Icons: Issue #4 - The Midnight Men...Defeated!

Midnight Men #4

For those late to the party, these covers are done by our gaming group with Chris doing the pencil and ink for each issue.

This issue had the Midnight Men entering the desolate, hostile alien dimension in search of child prodigy, Malcolm Graybridge. Off in the distance there was a huge dark tower and we figured the action was there.

As we advanced, the sky began to darken and before us, floating 50 ft in the air is the Acolyte (super villain and chief lieutenant)  and six cultists, chanting. 

The Acolyte then looked at us and rejoiced, saying:

"Shigg’s time on Earth has come. Dirge is the harbinger of the apocalypse and the boy (Malcolm) will open the gateway!"

Big scrap follows and after a thorough trouncing the Acolyte and his crew's tongues are sticking out and their eyes are flashing "No Sale."

After some persuasion, the Acolyte reveals that August Pickman joined the Cult of Doom in a bid to jump up the ladder and become a magical power-broker; instead, when confronted with the direct force of Shigg, his mind was destroyed and replaced with Shigg's power, which has taken on the identity of “Dirge” and been imitating Pickman's human conduct and expanding his “St. Philip's Academy” business in order to harvest minds that can help to crack the barriers between this world and the Old Ones.

Dirge intends to sacrifice Malcolm Graybridge (who possesses near-mutant abilities to program and link with computer systems) to Shigg in order to “align the stars” and open the portal to permit Shigg to our dimension.

The Midnight Men make it to Dirge's dark tower but blocking our way to the entrance are these goons: 

War Bride, The Ultra-Mind (Brain in a Jar), Speed Demon, Troll

War bride: "We've been given power as overlords in the New Order, but the Midnight Men can also gain this title if you cease resisting and join Dirge's forces!"

Black Bolt: "And what of Malcolm Graybridge?!"

War Bride: "There are always sacrifices needed in order to bring about change; the world has seen far worse than one child sacrificed to remake the course of the natural order."

Snap! We lose it! The Midnight Men launched into a furious assault but alas, were no match against the these malfactors. It seems our Gamemaster learned his lesson well, back when Genocide got his ass kicked.                                                

The Midnight Men take a nasty beating and for the first time, our heroes lay on the ground...defeated. 

Will Dirge's plans to sacrifice Malcolm Graybridge and summon forth Shigg, to send humanity into a new dark age succeed? 

Stay Tuned!