Star Brand Issue Guide #2

Issue 4:
Fight!

This tale began with Myron lurking behind Ken, and smashing him in the head with a hatchet - but good! However, as Ken has tried to tell Myron, he is totally invulnerable; after all, he survived being at ground zero of a nuclear detonation. Still not convinced, he took a blowtorch to Ken's arm, only to be surprised by one of his patients, Kathy, who's also a sort of live-in maid.

When she freaked out at the sight of this, Myron inadvertently set Ken's shirt on fire with his torch, as well as several other things nearby. Cleaning up this ashen mess, Myron asked Ken to retell the story about how he acquired the Star Brand, so he could ponder it some more. Once Ken was done with this, Myron decided that he wasn't happy with this explanation, and set up an appointment to talk later.

That next morning, Ken showed up late for work, only to find that a nearby diner was robbed by three violent thugs, and started to feel lousy about not using his powers to their full potential. Forgetting about this for a time, Ken then took his pal Debbie out for dinner, though their dinner wound up turning into something... more. Of course, right afterward, Ken's girlfriend, Barb, showed up at his door!

She wanted to talk to him, because she thought things were getting weird with him, what with that weird tattoo he had. Trying to smooth things over, Ken told her that the Star Brand was just a sort of temporary tattoo, and then moved it to where she couldn't see the thing. Of course, while he was out of the room, Barb saw some pictures Ken had just taken of Debbie on his bike - in her underwear...

Being somewhat steamed, she left right afterwards, and Ken quickly put two and two together, oddly enough. Feeling lousy yet again, Ken then made for Myron's, since he had an appointment to talk to the guy. Of course, he showed up an hour late, and when he got there, Myron himself was gone, and wound up making him wait a similar amount of time.

Talking about that night where he picked up the Brand, Ken decided that the second alien, the one he fought with, was actually the Old Man, who was testing him for some reason or another. However, Myron wasn't so sure; since Ken had been hypnotized during that whole affair, Myron thought that his memory of these events was suspect, and only believed that Ken had the powers, and none of that other 'rubbish'.

Then, of course, Ken found out that Myron was going to charge him for his time, and Ken left in a rage. Unable to sleep that night, he decided to tell the government about his powers, but the Air Force personnel he talked to thought he was a joke, and didn't tell him anything useful. As such, he flew to the White House, and was about to enter when he suddenly had second thoughts.

After all, he could survive any secret service assault, but ricocheting bullets might hurt them or, alternately, innocent bystanders. Talking to a local bartender didn't help matters, because he thought a man revealing such powers to the government would get him dead - real quick! Utterly despondent, Ken then flew home, and tried to make amends with Barb.

When he showed up at her place, though, Ken discovered that she'd gone on a date with someone else! Realizing this was all his fault, Ken sank further into despair, and began drifting aimlessly over the city, until he heard screams coming from a nearby grocery store. Investigating, Ken found himself overcome with panic, a panic which grew more intense as an older woman walked out of the store.

Realizing that she was behind this irrational fear somehow, Ken followed her as she drove out of town, and watched as she met up with two people that can only be described as nutballs. One was completely irrational, and spurring the other on with his incessant taunts and, apparently, his empathic powers. This drove his victim to fits of rage, fits he vented on nearby trees, smashing them with his bare hands!

Cautiously approaching the trio of apparently empowered folks, Ken felt the woman turning the full force of her power on him, but he steeled his resolve against it, knowing what was behind his sudden fear. The other two didn't like him, though, much less his suggestion that they needed mental help, and as such, the empath turned his rages upon Mr. Lovejoy (the strong-man), and caused him to pummel Ken - a lot!

The combination of their powers directed at him caused Ken to lose just enough of his resolve that he was beaten senseless by Lovejoy, though not so much that he would've been killed by the log-wielding strong-man. Waking up long after the unbalanced paranormals had fled, Ken vented his rage on the nearby forest, and vowed to never let himself get beaten so easily again!

To this end, he began a journal, and started to work out again, since he'd grown soft after relying on the Star Brand's power so much these last few months...

Issue 5:
Crossing the Line

Ken started out his birthday by being woken up by his good pal Debbie, who'd bought him a bunch of presents, such as maps and compasses to keep himself from getting lost while flying about across the world. Later, after work, the two went to see a friend of Ken's, when he had a surprise party sprung upon him by his family (having to stop by his parents' house on the way).

Of course, Barb was there, which naturally made Ken nervous (since Debbie was in the car waiting for him). Once that mess was resolved, the two made their way to Rick's (Ken's friend) house. He hung out for a bit, and helped Rick fix up his car, but Ken was still feeling somewhat down about the whole situation with Barb. This funk held him for over a day straight, which got him thinking about things.

It was then that Ken remembered that those strange, middle-eastern folks knew about him and his powers, and that they were willing to kill to get them. That next morning, Ken decided to fly out to a California beach to think things out, and after a small tryst with a local valley girl, he returned home to settle his problem with those terrorist types once and for all.

Donning all black clothes, he flew to the site of his first battle, that slag dump outside of Pittsburgh. Observing the surrounding area, he saw the same set-up as before; the car under a lit streetlight, several folks waiting in backup out of sight - from the road, that is. Waiting for them to give up for the evening, Ken then followed them to their hideout, an Oakland student residence.

Debating whether or not he should bust in there and give them heck, Ken decided to just get them out of his hair in the most expedient way. Having seen them put several guns and such in their trunk, Ken made an anonymous call to the police about their presence and, after bending open their trunk, he just got out of sight and waited for the police to arrive and arrest the goons.

Soon enough, the cops came and, searching the house, found a veritable arsenal and all sorts of pro-Libya posters and propaganda. Once the police dragged all of these would-be heroes off to jail, Ken then used the maps Debbie gave him, and flew out to Libya himself. As soon as he came across a military base, he then let into it with everything he had.

After picking up a tank and throwing it around like a kiddy toy, Ken barreled through every building at high speeds, collapsing each of them and causing several spectacular explosions. As the Libyan military fled the carnage he had wrought, Ken picked up an appropriate looking officer and told him to tell Qadafi to lay off the 'flying man' - or else he'd level the entire country!

Though he was unsure whether or not the man understood a word he spoke, Ken nonetheless left satisfied, and got home in time to see his pals' arrest on the local news. He then went over to Barb's house and promised to either stick with her until she told him to go away or told him that she loved him. When she chose the latter, Ken decided to confide with her about his powers, but never got around to it.

This was, of course, because her kids decided just then to go on a destructive rampage throughout Barb's house, which interrupted Ken's train of thought. However, this also got him thinking once again about what he really wanted, and his fears about the responsibility of raising children. These unsettling thoughts plauged Ken through the night...

Issue 6:
Dead Duck!

A couple of days later, Ken flew way up into the sky, trying to come up with a sensible way to tell his girlfriend, Barb, about his Star Brand and its power. After some time, he still couldn't quite make it logical, and by then, he'd drifted several hundred miles away from Pittsburgh - this he found out after dodging a nearby airliner. Flying into orbit, he got his bearings and then returned home for breakfast.

Going through his morning exercises, Ken was eventually met by Barb, who asked him about that 'strange tattoo' again, since it was currently on his ankle. Telling her again it was just a temporary tattoo, Ken then told her it'd wash off and got ready for work. While there, he actually got offered a job selling cars by his boss' boss, and though he found the man repulsive, Ken needed the cash - he took the job.

After work, Ken decided to move the Brand somewhere Barb wouldn't see it - under his hair. Of course, doing this burned off the hair between the Brand and his scalp, leaving a nasty bald spot on the top of Ken's head. Feeling silly about this, Ken then made his way to a local Denny's, in order to meet his pal Debbie for dinner (she'd called him asking to meet up for some reason, and sounded in bad shape).

While they ate, the two were approached by none other than the Old Man, who helped himself to a seat and ordered several raw eggs in a glass. The two talked for a bit, the Old Man telling Ken that he and his power was needed to help fight a war across the cosmos, but Ken wasn't about to leave the earth behind, war or not. After answering a few more of Ken's questions, the Old Man split.

Eventually making his way back to Barb's house, Ken got grief for not calling and saying he'd be late, and soon thereafter, on one of her tantrums, Barb's little girl tore Ken's jacket. This stunned Ken, though, as he thought it was made of some special fabric, since it proved more resilient to the use of his power than had his regular clothes. Feeling bad about this, Barb promised to make up for it later... and how!

Before he got to bed, however, the Old Man and Debbie showed up at Barb's door, claiming to be lovers, and the Old Man wanted to talk. Letting them in, they all sat down at the kitchen table, and the Old Man again asked Ken to join his interstellar war or return the Star Brand. Again declining, Ken asked more questions, and as the conversation unfolded, Ken deduced that the Old Man had brainwashed Debbie.

Just as he demanded the Old Man release her, Barb came downstairs, asking these people to leave. As he followed them out, Ken convinced the Old Man to let go of Debbie's mind, at which point she ran to him. Of course, Barb saw all of this, and slammed the door in disgust. Soon after, the Old Man split again, though he warned Ken not to place the Brand in an inanimate object before he left.

Going back inside as everybody left, Ken tried to explain all of this to Barb, but Debbie called right afterward, claiming that the Old Man was still after her. Flying out to find her, Ken realized that this could just be a ruse, and that the Old Man may be trying to get some hostages against him while he was gone. Sure enough, upon returning home, he spied the Old Man breaking into Barb's window.

Confronting him, Ken got backhanded through several parked cars. Enraged, he tackled the Old Man, blasting him through (and totally demolishing) a nearby house. Claiming that he would destroy the entire planet in order to get the Star Brand back from Ken (even though he gave it to him in the first place), the Old Man found himself carried into orbit by Ken, who was fed up with his schemes and antics.

Approaching orbit, the Old Man blasted Ken in the face with his own impressive powers, shooting him clean out into the asteroid belt. There, Ken and the Old Man duked it out in the absolute silence of space, and using every last bit of power he had, Ken managed to drive the Old Man off. Of course, he found out all too late that he wasn't sure exactly how to get himself back to earth...

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