SYNOPSIS
Toshiro asks Marianne Fitzwalter to marry him. Toshiro writes a letter to Gen about this and tells her he has given up the sword. He plans to marry her in the firehall sometime in September. Marduk's tunnels 23 to 34 were destroyed and 150 clones were lost. His organ was squished like a bug. Marduk calls Prof. Stringfellow a Robert Redford on crack lookalike, among other things. He also ranks on Simon: walkman shoved in his ears, vuarnet shades, plaid shorts, indian shoes. Marduk asks which of his clones farted but they are at the gas lines. Mary has a shower; Toshiro a bachelor party. Using his boom box, Marduk and his clones come up from underground (Marduk just claiming he wants to just be left alone). His clones shoot at the shower. Toshiro feels something is wrong and goes to find out. Mary has been shot. Toshiro yells, "Nooo!"
HEADS WILL ROLL!óby Marty Pahls
Simon tells Lee they fought Dr. Arkoff with Hotachi before. Lee sort of remembers. Cuffy thinks Arkoff wants to fry kids on a roasting spit. Arkoff makes the free kids go back into chains and wants to slice off young Stringfellow's... Cuffy challenges him. Cuffy threatens to bite off Arkoff's arm (Simon thinks, "He will too! I got marks!"). Arkoff loves to watch flesh drop slowly off young bones. A slave boy helps Arkoff get Alex when the madman threatens to fry him instead of Alex if he doesn't. Arkoff moves to slit Simon's jugular but the other kids attack and rush the cells. Lee frees Simon who starts to remember what happened. Freed kids smash the control room. Alex turns a toad control and the toads shrink back to just small frogsóóArkoff lied: they are not kids turned to toads after all... just regular toads turned giant. Arkoff plans on pushing his remaining half naked captive boys down a bottomless pit (really just a thousand foot drop). He uses this to get across a chasm. The boys are freed and Lee fights swords with Arkoff. Arkoff's spectacles fall into the pit. The Agincourt Gang run through the cells, freeing the wasted little victims from devices for torturing flesh, for humiliating, breaking brave young spirits. New friends meet (Ronnie is saved) and old friends rediscovered (Conley finds Arthur). Lee is knocked off the edge but lands behind a rock. Lee, into Karate and soccer, kicks Arkoff's head off. The head rolls away, threatening to return for them and pay with death. Alex laments that Cuffy is now hero worshipping Lee (feeling his muscle) and has forgotten all about his friendship with Alex. Cuffy asks Lee to teach him karate and Lee winks, "Okeh, kid just f'r you!"
Toshiro proposes to Marianne, is accepted, and spends four pages in blissful preparation for his wedding. Meanwhile Marduk, with an army of clones, is marching up through the sewers of Ottawa on his way to attack! Toshiro goes out for his bachelor party leaving Marianne behind at the Firehall having a bridal shower. Marduk's forces enter the Firehall with machine guns blazing and massacre everyone in sight. Toshiro has a premonition that something is wrong, rushes back to the Firehall only to find everyone dead!!
On a cheerier note, the back-up story Splinters winds up with the defeat of Arkoff and the rescue of his scantily-clad prisoners.
The art in this issue is a bit different in that Barry did all the scenes involving Marduk and his clones, pencils and inks, in a quite humorous style, making Marduk into a raving insane megalomaniac. The rest of the story was penciled and inked by Guang Yap, including most of the scenes with Toshiro. The scene at the bachelor party (1 page) may have been penciled by Barry and inked by Guang.
A good cover by Barry showing Marduk and four cute little clones with machine guns popping out of a manhole.