Stealth #2 was a father-son conversation.

[thanekos]

It began after the end of #1, with Tony Barber in the hospital.

His doctor friend was looking him over: " What exactly did these kids hit you with?

" An alumnium bat? "





Tony headed to the hospital lobby, where he found his father gone.

He went back home to wait for him.

Later in the purple night, Stealth, the armored hero of Detroit, also returned home.

" I know you're there, Tony. The suit picked up your heartbeat before I even came in the window. "

" So, where have you been? What were you doing out there all night? "

" What was I doing? I was helping people, Tony. That's what this suit is for. "



" I don't want your apology, dad. I want to know where you got that suit. What is it?

" I want the whole story. "

Tony's father told him the story - back in 1979, he'd been part of the response to a three-alarm fire.

In a burning house, he'd heard someone crying for help in the basement.

He'd gone down - and seen something flickering in the water that'd flowed down there from the firefighters' hoses.

Then the house came down on him.

" Twelve hours later, I was found in an outlet near the Detroit River. The theory they came up with was that I found my way through a passageway under the house.

" A lot of homes around here have boltholes from bootlegging days, and they did find a partially collapsed tunnel under the house.

" Of course, I knew the truth.

" I hadn't gone through any tunnel.

" I'd gone somewhere else. "



" That's when I knew it was real. "

Tony's father'd taken the suit - a thing that unfolded, connected to the plug those Men In the Light'd put in his back, gave him amazing tools and capabilities - and done good with it.

" And.. you kept this secret all these years. From me. From Mom. "

" Your mom.. you know your mom wouldn't have understood. "



(That's the window Tony's dad came in through, in the background. The solid pink's the night.)



(The videos in the first panel are exactly the kind of content you'd see on video-sharing sites in superhero universes.)



The boss turned to face his subordinates.



(Pagecount's 6 and under 1/2 of 20.

Writing's Mike Costa, art's Nate Bellegarde, colors're Tamra Bonvillain, and letters're Sal Cipriano.

Publisher's Image, under their Skybound imprint.)

Comments

[sabertoothlotus]

I'm finding this really interesting. An aging hero, showing signs of mental degradation, as one might actually expect from someone that age who's spent a lifetime taking blows to the head. The fallout is clear, both publicly and with his son.
The son's reaction is understandable. I've watched people deal with their parent's early-onset Alzheimer's, and it isn't easy. They can become violent and dangerous, but you still love them and want to take care of and protect them. It totally sucks in the worst way when they're just normal people, but a superhero? Someone with power, and the ability to do great harm? IT could turn into a nightmare scenario.

As cliche as the delayed villain reveal can be, I think it's done well here. We get hints that there's something... unusual about this man. The single glove. The one dirty (burnt?) shirt cuff. He is clearly intelligent, and in a position of some criminal influence, as the dialogue implies without being explicit (showing, not telling!). Given that Two-Face is a thing, I can't say his appearance was particularly shocking, but it does raise some interesting questions.

Keep posting! I want to see what direction this story takes.