Writer – Bill Mantlo
Artist – Frank Robbins
Inker – Frank Springer
Colours – Janice Cohen
Letters – Joe Rosen

Seabase is under attack and those that reside within find it incredible that such a thing is even happening as it is supposed to be top secret. Mark Harris and Elizabeth Merrill are shaken but all they can do is ride it out and discover just who it is that is attacking them. Mark takes off, determined to find out what is happening and as he reaches the service, he sees a giant red ship up in the sky, larger than the many fighter jets coming to their rescue and it does not seem like it can be stopped. As it is, it fires one more shot that lands directly at Mark’s feet before it finally takes off, a canister of film that shows the villain to be none other than Lars Skorba. Having escaped prison, Skorba is looking to make his mark and he will destroy Seabase unless Mark agrees to serve him and given what just happened, Mark does just that. Bill Mantlo and Frank Robbins circle back to where it all began in a way, bringing back a villain who was able to give the hero of this book a run for his money and yet now, he seems even more able to enact whatever threats he makes with nobody being able to stop him. The only person who might come close to doing so is Mark himself but with a shock collar on which dehydrates him afterwards, there is no way that he will be able to do anything but serve the man called Skorba. As the book moves towards its conclusion, it sees Mark try to get to the water he needs so badly to stay alive and yet when he finally makes it to the exit, he receives quite the shock. This was a fun story overall with a fairly quick pace to it, faster than previous tales in this series which is a good thing in most respects but as it is left on a cliffhanger, one hopes that they will be able to keep reading without waiting for the next issue. With Mark so incapacitated, one does have to wonder if Elizabeth will be the one to save the day when everything is said and done and should Mantlo and company decide to go that way, it would make for an interesting change of pace. As it is, this book made for an enjoyable time and it should be very intriguing to see just where it goes after this.

3.5 out of 5