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Zero Hour Revisited – Outsiders #11

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Walt

90srevisited_zerohour

outsiders_0011Final Blood II

Writer: Mike W. Barr
Penciller: Paul Pelletier
Inker: Robert Campanella
Colorist: Stuart Chalfetz
Letterer: Kevin Cunningham
Asst. Editor: Eddie Berganza
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: September 1994
Cover Price: $1.95

This incarnation of the Outsiders is one I’ve long been aware of, but really never read. It came to my attention back in the day thanks to the use of the Eradicator character–moving from the Superman books, I was at least "interested" in the title, though it was not one I ever got around to acquiring during its actual publication. If this isn’t my first issue reading, it’s at least the first I can consciously recall reading…and though I know OF several of the characters, recognize them at least in name if not by appearances elsewhere over the years…I just felt lost.

This issue basically sees the outsiders fighting vampires (or werewolves? But I think they’re supposed to be vampires), and arguing amongst themselves as the fighting and such happens. Even when the team would seem to have emerged victorious, there are breaks between characters, and outcomes from recent events I have not read that play into their relationships and the team dynamic, leaving the team quite splintered. Most disappointingly, the only actual tie that I noticed to Zero Hour (on the single "casual"/"reading for the experience as with every other issue of this project" read-through) is that two characters who appear in this issue also appear in Zero Hour.

That this issue carries that Zero Hour banner is very disappointing as such, and I’m not at all thrilled at the virtual "deception," as I did not enjoy the characters, the story, nor get anything "new" for Zero Hour. There was a throw-away line by Katana in Zero Hour #4 that I suppose references what happened here, but it was just that–trivial and throw-away.

I suppose the art works for the title, but I was so thoroughly out of the loop reading the issue that I hardly noticed it. When I hardly have a clue who’s who or what’s going on, I don’t much care how anyone looks. They could all be alternate timeline doppelgangers of one another for all I know.

All that said…while I appreciate that this issue probably made some sense in context of reading the earlier issues leading to this…I’m highly disappointed to have taken the time to read it as a Zero Hour tie-in when it doesn’t do a thing for the Event story.

Definitely an issue to pass on if reading stuff to get the "full" Zero Hour experience, I’d say!

Filed under: 2016 posts, The '90s Revisited, Zero Hour | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Zero Hour Revisited – Green Lantern #55

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Walt

90srevisited_zerohour

green_lantern_0055Assault & Battery

Story: Ron Marz
Pencils: Daryl Banks, Derec Aucoin, Craig Hamilton
Inks: Romeo Tanghal, Craig Hamilton, Ray Snyder
Colors: Steve Mattsson
Letters: Albert DeGuzman
Assists: Eddie Berganza
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: September 1994
Cover Price: $1.50

This is a pretty simple issue. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) is getting his butt handed to him in a fight with Major Force. Of course, it’s Major Force that deserves the beatdown–he killed Kyle’s girlfriend and stuffed her remains in a refrigerator…but that’s more a story and topic for some other post. As the hero takes a beating, refusing to give up his ring to the villain, it looks like it’s all over…but then MF wants one final answer from Kyle regarding a chunk of green rock found in the alley where he got his ring. This turns out to be the key to recharging Kyle’s ring, and he quickly defeats the villain…before the battle is cut short by the intervention of the LA Special Crimes Unit. Refusing to stick around for questioning, Kyle flies off. Waiting at his apartment, though, is another man who’d been known as Green Lantern–Alan Scott. Scott fills Kyle in on the basic background of the former Green Lantern Corps. As Kyle processes what he’s just learned, Superman and Metron show up to recruit him.

As tie-in issues go, thus far I’ve far preferred the Batman issue, feeling like it actually took place in the midst of the unfolding event. The Flash issue only just barely–at its end–touched the event, and now basically the same thing for this Green Lantern issue. I’d actually consider this almost a "Red Skies" tie in–that is, you DON’T actually need to read this to get anything extra, really, pertaining to the Zero Hour event. Having the context allows for a bit of empathy later in that story from what I recall, but for right this moment, I’m a bit disappointed by how un-connected this issue was.

I read this issue back when it first came out–after Green Lantern’s involvement in Reign of the Supermen and learning of new goings-on with the title, I jumped in with #50 (Hal’s villainous turn) and then followed the title from Kyle’s FULL premiere in #51 (which was functionally a #1, but in an age when titles didn’t get rebooted just because someone blinked)…so I was getting this issue anyway, it just happened to be part of Zero Hour.

The art isn’t bad, though there are a few more names involved with the art than I’m used to…whatever the case, if I didn’t see the list in the credits I don’t think I would have actually noticed…I just kinda flew through the issue, consciously trying to remember other details from this early, early part of Kyle’s run to contextualize. Story-wise, this is essentially a #5 issue, so Kyle is still being established, and there’s no real feel for him quite yet…so this works well, tossing the rookie hero into things as part of his initial journey.

As the issue of Green Lantern that this is, it’s worthwhile, and definitely a meaningful issue in the early development of Kyle…but as a Zero Hour issue, it’s tangential and really not needed (though I recall the #0 issue of the title being VERY tightly tied to the events of Zero Hour!).

Filed under: 2016 posts, The '90s Revisited, Zero Hour | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The ’90s Revisited: Green Lantern #81

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Walt

greenlantern0081nFuneral for a Hero

Writer: Ron Marz
Pencils: Darryl Banks
Inks: Romeo Tanghal
Color: Pamela Rambo
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Associate Editor: Eddie Berganza
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: December 1996
Cover Price: $1.75

“That was a good issue.” That was my initial thought on closing this, the first time I’ve ever read the issue. Oh, there were some odd bits here and there, but the oddity largely comes from my present knowledge of stuff in 2016 contrasting with reading a book that’s some 19+ years old.

This issue gives us the funeral of Hal Jordan. Though this is functionally #31 of Kyle’s series, and he was introduced to “replace” Hal in the title…until now, Hal had not actually been dead. He’d first simply become Parallax, destroyed the Corps and then been “not on Earth.” He returned in Zero Hour trying to re-write reality, to fix things…and was stopped. I recall (though not in much conscious detail) the #0 issue of Green Lantern…of Hal and Kyle interacting, and I believe the then-destruction of Oa, and I think I’d figured Hal was out of the picture. He then came back in The Final Night, where he sacrificed himself to save Earth and re-ignite the sun…which brings us to this issue.

Kyle has created a cathedral construct for all the mourners, in part of the crater that was once Coast City. We see the arrival of Jon Stewart and Donna Troy, and Donna’s reunion with Dick Grayson; she officially introduces Dick to Kyle. We see there are quite a number of individuals gathered–some heroes, some villains, some not even “invited.” (But that’s life, innit?) Superman speaks, followed by Guy Gardner and Jon Stewart (former GLs both), then Dinah Lance (Black Canary) on behalf of Oliver Queen (deceased at this point in continuity). The Flash (Wally West) speaks, followed by Carol Ferris…and the service concludes with Kyle. Next, the mourners move outside, where the memorial “eternal” flame for Coast City is magically transformed into a GREEN flame (Hal now reunited with the city he so loved) by the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott. Finally, Swamp Thing causes a massive growth of plant life in the crater…transforming the lifeless, desolate pit into a massive green space to honor the fallen hero…while Kyle erects a statue construct of Hall at the heart of it.

While many might say that you need to have constant action, constant “big stuff” happening, huge events, every issue must be merely a chapter in an ongoing story…I myself am very much a huge fan of self-contained one-shots…and of quiet, personal stories. A couple of my favorite X-Men comics involve the characters at home, just being themselves and interacting…not saving the world or facing some catastrophic event or the latest apocalyptic villain. This issue is like that. No huge action-event. No action-stars. No villain crashing the party and making trouble. This is not part 1 of some epilogue mini-SERIES to examine the death of Hal. This is not a “bridge” issue shepherding us from the last event right into the next.

This is a quiet, moving story where we get to see a number of DC characters interacting as themselves, in context of a loss. Perhaps there should be mention that the WORLD has just nearly ended, but there’s not even that–this isn’t “just” a follow-up to The Final Night…this is simply a story of people coming together to mourn the death of a man whose life had–in some way–touched all of theirs. And I suppose the way I’m going on and on like this ought to “say” enough in itself, outside of these words I’m typing.

For me–having grown up through the ’90s, having been quite immersed in DC‘s continuity (if only on the Superman side) through much of this period, being “aware of” if not directly following every title–this is an instant classic. I paid $3.99 to buy this from a back-issue bin; no bargain-bin or quarter-bin…just a “full priced back issue” in this case. The $3.99–just over double original cover price–makes this issue a “match” for any current 2016 issue…yet to me, the quality far exceeds most anything I’ve read recently from DC.

To say the least…the writing for this issue is great, and my sole complaint would be what feels like a tacked-on bit from Batman for the sake of a pretty bow on the situation, quite opposite of how Batman would be portrayed through later years until Infinite Crisis nearly a decade after this.

Banks‘ art is fantastic as well…I have no complaints on the visuals, and to me the only way characters seem slightly “off” visually I think is that they look almost “too human.” There’s a deep authenticity to me here, between the visuals and story combined…as any comic book should be! And unlike contemporary comics that seem full of silent or near-wordless 2-page spreads…this issue has an example of where something like that is truly justified…giving us a huge, powerful moment…whose silence echoes loudly as we see the interior of the cathedral, the pews full of mourners, Kyle and Donna moving through.

greenlantern0081cThe copy of this issue that I bought has a $1.75 cover price…which honestly surprised me, as I’d thought all DC books were $1.95 or so at this point. Based on the barcode on the cover and no “Direct Edition” text, I can only assume this is a true “newsstand edition” copy…and perhaps these editions were slightly cheaper than the comic shop editions. (I do recall the X-books having a similar thing with a cheaper lower-paper-quality edition and then the more expensive, high-quality-paper “deluxe edition”). This would be yet another difference with contemporary comics…as in 2016 I have observed the “newsstand” editions being seemingly-arbitrarily priced at $1 more than normal.

All said…this was a great issue, and very much worth my $4, putting virtually any current comic to shame, value-wise by comparison. And it only took me some 16+ years to get around to paying a “premium price” to acquire and get to read this issue.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The ’90s Revisited: Parallax: Emerald Night #1

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Walt

parallaxemeraldnight001Emerald Night

Writer: Ron Marz
Penciller: Mike McKone
Inker: Mark McKenna
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Associate Editor: Eddie Berganza
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.95
Cover Date: November 1996

I missed Final Night when it originally crossed the DC Universe. (Of course, that was an easy enough thing to do, as back then an event even of this magnitude seemed to be contained to a single month rather than spread out across half a year or more!)

I came across this issue in a random box of comics I got for $5. I knew it had ’90s stuff in it; my interest was piqued by some Onslaught (Marvel/X-Men) issues and a couple issues of Wizard magazine on top of the stack. This was one of the brightest “gems” of the entire box, though, once I actually dug through…well over 100 issues and yet I found myself leaving everything else partially sorted and began reading this, just because of what it was!

Kyle Rayner finds Hal Jordan–Parallax–and explains that Earth really needs him…the hero that he WAS, anyway. A sun-eater has darkened Earth’s sun, which means if it’s not reignited…well, that’ll be the end of the world, within days. Jordan wallows in indecision given his checkered recent-past, and winds up visiting several figures from his past in order to seek internal “guidance” on making a monumental decision. As we see him interact with Guy Gardner, John Stewart, an old mechanic ally and finally Carol Ferris, we see the influence they’ve had on him, and Jordan–Parallax–makes his decision.

Story-wise, this issue is rather cliche. The Hal Jordan I knew and have had thrust upon me for the last decade or so certainly wouldn’t have had this hesitation…yet, this was a much different character, and was Parallax at the time, which we’ve come to know means he was possessed and thus not entirely himself anyway. That doesn’t remove the cliche, but makes it bearable as a piece of the past, filling in a small gap in my experiential knowledge of this character. Yet, this is a Ron Marz issue, and it’s nice to see the way he handled the Kyle/Hal stuff, and the rest of the Hal stuff…what I recognize retroactively to be making the best of a bad situation.

Visually, I liked the look of this overall–I rather enjoy McKone‘s work–yet it didn’t seem quite as refined as I expected, and something was a bit “off,” keeping this from being as much a visual enjoyment as I expected for the name on the cover.

Still, as something that I functionally paid maybe 4 or 5 cents for, this was very much a worthwhile read, worth my time and I’m glad to have read this. The primary drawback is that now I want to find my other Final Night issues to reread that core story, and I’m re-interested in tracking down the actual Green Lantern issue(s) that tied in, as all these years later I’ve still never read those in any form!

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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