WINTERWORLD #3

“Untitled”

Writer: Charles Dixon

Artist: Jorge Zaffino

Scully is back in the Astrodome with Bigbite’s men. He finds Wynn and waits for the attack. Only Wynn takes matters into her own hands. She steals the guard’s pistol and goes to free Scully. Now they have to get Bigbite to attack early. They find a gas storage tank and set it off. This gets Bigbite’s attention and his Bear tribe attacks. Scully and Wynn have to fight the guards and reunite with Rahrah. They find a vehicle and escape the burning Astrodome. They see an airplane and decide to head south to find Wynn’s people.

This was a fun story. Dixon gives us some really bloody action. People getting beat up with baseball bats. One guy he is fighting bites his tongue and talks funny. Little details like this are nice touches. Ends with them deciding to head south to find Wynn’s people. Also, at the end Bigbite is seen leaving and really pissed off.

I loved this unique ice age story that Dixon crafted. Unfortunately, Eclipse went bankrupt, and I never did get any more stories to this cool world. It was a great surprise to see twenty years later that the series was back. Which we will explore next time.

WINTERWORLD #2

“Untitled”

Writer: Charles Dixon

Artist: Jorge Zaffino

Scully has escaped from the Astrodome with his pet badger Rahrah. He could just try to start over, but he has grown attached to the young Wynn. He decides to rescue her and the first thing to do is get some help. He goes to the Bear Tribe who are in the Pizza Hut Village. Bigbite is the leader who is dumb as a stump and very dangerous. He shows Bigbite where a shopping mall is to get him interested. He also convinces him that they should take the Astrodome. So they ambush the slaver that procures slaves and makes a deal with him. He will sell Scully and some of the Bear tribe to get in the Astrodome. Now Scully can rescue Wynn and attack from the inside.

The second story is a fun one. Dixon gives us some really dumb villains that Scully has to work with. There is plenty of humor like the Bear tribe think that Pizza Hut was some great guy. Scully is really getting attached to Wynn which gives the character who is basically amoral a moral compass. Scully even loses a finger for the Astrodome will chop off a finger for every escape attempt. A fun and exciting issue.

WINTERWORLD #1

“Untitled”

Writer: Charles Dixon

Artist: Jorge Zaffino

It is the future when the world has frozen over from an ice age. Scully is a trader and drives around in an armored vehicle trading stuff he scavenges from abandoned shopping malls and stores. One day a group decides to steal from him instead of trade. His pet badger Rahrah kills one of the men. Scully gets another before being knocked out. Fortunately, a young teen girl knifes the third. This girl is named Wynn and she was a slave to these guys. Scully says he will take her to the next settlement and drop her off. Only the vehicle breaks down and they get captured by slavers. They get sold to the Astrodome which is being used to grow fruit and vegetables. Scully after a while gets sentenced to the sewage treatment area as punishment for fighting back. Rahrah pops up and Scully follows him to freedom on the outside through a sewage pipe. Rahrah also killed a goat outside, so Scully has some furs and food.

I love this old ice age apocalypse story from the eighties. It was a really unique and gritty comic for the times. You had this old grumpy trader who develops a fatherly like relationship with a young teen girl. Hints at some civilization that still has airplanes for that is where Wynn is supposed to have come from. The smart badger is a fun little touch to the story. A series that I highly recommend.

SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN #16

“One Last Ride on the Wall of Death”
Writer: Timothy Truman
Artists: Timothy Truman & Ricardo Villagran

Rosa Winters is back in charge and she wants to get rid of Scout permanently. Before she can Atuma comes which sets off his brother the Reverend Sand Dog. The two fight and that distracts everyone for Scout to pull a grenade. He then takes his sons into the hills. There Rosa starts lobbing mortar rounds at them. A rockslide separates him from his boys. As he lies dying Rosa comes down to finish him off. Scout leaves a grenade under his body so it goes off killing Rosa. Sand Dog manages to find and take out Tahzey. Young Victorio found shelter in a cave. He comes out and picks up Scout’s bandanna and sunglasses.

“The Living Years”
Writer: Beau Smith
Artists: Todd Fox & Ricardo Villagran

Beau La Duke is burying Scout. He reminisces about his time with Scout. A very moving look into the real La Duke. He promises to find Scouts sons and take care of them.

So the final Scout issue and it was a doozy. Scout dies but dies a dignified death. Interesting that my journey rediscovering Scout started a year ago. There was supposed to be two more series Scout: Marauder & Scout: Blue Leader. But for whatever reason they didn’t get written. Truman a very talented man moved on to many great projects. Some will be showcased on this blog in the future. This was his first series and it shows he had a deep personal investment in the series.

I started reading Scout back in the ’80s as a teenager. The dystopian future of 1999-2015 seems a long way off. Now I’m looking back at those years. Thankfully the future that was depicted never came about. Sort of fascinating to view this series from both angles. A young man where this could happen and the older one who is safe in the knowledge it didn’t happen. Will Scout come back again. Either the missing series written by Truman as an alternate history or a new reboot. I suppose time will tell.

SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN #15

“Sweet Revenge”
Writer: Timothy Truman
Artists: Timothy Truman & Ricardo Villagran

Redwire has Scout’s young sons hostage. There is nothing Scout can do but surrender. Now Redwire decides to fight Scout with his implanted blades in his hands. Scout gives a good accounting for himself using just his bare hands. Redwire decides to end the fight and draws his pistol. His son Victor uses his psychic ability to basically blow up Redwire’s head and save his father. The boys are reunited but it looks like a short lived happy reunion. Rosa Winters uses the opportunity to get back into her leadership position and she doesn’t look like she wants the let Scout go in peace.

“On the Prod”
Writer: Beau Smith
Artist: Todd Fox

La Duke comes in on his motorcycle guns blazing. He frees Rita and the two start to shoot up Atuma’s pirates. Still numbers are not in their favor so they set off some grenades and blow up the weapons so Atuma and Redwire can’t use them. The ending finds the two in a bar. Rita didn’t get any bounty money. La Duke didn’t get the guns for Scout. Rita suggests that they grab a six pack and see how much romancing they can get. So the day isn’t a total loss after all.

So Scout gets his final confrontation with Redwire. Once again we get to see the power that Victor his youngest son has. Rosa is now back in charge and we are left with a what next? A short story but effective and we are coming to the end of Scout’s epic story.

The La Duke story was also a fun one. Plenty of action and wisecracking from the good ole boy from West Virginia. He also gets the girl at the end so very satisfying ending.

SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN #14

“I’m Coming Home”
Writer: Timothy Truman
Artists: Timothy Truman & Ricardo Villagran

Scout, Rosa and La Duke are back in Arizona. Redwire has a little reign of terror going on against the local Hopi Indians. They join up with the Reverend Sand Dog Yuma. A fire and brimstone preacher with a Schmeisser. La Duke goes off to see a contact about buying some guns. The others then raid Redwire’s camp. It starts off good but at the end Scout is confronted by Redwire who has his two sons prisoner.

“Take Me To the River”
Writer: Beau Smith
Artist: Todd Fox

La Duke has come to see McTaggart to buy some weapons. The river pirate Atuma Yuma hears of this. He is allied to Redwire and also looking to acquire some weapons. So he ambushed La Duke and takes the guns. Before he can kill him a woman opens fire and drives him off. A bounty hunter named Rita Rodricho is after Atuma. She tracks him down and gets captured. Before Atuma can do anything La Duke comes riding in on a motorcycle with guns blazing.

So the story is coming to a big conclusion. Scout has some allies and is going on the offensive. Rosa still shows that there is some humanity left in her. Reverend Sand Dog is a cool character. The end has the surprise twist of Scout’s sons being held prisoner. A great cliffhanger ending.

The La Duke story was also great. He’s is typical hillbilly good ole boy. Rita Rodricho is an interesting character and Atuma, Sand Dog’s evil brother, makes a great villain. A good backup story that compliments the main story.

SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN #13

“Borderlord!”
Writers: Beau Smith & Timothy Truman
Artist: Todd Fox

Beau La Duke is wandering the frozen countryside of Canada. Having successfully destroyed the train his squad was later ambushed and found dead. La Duke is then set upon by the Canadian ninjas that killed his men. He gives a good accounting of himself but succumbs to numbers. He finds himself tied upside down the prisoner of Hardin the man who was hired by the Canadian government to supply Redwire. He is converting old farm equipment like threshers into tanks. La Duke manages to escape and cause havoc. Hardin foolishly blames the head ninja mercenary Tremayne for his escape. This hurts his feelings and Tremayne then voids his contract and turns on Hardin. It ends with La Duke and Tremayne friends and Hardin left tied up hanging from his tank waiting for the below freezing night.

Oh yeah. I love Beau La Duke. This is a real man. He’s so cool even his hat stays on while he’s hanging upside down. This is a guy who takes crap from no one and just keeps going. I also love the Canadian tanks. They look cool but probably aren’t very effective as tanks. But they are probably cheap and have a high profit margin. La Duke will be featured in the back-up stories for the last three issues of this series so there is something to forward to. You could probably give this character his own strip. I’d buy it.

SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN #12

“Watch The North Wind Rise”
Writer: Timothy Truman
Artist: Ricardo Villagran

The North Wind is a supersonic train. It is carrying oil from the Yukon to supply Redwire’s army. Scout, La Duke and Rosa are there to stop it. They raid a switching station with an army of Indians. The station is guarded by a tank, a pillbox and some ninjas. They are lead by a cowboy named Tremayne. Scout and his guys manage to destroy the switching station and stop the oil. It ends with an alliance with Rosa to stop Redwire.

So Scout and Rosa are now reluctant allies which makes sense. A nice change of scenery from the deserts of the Southwest. This had a lot of action and ninjas. It was also cool to have La Duke back. He is funny and it ends with the next story going to highlight him. Scout reluctantly trusts Rosa so it should be interesting to see how this alliance works out.

SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN #11

“Let’s Have a Party”
Writer & Artist: Timothy Truman

Scout takes his sons to a carnival. The carnival is Dr. Portugal’s Carnival of Delights. The delights are mutations that he has created. Scout notices that Rosa Winters is also in attendance at this carnival. Both his psychic friend Walker and son Tahzey are getting bad vibes. Before they can leave the mutations produce guns and start taking out Rosa’s guards. Redwire has started his coup. He also reveals himself to be Raymond Vaughn. Left for dead from the last series he was brought back by Dr. Portugal. Scout manages to save Rosa and with his sons head out into the desert in a stolen car.

A lot of big reveals in this issue. Redwire is revealed to be Vaughn. That was a big surprise since he was obviously shot dead back in the first series. It would explain his hatred for Scout and Rosa. He also successfully stages a coup and is now in charge of New America. He has made a deal with a shady Canadian arms dealer to equip his army with new tanks. Surprising that Scout still has feeling for Rosa even after she tried to kill him. They are now both on the run from the new regime. Pretty exciting issue.

SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN #10

“Born Under a Bad Sign”
Writer & Artist: Timothy Truman

Scout has decided to go through a purification ritual. He has fasted for four days. He finally gets a visit from a witch who shows him the history of the Apache. How they prospered in the mountains. Even after the Spanish came they still had great success in raiding the settlements. One day an American named James Johnson from Kentucky came. He had traded with the Apache and became friends with them. He brought a large pile of gifts to the tribe. Under the gifts was a howitzer that blasted the tribe. The Mexican government was offering 100 peso per Apache scalp and Johnson made a lot of money that day. He also started the war with the Americans since all wars are tribal to the Apache.

Eventually the fighting wore them down and they agreed to live on the reservations. The Apache prospered as farmers and the Army was about to leave. The local merchants didn’t like that so with some Papago who were the Apache’s sworn enemies they massacred a camp. This started up the war that would eventually end in defeat. The Apache were moved to Florida and died from the climate. Geronimo was paraded all over the country. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the Apache were allowed to move back to their native lands.

Now this was a very interesting issue. Truman decided to use this issue to tell the story of the Apache and it is one interesting story. I learned a lot from this and can see why the Apache are held in such high regard. A nice little break from the dystopian future. Scout gets new purpose in what he has to do to find a safe place for his sons.