Richard Howell

"The Cat Came Back!" Guest-starring Hellcat and Moondragon. After the remarkable events of Thunderbolts Annual 2000, Patsy Walker is back among the living! And during a television interview about her dramatic return, she runs into her old friend Hedy Wolfe! Hedy is glad to see her and quickly invites Patsy to visit their hometown of Centerville! However when Patsy arrives in town, she feels threatened by her surroundings. So the former Hellcat makes a call to her old friends at Avengers Mansion! The presumptuous Moondragon intercepts the call and relays it to the Thunderbolts too. And shortly thereafter a combination of heroes flies into Centerville ready for anything! But does that include a showdown with the Sons of the Serpent and Salem's Seven? Wow, Centerville has never seen a fight like this! Get the popcorn ready! Origin of Patsy Walker. Cameo appearance by Nicholas Scratch. Flashback cameos by Buzz Baxter, Daimon Hellstrom, Deathurge, and the Beast. Avengers/Thunderbolts Lineup: Captain America, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Songbird. (Notes: Hellcat appears next in the first issue of the Hellcat (2000) limited series. This annual includes a full-page ad for Lone Star Comics. This story was reprinted in 2007 in the hardcover: Avengers Assemble #4.)

Collects Avengers (1998-2004 3rd Series) #24-56, #1 and ANNUAL 2000-2001, Thunderbolts (1997-2012 Marvel) #42-44, Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet (2000), Maximum Security (2000) #1-3, and Avengers: The Ultron Imperative (2001). Fan-favorite creators Kurt Busiek and George Pérez craft a new era for Earth's Mightiest Heroes! The Avengers forge an uneasy alliance with the Thunderbolts to face Count Nefaria - but the true threat comes from the stars as Earth is declared a cosmic maximum-security prison for alien criminals! To save their planet, and contend with hordes of rampaging Hulks and the spawn of Ultron, the Avengers must rebuild their operation bigger and better than ever. But none of it will do any good when the time-spanning Kang the Conqueror wages war on the present day...and wins! Now, Captain America and a small band of rebels may be the world's only hope for freedom!

The true-life story of Playboy centerfold Suzie Owens serves as the source for the inspirational origin tale of Flaxen, America's newest super-glamour gal. From her "real" identity as a nurse lacking in looks and self-confidence through her transformation into the most powerful pinup in the nation, Flaxen is a woman of the nineties. Witness her incredible metamorphosis, not unlike the real-life tale of Suzie herself.

Demons! Vampires! Monsters! And in the middle of it all, one smart-mouth punk just trying to make a living. For Jonny Demon -- hellzoner, would-be sorcerer, and survival expert -- life means watching your back, keeping your blades sharp, and never going near the Returned Ones (the Ur-demons who destroyed civilization and ravaged the world). Unfortunately, his latest job, which he thought was a cushy bodyguarding gig delivering a beautiful heiress to Nashua, turns out to be a suicide mission aimed at blasting the Returned Ones out of their stronghold in the remains of Boston. Now, with the help of an alcoholic vampire and the enigmatic creature named Girl, he's got to do two things: Save the world, and live through it! This all-new series is a roller-coaster ride that combines the intrigue of Terry and the Pirates with the hyper-kinetic action of the Chinese Ghost Story films.

Trapped in the subways of Boston with the anti-demon revolutionaries who suckered him into a suicide mission against the Returned Ones, the Ur-demons who destroyed civilization and ravaged the world, Jonny Demon's got to find a way to face down an army of monsters and survive. His allies: An inexperienced sorceress; an alcoholic vampire; an undersized monkey-like whatsit; and a grim, gun-toting commando with the head of a Kodiak bear. Who says you can't get good help these days? It's action all the way in a monster brawl that never lets up -- but that still features rich, involving characters, intrigue, and more than a few cheap laughs.

In the explosive conclusion to "Hell on Earth," Jonny literally goes to Hell to stop the Storm of a Thousand Shadows! Kodiak Joe, Candleshoe the Vampire, and the anti-demon resistance fight a last-ditch battle against the demon sorceress Sharaka while Jonny battles to free a trapped soul -- if they fail it means the destruction of every human mind on earth. With salvation clutched in his hand and a humongous, soul-devouring Ur-demon breathing down his neck, the one thing he won't die from is boredom!