Starbolts #553: Lessons in Void Magic

 

 Hail!

    This week Sara and Crystal learn a bit more about the ins and outs of void magic. It's the third force that binds the universe together in harmony. The other two are of course primal magic and the Centurion force. They all work with and against each other creating a sort of "rock-paper-scissors" dynamic between them. It's hard to explain. But, the twins can now basically do anything and everything. It should come in handy.

    Now, though, it looks like their lessons will have to be put on hold since there's a bit of a snag. What are these voices that Crystal is hearing? Why are they asking the same thing over and over again. What do they mean by "Why does he touch me?" Are they referring to Marcus? I hope not. That could be bad news for our favorite speedster. 

   Next week we shall figure out what the voices are. If they're her spells trying to talk to her, then we might be in for some drama. Stay tuned!

 See ya next time! 

Starbolts #552: The Witching Hour

 Hail!

    This week Crystal found out the truth about her powers and in a couple of weeks she is going to find more than she bargained for. I won't spoil what happens. But, there is definitely more to the story of her powers manifesting themselves during moments of stress or trauma. It also turns out that Marcus has been very helpful in helping her deal with her trauma. More on that later, too. 

    Both Sara and Crystal seem to be taking the revelation in stride and in the coming weeks they will be exploring what it means to be void witches. Firaxil has a point. Now he and Crystal know who they are and the Arronfelds can't take that away from them. Very nice of course. =) What will they discover in the void? They'll be coming back changed, I can guarantee that. How? We shall see!

     Poor Crystal, though. She had to deal with some serious body image issues when she was growing up. She developed early thanks to the serum from her mother and puberty was kind to her. The adults in her life were less than kind as we'll see soon. Jed leering at her and Ruby calling her names did not help her. She couldn't help looking very attractive. Part of her hangups still linger in the form of confidence and sexual abuse didn't help either. It's no wonder she is still in therapy. Luckily, Marcus is there to help her and it has been helpful. Firaxil has also helped. Both women have had to deal with a lot and they will be coming out of this changed. 

    Her nightmares, though, are another issue that will be resolved in time. How, exactly remains to be seen. Seeing images of Cody in her head is never a good thing and Marcus plans on undoing everything he ever did to her. It'll take time, patience and understanding. We'll be seeing how that develops in future comics.

See ya next time!

Starbolts #551: That Old Void Magic

 

 

Hail!

    This week we begin a new storyline and it starts with a look into the backstory of Cecilia Rivera. You might remember her from a few stories ago where she was Sara and Crystal's primary caretaker when they were little.  See Starbolts #450 and Starbolts #451 for details. She was under the employ of Elizabeth King and was instrumental in saving Sara's life. Cecelia was then tossed into a mental hospital and was forgotten until Crystal and Sara freed her many years later. Now the truth is out. Cece was a witch all along!

    Everything makes sense now, right? She had no family. No one knew she was in the asylum and thanks to Zarantha her mind was zapped. This caused Cece to not remember who she was. Poor Cece. She lost her people. She lost her memories. Everything. We need to make it up to her!

    Don't worry. Sam and I will! The next few comics will have Sara and Crystal exploring what it means to be void witches. Next comic will actually have an in depth look at how void magic effected Crystal more than it effected her sister. Both will be changed for the better once this arc is done with! Trust me!

It's a shame Marcus and Crystal were interrupted in the shower. More on that next week. 

See ya next time!

Starbolts #550: More Than Machine

Hail!

     One storyline ends and another begins as we celebrate the comic's 550th issue! We start with Jack and Anya wrapping things up in Gronzy before heading back to Singapore for a much needed vacation. Seriously, they need one after dealing with Dimitri and Emil. Those baddies won't be seen again for quite some time. Especially since one of them is quite dead. However, we may be seeing Piotr and Natalia again some day.

  Now let's talk about Jack and Anya. Jack is a little broken due to the cybernetics in his body. Even after Aquita and the finest doctors enhanced him to the point where he is close to human as possible, he still has some issues. Something as simple as breaking a glass would mean more to a cyborg than it would for the rest of us. So, Anya is doing whatever it takes to make Jack feel human. The night was always going to end in romance anyway. The wine incident just kicked it into high gear. Now that's love. She wanted to show him he can't break her. It's a shame about that rug, though. It's just as well. It wasn't coming back with them anyway!

    Onto the next story! It looks like we finally find out who the void witch was and it looks like it was Cecilia all along. How is she a void witch? What's her story? We'll find out next week for sure. In case anyone is keeping track, this is now the fourth woman Zarantha has screwed. I think she has an issue with people with hair. I really do. 

See you next time as we delve into Cece's background! 

Starbolts #549: Destination Gronzy

 

 Hail!

    Whew! What could be worse than facing a genetically enhanced hulking monster that killed your grandparents? Jack found out firsthand that meeting your girlfriend's parents is always going to be the hardest think you ever do in your life. Jack has never done that before and this week he performed that task admirably. Sadly, he never had the chance with his first girlfriend, Scarlett. They were always "too busy". I wonder if they even know she's gone. That's a story for another time.

    This is a pivotal milestone in Jack and Anya's relationship and Starbolts #550 promises to take it even further. What'll happen? You will just have to wait and see. 

    As far as this comic goes, we got a look into the background of Anya Petrov. She was an orphan who lost her birth parents in an explosion in Kiev. She was raised by two former spies. Eagle-eyed readers should get the first names of the adoptive parents. I wasn't about to go with the stereotypical "Boris and Natasha" or even "Ivan". Their names come from the real names of two very awesome Russian superheroes, the Black Widow and Colossus. Even their character designs draw some inspiration from Piotr Rasputin and Natasha Romanov.I thought that was clever. =D

    All of the loose ends are wrapped up and now we're going to celebrate Anya's joining the ranks of the Starbolts in #550. After that we'll be getting a special Halloween-like storyline for Sara and Crystal. Stay tuned! 

See ya next time!

Starbolts #548: Mission: Moscow

 

 Hail!

    It certainly seems like Dimitri did not want to come home. What will await him now that he's back on the soil of "Mother Russia"? Nothing good, I wager. At first he will have what will no doubt be an excruciatingly long debriefing. Then he will be tried for his crimes of abandoning his post, assault and everything else. Once they get Jack's report, he will most likely be put in a gulag as he feared. We probably won't be seeing Dimitri for a very, VERY long time.

    The good news is that now Anya is free to be a Starbolt! Hang on a second, though! She wants Jack to meet her parents? That's not going to go the way he expected. More on that next week. Does she mean her literal parents or something else? We'll keep you guessing until next week. After that it's onto Starbolts #550. I can't believe we're there already! It seems like yesterday we were at Starbolts #500! Time flies when you're having fun!

 Enjoy the comic and we'll see ya next time!

Starbolts #547: Flight of the Eagle

 

Hail! 

    Well, this is an interesting turn of events. It looks like Jack has decided to finally embrace his heritage and become Iron Eagle after all. When he met his grandfather in Starbolts #504, he was adamant in refusing to pick up the shield. What happened? What changed? I'll explain why in future comics. Right now Dimitri has to be delivered to Moscow. It doesn't take a lot to imagine what his superiors are going to do to him. Suffice it to say Dimitri's debriefing will be quite unpleasant. At least the monster that killed the first Iron Eagle and Spitfire is dead and their spirits can rest easy knowing it can no longer threaten the world and their daughter, grandchildren and unborn great-grandchild.

    I'll also answer where the creature came from another time. We know that Terra Nova made the monster. Was he one of Clive's creations? No. He just likes to clone hot girls. That's just ten shades of creepy right there. Don't worry. He never did it for any form of gratification. He thought of Sara and Crystal as weapons. Nothing more. So, where did Emil come from? That'll be revealed in time. Do stay tuned for that!

    See ya next time!