Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn #1 (1989)

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn #1 (December, 1989)
"The Sign"
Writer - Jim Owsley
Penciller - M.D. Bright
Inks - Romeo Tanghal
Lettering - Albert De Guzman
Coloring - Anthony Tollin
Assistant Editor - Kevin Dooley
Editor - Andy Helfer
Cover Price: $1.00

Still in a Green Lantern kinda mood... I figured it would be fun to spend the weekend doing a bit of a comparison on the first issue of Emerald Dawn and the first part of Green Lantern: Secret Origin from the fourth ongoing volume (issue #29).

Going to set the table with a look at Emerald Dawn #1.  Tomorrow, we'll take a look at chapter one of Secret Origin, and play the ol' compare and contrast game.  It's been several years since I've read either... so, hopefully this will wind up being as fun as I think it will be!

EDIT: 06.12.2016 - For the look at Secret Origin, Part One and the comparison of the two, click here.

--

We open with Lt. Martin Jordan conducting a test-flight exhibition, we can see his young sons Hal and Jack looking on.  After flying a few routines, Marty notices that there's something wrong with the jet... the tower instructs him to take it over the desert and bail.  Sweat on his brow, Marty gives the thumbs down... they don't pay him to crash aircraft... he's gonna land this thing (or die trying)... 

Flash forward a bunch of years, and we join an adult Ferris Aircraft employee Hal Jordan is drowning his sorrows surrounded by his brother, sister in law, friend Andy and a real jerk named Biff.  They're busting his chops because he's lost his flight clearance and took a significant cut in pay.  In fact... he was fired, and his mom had to beg his boss to rehire him... as something like an air-traffic controller for the yard.

He's also lost his best gal, Carol who appears to now be dating Biff.  He gets up and wraps his arm around her before taking a crack at Hal, questioning whether or not he's man enough to wear a Ferris Aircraft cap.  Like I said, real jerk.

The Jordan clan end their "festivities" and head out for the night.  Tipsy Hal's behind the wheel of the jeep, and as they pull out he blocks out his friend and family member's drunken conversation and begins recounting the events of the day.  With every failure, Hal's foot presses harder on the gas... until they're careening straight into a sign for a motor lodge.

Hal gets his bearings and pulls an extremely hard left.  He rolls the jeep... right into an oncoming sedan.

Next thing we know, Hal wakes up in a hospital bed.  His nurse is none too happy having to deal with a drunk driver, having lost her son to one.  She has no sympathy for Hal, and makes sure he knows it.  After she leaves, we find that Carol had been standing there.  Hal tries to blame the wreck on the sign rather than anything he'd imbibed.  Disgusted, Carol walks out.

That morning, Carol is shocked to find that Hal has shown up for work... rather than still being in the hospital... or in jail.  Hal's playing passive-aggressive in regard to his lot in life, and Carol ain't having none of it.  All the while Hal is inside a flight simulator... even with his wings clipped, Hal wants to fly "something".

Carol leaves, appearing more annoyed than anything... and Hal returns to his "flight".  Suddenly the simulator breaks out of its housing and crashes through the wall... as Carol and Carl Ferris look on from afar.

The simulation pod soars through the sky, and lands in a desert crater hundreds of miles west (I didn't know there was any west from Coast City?).  What he finds is a crashed spacecraft... as he approaches, a green hologram of a face presents itself... looking like a Professor X Astral projection.

Hal is swooped into the crashed craft and finds himself standing before our dying red-skinned friend, Abin Sur.  Hal is informed that Abin's ring has chosen him to be his successor.  The ring pops onto Hal's finger, and before ya know it...

Hal begins to panic, not knowing what to make of his current situation... and winds up flying straight out of the craft.  Not realizing that he can fly, Hal plummets back down to Earth... crashing into the ground.  Moments later, he crawls out of the resulting crater, unharmed.

Hal flies to a nearby payphone to call into Carol... who believes he somehow stole their flight sim.  The conversation only grows more contentious until Hal finds out that his friend Andy looks to be paralyzed for life.

This causes Hal to absolutely lose his cool.  He takes to the sky and soars directly into and through the Motor Lodge sign that he blames her the wreck... 

--

Now this is a great Hal Jordan.  A flawed, human character.  A dude who has screwed up... and will continue screwing up.  Not because he's "too cool for rules", but because he's a human being... and sometimes we makes mistakes... sometimes big mistakes.  This is a Hal who can build character, and not always be the coolest most collected dude in the room.

This is played with during the Green Lantern story running through Action Comics Weekly, in which we learn that Hal wasn't quite as fearless as we'd believed.  The Guardians gave him a little brain tweak to make him think he was.  This has all been brushed under the rug, obviously, but still a very interesting thought (that I wish had been pursued further... if not with Hal, maybe with another Lantern).

I really like Carol's portrayal here as well.  We get the impression that she still has feelings for Hal... otherwise, she probably wouldn't be so angry/disappointed with him.  The scene at the hospital between the pair came off as so very real, and so well done.

Hal turning to the drink... while, I can see where DC brass might have a problem with it, I think it adds a retribution aspect to his character.  Not really something you would put in a feature film, mind you... but, it's certainly not a "sin".  He's clearly depicted as being down on his luck, both professionally and romantically.  It does not glamorize his drunkenness, in fact, Hal is pretty much ostracized because of it!  I guess mileage may vary... it's probably my Marvel upbringing that makes me dig flawed superheroes.

I gushed plenty over M.D. Bright's art when I discussed Emerald Dawn II... and it's still awesome!  He's here with his Quantum & Woody partner-in-crime Jim Owsley, who (I feel like I'm saying this a lot) is one of my top writers.  Too bad he doesn't stick around for this entire miniseries... but his replacement's certainly no slouch.  Really looking forward to his take on Rebirth era Deathstroke!

Anyways... tomorrow we'll take a look at Green Lantern (vol.4) #29, the first chapter of Green Lantern: Secret Origin.  When we wrap up, we'll try and compare that with this... see if there's any influence... confluence... or ignore-ance.  Til then!

--

Interesting Ads:

But... will I become rich?  Popular?  Will I get all the girls???

I'll take 'em both!

Sovereign Seven #24 (1997)

Sovereign Seven #24 (June, 1997)
"Triage"
Writer - Chris Claremont
Penciller - Ron Lim
Inker - Chris Ivy
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors & Separations - Prismacolors
Associate Editor - Eddie Berganza
Editor - Kevin Dooley
Cover Price: $1.95

I wasn't planning on doing another Sovereign Seven review for quite a while... and most certainly not just a random issue, either... but, c'mon... look at that cover!  I was browsing at one of the local shops and found this while flipping through issues of Lobo of all things (looking for a Wild Dog appearance).  I'd never seen this cover before, and as soon as I did, I knew I had to have it.

Luckily their 1990's back-issues (for the most part) are marked at "Get these the hell out of my store!" prices, so it was a quick pick.  Can the inside even hope to live up to it's cover?  Let's find out...

--

We open at the Kent Farm in Smallville, Kansas.  Rhian/Cascade has been forced into a mindlink by her Sovereign Seven teammate, Network as the Kents (Lois and Clark included) look on.  Cascade attempts to, well cascade (shift into her carbonated beverage form), however among the confusion Clark pops into his electric blue Superman togs and halts her transformation.  This freaks the poor girl out to no end, and she faints into Lois' arms.  Clark takes the opportunity to discuss the fear that comes with change, having recently become a bit "blue" himself, and his parents hug him.

In the Kent kitchen, Cascade spills the beans on her enemy.  He goes by the name Triage... which I would figure means he's a healer... but I guess not.  Anyhoo, he wants to draw Cascade back to the Crossroads... for an unknown reason.  She is apparently the last of the free Sovereigns.  Lois gets that wild look in her eye, and insists that she (and maybe Superman) follow her into this trap.

After a quick road trip (with Superman flying overhead lamenting the fact that he can't "come out" to Rhian), Lois and Rhian arrive at the Crossroads.  Rhian is acting a bit stiff... to which Lois encourages her to... *shudder* "strike your pose, girl!".  Shortly after, perhaps as karma for her cringe-worthy line, Lois gets mauled by a lion... okay, okay, she gets scratched by a cat.

Rhian pulls Lois upstairs to tend to her wound, which as luck would have it, helps their plan fall right into place.  From a bedroom window where Sovereign member Cruiser now slumbers, Lois spies the baddie Siege skulking about.  Cascade enters the room and informs Lois she's found the rest of her teammates (minus Network) sleeping in other rooms.

Lois alerts Superman to Siege's whereabouts, and he confronts him with some moderately embarrassing dialogue.  Luckily the talk is left brief, and he quickly gets to punching.  The battle causes the Crossroads to shake and quake... ultimately knocking Lois and Cascade into what they call the "Blood Room"... the most dangerous room around.  The pair find themselves smack in the middle of all the Sovereign's nightmares.  Ya know... that thing where everybody has to face their worst fears?  Yeah, that.

Meanwhile, Superman and Siege battle on.  Siege is joined by a woman in red, who amazingly doesn't introduce herself when she pops on panel.  The fight continues into the Crossroads until Superman runs smack into the one they call Triage.

Back in the Blood Room, Lois and Cascade see a destroyed Metropolis.  The Daily Planet has fallen and the streets are nothing but a pile of skulls.  We find out that this is where the Sovereign member Finale is being kept.  Finale, believing herself to be responsible for all of these deaths begs Cascade to kill her, and for a moment it looks like she does... but, instead tells her that she is indeed innocent.

Lois and Cascade attempt to bring Finale out of the Blood Room, however, she states she's still got work to do in there.  She grabs Lois, and appears to threaten her, telling her not to leave... hmm...

Cascade joins Superman in the battle downstairs.  They attempt to "cascade" away, however are halted by the trio of baddies.  Suddenly a sword-wielding Finale comes flying off the second story balcony straight toward Triage (who we find has "cascading" abilities himself).  Cascade notes that though we see Finale's costume and sword... that is most definitely not her.

As the fight rages on, the rest of the Sovereigns get involved having been woken up from their nightmares.  With the team at (nearly) full power (plus a Superman) Triage and Company teleport out.

As the dust settles we come to learn that the phony Finale was... get this, Lois Lane.  Yup... Superman (and I) can't believe it, and after a bit of finger wagging they embrace.

Superman heads over to Cascade to check on her, and give her a quick pep talk.  She takes his words to heart and heads over for a Sovereign Seven-sized group hug as Lois and Clark look on from the foreground.

--

Not gonna lie... I really wanted to like this one more.  I mean, as a story, it certainly wasn't bad... but so many things just didn't work for me.

I can get Superman and the Kents wanting to help Cascade... but, Superman's desire to "out" his secret identity to a near perfect stranger just strikes me as a bit premature.  Perhaps this was done to better "ground" the Sovereigns into the lore of the DC Universe... I still think there must be a better way.

The end, with Lois pretending to be Finale?  I'm sorry, I just don't buy it.  She jumped from the second story of the building onto the big bad... really?  I know Lois is portrayed as fearless and strong... but one thing she's not, is stupid... and this was stupid.  I mean, just a handful of pages earlier she lost a fight to a cat... now she's leaping from balconies onto supervillains?

The dialogue, though mostly good and familiar (if you're a Claremont fan, which I am)... had a few embarrassing tiks.  Superman asking about Siege's "lawful activity", Lois encouraging Cascade to "strike her pose"... the red clad villainess telling Cascade that they "own her cute little butt" all pretty cringy.  I gotta add that I can always do without the "teammates face their worst fears" trope too...

Ron Lim's art was very nice!  All of the characters looked great.  He draws a great looking electric-blue Superman and a very nice Lois.  It's the muddy muddy coloring that did his work no favors.  This is hardly a fair criticism, as many colorists/coloring firms were having run-ins with "the muds" during this vintage, but I feel it's worth a mention.

Is this worth checking out?  Well, despite my reservations and numerous complaints... yeah.  If you're a fan of Chris Claremont, of course you should check this out.  If you're into the Electric Blue, this is an appearance you need in your collection (whether it actually happened or not).  I believe the rights to Sovereign Seven are no longer with DC, which means if the series does ever get reprinted or collected... this issue will likely (or almost certainly) be left out.  I've only ever seen it once in the wild, but was able to procure it for a song.  Maybe keep an eye out for it.  For me, the cover alone was worth the price!

--

Interesting Ads:

Booster Gold #1 (1986)

Booster Gold #1 (February, 1986)
"The Big Fall"
Creator, Plotter & Writer - Dan Jurgens
Inker - Mike DeCarlo
Colorist - Tom Ziuko
Letterer - Agustin Mas
Editor - Janice Race
Cover Price: $0.75

I mentioned the other day that I spent much of the past weekend at the Phoenix Comicon.  While there I conducted interviews and my wife took some photos of cosplayers for DC in the 80s.  While there, I came across... well, one of my absolute favorite comics creators  In case the subject of this review isn't hint enough, that creator is Dan Jurgens.

When I first noticed him I nudged the wife... she's not into comics, but when I told her that he was the fella that killed Superman, she knew how important he was (to the industry in general, as well as myself).

I ambled on over, and introduced myself... you know that feeling when you think about meeting one of your heroes and totally being underwhelmed or disappointed... or maybe you just caught 'em on a bad day?  Well, those fears vanished as soon as I shook his hand.  He was super friendly, and made me feel like he was happy to be meeting me!

I didn't hang around long, as I didn't want to get in the way of any folks buying a commission from him... and unfortunately I didn't have a prearranged/pre-approved interview set with him... however, in our brief time, I'm sure I gushed enough to let him know how much I enjoy his work.

On the drive home, I was kicking myself for not asking any questions.  Here I was standing before one of the folks who literally shaped my perception of comic books... and affected my reading for over twenty-years, and all I did was gush like a dope.

The wife asked why I didn't just buy a commission from him... and I tells ya, if I wasn't driving at the moment... I'da kicked myself as hard as I could!

Anyhoo... Today we're gonna look at one of Mr. Jurgens most endearing character creations, Booster Gold!  Before we move into my normal spoilery synopsis, I just want to extend a huge thanks to Dan Jurgens for his kindness and his time!  

--

We open with Skip Andrews, frustrated Managing Editor for Blaze Comics.  He's looking for the next big thing that will give the company the Boost it so desperately needs.  As if by fate, when he finishes thinking out loud, he sees the latest edition of the Daily Planet, adorned with a headline about the "hottest new hero" in town, Booster Gold.  He's got an idea...

We jump to an Athletic Club where Booster is getting in his workout... while negotiating his take on an upcoming series of Booster Gold feature films.  He plays hardball with his man Conrad, and winds up with a peach of a deal... a ton of cash, some of the back end, and even the starring role!

We get an idea of just how important/well-known Booster's become in his short time in Metropolis.  As he and Conrad head across the facility to the lobby and juice bar several key members of society all greet him... or almost greet him, in the case of a senator who believes his name to be "Buster".  Booster orders a spa shake, and when he is finished the hostess retrieves his glass and hands it off to a shadowy man.

Booster meets with his driver, and has a misunderstanding over just what it means to "shake one's leg".  Inside the car he is lectured by his little robot companion Skeets regarding his need to familiarize himself with expressions.  While in the car, he calls his offices at Goldstar and speaks with his receptionist Trixie.  He asks her if she's made any headway getting in touch with the Justice League of America about becoming a member.

Just then, a large armored vehicle barrels down the street, with several squad cars in tow.  Booster and Skeets hop into action, quickly disabling the vehicle and rescuing civilians.

The armored vehicle opens revealing a crew of green clad henchmen.  After making short work of them, Booster is introduced to the main event... the man called Blackguard.  The two spar back and forth with neither getting the upper hand.

We shift to a penthouse office, where our shadowy fellow (from the juice bar, now known as Myron) presents an even shadowier man with Booster Gold's drinking glass.  They seek to find out Booster's true identity by means of testing his fingerprints.

Back on the street, Booster and Blackguard are still tangled in battle.  Young WGBS news reporter, Jimmy Olsen is on the sidelines reporting.  I believe Jimmy's appearance here is where people have a bit of trouble "placing" this issue.  If Jimmy works for WGBS, it's clearly a pre-Crisis tale... yet, Booster Gold is often referred to as (among) the first post-Crisis characters.  I suppose it doesn't really matter in the long run, but still a neat little "didja know?"

After a bit more tussling, Booster is able to lure Blackguard over to a power terminal, which he punches... electrocuting himself.

Back at Goldstar, Booster's agent Dirk Davis is wheeling and dealing.  Shortly, Skip Andrew of Blaze Comics is making the call to secure Booster's likeness for a comic book adaptation.  Dirk's shocked to hear that they even still make those things!  There's also a cute scene between Trixie and a cat-fearing jerk.

Back on the outside, Booster Gold is soaring through the sky carrying Blackguard's bounty of a S.T.A.R. Labs satellite guidance system.  He calls Trixie again to press the JLA issue, and this is the first time we see that Booster is wearing a Legion flight ring.

Booster arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs and meets with members of the press... much to the disdain of S.T.A.R.'s own Dr. Klyburn.  The SGS was a top secret project... and now thanks to Booster the whole world (or at least those watching the news) knows about it.

The broadcast is interrupted by an attack.  We observe Booster attempting to maintain order and help the civilians to safety... unfortunately, he falls victim to a blast from his next threat... a woman in a peculiar costume.  The reporters are left wondering if Metropolis' latest hero is truly their protector or just a failure...

--

What can I say?  This is a great issue, and a wonderful introduction of a brand-new character entering the DC landscape.  Not only an introduction, but a pretty brave one.  Booster is written as terribly unlikable, and under a pen other than Jurgens would have sunk right out of the gate.  At this point, I don't think we've seen another lead character who was, for lack of a better term "aloof to the reader".  It was brave, creative, FUNNY, and worked like a charm.

There was a fair amount of hinting at Booster's origin here, without going into any level of clarification, and I really appreciate that.  We get a glimpse at the Legion flight ring, and Skeets makes mention of his needing to familiarize himself with "local" languages and customs... but nothing overtly stated.

The big-bad was a great "gimme" for the reader to get a decent exhibition and demonstration of Booster's "powers"... the fight was well done and the cliffhanger is intriguing.  The sub-plot concerning Booster's fingerprints is interesting, and the poor Blaze Comics fella trying to get the rights to Booster Gold was funny "You mean they still print those?" indeed!

If I could change anything, I think I'd have given it a more iconic cover.  Being the first issue and a brand-new character, I'd reckon a more instantly identifiable cover would have been in order.  Not that the given cover is by any means bad, mind you, but it doesn't strike me as "iconic".  I've read this issue many times, and each time this cover strikes me as just not quite right for an issue #1.  I had similar feelings about John Byrne's Superman #1... the yellow one... just didn't feel like a "number one".

Most definitely recommended.  It shouldn't be too difficult to come by, and is worth the hunt.  If you don't mind the black and white art, the whole shebang is also available in a(n apparently out of print) SHOWCASE Presents Volume.  If you're not like me and digital comics don't make your teeth itch, you're in luck... the whole enchilada is available at readdcentertainment.com for $1.99 a piece, and they're well worth it.

Before wrapping up for the day, another big thanks to Dan Jurgens.  It was a thrill and pleasure to meet the man, and I anxiously await reading his upcoming/current run on the legacy-numbered (yup, still matters to me) Action Comics.

--

Interesting Ads:

The times... they were a'different...