Sarge Steel #7 is dated January 1966. Once again Pat Masulli's creator credit is shown. The script is by reliable Joe Gill with lettering again by Jon D'Agostino. The big news here is that Dick Giordano returns for an issue on the artwork. The cover by Giordano is a version of the splash page with the figures of the two masterminds of P.O.W. included.
Part I of File #107 "The Day They Killed Sarge Steel" begins with that splash image. But the story begins in London where Peter Potter top British secret agent is attacked in his sports car by a grenade and killed. The scene shifts to Moscow where top Sovie agent Gorgie Fyankov is shot down while escorting a prisoner. The scene shifts again to a list held by a beautiful blonde woman named Roja who is holding a list called "POW Top Secret List of Elimination" with all the names on it crossed off save for Nicole Planchet of France and Sarge Steel of the U.S.A. She and her partner Eric Rinn run P.O.W. (Prosecutors Of the World) an organization of killers with the goal to blackmail the powers of the world and show their power by killing all the top espionage operatives. The scene shifts again to a helicopter pad where Bessie witnesses her boss Sarge Steel being gunned down. The news gets out Sarge was shot to death and pictures confirming that are taken and circulated. News also comes that Nicole Planchet has died mysteriously from a poison perfume. A man climbs the building holding Sarge's body to confirm his death, attempting to use the same gas that killed Planchet but Sarge jumps up and punches him in the gut causing him to inhale the deadly fumes. It's revealed that Sarge has been faking his death to give him free rein to chase down the P.O.W. killers.
"The Gift of Two Deaths" is a one-page text piece about a man named Koshinsky who dies but who has his body preserved untouched for three days by his wife since she believes he carries a family habit of reviving from his first death. This gift was given to the family as a reward by an old woman for saving a peasant child from drowning. The story makes a sensation in the media and after the three days the man revives.
Part II is titled "Live Bait in the Shark Tank!" and opens with Sarge getting a ride on a C.I.A. reconnaissance jet which is to take him to the Wetterhorn Valley. Sarge parachutes from a great height, lands safely and is immediately set upon by a Doberman Pincher who turns out to be a "paradog" belonging to Nicole Planchet who also faked her death to get at P.O.W. The trio jump the electrified fence and and use gas to get close to the headquarters. But they are caught and brought before Roja and Rinn where Sarge makes some insulting comments to Roja who is attracted to him. When she tries to scratch him, he uses that moment to throw her into Rinn and he and Planchet escape.
Part III is titled "The Murder School" and begins with Sarge and Nicole confronting a rifleman but Sarge stops him by using his steel fist to plug the barrel causing a backfire. Then the pair encounter several killers with knives and guns and fend them off. Sarge leaps through a window to the outside creating a distraction while Nicole plants an explosive. With only seconds to spare the pair leap off the cliff below the headquarters into the sea and a great explosion destroys the P.O.W. facility. After they get back to land Nicole gives Sarge a kiss to thank him on behalf of the whole human race. The last two scenes show Sarge in Washington DC and confronting his secretary Bessie who is quite upset to learn he has been alive all this time.
"Sport of Judo" is written and drawn by Frank McLaughlin and these three pages narrated by Sarge show how to use Judo, Karate, Hapkido, and Aikido techniques to battle multiple attackers.
This is a pretty good issue. One big change though is that Sarge's distinctive first-person narration is not used in this issue. That might be because of the ruse that he was supposed to be dead, but whatever the cause it really altered the tone of the story. The villains were a bit of a disappointment, as they were set up pretty well but there wasn't enough space to really devote to their demise. They seemed to get beat rather easily. But that's a minor criticism. They also didn't use the classic "The Case Of..." format for the title; that bugs the compulsive side of my character a wee bit.
More to come.
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