Beware The Heroes Of... The Dream Dome!

 

It's September of 1976, and here's how things were shaping up in the Marvel Universe:

• The incredible Hulk, once again on the sub-atomic world of Jarella, was finally dishing out some hurt on Psyklop when this agent of the Dark Gods faced the brute mano a... uh, whatever you'd call Psyklop;
  
• The Fantastic Four, along with the High Evolutionary, were compelled to search the galaxy for a world which would willingly give itself over to the hunger of Galactus in place of the devourer's first choice, Counter-Earth (and if you were among those readers anticipating a battle between the Evolutionary and Galactus, well...);
  
• Iron Man is trying to get the Controller under control;
  
• Thor investigates the possibility that the missing Odin is in the dimension of Death;
  
• The Avengers finally settle on their new lineup, only to have the walking-dead Wonder Man crash the public announcement;
  
• The new X-Men, their title still being published bimonthly, are in the midst of battling their way out of Steven Lang's Project Armageddon;
  
• The amazing Spider-Man is running for his life from his more amazing Spider-mobile, which has no driver at the wheel (a fate that probably awaits some of us from today's self-driving cars, folks);
  
• Captain America and the Falcon are trying to solve the mystery of Jack Kirby's Night People; and, last but not least...
  
• Dr. Strange faces a new enemy in Stygyro, while his disciple Clea is seduced by Ben Franklin. (Come on, you may say "ewwww!" and insist you won't click that link, but we both know otherwise.)

Meanwhile, Amazing Adventures, with its "War Of The Worlds" adaptation, is one issue away from cancellation--which is usually the time when Marvel pulls out all the stops in an effort to benefit from a sales spike before the axe falls.

Whether this tale might have been an inventory story is a fair question, under the circumstances, though you would think a bimonthly title would have adequate leeway to make its deadline. That said, it's a diverting and provocative enough story, produced by "guest" writer Bill Mantlo and "guest" artist Keith Giffen (in addition to, you "gues"sed it, "guest" inker Al Milgrom) who have Killraven, de facto leader of his Martian resistance group, breaking off from his ensemble cast to investigate a potential trap lying in wait for himself and his comrades. But trap or not, it definitely takes Killraven by surprise--and in one sense, he is indeed being watched.

The phenomenon, however, halts at the doorway he rushes through at the end of the causeway, which takes him inside the dome itself--at which point an audio-taped "tour guide" informs him that he is in the Miami Museum of Cultural Development, the "voice of tomorrow" guiding him past displays of prior decades and toward the "Man In Space" exhibit. However, now linked to the mysterious figure who has been monitoring his progress, Killraven mentally "stops" instead at one decade in particular, as his dreams and those of the dome's resident "dreamer" begin to coalesce beyond the latter's control.

From here, the various images of figures from Earth's past which greet Killraven, though recognizable to the reader, have been twisted in both appearance and intent--a nightmare for the dreamer who naturally remembers them much differently, and to Killraven a mad mixture of confusing and unpredictable figures who finally spur him to action when they viciously turn on him, to the shock and consternation of the one who strains to regain some measure of control. "How can a sleeper wake the living?" he wonders.

Whatever is going on here, it's certainly a visual feast for any Giffen fan, and not far removed for any reader expecting the work of regular artist Craig Russell--while Mantlo is more than capable of investing a fill-in story with a plot which is satisfactorily consistent with a book's character(s) and overall theme. With the chaos we've seen thus far, however, it remains to be seen whether he can justify the meshing of both past and future here and deliver an ending that gives reasonable credence to what we're witnessing.

Finally, Killraven is rescued by the figure calling himself Iron Man, the one who had hurled him into this mad scenario and who unfortunately continues to show little sign of reason or sanity. But the dreamer has at least been able to use the projection to guide Killraven's movements to his own chamber, where Killraven's frustration reaches its limit and has him lashing out at one last figure who also appears to be part of the dream--but is, instead, our helmeted dreamer, awakened by the forceful impact of Killraven's fist.

And at last, Killraven learns what is behind all of this, and why and how he became a part of it. But what happens now?

Mantlo's ending for our "astronaut," though sufficient to end the story, seems unclear as far as the fate of this man. Presumably, certain equipment has been destroyed that will prevent further projection of these dreams of his--while Killraven has unseated him, which has until now kept him awake enough to dream on a conscious level, if that makes sense.  If those conclusions are accurate (though frankly it's mostly conjecture on my part), it seems like a lot of dots to connect, only to leave questions yet lingering. The other conclusion to draw is that Killraven has instead slain the dreamer in order to prevent others from being subjected to the same danger. It would be consistent with the character of Killraven, a man who has no compunction against killing to end a threat, potential or otherwise--though resulting in a hasty and rather convenient end to Mantlo's story.