Xenoholics #1 from Shadowline

So, Fear Itself finally concluded (sort of) this week, and unlike Dark Reign, I find I am quite looking forward to the fallout. We can anticipate a new Defenders series, Hulk and Banner are split, a new Thunder God and a more prominent role for Brunnhilde the Valkyrie, which is not before time.

Yet my attention has been drawn away from the large events with two new mini-series and a third series that should be a HUGE event for fans everywhere.

One question demands to be asked. Just how many stories can companies tell about zombies?

Of course, zombiegeddon makes the perfect backdrop for stories about human nature itself, and the Key Of Z #1 is no different. Created by Evil Ink and released by Boom, Key of Z is a bit of an anomaly where the interior art is far better than the cover art.

Speeding through the actual zombiepocalypse, the story follows in the footsteps of the Walking Dead, and admirably so. Of course, there seems to be quite a few more living survivors of the outbreak than is traditional for such stories, which makes for an interesting mix.

Meanwhile, if your taste varies more towards the humorous, Joshua Williamson has written a light-hearted treatise on alien abduction in Xenoholics #1. At least, I hope this is supposed to be a comedy, as I found myself laughing a number of times. The comic pokes fun at itself, full of thwarted ambitions and wry observations from the very first page. Starring an encounter group of abductees, we see a range of personalities from the ordinary housewife confronted with the less than ordinary aspects of life to the hopelessly eccentric. A reporter that infiltrates the group takes the ‘straight man’ role, but his scoop is soon overshadowed as crop circles are replaced by concrete circles on national TV.

Finally, a crossover so logical it should have been long-awaited, the cast of Star Trek The Original Series (I refuse to say Start Trek TOS, it just sounds wrong,) come face to face with a selection of time lost Legion of Super-Heroes. (There seems to be a lot of that about, if you look at the DCnU.)

These are classic era Legionnaires, from some time during the original Levitz years, and I am ashamed to say I do not recall which story this particular grouping is from, but it quickly overcomes the awkward seven-century difference between their respective eras.

Nicely, this does not transplant either cast into the other’s universe, but both casts into a third, avoiding all the cringe worthy moments and clichés that such crossovers can generate.

Of course, the two teams have yet to actually encounter one another, so no doubt we may yet see the traditional fight before team up, but no matter. This was worth every cent I paid for it.

StarTrek and the Legion Of Super-Heroes #2 in November

Well, today is the day that is the last gasp of the DC as we head towards the new 52. Reading today’s issues will be a bittersweet experience. Newsarama has delivered a slide show of what we may miss from the last seventy five years of comics, but I think it is safe to say what we will miss is SEVENTY FIVE YEARS worth of history.

However, has anyone given any thought of what will happen to the Legion of Super-Heroes? The interviews and solicitations regarding this title seem to imply that it will carry on regardless to avoid continuity issues; but surely this creates continuity issues in itself? Never mind the fact that this breaks the whole ‘restarted universe’ idea. It has the potential to be the Crisis On Infinite Earths all over again. But without the really cool story first.

Still, it’s not the only title taking this path, as both the Batman and Green Lantern families are continuing as before. I only hope that we don’t receive some solution that has to be revamped again and again until people are happy with it.

Take the Pocket Universe Superboy for example. This was a solution that was panned by the fans, but it worked for me, preserving what the Legion was all about. For those that don’t remember, The Time Trapper preserved an alternate world from the Crisis by secreting it in a pocket dimension, or stole a second of time out of the Forties, I mean the Sixties. Are we clear on this now?

So, how are we preserving the legend of Superboy this time then? I dread to think what mechanism we will see in Legion Lost, but it looks like we will at least see on.  My advice? Whatever DC chooses, it should stick to it, and not change its mind a few years down the line.

Reading the advance solicitations however, there is the light of hope. A team up too many years in the waiting, (especially considering that years ago, DC had the licence) is the upcoming Star Trek/ Legion Of Super-Heroes from IDW. Much chronal hijinks will no doubt ensue, and seeing the worlds encounter each other at the hands of Chris Roberson with covers by the esteemed Phil Jimenez, what could possibly be bad?

Thanos, in the iconic image of his redemption.

I don’t know about you, but since the demise of the Guardians Of The Galaxy, I have really been missing some truly cosmic space opera. The Annihilators mini-series bridged that gap for a little while, but my space opera addiction is a hungry beast, and needs feeding.

Regular readers will be aware that I am very much a fan of the Legion Of Super-Heroes as well, yet the current relaunch of the original pre-Crisis (or at least pre-Five Years Later) Legion is not filling the gap for me. Maybe I have been burnt too many times with endless reboots. I loved Five Years Later, although the fan base didn’t seem to agree with me. I liked the Reboot Legion, but they were abandoned. I never quite came to terms with the Threeboot.

The current storyline in Legion Of Super-Heroes seems very cosmic, with worlds of wisdom and faith, etc etc. Yet the personalities of the Legionnaires are not shining through for me. Now I knew the pre-Crisis Legion inside and out and I’m struggling to feel the continuity, so Lord knows how new readers are coping. Maybe they are ignorant of the discrepancies?

But the greatest discrepancies for me seem to be the lack of any depth in characterisation. Other than young Glorith (and we all know how that will turn out, eventually), I’m simply not feeling the love. Plus the writer Paul Levitz, who is well known as the Legion King, has disappointed me with his attempts to cope with Mon-El’s election as leader, along side his role as the new Green Lantern. How many Thirtieth Century Green Lantern’s is that now? (Reboots not withstanding of course.)

The only thing that has quelled my thirst from the comic store recently has been Kirby – Genesis, about which I have already enthused at length. If you haven’t picked that up already, do it! Do it now!

I’m missing the days of grand space opera that can be followed easily, and is not spread across fifteen different titles. Remember the promise that the Infinity Gauntlet possessed? Or course, by the third issue we discovered that promise would not be realised; but DnA’s recent work certainly filled that gap, with Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest and the War Of Kings, culminating in the Thanos Imperative, which was fantastic, but in my mind could have been bigger. Not in scope, certainly, but in content. This was one series that I wanted to see some crossovers for. Or maybe it should have been twelve issues.

Speaking of Thanos, do you not just want to know what he is doing as the embodiment of Death in the Cancerverse? I’m in a quandary with this one. What makes the threat of Thanos such a big deal is that it is infrequent, but all encompassing when it arrives. Such a threat always needs to be handled with delicacy, after all, look at the Reign of the Doomsdays over in the Superman titles. After consistently offering a level of quality, the ‘Doomsdays’ feel manufactured and ill considered. The quality has vanished, in an instant, and the entire effort feels like a stopgap measure until we get to the DCnU. That would be fine, if they were single issue stories such as we saw in the early Eighties, but the Reign seems to drag on and on.

However, I sit satiated currently, as I have found what I needed in fan fiction. Over on the Cosmic Powers fan fiction group (which I have no idea if new material is still being generated for it, but I don’t think so), there is a story called the Twilight War, a twenty-two-chapter epic by a writer called Warren Entros. It’s been up there for years, but I have only just got round to reading it, and I can thoroughly recommend it. This is what the Infinity Trilogy should have been.

So, if you fancy some good old-fashioned Marvel Cosmic Space Opera and have had enough of the Flashpoint and Fear Itself, hop over to their site and get reading. You won’t regret it, and it’s fun.

I similarly criticised the relaunch of Magnus Robot Fighter when it came out, but Dark Horse has scored two masterstrokes this week. The first being the third Valiant/Acclaim character to receive the revamp treatment, Turok, Son Of Stone.

Revamp is maybe too strong a word, as all of the essential qualities of Turok are present. In the course of this issue, we discover the origin of his weapons (yes, even though they are a tomahawk and a knife, that is important) and then his entry into what I assume to be the Lost Land deals with all the further anachronisms we know and love. More importantly, he is genuinely likable, demonstrated by the foil of two supporting characters. Okay, one of them doesn’t make it, slain by Turok’s hand, but this was due to his sense of honor, which did not always come through with such clarity in the Valiant series. Turok is not suited for shades of grey, and there are no shades of grey in this establishing issue. I shall be picking up #2.

Another recommendation (and second masterstroke) is the graphic novel Fallout New Vegas: All Roads that I recently obtained. A companion to the role-playing video game Fallout New Vegas that has been released across America and Europe in the past week, this novel explores the environment to the game. Not being a gamer this is my first exposure to the world of Fallout, as this is the fourth game in the series, but I confess, it has whetted my appetite for more, a change from the usual fare of adaptions from computer games which can appear bland and formulaic. So, can we see more of the Fallout world please?

Finally, it’s time to vote. For the first time in my life, I have voted for the leadership of the Legion Of Super-Heroes, and my life is now complete. The current LSH is going from strength to strength as seen with last weeks #6, so let’s make this the best attended election in comics history. After all, it’s not as if we are voting whether the current Robin will live or die (unfortunately). Simply head to legionelection.com and place your vote. Long Live The Legion!

I was a total fan of the third series of the Legion, the one that introduced the Trapperverse and the Glorithverse, both wiped away from reality by Zero Hour. Classic stories that I highly recommended, and with the revelations of Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, both can now be considered both part of reality, and out of continuity. One other treasure to rise out of that mini is that both the Reboot and Threeboot Legions still exist and I truly hope to see a lot more of them in the future.  But now our attention is drawn back to the original Legion, from after the end of the Baxter series, barring of course any continuity shifts of convenience. I haven’t seen any mention of the Magic Wars, but it was nice to see the Great Darkness Saga referenced in the recent issue of Booster Gold.

Of course, the politics of xenophobia seem to have become particularly relevant after the events of last night in the real world. Yet the theme I really want to draw out is that of compromise, of how far the Legion can go following both their hearts and their Constitution, yet balancing that with political realities. Earth has only just been reintroduced into the United Planets, where historically it should be at the very centre of the UP. For the Legion to continue (or rather return to) using Earth as a base for their headquarters, restoring their reputation on Earth and combating the xenophobia, they have to accept Earth Man as a member. Earth Man who tried to kill them all during their reappearance in the Superman titles. Earth Man who on page one, is being held prisoner and tortured as he is de-powered. The only person to question this is one of his Science Police guards. Notably Cosmic Boy, Sun Boy nor Brainiac 5 say anything about this. The latter two I can understand, it’s hardly out of character. But Rokk? The spine of the Legion? I suppose it goes to show just how much water has gone under the bridge.

One final note, it is interesting how in one month we have seen the birth of Titanian society (Last Stand of Krypton) and its death in this issue. With another glance of the hand that created the universe at the dawn of time, Levitz has chosen to begin the series with a big story, and I am glad. Yet the treasured issues of the Legion in my collection are frequently those where nothing that important happened, where the feature was simply on the characters themselves and their lives rather than the threat-to-all-existence-du-jour. I hope this aspect of the Legion is not forgotten, and I cannot wait to see the next Legion Try-outs!

Long Live The Legion!

Blackest Night #2 Cover

Recruiting today! Excellent new cosmic corps with prospects. Wanted, candidates who can give their hearts to the job. Essential requirements: Dead.

Blackest Night really picks up this week with the release of the second issue and Blackest Night – Batman #1. Both of which rock, and as I thought, all of my doubts have been vanquished. I refuse to give any spoilers here, suffice to say that all of my previous questions have been answered with one of the newest Black Ring bearers – Boston Brand, the Deadman.

The horror aspect of the story is played nicely against the form of Tempest the former Aqua Lad, and Mera, and we also get to see how the magical community perceives the threat of the Black Rings. Briefly. Dolphin shows us just how the rings repair their hosts. Meanwhile, we see the fate of Hawkman and it really sinks home – how many more will fall?

I would certainly add a parental advisory to this title. This is not for the youngsters.

Blackest Night – Batman continues some of the story of Deadman, and for a non-Batman reader like myself, grants a little insight into Damien’s personality and the new status quo (for as long as it lasts) in the Gothamverse.

Another treat this week is Adventure Comics #1, showing Superboy back in Smallville as promised, but the final page of his story has a wonderful twist, giving us another glimpse in Conner’s tortured mind. Yes I think he’s tortured, even at the best of times, wouldn’t you be? He hasn’t even had time to react to the knowledge he is half Superman, half Lex Luthor.

The Legion Of Super-Heroes back up story is promising, but I have one point to make. In a roll-call panel, they mix up Night Girl and Shadow Lass! My purist shock and outrage aside, with the enormous cast of characters in the Legion, this is unforgivable, and confusing (or at least it will be) to new readers.

That aside, we learn how the Legion Espionage Squads mission in the past is not yet over. I will contain my outrage and follow the story eagerly!

`Of course I’m talking about the final chapter of Final Crisis: Legion Of Three Worlds. And without gushing and revealing umpteen spoilers, all I can say is it was brilliant.

I have always loved the Legion, and to see Grant Morrison write a Legion story, with George Perez art no less, is enough to give this fanboy an earth-shaking geekgasm. That’s not even to mention the fact it is a team up between the 1980’s Earth One Legion, the Reboot Earth 247 Legion and the Threeboot Legion. (Just wait until you find out where they come from!)

Of course, we’re assuming it’s the Earth One Legion, but seeing how the mechanics have worked so far, I don’t think we can be so sure. Still, it’s a Legion each for the Super-Family, one for Superman, one for the Conner Kent Superboy, and one for Supergirl.

The series so far has been one massive slugfest, but this final issue more than makes up for it as the battle reaches its climax, and secrets are revealed. The nature of the Time Trapper is theorised upon in a way that makes lots of sense, an awesome change of direction for the White Witch and a glimpse of other Legions as well, including my favorite, the Five Years Later Legion. I know they got a raw deal in the reviews, but I always liked them, even the duplicate Batch SW6 Legion storyline, which after this issue, has the potential of making even more sense. Seeing the clean lines of the clean cut Legion is great, but I would hate to think that the Five Years Later Legion was simply forgotten and swept under the carpet. I’m sure I can’t be the only one.

Plus Earth Prime. Wanderers. Dawny and Wildstar finally professing their love for each other (I think I can reveal that one, but I really daren’t say anything else, almost anything I could comment on would be a spoiler). The destiny of Gates. How I’ve missed that little bug.

If you’ve ever been a Legion fan, then you HAVE to pick up this issue, if not the entire series. It’s too good to wait for the trade, and it has me really excited about the upcoming Adventure Comics series, coming August the 12th. I just hope it has plenty of Legion as well as Superboy, as some places have mentioned 8-10 pages.

Although in the style of the older stories, I’m sorry, 8-10 pages is just not enough. Three stories of that length, all Legion, now that would be fine but just one? C’mon, the Legion is far bigger than that. Nevertheless, it has to be said……….

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!