Issue(s): Blackwulf #6
Cover Date: Nov 94
Title: "The first frontier"
Credits:
Glenn Herdling - Writer
Angel Medina - Penciler
Bill Anderson - Inker
Ralph Macchio - Editor

Review/plot:
The Underground Legion and Henry Pym return to New York and begin fighting about jurisdiction over the Kree Sentry. Pym allows the Legion to keep it on the grounds that it will help them delve into the origins of humanity.

We also see that Wildwind is "alive" again, but Pym figures out that she's really a robot.

Dr. Broadhurst inspects Sparrow and tells her that the chip that Ultron put in her didn't fully take over her nervous system the way that it did for Ultron's other victims. And so she should therefore give up her control box, because using it could become addictive. But we see signs that it's already become addictive and she won't relinquish it.

Sparrow then goes out and challenges Lucian, who she still blames for the death of her love/his brother, Pelops. He wins the fight and shows that his self-restraint continues to develop.

Meanwhile, Tantalus finds that the Hyperdrive Transponder that Khult was supposed to be working on has been destroyed. Khult blames Id, who was also mentioned in Blackwulf #2 (we don't actually see Id). The Skrull that the Peacekeepers took from Hangar 18 approaches Khult, noticing that Tantalus was trying to contact Sirius-B. The Skrull tells him about the Stargate that exists near Earth's sun. So Tantalus, the Skrull, and the Peacekeepers head through the Stargate.

At the start of this issue we see a Celestial ("space god") deploying* an entity that will be called Godstalker.

At the end of the issue, we see that Godstalker has been sent to Earth to destroy Lord Tantalus "for violating probation". It pauses when Tantalus goes through the Stargate but decides that Tantalus is still on Earth.

(*i was initially unsure if Godstalker was being created here or just summoned/deployed, but next issue we'll learn that it has fought Tantalus before, so it definitely existed prior to this.)

This was a relatively light issue more involved with the individual characters arcs, whereas i'm more interested in the larger plot. I don't really care about the characters (who's a robot, who's in love with a robot, who's addicted to her control box, who's fighting to control his inner demons) at all. Up until this point i'd say that was because the series has been focused on establishing the plot and didn't take a lot of time to slow down and focus on the characters, but i still feel that way after this issue.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place not long after last issue, and Henry Pym shouldn't appear elsewhere in between. Tantalus has a cameo in Secret Defenders #25 that has to take place prior to this issue since Tantalus leaves through the Stargate in this issue and next issue begins the final arc of the series, ending with Tantalus' defeat.

The MCP tags Arishem as behind-the-scenes for this issue. We'll learn next issue that Arishem is the one who judged that Tantalus was unworthy. But that seems to be another Celestial's hand at the beginning of the issue, which should count as an actual, not behind-the-scenes, appearance. It doesn't seem to be Arishem, who is red, not yellow. The hand appears twice, once in the splash that i've included, and once in a two page spread with an energy line coming out of it and going to Godstalker, so the hand definitely isn't just meant to be Godstalker's hand. As Andrew says, the glove looks like it could be One Above All's, so that's who i'll tag. Arishem's behind-the-scenes appearance should also count as an appearance for my purposes.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A