"d" "Quite a Ferrus fan, aren't you, kid?" "For years." "It's my favorite." "The best." "That the real thing?" "Sure is." "Very first edition of Ferrus the Invincible," "Tales of the Undead." "A limited edition original signed by Jay Star himself." "I've never seen one like that." "I never..." "I don't know." "There's something about it." "I mean, just look at it." "Yup." "I'm real proud of that." "Only one of its kind in the world." "Nobody's ever seen one like that before." "I'd love to have that." "Yeah, I bet you would." "One of the all-time greats." "You know, Ferrus is the first comic" "I ever started collecting." "Yeah?" "How much is it?" "It's been conservatively appraised as priceless." "I'd kill for a comic like that." "You and every other comic book junkie in this town." "I think it'll bring at least, oh," "$25,000 at the auction." "Hey, listen, kid, we're having a contest." "Free comics for a year." "Why not take a shot?" "Could I win that?" "Not on your life." "But you might get lucky with one of the other titles." "Just put down the comic you'd like to win for a year." "Why?" "That's the only comic I want." "Well, suit yourself." "But I'm telling you, you ain't got no chance of getting that one." "Happy reading, and, uh, good luck in the contest." "Hey, Ryan." "How's it going?" "Yeah, I was getting worried." "Not like you to miss your weekly visit." "Oh, I got tied up at the store, Jack flew out to Singapore." "I got to run the whole place by myself." "You got my weekly fix back there?" "Hey, hey, what is it?" "That new partner of yours not carrying her weight?" "Oh, nah." "I mean, she tries." "I mean, what can you expect?" "She's..." "You know." "Yeah." "Gave you a little bit of everything." "Some old, some new, some borrowed." "Ah, there's a new Peerless in there." "Yeah, this one right here." "This is great." "You know, it really doesn't cost me anything to do it this way, you know?" "I just, uh, read them, then sell them at the store." "It's a great setup." "In fact, uh, I think I'm getting a free education out of this." "I should have at least a PhD in comic art." "Hey, you want to see something?" "Come here." "Hey, excuse me for a minute, kid." "Come here, take a look at this, huh?" "There it is." "What do you think?" "I don't believe it." "March 1947." "Volume one, issue one." "Tales of the Undead, the first introduction of Ferrus the Invincible." "You know that's my favorite." "What do you think I'm showing it to you for?" "I got it at an estate sale." "They had no idea what they had, but that's not the most important thing." "Take a look at who signed it." "Jay Star?" "Is that for real?" "Yeah, sure it is." "How much you want for it?" "Hey, I'm selling it at auction." "You know, the big one that Briggs is holding day after tomorrow." "Stay right here." "I'm gonna go home and bust open my piggy bank." "You got that much in your piggy bank?" "Man, I'm in the wrong business." "See you later." "Hey!" "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "Hey, damn it, punk, you leave that alone!" "Let go of me!" "I've got to have it!" "You just bought yourself a lot of trouble, punk." "All right, you want it hard?" "I'm calling the cops!" "So, what is it?" "Can you tell?" "Mm." "Part of his armor or something." "It's metal." "I don't know." "I wish Jack were here." "Mm." "Hell with..." "Ouch!" "Ooh, some tough guy you are." "You didn't see what hit me." "Mm-mm." "You don't believe me, do you?" "Come on, Ryan." "A comic book character beat you up." "I mean, maybe a guy in a suit..." "Look!" "I know how it sounds, but believe me, I also know how it felt." "It wasn't a costume." "It was Ferrus." "I have seen many strange things, but I am not going to believe that a comic book came to life." "Are you kidding?" "This is exactly how it happened in the story." "In the original issue of Ferrus, a kid gets a hold of this..." "Magic book which transforms him into this robot, and when he changes, the book is absorbed into his body." "So you think that this is life imitating art?" "We've seen stranger things happen around here." "Well, maybe in that case, it's in the manifest." "Micki, if there was a comic book in that manifest, one would think I would have noticed." "Maybe, maybe not." "Perhaps uncle Lewis didn't put it under comic." "You know, he could care less about that tripe..." "Excuse me." "Here's something right here... "magazine"." "That could be it." "Hmm." "Who'd he sell it to?" "Oh, gee, it doesn't really matter, does it?" "Charlie." "Charlie said he bought it from an estate sale, so, whoever bought it from uncle Lewis is dead." "Besides, I saw the guy who stole it from the store." "Well, perhaps it would help if we found out who uncle Lewis bought it from." "Here, a Jacob Staretzki." "Jacob?" "That's him!" "That's who?" "Jay Star..." "Jay..." "Jay Star changed his name from Jacob Staretzki when he created Ferrus." "Ferrus the Invincible is pretty much one of the most popular comics ever written, ever since it came out in 1947." "It, uh, built" "Peerless Comics single-handedly." "So, do you think this Jacob Staretzki's part of that?" "Jay Star?" "No, fat chance." "It's a pretty sad story, really." "See, he created Ferrus, then he wrote it for a few years, and then he completely disappeared." "He's supposed to have died in poverty, a broken man." "After everyone else made millions after..." "I don't know." "This date's pretty recent." "There's an address here, even." "Micki, why don't you go over to Charlie's?" "See what you can find out, talk to the cops and whoever, uh..." "I'm gonna go check out and see if this is Jay Star." "The Jay Star." "Hello?" "Anybody home?" "Hello!" "Go away." "We don't need any more reporters hounding us for the 40th anniversary." "I'm not a reporter, I'm a friend..." "A-a-a fan of Mr. Star's." "Well, Mr. Star doesn't need to see you." "Well, look, I just want..." "Mrs. Forbes, who's that?" "Ah, no one, just another salesman." "Uh, I'm a friend, sir." "Um, a..." "Well, a fan." "I-I-I-I've admired your work ever since the day you were Jacob Staretzki." "He must be a fan." "Let him in, Mrs. Forbes." "Don't mind Mrs. Forbes." "She's harmless." "Been taking care of me for years." "It's hard to find somebody to stay with a worn out old man." "A has-been like me." "Oh, no, Mr. Star, that's not true." "Yes, it is." "Don't try to fool an old man, boy." "I can't believe I'm sitting here with Jay Star." "Well, it's a name hardly revered in many places." "You don't know what your work meant to me." "You're the reason I started drawing." "Could..." "Could I get your autograph?" "Well, I'd be..." "I'd be happy to..." "If..." "If the arthritis doesn't get in the way." "You didn't come all the way out here just to get an autograph, hmm?" "This is the comic artist award for excellence." "For 1947." "That was for the first issue of Tales of the Undead." "The first appearance of Ferrus the Invincible." "That was supposed to be..." "My passport to fame and riches." "Ferrus was going to be..." "Mr. Star, do you know anyone so obsessed with Ferrus that he'd kill over it?" "Kill?" "Well, in the old days, maybe an editor or two." "Yeah, up until Peerless Comics." "They cheated him out of Ferrus, made millions on him, left him right out in the cold." "If I had the power..." "Mrs. Forbes, go make some tea." "She's right, though." "They stole, connived, wriggled their way to the top!" "The worms always know where the bodies are buried." "You remember that, boy." "They got everything?" "Except a few old issues, which I had to sell." "And some original art that was never published." "Censored scenes worth quite a lot to some people." "I keep them in the basement." "Insurance against a cold day." "I can't even get down there anymore." "Just as well." "Pains me to look at them." "Must have been some pretty wild scenes to get cut from Ferrus." "Wild?" "Ferrus." "Ferrus was nothing." "Nothing compared to some of the things I've seen." "Frogs falling from the skies, people bursting into flames." "It's a world of cruel miracles." "Nothing surprises me." "Could you stand another surprise?" "I'm an old man with a bad heart But try me." "Ferrus..." "He's come to life." "What are you saying, boy?" "I know this is gonna seem impossible, but one of the original issues got cursed and someone's been using it to turn themselves into Ferrus." "They even killed a guy named Charlie Evans downtown last night." "I know Charlie Evans." "Owns a comic book store." "One of the best collections in the city." "I've been in there several times." "He's dead?" "I'm afraid so." "And Ferrus..." "Killed him?" "Yeah." "I saw it." "I know this sounds crazy." "Crazy?" "I know what you mean, boy." "Mrs. Forbes." "Get me my coat." "Did I startle you?" "I'm so sorry." "We're not open for business." "Oh, yes, of course." "I heard..." "Terrible news." "Oh, do you mind if I..." "Sit for a moment?" "Well, I was..." "If you have to." "Can I get you anything?" "Oh, no, no, no, no, uh," "Uh, I'll be all right." "You go on about your business." "Look, Mr. Dimateo, you want publicity for Ferrus?" "I can give you something you won't believe." "No, no, nothing like that." "I can give you Ferrus himself." "The real thing." "Hello?" "Carmine Dimateo." "He and I go way back." "Shouldn't leave your door open, boy." "No telling who might walk in." "Jay Star's the name." "Jay Star." "Yeah?" "Well, anyone can say that." "You got proof?" "Will a prescription do?" "Oh, my gosh." "Um..." "Um..." "Please, uh, have a chair." "I can't believe you're here." "I'm, uh, I'm your greatest fan." "I seem to have quite a few these days." "I made Ferrus my life." "Me, too." "That's why I'm here." "You have something I want." "Something I need." "As a matter of fact, it was mine to begin with." "It was stolen from me." "It's mine." "I want that comic book." "No!" "No." "Please, Mr. Star." "Don't make me do something I don't want to do." "Don't threaten me, boy." "I want that comic." "It's not yours!" "You don't know what I went through for this." "Don't worry." "I'm not going to end up like Charlie." "Yes, yes, yes, boy." "I know all about it." "And I have the worst habit of talking." "Oh, I'm sorry you said that, Mr. Star." "I'm really sorry." "There's nothing like the humiliation of being laughed at by your idol." "What did you think was gonna happen?" "He was gonna thank you?" "Of all people, I thought Jay Star would at least believe in the possibility of the supernatural." "Why?" "'Cause he used to draw them?" "Now, how does that qualify him for believing in a comic character coming to life?" "That doesn't mean it didn't happen." "I was there, remember?" "I saw it." "You know, Ryan," "I really don't get this." "I mean, the artwork is poor, the stories are silly, and even if there is some semblance of logic in this Ferrus," "I mean, what's so special about it?" "Well..." "When you're a kid, the whole world doesn't make a whole lot of sense." "I mean, you're either too little or you're too young." "You're not treated as a human." "Everybody can kick you around any way they want to." "But then you pick up a comic book..." "And they got these heroes in there that nobody can kick around." "They just..." "Can do anything, you know?" "So, when you buy a comic, you read it." "And you're the hero." "Uh-uh." "Now maybe I missed something." "Let me try again." "Solid steel armor, invulnerable, super human strength." "My gosh, when we meet up with this character, he's gonna be one tough customer." "I think I found him." "Are you sure this was necessary?" "This guy just stole a comic." "He might've used it to turn into Ferrus." "And someone killed Ferrus the Invincible?" "Nothing." "Dead end." "Does the name Dimateo mean anything to you?" "Dimateo?" "Carmine Dimateo," "Publisher of Tales of the Undead." "Very big guy." "Well, his name was written on this notepad." "Fast food, long hours." "Some glamour job, huh?" "Now, I don't know what the kid wanted." "He didn't go into specifics." "As for nutty Ferrus fans, our readership is 1.3 million a month." "Where are you going to start?" "Well, Jay Star mentioned..." "Star?" "You talked to him?" "And I suppose he told you how my father cheated him out of everything but his shirt with Ferrus, huh?" "There are two sides to every story." "Now, Star sold his interest in Ferrus to my father in 1948 for a very handsome sum..." "A lot of money, even for today." "Then he lost it in a land swindle." "Typical of him." "More of his classic business sense." "You know what he tried to do 30 years ago?" "Kill Ferrus off." "I thought Ferrus couldn't be killed." "Oh, he came up with something." "Who remembers?" "Had Ferrus the Invincible killed." "Did the whole issue." "Of course, we didn't publish it." "The original pages..." "do you still have some...?" "No, I don't know where they are." "I couldn't care less." "We own the rights." "And just so long as we don't publish..." "And I can assure you we never will..." "Ferrus is safe and alive in the hearts of millions of fans." "What about the auction?" "Oh, yeah, sure." "That'd be a likely place for them if they're going to turn up anywhere." "At least somebody'll make a buck off them." "Well, thank you very much." "Sure." "d" "Hello, Carmine." "Who?" "Jay?" "You look like a well-groomed show dog." "Life been good?" "Yourself?" "Can't complain." "I meant to drop you a line when Mary, uh..." "Ah..." "That's water over the dam." "I'm here to stake a claim, Carmine," "A claim to what's..." "That..." "That picture." "Where did you get it?" "Oh, that?" "Well, I bought it a couple..." "The hell you bought it." "It's mine, it's from my basement, and I never sold it." "Now, Jay, Jay, uh, relax yourself." "You want it?" "It's yours." "You stole it." "Like everything else in my life." "Well..." "I'm going to get it all back." "Relax." "Don't get excited, remember your health." "I've learned a new trick, Carmine, one you can't steal." "Come on." "What the hell?" "I don't know, but it's getting away." "Police!" "Hold it right there!" "Get your hands up now!" "Get them up." "Now!" "Don't shoot." "It won't do any good." "It can't be." "Ferrus is indestructible." "Ryan, get your head out of the comic books." "This is the real world." "Now all we got to do is get back that comic book." "Okay, okay, let's call it in." "Get the shooting team out." "Come on, let's go before the police find us." "But he's invincible." "He can't be killed." "So what do we know about this Ferrus?" "He's super-strong." "Bulletproof." "Oh, yeah, can't forget that," "And we know he kills people." "Will you stop this?" "It's not going to do any good." "It helps me concentrate." "Look, we got to find him..." "him or that damned comic." "Great, so we find him, then what?" "He took about 20 rounds back there." "It slowed him down for what, 30 seconds?" "Yeah, well, it's better than sitting around here like this." "I mean, uh..." "There's got to be something we can do." "There is;" "I just haven't thought of it yet." "Give me a couple minutes." "You haven't got a couple of minutes." "We haven't got any time at all." "I mean, this thing is out there killing people." "You're the expert." "What can we do?" "I was thinking about what Carmine Dimateo said at his office." "You mean the thing about..." "The comic where Ferrus gets killed?" "Mm-hmm." "Yeah, but that's completely lost." "No one knows where it is." "What are we going to do..." "knock on doors?" "No, there's an easier way." "How?" "When you need water, go to the well." "What the hell does that mean?" "Go to the source." "Star?" "You again." "What do you want?" "Sorry to bother you again, but I have to talk to Mr. Star." "It's late, and he's getting ready for bed." "Please, please." "It's very important." "It will only take a little bit of his time." "I'm afraid that's out of the question." "Who is it?" "It's that young man who was here earlier." "Tell him to go away." "I can't see him now." "I saw Ferrus again!" "Let him in." "But just for a moment." "Do you think we could talk in private?" "That'll be all for now, Nancy." "As you wish." "Now..." "What is all this nonsense about Ferrus?" "I don't..." "I don't know how to tell you this, but Ferrus..." "There is no Ferrus!" "Ferrus was a figment of my imagination." "Do you understand?" "I made it all up!" "I saw him tonight, a couple of hours ago." "Probably some lunatic in a costume." "No!" "It's not." "It's really Ferrus." "I mean, if you could see the power..." "It-it's not human, and it's not a costume." "Well, I'm sure there must be some logical explanation to all of this." "Well, then explain to me how he gets shot down by a bunch of cops, and then gets up and walks away." "You saw him walk away?" "Well, I was in the alleyway outside of Peerless Comics." "I saw him come out." "Right after he killed Carmine Dimateo." "Killed?" "You saw him kill someone?" "So you told the police?" "What am I going to tell the police, I saw Ferrus?" "Look, I..." "You've got to help me." "No one else can." "So, what do you want from me?" "Well, I was told that you wrote an issue of Tales of the Undead where you killed off Ferrus." "That was a long time ago." "You must have some notes or-or sketches, or something about how to kill him, how we can bring down Ferrus." "If there ever was anything like that," "I threw it away a long time ago." "Well, maybe you can remember." "I mean, you created it." "I don't." "I don't." "I told you, I don't remember." "That was a long time ago." "Now if you will excuse me, it's getting late, and I'm extremely tired." "And your prattle about Ferrus is not only boring, it's damned irritating." "That's a waste of time." "He says he forgot." "Look, maybe he really doesn't want anybody to know the secret, or maybe he has forgotten." "At any rate, we can still check the auction gallery." "It might turn up." "Couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?" "You?" "You stupid old fool." "What did you do with it?" "I sold it... what the hell do you think I did with it?" "You sold the last issue of Tales of the Undead, the secret issue?" "Why not?" "You..." "Who did you sell it to?" "What difference does it make?" "Did you get a good price for it?" "Yeah, I must admit I did." "Your work brings in a chunk of cash." "It's worth a fortune," "Just sitting over there, gathering dust." "You've ruined everything." "You don't think I cared for you and stuck around here all these years because I loved you." "You didn't really think that, did you?" "No." "No, no, I..." "I guess not." "Where are you going?" "To pack." "You don't have to go if you don't want to." "What?" "Do you mean that?" "Who else am I going to find to take care of a crotchety old fool like me?" "I would like to know who you sold it to, though." "Well, it was a dealer named Ted Hailey." "He said he bought it for the auction." "Well, I hope he gets a good price for it." "I..." "I am sorry." "I never kept any of it for myself, you know?" "Mm-hmm." "No..." "No, please don't do this." "I didn't mean it!" "Uh, be sure to put the latest works over there." "Uh, I'm sorry, sir, the auction isn't until tomorrow." "Oh." "Is, uh, this everything?" "No, no, there's still a few, uh, items outstanding." "We're looking for one in particular." "Which one's that?" "Mr. Star's unpublished folio, the one where he kills off Ferrus." "Oh, yes." "You're a fan?" "Yeah." "Uh, that hasn't come in yet." "Oh, it should be here, uh, any minute." "But it is on the list?" "Yes, indeed it is." "And I expect it to raise the highest price of any item here." "It's just that the owner hasn't brought it in yet." "I expect he's waiting till the last minute to have it delivered." "Do you know who the owner is?" "I'm afraid that information is confidential." "No, no, no, hang it over there." "Bingo." "What do we do if he won't let us see it?" "We appeal to his better nature." "Offer him money." "You got it." "Nice to know there's some things in life you can still count on." "Ryan, that car over there." "Something's..." "So?" "Somebody's making out, leave them alone." "I don't think so." "Something doesn't seem right." "Oh, my god." "Ted Hailey." "See if it's here." "Check out the comics." "I don't see any sign of Tales of the Undead." "Some of it's covered with blood, but..." "What's wrong?" "It's Star's." "Pills for his heart." "He's going to burn it." "Yeah, and if he does, we'll never find out how to destroy Ferrus." "Who is it?" "Mr. Star, it's Micki Foster." "I'm a friend of Ryan's." "He was here earlier?" "Go away." "I'm busy." "Please, Mr. Star." "I've got something to show you." "What do you want?" "Now what do you want?" "No, no, leave it alone." "It's mine." "Don't you touch it." "It was my creation, and they stole it from me, and what gid I get for it?" "Nothing." "I'm telling you, you get back there." "Your..." "No!" "No!" "Don't touch that!" "Don't touch it!" "You break into my house." "You steal my revenge." "They owe me." "They stole Ferrus from me." "Award." "Tell me, boy," "How does it feel to be a hero?" "Ryan, uh, have you got number 17?" "In there." "I just want to see what happens." "There's a comic arts festival at the art gallery end of next month." "I've had enough of comics for a while, okay?" "Fine." "If that's the way you want it." "You want to leave me alone?" "Look, if it makes any difference," "I'm sorry about what happened." "Yeah." "Micki!" "I saw it in a comic book." "I cut it out." "You know, when I was a kid, he was all I ever really wanted to be." "I didn't want to be a hero." "I just wanted to be an artist." "I used to copy his drawings." "Did I ever show you any of my drawings?" "What, is this a line?" "Want to come upstairs and see my etchings?" "No, I'm much more sophisticated than that." "Oh, right." "No, really." "Besides," "I-I..." "I never understood what was so great about etchings." "Now, a number one Spider-Man..." "That's something."