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    American Flagg! #2

    American Flagg! » American Flagg! #2 - Hard Times, Part 2: Jukebox Saturday Night! released by First on November 1, 1983.

    Short summary describing this issue.

    Hard Times, Part 2: Jukebox Saturday Night! last edited by KillerZ on 09/06/22 11:13AM View full history

    The date is Saturday, October 18, 2031. Plexus Ranger Reuben Flagg's plan to avert the weekly gogang rampage by jamming the broadcast signal of the subliminal-loaded "Bob Violence" program was successful. To celebrate, Gretchen Holstrom throws an impromptu celebration at her Love Canal franchise. In attendance are Flagg's superior, Hilton Krieger, Krieger's daughter Mandy, and Chicago Mayor C. K. Blitz. The three depart sometime after midnight. As they leave, Blitz asks Krieger if Flagg shouldn't get some sleep, alluding to some assignment in the morning. Krieger, feeling vindictive toward Flagg for making him look foolish regarding the averted rampage, replies that he hasn't yet told his deputy. Mandy, witnessing Flagg's making out with Gretchen also expresses her disgust toward him.

    Just before six a.m., Flagg and a very inebriated Gretchen retire to her quarters to get intimate. However, she quickly passes out. Somewhat relieved, Flagg returns to his room, looking forward to a few hours of sleep. But no sooner does he get under the covers than Krieger rings in on the video phone to tell Flagg he "forgot" to mention the morning's assignment: bodyguard duty for Blitz at a wedding.

    Later, Flagg drives the Mayor's armored limousine toward town on the roadway called "Warpath One", often the site of combat between policlubs. As they barrel through a firefight, Blitz asks Flagg what he knows about basketball, which, like other professional sports, has been outlawed. Suddenly, the vehicle is bumped by another limo, which Blitz identifies as belonging to a political rival. Angered, he takes the wheel and forces the other car off the road, causing it to crash and explode.

    After the ceremony, they attend the reception. While Blitz excuses himself to tend to "private business" with the bride's mother, the bride's sister introduces herself to Flagg. She invites him into the ladies' room for a tryst, but before they get far, a gunfight breaks out. Flagg learns the assailants are orthodox Hassidics who violently oppose interfaith marriage. After firing several rounds, he launches a barrage of "snowballs" which put the combatants to sleep. Then he, Blitz and the bride and groom rush from the scene in the Mayor's limo, heading back to the Plex Mall.

    The newlyweds thank Flagg for the assist as they depart for their honeymoon. Blitz then introduces him to Brazilian ambassador Ernesto Klein-Hernandez, who is awaiting the arrival of the head of Brazil-based Fourth World Industries, Ester de la Cristo. She is accompanied by Crystal "C. G." Marakova, her pilot, and John Scheiskopf, who introduces himself as a gem merchant. Blitz excuses Flagg for the night. Flagg and Crystal walk off, chatting, when he is suddenly accosted by a woman who apparently knows Cyril, the gogang leader Flagg had arrested. She swings at Flagg with "buzz-knucks", knocking him across the atrium and out cold.

    Crystal rushes toward him, and his prone form is passed by Klein-Hernandez and de la Cristo who discuss matters of land sales, with the latter enthusiastically gushing that she expects to own the United States within a year's time. Crystal reaches Flagg as he begins to recover, and she tells him he was struck by the Mayor's daughter, Medea. The pair are then approached by Mandy and Scheiskopf, who shows off samples of his "Soviet Jewelry", which Flagg finds tasteless.

    Days later, Flagg and Krieger respond to a call from a farming complex that has been infiltrated by two animal mutilators. They arrive to assist the local Rangers, pinning down the intruders, who are threatening to set off napalm charges in the dry field. Flagg launches a round of Nachtmachers, which blot out all the light. Wearing infrared goggles, he then creeps up behind them, but one of the pair hears him and tries to surrender. The other, referring to him as "brother", calls him a coward and shoots him in the head. Flagg decks the shooter, unwittingly cracking a cyanide tooth. When the darkness wears off, Flagg and the other Rangers see the dead assailants are a teen-aged girl and her younger brother. The girl has the letters "ASLC" tattooed across her face.

    That evening, Flagg has Crystal over for dinner. After supper, they retire to his bedroom but are soon interrupted by a call from Raul, the talking cat who serves as Krieger's companion. Raul delivers the news that Krieger has been murdered.

    The pair rush to the Mall, and as they approach the building, they are nearly hit by Cyril and Medea, speeding away on a motorcycle. Reaching the Ranger's apartment, they find Blitz and Mandy outside the door. They enter the grisly crime scene. Raul fills them in, explaining there is no sign of forced entry and pointing out a tuft of hair gripped in Krieger's fist. Flagg recognizes the scent on the hairs as the same one he smelled on Medea during their brief encounter. Painfully, Blitz orders his daughter's arrest.

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    American Flagg - the Future as Seen in the 1980s. 0

    In the second issue of American Flagg!, Rueben is tasked with safeguarding the mayor.  There's a lot I like about Chaykin's American Flagg!, it's definitely different. An all-American red-white-and-blue hero that's Jewish was for its time (and probably still is) a bit of a novelty. Chaykin's writing is fun and fast paced once you get the hang of his style. And, it's great to see heroes with semi-normal concerns like what time they're going to get off work. On the other hand, it's incredibly heav...

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