Marshal Law #5 - Epic Comics

MARSHAL LAW No. 5, December 1988

Predominantly providing its audience with a comprehensive pen-picture as to both the life of Danny Mallon and the early development of Doctor Medel’s “super children” programme, Pat Mills’ script for Issue Five of “Marshal Law” must have provided its audience in December 1988 with plenty of reasons as to why the son of Virago became such a twisted serial killer. Indeed, the British author writes such a disturbing tale packed full of physical abuse, emotional blackmail and sexual innuendo that it is quite amazing the Sleepman and his clearly deranged mother didn’t attempt to brutally kill Public Spirit the moment the boy’s formidable super-abilities first manifested themselves; “For the first time, I felt an exciting power whoosh through me. I think I’m old enough to understand now, Mom.”

Enjoyably however, this twenty-eight page periodical doesn’t just rest upon its laurels waxing lyrical about its supporting cast’s depraved past, and before too long returns its focus back upon the present day by depicting the long-awaited confrontation between Buck Caine and the woman he tried to drown over two decades earlier. This heated altercation really helps show just how cold-bloodedly corrupt the Colonel has become, with the white-haired ‘symbol of justice’ immediately resorting to bribery in order to buy his way out of his current predicament, and then hard-hearted murder when that “million dollars” option is readily rejected by Missus Mallon.

By far this comic’s most exciting conflict though has to be the titular character’s battle with the Sleepman, after the homicidal mass murderer has already traded a few blows with his famous father on a deserted beach. Arguably this entire mini-series has been building up to just such a moment, so Mills’ all-too brief conclusion of having Joe Gilmore’s alter-ego simply riddle his opponent with bullets from a distance, probably caught the vast majority of this comic’s bibliophiles completely off-guard.

Adding plenty of ‘bop’ to these super-hero brutalisations is Kevin O’Neill, who somehow manages to imbue even a debatably low-key scrap at Caine’s wedding involving Marshal Law, Assassin Bug, Koma, Maskara, The Spook and The Survivalist, with plenty of eye-wincing punches. The three-time Harvey Award-winner does a particularly stellar job of portraying Virago’s downward descent into madness via her eyes, and provides the woman with a truly savage demise at the hands (or rather fists) of her former lover.

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