Slam Taylor, a former CIA operative and football star turned bounty hunter, and Nina Rocks, a “black ops” agent, wait in a typical midtown bar for their suave and snarky compatriot, Nigel Black, a master thief from Australia, to join them.   Meanwhile, their adversary, Khartas Hyde is about to unleash his “Brain Bomb” which physically disfigures victims of its blast, as well as turns them into Hyde’s mind slaves.   Hyde, a despot with an ugly sense of humor, also heads the A.O.D. – Agents of Destruction, and they’re on the hunt for Nina and Slam.

Self-publisher Brian Apodaca returns with a new comic book series, FIRE NEVER FORGETS.   He once again teams up with artist Arturo Morales, with whom Apodaca collaborated on the early 2005 comic book, Reunion.   At 12 pages, it’s a bit hard to get a bead on FNF’s concept, but so far it seems as if Fire Never Forgets is going to be an espionage story with a comic flair and filtered through the eccentricities of good old comic book weirdness.

Apodaca’s story and script are bare bones and straight to the point, which is good.   He puts most, if not all his cards on the table for the reader.   Morales’ art is still rough and amateurish – even primitive (think Spain Rodriguez circa early Trashman), but he understands page layout and building panel content.   He can tell a story better than some artists much, much more skilled than him.   Fire Never Forgets is really a mini-comic, but with widescreen ambitions.   Readers who like the rawness of homegrown comics may like Fire Never Forgets, a new kind of Underground spy comix.

Copies are available for sale from Brian Apodaca.   He can be reached at reunioncomics@yahoo.com

The beginnings of Reunion Comics’ website is up at www.reunioncomics.com