POWERNAUT 1988!

I can finally admit this incident. I kept a diary through the whole thing. But no one would believe how it all ended. So back then, I published it as comic-book fan fiction.

In 1988, I was young and idealistic. And I still had facial hair, though it was never impressive. My scalp hair was nice and long, but I shaved it for this occasion.

I read Iron Man comics back then. He'd gone on a quest to neutralize some stolen tech of his, even into Russia. And then I found out, the Russians had hacked some secrets of the MX Missile - secrets *I'd* worked on. By the standards of Iron Man comics, my next action was obvious... I *had* to invade Russia myself!

I don't go places to kill people, though. I brought tactical goggles, pepper spray, and flashbang and knockout gas grenades. I wore body armor, of course. I carried a bunch of ziptie restraints. And back then, I was pretty good at fighting with a big stick.

I'd heard of a credible way to shut down all their new missiles from one missile silo. So I snuck into Russia with an ultralight aircraft. I had an extraction plan. (I figured Greenpeace would pick me up.) But I got stuck. Fortunately, I suppose, my career full of weirdness started then.

This was decades ago. I used to remember it differently. For starters, Loki summoned me then... With all the reality shifts I've been through, I'm not surprised some things are different now. But many things are still much the same... for instance, the fact that I *got* extracted from Kamchatka.

One might wonder why I seemed to be blackmailing this neophyte Powernaut into working for me and the U.S. Armed Forces. I considered it to be more of an introduction. The United States Government has a legitimate interest in the superhuman powers of its citizens, and it was going to introduce itself to this new Powernaut in any case. I kept this as cordial as possible.

One might also wonder why I was so lenient on this Powernaut when the mission didn't go exactly as I intended. I consider that to not have been the Powernaut's fault. Who could have expected his opponent to send his power elsewhere, while himself under attack?

About that opponent... Wyatt Ferguson was himself of interest then. He was just harder to find than the Powernaut was.

About the subterfuge... The strip implies some collusion by Wyatt Ferguson and the Powernaut. I had no reason to believe that at the time, however. Neither did the many other observers, including Auge von Shaitan who supposedly had mystic vision powers. And Mr. Ferguson has already admitted, his recollection of the events are confused.

About the target... Only the U.S. Air Force command and control systems were disrupted. U.S. nuclear submarines were unaffected. A similar disruption happened on the Russian side then. In short, United States security was only minimally affected.

Mr. Samuels correctly notes, my memories of this incident are different than what Powernaut Comics shows. That happens a lot. But that doesn't mean either of us is wrong. In my world, it usually means a reality shift.

But I do remember these things that the Powernaut's comic shows...

• I was indeed summoned and bound to a demon, to wreak havoc upon the Earth.
• We did go on a mission of cyber-vengeance.
• We parted ways after the strongest hero on Earth intervened.

... Close enough.

So did I collude with a Powernaut? I don't recall a Powernaut even *being* there. But *would* I have colluded? Now that's a different question...