Sunday, November 18, 2018

The Roustabouts in: "Rule of the Ringmaster"



This is the third appearance of The Roustabouts on this blog.  They were last seen recruiting Deadman in STF #2010, and first appeared in STF #1810. The last time around, more than one commenter thought they should tangle with The Ringmaster, and I had to agree that it was a natural subject for a follow up - so here you go!

Nightwing and Nightcrawler previously tangled with The Ringmaster in STF #28...

18 comments:

  1. Good cover! It's nice to see this team again.

    Fun fact: the Ringmaster's father, who used the same alias and basically the same costume, was a Golden Age villain originally sent to the USA as a Nazi spy (by the Red Skull? haven't checked, but am fairly sure about this...) but defeated by Captain America.

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  2. Next time, the ring this team deals with could be the one in Middle Earth... Sauron is the true Ringmaster!!!

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  3. I would read this book over and over until it was nothing but tattered pages.

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  4. How can Ringmaster hypnotize Deadman? As a ghost, isn't he strictly the intellectual property of Rama Kushna?

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  5. @Cary: he's probably wearing that ring with the Cosmic Cube shard to enhance the nullatron's power.

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  6. @Anonymous: I don't see how. Wasn't that buried with Freedom Ring when Marvel killed him off?

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  7. In the STF Universe, anything is possible. For instance; the grave was probably robbed by Dead Ringer...who might even be using the shard's power to impersonate the Ringmaster!

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  8. I think Deadman is just faking it. There's no reason for Ringmaster to even know he is there. He will possess each of the others long enough to keep them from doing too much damage or to take each other out. He can't really possess Ghost Rider, but trying breaks the hypnotic hold, and soul-fire frees the rest of the team.

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  9. Obnoxio the Clown and Hooded Justice (from the Minutemen, of Watchmen fame) would make good members. Well maybe not Obnoxio lol

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  10. Missing The original Swordsmen here too, but otherwise, perfect line-up.

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  11. If Deadman was possessing someone (like Hawkeye), he could be under the spell until he was brought out of it. If nobody knew he was there, then he could really gum up the works.

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  12. I think Jay has the key to the story here. I'd certainly use it if I was writing it.

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  13. like to suggest something totally impossible: Dr Who, with Gary Hobson of Early Edition and Sam from Quantum Leap. Subject: they keep fixing time problems and as a result, have weakened the fabric of time itself. (Maybe with Rip Hunter & the DC LEGENDS of Tomorrow)

    By the way, no one on TV's Flash knows that this entire time line is just like Barry's Flashpoint.....1st season showed Eobard killing the actual Harrison Wells and stating that he was changing when the Star Labs machine was going to be activated by many years. The entire time line is unstable as a result of that.

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  14. I think I'm going to boycott this season. Introducing XS as Barry and Iris' grown-up daughter is going to the "Dystopian Alternate Future" trope-well once too often.

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  15. I hate to admit it. But, Anon is right. That's exactly why HEROES: TOS bit the weekly prime-time dust on NBC.

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  16. Next time add the original Batwoman Kathy Kane also a circus performer....

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