ATARI FORCE SPECIAL #1

“Codename: Dart A Mercenary’s Story”
Writer: Paul Kupperburg
Artist: Marshall Rogers

Dart is sixteen and sent to a girls military academy. She and her roommate Dalia are bullied by some of the girls. One day the bullies attack the girls and in the struggle one bully gets knocked over a ledge. Dart and Dalia flee to Dart’s parents. There an Atari security man named Hunter is waiting. He offers the two girls a way out of their predicament. Go to the planet Sangfroid and a man named Drago will take them in. They arrive and find out Drago runs a mercenary group. The two girls learn skills and get assigned to Kolb.

Kolb is a planet inhabited by little green fat people. Rebels have hired mercenaries and Dart and Dalia are to lead the defense of the palace. During the night they are attacked and Dalia is killed. Dart comes on a surviving mercenary and because of a vision doesn’t kill him. Instead she hits his eye. The man named Blackjack was also part of Drago’s mercenary group. Drago was sending mercs to both sides. So Dart and Blackjack go and take their revenge on Drago.

“The Adventures of Hukka Food for Thought!”
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Artist: Tristan Shane

Hukka is lost and hungry. He gets help from some friendly red aliens that feed him. He later finds out they were fattening him for a feast and takes off.

“Second Skin!”
Writer: Dwight Jon Zimmerman
Artist: James Fry

Babe is shedding and rubs his back against the life support system. This gunks up the system with shards of his rock hide. Scanner One is forced to land on a planet destroyed by nuclear war. They find a butte that is free of radiation so they land to make repairs. The ground collapses under Babe and Dart leads a rescue to the underground cavern. There they reactivate killer robots and a doomsday bomb. They manage to fight their way back to the ship and leave before the planet is destroyed.

A year after this title was cancelled they decided to release this special. They had some leftover backup stories to they combined them into a big special issue. Two of the three stories were really good. The first gives us an origin of how Dart became a mercenary and how she met Blackjack. This was a really good story and fills in some unknown background on Dart.

The second really didn’t make much sense to me. The third was a fun story. Babe sheds his hide and leave around gems which Pakrat thinks will make him rich. Only at the end they turn to dust. A fun story filled with action and humor.

ATARI FORCE #20

“Trial…and Verdict!”
Writer: Mike Baron
Artist: Ed Barreto

Commander Martin champion, his son Tempest and Dart are on trail. The judges seem skeptical of his claim of the Dark Destroyer. In the case of Senator Jamieson he is downright hostile. Morphea manages to use her psychic abilities to recreate an image of the Dark Destroyer from the mind of Kargg. This seems to get some of the judges to acknowledge the possibility of the Dark Destroyer. Yet meanwhile the Tazlings have freed Pakrat from his cell and have build a mysterious contraption. They then manage to slip a key to Tempest. Tempest manages to free his cuff and use his phase power to free Martin and Dart. Morphea uses her psychic abilities to disable the guards so they can escape. The Tazlings have build an interdimensional shuttle and Martin takes the crew to New Earth to start a new research institute dedicated to peace.

“Hukka Vs. The Bob!”
Writers: Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming
Artist: Keith Giffen

Young Chris Champion gets Hukka a present. It is Bob a personal robot assistant. Hukka doesn’t really care for Bob so he tries to flush him down the toilet. This angers Bob who goes after Hukka. Hukka manages to break Bob’s antenna. Still when Chris finds out he tells Hukka not to worry for there are spare antennas.

So as the title says this is the last issue. Apparently they knew of this for some time but decided to keep it a secret to the end. The reason they gave was they just ran out of story ideas. That was too bad. I really enjoyed this series. I think it is an underrated series that had many potential story possibilities. They did leave the end open ended. The entire crew was alive and still together. I was hoping Dynamite would maybe revive this title now that they had rights to Atari. I guess there attempts at Atari stories didn’t sell well because they seem to have abandoned their plans for future series. So I guess there is no story of how their trip went with Old Earth. Yet who knows. Maybe someday.

ATARI FORCE #19

“Homecoming!”
Writer: Mike Baron
Artist: Ed Bareto

Scanner One has made it to New Earth. They decide to land on the surface instead of dock at the space station. So they pick an isolated piece of desert. Only this piece of desert has a new Atari Force automated weapons system called Warmech. It shoots at Scanner One and forces it to land. The crew get out and enjoy their freedom. Suddenly a giant mech scorpion attacks them. It destroys Scanner One. Tempest tries to use his phase power but it is shielded from phasing ability. Kargg and Blackjack work together to get a grenade into the automated scorpion and destroy it. Than Hunter with his security forces arrives to arrest the crew. Martin, Dart and Tempest are put on trial. Pakrat is captured to be turned over to his brother. The others are let go since they have done nothing against the law.

“Taz”
Writer: Ed Hannigan
Artist: Bill Wray

Taz and her mate are fighting some aliens. A fighter strafes them and kills Taz’s mate. She manages to shoot it down and a survivor confronts her. Only the fighting has opened the ground up and both fall into an underground cavern. They have to join forces to fight off some giant creature and climb out of the cavern. On the surface Taz than shoots the alien for revenge. The end has the moral hang on to your gun.

Atari force manages to return to New Earth. They know that they face arrest but get the surprise of discovering a secret Atari weapons development. Apparently Atari has started developing weapons for sale. So now there is a big trial for the humans. A good solid story. The crew seems to work well together especially the new ones of Kargg and Blackjack. Pakrat is good for some comic relief. Finally the Tazlings are stealing equipment from Martin’s old research station so something is going on there. Sets it up for the big trial finale.

The backup story was a fun one. Spotlights Taz and her background. A cool little moral for this story. I have to agree. You should always hang on to your gun. Never know when you might need it.

ATARI FORCE #18

“Tempest Tossed!”
Writer: Mike Baron
Artist: Eduardo Barreto

Tempest held prisoner at Atari HQ manages to get some of his phasing power back. Enough to disable the device that was suppressing it. Than he is able to phase out and return to Scanner One. Only the multi-verse is now different and the finds himself in some strange universes. He manages to make contact with Dart telepathically and concentrating on her, he manages to make it back.

The crew of Scanner One now has to make some choices on getting back to New Earth. The food is running out. Dart had a vision that Blackjack with two good eyes would drive Scanner One back to Atari HQ. So Martin decides to give him a chance. Blackjack’s new eye helps him but the destroyed universe next to their universe is upsetting his new eye. So the Tazlings install his old eye and that helps Blackjack navigate home.

“A Boy and his Hukka”
Writer: Dave Manak
Artist: Marshall Rogers

Chris Champion a.k.a. Tempest is a young boy on New Earth. He goes to the toy store in the mall for the new toy X-V Bots. He also takes along Hukka. Hukka strays while in the store and Chris leaves without him. The store closes and Hukka has to fight off the guard dog. Chris notices that Hukka is missing and goes back. He phases through the window and rescues Hukka from the dog. Only now the security guard finds him and plans to call his dad.

So Tempest manages to escape from Atari. He finds his way back and using what he discovered the crew can plot their way home. Martin still doesn’t trust Blackjack although he does warm up to Kargg who now is free of the Dark Destroyer’s influence. Also we find out the next universe over was the one destroyed by the anti-matter bomb. Not sure how that came about but maybe will be revealed soon.

The backup story was a good one. We get to see Tempest as a kid and a glimpse into the society of New Earth.

Oh and I got a notification of my 6 year anniversary on WordPress. Can believe how long I’ve been doing this.

ATARI FORCE #17

“If Thine Eye Offend Thee…”
Writer: Mike Barron
Artist: Ed Barreto

The Tazlings have managed to fix Blackjack’s eye. They also pulled out the thing that was keeping Blackjack under the control of the Dark Destroyer. So now he is apparently healed. Dart manages to make contact with Tempest who is a prisoner on New Earth. The Tazlings have managed to fix the ship up but they also eat a lot and soon Scanner One will run out of food. Morphea than starts to psychically scan Kargg. She finds out he is from a primitive world and the Dark Destroyer also left a part of him in his mind. She battles this and frees Kargg of the Dark Destroyer’s influence.

“Rats Like Us!”
Writer: Andy Helfer
Artist: Mike Chen

Pakrat has been captured by his brother Rident. He takes Pakrat to the spaceport to have him brought back to New Earth for trial. At the port Pakrat gets Ferra to plant the stolen necklace on Rident so when he goes through the scanner it is discovered. Rident is arrested as Pakrat and Ferra continue on the New Earth to steal some more stuff.

So this issue was a subdued one. The crew tries to figure out how to get back to New Earth now that they know it wasn’t destroyed. Blackjack and Kargg are both freed from the influence of the Dark Destroyer. Otherwise a very uneventful issue.

The Pakrat backup comes to an end. It was actually the more exciting of the two stories. Pakrat cleverly convinces his girlfriend to help him escape his brother. A humorous story that gives us some history on the character and his brother.

ATARI FORCE #16

“Tazlings”
Writer: Mike Baron
Artist: Ed Hannigan

Scanner One is under attack by giant ants. Babe who’s physiology is toxic to the ants is send out to clear the gunk off the intake vents. He manages to drive off the ants and unblock the vents. So the ship takes off. Only some of the warrior ants have managed to sneak aboard. Dart decides to check up on Blackjack and she still has feeling for her former lover. As she leaves she makes telepathic contact with Tempest. He claims to still be prisoner at Atari so New Earth must have survived the anti-matter bomb. Taz at this time gives birth to a whole bunch of Tazlings. They are born with an instinct to create technical gadgets. This comes in handy has they build weapons that defeat the giant ant warriors. Then they go to Blackjack and put him under. They start to work on his artificial eye.

“Rat Trap!”
Writer: Andy Helfer
Artist: Mike Chen

Pakrat is trapped by the guard in the tower. He goes nuts but the guard knocks him out the window. Fortunately Ferra is flying by in her car for him to fall into. She takes Pakrat to her father’s secret place. Pakrat thinks he is safe but finds out that his brother Rident is waiting for him.

OK so the crew manage to escape the world of giant ants. The big surprise is Taz giving birth to a whole horde of little Tazlings. Now I do find the whole instinctive ability to build technical gadgets at birth a little too implausible. Still an enjoyable story. Another big reveal is that Tempest is still alive and by extension New Earth so the crew has a home to go to.

The backup story was an entertaining one. Pakrat is an interesting character and his adventure so far has my interest.

ATARI FORCE #15

“Siege”
Writer: Mike Baron
Artist: Eduardo Barreto

Pakrat has been saved by his brother Rident. Now the whole crew of Scanner One has another problem to deal with. Giant ants are surrounding the ship. Rident says that they are very aggressive and ate his ship. So the crew take the wounded Kargg and lock the ship. First they have to deal with a pincher that keeps the door open. These ants are impervious to just about everything. While Martin decides what to do the other members of the crew have their own issues. Morphea offers to use her psychic abilities to probe Blackjack’s mind to see if the Dark Destroyer had implanted something in his mind to control him. She does find a tumor that could be something. Taz leaves the sickbay to hide out in a dark isolated room. The giant ants have managed to clog up the exhaust and prevent the ship from leaving. Other ants are coming with rocket launchers. It is discovered that Babe’s body chemistry is harmful to the ants. So he is chosen to go out and clean off the exhausts. Only when he leaves the ants attack him and he starts to panic.

“To Catch a Pakrat!”
Writer: Andy Helfer
Artist: Mike Chen

Pakrat is at the Deltan embassy to steal it’s jewels. When he climbs the tower and enters the ambassador’s residence he meets a Markian female of his race. Ferra is there to also steal the jewels. As a guard comes in she starts to kiss Pakrat. The guard kicks them out. Later it is revealed that Ferra managed to steal the jewels. She needs a distraction to escape and dumps the punch bowl over Pakrat’s head. Later the guard that discovered them finds out the jewels have been stolen. So the guards chase Pakrat who tries to escape back the way he came in. Only that way is blocked.

This was an interesting story. So far Rident is the new addition and show himself to be a very immovable bureaucrat with little imagination. There is some possibility that Blackjack was being mind controlled by the Dark Destroyer. Kargg apparently was only wounded and seems to be up to something sinister. Basically the whole crew is trapped by intelligent giant ants and the only way they can escape is the infant Babe.

The backup story gives us a look at Pakrat before his time with the force. This was a very enjoyable story so far. We get introduced to a female of Pakrat’s race and she is definitely an intriguing character. Definitely a woman perfect for Pakrat. Interesting to see how this ends. A good solid start to the new storyline.

ATARI FORCE #14

“Lost in the Multiverse”
Writer: Mike Baron
Artist: Ed Barreto

Scanner One is now lost in the multiverse after escaping the destruction of their universe. Martin Champion is more or less wallowing in self pity. Pakrat decides he wants to check out the hold for any goodies to loot. He finds Taz ties up to the door. Than Kargg who managed to stow away on the ship attacks. Pakrat gets chased into an escape pod and launches to escape him. The pod lands on a planet with no atmosphere. As Pakrat dons a suit and explores he finds that Kargg has managed to hang on to the pod. Apparently he doesn’t need any air to breath. So he goes after Pakrat but is stopped by Rident. Rident has crashed on this planet after the explosion and manages to shoot Kargg. Then the rest of the crew from Scanner One comes and finds them.

“A Babe in Arms”
Writer: Dave Manak
Artist: Klaus Janson

Babe is sleeping on his mother who is a giant mountain on the planet Egg. Babe gets knocked off the ledge by a newborn Eggite who has just been popped out of the mountain. After falling to the ground he sees two ships fighting each other. The one is forced to land and the other lands next to it. Out of the first is a red humanoid who is prepared to fight the occupants of the second ship. The second ship disgorges a horde of carnivorous little creatures. Babe comes blundering in and the horde decides that he would make a good meal. Only Babe is rock and they quickly lose interest as Babe thinks they want to play and rolls around and crushes them. They flee and the red alien is saved. As a reward he uses his ship to bring Babe back to his mother.

So the first issue with a new team and a new storyline. An enjoyable issue. It hints that maybe their universe isn’t destroyed because Dart had a vision that Blackjack would be piloting Scanner One into Atari station. Rident the brother of Pakrat is brought back and actually saves his criminal brother. A good set up to this new story of the crew trying to find their way after this devastating tragedy.

The backup which will now spotlight a crewmember gives us a fun little story about Babe before his kidnapping from his homeworld. A very lighthearted story to balance the more grim story from the main feature. I am enjoying these little spotlights on the crew.

ATARI FORCE #13

“The End Part Thirteen”
Writers: Gerry Conway and Joey Cavalieri
Artist: Ed Barreto

The Dark Destroyer reveals himself to be the spitting image of Martin Champion. He tells how this came about. Back during their final confrontation the Destroyer sent out his life essence before the asteroid was destroyed. This essence eventually found New Earth and came just as Lydia Perez was giving birth. The destroyer took her lifeforce and passed through Martin thus gathering his life force. Than on a swamp world the Destroyer entered a creature that give birth to the Destroyer. He was a young Martin but with his evil powers.

So Martin goes nuts and attacks the Destroyer. He beats him senseless as the rest of the crew manage to defeat the Destroyer’s men. Dart has to shoot Blackjack to get to the anti-matter bomb but she can’t defuse it. So with Martin and the crew they abandoned the universe in Scanner One. The Destroyer tries to stop the anti-matter bomb but Dart’s attempts have damaged the disarm device. So the Destroyer plants his essence in his loyal lieutenant Kargg. Than he sits back and watches as the universe is destroyed in one huge explosion.

“Best Friends”
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Artist: Dave Manak

Hukka is playing around when he meets a cute little bunny-like creature. It calls itself Chee and they start playing. They find a ball like plant and Chee goes down a hole. Hukka follows and finds that Chee has lured Hukka to his people. They are carnivorous and try to eat Hukka. Chee has a change of heart and manages to rescue Hukka.

Well this issue had one wild cliffhanger. The whole universe is destroyed so now what. We also do get the reveal of who the Dark Destroyer is and why he now looks like Martin. Yet his human body can apparently get it’s ass kicked. Blackjack is shown to be a loser and coward. Now obviously in spite of the ending it is obvious that the series will continue. How is a good question and does leave the reader wanting to find out. Also with the new artist next issue starts a new writer so we will be getting a whole new direction. I loved the old Conway/Garcia team but probably not a bad idea to get some fresh perspective on the series.

The backup continues with giving us a look at Hukka. This was a fun little story that didn’t take itself too serious. I think it was a great idea to start having these character spotlight stories as a back up. Helps give us more insight in the diverse characters that make up the crew of Scanner One.

ATARI FORCE #12

“Part Twelve Revelations!”
Writers: Gerry Conway and Andy Helfer
Artist: Jose Luis Garcia Lopez

On New Earth Tempest is being tried for his crimes. He is drugged but very belligerent toward the court. He tries to escape and is knocked unconscious. On Scanner One Dart confronts Blackjack about his betrayal. Blackjack is a totally broken man. Later Scanner One arrives at the edge of the solar system for New Earth. The Dark Destroyer’s ship is there and a tractor beam pulls the ship to the surface of a planet. The crew escape in a lifeboat and find an anti-matter bomb. The Dark Destroyer comes with his army and Dart leads an attack. Unfortunately the crew of Scanner One is outnumbered and forced to surrender. At the end the Dark Destroyer reveals his true self by lifting his helmet. He is an exact image of Martin Champion.

“Do Unto Others”
Writer: Keith Griffen
Artists: Keith Griffen and Ernie Colon

Hukka is on a planet and finds a small reptile to play with. While doing this a huge reptile attacks Hukka. Fortunately a flying bigger reptile swoops down and eats the huge reptile. Hukka looks at the little reptile he was torturing and decides to let it go. The little reptile than finds a smaller reptile to play with.

So we get the big confrontation with the Dark Destroyer. The big surprise is that he is Martin Champion or someone who looks just like him. This is a definite surprise and sets up a final conclusion to the story arc that the reader wants to find out about. Also they did a great job of portraying how pathetic Blackjack has been reduced to. There is genuine pain on both Blackjack for what he has become and Dart for having to confront this in the man she loved. Blackjack openly states he would try to kill her again if the Dark Destroyer ordered it. This was confirmed later in the story when he knocks out Morphea on the Dark Destroyer’s order.Finally the trial of Tempest on New Earth shows that they have a screwy justice system in the future. One of the judges is the senator that hates Tempest so there obviously is no requirement for an impartial jury.

The backup story highlighted Hukka the lovable little creature. A fun story that they plan to have more of to highlight the various crewmembers. A great idea to give the reader some more insight into the kooky crew of Scanner One. Also this was the last issue drawn by Garcia. I loved his style and it will be missed. Wow lots of stuff going on this issue.