Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Stealth
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: A mysterious spacecraft that Lady Quark and Garv have been sent to investigate is surrounded by a null-field that jams all life signals. Even Dox's most sophisticated machines can't detect anything. Stealth secretly knows exactly what this spacecraft is, and asks Phase to cover for her as she sneaks away, with Strata and Captain Comet in tow. Unfortunately, Dox does detect their ship just before it goes into the null-field.
LQ and Garv discover that the spacecraft is a living organism which assumes they're hostile. Stealth and the others arrive just time to rescue them and calm down the organism, which turns out to be a giant living nursery safeguarding hundreds of babies, including Stealth's son.
Thoughts: This issue is much better than the last one. There's a real sense of wonder here, and a lack of L-20's usual cynicism, which could have been disastrous but instead works as a change of pace. It's the sort of thing that Steven Spielberg used to be able to get away with...a long, long time ago, like not since "E.T."
posted
I remember this issue as being one of the best in a long time. The "nanny" ship was a very cool, very unique concept.
I, too, like the change of tone in this issue. It was nice how Kitson showed that Stealth was a loving, caring mother, especialy considering the bizzare/disturbing nature of her son's conception and birth.
A bit jarring, but well done.
-------------------- "are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over- an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist."
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Lydea Mallor, Stealth
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot: On the planet Arga-Prime, L.E.G.I.O.N. finds itself in the middle of a full-scale uprising, while Arga-Prime's grand council secretly plots against L.E.G.I.O.N.
Thoughts: After the pleasant surprise of the last issue, this is a step back to the glum level of # 40. It's also the first issue where the coloring is credited to "Digital Chameleon," something I've never quite understood, since there must still be people choosing the colors, even if they're doing it on computers. What is clear is that the colors are less vibrant than when they were done by hand.
posted
L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 43 - "Something in the Air"
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Lady Quark, Lobo, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Lydea Mallor, Stealth
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith and Jimmy Palmiotti, inkers - Dan Nakrosis, letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot: L.E.G.I.O.N. discovers the Grand Council's scheme and joins forces with the revolutionaries, but when they storm the council's main building and the councilmen willingly surrender, they discover they may be too late to stop the council's failsafe plan.
Thoughts: A fast pace and a fair amount of action makes this readable enough, but there's something missing. This story could be taking place in any of DC's early 90s sci-fi/superhero books. That unique L.E.G.I.O.N. quality - that mixture of exhuberant weirdness and dark humor - doesn't look like it's going to return any sooner that # 48.
posted
L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 44 - "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth
Guest Star: Hal Jordan
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer - Rod Ramos, guest penciler - Shepard Hendrix and Matt Banning, guest inkers - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot: The Arga-Prime council's failsafe involves unleashing a toxic rain that will kill everyone on the planet's surface. The storm is due to fall within days, and racial tensions are exploding into violence. Dox fails to find an antidote but gets another idea which he's keeping secret. And Hal Jordan has answered Garryn's call and is there to help.
Meanwhile, Captain Comet is in sickbay after having earlier unleashed more powers he never knew he had. Now, even unconscious, he's on the verge of setting off a telekinetic whirlwind.
On the surface of Arga-Prime, Strata and Stealth are still trying to stop the rioting when suddenly the storm arrives early.
Thoughts: At this point, the story is beginning to echo tragic events of the present day; all the more shame that even this is not enough to make it a compelling story.
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth
Guest Star: Hal Jordan
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer - Rod Ramos, guest penciler - Matt Banning, Denis Rodier, and Shephard Hendrix, guest inkers - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot: The rain falling turns out to be harmless. Dox has discovered that only the planet's oceans are poisoned by the council's virus, so he seeded the clouds in order to cause a rainfall which will delay the toxic storm and give everyone more time for evacuation.
Aboard the L.E.G.I.O.N. ship, a new crisis is unfolding: Captain Comet's recurring headaches and power surges appear to be the result of him being possessed by an evil energy being which now plans to transfer itself from him into Lady Quark and take solid form.
Thoughts: And so the Arga-Prime story keeps plodding along, while the new developments aboard the ship are equally dull and cliche. Add to that the terrible guest art, and this is the kind of issue that makes me question why there are certain extended runs of a book where I choose to keep even the worst issues. The answer is, for the same reasons why I have everything recorded by certain musicians, even the bad stuff - some comics (and musicians) are so special, they just demand a sense of completeness, warts and all.
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Darius, Amon Hakk, Zena Moonstruk, Davroth Catto, Borb Borbb, Lydea Mallor, Stealth
Guest Star: Hal Jordan
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith and Romeo Tanghal, inkers - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Bernie Mireault, colorist
Plot: Despite an argument between Hal Jordan and Lobo, the evacuation is proceeding fairly smoothly. The Captain Comet problem is a more difficult matter. In the end, the energy creature possessing CC ends up trapped inside a pile of raw protoplasm...or so they think.
Thoughts: The only bright spot here is that Kitson is clearly having a lot of fun drawing Hal Jordan - the beautiful double-page spread of Hal leading the evacuation caravan through outer space should have been a poster.
This is the first issue in a while to credit the coloring to a person instead of "Digital Chameleon," apparently because, due to an editorial oversight, the credits were listed in the letters page instead of the front page.
posted
L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 # 47 - "A Culmination of Patterns"
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Bertron Diib, Stealth
Guest Star: Hal Jordan
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer and penciler - Robin Smith, inker - Albert De Guzman, letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot: The energy creature adapts the protoplasm into a sentient body and escapes, leaving Dox, Phase, Captain Comet, Marij'n, and Lady Quark wounded.
Aboard the caravan, a sleeper agent of the deceased council changes his mind about opening a vial containing the virus.
Despite Lobo acting even more stupid than usual and endangering the caravan by picking a fight with Hal Jordan, the caravan successfully reaches Cairn.
Thoughts: And so, with a well-intentioned but preachy lesson about tolerance, the Arga-Prime story arc finally reaches its end.
Having re-read # 32 - # 47 for the first time in quite a while, I have to say that even though most of them were no better than I remembered, there were two pleasant surprises - # 36, with the band of alien mercenaries, and especially # 41, with the living nursery.
But the next issue is where it gets really good again, beginning a great three-parter with the return of an old enemy (I won't say who.)
And the mystery of "Digital Chameleon" is finally explained in this issue's letters page: it was a group of several computer colorists under the supervision of Lovern Kindzierski.
Credits: Barry Kitson, writer - Dan Lawlis, guest penciler - Ande Parks, guest inker - Albert De Guzman, letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot: Stealth and Amon - with Garv, Telepath, Lobo, and a unit of L.E.G.I.O.N. footsoldiers as backup - go undercover in a sleazy nightclub run by two slave traders, Steyr and Peyke.
On Cairn, Dox is defying doctor's orders by coordinating the mission, suggesting there's more than meets the eye.
A buyer wearing a cloak and mask shows interest in Stealth. Telepath is unable to read the buyer's mind (hmmm...who have we seen before who can block Telepath's powers?) and when it looks like Amon screws up the operation by asking for too much money, the buyer surprisingly accepts, and Stealth goes along.
Once the buyer leaves, the backup forces raid the club. Garv stuns Peyke unconscious, and when Steyr threatens to kill a footsoldier, Lobo sneaks up from behind and chops off his head ("Nobody servin' brew as bad as this bastich walks out alive.")
Aboard the buyer's ship, Stealth is horrified that there are slave children on board. She comforts one crying boy by telling her fanciful tales of her own son and where he is.
When the ship lands, the buyer tells the robot drones to set Stealth apart. The buyer removes the cloak and mask - it's Ig'nea!!
And everything that Stealth told the slave child will provide Ig'nea with the means for revenge on Dox.
Thoughts: This is Part One of a story arc I call either "The Ig'nea Trilogy" or "The Revenge of Ig'nea." It's second only to "War Against the Khunds" (# 24-27) as my favorite L-20 story.
After re-reading all the weak issues that came before this one, it seems even more amazing how quickly the book turns around in quality, rocketing back up to classic L-20 levels. The breathless pace, the wonderful weirdness (Steyr's ability to sprout razor-sharp tendrils,) and sick humor (see Lobo's remark above) have all returned in full force.
And even though this issue is draw by guest artists, the guest art is acceptable for once. Besides, it gives Kitson extra time to work his magic on Part Two and Part Three.
posted
I remember Dan Lawlis' art. He did 3 issues of DR. STRANGE, each badly inked by a different inker. Then he comes to DC, and his art looks better than it did at Marvel, thanks to an appropriate inker. This was a disturbing trend I noticed happening with more and more pencillers' work.
Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, I remember that too. Marvel had the some of the worst inkers back then, and most of the few good inkers they had were going into retirement.
Omg, history is repeating itself today, isn't it?
Even though DC and Marvel have both done a lot of books that I love, DC has been, still is, and will always be, the classier of the two publishers.
Main Cast: Vril Dox, Phase, Strata, Garv, Lady Quark, Lobo, Garryn Bek, Marij'n, Captain Comet, Telepath, Stealth
First L.E.G.I.O.N. Appearances Of: Kromar, Grax, Charron, Drakkan, Prolax, Electrix
Credits: Barry Kitson, plot and pencils - Mark Waid, dialogue - Robin Smith, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot: Using her mind-manipulation powers, Ig'nea deceives the living space nursery into allowing her to kidnap Stealth and Dox's son.
On Cairn, Garv tells some of the others that he's ill-at-ease in this organization ("I joined L.E.G.I.O.N. to save lives -- not to see them thrown away.") He's staying to help the team find Stealth, but may resign once that's done.
At Ig'nea's secret base, her line of defense assembles. She has not only re-hired the same mercenaries (Wreeth, Yatini, Zyn, Kondor, Ronzin Daark -- all previously seen in # 36) as her late father Max G'odd, but also added several more to create a formidable force.
Back on Cairn, the core members walk in on Dox just as he's attempting to negotiate with Ig'nea. She reveals, to everyone's shock, that she not only has Stealth, but also the baby. Ig'nea's ultimatum: Dox in exchange for the baby. And to show she means business, Ig'nea draws her sword and stabs Stealth.
Thoughts: In addition to being a great read, this issue also has historic value -- it's the first time that Barry Kitson and Mark Waid worked together, leading to JLA Year One, Brave & the Bold: Flash and Green Lantern, and the current LSH.
Barry Kitson not only draws outer space better than anyone else, he also designs outer space villains better than anyone else. This enormous gathering of alien evil is a feast for the eyes, and is featured on what may be the best L-20 front cover (penciled and inked by Kitson) of all time. Kitson and Waid also remember to give them all personalities as memorable as their appearances. These mercenaries should have their own mini-series. Electrix is my personal favorite.
"The Ig'nea Trilogy" is everything the G'odd story arc wasn't -- tightly paced, suspenseful, and genuinely shocking at times (especially the last page of this issue.) The next issue, the special fiftieth one, brings us a battle so big, they needed twice the amount of pages to show it. And they still have room left for a return visit from none other than Alan Grant.
Credits, "Showdown:" Mark Waid, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Robin Smith and John Stokes, inkers - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot, "Showdown:" The entire team, including the recruits, heads for Ig'nea's base on Barton IV. As Dox had expected, Ig'nea has her band of superpowered mercenaries waiting for them.
There follows a tremendous battle, with casualties on both sides - Darius, L.E.G.I.O.N.'s cyborg recruit, is damaged beyond repair.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Dox pretends to surrender to Wreeth, the giant hissing spider. But once they reach the base, Dox springs his secret plan. Thanks to Borb's teleporting powers, Dox blows up Wreeth's head with a grenade.
Dox then cuts the bonds suspending Stealth's body from the ceiling, kisses Stealth, and goes off to find Ig'nea, who is monitoring him.
Ig'nea outwits Dox, and she is about to sic her pet dragon, Rebel, on him, when she is shocked to see Stealth alive. Dox knew that Stealth wasn't dead, because she has a healing factor -- when he kissed her, he sped up the process with a neurocatalyst hidden in his tooth.
Ig'nea runs, still holding Dox and Stealth's baby. Dox gives chase while Stealth fights Rebel. Stealth rips out Rebel's throat.
The battle has now reached the gas swamps. Electrix threatens to blow everybody up unless the L.E.G.I.O.N. lets her and the other mercenaries escape. Phase makes a command decision and allows it, secretly planning to track them down later.
Cornered, Ig'nea drops the baby in the swamp water and surrounds him with a ring of fire. Kondor, the flying mercenary, picks up Ig'nea, who vows that her next encounter with Dox shall be to the death.
In the aftermath, the recruits ask permission to go off on a mission to seek Darius's creator, the only one who can repair him. Garv, feeling more than ever like the team is nothing but cannon fodder for Dox's personal vendettas, makes a final decision to quit. Strata does not go with him. And Dox and Stealth finally make peace with each other, agreeing to do what's best for their baby. L.E.G.I.O.N. has achieved unity at last.
Credits, "L.E.G.I.O.N. '67:" Alan Grant, writer - Denis Rodier, penciler and inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - "Digital Chameleon," colorist
Plot, "L.E.G.I.O.N. '67:" A hilarious parody of DC's own pseudo-hip 60s comics ("Originally presented in 'My Grooviest Adventure # 11', July/August 1967,") recasting the L.E.G.I.O.N. members as hippies, and Pulsar Stargrave as Mr. Dark-Starr, the Adding Machine Tyrants of Colu. At the end, the heroes go on a bad acid trip and everybody is blown up when the unstable star Jimorrison goes nova.
Thoughts: The conclusion of The Ig'nea Trilogy is filled to bursting with everything that made L-20 great. And other than the loose end of the recruits going off on their quest for Darius's creator, it wraps up all of the remaining plot strands with an unusually happy ending that feels well-earned after what these characters have been through over fifty issues. And, just to bring it a little closer to reality, it's not happy for everybody. I've always thought that it was foolish of Strata to place duty over all and not follow Garv out of the team. Good lovers don't grow on trees.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the end of L-20. I'm well aware that the book continued for about twenty more issues, and was then revamped and retitled R.E.B.E.L.S., but I have no interest in any of that, just as I refuse to watch the movies "Alien 3," "Alien Resurrection," or "Alien vs. Predator," because "Aliens" felt like such a perfect conclusion.
By 1993, I was already becoming weary of comic books' tendency to keep going well past their sell-by date. I could accept it was a necessary evil of commercial art, but it didn't take away my choice to leave while the book was back on top. It seems I made the right choice, because Kitson left the book just a few issues later, severing the final link to L-20's original creative team.
Which brings me to my final point - L.E.G.I.O.N. was one of the few books introduced in the past twenty years to have sustained its original direction for fifty issues! Sure, some stories were better written or better drawn that others, but the overall integrity and consistency is remarkable. That's what makes issues # 1 - 50 special and why, as far as I'm concerned, this is...
T.H.E. E.N.D.
Okay, not quite. Because Alan Grant followed up his fun back-up story in this issue with a stand-alone tale published in # 51. Tomorrow will be my final review in this thread.
posted
Stealth, while I'm sad that you'll only be doing one more review as you said it's good to end on a high! Your posts have been well researched, consise and informative. Your person views are well considered and insightful.
Thank you for all your time and effort in writing these for us, this is one poster who has enjoyed them thoroughly.
B
-------------------- "Tempus Fugitive" the final part of the Adventures of Dream Boy series, set in the Three-Boot Universe. Read it only in the Bits o' Legionnaire Business Forum.
From: here, more often than not | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Harbinger: Stealth, while I'm sad that you'll only be doing one more review as you said it's good to end on a high! Your posts have been well researched, consise and informative. Your person views are well considered and insightful.
Thank you for all your time and effort in writing these for us, this is one poster who has enjoyed them thoroughly.
B
Thanks, Harbinger. I'm glad you enjoyed them. And I greatly appreciate the feedback from you and KC and BB and Cobie and others, it's made the work a lot easier and a lot more fun.
Although my L.E.G.I.O.N. reviews are almost finished, I have future plans to start a new thread on the Dr. Gym'll board, reviewing back issues of another favorite comic of mine. But first I need to finish a fanfic I have on another site, and then I'm starting my first Legion World fanfic.
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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