Elayne's page

Writer: Peter David
Penciller: J. Calafiore
Inkers: Mark McKenna and Charles Barnett
Letterer: Dan Nakrosis
Colorist: Tom McCraw
Assoc. Ed.: Eddie Berganza
Head Honcho: Kevin Dooley

I figured since we have the return of two prodigal ancestors, it was about time I did something I promised Peter and myself for months now that I'd do. I sat down and reread THE ATLANTIS CHRONICLES. All seven issues in one sitting.

I can't say enough about the writing and texture of this wonderful series (although the less said about sometimes off-coloring - a real mistake when the plot calls for some characters to be very specifically blond - and the artist's depiction of the underwater kingdom, where men were men and most women were apparently pinups, the better), and it was an absolute pleasure to curl up with it once again. My memory is a notoriously faulty mechanism, so this really helped boost my understanding of just what Peter's trying to do here. And I probably still got it wrong.

First of all, for those who aren't lucky enough to have read the CHRONICLES, let me quote therefrom for your edification. These are the words of Atlan, "he who appears in Atlantis only at times when the wheel of destiny needs to turn," right after he impregnated Aquaman's mother, Atlanna, in probably one of the most gorgeous sex scenes I've ever read (definitely cold shower time after that one). Atlanna speaks first:

"He will know joy and sorrow," replied Atlan, "darkness and light, for the blood of Orin and Shalako* will run through him."

* Orin and Shalako were the first two sibling rivals dealt with in the CHRONICLES, back when Poseidonis first sank. Orin was a man of science, Shalako a believer in the gods' magic and later a practitioner of the dark arts.

"From Orin's line, he will have wisdom and leadership. He will be a great warrior. From Shalako's line, he inherits dominion over the sea creatures. He will leave Atlantis and return. He will produce a child with a woman from the world of the Dark Gods... and they will both leave him."

Does this refer to Mera and AJ, as one would previously assume, or Koryak and his mother? Hmm...

"He will battle the inner uncertainty caused by his mixed heritage. And he will battle his half-brother, whom I shall also sire, with a woman of the surface. For two brothers must always struggle for Atlantis. That is fate. The brothers will meet and battle - the surface brother Orm and your son, whom you shall name Orin. They will battle many times."

"And when they battle for the final time, the outcome will determine the ultimate destiny of Atlantis... Either it will rejoin the surface world... or be forever... destroyed."

So, all that's background. We open with Arthur/Orin, Dolphin, Mera and AJ staring into a portal at Atlan's face. Apparently this is the first time they've ever spoken - they didn't call Atlan the Loner for nothin'. He agrees to help Arth-- hell, Orin out of the aspect of netherspace, but warns there's a price to pay, and also mumbles that he's going to get some folks very pissed for doing this. He mutters a couple platitudes about being proud of Orin, who's still scowling and tight-lipped at Dad, then opens the portal, warning "You're about to embark on the greatest adventure of your life," and bids the foursome to come through the opening.

Orin hesitates as the others swim out, turns back and says, in a very small voice, "Thank you." And the city shakes, to hear an actual polite word from his lips. :)

Unfortunately, portal been berry berry bad to AJ, as we now realize his name can also be pronounced "age" - he accelerates faster than Spock in the third Star Trek movie, and only then does Atlan inform her (what, he wanted to see his grandkid writhe in pain first?) that time passes differently on this side of things, and that the kid had better hightail it back through if he wants to be normal again. Mera opts to go back with him, bidding Orin another tearful farewell. He reaches out his left hand to her, which of course is now a harpoon, but the portal's gone and the 'poon sticks in a "gleaming wall," sending a shockeroonie through Orin.

He lies there, and suddenly realizes pretty much everything. We read on, because we don't have a clue. Of course, I think I'd rather be clueless than zapped, given the chance.

Cut to a page of some military men griping about Thanatos-as-Aquaman's threats against humanity. Be prepared, Admiral Strom advises, apparently not recognizing that this short-haired idiot isn't Orin (???).

Elsewhere in the gleaming structure, a crystal cocoon cracks open, and Delenn definitely doesn't step out of it.

Orin explains his vision to Dolphin - apparently they're right underneath Poseidonis, which is being pushed upward by the place wherein they sit - seems the meteor first show waaaaaay back on page 32 of THE ATLANTIS CHRONICLES #1, the one responsible for the tidal waves that sunk Poseidonis in the first place, is some kind of spaceship. "It all makes sense now!" Orin screams gleefully. And indeed, the more Peter ties AQUAMAN into the CHRONICLES, the more it starts to make sense to me too.

The creature who's emerged from the crystal is pissed, and rightfully blames Atlan for tipping the balance of power, along with the vessel and the domed city now resting atop it. The city "claws its way upward, like a child from the womb."

Meanwhile, Koryak, Vulko and the rest of the displaced denizens of the almost-surfaced city wind through some more corridors and come upon... but we'll get back to that.

The formerly-cocooned creature introduces herself to Orin as she turns very big and scaly and snaky and all-round monstrous. She's Tiamat. I know I've heard that name somewhere before but I can't place it. Maybe it was a nightmare I once had. Orin and, to a lesser extent, Dolphin battle her (okay, more like, they try to escape her clutches), while the surface people monitor underwater seismic disturbances (as the city rises, and Strom reacts with "My God, it's happening ahead of schedule..." what, does everyone know this is going to happen except the reader?).

Orin reasons the only way to defeat Tiamat is to put her in touch with her inner chi-- no, that's not right. Her outer vessel, which has the brew that is true (second time I've used that joke in my reviews this week, woo hoo!). The ship has apparently turned against its occupant, and sizzles her right quick. She has a few parting words for Orin as she falls ("You idiot... you're no more human than I am..."), and it's only then that Dolphin notices something else going on. Poseidonis once again rests above the surface of the water, buoyed permanently by the sentient ship.

But let's get back to those corridors, and Koryak and Vulko, shall we? 'Tis the season for bursting through cocoons, as the one they encounter is split open by some sort of gleaming, pointed weapon... which turns out to be the new "hand" of... ready... Kordax.

A wee more background, then I'm done. Okay, remember I mentioned the first Orin and his brother Shalako? Well, Shalako (who killed his favorite wife Loma to appease his dark gods, BTW, a real well-adjusted sort) had a son, Dardanus (who witnessed the slaying, which can mess up any kid). Orin and his wife Narmea had a daughter, Cora. Dardanus, exiled from Poseidonis for - well, it's too long to go into, sorry - Dardanus basically raped his cousin Cora, and Kordax was the bastard child of that union. Real pleasant, huh? As he introduced himself back in THE ATLANTIS CHRONICLES #4, page 31, "Kordax, the Abandoned. Kordax, the Accursed."

Kordax, the Pissed. Methinks Orin's going to need more help than the Justice League (next issue's guest stars) can supply to deal with a creature who can do pretty much everything he can, and who has lived through the centuries as the ogre that will come to get Atlantean children if they don't behave, as the originator of The Curse of Kordax (the blond hair), and about as synonymous with the devil as the underwater dwellers get. Goodness. But of course, goodness has nothing to do with it.

It bears repeating - I can't stress enough how good THE ATLANTIS CHRONICLES are. If you have it, reread it, then look through the last few issues of AQUAMAN and go "aha" like I did. If you don't have it, look for it. It's only five years old, but it holds up real nice.

UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED #2 (of 3)
"The Devil to Pay" (cover title: "Hell on Earth!")

Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Howard Porter
Inker: Dennis Janke
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos (and if you think that was easy to type...)
Colorist: Rick Taylor
Asst. Ed.: Ali Morales
Assoc. Ed.: Roo
Head Honcho: Brian Augustyn (spelled right this time)

This Issue's Firesign Line: "...raisin' the devil. Had him about six feet off the floor too..."

Um, where to begin… Okay, with the stupid pun. I felt like calling this "UnderWHELMED Unleashed." Now there, that's out of the way.

Next, with the compliments. This issue centers around Neron's attempts to sway the emotions and ethics of the Good Guys, which as we all know is much more fun than turning bad guys badder. We get to see the heroes be all noble, but more fun (at least for me) was the way we get to see Mark tweak us, the DC fans. There are two scenes in particular that had me smiling, and they occur back to back: Flash's Temptation, and Batman's Temptation.

Look around, you'll see it - the "Bring Back Barry" threads still haven't died. The only thing that can tempt Wally is the same thing that's tempted his readers, over and over - Neron will bring back Barry. For him. For us. Shyeeah, right.

Likewise for those of us who regretted the whole 900-KILL BOY WONDER fiasco of a few years back - Neron's giving us a chance to atone for our bloodlust. Oh, he'll want a little bloodlust in return, but hey, it's the '90s, it's all around us (did anyone not shrug when it's shown that one of the "heroes" Neron later approaches is Lobo?). We can obviously live with it. But Jason Todd - wasn't that a little much, even for us? After all, the Joker didn't kill him, we did (so goes the thinking).

It reminds me a little of the only thing I found fascinating in ZERO HOUR, and which I dare say a more skillful writer could have made really, really work - the idea that Hal, in his newfound infinite power, could Make Everything All Right for us again, could bring back the much-loved Multiverse with a wiggle of his nose. And, I'm not ashamed to say, some of us (well, I) wanted him to play God. Or the Devil.

What would have been so bad? We could gain the universe... and lose our souls... this is a really lovely idea, and these two scenes make the most of it when they gently tap on that fourth wall.

And I still liked Porter's pencils a lot, the green ink still works very well for me, and the double-page spread of 18-19 is intriguing and very well written and laid out. "An open wound. A rattled confidence. A nagging doubt." A bunch of teasers, re: Hawkman, Ray, Triumph and Spectre (I can't figure Hawkman's angle, we're learning the Ray's in his own book, and I think I know Triumph's and the Spectre's), who seem to me to be just the sort who'd go for Neron's sweet-voiced caresses.

But there was stuff that bothered me too. The two scenes with Blue Devil bothered me - if his wish were to "team up" with Marla and Neron supposedly granted that wish, why was Marla killed? Well, the easy way is to say, nyah nyah and duh, he's the Devil and he lies. But that's a bit too pat for me. Is there something more fundamental I'm not getting here?

The scene with Superboy bothered me - I found it overall gratuitous. I never once believed the Kid's fondest wish was to become Superman. Kesel's never shown that in him at all in his own book. Don't buy the premise, so I can't buy the offer. Glad the Kid turned it down too.

The "inner circle" bit bothered me (except for the Joker - the two bits with him biting the heads off Batman cookies and selling his "soul," such as it is, for Cuban cigars absolutely tickled me) because it just seemed very predictable... except for the element of the Trickster, who intrigues me enough to get #3 just to see what becomes of him.

And, worst of all, I almost don't care what happens to Neron. I mean, I know what'll happen, he'll be defeated, good triumphs over evil yadda yadda yadda, but I mean, I don't know if I care that much how it happens.

I defy anyone to try to get me interested in Crabface Lantern. Even Waid's mighty powers can't do it for me here. And worst of all, and this was something I mentioned in my review of UU #1, Neron bashes him. Fisticuffs again. This is so un-Satanlike to me (not that I've trafficked with Satan lately, mind you, although I briefly considered such a pact earlier today when the Jesus freak boarded the subway but that's an entirely different story). I mean, I still don't see the Devil doing this Kewl Fight stuff. So either he's not the Devil (and I'm sure 'netters are laying odds on that right now) or he's lowering himself. I dunno.

The Soul Jar (by Sylvia Plath... no, that was Another Jar) isn't all that jarring to me, but it gives Mark an interesting out to bring back the Rogues (especially after he taunts Flash with their memories) as well as Kadabra and, for those who care, Polaris and Circe. Find the key that breaks the jar. I figure this is going to be the Trickster's role.

Interesting that Blue Devil doesn't appear to have turned evil, now that Neron's screwed him over. Wonder who does?

Brilliant panel layouts for the most part - nice use of juxtaposition of close-ups, mediums and wide shots. I like Porter's art a lot. Inks and colors fit well. Mark seems overly wordy, and sometimes it works for me and sometimes it doesn't.

This makes two Waid-written books in two weeks that have kinda left me wanting more than I feel I got. Guess it is time to turn in that Waidgirl Badge after all. :)

Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Igor Kordey (fully painted art)
Lettering by computer and committee (Starkings/Comicraft)
Asst. Ed.: Nancy Poletti
Head Honcho: Marc McLaurin

This Issue's Firesign Line: "I'm dead! This hasn't happened to me since 'M'!"

As you know if you read my review of the first issue, this book really hit home for me. My own teen fangirl "wonder years" aren't that far behind me, and I still remember them fondly from time to time. Fortunately, I never had to deal with what Our Heroine, Cindy Knutz, goes through in this two-part book. The closest I came to that was John Lennon's death - I adored Lennon, but I didn't really come to admire his work until long after I'd passed my initial crush years. It hit hard, sure, but it was a sort of general melancholy. Like I'd lost a friend, but not a lover.

Cindy's lost a lover. It doesn't matter that the love is all in her mind, that Simon Williams probably never knew she existed. It's still real to her. What isn't real is death, and the way Abnett and Lanning play with the concept of comic book death intrigues me. I mean, think about it - haven't most of the Marvel superheroes come back? As Cindy tries to explain to fan club president Bernie Sedaka (who still reminds me a little too uncomfortably of myself at that age), "He's superhero-dead! Don't you know anything? He'll come back... it'll be dramatic!"

I mean, yeah, resurrection is always a possibility. Always has been, in fiction. Look at how Conan Doyle was "forced" by his loyal readers to resurrect Sherlock Holmes after he thought he'd gotten rid of him for good. And comic books have had a long and noble tradition of "he/she isn't really dead, surprise!" behind them - a tradition that's hard to buck because comics, like the pulp novels that preceded them, depend a lot on reader fealty to characters. And you always take a chance when you decide to kill a character for good, especially one who has his or her own book. Over at DC, weren't nobody surprised when Superman came back; that was tacitly understood to be the long-term goal from the start of the death series. But Flash - hey, as long as the current creative team's in charge over there, you're never going to see Barry Allen alive again, and the fact that he isn't coming back makes things more poignant, more special, more... real. You can't always bring them back; because many of today's readers may want to, need to deal with characters' death on a different level.

But I digress. Cindy's not dealing with Wonderman's death well at all. Her local fan club chapter has no idea what she's talking about when she gets up there and professes to still believe he's alive. She retains press clippings and pictures, keeping him alive for her just as surely as our old comics keep our old favorites alive for us – transfixed in time, unhurt by What Happens Next because, in the land of nostalgia, there is no Next. I can put a Beatles album on the stereo and John Lennon is there, you know? But Cindy's denial is, of course, much deeper than wistful nostalgia - she just plain can't, won't accept that he's gone. He can't die without fulfilling his destiny of bucking superhero stereotypes by choosing her. The others, especially Bernie, they just don't understand, and she doesn't want to talk with them.

She'd rather look out her window, and fall - and be saved by Simon. She knew he'd come back for her, she just knew it! This 4-page daydream sequence is just wonderfully done. It almost had me going for a bit (as I don't follow happenings in the Marvel Universe that much, I figured at first, well, maybe he did come back... is Wonderman still dead, by the way? not to sound too much like a cynic), until I realized Cindy was speaking in complete sentences, not overwhelmed by things all that much. We always speak clearly and eloquently in our own daydreams.

Cindy visits Bernie to cheer her up, and reassure her of Wondy's imminent resurrection. Bernie will have none of it, even when Cindy presents two tickets to the memorial service. Bernie thanks her and gives her a present, a Williams-autographed lobby card. Catch the foreshadowing, "Right now, all I wanna be is where he is."

The sky's still a creepy ionized pink (lovely colors throughout this whole issue, just like the last one) as Cindy steps into the cemetery (Forest Lawn, I'd guess) and into an incredibly impressive 2-page spread featuring many of the larger-than-life heroes in the Marvel Universe, with almost perfect perspective - Cindy, back to us, at the bottom left of the enormous panel, overwhelmed (as we are), in "a different world."

In what surely must be a tweak of irony on the writers' part, Cindy is seated next to Nick Fury. But she finds herself "in a daze. I don't really hear what the man with the eye-patch is saying" because she's looking around, notificing that Simon is very, very dead as far as the other heroes, his peers, are concerned. And then something within her brings to mind her peer - Bernie. Where is she?

"I try to tell myself I have to stay...to make it work. The destiny thing. But there's this voice inside me..." And Cindy abandons her delusional destiny (but, since this is fiction, we can always wonder, would it have been a delusion? Would Simon have resurrected at his memorial service given new life by the love of a fan?) to listen to that voice - the voice that's assuring her that her friend is in trouble.

We see Bernie's hand pop in a video of one of Simon's movies where his character is saving the day, as Cindy races towards her to save the day in her world - the closest world we have to our own for the moment. The world where death does mean "auto wrecks and malignant lumps and cholesterol." And distraught women who "pop pills as though they were candy" and pass out on their living room floor from overdoses. Bernie's leg brushes against the remote, clicking off the movie, as Cindy takes steps to revive her. Cut to the hospital recovery room, where we see the results of Cindy's heroism - Bernie is alive.

The evening sky is still tinged with reds and golds and purples as Cindy silently walks into the cemetary and up to Simon Williams' headstone to pay her respects alone. The chairs from that day's service are still set up, as we see from our viewpoint behind the eternal globe resting atop the stone. We also see Cindy walking away, having made her peace with herself, with her internal vision of Simon, with the Simon that exists and always will exist in her mind. "I'm going to be busy with stuff. Just this afternoon I realized. I've been letting a lot of things slide. It wasn't your fault. It was just me... And so I figure I don't want to wait around any more." Thus does Our Heroine save herself as well.

I can't say enough about these two books. Really, really lovely stuff. Bravo, all concerned.

Sergio Aragones' GROO #11
"The Gamblers"

by Aragones
Letterer: Stan Sakai
Colorist: Tom Luth
Mark Evanier, Croupier

This Issue's Firesign Line: "Live or die, I'll make a million!"

Here's what I thought...

Well, I think Spoiler Space is kinda silly for GROO, but what the hey...

I and many, many others are housebro-- er, heartbroken that Sergio and Mark are calling it quits on GROO after next month's issue, but I'd like to sincerely thank them for the many years of joy and nonsense and even some wisdom here and there that they've managed to bring us.

Oh, you want a synopsis? Why? It's GROO. Buy it.

Okay, okay. Groo becomes the pawn in a scheme by a couple of gamblers who bet local townsfolk as to what he'll do next. Mostly as to whether he'll cause mayhem and disaster (a sucker bet, of course). Things escalate, of course. The town's king doesn't like gambling, and starts to arrest everyone who isn't following Groo around, grinning idiotically at him and waiting on his every move to see who wins which bet - "I win! I bet he would run!" "I win! I bet he was going to stop!" "I win! I bet he would go for his swords!" "I win! I bet he was going to slay us!" "I win! I bet he would knock all my teeth out!" And so on.

Groo finally escapes the townspeople by running into an abandoned mine, where he stays for months while the townspeople camp out in the desert, waiting for him to emerge and partaking in several games of chance. When he and Rufferto finally tire of eating bat fricassee every night and figure everyone's gone, they clamber out into the... bright lights of evening? Why, "they have built a shrine to gambling out here! How foolish! Poeple will never come to the desert to gamble!"

I must give a copy of this to my parents, who live in Vegas in the winter months. :)

And I think we know what happens when Groo enters the casino. :)

And yay once again to Mark for predicting Our Long National OJ Obsession would be over by the time this issue hit the stands!

Next issue: Pipil Kahn. And fondest farewells. =sniff=

So, what did y'all think?

I thought Jeff Smith might have wished to update his update paragraph, if you know what I mean. Yeah, I know the Sourcebook just came out, but even so the plot is becoming complex enough that a "story so far" intro (especially as this is the first issue out under the Image logo) would certainly serve a purpose. Even for those of us who've been with this book since #1. It's a nice refresher, helps us keep track of things.

When we last left our intrepid heroes, Fone Bone, Thorn and Gran'ma Rose Ben were confronted by stupid, stupid rat creatures deep in the darkness of the woods, and Gran'ma's "gitchy feeling" was preventing her from dealing with the creatures as she had in her royal past. The creatures discuss what kind of meal to make of their adversaries - the one on our left keeps holding out for quiche. Rose swings and misses - strike one tree. Rat creatures 2, tree and Rose 0. But at least she scared 'em off and put some distance between them. Alas, the gitchy feeling remains.

While Rose rests, she gives her royal sword to Thorn. Boo, hiss go the creatures. "That's interesting.. the monsters don't like you touching my weapon. You may be closer to the Turning than I realized." "The Turning?" asks Thorn. The Turning?, ask I and every other reader. Man, this guy's such a tease. :)

Silence ensues, and Rose decides to try to extrac information from one of the creatures. She wrestles him to the ground (best 2 out of 3?), where he confesses "We've been ordered to evacuate the valley..." Enter Kingdok, the ruler of the rat creatures, pissed that one of his minions spilled his guts so easily. He proceeds to try to get Rose's guts in exchange, tossing her and Thorn and Fone Bone around like wads of paper.

While Kingdok plays with his would-be food (Rose), Fone Bone awakens, feels his head and sees - blood. A real nasty head-gash. I wasn't prepared for this - I don't recall Smith ever showing bleeding before. It really had a sobering effect on me, especially considering it's Fone.

Fone finds himself alone, and begins to call for help. He thinks of the dragon first. His cries echo through the woods, and reach...

Smiley, awaked from his boredom at the Barrel Haven Inn. Phoney chides him for sleeping on the job, reminding him they have to think of something else to divert more customers towards Phoney's side of the bar, so they win the bet against Lucius. Smiley suggests a new slogan: "Put a dragon in your flagon!" Silly, everyone knows the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true. :)

Anyway, Smiley hears Fone call for help again, and this time so do the Lucius and the other tavern regulars. They traipse out into the woods, Smiley uttering the Skipper's rescue cry to Gilligan (or was it Cecil's rescue cry to Beanie-Boy?), and find trails of blood, but no Fone Bone, Rose or Thorn.

Rose is still being roughed up and tenderized by Kingdok, who's just about to eat her when...

The sword held by Thorn cuts off his right armlet. It turns him gitchy. He sees... He sees a very different Rose and Thorn than we do. He sees the Earth and Sky version. The post-Turning version, I guess. He freaks, he runs away. Fone Bone has heard the cry and meets up again with Rose and Thorn. While Thorn and Fone tend to Rose's wounds, Gran'ma starts telling them about the Lord of the Locusts...

Very dark book, in more ways than one. This stuff's getting way serious now, and the comic relief afforded by Smiley and Phoney has never been so welcome as a breather. I'm fascinated and intrigued and can't wait for the next issue. This is one of the best books out now. Jeff Smith deserves every award he's ever won, and more.