I had escaped the war. Or so I thought. For I'd just discovered... the war didn't end... it's just begun. 
First Wave #1 is an issue of the series First Wave (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 2010.
Synopsis for "First Wave: Book One"
In a South American jungle, a man named William Littlejohn is running away. Five years ago he was a soldier, but the war led him to try and escape himself. He made discoveries, people and places both dead and presumed dead. All of which led him to be running through the jungle being chase by a massive mechanical man with a penchant for torture. However, a lucky break and a mysterious new friend allow him to escape.
In New York, three men are waiting in a cemetery. They are her to help their friend pay his last respects to his father. However, the press has turned out, since their friend is the famous crime-fighter, Doc Savage. A reporter named Jay Denton hits a bit too close to home, but Doc mostly ignores the press. Doc looks at his father's gravestone, and muses that his father died of something the coroner had never seen before. He decides to honor his father's greatest gift to him, his scientific mind, by finding out exactly what killed his father.
In Central City, Commissioner Dolan wakes up the Spirit. Dolan has been given quite a lot of money to ignore a group of men who aren't worth nearly as much to the authorities. He asks the Spirit to investigate.
That night, Jay Denton's column, "Insight", is read by people all over New York including commuters and cops, working-class fathers and master criminals. Denton stayed on to see Doc Savage's friends file the paperwork to have the body of Doc's father exhumed for examination. This causes some small consternation to Doc's friends, who were convinced they were being stealthy. However, they are due some more consternation: the grave of Clark Savage, Sr. does not contain the body of Clark Savage, Sr. Instead, it contains sandbags, each marked with a bloody red hand-print, and filled with gold.
On a bench in Coney Island, an unkempt man named Sunlight ponders the world. He knows about Doc Savage, and about William Littlejohn. He is not worried about either.
In South America, Anton Colossi wants to find Littlejohn. He is told by the chief of a local tribe that Littlejohn was handed over to "the soul of the jungle". In a rage, Colossi cuts the chief's throat and commands his elite fighters, the Red Hand, to kill the entire village.
In Central City, the Spirit has arrived late due to a dud wristwatch. However, he sees the speeding truck, and with no thought for himself, runs after it and hides in the back. There, he finds a corpse, and deduces that this is the reason the police were bought off. When the two drivers arrive, the Spirit knocks them out in a fight, only to discover that the body was about to be handed over to the elite non-national fighter squadron known as the Blackhawks...
Appearing in "First Wave: Book One"
Featured Characters:
- William Littlejohn (First appearance)
- Doc Savage
- The Spirit (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Rima the Jungle Girl (First appearance)
- Commissioner Dolan (First appearance)
- Doc Savage's Crew:
- "Monk" Mayfair
- "Ham" Brooks
- "Long Tom" Roberts
Villains:
- John Sunlight
- Valeriy
- Anton Colossi
- Ferrios the Mechanical Man
- Cordoba
Other Characters:
- The Blackhawks (First appearance)
- Henry Biggs
- Wu Cheng
- Jenny Cloud
- Ant Manson
- Jay Denton (reporter)
Locations:
- Marble Cemetery
- Empire State Building
- Coney Island
- Central City
- Wildwood Cemetery
- The Stockyards
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- On the cover is a tombstone which reads; "Here lies the mortal remains of the once famous career of J.G. Jones."
See Also
Links and References
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