Issue Description

While Aztek tries to adjust to his new life in the city of Vanity, he's stalked by the assassin Death Doll, seeking vengeance for his part in the death of her husband, the crazed vigilante Bloodtype!

We find various costumed villains gathered for the funeral of Vanity City’s last hero Bloodtype. One woman on site is Death-Doll. Death-Doll tells one of the villains on-hand that she plans on killing Aztek for his murder of Bloodtype.

Aztek, on patrol, comes across a bunch of thugs robbing an old man. Aztek arrives to intervene, but the crooks convince him to pay them off rather than beat them up. The old man does not believe the situation. After Aztek pays them fifteen-hundred dollars, the crooks spray Aztek with some kind of mist, and run. The old man comments that Aztek must be new to Vanity. Aztek’s foray made him late for his date with nurse Joy Page. He makes it to Joy in time, and the two share a kiss before they begin their date.

Meanwhile, we find out that the old man is actually called Fixit, and specializes in equipping super-villians with technology. The mugging was a scam, which allowed Fixit to spray Aztek with a gas containing a Barium derivative that will allow Fixit to track him. Fixit is working with Death-Doll, and as outfitted Death-Doll with a teleporter capable of teleporting to Aztek’s location, wherever he is. We find out that Death-Doll was once married to Bloodtype, and the two were once heroes named Mr. America and Liberty Lass. Fixit outfits Death-Doll with weapons as well, and the total comes to $28.5 million. However, Death-Doll only gives him a $20.

On the date, Joy and Aztek, as Curt Falconer, run into their boss Julia Frostick. Frostick’s fiancé tells Julia that the person sitting with Joy is definitely not Curt Falconer. However, before there can be any confrontation, Death-Doll teleports into the restaurant prepared to kill Aztek. Curt quickly changes into Aztek, and confronts Death-Doll.

Aztek and Death-Doll wrestle, and Death-Doll’s brings them to the cemetery where Bloodtype is buried. The thugs from earlier in the night are waiting, but instead of helping Death-Doll like planned, they help Aztek since he gave them money. During the fight, Death-Doll’s teleporter wrist-braces short circuit, causing to teleport into Bloodtype’s statue.

Aztek: The Ultimate Man (1996)

Publisher

DC Comics

Volume Description

Aztek: The Ultimate Man was the brainchild of writers Mark Millar and Grant Morrison and artist N. Steven Harris. The ongoing series was designed to debut a new hero of the DC universe. The series followed the anti-hero Aztek; a hero whose big picture mission meant he took unusual solutions to solving the small problems. Aztek: The Ultimate Man featured an unusual city, unusual villains, and the supporting cast of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.
 
Throughout its run, Aztek: The Ultimate Man had counted Millar and Morrison as its writers, and Harris and Keith Champagne as its artists. Famous DC cover artist Steve Lightle lent his pen to the majority of covers of the series.
 
While Aztek: The Ultimate Man was a critical success (it was rated one of the top 10 books of 1996 by Wizard Magazine), it was not a commercial one, and Aztek: The Ultimate Man was cancelled after ten issues. With its cancellation imminent, Aztek creator Morrison brought Aztek into one of the other comics he penned at the time: JLA. The final issue of Aztek has the titular hero joining the Justice League.
 
Over the years, we would never go back to get a glimpse of Vanity City, and Aztek would eventually die at the end of Grant Morrison’s run on JLA, in issue #41. 
  Collections and Reprints The entire series is collected in the JLA Presents: Aztek: The Ultimate Man trade paperback (2008)

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