Marshal Law #2 - Epic Comics

MARSHAL LAW No. 2, February 1988

Providing plenty more reasons as to just why Joe Gilmore’s alter-ego should want to apprehend the mysterious serial-killer, The Sleepman, plus an extremely tense confrontation between the titular character and Public Spirit, Pat Mill’s narrative for Issue Two of “Marshal Law” was surely well worth the four-month long wait when it was finally released in February 1988. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a twenty-eight page periodical cramming in more history, exposition, violence and action, as "the godfather of British comics" does with “Evilution”.

To begin with, the comic contains a tantalisingly brief explanation of the secret policeman’s earlier days as a Screaming Eagle in The Zone, and subsequent time as the super-heroic Vet once “we got home”. Coupled with a rather intimidate interlude predominantly focused upon his physical relationship with his ‘live-in neighbour’ Lynn Evans, these insights rather succinctly show just what makes the “cave-cop” tick, as well as providing a powerfully-projected snapshot as to how the everyday citizen of San Futuro potentially views it’s so-called costumed protectors.

Of course, spending some time fleshing out a book’s leading cast is arguably all well and good, if it is intermixed with plenty of pulse-pounding action, and Mill’s penmanship certainly doesn’t disappoint in that department either. The toxic chemistry between Law and Spirit is truly palpable, so it’s great to see Marshal getting the opportunity to physically unleash some of his pent-up frustration upon Father Hood and his masked cronies afterwards; “Was there a cover-up? Was it all hushed-up? Did it Frag your head? Does that explain the nightmares you had out there in the cold of space and what you did when you got back? No one is above the Law!”

Perhaps this publication’s biggest moment however, besides another notable victim falling foul of The Sleepman’s mechanical claws at the end of a deeply dark, distressing chase, is this comic’s marvellous “mass break-out from Psycho-Silo Seven” by Hitler Hernandez, leader of the Pistoleros. Superbly sketched by Kevin O’Neill, Pat demonstrates an ability to create a veritable army of fresh-looking super-villains which rivals that of Jack “King” Kirby’s fertile imagination, and brings this comic to an end with a jaw-droppingly good cliff-hanger as a distraught Gilmore begins brutally battling the likes of Scapegoat, Slug Fest, Rimfire, Grimgram, Blue Murder, “and other unspeakable creatures who should not have been brought into existence.”

Writer/Creator: Pat Mills, Artist/Creator: Kevin O'Neill, and Letterer: Phil Felix