Issue Description

The Lizard King has hit Vanity, looking to exert his domination through a combination of science and magic...arts that come to him through his ties to Aztek's past!

When the issue opens, we find an older man hooked up to some machines, locked down on a gurney. A costumed person oversees the captured man. He explains that he needs the man’s help in replacing someone’s job in Vanity City. The costumed villain has kidnapped both the man and his daughter, and when the process is complete, she will be his “co-pilot.”

Meanwhile, Aztek is out finding a missing pet lizard. He finds the lizard, and returns it to its owner. However, its owner Mrs. Reichle has slit her wrists in the bathtub. Aztek brings her to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where he works under the alias Dr. Curt Falconer. Curt is approached by his supervisor, Julia Frostick, who has discovered he is not actually Curt Falconer. Julia gives him an ultimatum: he needs to supply either a full explanation or his resignation by the next morning.

While discussing his predicament with his friend Dr. Moseley, Curt is attacked by a hobbled-together robot, saying that the “ Lizard King” wants him dead. The Lizard King, the kidnapper from earlier in the issue, is using two eyes on a metal frame to guide the robot. Curt bashes through one of the hospital’s skyrise windows, and transforms to Aztek as she falls. Julia Frostick catches a glimpse of the transformation as he falls.

The Lizard King uses two sets of eyes to control two robots: a larger robot and a smaller one. The robots hover above the streets, fighting Aztek. The robots seem to know all about him: his secret identity, his powers, and his tactics. Aztek wins, though, and finds that the robots have pilots inside; pilots without eyes.

Aztek reports back to his mysterious bosses, reporting that this Lizard King used techniques only he and his teachers were familiar with. He believes that this Lizard King serves the shadow god, and that this was just a test. His bosses recognize the Lizard King as one of their best students. After talking with his bosses, Aztek gets a call from the Lizard King: he has taken Aztek’s “girlfriend” Joy Page captive and will torture her if they do not meet in one hour.

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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