- I'm sorry if my presence dampens your ardor, darling, but this is horrifically important.
- — Patrick
Extremist #2 is an issue of the series Extremist (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1993.
Synopsis for "June, Nineteen Ninety-Three"
June 1st
Patrick sends Jack Tanner to execute a reporter who had infiltrated the Order. Donning the leather-clad guise of the Extremist, Jack breaks into the man's home and stabs him with a sword. He then sets the place on fire and returns to his private apartment. After putting away his costume and weaponry, he then goes to the home that he shares with his wife, Judy. Judy and Jack step out for dinner, but afterward, Jack leaves to meet up with Patrick.
Patrick tells him that he must now kill the girlfriend of the reporter he had slain earlier that evening. Jack doesn't like the idea, and Patrick admonishes his attitude, accusing him of not being "extreme enough" to be the Extremist. Jack decides to prove Patrick wrong and goes inside to kill the woman. Patrick encourages his efforts and congratulates him after the deed is done. There is still one pressing problem however – Jack's wife. Patrick tells him that in order to fully accept the lifestyle of the Order, he must leave Judy. Jack responds by punching him in the face. To show that there are no hard feelings, Patrick gives Jack a bottle of wine.
Jack takes the bottle home and Judy and he spend the evening getting inebriated. After consuming all of the alcohol, they make love. Jack gets up and goes into the bathroom. When he returns to the bedroom however, he finds that Patrick has sneaked into their home and is now lying in bed fondling Judy. Jack is either too drunk or too ashamed to take action and he falls to his knees and forces himself to watch. Judy, partially asleep, never realizes that the man caressing her is not her husband.
The following day, Jack addresses the matter to Patrick on the Golden Gate Bridge. Patrick reminds him that beings such as they are beyond the moral constraints of the modern world. Jack feels more disgusted than ever.
Returning to this private apartment, Jack finishes the last of a series of audio memoirs chronicling his time as the Extremist. After which, he tosses them into a trashcan and sets them on fire. He no longer wants this life, and refuses to be the Extremist again.
That evening, Jack and Judy go out to dinner at a sushi bar. As they leave the restaurant following their meal, a man steps out from an alley and stabs Jack in the stomach with a blade. Jack falls to the ground and Judy, in tears, begins cradling him in her arms.
Appearing in "June, Nineteen Ninety-Three"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Jack Tanner (First appearance) (Dies)
- Tony Murphy
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- The Extremist is a four-issue limited series published under DC's Vertigo format. It is intended for mature readers.
- Issue shipped on September 9th, 1993.
- The events from this issue take place in June of 1993, six months before the events of issue #1.
- The identity of Jack's killer was revealed in issue #1.
- The black man sitting on the steps of Jack's apartment is identified as Tony in this issue. Tony's surname, Murphy, will not be revealed until issue #4.