Dazzler #41 (1986)
by Archie Goodwin & Paul Chadwick
The cover looks like Dazzler fighting a fusion between Two-Face and Clayface, but this actually a GREAT villain.
Archie Goodwin really, REALLY wanted to do something big with the stunt Dazzler pulled in the Graphic Novel: this is already the second time it’s the catalyst for the whole story.
Remember the mutant bikers from the previous issue? Apparently, before the Beyonder interrupted the story, their powers had been awakened by Dazzler’s stunt.
This is being narrated to one of the bikers by the big bad of the story, Dust.
Who with his partner Silence is running a camp that is supposed to help people recover from various traumas, but it’s actually part of their supervillain plan.
So let’s get into the origin story of Dust and Silence, because it’s fantastic.
They used to be super-scientists during the earlier years of the Cold War, who experimented with psychedelic drugs to give themselves superpowers. And this being the Marvel Universe, it actually worked.
The drugs had the slight side effect of killing the users, but Dust and Silence figured out “unpleasant ways” to use their powers to survive. We’ll soon see those are pretty disturbing.
Dust and Silence are delightfully creepy in their pursuit of new test subjects: since they’re out of the original drug, they lure the offspring of the surviving subjects. So I guess the drug wasn’t 100% fatal.
Also: is LSD seriously passed to one’s children? I can’t tell if it’s true, I don’t know anything about mind-altering drugs; I review Dazzler comics so my mind is already screwed up as it is.
At this point you might be wondering: WTF does this have to do with Dazzler?
Apparently ultraviolet light stabilizes the effects of the drug, and by unleashing a MASSIVE lightshow in the Graphic Novel she unwillingly unlocked the abilities in several descendants of the original test subjects, including the bikers.
Remember when I said the way they survive is pretty disturbing? Dust’s power is to dissolve into dust that gets absorbed by a host body, controlling it from within until eventually burns down the host into a skeleton!!!
These guys are AWESOME. Dust has been hopping from host body to host body for decades, while Silence manages to fight off the decay by sheer willpower.
They’re also surprisingly complex. They’re completely amoral considering they don’t care in the slightest how many people they murder, but at the same time they seem to genuinely love each other and they’re even concerned about mutant hysteria.
Silence has another power, which is kind of hard to describe but she can basically turn your brains into mush.
Silence has been sending out a telepathic call towards everyone who could fall within her control, which reaches a Dazzler stalker who will become important next issue.
During all this, Dazzler is beating up some random bikers to find a lead on who sent people to capture her.
This is despite the fact she’s SUPPOSED to be a captive of the bounty hunter O.Z.Chase, who up to this point has basically been completely irrelevant.
The cigar-eating wolf is driving me nuts. WHAT ARE YOU!?
The person who hired O.Z.Chase turns out to be Dazzler’s father, who we haven’t seen in a while.
Not only that, but remember that the reason O.Z.Chase was sent after her was that she jumped bail? Apparently everything was a forgery.
Nice detail on the coloring: Dazzler is shown shining uncontrollably, presumably because she’s so overjoyed at seeing her father again that she’s not controlling her powers. Good stuff.
That sounds like a happy ending, right? Dazzler reunited with her father after clearing her name.
Except, once O.Z.Chase breaks into her father’s room… he finds a decomposed corpse!!!
Yes, in a shockingly good twist, this is not exactly her father: it’s Dust possessing his body!
Not only that, but DAZZLER NOTICED.
Who are you and what have you done with the idiot that used to star in this series!?
Dust sends one of his subjects to fight Dazzler, which is kind of a problem because the more she uses her light the more he unlocks his telekinetic powers.
When did this series become AWESOME?!?!
God bless you, Archie Goodwin. You actually managed to make Dazzler unquestionably badass.
This is a very dramatic showdown. Dust needs Dazzler’s light to stop decaying her father’s body; but if she DOES give him her light, than he’ll permanently take over.
When this series started, did you EVER believe you’ll eventually get invested into Dazzler’s relationship with her father?
Dust is the best. Give me this creepy, manipulative guy over the overhyped Shadow King any day.
And then Chase BLOWS HIS BRAINS OFF.
Dazzler has been complaining about Chase’s smoking in basically every scene they shared. In the hands of a lesser writer, that would’ve been a character quirk run into the ground.
But with Goodwin? IT WAS A PLOT POINT.
This is, for all intents and purposes, the death of Dazzler’s father. But Dust has one last threat to unleash.
And so we end with the cliffhanger that will lead into the series finale: Dazzler versus Silence.
Dazzler significance: 8/10
The death of Dazzler’s father, who was a very significant character for nearly half the series.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Despite the roots in the Cold War, between the gruesome powers of Dust and the cult vibes of his entire operation… definitely no.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
This has no business being as good as it is. The only possible fault is that it feels a bit rushed at times, leading me to believe they knew the series would end in the following issue.
Having said that… Dust and Silence are fantastic, Dazzler is both badass and she finally grew a brain, the moral conflict is great, and even O.Z.Chase manages to play a role!
Chadwick’s art was always a highlight of this run, but this is even a step up over the previous issues with several minor touches.
Why couldn’t the rest of the series be like this!?