mortal “Felix” state.
So, how did Alec first meet Felix/Duet? Why does he carry a big gun? Is fighting demons and cults a norm for him in the Ultraverse? Darned if I know because this comic explains less than the video did, and that already told us almost nothing. The character in the comic and the actor in the video don’t quite resemble each other. I don’t know why a cult would make snuff films of their sacrifices or why the blackmail victims were involved, and the dude who hired Alec in the video didn’t look like a cultist. Then again, we do see cultist guards in three-piece suits in this story so who the heck knows at this point? He does come off more British here than he did in the video. That’s…something I guess.
There are clearly questions here, but I don’t care what they are. Barring an issue being listed as essential in the reading order list I’m doing, I’m pretty much done with this series. Having a private eye story set in a superhero universe could be interesting and maybe the official first issue would be better, but this was not a good way to promote this thing. I’m dropping out of this one.
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