Secret Defenders #4: Hitting the Road(kill)

Secret Defenders #4
“Roadkill!”
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Andre Coates
Inker: Don Hudson
Letterer: Clem Robins
Colorist: John Kalisz
Editor: Mike Rockwitz
Group Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Released: April 13, 1993 - http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/comic.php?comicid=64772

After a break to jump back on the X of Claws train and check in on the highs and lows of Moon Knight, we're back to reading Secret Defenders – and just in time for Dr. Strange to make his return to theaters.

“Secret Defenders” #4 doesn't deal with any madness of the multiversal variety, but it is a pretty crazy story that pits Strange's new rotating Defenders cast against a truck-driving serial killer the Doc accidentally helped bring to life.

The issue opens on a dark and stormy night near Oklahoma City, when a weary trucker slams on his breaks to avoid a cat that, frankly, looks like it's already been run over. That's Splatt, the faithful feline companion of a hulking monstrosity who goes by the handle Roadkill. Roadkill asks the stunned truck driver if he's the one who killed him, then kills the man and takes his rig, magically transforming it into a flaming battering ram.

Tipped off to this and other murders by the Orb of Agamotto, Strange sets out to recruit a new team consisting of an unusually quippy Punisher, original Defender Namor's cousin Namorita and Sleepwalker, who is not as excited to see Strange as I was to see Sleepwalker on the cover of this issue.

Strange explains the situation and Punisher and Namorita sign up to help, with Namorita even guessing the killer will strike next in Amarillo, Texas, though she's not sure why. Sleepwalker says no thanks and declares he'll investigate on his own.

The other three are attempting to figure out their next move when news comes in of a series of murders along a highway near Amarillo. Hypnotized by Strange, Namorita figures out she was able to make the prediction because the killer seems to be following the path of Route 66 from the old song. While Punisher recalls that Gallup, New Mexico, is next in line, Namorita realizes the road and the name witnesses heard points to Roadkill, the host of a late-night horror anthology show on the Horror-TV network. His backstory is that he roams old Route 66 looking for the hit-and-run driver that sent him to the grave.

The trio goes to the channel's HQ in L.A. and burst in on a taping of the show. Punisher shoots Roadkill right on camera, but it turns out just to be an animatronic character. A furious producer threatens to make Strange pay for the costly prop/host, to which the erstwhile Sorcerer Supreme replies “Do you know who I am?” When the producer answers “no,” Strange responds with “Good” before he and his new teammates trash the studio and flee.

Strange reveals that the Roadkill they're hunting popped out of his TV a while back as he was battling the Fear Lords, which sounds like a DC Scarecrow tribute band. Since his magic somehow brought this being to pseudo-life, it doesn't seem to be working to stop him.

As the non-animatronic Roadkill murders one trucker and chases another, the Orb registers the mystical activity and the Secret Defenders intervene. But the Punisher's bullets and Namorita's brute strength barely slow the monster down, while Strange's magic is even less effective. Namorita is knocked out by a blow meant for the Punisher, and Roadkill makes his getaway.

It's a weird, wild ride. Roadkill's TV backstory is interesting even before you add in the fact that since he's fictional, he can't ever find the person he's seeking. The battle between Strange, Namorita, Punisher and Roadkill is pretty exciting and chaotic.

When I read this back in '93, I was disappointed that Sleepwalker exited so quickly. I'm not sure what sort of bee was in his bonnet over in his own book, though I probably had an idea when it was coming out. Namorita was cool since she was a member of the New Warriors, but I've never been much of a Punisher guy.

Maybe it's just because I wasn't reading Punisher and Strange in those days but they seem to be uncharacteristically sarcastic here. Strange's quip to the producer, and the subsequent trashing of the studio, seem out of place. But it is funny. And I would like to hear Jon Bernthal snarl “I don't believe in Dr. Strange” to Benedict Cumberbatch.

The letters page, entitled “Defense Lines,” finally starts up here, and multiple writers send in their suggestions for Secret Defenders lineups. The most eclectic to me and our Suggested Secret Defenders of the Week: Thor, Shadowcat, Venom and Pip the Troll (from David Scott of Boise, Idaho).