Epilogue to Destruction (comic story)
Epilogue to Destruction was a six-page backup story of “Issue 5” of the Tales To Behold subseries of the webcomic The Cosmic Beholder. Written and drawn by Paul Hoppe, it was released both in webcomic form and in a limited print run.
Contents
Plot
Hero Hour covers the surprising appearance of the “New Protectors”, a “new” team replacing the Mighty Protectors who were killed by the Cosmic Solution. Rather than the Young Protectors finally “graduating” to replace their elders, however, this team inexplicably appears to be made up of the same heroes who were killed by the Solution — X-Y-Z-2, Americana, Cro-Man, Gargantuan and Herakles.
Meanwhile, Professor Madison, having sent most of the super-heroes away to “take some well-deserved time off”, is overseeing repairs to the areas of midtown New York that were damaged by the Cosmic Solution, with the help of automated Mechanoids as well as the Human Tree. However, the Commissioner gets a call and informs her that there is a problem on Times Square — namely, a small but dangerous rip in the universe that was caused by the cosmic destruction. They attempt to stuff it with concrete, but it instead swallows up the entire lorry. In the end, it is Rodney who solves the problem by suggesting that they carefully place a garbage-bin container atop the point of singularity, thus turning a safety hazard into an effective form of environmentally-friendly garbage disposal. The Commissioner is still worried and wants to place 24/7 police watch over the result, but is informed by one of his subordinates that they don't have the manpower for that, and gruffly settles for taping a stern warning not to climb inside the bin onto the container.
Madison is then pleasantly surprised when the heroes all return to help her with the rest of the clean-up.
Worldbuilding
Universes
- This story takes place entirely in Reality Z-25 31-H.
Other
- The rip is described as similar in effects to a very small black hole.
- Times Square is located in the middle of Manhattan.
Continuity
- The story serves as an epilogue to the events of COMIC: Journey Out Of Misery, showing the aftermath of the battle against the Cosmic Solution.
- Kate Kerrigan appears on Hero Hour. She was introduced in COMIC: Meanwhile, In Queens. Hero Hour itself was introduced in COMIC: Interview With A Superhero and appeared multiple times afterwards.
- The Odds decided to return to New York at the end of COMIC: Road Trip Of No Return.
Behind the scenes
Read online
Epilogue to Destruction is available online on the Cosmic Beholder blog.
