This was a very metaphysical issue. Kent V Nelson, who has no idea what is happening to him, let alone how to control it, has finally come in contact with a person who's much more informed than he, Maddy. And she leads him on a little bit of a spirit quest. Well, first she has to cleanse his aura, so that he'll be more receptive to what's trying to get his attention. Most of the book goes like this - "To anyone with any sensitivity, it's obvious something has changed in the domain of magic, and the idiom is changing with it. The book I pulled for you proposes a programmatic paradigm for accessing the beyond . . . and the within. Your hat understands, even if you don't. It's aura is precisely attuned to the new universal vibe." After confronting his inner demons, she actually gets a little angry with him. "Do you know how many would-be witches, warlocks, chaos mages, neo-pagans, thelemists, shamans, and vodoun priests recited little spells today and didn't get results like yours? . . . . it must be thousands . . tens, maybe hundreds of thousands. I've never seen anybody transported quite that way before . . forget taking me along for the ride . . . I don't think you're that talented. I think it's your hat. . . . you're futzing with forces you don't begin to comprehend." So now what? Well his aura has been cleansed, and he's confronted his inner turmoil. So I guess the only thing that's ahead of him is his future . . . and next issue . . . Inza! In the backup story, Eclipso is still trying to influence people that are teetering on the edge of madness. She grabbed ahold of Eel O'brien last issue, and this time she's after Jack Ryder. When Batman interferes, she even thinks about pulling him in. But Crispus Allen comes along and throws a wrench in the whole thing. And now it seems like the Spectre has some kind of plans for him. He wants Crispus to do things that he's not allowed to. He has to follow the rules after all. But Crispus? Crispus can take a more "up-close" involvement in things. I'm not sure what the plans are yet, but I do know it has something to do with Bruce Gordon. Creatively, this issue was a home run. Steve Gerber and Matthew Sturges handle the scripts on the main story, and back-up, respectively. And the artwork was equally as phenomenal. Gene Ha turns in a stunning cover. Justiniano does the work on the title story, and Stephen Jorge Segovia turns in a real nice piece of work on the back-up story. There's a few panels in his effort that almost have a Jim Lee type feel to them. Very nice looking stuff. As I said, overall, this book was definitely a home run.
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