It’s time for Beyonder to show up, and provoke all kinds of reactions.
Flowing from Secret Wars II #6, this issue starts with Captain Hero busting out of Project Pegasus after overhearing his doctors say that they can’t cure his disease. Remember, he’s just a 12-year-old boy who turns into an adult hero, but keeps his kid brain (yes, he’s Shazam), so he’s impulsive. Also, he’ll later be retconned as Super Skrull.
SHIELD asks Falcon to track the kid down, so Falc seeks help from Power Man and Iron Fist based on their connection to Captain Hero. They’re just getting started when Beyonder comes on the scene and things get sidetracked.
Luke takes him to a soul food restaurant where Beyonder changes form into a stereotype black man and speaks stereotype 1970s soul.
Editor Denny O’Neil provides captions. Yeah, this is a complete rip off of a scene from Airplane, right down to the subtitles, but I’m betting writer Jim Owsley—one of the few black comic book writers of his time—had fun with it.
Eventually, the Beyonder and Captain Hero stories strangely tie together, and it ends with the kid seeking treatment at a hospital instead of from Project Pegasus because he lost faith in their medical care. But before the end, Iron Fist punches a missile.
This book is bimonthly now, and will soon be cancelled. Too bad. I’m enjoying it.
