![](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IMG_E5073.jpg)
From bad to worse, DeFalco is now writing this book that is really, really begging to be cancelled. In this issue, Machine Man takes on a so-called (self-professed) “master of the mystic arts:” Baron Brimstone and his Brimstone Squad.
![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/baron-brimstone.jpeg)
Really not the right villain for a robot hero. But he gets a long backstory and intro…
![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/43886d55ee01ad413caa3bee6c36f982/3164eb67d4d26254-40/s500x750/5c005b6f957adb827b84b928ad3ed3e21c42b70c.jpg)
![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b8612483098060271dac29a6b7e88c32/3164eb67d4d26254-0a/s500x750/0b72cbb62a8f68b9f12762d70600ce45e0d264e4.jpg)
![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/0a040a2d54d5a18a049f8b2d84048a84/3164eb67d4d26254-55/s500x750/17ac0f6ac7b76b844c38346464b32c6a0bd2e90b.jpg)
![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/731b9eed3f66ccbef1f9f53d31835212/3164eb67d4d26254-78/s500x750/b78a98650a75d112d40e4b74be961ce1265a2267.jpg)
Also debuting are his henchmen, Hammer Harrison…
![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/hammer-harrison.jpeg)
…and Snake Marston.
![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/snake-marston.jpeg)
The book reads like 1960s Marvel, and if that’s not enough, it name checks The Rockford Files. Absolutely nothing here feels youthful or new.
![](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/5/5c/Machine_Man_Vol_1_17.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20180129035951)
Issue #16 leads directly into #17, where Sunset Bain debuts as Madame Menace, a woman who built an electronics company with stolen Stark tech that was designed by Machine Man’s creator.
![](https://earthsmightiestblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/madame-menace.jpeg)
Basically, it’s Machine Man’s arm.
![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/1848870759e5609bc164b8a868318f91/f5947940e00e3603-b6/s540x810/a631bfed4c10b6d160eecef8c6b07d7737000725.jpg)
![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6ee617efc8ddd953954a4d3222adca6e/f5947940e00e3603-d6/s540x810/7e086eb34393a956e5b087a13de078835b589a70.jpg)
![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c456b7451b5ec7d248d764e2faf0ee3a/f5947940e00e3603-c6/s540x810/71798eb5ca61b1c09c324bfa02293d63d0df8635.jpg)
I feel like I should like this stuff, but it’s just kinda boring and not good.