TITLE: Secret Weapons – Vol. 1, Issue 1
YEAR: September 1993
COMPANY: Valiant Comics
Writer & Penciler: Joe St. Pierre
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Colorist: Mike Cavallaro
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Layton
With every comic book company, it appears to be customary to have a superhero group consisting of that comic universe’s top heroes to take on evil.
In September 1993, “Secret Weapons” which would consist of Geomancer, Eternal Warrior, X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Shadowman and two members of Harbinger (Amanda and Eddie) to form a team because things are not looking good for Solar.
The story goes back to October 1992, with the 14th issue of “Solar: Man of the Atom”, we were introduced to Fred Bender.
A talented investigator who knew how to obtain information and with his curiosity about Solar, Bender decided to investigate and was able to tracked down Phil Seleski and going so far to have Seleski show him an example of his powers to control energy.
As Seleski (as Solar) and Bender went outside of reality, it gave Bender powers to control energy but in the process, the power made him insane.
Solar ended up taking away Bender’s powers and dropping the insane Bender in the middle of the desert.
In the first issue of “Secret Weapons”, the story continues with Bender crawling in the desert, driven to get his revenge on Solar and wanting to regain the power he once had, Seleski using his impeccable investigating techniques, finds a way to find the evil Master Darque.
Seleski is willing to do anything to destroy Solar so Darque takes away Bender’s humanity and turns him into Doctor Eclipse. And his entire body is made of the forces of Darque power and he can assume any desired form, which makes him even more dangerous.
And immediately, pays a visit to Seleski (Solar) and Gayle at their home. As Doctor Eclipse is pretending to be Seleski, he tries to go after Gayle but Solar is there to stop him. But to Solar’s surprise, Doctor Eclipse is very powerful and Solar is taken out. The Geomancer is able to sense all this and goes to Earth’s heroes for some help of stopping the new evil, Doctor Eclipse.
The first issue is pretty much an introductory storyline of how these super-powered individuals respond to the Geomancer and knowing there must be a huge threat if Solar had been taken out. And the only way to defeat this new foe is by teaming up with one another.
An entertaining storyline with a good start by writer/artist Joe St. Pierre Pierre. “Secret Weapons:” would last for 21 issues through 1995 until the company was sold to Acclaim Comics. Definitely a series worth checking out!