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Down But Not Out by Dana Place


I have been out of my element for the last few weeks, first the “Bum’s Rush”, then my interview with Jamie Dee Galey in the “Suckerpunch Spotlight”. This week I get to look back in time at a particular comic that I enjoyed and that I think you may dig too. My knowledge of good old comics is pretty slim (along with my comics collection) so I wanted to talk about a recent comic that I really enjoyed that was unfortunately cancelled recently.

Breach: Issue #1

Somewhere in the Siberian Wilderness there is a downed Russian helicopter. Someone is coming for the crew of men and women. They are being led by a new kind of superhero. Breach. He has to protect the people in his charge and creates a tunnel in the earth and snow that will lead to an underground complex. But the crew has questions, questions that can only be answered by the hero that saved them. He has questions too, questions about who and why he is. The nature of his powers and some may say illness makes him radioactive to those around him, only enhancing the loneliness of this man unsure of his place. After making sure they are safe, he creates a portal for himself, then disappears, leaving his crew alone.

Flashback 1983: A little boy has a nightmare and his loving mother and father come in to comfort him. The next day is his birthday and his Army officer father and his mother are getting him a puppy. His father has to go into work at the base and the little boy watches as his father drives away. sHis father reaches the office and we get to meet the boy’s new pet, Fido. The officer has to plan a mass evacuation of the base in preparation for a major scientific project. Project Otherside. The base personnel are building a large cyclotron that is meant to open a portal to another world and everyone is nervous. They are in a race against the Russians and there is pressure to make sure the experiment goes off without a hitch. Meanwhile, one of the father’s friends has other plans. He meets with an unknown associate and receives a package. One detrimental to the work the Army has been planning.

The test is a go and 30 seconds til activation. Something goes terribly wrong and the little boy’s father disappears into a vortex created by the disaster. His last thoughts are of his little boy.

Hours later, some of the members of the experiment are able to enter the vortex with all of the proper precautions taken and they find the boys father, but something is different. He touches one of the men, and the man’s suit is melted at the touch.

Present date, an entire building in the base is being used to keep the person they found alive. Barely. Comatose in a room for years, then “blip” a sign of life. The rest of the panels go crazy, and the room that was meant to house him became a barrier to his freedom. He breaks free and it takes an entire squad of fully armored men to take him down. Breach has awakened.

This is a really good comic that actually got better with each individual issue. The first issue only came out at the end of last year so it shouldn’t be too hard to track down it’s full 11 issue run.

As always drop me a line at DPlace76@yahoo.com, or you can catch my random thoughts at www.livejournal.com/users/bigdpimpin.