Superboy (Volume 4) #77 is an issue of the series Superboy (Volume 4) with a cover date of August, 2000.
Synopsis for "...Into the Fire!"
Superboy is cornered by a patrol of Kossak's soldiers but manages to break away from them.
Back on Earth, at Project Cadmus, Guardian checks on the progress of Roxy Leech. Doc Angel has been able to stabilize her, though she can't cure her yet. Guardian questions Doc Angel about her relationship with Mickey Cannon but she doesn't say much. Rex Leech tries to explain his nature to Heat Wave, though the ex-con isn't interested in much of what Rex has to say. Doc Angel questions Rex about Roxy, but he can't tell her much except that she kept getting hotter and hotter. Guardian is called away to another part of the Project and takes Heat Wave with him. Tekka, the Gadget Guru's assistant, heads for his lab to find something of use, leaving Angel alone in her lab.
Guardian and Heat Wave find a squad of Cadmus troops murdered, clawed up with seared wounds. On the wall is the word "Rip Jak," and Guardian knows all to well what that means. Suddenly, an alarm goes off calling them back to Angel's lab, which is on fire. Heat Wave runs inside and activates the fire extinguishing system. Angel is no where around and on the wall is written the words "From Hell." Guardian tells Heat Wave that Scotland Yard sent them a blood sample that may have belonged to the real Jack the Ripper and he's sure that Dabney Donovon got a hold of it and made a clone. Tekka wants to focus on saving Roxy. Heat Wave points out that Ripjak raided the medical supplies and probably kidnapped Doc Angel because it needs medical attention. He and Guardian find a side passage and head into it which takes them down to the Project's geothermal reactors.
Down at the reactors Heat Wave confronts Guardian about the attitude he's been getting about being an excon. They don't have time to talk as Ripjak suddenly is upon them. Ripjak is a monster with seven inch claws that Guardian deduces is implanted with pyro-granulite which both accounts for his searing hot body temperature and the fact that he will explode in a fire ball soon. Guardian and Heat Wave find Doc Angel nearby, but Ripjak attacks them again. He grabs Guardian and begins to burn him. Of all people Heat Wave saves Guardian by throwing himself at Ripjak. Guardian recovers and knocks Ripjak into the magma below. He and Heat Wave reconcile (somewhat) as they lay badly burned on the floor; Doc Angel calls for a trauma team.
Tekka manages to stabilize Roxy by dosing her in water that's almost at boiling, though she and Doc Angel are totally in the dark about what caused her condition -- or how to fix it.
Back aboard his ship, Kossak the Slaver kills the slave warriors that failed to capture Superboy. Unbeknown to him, the kid is close at hand listening to every word and learns about the Pit, where Mickey was supposed to be taken. Kossak offers freedom to any slave that brings him Superboy, which means that all the slaves will be after him, not just the warriors.
Appearing in "...Into the Fire!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Dabney Donovan
- Kossak the Slaver
- Ripjak (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Gadget Guru
- Tekka
Locations:
- Kirby County
- Outer Space
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- It is not made clear if Donovon used the hair given to him by Etrigan during the Day of Judgment when he creates Ripjak.