Main Cast: Lyrissa Mallor, Garryn Bek, Strata, The Durlan, Lobo, Marij'n, Stealth
First L.E.G.I.O.N. appearance of: Phase/Phantom Girl.
Credits: Keith Giffen, plot and breakdowns - Alan Grant, script - Barry Kitson, penciler - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Glenn Whitmore, colorist.
Plot: Lyrissa continues to do a great job as leader in the absence of Dox, whose regeneration is now almost complete; but on Lyrissa's homeworld of Talok VIII, Pulsar Stargrave discovers that Lyrissa has a baby daughter, Lydea. The Durlan's tests reveal that Stealth's escapade with Dox has left her pregnant. The Durlan then abruptly exchanges places with a young woman from the 30th century who has zero-density powers. And Lobo escapes confinement and smashes the pod containing Dox.
Thoughts: Hey, why not bring a classic Legion character into the present day? It's a pretty cool idea, and Phase ended up being one of the team's most capable and likeable members. And as for the Durlan ending up in the 30th Century...well, most of us already know what happens, but it makes such a wonderful story (about 15 issues from now) that I don't want to spoil it.
Credits: Keith Giffen, plot and breakdowns - Alan Grant, script - Barry Kitson, penciler - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist.
Plot: Dox has returned from the dead stronger and smarter than before. He's lucky, because Lobo wants him dead again. And Phase is just as confused by her new home as the rest of the team is confused about her.
Thoughts: The only scenes in this issue I like are the ones with Phase. The rest is just boring scenes of people beating each other up. I don't want brawls, I want gun battles and superpowers and exploding spaceships! In the end, what's important is that the book's first year is coming to a close, and the second year is where IMO it changes from being uneven to being consistently great.
posted
Phase was such a great character. I was really ticked when they killed Tinya off in the 5-years-later Legion. So much that I dropped that book and started to pick up L.E.G.I.O.N. (Is there an easy way to abbreviate that?)
I'm sure I wasn't the only one torn between wanting to bring Tinya back with Jo and the rest of the Legion but still enjoying the attention she was getting in the L.'89 book.
From: Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by SLK: Phase was such a great character. I was really ticked when they killed Tinya off in the 5-years-later Legion. So much that I dropped that book and started to pick up L.E.G.I.O.N. (Is there an easy way to abbreviate that?)
I'm sure I wasn't the only one torn between wanting to bring Tinya back with Jo and the rest of the Legion but still enjoying the attention she was getting in the L.'89 book.
That's a good point, there should be an abbreviation. And since L.E.G.I.O.N. always changed the year in its title, how about simply abbreviating it as L-20th, as in "The 20th Century Legion?" (And of course, if DC brings back L.E.G.I.O.N., we could abbreviate the current L.E.G.I.O.N. as L-21st.)
I've never read more than one issue of 5 Years Later. It went completely against what I personally think the 30th Century Legion should be, which is the hope for a brighter future.
Credits: Keith Giffen, plot and breakdowns - Alan Grant, script - Barry Kitson, penciler - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: Pulsar Stargrave ascends to the status of Talok VIII's new champion through deceit, manipulation, and bullying tactics, including the destruction of a non-hostile Khund ship. Garryn is heading a peaceful L.E.G.I.O.N. mission to another planet when they find an abandoned exploration vessel; investigating, they find the entire crew dead and Garryn encounters a strange glowing object...
Thoughts: The first L.E.G.I.O.N. issue cover dated 1990 instead of 1989 is great from start to finish. After too many rather claustrophobic stories, we're treated to Kitson's stunning renditions of the vast panoramas of outer space. Excellent cover by Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon, too, of the whole team (Stealth is sneering, of course - lol) standing against a starry background with the L.E.G.I.O.N. symbol behind them, and the note: "THE FUTURE IS NOW!" Year Two is off to an excellent start.
Credits: Keith Giffen, plot and breakdowns - Alan Grant, script - Barry Kitson, penciler - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist.
Plot: As the team goes about its day-to-day business, Garryn sends a series of transmissions from the explorer vessel in which it becomes clear that he has discovered the Emerald Eye of Erkon, and that the eye is killing off the rest of his crew while saving him for another purpose (posession, perhaps?)
Thoughts: A lot of great characterization in this issue: in the best scene, Dox and Stealth have an argument about what she should do with the baby of theirs she is carrying, which ends with her slapping him (about time she did) and hurting him even more by mentioning the Durlan's departure. After she leaves, Dox throws a destructive tantrum, proving more than ever that, for all his intelligence and cunning, he still has the maturity of a three-year-old, which makes him all the scarier.
This issue is also the last to be plotted by Giffen. I have a feeling that if he had stayed longer, the book would have been overloaded with references to the 30th Century. IMO, bringing in the Emerald Eye of Erkon was too much of a good thing. From here on, Grant and Kitson set about giving the book a much more individual identity, and it would evolve into something very special.
posted
These issue (I think) were the beginning of the personification of the Emerald Eye, whihc never worked for me. The Eye was never given a purpose or source for existence, which made it a random encounter getting to much airplay for my tastes. It was a spheroidal version of Lobo. The Eye worked best as a tool, an artifact that one might imagine was created.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Without spoiling the stories ahead, I will say this: on one hand, I think The Eye was a bad idea in the first place (to reiterate something from my review, it was one 30th Century reference too many.) On the other hand, it provided some brilliantly funny moments with two characters whom I otherwise found annoying and boring.
posted
In a few issues from now, I'll have no longer been reading the series, which is a shame, since it appears those were some of the best. I remember really wanting to read the Valor/Lady Quark/Captain Comet issues. I really can't wait for the rest of the reviews!
And if you mean Garryn and his wife Stealth, I totally agree about the Eye at least making them funny for a bit.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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First L.E.G.I.O.N. appearances of: Lady Quark, Lar Gand
Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: Best summed up by this conversation:
Stealth: It's that idiot Bek! That eye he found is feeding him with power - and driving him crazy in the process. He's literally smashing his way to Vril Dox!
Phase: I'm sorry, but I don't see how that's my business. Your group is ALWAYS fighting with each other.
And the sub-plots: Dox tests two possible new members, Lady Quark and a Daxamite named Lar Gand, while Pulsar Stargrave impersonates a Talokian god in order to kidnap Lyrissa's daughter, Lydea, whom he intends to use as a pawn in his revenge against L.E.G.I.O.N.
Thoughts: The first all-Grant & Kitson issue is a near-classic, except for some spots of weak inking from McKenna. Lady Quark would become one of my favorite members (the only previous appearances of hers I've read were the ones in the original "Crisis,") and Lobo finally makes me laugh, twice in fact:
1. "Get serious. A giant evil eye? So where's the giant evil NOSE??"
2. (After everyone else has asked each other if they're all right after Bek's rampage) "And are you all right, Lobo? Why, yes, thank you, teammates, I am very well indeed! Please don't fall over each other in your rush to assist me...wimps."
Lovern Kindzierski's coloring has been great from the start, but here he outdoes himself, compensating for McKenna's inspid inks with some atmospheric work, especially in the creepy scenes with Stargrave (already knowing what this sub-plot is leading to actually makes it more disturbing to me.)
A nice nostalgic bonus: this issue contains an elaborate fold-out ad for one of my favorite horror movies, "Nightbreed." I've never removed it, because it just seems cooler to leave it there.
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: In a few issues from now, I'll have no longer been reading the series, which is a shame, since it appears those were some of the best. I remember really wanting to read the Valor/Lady Quark/Captain Comet issues. I really can't wait for the rest of the reviews!
Thanks, Cobalt Kid. Knowing that makes me enjoy what I'm doing even more.
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: And if you mean Garryn and his wife Stealth, I totally agree about the Eye at least making them funny for a bit.
Eye do indeed mean the Beks. Meye eyes are watering with laughter just thinking about those scenes ahead.
Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
Plot: On a low-tech planet, Stealth and Strata round up some bank robbers in a Wild West-style showdown. On Talok VIII, Stargrave begins his horrifying scheme of using an abusive Lyrissa robot to brainwash baby Lydea into hating her mother. At L.E.G.I.O.N. headquarters, Garryn is getting loonier, while Lobo apparently wants to leave the team and join the band of one of the galaxy's worst space pirates, Dagon-Ra.
Thoughts: Even though McKenna's inking keeps getting worse and worse, Grant and Kitson easily transcend it. This issue has some of my favorite Stealth scenes - I got my Legion World signature from a line she delivers before shooting a bad guy - and the banter between her and Strata is great. As horrifying as the scene with Stargrave is, it is not played for cheap sensationalism, the way Giffen would have done - Grant and Kitson present it starkly, with compassion for poor Lydea. And Grant's ability to shift tones from scene to scene is nothing short of amazing.
Credits: Alan Grant, writer and co-plotter - Barry Kitson, penciler and co-plotter - Mark McKenna, inker - Gaspar (Saladino,) letterer - Lovern Kindzierski, colorist
First L.E.G.I.O.N. appearances of: Garv, Telepath, and (PLOT SPOILER, read ahead.)
Plot: In addition to giving Garryn delusions of godhood, the Eye also causes Dox to have a nightmare about the still-missing Durlan. Stargrave's political puppet discovers what the villain is doing, but Stargrave threatens to kill him if he tells. Lobo successfully infiltrates Dagon-Ra's band of pirates after a sadistic hazing (Dagon-Ra using his matter-transforming powers to turn the air around Lobo into poison gas.) Stealth - whose pregnancy has become public knowledge - and Phase start becoming friends. And as Lyrissa thinks about how much she misses her baby daughter Lydea, she has no way of knowing that Stargrave has not only brainwashed Lydea, but also used a machine to age her overnight into a psychotic teenager - Lydea Darkstar!
Thoughts: Another typically fine job from Grant & Kitson. This issue introduces my favorite male L.E.G.I.O.N. member, Garv. I love his big-heartedness and his earthy common sense; he's like Marvel's Thing without the self-pity. Being bulky and hairless, he's destined to get seriously involved with the similarly featured Strata, who's the luckiest girl in the galaxy to have him. Garv actually reminds me of an ex co-worker I had a crush on, but I never acted on the crush, because workplace relationships are risky.
Quote: Dox: Stealth! I'd like a word... Stealth: Okay, how about CREEP? I'm off duty. You want to talk to me, send for me on PAID time!
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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