POWERNAUT 1992 PART 2!

I came under the influence of Auge von Shaitan and one of his demons in 1988. I'm proud to say, it probably didn't end the way he expected.

One of the Powernauts is said to have visited Venus in 1954. In any case, it seems the saucer aliens started interbreeding with humans around then. That explains at least one of the aliens in this comic, and possibly three. The rampage of the Mad Axeman from Venus is legendary.

This strip shows Auge von Shaitan, handler of the Eye of Satan, going to sleep. He released Satan's Eye to watch the world for him in the meantime. Apparently the Eye went to sleep too. It did not notice one of its targets, the Powernaut, envisioning his power. If something is envisioned, the Eye can see it. But it was asleep... That's almost human! I'd guess it went to sleep around the time that Our Lovers were hanging around playground equipment which is the height of entertainment for that part of the Jersey Shore.

I used to play wargames. One of them involved Alexander the Great trying to get past the main mountain pass from Asia Minor into the Persian Empire. These were the Cilician Gates, which were the Asian counterpart to Thermopylae. The wargame needed Persian Stupidity Rules to make the pass ungarrisoned. (Stupidity Rules, ref: France 1940, and any China game 1937-1949.) Personally, I feel it more likely the Cilician Gates actually were attacked by a fire-breathing dragon.

I'm pretty sure, magic-users are an alien concept to the alien universe. Magic might well be confined to Earth space - as are many weird Earth phenomena. I hear, alien tourists come to the Moon just to get a good view of Earth's reality shifts.

Anyway, the space aliens came to Venus in 1954 to interbreed with Earth humans. Or at least one Earth human. The offspring were varied. The mage Auge von Shaitan knows the Mad Axeman from Venus to be from this Venus Brood.

It seems one other alien took on the skin color of humans - and took up Solar System magic. She called herself "Caladria", after her alien planet of origin. And she took up magic garb - which resembles Harry Potter school gear to us. But Harry Potter wasn't around in 1992. So who *was* Caladria dressing up as?

A new generation of Earth mages was coming of age, starting in the 1970s. Lucianus Autonomus was first among these. But one doubts he influenced Caladria's sense of style from her uprising on Venus.

On the other hand, there was Auge von Shaitan himself! He was the greatest mage of 1945, having driven off the actual Powernaut then! So Caladria may have subconsciously modeled herself after Auge von Shaitan in a sweater-coat. In which case, it's ironic that she had to contend against Von Shaitan himself for the fate of one alien marauder.

This guy has earned some separate mention. He was a member of the villain minion Counter-Ellipsis Force, and then the U.S. Gov's minion force Counter-Conversion. In that latter force, after Ellipsis fled the United States, they were the Gov's most reliable source of national defenders. So when the Mad Axeman from Venus attacked, they became heroes.

His team included at that time Rad-Man and Rolling Thunder. Those others had energy powers. But against an axe-wielding super-being from Venus, that didn't help. Only Swordhand had the weapons to stand up to that being for any time.

Swordhand seemed to survive this encounter, but has withdrawn from the public eye. The fates of the rest of Counter-Conversion are uncertain. I've heard rumors that Rolling Thunder survived, 'cause energy powers which largely consisted her body. Or something. Rad-Man, not so much.

During this encounter, the Powernaut actually turned his back on his enemy, to check on his ally! The Mad Axeman from Venus was so interested and alien, he checked also!

Then that peaceful Powernaut actually made his own weapons and took them up against his enemy! Probably he was too busy to find out if firemen had evacuated *everyone* from the battle region. So he still defended everyone. The Mad Axeman from Venus reacted as expected.

The Powernaut seems to have quickly adapted to swordplay. Perhaps he did that in his day job once. He did all his own stunts, after all. And as he said, Power Knows Where to Go.

For a series so full of swords and axes, there's remarkably little blood. There are a few possible explanations. (1) Super-powered aliens don't bleed the same way we do. (2) Good swordsmen make a point of *not* bleeding. (Just like good boxers make a point of not being hit.) (3) Artistic license on the part of Powernaut Comics. I've seen Marvel Comics show a lethal hole blown right through a hero, with no blood. Maybe it was cauterized. But I'm inclined to say, cartoon violence.

I sense Romance coming.

Innuendo aside, I sense Death coming.