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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Strykeforce by Darkness Superman (2005) comic books. (W) (P) Tyler Kirkham (I) Matt Banning (Col) John Starr (Cov) Marc Silvestri and Tyler Kirkham Darkness falls over Metropolis! When Darkness-bearer Jackie Estacado looks to expand his family's crime operations into Metropolis, he runs into resistance from the local mob. Superman? He's not a problem. In fact, Jackie's counting on Superman's help in knocking off the existing goombas! This special co-published with DC Comics features the writing talents of Ron Marz (, Green Lantern) and the artistic stylings of Tyler Kirkham (Strykeforce, The Gift), with a "jam" cover by Kirkham and Marc Silvestri! Full color 32 pages $2.99 Part 1 of a 2-part story arc ALSO AVAILABLE: Darkness/Superman #1 autographed by Tyler Kirkham $19.99 Cover price $2.99. THE DARKNESS/SUPERMAN #2 (OF 2) (W) Ron Marz (P) Tyler Kirkham (I) Matt Banning (Col) John Starr (Cov) Marc Silvestri and Tyler Kirkham MOB MAYHEM AND THE MAN OF STEEL! Jackie Estacado and the Darkness have invaded Metropolis with the intention of taking over organized crime in the city. As Lois Lane's life hangs in the balance, Jackie makes Superman an offer he can't refuse. Can the Man of Steel compromise his principles to save Lois? And just who will walk away from the explosive confrontation? This special co-published with DC Comics features the writing talents of Ron Marz (The Darkness, Green Lantern) and the artistic stylings of Tyler Kirkham (Strykeforce, The Gift), with a "jam" cover by Kirkham and Marc Silvestri! Full color 32 pages $2.99 Part 2 of a 2-part story arc Cover price $2.99. Customer Testimonials Our customers have some nice things to say about us: Customer Testimonials Mailing List Join our Mailing List for news and sales. We’ve been selling comics since 1961 (our first sale: Fantastic Four #1 at $0.25, see one of our first ads) and on the web since 1996. Copyright © 1996 - 2021 Lone Star Comics Inc. Character images copyright © their respective owners. Creator / . Top Cow also made a business agreement with different companies in the past, allowing them to use their licensed characters, like and , in various canonical ( Devil's Reign , JLA/Cyberforce and Batman/Darkness ) and non-canonical ( Painkiller Jane vs The Darkness and /Punisher for example) crossovers. Top Cow were also known for creating comic book series, bringing Lara Croft to comic book format for the first time. Also in 2008 Top Cow started co-imprinting some titles with production company "Heroes and Villains Entertainment", producing titles, which supposed to serve as the source material for future films, tv series and games. Codename Strykeforce (1995 Image) comic books. Cover pencils by Anthony Winn, inks by D-Tron. Untitled story, script by Michael Heisler, pencils by Anthony Winn, inks by D-Tron, Jason Gorder, Mung Khoy, Victor Llamas (assistant), and Clint Johnson (assistant); When Stryker is asked to perform a mission that Cyberforce won't touch, he puts together his own strike force to get the job done. 36 pgs. $2.50. Cover price $2.50. Cover pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Marc Silvestri. Untitled, script by Marc Silvestri, pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Joe Rubinstein and Mark Morales (Assistant); Stryker saves the president from the forces of Death's Angel but other foreign dignitaries are captured and taken aboard the villain's nuclear submarine; Stryker calls in Strykeforce to the rescue. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. This item is not in stock. If you use the "Add to want list" tab to add this issue to your want list, we will email you when it becomes available. Special Edition with Blue Embossed cover. Cover price $1.95. This item is not in stock. If you use the "Add to want list" tab to add this issue to your want list, we will email you when it becomes available. Special Edition with Gold Embossed Cover. Cover price $1.95. Cover pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Mark Pennington. Untitled, script by (plot) and Marc Silvestri (plot, script), art by Brandon Peterson; The team's attempt to take control of Death's Angel's submarine fails when they are all captured. Full page cover art for next issue in black and white by Brandon Peterson. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover art by Brandon Peterson. Untitled, script by David Wohl (plot) and Marc Silvestri (plot, script), pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Brandon Peterson and Troy Hubbs; Strykeforce escapes from Death's Angel and tries to prevent him from reigning nuclear death on New York City. Full page cover art for next issue in black and white by Brandon Peterson. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover art by Brandon Peterson. Untitled, script by David Wohl (plot) and Marc Silvestri (plot, script), pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Brandon Peterson, Troy Hubbs, and Billy Tan; Strykeforce is invited aboard Skywatch to help ferret out an alien presence that can duplicate a person down to the genetic level. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover art by Brandon Peterson. Untitled, script by David Wohl (plot) and Marc Silvestri (plot, script), pencils by Brandon Peterson and Billy Tan Mung Khoy (assistant), inks by Brandon Peterson, Billy Tan Mung Khoy, Matt Banning, and Troy Hubbs; Aboard the Skywatch space station, tha alien Sh'rrrnn duplicates Anvil and begins to cause and confusion between Strykeforce and Stormwatch. Centerfold Pin-Up, pencils by , inks by Billy Tan Mung Khoy. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Al Vey. Untitled, script by David Wohl (plot) and Marc Silvestr (plot, script), pencils by Brandon Peterson, Joe Benitez (assistant), and (assistant), inks by Brandon Peterson, Billy Tan Mung Khoy, Matt Banning, and Mark Morales; The hunter becomes the hunted as the teams split into groups to find the shape-shifting alien that is lurking aboard Skywatch. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Billy Tan. Untitled, script by David Wohl (plot) and Marc Silvestri (plot, script), pencils by Brandon Peterson, David Finch, and Billy Tan, inks by Mark Morales, Aaron Sowd, and Billy Tan; Strykeforce and Stormwatch attempt to destroy the shape shifting alien plaguing Skywatch; Little do they realize, however, that Sh'rrrnn has accidentally killed Bloodbow and decided to take his place on the team. A page of penciled story art for next issue by Joe Benitez. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover pencils by Joe Benitez, inks by Aaron Sowd. Untitled story, script by Marc Silvestri (plot) and Michael Heisler, pencils by Joe Benitez, inks by Aaron Sowd; The shape shifting alien, Sh'rrrnn, tries to disguise the fact that it has replaced Bloodbow as she tries to fit in with Strykeforce; Stryker takes a mission from Joshua Thornewood when he is told that Joshua's twin brother Jacob has hired an old rival to accomplish the same goal; Strykeforce battles the Scavengers but are badly beaten and left for dead. Centerfold poster. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover art by Billy Tan Mung Khoy. Untitled, script by Mike Heisler, Marc Silvestri (plot), and David Wohl (plot), art by Billy Tan Mung Khoy; Strykeforce attempts to find a special rejuvenation pool in the Himalayas for Thornewood but have to make it past Rancor and the Scavengers to reach their goal. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover art by Billy Tan Mung Khoy. Untitled story, script by , art by Billy Tan Mung Khoy; In order to make ends meet, the team decides to split their forces so they take on two missions at once. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Cover art by Billy Tan Mung Khoy. Untitled story, script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Billy Tan Mung Khoy, inks by Billy Tan Mung Khoy, D- Tron, and Victor Llamas [mis-credited as Victor Liamas] (ink assistant); The team figures out that they've been tricked and double crossed as the two missions they have been running converge. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. Last $1.95 cover price. Cover art by Billy Tan Mung Khoy. Job Zero, script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Billy Tan Mung Khoy, inks by Billy Tan Mung Khoy (inks), D-Tron (inks), and Victor Llamas (ink assistant); Stryker recovers payment from Garr and Crockett by threat of ebola contamination; Garr hires Brainard and the Industrial Accidents for revenge. Centerfold Pin-Up, pencils by . 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95. First $2.25 cover price. Cover art by Billy Tan Mung Khoy. Industrial Accidents, script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Billy Tan Mung Khoy, inks by Billy Tan Mung Khoy (inks), D-Tron (inks), and Victor Llamas (ink assistant); The team is beaten to various degrees by The Industrial Accidents; Bloodbow "dies" again and reverts to the alien form of Sh'rrrnn, although the team does not witness this change. Mama's Little Angel, script by Brian Selzer, pencils by Adam Robert McDaniel, inks by Adam Robert McDaniel, Aaron Sowd, and Victor Llamas (ink assistant); Felix Abbott, an accomplished computer hacker, obtains a Replicating helmet from Cyberdata in order to woo a girl named Claudia. 36 pgs. $2.25. Cover price $2.25. Cover pencils by Michael Turner, inks by D-Tron. Specimen Q, script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Michael Turner (1-13), Anthony Chun (14- 15), and Frank Gomez (16-23), inks by Chance Wolf (6-9), Vince Russell (10-13, 16), Jason Temujin (1-5, 17, 18), Aaron Sowd (14), David Mowry (15), Hal (19-23), and Victor Llamas (ink assistant); The team fights the Industrial Accidents to a stalemate; Cyberforce comes to the rescue of Stryker; the Shu'roch plan invasion. Continues in /Stryke Force: Opposing Forces #1. Mama's Little Angel Part 2, script by Brian Selzer, pencils by Adam Robert McDaniel, inks by Adam Robert McDaniel, Aaron Sowd, and Victor Llamas (ink assistant); Abbott breaks into Cyberdata, and creates himself a costume, calling himself Death's Angel. 36 pgs. $2.25. Cover price $2.25. Customer Testimonials Our customers have some nice things to say about us: Customer Testimonials Mailing List Join our Mailing List for news and sales. We’ve been selling comics since 1961 (our first sale: Fantastic Four #1 at $0.25, see one of our first ads) and on the web since 1996. Copyright © 1996 - 2021 Lone Star Comics Inc. Character images copyright © their respective owners. 10 Image Characters From The ‘90s That Deserve A Comeback (And 10 That Can Stay Gone Forever) has transformed itself in recent years and there are some characters we would love to have back, as well as some that can just stay gone. Image Comics is currently the premier place for comic book creators to publish their passion projects. The creator-owned revolution of the 2000s has seen Image emerge as a genuine contender to Marvel and DC's crown in terms of sales and fan engagement. The comics put forth by Image are not only diverse in content, with every genre under the sun catered for, but also creation, with writers and artists of all races and orientations being supported by the publisher. None of this would have been possible without the seven Image founders striking out on their own in 1992 after deciding that working for Marvel was too restrictive, creatively and financially. Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, , , Marc Silvestri, and started an industry revolution and became comic book rock stars in the '90s, selling millions of comics and becoming multi-millionaires in the process. Some of the comics produced in those heady days of the '90s have stood the test of time, with McFarlane's , Larsen's , Silvestri's Cyberforce and Jim Lee's WildStorm Universe still seeing publication today. Others suffered from being released during the glut of Image titles and flew under the radar, despite being good stories in their own right. And there were others still that are better left in the past, as many of the stories told at this time had an "extreme" '90s attitude that would be embarrassing to today's readers. Here are 10 Image characters we would love to see make a comeback, and 10 that can stay gone forever! 20 COMEBACK: SHADOWHAWK. When Image was initially formed, many of the founders' titles became instant mega-sellers: Todd McFarlane's Spawn , Rob Liefeld's and Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon were all hits right out of the gate. Jim Valentino's Shadowhawk always seemed to fly slightly under the radar, though. Perhaps it was due to its more grounded, realistic tone and the fact that it tackled real-life issues such as racism, urban crime and corruption in the early '90s, this wasn't what the mostly adolescent male audience wanted from Image. But Shadowhawk, an HIV-infected vigilante using a suit of armor to ensure his last days mean something, is a character who would definitely work if revived in 2018, given all the social and political issues affecting the world today. 19 STAY GONE: BLOODSTRIKE. The concept of Bloodstrike is so '90s it hurts. The series focused on a top-secret group of super-powered assassins who had all perished and been resurrected by a government program named Project: Born Again. Their codenames were, like the book itself, totally awesome to a 13- year-old boy but cringeworthy to anyone older than that: Cabbot Stone, Fourplay, Deadlock, Shogun, Tag and . The series lasted for 22 issues but lacked any substance whatsoever and was one of the poster-boys for Liefeld's often criticized tendency to draw everyone with ludicrous body proportions, massive muscles, and more patches than anyone could ever need. Even worse, several of the character designs were clearly rip-offs of Marvel characters. 18 COMEBACK: THE CREECH. These days, is a superstar artist at DC Comics for his work on Batman and Dark Nights: Metal . He also co-created the Image series Reborn with Mark Millar. Surely now is as good a time as any for him to resurrect The Creech , a character he created in 1997 while working for Todd McFarlane on Spawn . Appearing in two short three-issue miniseries', Creech (who bears more than a passing resemblance to Swamp Thing) was a creature created by a genetic scientist from both human and alien DNA. The Agency, a villainous organization that wanted to use it as a weapon, tried to end its creator but the internally conflicted creature escaped. It eventually found itself in the middle of a battle between The Agency and the aliens whose DNA it shared. 17 STAY GONE: BLOODWULF. Another example of the '90s excess perpetrated by Rob Liefeld and Extreme Studios, Bloodwulf was a parody of DC's 'Main Man' Lobo. The futility of parodying a parody was seemingly lost on everyone, who must have been unaware that Lobo himself was created to poke fun at the grim n'gritty, ultraviolent comic book characters of the era. Bloodwulf first appeared in 1993 one-shot , followed by a four-issue 1995 miniseries and finally a Summer Special. The violence was over-the-top and the humor was juvenile, with none of the clever satire Lobo had become known for. For example, the villain of the miniseries was a verbose, flowery speaker named Gaimanwank -- a clear potshot at Sandman creator, Neil Gaiman. 16 COMEBACK: . To prove that we're not completely anti-Rob Liefeld, we'll give him credit where it's due: not all of the characters he created were totally without merit and Badrock is certainly our favorite. First appearing in Leifeld's Youngblood #1 (at the time the highest-selling independent comic of all time), Badrock was an under-achieving 16-year-old who became a hulking with skin made out of granite-like organic rock when he drank a vial of top-secret genetic material. Easily the most popular member of Youngblood, he was a hugely likeable character and this was reflected in the fact he appeared in three crossovers with Marvel characters such as Wolverine, Spider-Man and X-Force. Our nostalgia is strong on this one and we'd love the big lug to make a comeback. 15 STAY GONE: WETWORKS. Image Comics' co-founder Whilce Portacio's Wetworks was initially intended to be one of the launch titles in 1992 but Portacio's sister tragically passed away, delaying its release until 1994. Unfortunately the comic, which was written by , proved to be a fairly derivative and forgettable mid-'90s Image title. It told the story of a team of black-ops soldiers, bonded with golden symbiotes, who battled supernatural creatures. The series is arguably best remembered for introducing , a group that would go on to appear in multiple series' published by WildStorm and DC Comics. Team 7's leader was Michael Cray, aka , who recently starred in an acclaimed 12-issue series as part of Warren Ellis' The Wild Storm series. 14 COMEBACK: CY-GOR. Michael Konieczni was once one of Al Simmons' friends and when Al was taken out, he tried to tell the truth about his assassination. However, the evil took him captive and in order to keep him quiet they forced him to be the first subject of Project: SIM. This was, obviously, a crazy science experiment that saw Michael's mind being transplanted into a gorilla's body, which had also been outfitted with mechanical impants. Dubbed Cy-Gor (Cyborg Gorilla), Michael (somehow) blamed Al for his transformation and keyed into Spawn's necroplasmic aura, leading to a confrontation. To be honest, if any of this sounds silly, it's because it was . Very silly, in fact, but we can't help having a soft spot for one of Spawn's most ludicrous antagonists! 13 STAY GONE: OVERT-KILL. Inarguably one of the silliest character names from a decade filled with highly questionable monikers, cyborg assassin Overt-Kill was a villain who first appeared in 1992’s Spawn #6 . A former Mafioso named Nicholas Rocca, he was transformed into a hulking cyborg after being the victim of a mob hit. He was originally named Overkill, which makes a lot more sense, but the name was changed to avoid confusion with a Guardians Of The Galaxy character. In the end, Overt-Kill amounted to little more than yet another extreme cyborg brute in a time period where they were a dime a dozen. There's little reason for him to stick around beyond a recent cameo in Spawn #289 (after not appearing for the better part of two decades). 12 COMEBACK: CRIMSON. Crimson began life in 1998, published by Image under the Cliffhanger label, which was itself an imprint of WildStorm. The first seven issues were published by Image and the remaining 17 by WildStorm (after it had been purchased by DC Comics). Complicated publishing origins aside, the series was a worthwhile spin on the classic vampire story. Written by Brian Augustyn and drawn beautifully by Humberto Ramos, it told the story of Alex Elder, a 16-year-old ambushed by a gang of vampires. He was rescued by Ekimus, an ancient vampire who fed Alex his blood and declared him 'The Chosen One' destined to bring about the end of vampirism. We reckon an updated modern interpretation of the story could be something very special indeed. 11 STAY GONE: CODENAME: STRYKEFORCE. sImage was chock full of 'extreme' mercenary superhero teams in the '90s and Codename: Strykeforce was one of the absolute worst ones. Spinning out of Marc Silvestri's Cyberforce , a comic about a group of cyborg mutants, this was a new team who would take on the dirty missions that Cyberforce wouldn't touch. Their leader, Stryker, looked exactly like (who Rob Liefeld had co-created at Marvel a few years earlier), except he had long hair and three detachable cybernetic arms on his right side. Only, they weren't often detached but rather, he used all three arms at once. After all, it meant he could hold more guns at one time. How extreme. The series was relaunched in 2004 but only lasted five issues and let's hope it never ever comes back again. 10 COMEBACK: HELLSHOCK. Korean-American artist Jae Lee is best known for his Eisner Award-winning work on Marvel's Inhumans , as well as his long-running tenure on the comic book adaptations of Stephen King's The Dark Tower . Lee tried his hand at creator-owned comics in 1994 with Hellshock , a four- issue Image miniseries that he provided the writing and art for. The story centred on Daniel, a Nephilim (half-man/half-angel hybrid born from the union of human and angel) who used his strange powers to prevent his mother from being dragged to hell. While the story beats might sound familiar these days in the wake of Preacher and Supernatural , we'd love to see Lee tackle his creation again. The moody, atmospheric art alone would be worth the price of admission. 9 STAY GONE: . Brigade was, like Codename: Strykeforce , another extreme mercenary superhero team spun off from a more successful main book and in this case, Rob Liefeld's Youngblood. Brigade were funded by two wealthy superheroes, Coldsnap and Seahawk, and the team was led by Battlestone (who had been a member of Youngblood). They initially appeared in a four-issue 1992 miniseries, followed by an ongoing series that inexplicably lasted 25 issues (despite #23 and #24 somehow never being published). Another derivative mess, perhaps the most egregious offense was when Brigade was revamped by Liefeld's Awesome Entertainment for a one-shot in 2000 and they had the gall to include our beloved Badrock on the team. 8 COMEBACK: GEN13. Like a lot of Image's '90s titles, Gen13 wore its influences on its sleeve. The story of a group of superpowered teens and their telepathic/telekinetic mentor, it's pretty obvious that the X-Men were a big inspiration to creators Jim Lee and Brandon Choi. This makes a lot of sense, given that Lee had become a household name while at Marvel drawing the X-Men, so he decided to stick to what brought him to the table. The things that set Gen13 apart and helped it transcend its slightly derivative origins were co-creator J. Scott Campbell's dynamic artwork and some top notch character work from Lee and Choi. The team's mentor John Lynch is currently a part of Warren Ellis' The Wild Storm series at DC, but we'd love to see a full-fledged Gen13 revival some day. 7 STAY GONE: . Perhaps one of the most derivative characters in the '90s Image arsenal, Pitt was a human/alien hybrid created by artist Dale Keown. Pitt was genetically engineered by an alien race named The Creed to be a destructive machine. He was massive, had gray skin, red eyes, sharp teeth, razor-sharp talons and could read minds. Perhaps the most obvious thing about the character was his physical size. You could say he had a hulking frame which would make sense, considering artist Keown had made his name at Marvel drawing none-other-than the Incredible Hulk. Pitt's series lasted for 20 issues and was plagued by delays. While his story wasn't similar to the Hulk's, that character design was far too close to the Green Goliath, with simply a few surface changes made. 6 COMEBACK: BULLETPROOF MONK. Bulletproof Monk was a three issue miniseries published by Image in 1998, but not released as a trade paperback until 2002. Written by Brett Lewis ( The Winter Men ) and drawn by Michael Avon Oeming ( Powers ), the comic was a compelling mix of martial arts and crime, focusing as much on Oriental mysticism as it did violent gang culture. It was also shot through with a dose of romance, which unfortunately didn't translate very well in the form of Seann William Scott and Jaime King in the lame 2003 movie version (which was watchable only due to Chow Yun-Fat's performance as the Monk). A revival of the concept in comics has a lot of potential but seems unlikely, given a 2003 one-shot entitled Tales Of The BPM failed to make an impression. 5 STAY GONE: FORCE. Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon is one of only two Image launch titles that is still publishing in 2018 (the other being Spawn ). However, unlike Todd McFarlane, who hasn't drawn Spawn consistently since the mid-'90s, Larsen still writes and pencils the series himself and has done since day one - - for context, Savage Dragon #239 is due for release on October 17th. That's a truly astounding amount of work to come from one man on one character. This commitment to his creation is why we'll forgive Larsen for Freak Force , a team of superhuman bounty hunters/superheroes-for-hire that first appeared in Savage Dragon. A fairly juvenile parody of X- Force and X-Factor , we'd be happy enough to leave them as the relic of the '90s they are. 4 COMEBACK: JOSHUA BRAND. Mike Grell, best known for his excellent work on Green Arrow from 1987 to 1993 (including the Prestige Format miniseries The Longbow Hunters ), brought Shaman's Tears to Image in 1993. The series had an ecological theme and followed Joshua Brand, a Native American man who returns to the Reservation he ran away from as a child. He discovers he possesses the powers of all animals and even the Earth itself and becomes protector of the planet. The series ran for 12 issues but was plagued by long delays, including an 18-month gap between #2 and #3. It's largely been forgotten over the years but we can't help thinking the concept has potential to be reimagined for our modern times, ideally with original creator Grell's blessing or direct involvement. 3 STAY GONE: WARWOLF. Looking at the character, you would think that this was about Wolverine's ferocious nemesis Sabretooth, right? Wrong. The character is actually Warwolf, a mutant enemy of Rob Liefeld's Youngblood team who first appeared in #10 of that series in 1994. His design is almost identical to how Sabretooth was depicted in the '90s and this will be especially apparent to anyone who watched the X-Men animated series, which used that design to iconic effect. We're not entirely sure how Liefeld didn't get sued by Marvel for this one, but at least we can rest easy in the knowledge that Warwolf's appearances were fairly limited and very few people remember him today. Except us. We remember, but we wish we didn't. 2 COMEBACK: JINX & DAVID GOLDFISH. Brian Michael Bendis, so long synonymous with , is currently plying his trade at DC on the Superman titles. But DC have also gone all-in on Bendis' Jinxworld series of creator-owned comics which had previously been published by Caliber, Icon and Image. Arguably the most famous of these works is Jinx , which was a prequel to A.K.A. Goldfish , and told the story of a female bounty hunter's relationship with a con- man. Jinx and David Goldfish were both brilliant characters and Bendis' crude art served the down n' dirty stories well. We're not sure if Bendis ever plans to re-visit the characters or whether he'd ever want to commit to doing the art himself again after so many years as a writer, but we'd love to see it in whatever form it would take. 1 STAY GONE: WEAPON ZERO. Weapon Zero consisted of a five-issue 1995 miniseries, followed by a 15-issue ongoing series. Created by Marc Silvestri and Joe Benitez, the series was published by Image under Silvestri's Top Cow umbrella. Benitez' artwork was stunning, with a style that looks quintessentially '90s but also works perfectly in the modern era; it's reminiscent of artists like David Finch and Tony Daniel. Unfortunately, the story doesn't hold up as well. A star-spanning saga that looked the part but had very little narrative substance to back it up, the story followed Col. Tyson Stone, an astronaut infected with T'ssri alien bio-tech on the dark side of the moon. His wife was then revealed to be a member of the Batai, a rival alien race that had battled the T'ssri for centuries. Sh'rrrnn (Top Cow) Sh'rrrnn is a fugitive alien princess and former member of ex-Army Major Morgan Stryker and his superhero mercenary team Strykeforce. (StormWatch/Strykeforce Story Arc) Sh'rrrnn's arrival from her planet aboard Skywatch is suggested to have taken place some extended time before the opening of Issue #4. It was after a returning dropship reported to Weatherman One, that Sh'rrrnn first appeared as the pilot Kincaid [8] . As Kincaid, he was blamed by displeased Stormwatch member Fuji for nearing killing the Stormwatch One team with his incompetent flying of the dropship. Kincaid then spoke privately with Weatherman One about his change in his job performance as Weatherman One noted he was a perfectionist and top-grade pilot. While in Weatherman One's quarters, Kincaid seized the chance to assault Weatherman, grazing his arm with an alien claw when Kincaid broke from his charade. He then replicated himself as Weatherman One before being interrupted by a sudden call from the Skywatch control room [9] . Kincaid fled, leaving behind a horrified Weatherman who realized he could trust no one after seeing how perfectly the alien could clone itself as anyone aboard the space station. Sh'rrrnn's next guise was as a station hand named Dennis [10] who witnessed the arrival of Stormwatch Team Five (a cover for Morgan Stryker and his Strykeforce team as Stryker was friends with Weatherman One and agreed to help him). Dennis suffered a sudden spasm and avoided further contact with his friend and co-worker and fled into a hallway. Sh'rrrnn had neglected to "renew" her guise and desperately fled to her lair. Once there, it was revealed she held numerous crew members, immobilized and unconscious. Here, Dennis was suspended upside down and immobilized where Sh'rrrnn extracted a blood sample through her tongue. Sh'rrrnn samples one her host victims to renew her disguise. Sh'rrrnn went on to clone herself as various team members from Stormwatch and Strykeforce including Black Anvil after his confrontation with Stormwatch member Cannon. Next, Sh'rrrnn would clone Cannon, leaving him in her lair. She then contacted her father and emperor of her home planet to explain her delay in taking over the spacestation. Her father warned her to not to let her newfound care for humanity interfere with her mission. She went on to fight Strykeforce and Stormwatch. During the course of the mission, Sh'rrrnn went on to contact her home world. Failing to seize control of Skywatch in the time granted by her superior, she was relieved of her mission and thus more of her species the Shu'rii came to Skywatch through a dimensional portal their species can create. They went on to battle Stormwatch and Strykeforce. Sometime during the fighting Strykeforce member Bloodbow was killed. Sh'rrrnn went on to assume his form in an effort to atone for unwittingly or accidentally causing his death. His body was left behind on Skywatch after Strykeforce returned to earth [11] . Will the real Bloodbow please stand up? Oh that's right. he's dead! Life with Strykeforce. Sh'rrrnn secretly lived with the team for several uncounted months. She would go on to endure an continued personal problem. That problem was maintaining her guise as the late Bloodbow while cloaking her presence from her pursuers the Shu'rii. Sh'rrrnn suffered an apparent identity crisis, unable to truly assimilate into Earth society as a human. To complicate matters, she could not reciprocate to the affection shown by teammate Tempest [12] [13] . Unrequited love: Tempest futilely kisses Bloodbow, unaware she just kissed an alien imposter! . Further intrigue followed with deciding whether or not to "alter" Bloodbow's physical form i.e. gender from man to a woman. Sh'rrrnn privately did so, but because of her prevailing fear of the consequences from the rest of the team, she kept Bloodbow's gender intact as a man. [14] Altered Bloodbow disguise. She served the team in its latter missions including their mission in the Himalayas [15] , followed next by a mission to the Amazon [16] and finally a mission to rescue Dominique Beaner--Stryker's accountant. It was during that mission, Bloodbow and the team were ambushed by Dr. Brainard's Industrial Accidents. The team fell off a catwalk inside a warehouse, resulting in Bloodbow being fatally impaled on a metal rod. [17] Sh'rrrnn relinquished her guise as Bloodbow after Stryker and the rest of the team were subdued. She survived the impalement by reverting to her alien form. Shortly after, Sh'rrrnn was assaulted by the Industrial Accident cyborg Magnolia Steele [18] [19] . During the fight, Sh'rrrnn neutralized her when she sampled her blood. Still injured, Sh'rrrnn only was able to halfway clone herself as Magnolia Steele. The transformation still gave Sh'rrrnn enough of Magnolia's memories to locate where Stryker had been held captive by Brainard. During her rescue attempt, she met another cyborg simply known as Specimen Q [20] . Together they rescued Stryker and fled Brainard's lair in one of his shuttlecrafts. An incomplete replication of Magnolia Steele. Still retaining Magnolia Steele's form, Sh'rrrnn fought the pursuing Industrial Accidents atop a New York skyscraper. Strykeforce regrouped and joined the fight. During the activity, Sh'rrrnn assumed Dominique Beaner's form (Beaner was in New York and helped vouched for Strykeforce's innocence when they were dropped in the middle of Manhattan by Brainard's team) and thus said her farewell to the team (although they had no idea she had previously been Bloodbow). Stryker also would not be seen by Strykeforce for a time as and Heatwave of Cyberforce, took Stryker away to repair his badly-damaged cybernetics after his torturous dismantling at the hands of Brainard. Cyberforce/Strykeforce: Opposing Forces. Sh'rrrnn returned to Beaner's Manhattan apartment to determine what next to do. Meanwhile, a Shu'rii extermination party had been formed to kill her. Sh'rrrnn decided to go the Diable Marin, Strykeforce's submarine headquarters. There, she posed one last time as Bloodbow and confessed what had truly happened. She was slapped by Tempest for her deception. This was interrupted by the Shu'rrii attack aboard the submarine and the two teams of Cyberforce and Strykeforce joined briefly together to fight the aliens [21] . Afterwards, Strykeforce was disbanded by Stryker, deeming the team's creation as a mistake [22] .