Eleven-Month-Old Comics!: The May 24 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Dungeons & Dragons:  Saturday Morning Adventures #3:  Dana and Eric find themselves face to face with a beholder when the real Phaelona arrives and saves them.  She explains that the Phaelona they met told the truth - the real Phaelona has been stuck in the monastery - but neglected to mention that she (the fake Phaelona) threw her (the real Phaelona) in the dungeon after coming through one of the portals the real Phaelona summoned.  

With stirring speeches about how they've become a family since arriving in the Forgotten Realms, Eric and Dana awaken their friends from the spell fake Phaelona cast over them.  Eric realizes the fake Phaelona is after their weapons, prompting her to reveal herself as Venger!  

I don't remember why Venger wants their weapons, though, to my defense, I haven't seen the cartoon in 40 years.  But for a comic about a TV series aimed at kids Booher does a solid job keeping up the tension.  I do find myself wishing we could up the story's target age and get a more adult version of what the team's life is like in the Realms.  But for now I'm happy with what we have here.

Star Wars:  Darth Vader - Black, White, and Red #2:  Aaron's story improves here, as we learn that Cyn wants to destroy Vader (Cyn's father's crowing achievement) as punishment for the cybernetic implants to which his father subjected him.  Cyn has disabled Vader's motor functions though kept his neural receptors active so he can feel the pain of what Cyn and his allies are going to do to him.  But Vader uses the Force to take over Cyn's team, forcing the survivors (including Cyn) to flee outside the chopshop and regroup.  Honestly, I'm not going to feel too badly for Cyn when Vader eventually gets him.

Pepose's story is perhaps the best so far as Vader and his team of Stormtroopers arrive on the Endless Mercy to investigate a rumor that a former Tagge Corp. engineer, Dr. Sera Lemare, has engineered the perfect killing machine.  It turns out Lemare has turned herself and her team into Z'Rakkon hybrids and she now wants to do the same to Vader.  The "Alien" vibe is great as Vader fights off the possession and takes out Lemare, crashing the Endless Mercy into a nearby planet.

Ying's story is also solid, as a young child watches their bullies cower in fear when Vader comes to their village searching for a Rebel in hiding  The story is particularly effective in amping up the emotions, as the bullies don't just try to break the child's wagon but burn down their home when the child wasn't initially cowed.  When Vader arrives, the lead bully is shown sniveling and clinging to his mother, and the child realizes the bully was right when he said the only thing that matters is power.  It's grim but definitely a lesson kids in this galaxy probably learn.