Now we’ve got ourselves a super battle!
What prisoner in the SPA would you like to see in action? I’ve probably introduced about 30 or 40 single-use throwaway heroes in the last 20 chapters, but not a lot of villains. Mostly because Superior Man is in Hero City and he’s captured so many of them that they’ve all been languishing in prison. This prison. Now, it’s payback time!
I’m surprised no one guessed what the End Zone was going to be. Also, panel 6 is the exact same image as panel 1, page 1 from Chapter 15 “Criminal Minds.” There’s what I thought was an obvious Easter Egg there, but no one mentioned it back when Chapter 15 was published… so… now’s your chance!
OH MY GODS!!! I did NOT see that coming!!! How perfect! I’ve been wondering, and spent a fair bit of time pondering, what “end zone” could be. WOW!!! Talk about a Superior Inconvenience!
If you thought Sidekick Matt and Blue Jay- I mean Blue Bat- could do some damage coordinating a small roster of C-List heroes, wait til you see what they can do with some 1200 inmates.
Oh dear. This can get MESSY.
hmmm
let’s see, Tsunami turns into water, and Thunderchief generates lightning/has electrical powers. Laser fist and Azure Char have the other direction-energy release and fire.
but I think Succubus might be the strongest candidate for bringing Superior Man down all the way. Unfortunately, this isn’t an NC-17 comic.
Glad to see you remember all those inmates from Chapter 15! I think “The Digger” will probably be pivotal in this battle.
Why not Zoidberg?
Also Jake “the snake” Roberts, Redback, Putty Thing, Fish Guy, Gomez Addams, Lobo, Godzilla, Xamot, Nixon… the number of potential characters is ginormous.
But if I had to name just one I think would work really well here… Skeletor please.
Huh, I had totally not thought about Redback. I wonder if she would have been deported to an Australian super-prison?
Oh, just because it’s a pet peeve:
Dampen (v) – to make something wet by adding liquid.
Damp (v) – to reduce in amplitude, to dissipate energy.
What the prison most likely had was a damping field, unless they just like to keep the prisoners clammy.
Hmmm… Tsunami could THRIVE in that environment!
But if we’re not talking cameos in the background but comic regulars, It’d be great to see Howard Wozniak and Inferno again.
Ha! Well, Inferno was actually never captured, he is still at large. We’ll see if Wozniak can contribute to the battle without his (rental) XO-6 Battlesuit.
Oh, right! I might have assumed the personnel have some XO-6’s lying around for building protection, crowd control and the annual hoop game against the convicts.
I’m loving this- echoes of Hancock (truly underrated movie)- and the thought of Superior Man getting a Superior Prison Gang Experience is delightful.
However, I have to ask- if there is a ‘dampening field,’ why not just switch it on and reduce Superior Man to mere mortal status? What’s the mechanic here? Does it only work on villains (in which case Superior Man surely now qualifies) or is there something else that has to be done to the prisoners to make it work?
A “Superior Prison Gang Experience”? I don’t see anyone who looks like Fleece Johnson in there.
Hmmm… *googles “Fleece Johnson”* “Aggh! That’s horrible!”
it was MEANT to be horrible. I first heard of the guy from an episode of ‘Boondocks’…then I found out he’s REAL. just seems like the ideal cellmate for Superiorman is all.
It requires an implanted neural microchip, which was mentioned in passing in the Prison Chapter, when the inmates were trying to decide if they should attack Dr. Foot. Superior Man is sooo invulnerable that they could never inject a chip into his skin. They might have been able to have him swallow it along with that Moonshine Cocktail, but his Superior Gizzard would probably just grind it to atoms. Maybe. I’m not real sure what a gizzard is.
a gizzard is a part of a bird’s stomach where it uses small rocks or other debris to mash up food before going into the stomach proper or intestines. compensates for a lack of teeth/ability to chew.
so all villains have had brain surgery, and have a chip? Why the dampening field requirement if there’s already remote control? That said, i can see a great storyline with an evil surgeon controlling an army of supervillains
Okay the entrance is Darth Vader’s mask
Close, but not quite.
Lord helmets
Because he surrounds assholes.
The entrance to the prison is a shout out to the Legion Of Doom headquarters.
I remember this from many Saturday mornings when I was a kid.
Yes! That is correct! Here is the Legion of Doom HQ from the Saturday morning Superfriends cartoon: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oDtMS6dWllg/hqdefault.jpg
3 Kick Points to JohanBroad for identifying this Easter Egg.
An additional 3 Kick Points to anyone that can expound on the significance of me using that for the super villain prison…
Just spitballing here, but…
1. Lex Luthor founded the Legion of Doom and supervised the construction of the Hall of Doom. Since Lex’s nemesis is Superman, a lot of the Legion’s efforts focused on getting rid of the Man of Steel. Since Superior Man is in many ways analogous to Superman, it stands to reason that the greatest threat to him would come from an ersatz Legion.
2. The Hall of Doom was headquartered in Slaughter Swamp, “just outside” of Gotham. Here, the prison facility seems to be “just outside” of Superior City. Also, on the subject of location, the Hall of Doom could travel underwater, through air, in space, and through time. Maybe the SPA can also move, and the current location is for convenience’ sake? Clearly the team could have placed the showdown anywhere, given that Kickman has already relocated Superior Man to the moon, but having a close location means better chance of accuracy plus easier logistics.
3. It looks badass, and gives fanboys a tingle!
All great answers! Not the one I had in mind, but 3 Kick Points anyway. One for each response.
The Supervillain saying ‘ringu’ appears to be a reference to the film The Ring, which is a horror movie. 🙂
That is true. She also showed up in Kickman’s origin story when he saved a bunch of people in that tenement fire. I don’t know why I like putting her in the background, I just do. She’s creepy. 2 Kick Points for MerlinOfTheTower for that Easter egg.
Congratulations on this classic denouement. Shades of Adventure 353-353 and the Sun-Eater Saga! And you caught all of us commenters by surprise! Waiting for the finale. 🙂 Is someone going to have to sacrifice themself to make it all work?
Is Superior Man going to take out a few of the villains permanently? Will there be an extended wrap where the escapees have to be rounded up? Or can the power-damping implants be triggered remotely?
I can’t wait either! It occurred to me that I should probably write out the rest of the chapter and keep it in a storage locker somewhere with instructions to a buddy of mine to complete the story in the event of my untimely demise… I am perfectly healthy, but can’t be too careful. And don’t want to disappoint the Kick-Fans.
Nice Superior Man shaped hole in the wall. Gives a good impression about how big The SPA actually is, and how many inmates it can hold. Someones about to getting his ass kicked. Wonder if our heroes will join the fun or if their job is done….
A hero’s job is never done!