Artist – Howard Purcell
Inker – Sheldon Moldoff

Once again, Captain X makes an appearance in the book, and given his close ties to Dane, being his father and all, it is understandable why. This time, he is battling a new foe called the Gamester. A silly name by all accounts, but a deadly foe who looks to put the hurt on the sea captain to discern the location of the Magnetic Warp. The Gamestar needs this information so that he can reclaim his youth and, following that, take his frustrations out on the world. Thankfully, Captain X is just a wee bit smarter than the villain, but the Gamester has more than one card up his sleeve and means to use Dane against the Captain. To make things even more complicated, the Manfish has returned as well, and he is looking for a little companionship. Luckily for him, Judy and Dane are having relationship problems as he has been far too preoccupied with Captain X, among other things. Dane blows it off, but it makes it easier for Manfish to hypnotize Judy due to her current emotional state, and the two of them head off in search of Captain X so that Manfish might finally find a cure for his condition. Suffice it to say, there is a lot of action going on in this book. There are so many characters that it is a wonder that only one issue was needed to tell this tale. As the writer is unknown, one wonders if there is an endgame for Captain X and Manfish, as the two have taken up quite a bit of real estate in the pages of this title, with little advancement made on their story. They come and go, and the two men essentially do the same thing over and over. While it is not such a bad thing, as it has been entertaining, there needs to be more at some point. When is Manfish going to persevere? When is Captain X going to be cured, or even, when are the two going to eliminate each other? There are a million questions surrounding the two, but such as it is, they battle it out one more time in this issue with the added elements of The Gamester, who is quite wily himself, Judy, Dane and the rest of the team. It all makes for a fun time, and while readers are likely to see most of these players return, it is doubtful that The Gamester will come back, as he does not seem to have the same amount of staying power as the rest. The artwork by Howard Purcell and Sheldon Moldoff is as good as ever and continues to be a highlight of the book, despite some of the stories being a little mediocre. All in all, this issue was enjoyable, enough so for readers to want more in the next one.

3 out of 5