Pendragon Comics - The Pendragons

The Pendragons

Issue # 76

Brought together in defense of Avalon and the British Isles, the Pendragons are the officially-sanctioned heroes of Great Britain. Originally led by the Black Knight, the group is composed of surviving members of the old Knights of Pendragon group, as well as several other heroes. Willing to die for their beliefs, the Pendragons stand united as Britain's best defense against threats of a superhuman nature.

Special "Silver Anniversary" Pendragons logo created by Kell Carpenter, inspired by the logo created by Des Davies!

Pendragons Roll-Call: Captain Britain (leader), Cybermancer, Ghost Rider, Nocturne, Polaris, Spitfire, Union Jack

Written by Barry Reese

Spring Heel Jack hated this world. He despised it with every fiber of his being. If he had his way, Captain Englander would burn in a thousand hells for having led him here*. Back on his true Earth, Jack had been a feared warlord, commanding vast reaches of the British Empire. He'd been a faithful servant of the Parliament of Darkness, as well, but he'd long since given up hope that they would repay his loyalty.

It had taken months of planning, months in which Englander had enjoyed his own freedom on multiple occasions. The knowledge that his former teammate was out of prison while Jack and the others rotted away had gnawed at him. When the chance had come for this, he'd taken it -- using his Bane-enhanced leg muscles to bound over the prison walls while working in the yard. He had no idea where he was going to go, but anyplace would offer more than Darkmoor Prison.

He moved as quickly as possible, ignoring the pain in his side as his breathing became more ragged. The walls that served as the outer boundary for Adam Crown's Darkmoor Kingdom were off in the distance and Jack contemplated heading in that direction. He knew that Crown's realm was primarily magic-based, but he had no idea if that meant he would be more or less safe from detection.

"Told you I'd be able to trace him," someone said. The voice was female and brought Jack to a skidding halt. He looked around warily but saw no one. His heart pounded in his chest.

A slightly mechanical voice replied "You did well, Morgan. I apologize for having doubted you. Should we reveal ourselves?"

"Might as well," another male answered. "I promised my mum and Wynter that I'd meet them for dinner and I'm late as it is."

"Who's there?" Spring Heel Jack shouted, turning in circles. He clenched his hands into fists, ready to strike out at whomever emerged... but he was still left in stunned disbelief when four youths materialized directly in front of him.

They were certainly an odd group, even to one who was used to traveling to different universes. One of them was a robot of some sort, painted red and silver in a manner that reminded Jack of one of the variant Iron Mans he'd encountered. At his side was a short dark-haired girl with a slightly pixyish expression on her face. She wore a black miniskirt, stockings and a ripped shirt with the words "Come Undone" printed across her chest. The other two members of the team were more recognizable to Jack, for he'd encountered variations of them on other worlds. The first was Rahne Sinclair, known as Wolfsbane. She was in her transitional form, brown fur covering her lithe female form. The other was dressed in the crimson and white armor that marked him as Peter Hunter's successor to the title of Albion.

Wolfsbane was pacing slightly, as if she were reigning herself in. "He smells nasty," she said, her lips drawing back tight over her teeth.

The robot seemed to be in charge, Jack noted. The machine pointed directly at him as the other three began to spread out into a semi-circle, trying to trap Jack into being unable to escape. "Surrender and you will not be harmed."

"Kiss my arse, C3PO." Jack rushed forward, ducking down below one of Albion's mystic flame blasts. He felt Wolfsbane's claws rake down his back, but he didn't cry out. He was used to pain, having learned to appreciate it amongst the Bane and the Parliament.

The dark-haired ingénue -- the one that must be Morgan, Jack realized -- cast some sort of spell on him. He felt himself moving slower than usual, like his legs were weighted down. "That'll slow him down, mates."

"And I shall deliver the proverbial coup de grace," the robot answered. He backhanded Jack hard, knocking loose two of the villain's teeth.

Jack landed on his back, blood gushing from his wounds. He could feel his mind slipping into unconsciousness, but he managed to sputter "Bloody Pendragons. You'll end up as dead here as you have on every other world."

Albion knelt beside him, placing a gauntleted hand on Jack's chest. "I've been where you are, friend. I was a pawn of the Bane's, too. But I was given a second chance. I hope you'll earn that same opportunity." The youth within the armor -- Cam McClellan -- felt a genuine sense of pity for the man before him. He generated a small fiery pulse of power, just enough to ensure that the villain wasn't going to revive.

"You're too soft, Cam." Morgan was standing nearby, hands on hips. She had a way of making every motion and word sound slightly provocative and Cam blushed beneath his helmet.

"Don't listen to her," Rahne whispered, moving closer to him. She felt strangely protective of Cam -- especially when it came to an obvious vamp like Morgan getting her hooks into him. "You did a right nice thing, Cam."

"Thanks, Rahne." Albion stood up and faced the team's field commander. The android floating several feet off the ground, scanning their surroundings. "Anything else, Gawain?"

"Maybe they all came from this bloke." Morgan nudged Jack with her feet, wrinkling her nose. "The doggie's right -- he does stink."

Wolfsbane growled, but Albion's touch on her shoulder restrained her from lashing out at the little minx for insulting her.

"I do not think that is likely," Gawain replied. "Though Spring Heel Jack is an agent of the Bane, he carries very little of their magick within him."

Albion nodded, though he wasn't truly listening to Gawain's words. He was more interested in the way Gawain spoke. Before his destruction at the hands of Blackheart*, Gawain had a more natural -- if somewhat antiquated -- manner of speech. What had changed him during his rebirth? And who was responsible for it? Cam himself had stumbled upon Gawain during a visit to Lyonesse, during the six month period in which the Pendragons had disbanded. The android had been rebuilt into a new body and claimed to be following the orders of the Green Knight to form a new group of Pendragons, but he'd refused to contact any save the four who were here now.

Wolfsbane stood up straight, using her powers to alter her appearance until she was a charming red-haired lass. "I need to go, too. Moira's going to be very worried if I don't call her soon."

Morgan rolled her eyes. "You and Cam are such babies. You're old enough that you don't need to check in before curfew."

"You're just jealous because we've got people who care about us," Rahne snapped. "If you are Morgan Le Fey -- and I'd put money that you're just some crazy little hen with delusions of grandeur -- then your only relative is Mordred. And," Rahne smiled a bit nastily, "You said he's the one who killed you last time, right?"

"That's enough," Albion snapped. He didn't like the sniping that Morgan did, but he liked it even less coming from Rahne. She was better than that. "Gawain, if you don't need us, we're going."

Albion flew upwards into the air, knowing that he should offer to take one of the girls back to London but electing not to. This whole Young Pendragons thing -- Morgan's little nickname for the group seemed to be sticking -- was a chance for him to redeem himself, but he couldn't do that if the rest of the team was too busy bickering to do any real good. I could go back to the other Pendragons, I suppose. Mum said that Betsy was back and had called a meeting a few days ago. I was too busy with the Young Pendragons to attend, but everything seems to be on the straight away again for them. But being with the adults reminds me of all the times I've screwed up.

"You're being daft, Betsy. You should throw me to the wolves, not ask me to serve as deputy leader." Spitfire stood on the beach, letting the cool surf wash over her bare feet. She was in costume, but had discarded her boots so that she might enjoy the sand and water.

Captain Britain stood nearby, smiling softly. "You know, the first few hours when I was wandering around the castle seeing the cobwebs and all... I would have agreed with you. But I've reviewed all the files from your time as leader. You did a fair job."

Jackie stared skyward, blinking away tears. "I've been a Pendragon for over sixty years now, Betsy. And I blew it. I led half our team to their deaths and when reality was standing on the edge of destruction, who stood there with her finger on the button? Not me. It was a member of the team who'd served with us for less than a bloody month!"

"It's over and done with -- Besides, Lorna did what was necessary. The world's back the way it was, more or less."

"So you keep saying." Betsy stepped closer, using her telepathy to offer her friend a feeling of reassurance. "We're superheroes. Death isn't always the end for us. You know that."

Spitfire nodded at that. It had been her experience that heroes -- and villains -- had a tendency to treat death like a revolving door. She glanced back towards the castle where her husband was working alongside Polaris and Nocturne. The three of them were busy restoring the castle to its old appearance, when it had served as home and base to the team. "You plan to keep our bases around Europe*?"

"It's a good idea to expand our sphere of influence." Captain Britain put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the glare. "They're coming."

Spitfire followed her gaze, squinting as well. In the air, soaring like some sort of beautiful angel, was an old friend. Below her, tearing across the waves atop a fiery motorcycle, was someone she knew less well, but whom she trusted completely. "Cybermancer and Ghost Rider. What a pair. How in heaven's name did you talk Suzi into doing this?"

"She's fought against being a superhero long enough, I think. And she missed the lab when it was shut down. She was eager to get back -- and I told her she couldn't come unless she suited up."

"I did. We need her. The last time I approached her about joining she bit my head off*, but I think things have changed for her."

The two new arrivals set down at virtually the same time, with Ghost Rider spinning his bike about to create a large wave of sand that landed at Spitfire and Betsy's feet. Cybermancer smiled beneath her visor, pleased to see her old friends. Though she frequently displayed a short temper, Suzi Endo was one of them -- and they had become a surrogate family.

"Welcome back, Suzi!" Jackie moved forward to embrace her old friend, while Betsy stepped towards Ghost Rider.

The Spirit of Vengeance nodded at her, his skull-faced visage ringed by Hellfire. "You should know that I have little experience working with groups."

"You were part of the FF for awhile and you've worked fine with us in the past. We're lucky to have you."

Ghost Rider did not reply, but Betsy could sense his pleasure. When it became clear that many of the team's reservists preferred to stay in that capacity, she'd grown concerned about the group's size -- especially in light of the fact that Red Sonja was adamant about leaving* and Captain UK refused to stay on the same squad as Polaris.

Captain Britain began leading them all towards the castle. "I'm glad you two are here. I'd like to begin scheduling some training sessions for us all. We're going to need to become very familiar with one another."

Three hours later, Dan Ketch was wandering the halls of Pendragons Castle. He felt a bit lost here, but for some reason he kept ending up where he wanted to go -- almost as if the castle itself were looking out for him. He wondered again why Captain Britain had recruited him here, but he was grateful, nonetheless. He'd been sure she would have wanted Jennifer Kale, not him... but he needed a home. Especially since his reunion with old flame Stacy Dolan had been a bit rougher than he'd anticipated.

Dan stopped outside her lab, peering cautiously inside. The holographic form of Gulliver Jones hovered near Suzi, looking just as exasperated as she did. "Gawain's body is no longer here. Since you disconnected me from the central computer when we left the island, I have no idea when it was taken, either."

"This is simply insane!" the woman blurted. "He certainly didn't walk out of here under his own power -- he was in pieces!"

"Maybe someone rebuilt him," someone said. The voice came from behind Dan, making him jump.

He turned to see Polaris walking in, her long green hair swept back into a ponytail. She winked at Dan as she passed and he followed her in, not wanting to look like he'd been eavesdropping.

"I doubt that," Suzi responded. "I tried for months to make some sense of his circuitry and couldn't. It had been mystically altered from his original Stark-based programming and--"

"Who's Gawain again?" Dan asked. He knew that Noble had encountered the robot, but the memories of Noble's actions during that time were sketchy to him.

Suzi sighed. "He was part of an Arthurian theme park, using Stark-built robotic actors. Avalon chose him to be one of its agents and he took on the personality of the actual Gawain. He was destroyed by the Parliament of Darkness*, rebuilt by the Black Knight** and then slain again by Blackheart***."

(*In Black Knight: Destiny Walk # 4-6. **In Pendragons # 5. ***In Pendragons # 9)

"Sounds like he had a rough time of it," Lorna said. "Look, if he were anywhere on the island, I could sense him. My magnetic powers allow me to hone in sentient, walking pieces of metal and he's not anywhere around, I promise you." She smiled as she spoke, exaggerating her abilities for comedic effect.

"Have you tried his Pendragons communicator?" Dan asked, hoping to make some sort of contribution on his first day.

Suzi glanced at Gully, who looked stricken. The derision was practically dripping from her voice when she said "You did check his communicator, didn't you?"

"I... was about to do that," Gully replied. In life, he'd been the heroic Captain Kerosene, but he liked to think that his transition to his current form had allowed him to aid the Pendragons in ways just as valuable. "I'm getting a response."

A pinging in the corner of the room made them all turn. Polaris raised a hand, beckoning with her fingers. A tiny piece of metal flew into her palm. "Here it is. Whoever took him made sure to leave this behind."

Suzi picked up her Cybermancer visor and put it on. "I'm reading trace amounts of some alien energy. It seems vaguely familiar but I'm not recognizing it yet." She took the communicator from Polaris. "I'll start running tests. With luck, we'll find our little thief and retrieve Gawain before his spare parts are put to use by someone else."

Realizing that they'd been dismissed, Lorna and Dan left the room. "She always so intense?" Dan asked.

"Usually worse, from what I've heard." Polaris studied him for a moment. "You want to go for a pint?"

"Sorry. Been in England too long. A drink. A beer. I could do with getting off the island for a bit."

Dan smiled broadly. He was cute, in a tough Brooklyn sort of way -- and Lorna found herself liking him already. "Yeah, I'd like that," he said. "A lot."

"What are you doing?" Gray Poldark asked. He had entered the bedroom he shared with Betsy, wiping at his face with a towel. He'd always been a workout junkie and hadn't gotten any better about it during Betsy's long period of recovery.

Betsy was sitting at a small table, her feet drawn up into the chair with the rest of her body. She was writing something on a tablet of paper but he couldn't make out the words. "Planning."

"For what?" he asked, sure he knew what her response would be. She was taking the revitalization of the Pendragons very seriously and was working nonstop on plans for them. He didn't mind, though. He loved her and was so glad to have her back that he was willing to put up with a thousand nights of her coming to bed late.

Gray blinked. The Barrier had become such a part of their lives that, despite the occasional adventure outside of it, he'd almost given up hope of it dropping. "You think it's imminent?"

Betsy looked up at him, her eyes full of amusement. "Oh. I forgot to tell you, didn't I?"

"The Pendragons are going to bring down the Barrier. All it's going to take is for us to accomplish a few tasks and then we'll be able to undo Blackheart's handiwork. I saw the answer when I touched the Phoenix force*. It was too much for me to handle at the time, but I've sorted it all out now."

He joined her in laughter, drawing up a chair next to her. "So. Tell me how it's going to happen."

Gawain flew over London, his metallic features placid and unmoving. He landed atop a small building whose exterior gave no sign of what lay within. Activating a special function in his robotic shell, he made himself immaterial and passed through the surface of the rooftop.

Within lay a spacious lab that served as his home. In the floor below were meeting rooms and three small bedrooms, waiting to be used by the other members of his team. They were a good, talented group and had been selected through unerring logic.

Did logic truly play a part in his existence anymore? Had it been logic or fate that had led him to become obsessed with the event known as the Collision? That had driven him to the halls of dark power, where he'd witnessed the fall of Mordred's allies and the ultimate victory of the Pendragons?

His robotic shell had been destroyed as Lorna Dane held all reality in his grasp, but he had somehow survived... his 'soul' had taken root in the worn out husk of Gawain. Their souls had intermingled and produced something new, something wholly unique to the both of them.

Within his shell lay both the Pendragon known as Gawain and the remnants of Recorder 303.

"I have witnessed the death and rebirth of the universe," he stated. "Now it is my duty to make sure that his fragile new reality remains secure."

Well last issue's big 'jumping on point' was a hit in some corners and was met with disappointment in others. Such is the way of life, I suppose. I tried to do something different with it and I think I succeeded, though it may not have been what everyone wanted to see. This issue was a blast to write, though -- I have a ton of ideas for the upcoming Young Pendragons series and I hope that you were teased by their debut here. Who is Morgan? What is the future of Gawain? How will the romantic triangle between Cam, Morgan and Rahne play out? You'll have to follow YP to find out. Look for more teen heroes to appear there down the road but for the focus to remain on a small group.

It was interesting - not what I was expecting. The six month gap kind of threw me. I can see why you did it, but I can't help thinking how it will affect other titles, and I did feel a bit sad for Jackie. Polaris rang true, as did the scenes where Linda won't talk to her, and where she ended up boffing the reporter. Betsy's return was unexpected so soon, but it did feel kind of right.

I wanted to do something different with # 75 and the idea of recapping and introducing the universe had been suggested and requested more times than I could count... I feel sad for Jackie, too. If you look at her place in the Pendragons Universe, it really seems to suggest she's the one who always get the short end of the stick, doesn't it?

BOY! When you decide to blow everything up in everyones face, you do it RIGHT! Science the antithesis of The Green, Bane creating Science to further its cause of evil and Chaos. As I said, when you blow up everything in everyone's faces YOU DO IT RIGHT!

Heh. Thanks, Harry. I'm glad you enjoyed the storyline and I hope you'll enjoy the run up to # 100.

Great issue!
A really concise history of the Pendragons and great for new readers. I look forward to a new era of Pendragon history especially the return of Betsy and finding out who the hell the Young Pendragons are. However it is with a hint of sadness I will now read every issue, as each new issue is a step closer to the end of series. I'm sure it will be one hell of a ride and I hope the PU will continue from strength to strength even without the flagship title.