Planetary #16 is an issue of the series Planetary (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 2003. It was published on August 27, 2003.
Synopsis for "Hark"
A woman kneels in quiet contemplation in a candlelit room. A grinning killer, Lo, appears in her doorway, telling her he has slain her entire school of martial arts students and that she, Hark Ah Lien, is next. All he requires is the secret of the "night's stars attack." Hark tells him she knows that if he lives, a great darkness will come over China, and that her school was created specifically to stop him -- to ensure that the sun would always come up. She then attacks, first with a swath of flame drawn from the candle, then with her own fighting skills. At the end, Lo receives the secret he craved, as the night stars consume him utterly.
In the present, Anna Hark concludes her tale to Elijah Snow, telling him "there will always be a Hark to ensure that the sun comes up." If her goal was to impress or intimidate Snow, it fails; Snow remarks that she need not fear him. He further reveals that he has information that she does not, concerning the death of her father and the disposition of her employee, James Wilder. But that she must give up her connections with The Four ("murderers, thieves, torturers, and betrayers"), and join with Planetary. Hark acknowledges their evil but claims she has used the association to do much good. However, Snow compares her approach to "crumbs, from a very rich table." He tells her he plans to remove The Four from the planet, and further, that he knows that Wilder's transformation was no accident….that Hark was hoping to create a superhuman. Hark acquiesces to Snow's demands, and asks to see Wilder. Snow calls in a transformed James Walker, who emerges out from a blue Shift-Door. Hark and Wilder shares a personal moment together as Snow smiles as they talk.
Appearing in "Hark"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Lo (Flashback only)
Other Characters:
- Hark Ah Lien (Flashback only)
Locations:
Notes
- This issue is collected in Planetary Vol. 3: Leaving the 20th Century.
See Also