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| Publisher |
DC Vertigo |
| Writer |
Peter Milligan |
| Penciler |
Chris Bachalo |
| Inker |
Mark Pennington |
| Colorist |
Daniel Vozzo |
| Letterer |
Todd Klein |
| Cover Artist |
Brendan McCarthy |
| Published | August 1990 |
The first leg of Shade's journey through the Mental States of America draws him into the heart of the nation's darkest mysteries as it asks the question, "Who killed JFK?"The story opens with a splash page of the back of JFK's head after he was shot and a narrative is told of the symbolism JFK represents and how America's very self has been trickling out of it for the past three decades. But he had to be assassinated so that he could become a symbol, all the stuff he had done, with his murder he would forever remain young, a martyr, the dawn of a new age for the nation.We then see these words are being typed out by a disorderly middle-aged man, Duane Trilby, who begins conversing with the giant portrait of John Kennedy that adorns the wall of his office. Surprisingly the picture replies saying, "Who killed me? Who killed J.F.K.?" Duane replies that the answer is complicated when suddenly the face is joined by a giant hand that emerges from the wall, grabs hold of Duane and pulls him in, telling him that he killed JFK. So Duane finds himself in a chaotic vision where he is Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby fires a round into him.Suddenly he snaps back into "reality", but the obsession with the assassinated President does not leave him no matter how hard he tries to stop thinking about it. Now, when he asks the poster who he is, it tells him it is Duane but "without the chains of reason and consensus reality". He is the American Scream and he's come to liberate the dreams of America.Back on a road in who knows where, Kathy drives the car with Shade in the passenger into a horizon that looks wrong, the madness they suspect. Both of them seem to be adjusting to this new journey ahead of them with Shade almost as much in the dark as Kathy, his memories slowly drifting back to himself about what his purpose was.All he knows is he's supposed to follow the madness and stop it. But the two of them come to a screeching halt at the sign of cops when Kathy says in his current host...
