Main Cast: Vril Dox, Lyrissa Mallor, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Strata, Lobo, Lady Quark, Lar Gand, Phase, Stealth
First L.E.G.I.O.N. appearance of: Captain Comet
Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter, Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: Lar Gand of Daxam is officially made a L.E.G.I.O.N. member. As a welcome gift, Dox exposes him to lead, the one thing that can kill a Daxamite. This forces Lar Gand to depend on Dox's supplies of anti-lead serum; typical Dox, really.
Meanwhile: Garryn has gone completely nuts and now Marij'n is starting to be affected by the eye, too; Lyrissa is furious when she finds out that Dox is planning an assault on Dagon-Ra's headquarters without consulting her first; Dox requests to have full custody of his and Stealth's child once it's born - she refuses.
At Dagon-Ra's headquarters, we see that probational team member Lady Quark is also undercover there, and Lobo gets into a fight with Dagon-Ra's goons after one of them winds up Lobo by joking about killing space dolphins. Dagon-Ra has Lobo thrown into the dungeon, where there's already another prisoner: veteran space hero Captain Comet.*
Thoughts: This issue is the first one where the Eye-possessed Garryn starts talking in a weird speech pattern that's hard to describe, but funny to read. Some examples:
"Eye must seize my destiny as leader of L.E.G.I.O.N."
"Thus do eye send forth the I."
"I don't think the I likes that."
"I! I mean...eye! No...aye!"
Dagon-Ra is turning out to be a memorable villain, and Kitson comes up with imaginative designs for the colorful variety of aliens working under Dagon-Ra.
*Captain Comet was a last minute replacement for Adam Strange, due to editorial and scheduling problems. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise - I don't think Adam Strange would have been a good fit in this book.
posted
L.E.G.I.O.N. '90 # 17 - "The Power of Positive Thinking"
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Lyrissa Mallor, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Lobo, Lady Quark, Lar Gand, Strata, Garv, Telepath, Captain Comet, Phase, Stealth
Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: Unaware that Lobo has failed to assassinate Dagon-Ra as planned, Vril Dox charges ahead with the attack on Dagon-Ra's headquarters. Meanwhile: Stargrave's unwilling pawn Lydea Darkstar boards a commercial flight to L.E.G.I.O.N.'s home base of Cairn; and an experiment to free Garryn from the Eye's control only makes the Eye even more attached to both him and Marij'n, who has lost hundreds of pounds overnight thanks to the Eye.
Although the attack on Dagon-Ra's headquarters goes disastrously at first, there is a brief hope, thanks to Lady Quark and to the secret betrayal of Dagon-Ra by one of his underlings, the gentle Telepath. But Dagon-Ra regains the upper hand after using his matter-altering powers to turn Lar Gand's blood into molten lead.
Thoughts: The attack on Dagon-Ra's fortress is breathtaking. Once again, Kitson shows he's a master at depicting both the sheer beauty of outer space and the widescreen spectacle of science-fiction battles. And also once again, Kindzierski puts in extra effort with his coloring to compensate for McKenna's bad inking. Grant does a great job with the morally ambiguous Lydea Darkstar's first full scene - when she boards the flight, a sleazy guy harasses her, so she responds by torturing him with her Darkforce powers until he backs off. Then she smiles quietly.
quote:Originally posted by Stealth: *Captain Comet was a last minute replacement for Adam Strange, due to editorial and scheduling problems.
So last minute, in fact, that I believe Alanna and Sardath have a cameo in #14 or #15.
#16 was my first issue of L-20, due entirely to that appearance of Captain Comet in the last panel. I'd not warmed to the cast in their INVASION! appearance, so I'd skipped the monthly. That said, though, it was the overall quality of the book that kept me buying it.
quote:Originally posted by Stealth: *Captain Comet was a last minute replacement for Adam Strange, due to editorial and scheduling problems.
So last minute, in fact, that I believe Alanna and Sardath have a cameo in #14 or #15.
#16 was my first issue of L-20, due entirely to that appearance of Captain Comet in the last panel. I'd not warmed to the cast in their INVASION! appearance, so I'd skipped the monthly. That said, though, it was the overall quality of the book that kept me buying it.
Thanks, Outdoor Miner. I had completely forgotten to mention Alanna and Sardath. Even though this is a very good storyarc, it's one of the more difficult ones to keep track of all the details.
posted
L.E.G.I.O.N. '90 # 18 - "From the Jaws of Victory..."
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Strata, Garv, Lobo, Lar Gand, Lady Quark, Captain Comet, Telepath, Phase
Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: Confident in his victory, Dagon-Ra changes the lead in Lar Gand's veins back into blood, then changes the air around Dox's troops into sleeping gas, intending to make them all his slaves. He spares Dox so that his guards can bring Dox to him, the better to humiliate Dox. Telepath uses his powers to convince Dox to attack Dagon-Ra; Dox is nearly killed but for the last-minute intervention of Captain Comet, which provides Lady Quark and Lobo the chance they need to slaughter Dagon-Ra and his army. Lady Quark and Telepath join L.E.G.I.O.N., and all seems well until Lady Quark tells Dox that he reminds her of an alien she met on Earth - Brainiac. Realizing his father still lives, Dox immediately makes the team's next mission to find and kill Brainiac.
Thoughts: A thrilling conclusion and an exciting new beginning - the team has just had its first major victory, and is about to come full circle by taking on the man who twisted Dox into what he is - plus, unknown to the team, Lydea Darkstar is coming. Unfortunately, it would be just at this point that Barry Kitson took a six-month hiatus from the book in order to draw the "Wild Cards" limited series for Epic Comics. It is to Alan Grant's credit that, despite some very bad artwork in Kitson's absence (and one incredibly well-drawn issue which we'll get to soon,) the book not only stayed readable, but extremely readable.
posted
I may not recall this correctly, but didn't Dagon-Ra die when a big ol' boulder fell on him mysteriously, in a bit which set up another subplot (which I won't mention here)?
posted
That's right, but only because Lar Gand interrupted Lobo while he was killing Dagon-Ra (no wonder Lar Gand never fit in with this team.) Even if the boulder hadn't fallen, Dagon-Ra would still have been killed.
The first two pages of #3 are chillingly reflective of current events.
#13-14: The Pulsar Stargrave storyline is the highlight for me being both well paced and again, chilling. I'm not quite clear why he feels the need to have compliance from the population?
The other two storylines really jump the shark IMO. The Eye's personification just never worked for me and seemed silly. The growing the crystal thing also seemed a stretch and risks poor science.
Dox' characterization continues to grow with his one panel interaction with the eye. Something's up. Well, something is always up with Dox.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Outdoor Miner: I may not recall this correctly, but didn't Dagon-Ra die when a big ol' boulder fell on him mysteriously, in a bit which set up another subplot (which I won't mention here)?
From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
LOL Excellent, Gary. The emoticons on this board are some of the coolest I've ever seen.
quote:Originally posted by Blockade Boy: #13-14: The Pulsar Stargrave storyline is the highlight for me being both well paced and again, chilling. I'm not quite clear why he feels the need to have compliance from the population?
Since he once ruled a whole planet when he was the Computer Tyrants, he probably wants to rule Talok VIII the same way.
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Lyrissa Mallor, Lar Gand, Lady Quark, Lobo, Telepath, Strata, Phase, Stealth
Special Guest Star: Superman
Credits: Alan Grant, writer - Jim Fern, penciler - Jeff Albrecht, inker - John Workman, letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: Following a misunderstanding on Earth between L.E.G.I.O.N. and Superman (in Adventures of Superman Annual #2*), the team has found out that due to Dox's neglect of Colu, the planet has been taken over by Dox's father, Braniac. They head to Colu on a mission to kill. Superman, unwilling to let Dox play judge, jury and executioner - even with one of his own worst enemies - follows the team to Colu. Brainiac is well prepared for the confrontation - he's got the Coluan army, a pack of monstrous Bio-Mutants, and his own considerable mind powers.
Thoughts: Alan Grant wrote one of his best L.E.G.I.O.N. scripts for this issue, and if it had been drawn by Barry Kitson or an artist of equal talent, it would have been a masterpiece. But even with the crude and sloppy art by Jim Fern, the story is still a good read and manages some incredibly powerful moments, especially between Dox and Brainiac, a villain whom Grant seems to understand better than any of the Superman writers. Perhaps the most powerful is when Brainiac offers Dox a chance to join him - Dox responds by declaring his hatred for Brainiac and spitting on him. And it's not all doom and gloom, there's also a hilarious scene where Brainiac mind-controls the rest of the L.E.G.I.O.N., and uses their grudges against Dox to turn them into a kangaroo court, sentencing Dox to death. Once again, Grant shows his talent for switching tones seamlessly.
*If you haven't read the AOS Annual, don't worry, there's no need to, because the L-20 Annual provides a good recap. Plus, Grant didn't write the AOS Annual, and the other writer badly mis-characterized the L-20 members.
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Lyrissa Mallor, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Strata, Lobo, Lar Gand, Lady Quark, Telepath, Captain Comet, Phase, Stealth
Credits: Alan Grant, writer - Jim Fern, penciler - John Nyberg, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: Having been brainwashed by Stargrave into feeling a murderous hatred for her mother, Lydea Darkstar arrives on Cairn and stalks Lyrissa Mallor. Meanwhile: Captain Comet is recovering and all are grateful to him for saving them - except Dox, who's not even sure he wants him on the team; Marij'n begins talking in the same "I/eye" speech as Garryn, and acting even crazier than him; Lar Gand is discharged from L.E.G.I.O.N. by Dox; and Stealth has had just about enough of Dox.
Thoughts: The Lydea Darkstar subplot finally takes over the book, and the result is one of the most tragic and disturbing issues of L.E.G.I.O.N. Words cannot describe the horror of the final scene, where Lyrissa enters her room and Lydea ambushes her, except to say that Grant continues to outdo himself, and Kindzierski shows what a magic touch he truly has - in the last few issues, he had to compensate for bad inking, but this time, he has to carry the crudely drawn pages entirely on his own. Kindzierski deserves as much credit as Grant for making that last scene work as well as it does.
posted
"Kindzierski shows what a magic touch he truly has - in the last few issues, he had to compensate for bad inking, but this time, he has to carry the crudely drawn pages entirely on his own. Kindzierski deserves as much credit as Grant for making that last scene work as well as it does."
I'm reminded of Tom McCraw's work on the regular LSH book. After the switch-over to computer-coloring (which took about 3 months of adjustment and faded-out pages before they figured out what they were doing) the next 2 years, I often thought McCraw's work was the ONLY GOOD thing about the book. At all!
Registered: Aug 2003
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