Mark Hazzard: MERC #4 - Video Review by 80s Comics

Back to 80s comics beaming into your brain from future year 1982. This is the review of Mark Hazzard Merc issue number four from 1987. It is an incredible comic filled with action, intrigue, and a whole lot of chain smoking, which is exactly what we would expect from Mark Hazzard. And you know what we expect from this, Mark. A one take wonder, which is good because I am running out of memory card right now.

What is the time. It is two o’clock and still G I Joe time because I did not take a new picture and you want to know why. Because this much action and excitement would destroy my future watch. The Apple Watch cannot handle the power of Mark Hazzard. Mark. But thankfully those of us watching 80s comics can because we are living in future year 1982 where the front of the book has Mark Hazzard holding up a Newsy and the back has a Gumby advertisement. It is a fun cover that grabs your attention. Let us take a closer look.

Hey, her shoes match her sweater. She coordinated. You can almost read the dialogue. She is all like no do not shoot. And he is like I am totally going to shoot. No do not shoot. I am going to shoot. No do not shoot. I am going to shoot. Look at my sweater. So this issue of Mark Hazzard is a bit slower than usual. But a slow day for Mark Hazzard is a pretty intense day for the rest of us. It starts off with some backstory. We learn about all the things that he has done, all of which are wrong. It is completely inappropriate and offensive by today’s standards because this is 1987. And the commissioner is pissed off at him, the politicians are pissed off at him, the police, the government, his friends, his lawyer, everybody is pissed off at Mark Hazzard. Except us. Because we understand.

We understand that it is tough being a badass. Even his dreams are pissed off at him. Look. His ex wife hates him. His ex wife’s new lover hates him, but obviously he hates him anyway. His kid hates him in his dreams. And even his enemy from Vietnam hates him. He is let out of jail. The terrorists hate him. But they do not prosecute him. He is bailed out because the government wants to use him as a spook. And I want to point out the art style here. I love the art style in Mark Hazzard. Alan Kupferberg does the layouts and Jack Fury does the finishes. It has a very classic old school 30s and 40s style with a bit of that 80s flair and a whole lot of testosterone fueled action and adrenaline. A very interesting art style for a Marvel book from this period.

Mark Hazzard is chain smoking the whole way through and it is his son. His son loves him and really looks up to his dad. Look, he is chain smoking right in front of him. That is easy for you to say Dad. Whenever you have a problem you just shoot somebody. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is also shooting people. So for Mark Hazzard, shooting people is just one hundred percent of the battle. Hey kids, remember what your friend Mark Hazzard says. Do not jump your BMX bike over the power line. Shoot the power line. And then shoot the people who made the power line. And then shoot anybody that the power line delivered power to.

The terrorists try to run him over with a bus. Also the terrorists are mad at him because he foiled their plot in the previous issue and caused a whole lot of collateral damage, including the one shot error which they referenced in the front where he rides a wrecking ball into a building. When is the last time you tried riding a wrecking ball into a building. This just proves that Mark Hazzard is the most badass thing on the planet after Robocop. Robocop does not even need the wrecking ball, that is how badass Robocop is.

So the action and excitement in this issue come in the form of the terrorists kidnapping Mark Hazzard and all of his friends and associates and his lawyer. Mark’s mercenary buddies help bail him out because they are just about as trigger happy as Mark Hazzard is. I love this part. How does Mark solve his problems. Not always by shooting someone. Occasionally he has to stomp on someone’s face and