Pendragon Comics - The Pendragons

The Pendragons

Issue # 79

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

Joseph Chapman was born the son of a dockworker, a working class bloke who'd had to fight for every scrap of success in his life. He'd become best friends with the son of Lord and Lady Crichton, lifting himself ever so slightly above his station. He'd eventually fall in love with her friend's mother and, through the sort of convoluted affair that seems so commonplace with superheroes, she'd become a young lass again... together, they battled crime as Union Jack and Spitfire.

Life's hilarious, he thought to himself. I mean, who would ever pictured me here and now? A member of the Pendragons, wearing the costume of a hero who dates back to the first World War... and my head lying split in half. Hilarious.

Union Jack felt himself being tossed to the ground, blood gushing down his face. Venom, a madman wearing an alien costume, stood over his body. The villain's mouth was open, revealing a long tongue and numerous razor-sharp teeth. "Delicious, Jack! I always knew you'd be tasty!"

Polaris was the first of the Pendragons to react, though Ghost Rider's motorcycle roared beside her, kicking up dirt as he propelled himself towards Venom. Lorna Dane summoned the powers of magnetism that had been both blessing and curse to her. She yanked one of the cemetery's gates right out of the ground, sending it flying at Venom. It struck him hard, knocking him on his heels.

Ghost Rider kept up the pressure, whipping around Venom and catching the villain's neck in his mystic chain. He pulled Venom after him, dragging him along behind the bike. Cybermancer and Captain Britain both went aerial, but for different purposes. Britain trusted her teammates to deal with Venom, but she was concerned about Blackout. The vampire had nearly killed Nocturne, but more importantly he'd slain Ghost Rider's lover, Stacy Dolan. She reached out with her telepathy, finally getting a read on him. Pendragons. Make quick work of Venom, please. Our vampire friend is on the move.

The Spirit of Vengeance spun to a stop, slamming the bound villain against a thick tree trunk. "He is powerful," he warned his teammate.

Suzi Endo rolled her eyes behind her visor. "Thanks for the update. Unlike you, however, I read over the bio files back at Lyonesse. He's got a serious weakness to sonics. Cover your ears, everyone." Cybermancer unleashed a series of tightly-focused sonic beams. They were strong enough to rattle the teeth of her teammates, but they hit Venom square in the head, making him thrash about like a man on fire.

"That should do it," Polaris whispered. She cast a wary glance at the Ghost Rider, who sat astride his bike. Inside the shell that was Noble Kale, the soul of Dan Ketch pulsed, she believed... and she knew how badly he was hurting. Stacy's death had not been his fault, but there was no convincing him of that.

Cybermancer landed near Venom, who had grown very still and quiet. "I think he's down, Betsy. Want me to radio the authorities and--" Suzi's words were cut off when Venom jerked to his back, spraying her face and neck with his organic webbing. He yanked hard on the bonds, pulling her closer. With a savage flick of his wrists, he sent her hurtling into the air.

"I'm stronger than I used to be, witch!" Venom yelled, getting back to his feet. "I'm too strong for any of you!"

Captain Britain flew after Cybermancer, catching her just before the other woman hit the ground. What's going on? she wondered to herself. First Blackout gets augmented and now Venom?

Polaris used her powers to pluck up the other iron gate, dropping it down around the villain. She controlled its metal surface, causing it to wrap around him like a glove. Ghost Rider, meanwhile, unleashed a wave of Hellfire that engulfed him. The sins of the past seemed to come to new life for Venom, who screamed in agony. The litany of names he spewed forth were unfamiliar to Lorna, but she had a feeling that some of them were former lovers or perhaps even a child.

"How's Joey?" Betsy asked, returning to the group. Cybermancer was leaning against her, woozy but otherwise unharmed.

Lorna knelt to check on Union Jack. "Not good. I don't think Venom did much besides tear away the skin, but he's losing a lot of blood."

Captain Britain looked back at Venom, who was still trapped in a wall of Hellfire. "Suzi, can you take Joey to the hospital? Use the same one that we took Gray to. We--"

Betsy whirled about, gasping when she saw a slightly bloodied Spitfire and a bandaged Nocturne approaching. "What are you doing here?" she asked, concern laced with anger. "And what happened to you, Jackie?"

"Venom happened." Spitfire moved to take her husband from Polaris. "Poor lad. You're going to be okay, do you hear me, Joey?"

"You're bloody mad," she replied, smiling despite the horror of the situation. Looking up, she told Betsy "I'll take him. The rest of you lot get busy after Blackout. I'll be along shortly."

Captain Britain watched them disappear in a golden blur. She glanced over at her own lover, reaching out to take his hand in hers. "You sure you're okay?"

"Well enough," Nocturne answered. "I used the Looking Glass en route... I saw Blackheart battling someone that I didn't recognize. Tall fellow, pasty in complexion."

Cybermancer jumped. Nathaniel was the name of her new lover, a man whose brilliance surpassed her own. Calm down, she told herself. There are plenty of Nathaniels in the world. No reason to think Gray saw him... but then why am I feeling so frightened all of a sudden? It makes no sense.

Captain Britain saw that Venom was lying unconscious on the ground, murmuring something about having lost everything to the Spider. "Where is he?"

"Bugger all. Let's fan out, Pendragons." Betsy let her telepathy expand throughout the cemetery. "Head the northwest side of Highgate. Ghost Rider and Blackout are having it out. Polaris... please make sure that Venom doesn't go anywhere."

Polaris clenched her fist, compressing the iron gate surrounding Venom so hard that the cracking of bones could be heard. "You ask, you get."

Within the haze of pain surrounding him, Venom stared at Polaris. He was stronger now, but not yet strong enough... not to take them all on. But one at a time... none of them would stand against him. And the magnetic witch will die first, he promised.

Nathaniel Essex, known to many as Mr. Sinister, strode through the darkened chamber, his eyes lowered respectfully. This was a place of the dead, where the physical remains of his associates were stored. Some of them, like the Marauders, would eventually be revived to serve him again... but others were beyond such things.

Sinister stopped in front of a clear glass tube, in which floated the corpse of a nude man. The figure was submerged in protoplasmic fluid, but there had been no improvement in his condition. He still bore severe burns over most of his body and a deep gash in his lower abdomen threatened to spill his entrails out into the fluid.

"So many plans, all wasted because of Blackheart." Sinister spoke aloud, his voice sounding eerie and distorted in the still chamber. He placed a hand atop the tube's surface, caressing it. The man within, Clive Winthrop, had been a rising star in British politics, playing upon the hatred and fears of the populace to rise within his party. But then Blackheart had engineered a horrible accident that left Winthrop brain-dead... leaving the demon free to steal his identity. In the form of Winthrop, Blackheart had won his way into the office of Prime Minister, from which he engineered the Black Mass*.

(*Much of this was seen in the Black Mass oneshot and early issues of Ghost Rider U.K. -- but the truth about Clive Winthrop was never revealed until now)

What Blackheart had not considered was the fact that Winthrop was working arm-in-arm with Sinister. The demon's actions had set back Nathaniel's schemes by several years... and the rise of the Barrier had been like a slap in the face to follow that. Suddenly, science was unstable, while magic reigned. It made Nathaniel's blood boil.

"Soon, my pet, I will gain my revenge on him." Sinister's eyes grew soft. "And I will have you back at my side again. You were a tool that I never properly got to use... a being I grew from the smallest embryo, coaching within you the genetic possibility for godhood." He opened a small container on the side of the tube, dispensing several million of his microscopic x-bots. The little nanoprobes had reworked Blackout on the cellular level, making him stronger and faster. Blackheart had attempted to do the same with Venom, hoping to prove that magic could succeed where science could not, but Sinister knew that things would prove otherwise. The x-bots swam through the protoplasm, inserting themselves within Winthrop.

"It was not enough for you to take Dan's sister from him... you had to kill Stacy, as well. You will burn before my Penance Stare, Blackout!"

The pseudo-vampire known as Blackout knelt lower in the tree limbs supporting him, trying to stay out of Ghost Rider's line of sight. He felt a sense of desperation that was threatening to overwhelm him. Nothing about this had gone the way he'd planned. Yes, he was more powerful thanks to Sinister, but Ghost Rider had allies that were far more powerful than he was used to fighting. He'd barely escaped the Slimelight Club, running here to hide in the tombs and shadows... But somehow they'd traced him like bloodhounds.

"She was asking for it, Danny!" he shouted, realizing that his only hope of escape lay in defeating Ghost Rider and fleeing before the rest of the Pendragons arrived. He dropped from the trees, baring his fangs. "Did you see how she was dressed? Like a little tramp! I wonder if she was sneaking out to nightclubs the whole time she and Danny were--"

Ghost Rider howled, throwing out his chain. It broke apart in mystic shuriken, lodging deep in various places on Blackout's body. The vampire's blood spilled to the ground, sizzling wherever it touched. "Speak not of her, murderer! Vengeance is coming!"

Ghost Rider threw himself at Blackout, displaying such ferocity that the killer was thrown aback. The two men grappled for a moment, exchanging powerful blows, but it became immediately clear that Ghost Rider's fury cancelled out the power increase that Blackout had experienced. The Spirit of Vengeace tried to lock gazes with his foe, hoping to draw the vampire into staring into the empty eye sockets that blazed in Ghost Rider's skull. From there, the Penance Stare could be unleashed, forcing the murderer to view the full horror of his own sins. It had burned Blackout before, but unlike most, he had proven unwilling to change his evil ways.

"Let me go, Rider," Blackout hissed, gasping as Ghost Rider backhanded him, knocking loose a tooth. "Let me go and I'll leave you and Danny alone... What happened with Barbara was just business, you know? And this Stacy thing is just payback for all the times you've hurt me. We're even!"

"You speak of murder like it was nothing! These were good, honest women who will never know life because of you!"

"They were whores! They all are!" Blackout roared. He slashed out with his claws, tearing open the leather that the Rider wore. Skinless bone protruded in response. "Danny should thank me. Her blood was sooooo good--"

Ghost Rider's anger became mixed with confusion when Blackout's body rose into the air, buffeted about by electricity that caused his skin and hair to burn. Attached to the vampire's back were long metal tendrils, which the Rider saw led back to Nocturne's gauntlets.

"Sorry to break up a personal party," Nocturne said, retracting the tendrils back into his gloves. "But I figured taking him down was more important than vengeance."

He knelt before Blackout, yanking the man's face up by his hair. As the Pendragons looked on, the Penance Stare went to work. Blackout saw all his sins once more, cascading through his mind in a torrential release. His screams chilled the blood of all around, save for the Ghost Rider. If possible, his skull looked faintly pleased for a moment, before sadness and loss once more restored his normal guise.

"Nothing shall bring her back," he whispered. "Like Magdalena and so many others... she is lost to me forever.

Three hours later, the pink-red moon that had become commonplace since the Barrier had arisen hung heavy in the sky. It looked a bit like a bloated tick, full of blood.

Suzi Endo stood in the cold, shivering. She pressed the buzzer again, biting her lower lip. When Nathaniel finally answered, she felt a sense of relief. She hadn't wanted to go to bed alone tonight, with all her fears running through her head.

There was a slight pause before the door to Nathaniel's building opened up. "Of course. Is something wrong?... It's well past four in the morning."

"I just need to talk. Someone said something tonight and it made me think of you. I don't know why. It's just--"

"It's just that your female intuition is far more powerful than you give it credit for," someone said from behind her.

Whirling about, Suzi stared into the dark face of Blackheart. He wore a well-cut suit, making his horrific visage seem all the more out of place. "No... Not you."

"Suzi?" Nathaniel asked, his voice coming from the buzzer. "Who are you talking to?"

"Just a friend," Blackheart said, leaning forward to press the button. "Time for her to know the truth about you, don't you think?"

Within his laboratory, Mr. Sinister stood up quickly, his hands clenching into fists. "Leave her alone," he warned.

The air stank of blood and death, with faint traces of ozone mixing with the smells of war. The Martian offensive had been a particularly deadly one, with the tripods spewing green-tinted energy over the human settlements. It was a horrific state of affairs and the man at the center of the conflict was forced to consider -- not for the first time -- that his goals were simply not attainable.

Faced with such overwhelming odds, it would have been easy to surrender. He could have dropped his twin blades and fled into the darkness, seeking to eke out an existence like so many others. But that was not his way, nor would it ever be. Raised in the Martian gladiatorial arenas, he had learned how to fight against opponents much larger than he. And, through the auspices of Keeper Whitman, he had gained the ability to project his consciousness into the minds and bodies of the Martian overlords.

There was to be none of that now, however. He was far too busy dodging energy blasts and dealing death with his swords to worry about body-hopping. He speared a Skorpsman with one of his swords, swinging the other out to decapitate another who was attempting to sneak up behind him. "Come, Freemen! We must make it to the hills!" He had no chance to look back and see how many of his friends were following. There was only thing that could be done now... keep advancing, ever onwards.

The man who had earned the title Killraven stopped in place. All had grown quiet around him and he whirled about several times, marveling at what he saw. All were still, frozen in time. Even the mighty Martian tripods did not move any longer.

"What in the world--?" he whispered. He saw his fellow Avengers in the distance, all looking just as lifeless as the Freemen and Martians. The Black Panther -- newly returned from a trip into the past* -- was stuck in mid-air, his boot driven into the face of a Martian warrior. The Crimson Dynamo, Jocasta and Thundra were all involved in their own life or death battles, as well.

Killraven looked upwards, hearing the female voice once again. A woman floated there, dressed in the purple and green garb of a man that the Avengers thought long dead. "Kang," he said, raising his weapons once more.

"Lady Kang... or Ravonna... or Terminatrix*. You can call me by any of those, or by none. I care not. But if you want to avoid this," she gestured at the widespread devastation around her. "Then you will come with me. Your ally T'Challa had the right idea, but he went about it the wrong way. The early 21st century is the time. But you'll be needed."

"From what I know of your namesake, Lady Kang, you would only want to avoid the Martian war so you could conquer us yourself."

"Think what you will. But I have the power to help you... if you trust me." She held out a gauntleted hand and waited for him to take it.

Killraven hesitated, torn between his innate distrust of this woman and the almost overwhelming need he felt to destroy the Martians. Looking about, Killraven knew that he had only choice, really. They would never make it to the safety of the hills. They would die, slaughtered.

One more chapter to go in the current storyline, which was meant to be a fun little romp showing off some of our more powerful villains. Issue 81 will start us off on another arc leading up to # 100, as the man shown at the end of this issue begins to take a more center stage role. We've been building for awhile towards the Killraven future and we're about to see some of that come to fruition.

The Clive Winthrop info shown here is mostly new, expanding upon what was shown in the days leading up to the Black Mass Barrier.