Monday, December 22, 2008

Well, I still have power, heat, and food. And comics. Lots of comics.
You may think this is as lazy as a Wendigo-Snowbird fight in a blizzard, but it's still one of the most depressing pages I can think of.

Conditions aren't quite that bad here yet, but the snow continues. Fortunately, I live pretty close to my work and a grocery store, so I shouldn't have too many more problems: I was stuck for a bit there, and my back could've done without the slippery walks and the shovelling, but it's getting better.

I mentioned before how Giffen and company rarely broke from the nine-panel grid, but they do so here with good effect. At this point in the series, the alien Dominators (from the classic DC crossover Invasion!) have been working at taking over earth for a millennium (no relation to that crossover), and while they've infiltrated the upper levels of Earthgov, things are starting to go south. The Science Police have realized they've been duped, and the Doms have been forced to detonate hundreds of power-generating "fusion powerspheres," killing thousands and starting a chain reaction that would destroy the earth later in the series. Oh, and the moon blew up and Superman was there.
'Pretend it never happened' is like the Legion crossover mantra, Cham.
Yeah, if you thought the "Five Years Later" Legion was downbeat before, this might not be the issue for you, since we also finally (about three years in!) see what happened to Rokk Krinn/Cosmic Boy and Salu Digby/Shrinking Violet in the Braal/Imsk war. Or conflict, or police action, whatever. Now, longtime Legion fans will remember the Braalians have magnetic powers (think Magneto, Marvel fans) and the Imskians can shrink--like the Wasp, but without flight, stings, or multiple costumes. So you might think the smart money's on the magnetic guys, but imagine the terror of going on patrol against an enemy that could be hiding beneath any leaf, ready to jump out with a machine-gun or bayonet. For good measure, the Imskians also deploy a "damper" that disrupts the Braalians magnetic fields, killing or maiming most of them, and that's why Cosmic Boy didn't have powers in this series. It might not be fun comics, but it's compelling. From Legion of Super-Heroes #20, plot and pencils by Keith Giffen, dialogue and story assist by Tom and Mary Bierbaum, inks and story assist by Al Gordon, colors and story assist by Tom McGraw. Damn, everyone was in on that one, huh?

Coming up tomorrow: a more uplifting page...no, on second thought, it's not uplifting at all, but it's funny. That's something, anyway.

No comments: