Star Brand Issue Guide #3

Issue 7:
the Reckoning

Picking up right where the last issue left off, we find Ken in a stark panic, having no clue where the earth is. Raving against the old man for a time, and on the verge of despair and surrender, Ken finally gets it together and locates the sun (his orientation was way off, so he couldn't see it at first). Placing himself in orbit where he figured earth should be, Ken eventually located his homeworld.

Happy to be home, Ken had even more reason to celebrate when he found out that his gal pal Debbie wasn't dead after all! Racing to a nearby hospital, Ken started crying upon seeing Debbie's condition, as she'd suffered several broken bones at the hands of the Old Man. However, Debbie wasn't mad at him, so after a long visit, Ken went to patch things up with his girlfriend, Barb.

She wasn't so receptive to such talk, however, as she'd already collected his things, and told him to leave. Not wishing to place her at further risk from the Old Man's schemes, Ken simply left, though he had the feeling that she would've eventually taken him back. After he found out his other close family and friends were all right, Ken went home to think out his next move.

Going over his journal, Ken found himself at a loss, and simply laid in bed confused for several hours. When his thoughts were interrupted by loud barking, Ken found a dog being mauled by a pit bull in his back yard, and separated the raving animal from the 'normal' dog. Making for his bed after that was dealt with, Ken found a message scrawled on his door from the Old Man!

"The Brand - or people die!" Driving to his mother's house, Ken then crashed for a bit, but when he woke up, he found another message on his mom's doorstep. "the Brand - or massacre!" Unable to think this out, Ken started flying around Pittsburgh aimlessly, an act which ended with his giving off a massive power surge, in anger, when he couldn't find the Old Man.

This changed later that night, however, when Ken got a call from the Old Man, who said he was with Debbie, and that she would die if Ken didn't show up in ten minutes. Two hours later, Ken arrived at the hospital, and told the Old Man to go ahead and kill Debbie. It didn't matter, he said, for either way, he was going to kill the Old Man in order to stop his scheming once and for all.

Realizing that he'd outsmarted himself, leaving Ken no choice, the Old Man fled the hospital, and Ken followed him in a rage. Tackling him in mid-air, Ken downed the Old Man in a nearby forest, and began knocking him around. After smashing him through a bunch of trees, Ken found himself blasted by the Old Man in retaliation, and eventually landed on the other side of Pittsburgh.

There, Ken waited for the Old Man to pursue him, and when he did, Ken jumped him again. Duking it out as the Old Man's power grew to 'maximum' output, the battle slowly turned to Ken's favor. After blasting Ken with all he had, the Old Man resorted to dirty fighting tactics, but even these couldn't faze Ken now. Totally enraged, Ken managed to finally destroy the Old Man once and for all (or so he thought).

Flinging his burnt out husk of a corpse way out into orbit, Ken then made his way to the hospital, and apologized for risking Debbie's life so. Saying she understood, Debbie once again forgave Ken for his actions, as it wasn't his fault he was so saddled with these impressive powers. And, since he no longer had Barb, Ken decided to stay with Debbie for the time being...

Issue 8:
the Brand of a Hero

After the world-shattering events of last issue, Ken decided that he needed a break. To that end, he was going to disappear for a few days on his motorbike; sure, he could just fly about with his Star Brand, but Ken found that riding his bike helped him think better. A few hours into this drive, however, Ken had a sudden blowout on his front tire, and in order to save himself, drove right through a nearby guard rail.

Using his powers, Ken simply flew his bike through the trees just off the road, swerving about to avoid hitting anything, and thus, wrecking his bike. However, he did manage to get one branch caught in his wheel spokes at high speed, bending it out of shape. Touching down in a nearby clearing, Ken checked his bike out, and was approached by Tad, a local youth.

After talking to the kid for a bit, Ken wound up going home with him, as his father was reputedly a competent motorcycle mechanic, and had tools Ken would need to fix his bike up. Invited to stay for dinner by Tad's parents, Ken found out that Tad was, in fact, dying, thanks to a congenital heart defect caused by contaminated water in the area - courtesy of the local Axco corporation.

As several of Tad's relatives were coming to help out with the farm while his parents protested Axco's policies, Ken offered to hang out for a few days and lend a hand, in exchange for some more tasty dinners. Come the next day, after doing the chores he'd offered to do, Ken was riding around with Tad, when the kid asked him about his flying bike.

Debating what to tell the kid, Ken decided to just come clean, considering that he didn't have long to live anyway. Explaining his powers, Ken took Tad for a flight around the nearby area, landing in a junkyard for a bit. When the owners showed up soon after, Ken put Tad in a trashed car, and then flew him around in that while the two made their escape; luckily, the men who witnessed this didn't believe their eyes.

Returning home for the night, Tad asked Ken to get rid of the toxic waste Axco inadvertently used to pollute the area, but Ken refused, thinking he could get caught, or seen, or otherwise cause serious trouble for himself. After Tad had a serious stroke the next morning, however, Ken decided to do this for the kid, as he felt guilty about refusing what could amount to Tad's last request.

Flying over to the Axco facility, Ken started to power up, though the hired security goons came after him. Before they could attempt to stop him, however, Ken built up a massive amount of power, and literally vaporized each and every last can of oozing toxic sludge that the company was storing in the county. In fact, this explosion caused the E.P.A. to mount a full-scale investigation of the company's actions.

Satisfied with the outcome of his actions, Ken then left to visit Tad in the hospital one last time before returning home, telling him about his 'adventure' in the Axco waste yard. Thrilled to have actually made his (potentially) last few days happy, Ken stayed on with the family for a few days, and then drove off for parts unknown - though he eventually made it back home to Pittsburgh.

Issue 9:
Where Walks the True Believer!

Myron wasn't happy, but then, waking up at 4:30 because your friend broke into your house will do that. You see, Ken was feeling troubled, thanks to these recurring nightmares he was having, and came to the only person he knew of that could help him: Myron. Since he was up anyway, Myron had Ken explain what was going on, and Ken related the events of last issue to his psychologist pal.

Myron was particularly upset that Ken used his powers in such a public capacity, but got over that after he realized what was bugging Ken - his inability to use his powers to cure poor Tad of his illness. He'd died soon after the Axco incident, and Tad's untimely doom had left Ken deeply disturbed. As such, Myron recommended that Ken see one Doctor Lucian Ballad, who had pioneered a sort of dream therapy.

Making his way to Georgetown, Ken was interviewed for a bit by Doctor Ballad, who then put Ken under. Once he was asleep, Doctor Ballad had his colleague, one Keith Remsen, use his own paranormal powers to enter the sleeping mind of Ken Connell. In his Nightmask persona, Keith entered Ken's dreams only to find himself in a Kirby-esque structure, bound to the ceiling with some super-powered child.

This child, the so-called True Believer, was some sort of representation of Tad, complete with his toxic breath powers (granted after he was exposed to some, you guessed it, toxic waste). Talking to the Believer for a bit, Keith finally found out who was holding them captive - the evil, purple-armored Doctor Foom! This villain would've slain Keith and the True Believer, save for the intervention of the Star Brand!

This super-hero literally lifted up Foom's headquarters, tipped it on its side, and then jumped into battle with Foom directly. Knocking the fiend to the moon, Star Brand, the True Believer, and Nightmask then flew over the city for a bit, talking about current events in this unnamed city until Star Brand and True Believer returned to their civilian identities, leaving Keith to his own devices.

Heading to a local library, Keith found out that Ken had been reliving this dream for a very long time, having fight after fight with this Foom character every time he put Tad at deadly risk. Coming up with a plan, Keith confronted the Believer and asked him about Ken, at which point the two were abducted anew by Doctor Foom and his weird flying steam-shovel villain chariot thing (really).

Taking over the Believer's presence in the dream, Keith managed to unmask Doctor Foom, revealing him to be Ken Connell - the real Ken Connell. At just that time, the Star Brand tracked Foom down, and both Connell's got into a fight over just who was the real Ken. As he wrangled with himself, Ken finally came to terms with Tad's death, and Keith left his dream before it abruptly ended.

Feeling good for the first time in weeks, Ken thanked Doctor Ballad and went to go home, though he had a strange image in the back of his head, an image of the Nightmask's face. Similarly, Keith had a weird feeling that there was much, much more to Ken than met the eye, and maybe there was something to his strange 'Star Brand' persona. However, only time would tell...

the Star Brand issue guides:

Return to the Star Brand main page!