Golly, here's something you haven't seen in a while--an editorial on BobLayton.com actually written by me!

Before I get started, I truly want to express my appreciation to my pal David Michelinie for his three terrific articles on the Future Comics characters and our intended plans for their storylines.  If you haven't read them yet, be sure to check out the archives section of this web site.

Okay, on to our last Future Comics character: Peacekeeper.

"The Brahman Objective is a computer-generated blueprint that could lead the population of Earth into a utopian existence.  But in the wrong hands, it could be perverted into a plan to control the world's governments and economies.

The benevolent Peacekeepers have clandestinely existed for nearly forty years, slowly manipulating global events to conform to the Brahman Objective--until today!

Betrayed by one of their own, the Peacekeepers are all but eliminated. And from the ashes of an unthinkable holocaust, a single survivor rises: a reluctant hero obsessed with justice, retribution ...and retrieval of the Brahman Objective!"

That was the solicitation copy we used at Future Comics in 2003 to usher in the release of our fourth title, PEACEKEEPER.

ART BY PAT BRODERICK & TERRY AUSTIN

Many of our readers have asked how the introduction of this new and dynamic hero would have impacted the Future Comics Universe had we continued our publishing efforts. And that's exactly what I'm going to tell you. BUT......first, a little history on the creation of the character:

PEACEKEEPER could best be described as "The Lone Ranger meets James Bond (with just a touch of Star Wars)". Many of the details of the series were kept under wraps until its debut was scheduled for August of 2003.  David Michelinie and I wanted to bring something to the Future Comics Universe that had the same international feel as the James Bond flicks, since our other three series were set in very specific American locales. Both David and I decided to do something in the "Good Bond Movies" vein, but with the addition of next generation technology.

Most importantly, the thing that was to set the Peacekeeper apart from other characters in this genre was his morality, a quality that has been sorely lacking in many of today's comic book heroes. The Peacekeeper's character was to be governed and motivated by a strong sense of ethics and an overriding compassion for his fellow human beings. He was to be a man of vision and lofty ideals; a spy, yes, but one with a heart of gold to temper his nerves of steel.

Our first issue would have introduced Ian Justice, the last Peacekeeper, and established his methodology, personality and moral code. Most of his supporting cast would have also made their debuts: Reggie Weiss (a brilliant but smart-ass tech-head who would serve as Ian's "Q", providing him with necessary weapons and cutting-edge gadgets), Herbert Melbourne (Ian's chief intelligence contact, an info-sponge who absorbs and retains massive amounts of data) and Salt (the enigmatic but awesomely competent warrior/philosopher who trained Ian in all forms of combat). A key element of that story's plot would have been the curious assassination of a ground-breaking botanical research scientist, Holly Greenwood.

Ah, but much would have been explained in the story scheduled for issues #2 & 3, where we would have discovered that Arthur Rathrock (an amoral industrialist already introduced in METALLIX, and the man who had betrayed the Peacekeepers), had in essence reverse engineered the Brahman Objective's predictions to manipulate world events in order to gain ever greater personal power. And now he plans to sabotage the world's food supply with a chemical super-defoliant known as Red Reign!

ART BY PAT BRODERICK & TERRY AUSTIN

Using a fleet of modified French-made Mirage jets, he would succeed in destroying a considerable amount of crops around the world. The idea being that by throwing several key countries into agricultural chaos, he would leave them with no option but to feed their populations through surpluses controlled by his own subsidiary companies. (This, we discover, is why Arthur had Holly Greenwood murdered in issue #1; she'd recently developed a formula for accelerated plant growth, which could have provided an alternative for the beleaguered nations whose agricultures had been devastated.) Having availed himself of revolutionary hydroponics techniques "appropriated" by the former U.S.S.R's corrupt Minister Of Agriculture, Rathrock's plan was to set himself up as sole supplier of the world's groceries. Without competition, Earth would be forced to pay his price--or starve!

Against this background of intrigue, we had planned to establish several ongoing elements for the series. One was The Justice Group, Inc. This was to be an international law firm that Ian Justice operated as a cover for his activities as Peacekeeper. Through his business holdings, Ian would be able to accumulate a wide overview of political and humanitarian conflicts around the world--some of which would merit intervention by the Peacekeeper. But, since he couldn't be everywhere at once (and as a "free agent" couldn't exactly arrest people on his own), Ian would use The Justice Group to influence governments and organizations into detaining or imprisoning serious bad guys.

We were also going to introduce a recurring love interest for Ian: Ivana Kostikova, known in shadowy international circles as "The Housekeeper".  Ivana was to be an ex-KGB operative who had parlayed the skills she developed before the breakup of the Soviet Block into a profitable career. Ivana had basically morphed from secret agent into mop-up expert, much like a global version of Mr. Wolf from 'Pulp Fiction'.  She now cleans up messes left by groups engaged in covert operations around the world. She doesn't care who the client is--Rathrock, Red China, the U.S. Government or the Peacekeeper himself.  She's a mercenary, plain and simple, but she's also someone Ian finds attractive and repellent in equal parts. The idea was that Ian would keep trying to redeem her, only to have his efforts inevitably fail, or be rejected. Ivana sees nothing wrong with what she does for a living, as long as she never takes sides. They have sex, they talk, but she cleverly avoids divulging information that might be helpful to the Peacekeeper. Occasionally, she might spill the beans on a client if the fate of the entire world hung in the balance, as in the case of the Red Reign threat. But it would be a rare thing for her to cross the line of customer confidentiality. The bottom line would be that she's a professional, through and through.

ART BY PAT BRODERICK & TERRY AUSTIN

During the story in #2 and #3 we'd also planned to introduce a government agency that begins sifting through the ruins of the original Peacekeeper organization's bombed-out island facility in the Mediterranean Sea. They would begin to piece together the history of the organization and realize that it's been operating totally undetected for nearly 40 years.  Seeing the Peacekeepers as a possible global threat, we would have had this agency follow a trail that would eventually lead them directly to Ian Justice, and lead Ian into a conflict with his own country.

But, back to the plot itself: once the Red Reign situation came to the Peacekeeper's attention, he would have set out to discover where the deadly defoliant was being manufactured. Since Red Reign degraded after chemically interacting with other organisms, Ian would have to obtain an unused sample for Reggie Weiss to analyze. Herb Melborne would ultimately use his data-gathering skills to locate the point of origin for the sale and shipment of the Mirage aircraft. That purchasing trail would eventually have lead to a factory in Indonesia, where Peacekeeper would have had to battle a highly trained security force guarding the facility before succeeding in obtaining a vial of the Red Reign. (And destroying the manufacturing plant in the process, of course.)

It is at this point that we would have introduced "The Housekeeper".  Ivana would arrive to mop up and Ian would give her the third degree on who is behind the scourge of Red Reign. Shown the possibility of billions of people starving to death, Ivana would reluctantly hint at Rathrock's involvement (without saying it outright).

Rathrock, learning that Peacekeeper is hot on his trail, would move up his timetable for scorching the U.S.A.'s

breadbasket, while Reggie worked feverishly on creating a counter agent for the devastating Red Reign defoliant.

Issue #3 would have concluded with a spectacular aerial battle over the wheat fields of Kansas with the Peacekeeper, in his cutting edge Bird Of Prey attack jet, taking on a squadron of heavily armed Mirage fighters. At the last minute, Reggie's bacterial counteragent would be released into the clouds. Plants absorbing the new bio-creation would develop immunity to Red Reign, canceling its threat forever.

However, though the victory would seem won, Ian's Bird of Prey would have been shot up pretty badly, and would be increasingly difficult to control--while still under attack. Reggie would remind Ian of the Bird's X-Com engines, which have enough thrust to propel him out of the reach of the Mirage pursuers. Firing the X-coms, Ian would unfortunately black out from the tremendous G-forces BEFORE he could eject!

When Ian finally regained consciousness, he would have found himself in a shallow earth orbit, with computer diagnostics indicating that a total systems failure is imminent. At which point life support would cease, and the cold vacuum of space would claim the Peacekeeper.

ART BY PAT BRODERICK & TERRY AUSTIN

PEACEKEEPER #4 would have begun right where #3 left off, and would have been based on an article published in POPULAR SCIENCE back in 2003, where an insane French daredevil named Fortier actually planned to free fall from space.

Titled "Another Giant Leap," this story would have featured one of the longest single graphic sequences ever drawn in comics history as The Peacekeeper, trapped in orbit in a derelict craft, would have attempted a desperate free fall descent back to Earth.

What differs from the article is that Ian is already injured from the dogfight in the previous issue, and Reggie Weiss would have to improvise solutions to the horrendous conditions and dangers that are inherent with such a daring maneuver.

Since Ian's battle suit was constructed of the latest Demlon protective materials, the radiation belt wouldn't be a huge issue. (Although we were going to have him treated later on with a supply of his own replicated t-cells in order to counter any possible radiation damage his body may have experienced.)

The sequence was to have gone like this: Reggie puts Ian on pure oxygen to prevent him from getting the bends during re-entry. This procedure is necessary, but could place Peacekeeper in grave danger once he lands. He would have to be recovered quickly and de-pressurized for at least 7 hours; if Reggie and crew don't reach him within moments after landing, he's dead.

Detaching the cockpit module from the fuselage at precisely the right moment in the plane's rotation to send him towards the planet, Ian rides inside it through the first 100 miles of atmospheric re-entry, where he encounters tremendous external forces.

At 25 miles up, Ian ejects and relies on his jury-rigged internal oxygen supply to breathe in the void. Also, the temperature outside is a balmy 7 degrees Fahrenheit, so his extremities begin to freeze.

31 seconds into the free fall (at 110,000 feet), he's traveling at 670 mph and the greatest danger lies in losing control of the free fall.  If he begins to spin out of control the centrifugal force will liquefy his internal organs. Even a slight spin could affect the blood flow to his heart, and blacking-out (or cardiac arrest) is a looming danger. Ian almost succumbs in this stage, but Reggie figures out a way to stabilize him just in time. (A lack of equipment symmetry would contribute to the spin, so Ian has to jettison some protective gear in order to stabilize.) Reggie tells Ian to deploy his back-up drogue chute to stop the spin. This move stabilizes him but cuts his odds of survival in half. During the spin, Ian's small capillaries begin to explode, turning his eyes and cheeks red with bloody bruises.

ART BY RON LIM & BRAD D. NAULT

44 seconds into free fall (at 100,000 feet), Ian's Stealthsuit begins to heat up, although the outside temp is now 44 degrees below zero. The atmosphere begins to thicken at this stage and Peacekeeper's fall slows to sub-sonic speed. Ian goes from frostbite to boiling point as the heat build-up threatens to cook him in his own pressure suit.

Reggie tells Ian to pee in his suit to create some insulation, the urine acting as a coolant for his battered body.

At 40,000 feet, the battered Peacekeeper begins to depressurize the flight suit and enters the standard free fall position. However, he begins to suffer effects of the bends as atmosphere and gravity grab at his body.

At 20,000 feet, Ian slows to 150 miles per hour, but begins losing consciousness as the bends take their toll. He begins to shake and hallucinate.

ART BY RON LIM & BRAD D. NAULT

At this point, Ian's trainer and Mentor, Salt, lifts off in a transport plane with a pressure chamber on board, and attempts a mid-air capture of the falling Peacekeeper.

At 10,000 feet, Ian struggles to stay conscious long enough to deploy his main chute, but damage to the pack causes it to fail.

The final stage of the fall  involves Salt attempting to capture the unconscious Peacekeeper in mid-air, matching his aircraft with Ian's trajectory and finally reeling him into the hold of the cargo carrier, desperate to get Ian into the pressure chamber before his blood starts to fizz like a shaken can of Mountain Dew.

Whew!

The rest of the story was to be an aftermath, with Ian recovering from his devastating injuries in a private hospital. The big joke was to be that Justice's dive qualified him for the Guinness Book of Records--but no one would ever know it.

ART BY PAT BRODERICK & BOB LAYTON

Issue #5 was titled "Operation: Phantom Hand," in which one of Arthur Rathrock's many enterprises had developed a genetic alteration project utilizing a unique enzyme--one capable of regrowing lost limbs or spinal connections. What followed that discovery was to be a string of political and corporate assassinations whose evidence pointed to suspects who couldn't possibly have committed the crimes: multiple amputees and quadraplegics. After following the trail to an experimental hospital facility located in the South Pacific, the Peacekeeper would have been faced with stopping these genetically-altered agents before they could carry out their final objective--the simultaneous assassination of a dozen world leaders.

Unfortunately, that was about as far as we got with the character before Future finally shut down for good.

However, for those of you who might be interested in reading the Peacekeeper's first adventure, it's also available in the archive section of this site.

In the meantime--keep the peace,