Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities 'KEEPER' box reviews: HERO ALLIANCE

So I'm going to be reorganizing my comic book/junk room, and while doing so I'm going to be rereading some gems of the past from my "keeper" boxes! I thought I'd begin with a shorter series and work my way through longer series.


VEXT lasted 6 issues and was written by Keith Giffen and pencilled by Mike McKone.

What I remember about it: lots of no-name gods are being kicked out of the heavens and sent to live on earth since they no longer have any worshippers. Vext was the patron diety of mishaps. Nuttiness ensued. There is a guy who is tracking down these former gods in order to steal their still-extrahuman abilities. What he doesn't realize is, there is a REASON why these gods no longer have worshippers...

Now I'm off to read! Be back soon!

Okay, so I read 'em and they were good fun. The only LOL stuff for me involves a recurring joke about "immediate termination". It's used to it's fullest. But the series is still a fun read.

I remembered wrong-- most of the Jejune Pantheon of gods are relocated throughout the cosmos, and only 4 end up on Earth: Vext (patron diety of mishap and misfortune), Paramour (patron diety of relationships gone hellishly wrong) and Rypta G'Dun (patron diety of mistimed flatulence). We do not get to meet the 4th god before the series ends, although we meet SEVERAL along the way, including Blazon (patron diety of inappropriate exhibitionism) and many more too numerous to list, but you get the general idea.

Adventuring Archeologist Aaron with the help of able-bodied assistants Samantha and Louise is on the search for these gods to drain their immortality. They do get ahold of one-- I'll give you one guess which one it is!


Vext himself is totally clueless about even the most mundane aspects of Earthly life so it is fortunate for him that his cute neighbor lady (Colleen, iirc) befriends him. Her helping him learn... well, just about EVERYthing takes up a good portion of the book and makes for several amusing moments.

VEXT is absolutely different than any other comic in my collection and contains some great ideas and theories and some fun stories. Also notable is Giffen writing SUPERMAN again in issue 1.

Like many DC launches of the 90s, VEXT shone brightly but burned out quickly (read: didn't sell!), and was cancelled after issue 6.

I was very pleased with the extremely sweet ending (though a storyline from issue 5 leading to issue 6 got shafted due to lack of space).

Of special note... One of the best jokes takes place on the LETTERS PAGE, of all places. Back in those days, DC would mail out preview copies of new books to prolific letter-writers so that they could have a letters page by issue 2 or 3. They did so with VEXT, only those previews were of A DATE WITH DEBBIE # 1, from 1969. I would have treasured that forever!

Here is a fun synopsis of the series complete with panel art and cover gallery!

I vaguely remembered this series, but don't think I read all the issues. It was a great concept. But now I really want to read A Date with Debbie.

Me too, Cramey!

I'll hit the the Keeper boxes shortly and pick out my next title to review.

Keep doing these Lash!

I remember when I learned you had collected Vext too that you were just about the only other person besides me who ever read & collected it. I think it finished up in 1999/2000 just when we were both on the DCMB's.

I remember thinking it was an awesome, hilarious Giffen series. Though I had backtracked on Ambush Bug and Lobo to read their series, the Heckler was the first ever Giffen humor series I collected as it came off the stands. Trencher was cool but I somehow lost track of it, so when Vext debuted I was incredibly psyched to be able to be a part of another one...and then it was quickly canceled.

But it was still great and one of these days I'll get around to rereading it again (and I want to reread the Heckler again).

Vext, Chase, Chronos...lots of great DC series of the 90's that never could get into the teens.

Rypta...

I still believe. I STILL BELIEVE.

The next KEEPER review has been chosen: MAJOR BUMMER (partially because I never bagged/boarded them and can kill 2 birds with 1 stone here)!

MAJOR BUMMER was written and drawn by the MASK team supreme: John Arcudi (w) and Doug Mahnke (a).

What I rememebr about it: A big-time wimpy gamer/slacker kid suddenly finds himself bulked-out like the Hulk on steroids. Lots of other people-- some good-natured and some bad-- end up with powers too. This sudden infusion of powers on what is NOT regular DC-earth is because of a science fair expirement (performed by two aliens) gone awry. The no-goodniks that end up with powers eventually face off with the good guys with powers. Unfortunately for our hero (who, iirc, is never actually called 'Major Bummer' in the book at all) his good-guy allies ended up with the lame-ass powers.

I recall LOVING this series and all the characters therein and being crushed when it was cancelled.

This ran for 15 issues so I will probably need some extra days here, but I *will* be back!

'Kay, I'm off to start reading. Meanwhile, if you wanna read more about MAJOR BUMMER, this guy really loved it too! (beware of spelling errors and adult language). Bonus: All 15 covers! Fly Girl had an impressive boob window, didn't she?

I have read 1-5.

Lou (our main character, who fortunatley shoots down his proposed 'Mister Incredible' moniker) is probably one of the most unlikable characters in comics at first, but he's evolved by issue 5 to being fairly tolerable (and I know that by series' end, I was really diggin' him). He's relatable in that, even though he's now a super-hunk, he still doesn't quite GET that he's a super-hunk and still thinks like a skinny gamer kid.


Arcudi obviously knew Lou wasn't going to be well-liked at first so he introduces the other recipients of the EXTREME ENHANCEMENT MODULES in issue 1-- Val (aka Fly Girl), a sweet boob-window wearing hot chick who can... well, fly... Francis, (aka Sonic) whose sonic scream power is not 100% controlled, The Gecko (who refuses to reveal his real name), a wall-crawling uber-nerd who is totally into being a superhero but is also kinda useless powerswise, and Lauren (aka Cassandra), a VERY sweet elderly lady who can predict the future ("I knew he was going to say that.") and is easily my favorite of the cast.

There's also a cat that ate her owner's EEM before the woman could get to it and now grows to mammoth size whenever frightened or excited. I call her Maxi-Cat.

The aliens actually delivered Lou's EEM to the wrong address, and when they try to extract it, Lou finds out the process will kill him. Then there's a fight. Then one of the aliens get 88% vaporized (but is still alive).

THEN comes the aliens' revenge, in the form of releasing EEMs on criminals! They know EEM recipients are drawn to one another, so the bad guys will invariably end up attacking Lou and extract their revenge for them! The bad guys are all badasses caompared to our crew and Lou (who doesn't get how strong he is yet, remember?). Fortunately for our gang, the bad guys are even more dangerous to themselves than they are to the heroes!!

Also, there's a nazi dinosaur and alien worms that eat buildings!

A *very* enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to issues 6-15, as I remember that things are REALLY gonna get crazy!

This is one of those rare 90's DC Comics that I never read! I know you recommended it to me years ago, but I never followed up on. From your reviews, it seems like you'd rank it up there with Giffen's various series? That's high praise, if so!

Oh I easily rate it PAST Giff's solo stuff and it stands alongside Giff's collaborations with the Bierbaums and DeMatties. Arcudi is a fantastic writer, and he surpasses Giffen in that he can make the most complicated happenings easy to follow, a talent Giff sometimes can't deliver alone.

Read # 6-- it introduces Milton, a fanboy type character who is going to make a hero out of Lou wether Lou likes it or not!

Nunzio was the criminal all the other criminals picked on and put down. He recieved the EEM that turned him into a horriffic, superstrong (STRONGER than Lou!!) monster the other EEM-criminals now feared. Milton sets up a fight between Lou and Nunzio and even manages to take Nunzio down after Lou gets his ass whipped (you'll have to read the issue to find out how). He then gives sole credit for the monster's takedown to the ass-thoroughly-whipped Lou, turning Lou into a media sensation!

Can anyone join in? I brought home some stuff to review here as well.

Video Jack 1 - 6
Punx 1 - 3, Manga Special
Quantum and Woody 1 - 17, plus the GOAT special and XO Crossover
I also grabbed the Hero Alliance Stuff. End of the Golden Age 1 - 3, regular series 1 - 10, plus the Annual #1

Dev, my PUNX are at Mom's but I will bring that home ASAP! You wanna go with Hero Alliance next?

That works for me. How many issues do you have?

I was looking for HA, and came across the rest of these, and could not resist.

Lemme check, I know I have the entire run...

Hero Alliance: End of the Golden Age mini

HA 1-17

HA Quarterly 1-4

Hero Alliance/Justice Machine: Identity Crisis

HA Special 1

Yep, I was a BIG fan of this book!

I have 2 Q and W trades, lemme know when you want to do that one too.

I am still reading MAJOR BUMMER and my review for the remainig issues is coming!

Meanwhile, I found this article about a story in HERO ALLIANCE QUARTERLY which is the series I am planning to reread next.

Awesome. Now I have to try and track down the rest of these.

Just set down the last issue, and it was a great ride, totally reaffirming its status in my keeper box.

The last handful of issues of MAJOR BUMMER are a pretty intricate (and hilarious) time-travel story that is unlike any time-travel story you've read before!

I think MAJOR BUMMER suffered for being under the DC logo in the late 90s. Unfortunately, back then you could only have a Vertigo comic if your art was all scratchy and weird (Mahnke's art is clear and crisp) and your story was about things that made absolutely no sense whatsoever and was nigh-impossible to follow (Arcudi's story is very readable).

But I won't be bitter about its short run-- I will simply reread it every few years and enjoy what IS there.

Warning: the series does contain an incredible amount of violence, most of it directed at Lou himself!

Well, my stupid slow-ass sleeping pills are just now kicking in, but I might have time to finish HERO ALLIANCE: END OF THE GOLDEN AGE mini before I nod off.

What I remember about HERO ALLIANCE: Superheroes in the REAL world. I think this even predates WATCHMEN, I will have to check. This series strived for realism and was pretty popular for Innovation, as it spawned at least 1 annual and special, 4 quarterlies and a Sentry 1-shot. It was also blessed with TOP-NOTCH art for the entirety of its run, the artists I can remember offhand are: Bart Sears, Ron Lim, Paul Smith, George Perez, Stuart Immonen and Jason Pearson (the latter 2 both left for LSH, btw!). There was a complete history built in with heroes from the golden age spawning heroes in the modern age. The old guard decided to train the new guard (all before JSA took that role in the DCU). HERO ALLIANCE was original and different.

I also remember the book being pretty heavy on the TnA but it was usually equal opportunity TnA.

Ron Lim was the X-Men 2099 artist, wasn't he? I loved his stuff.