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Peacekeeper #2 Unpublished Art by Pat Broderick & Bob Layton

This month, I’m presenting the first, four pages of the unpublished Future Comics series-- Peacekeeper #2. 

As most of my readers know, we had to close Future Comics before we could launch the Peacekeeper series.  However, the first issue of the globe-hopping crusader had been totally completed and you can still locate that entire episode in the archives of this website.  We had begun work on the second issue when we halted publication and the four, completed pages of the second issue went into storage.  Although I usually don’t present art by other creators on this feature, I thought it would be cool to show you this, since it was written and inked by yours truly.

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The Peacekeepers were a body of philanthropists from the worlds of business, science and politics who had seen the “writing on the wall” when it comes to the future of our way of life.  The world was heading in a fatal direction—a course that had to be altered by any means possible.  These are not megalomaniacs-- but concerned humanitarians who chose to secretly use their power and influence to change the course of human history for the better. Not every influential businessman in the world is Kenneth Lay.  Once in a while--there’s an Armand Hammer. And…the chances are—he was a Peacekeeper.

Ian Justice is one of those rarities in today’s society--a Good Man.

His name truly represents what is mission is.

He became a lawyer because he truly wanted to help people. This is the same reason why he accepts the offer of a position in the Peacekeeper organization by its founder, Raymond Soong.  Ian sees their benevolent cause as a way to fulfill his own calling to fight injustice and oppression on a planetary scale.

When the Peacekeeper organization is betrayed and destroyed, the brilliant lawyer in the business suit is forced into the role of “a man of action”. Justice is the quintessential reluctant adventurer.

Justice must struggle to learn the skills of combat from the only other survivor of the Peacekeeper organization—a mysterious Samoan known only as Snow.  This taciturn tutor’s very presence acts as a living conscience—reminding Ian of their shared, tragic past and the sacred oath he swore to his dying mentor and—Raymond Soong to sustain the dream of his fallen comrades.

Ian isn’t a natural fighter—making him prone to frequent, and sometimes life-threatening, mistakes.

Inheriting Soong’s vast personal fortune, Justice uses the resource to remain true to the Peacekeepers’ lofty ideals while still being effective as a deterrent to global threats of domination.

To this end, Ian forms The Justice Group, Inc.  This is the international law firm that Ian operates as a cover for his activities as the Peacekeeper--with thousands of highly-capable employees and considerable influence throughout the globe. Through the Justice Group, Ian fights the good fight –defending companies against corrupt unions—or refugees against unsympathetic bureaucracies—or struggling democracies against hostile regimes. And like a diplomatic government, Ian will exhaust every available legal avenue before resorting to other methods.

 Through The Justice Group, Ian learns of many different happenings all around the world—some of which cannot be resolved through legal channels and requires clandestine intervention by the Peacekeeper.  The Peacekeeper can’t exactly arrest people, but Ian Justice can use his influences with certain governments to detain or imprison serious bad guys.

Justice is a highly moral character, with genuine compassion for his fellow man. The oath he swore, to uphold The Peacekeepers’ dream and bring Rathrock to justice, is something he doesn’t take lightly. He can be charming, witty and endearing, but any hopes for personal peace inevitably ring hollow.

He knows that his obligation to the human race must come first.

PEACEKEEPER #2 PLOT OUTLINE

Bob Layton 7/16/03

Page One/Prologue:

We open with Ian (in a sleek, custom, convertible sports car) being chased thru the streets of Rome by automatic wielding goons on super-fast, sleek Yamahas (with mounted machine guns). Traffic is disastrously gridlocked but the chase doesn’t slow down. (We’ll choreograph some fun stuff here—ala “The Italian Job”)  Ian has recovered an art treasure stolen from a fence for an Al Qaeda-like group of baddies.  They intended to sell it to fund their terrorist activities, but a quick tip from Sydney Melborne put Ian between them and their ill gotten gains.

Pages Two-Four:

Eventually, the chase culminates at a cul-de-sac ---with no escape route visible for Ian.

With a flip of a dash switch, the trunk and engine hood pops off the vehicle-- converting the craft into one of an X-Hawk Hovercar. (We actually see the car last issue in Reggie’s lab on that new page 11. Now it has been adapted to a traditional vehicle.)

The massive rotor fans engage, but one of the goons leaps from his cycle onto the hovercraft as it begins to lift off the pavement and heads up towards the skyline of Roma. Ian and the Arab goon are struggling, causing the car to careen and bump between the buildings.