Hexagon Comics: Strangers 10: Enter Mr. 17

 

STRANGERS 10: ENTER MR. 17 

stories by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by Alfredo Macall, Manuel Martin Peniche; cover by Alfredo Macall.


7x10 squarebound trade paperback, 

94 pp. 

b&w
ISBN-13: 978-1-64932-224-1. US$12.95

https://www.hexagoncomics.com/shop-strangers-10-enter-mr-17.html

Contents:
- Foreword 
- ENTER: MR. 17: story by JM Lofficier; Art by Alfredo Macall 

- SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE GUARDIAN OF THE REPUBLIC!: story by JM Lofficier; Art by Manuel Martin Peniche 

- THE BATTLE OF TORONN: story ny JM Lofficier; Art by Manuel Martin Peniche
- SWORDS & SORCERESSES: story by JM Lofficier; Art by Manuel Martin Peniche


HOMICRON, a NASA scientist whose body is possessed by a mysterious alien from planet Alpha. 

STARLOCK, a servant of the Towers, supremely powerful cosmic entities. 

FUTURA, a mysterious woman from a parallel dimension. 

JAYDEE, a teenage, alien metamorph, abandoned on Earth as a baby, and who may well be the deadliest killing machine in the universe... 

These characters, all “strangers” to Earth, are brought together by TANKA, a former jungle lord who has been recruited by entities from our planet’s farthest future to be their “time agent” and is now empowered to protect our world from extra-terrestrial menaces.

In this tenth volume of Strangers, the heroes clash with the renegade Salamandrite known only as Mr. 17 to prevent the return of his masters, the space vampires called the Wan Lords, whom Kabur once defeated in the distant past...

Special guest-stars: The Guardian of the Republic! Morgane! Scarlet Lips!

Macall's art started of this book and gave it a feel similar to a Bronze Age Marvel Avengers annual which is no bad thing and, of course, a fight to start things of with the intention of the baddie to capture Homicron -hint: he succeeds. I was really ready for 90pp of Macall here but....

Peniche's art on the next story is a sharp contrast to Macall's clean line work; solid black and white use is very effective and reminiscent (again) of what good fun comics used to be. Both stories drawn by Peniche are well done and that is what a comic reader should expect.

The good thing about the stories is that continuity is always there and mainly because Lofficier does the plotting and writing and really does turn out some cracking stories with twists and action all the way. I think that I once described him as "the Roy Thomas of French comics".  Thomas is known for his vast knowledge of American Golden and Silver Age comic characters and never twisted old characters to suit modern times but molded them so that they seemed to seamlessly fit in and any continuity was maintained even if changed slightly to bring characters inline with the story. Lofficier does similar and I cannot think of anyone else who has put so much dedication into reviving the old French characters and introducing them to a modern generation.

And, of course, he gave us The Guardian of the Republic -a character to Hexagon what Captain America is to Marvel.

I really hope some of you reading these reviews at least tries out the Strangers series because so far they have been pure fun and action.