Fallen Angels (1st series) #5

Issue Date: 
August 1987
Story Title: 
Lost And Found
Staff: 

Jo Duffy (writer), Joe Staton ( penciler), Val Mayerik (inker), Bill Oakley (letterer), Petra Scotese (colorist), Ann Nocenti (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief)
Created by Duffy & Gammill

Brief Description: 

In their clubhouse, the Fallen Angels curiously discover that their powers seem to act up, leading to a mess. As some clean up afterward, Ariel, Gomi and Warlock find some additional space for new members Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur. Order now restored, the Vanisher sends them all out to find food and money in order to earn their keep. Ariel and Chance do so together, discussing their mysterious plan along the way. When Ariel asks Chance if she has feelings for Roberto, Chance tries to prove she doesn’t by stealing a purse and then leaving Roberto in a very embarrassing situation. Meanwhile, Siryn and Madrox discuss what to do. The Angels may be petty criminals but they truly like them. Though they do not come to a conclusion, Madrox does realize that one of his dupes never returned… and it is nearby. Elsewhere, Boom-Boom and Gomi run into the other Madrox. They are soon joined by Siryn and Madrox prime, as well as Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur, who also went “foraging.” However, in the chaos of their reunion, Devil inadvertently steps on the lobster Don, killing him.

Full Summary: 

“Boom-Boom!” Jamie Madrox shouts, lying on the ground, as do the other Fallen Angels. Their headquarters looks somewhat devastated. What is she trying to do? Jamie asks, he was only asking for a small demonstration. She nearly blew the building down!

Boom-Boom is confused and apologizes. Amused, Siryn remarks that she was trying to impress Jamie and she thinks that’s just about what she’s done. Sunspot criticizes that Siryn is too kind to Boom-Boom. Her flirtation put them all at risk. Jamie tries to defend her.

Moon Boy (whom nobody understands) marvels at Boom-Boom’s power display. But what happened to displease her? Vanisher asks Chance what he’s saying. She can’t give him an exact translation, comes the reply, but it probably has something to do with how much better off the Fallen Angels would be if Boom-Boom would stop showing off and learned a little self-control.

Truly hurt, Boom-Boom insists it wasn’t her fault. She only set off a little timebomb because Jamie wanted to see it. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. But it was twice as powerful as she intended. Who is she lying to? Chance asks angrily. She’s been part of this team as long as Boom-Boom and she knows just how well Boom-Boom can control her powers. She makes those little energy pellets, gives a command and they go off when and how hard she says.

Well this one didn’t follow orders, Boom-Boom insists. And since when is Chance the big expert on superpowers, anyway? It’s not like she has any, like the rest of them!

Well, excuse her for not being a mutant, Chance snarls. She notices that when the famous mutant hunters X-Factor caught Boom-Boom, they didn’t kill her, so how come?

Siryn asks Jamie amused if he sees what’s come of his flirting with Boom-Boom. Jamie vows he did nothing to encourage that little menace.

Moon Boy addresses Bobby, asking why everyone is so dismayed. But poor Roberto of course doesn’t understand his language.

Meanwhile the two girls are still bitching at each other. Chance suggests X-Factor let Boom-Boom go because she made a deal with them, maybe she’s deliberately trying to kill other mutants. She threatens Boom-Boom with her knife.

Siryn intends to use some sonic vibration to make Chance drop the knife, but her attempt turns out too powerful and she shatters the weapon. Terry is surprised, the blast was far more powerful than she intended.

The Vanisher orders everyone to stop screwing up. This clubhouse is a pigsty, he tells them. In fact pigs would be ashamed to be seen in it, he wants someone to clean up all this rubble and debris.

Jamie volunteers. He asks Bobby to help him out with a small, sharp impact, but please in his human form. Bobby hits Jamie’s hand but nothing happens. Jamie observes that now his powers seem to be on the fritz. Bobby tries again with no result.

Disgusted, Chance calls Bobby a sissy and hits Jamie’s hand. Suddenly, there are four Jamies… from an impact that would usually only have produced two, Jamie observes. Chance tries again, but instead of six as expected, there are now ten Jamies.

Ariel, Gomi and Warlock look for a bigger place than their Club house what with all their added members. Ariel asks Gomi where Don and Bill are. Bill is surveying things from the vantage of a packing crate, he replies and Don is… There you are, he shouts a moment later and lifts up the blue lobster. How often have Bill and he warned him about not wandering underfoot where he could get stepped on?

Meanwhile, the others are cleaning up with Vanisher giving orders. When he hears a thud from the door, he fears the police or X-Factor are here. Siryn tells him not to vanish again. Whoever they are, if they want to make trouble, they are in for a fight. Instead, it’s the others, telling them about their find. Another room adjoined to their headquarters with a wall that can be winded upward or downward. Room enough even for Devil Dinosaur.

Moon Boy happily greets Devil Dinosaur and enthuses about the warm new cave their new comrades have found for Devil. Moon Boy urges Bobby to come see Devil’s fine new cave. While the dinosaur lies down to snooze, Madrox pulls his dupes together and feels a little dizzy for a moment.

The Vanisher suggests a little fresh city air. In fact, he thinks it’s about time all of them got out and earned their keep. Now he’s not saying that adding a Tyrannosaurus rex to the team was a bad idea. He’s sure he can be useful in all sorts of ways they haven’t thought about yet but, since they don’t know what he eats or how often he gets hungry, he thinks it ought to be everybody’s business to steal enough food, so that they never find out the hard way. Moon Boy, being not exactly Mr. Inconspicuous, is excused from foraging duty… and is to stay and keep his friend happy. But the rest of them split up in teams of two and get cracking.

Ariel suggests she work with Chance again and Chance announces she wouldn’t work with the rest of them losers anyway. Warlock and Sunspot predictably team up. Boom-Boom wants to accompany Madrox but Siryn most decidedly vetoes this, leaving Boom-Boom to be stuck with Gomi, a fact which makes neither of them happy.

Moon Boy wonders where the others are going. The cave is warm, but if they must stay for long alone in the company of him-who-lacks-hair-but yells-much-and-hides-often, he shall be sorry they ever left the Valley of the Flame.

Theresa asks Jamie if he is troubled that they are no closer to reaching their goal. They came there to find and bring home Bobby and Warlock. Jamie explains he attempted it and very nearly lost Bobby’s trust as a result. At least while they are in the Fallen Angels, they are helping the boys to stay out of trouble. And become petty thieves themselves in the process, Terry sighs.

He knows it’s wrong, Jamie agrees, but kids that age without anyone to care what becomes of them could get into so much worse kind of trouble. He can’t feel that badly about some of the little things they do wrong. Terry agrees. They seem so like family, it’s easy to forgive the group for its flaws.

Madrox holds his head and Terry asks how he is. She’s beginning to worry about those turns he’s been having. He too, Madrox replies. They are the one new thing in his life he hasn’t enjoyed lately.

Elsewhere, Ariel asks Chance what she thinks about Madrox’ idea that Chance might herself be some kind of latent mutant. He’s out of his mind, Chance scoffs. Everything she can do she taught herself. She’s not a freak! Anyway, he said the same thing about Ariel. That’s impossible, comes the reply. No one on her planet has mutated in so long… they don’t have a word for how many ages it’s been. That’s why she’s gathered the Fallen Angels together. Mutants are important.

So’s money, Chance announces. All she cares about is getting what she was promised in the end. Is Ariel sure that space bending trick of hers isn’t some kind of superpower? It’s a trick anyone can do, if they’ve got the right kind of hands and a good grounding in subjective physics, comes the reply. If she says so… Chance replies. She flunked basic algebra.

They notice a greengrocer, Chance says she knows him. He’s from the Glorification Church like her parents. Working for the reverend Park. She can always spot them. They make her sick!

Ariel greets him, pointing out what a lovely day it is and how nice his fruits are and how nice it makes a person feel to share. Surprisingly, the man offers them to help themselves to his wares for free.

Shortly, the girls see Roberto accompanied by Warlock (in the form of a very weird dog). Has she really not gotten fond of him? Ariel whispers. She’d hate for Chance to have a problem later. She’ll show her how fond she is of him, Chance replies.

She grabs a woman’s purse and runs over to Bobby and Warlock. Ever been in jail? she asks him. Well, they better run, Ariel suggests ‘cause there’s a first time for everything!

He follows them inside the building they run into and they end up in the Y.W.C.A. Chance recommends he enjoy the view and abandons him as the two girls are warped back home by Ariel.

Ariel laughs she doesn’t know who was more surprised: Bobby, Warlock or all those women? Vanisher has no idea what they are talking about but is content with the purse and the goods.

Moon Boy now understands that his new comrades went to forage and bring tribute to their chef. Obviously if he and Devil Dinosaur hope to remain they have to do the same. Moon Boy opens the garage door and off they go into the night without the others noticing.

Roberto tries to talk himself out of the situation against a crowd of enraged women. Bobby earnestly apologizes, stammering that a DaCosta always respects ladies and the girls agree that he seems to be too sweet to be a pervert. The mood changes, however, when Warlock corrects them that they are not perverts but mutants. Immediately, the women suggest they call X-Factor. Sunspot powers up and the two of them retreat quickly.

Elsewhere, Boom-Boom wants to blow something up, suggesting this could be a great diversion while they steal. Gomi finds this unnecessary, and neither of them has a power to help them get away should something go awry. She simply revels in destruction. She could sure revel in destroying him, she sulks. How come she always gets stuck with a total creep instead of…

That moment, she sees Madrox alone and addresses him, asking if he got lonely for her. Madrox completely ignores her, which ticks her off. She calls after him, shouting his name and he finally turns around. He doesn’t know what she is talking about, he assures her, but Boom-Boom points out he reacted to his name. Why is he wearing different clothes all of a sudden?

Leave me alone! Jamie shouts and runs across the street without looking. That moment, he collides with a cyclist. My poor darling, Boom-Boom coos and cradles his head, while Gomi tries to point out that there is hardly a more dangerous thing to do to an unconscious person than moving him about. Serve him right! the cyclist shouts, not looking where he was going. Gomi points out that Madrox was crossing at the corner with a green light while the driver operated his vehicle at excessive speed, in violation of the traffic signals and laws. The man begins to get nasty but, when the lobsters snap at his legs, he flees. Gomi turns back to Boom Boom, asking how their mysteriously wayward friend is doing. Jamie awakes to look at the returning Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur, who cross the street to reach them.

Elsewhere, Siryn asks what is wrong with Jamie. He’s better now, he explains and adds he now knows what these spells of weakness are. He has only felt this way before when one of his other selves has been away too long or has gotten hurt. He thinks not all of his selves may be returned. And he can tell by the intensity of what he just felt how close his other self is that they can be there in a minute.

Meanwhile, an angry Roberto (along with Warlock) has made it back to HQ, where the others tell him to hurry. Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy are gone!

Outside, the Madrox found by Boom Boom and Gomi slowly gets up (against Boom-Boom’s advice – he might have broken ribs), asking them to let him go.

That moment, Siryn and the other Madrox run into them. Where did they lose each other? he asks the newcomer Madrox. The day they got into town? That’s right, Madrox-2 admits. He decided not to rendezvous with the rest of them. He wanted a life of his own. If that’s so terrible.

Shouldn’t he let his main self be the judge of that? Theresa asks. Madrox-2 calls her sweetheart, and states he thought she loved him, at least she would understand. He doesn’t want to be a smothered part of a cookie cutter man anymore. Going back inside of him would be like dying now. He hoped she’d talk to the other Madrox for him.

She keeps forgetting any one of them is as real as any other, she admits. Really? Boom-Boom asks. The more, the merrier. If they merged, those broken ribs would hurt a lot less, Madrox-1offers. He can live with the pain, his double replies.

Boom-Boom suggests to Siryn they let them both stick around. That’s one for each of them. On the contrary, Gomi corrects her, since both Madroxes share the same feelings, it will be two for Siryn and none for Boom-Boom.

That moment, the others find them. Agitated, Bobby asks if they have seen Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur, while Boom-Boom is about get nasty to Gomi. Angrily, he tells her to watch where she puts her feet and picks up Bill. As he chides her, there is suddenly a crunching noise, as Devil Dinosaur has stepped on Don… with lethal results.

Characters Involved: 

Ariel, Boom Boom, Chance, Gomi, Multiple Man 1, Siryn, Sunspot, Vanisher, Warlock (all Fallen Angels)
Don & Bill (Gomi’s lobsters)
Moon Boy & Devil Dinosaur
Multiple Man 2
Grocer
Swimming ladies
cyclist

Written By: