of mafia crime lord Benito Giovanetti. Giovanetti's background suggests a link between the Mob, the Inner Circle and the assassination of JFK. The Espers are aided by Alan Black, an assassin for the S.E.A. Issue 7 of this series was an epilogue to that second storyline, with painted art by Bill Koeb. And issue 8 (the last one from Epic) was a sort of dream issue featuring painted art by Dan Brereton. It details an encounter between the Espers and a Mind Dancer ("who tried to kill us with our own subconscious" Simon Ashley later recollects in vol. 3, issue 6), before they're aided by a mysterious 'Master' named Lori who taught them more about their powers before disappearing herself. The series then suffered its second extended publishing hiatus, this time for over five years before Hudnall himself revived the series in 1996, self-publishing another six issues under his own Halloween Comics imprint from 1996-1997. These issues were numbered as volume 2; 1-6, and comprised the "Undertow" story arc, featuring B&W line art by then-newcomer Greg Horn. Reflecting the real-life publishing schedule of the series, the events in these issues take place several years after those detailed in "Interface." In this story arc, the Espers come to the rescue of a 17-year-old high school girl from California named Skye Lanning, a petulant teenager possessed of powerful psychometric powers, who is being pursued by both the Triad and the Inner Circle. The Espers try to convince a reluctant Skye to join their team instead, for her own protection. The story culminates in a final battle at an Inner Circle headquarters hidden in plain sight at Disney World in Florida. During that battle it's revealed that all the world's espers originated from a secret human breeding program masterminded by a shadowy group called the "Architects," whose origins date back to the American Revolutionary War. The Architects have sought to alter humanity over hundreds of years through breeding and mysticism. The Inner Circle was formed from this organization in 1880. But then in 1922 a group of espers fled this selective breeding program. The title characters in "Espers" are descended from them, it's revealed at the end of the story, which is why they're referred to as "Renegades" by the Inner Circle and the Triad. The series was then moved to Image Comics, a decision which Hudnall explained in print at the time