Valor #1

Valor #1 (November 1992)
title: "Endgame"
writer: Robert Loren Fleming
penciller: MD (Mark) Bright
inker: Al Gordon
letterer: Bob Pinaha
colorist: Eric Kachelhofer
associate editor: Eddie Berganza
editor: Michael Eury
cover: MD Bright & Al Gordon (signed)

reviewers: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage and Jason "Anachronistic Kid" Knoll

Guest-Star(s):
Lex Luthor, Supergirl, Superman (in flashbacks)
Opponent(s):
Eclipso, Lex Luthor?

Summary:
Mon-El by any other name gets only the *second* on-going book for a Legionnaire after his pivotal role in the 1992 Eclipso: The Darkness Within cross-over series!


The splash page shows a scene of Valor being ripped apart (literally) by various Eclipso beings. His legs are being broken, his arms are broken, and his hair is getting pulled out. Actually, this is a vision that Lar Gand sees in a Rorschach test being given to him by a psychologist at LexCorp. Instead of acknowledging that his first thought was of Eclipso, Valor tells the doctor he sees a butterfly.

The second graphic reminds him of Eclipso's base on the moon. He remembers how Eclipso took possession of him and used him as a slave until Superman saved him. Valor also remembers how Dr. Bruce Gordon planted a solar bomb on the moon that destroyed Eclipso's base, and how Valor saved Dr. Gordon. He tells the doctor that the graphic looks like a flower.

The psychologist is annoyed, because she knows that Valor is not telling her the truth. They knock the stack of Rorschach cards on the floor, and as Valor reaches to pick them up, one graphic reminds him of his father. He tells her of how the ink-blot reminds him of a piece of a Daxamite game named Paragon. Lar Gand's father had taught the game to him. The last time he ever saw his father, they had been playing Paragon and Lar had been winning. The game was interrupted when his father was ordered to participate in the Invasion of Earth as an observer, which cost him his life.

The psychologist tells Valor to embrace his emotions and cry for his father, but Valor refuses, as "bluffing was everything in Paragon."

The doctor reports to her boss, Lex Luthor. She believes that Lar's defenses will never be broken down. Lex shows her his method of dealing with an uncontrollable boy with unstoppable powers, and it looks very much like a space ship.

In his quarters, Lar looks at the inkblot that he snuck out, trying to remember what it actually reminds him of. Suddenly, in Eclipso's voice, he says, "Lunar City!" Lar vomits, then heads to South America to find Eclipso's hidden Earth base. Lex, who is monitoring him, sees him leave and sends a drone after him.

Lunar City, somewhere in South America, is run by "evoked" Eclipsos, shadow versions of the demon without the benefit of actual human hosts. They confront Valor and explain that this facility was built in order to pull the moon out of its orbit and force it to Earth. That explosion will kill billions of people, and the dust cloud from the impact will kill all the others.

The Eclipsos attack. Lar retracts his cape in order to fight hand-to-hand, but they catch him in black light. He seems to be their prisoner.

Valor keeps the Eclipsos talking as the sun comes up, causing them to disintegrate. Then he happens to notice that one of the pillions resembles a huge Paragon piece, so he breaks down and destroys all of the facility as he cries about missing his father.

Lex, watching via the drone hovering over the site, decides he must send Valor off to "oblivion," and asks Supergirl to bring the future Legionnaire back to him.

Russell's Comments: 
I picked up this first issue basically as a new reader, without any real knowledge or memory of Eclipso or Invasion. As such, I was totally confused. DC had to know that a certain percentage of readers (or potential readers) would recognize this character as Mon-El. Maybe I missed the previous cross-over events but then when I saw one of my favorite Legionnaires was getting his own book, I decided to pick it up. Therefore, it seems prudent to have included an introduction to the character for new readers like me explaining why he is on Earth, how he got involved with Eclipso, and why he is living at LexCorp. Obviously, none of those issues were addressed in this story.

Instead, we get a pseudo-psychological profile of the hero, missing his father. I'm going to go out on a limb here but I would guess that most people would miss their father after he dies. And yet this singular characterization somehow makes Lar Gand's "defenses" impenetrable? The unnamed doctor says that he would never be cured after only a few sessions? Seems like she's kind of a quack. Call in Dr. Bob Hartley, stat!

As a solo adventure starring Mon-El this story is not bad. He cleans up the last (?) vestige of Eclipso on Earth and comes to grips with the death of his father. But I really hope to see more. By the way, that's another question I would have liked an answer to: why the name change to Valor? I guess if he never met young Clark Kent to get named Mon-El by him, it makes sense that that name is off the table, but....who named him Valor?

As for the art....I'm a fan of Mark (MD) Bright. I love his Green Lantern work and his ICON series rocks. That being said....maybe Al Gordon isn't the inker for him? The dynamic scenes seem to lack that certain OOMPH, and during the quiet moments I was distracted by Bright's tendency to elongate everyone's faces. It seems that his people have small foreheads and huge cheeks. Their eyes should be lowered approximately 3 cm. Just look at page 23, above. Supergirl looks great, but Lex in panel 4 looks something like a horse.

And lastly, I'm not sure if it was because of Robert Loren Fleming's story, or Mark Bright's representation of it, but we got FOUR full-page illustrations in this book. That seems excessive. The first one was the image that started the book (jarring, to say the least). The next three are shown here:

I would argue that none of these are really successful at what (I think) they are trying to do. Valor flying into the jungle on page 13....big deal? We don't get a scope of the size or complexity of the facility; in fact, initially I thought it was Stonehenge. 

The next full-page is supposed to show the rage and fury of Valor as he destroys the facility while missing his father. This seems like a great idea, but I would argue that the illustrations are not sufficiently dynamic to express the pain and anger that Valor is feeling. 

And the last page I guess is supposed to show how Valor destroyed everything. However, the point of view stresses the wreckage (which looks more like scattered litter) and down-plays the loneliness and sadness that should be expressed by the crying Valor. (side note: where did the remaining evoked Eclipso go?) 

In summary, this issue was OK but frankly, I hope this series starts delivering more with the next issue. It sounds like Supergirl and Mon-El have never met in this continuity, so I hope their first meeting goes well!  

J's comments:

I also came into this story without any prior knowledge of the Eclipso: The Darkness Within crossover that led into this story, and it was a bit jarring at first. The first issue of this ongoing series is titled "Endgame," so I'm sure that other readers unfamiliar with the lead-in would be equally confused. The flashbacks helped to fill in the missing pieces, but the continued therapy scene that took a sharp turn into daddy issues (and more flashbacks) felt awkwardly forced.

What's more, the pivotal scene that Lar Gand recalls is portrayed very differently from the emotions he connects to the moment. He finally beats his father at their favorite board game and we see his father in two panels: one where he looks genuinely surprised, and the next where he's checking his watch and walking away as if late to depart somewhere. As he leaves he tells Lar "Leave the board set up, son... we'll have to continue this when I return!" And though he never returned, giving his life to save Earth during the Invasion! miniseries, Lar believes that his father was threatened by the board-game defeat, and that he sacrificed himself because he loved something on Earth more than his son.

None of this is expressed in what we see in the words of expressions of his father. It's so genuinely confusing that I actually felt frustrated, borderline upset, at Lar for acting so ridiculously and holding on to irrational beliefs that seem to betray his memories that we see.

By page 11 all I could think was "Wow, this story has everything-- therapy, flashbacks, vomiting...!" The first half of this issue is very slow-paced, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if it's doing a great job of drawing the reader into the story and connecting them with the main character. Fleming and Bright just missed the mark on this one. I will say that some of the dialogue was so amazingly cheesy that I couldn't help but smile, such as when one of the Eclipsos states "I am up to what I have always been up to... no good!"

So the remaining Eclipsos plan to use giant magnets in South America to pull the moon into the Earth, thus destroying all life on Earth. I wonder if this was a backup plan, or if Eclipso had intended to do this while living in his palace on the moon. Either way, there seems to be little in the way of self-preservation, which is admirable for a supervillain. The action is fairly brutal, with snapped necks and Eclipsos beaten until they're embedded in solid steel. By the end it seems he's used violence to successfully defeat his enemies AND his psychological issues. Perfect!

This issue felt like it could've been an entire story arc, with beats paced out more reasonably and fighting evoked Eclipsos here-and-there along the way. As for the art, what Russell pointed out really can't be overstated regarding the elongated faces. But it's not always "small foreheads and huge cheeks" because some of the panels have such a massively oversized forehead I actually laughed while reading! The lack of continuity sometimes made me uncertain it was supposed to be the same character. See:

All I could think was that the huge-forehead shots used James Hurley from Twin Peaks as a photo reference... Early '90s books are one of my few DC blind spots, so I don't know the whole story of Lex with the luscious locks and Supergirl (or is it "Supergirl"?) working for him, but I'm looking forward to the next issue and to where this series goes. I just hope the overall storytelling improves.

Daxamite Space Ranger Report:  
There are two ads for this series in this issue. Seems like DC Editorial could have done a better job in rotating out their house-ads.

The art used for the "More Than Super-Heroes" ad is from page 17, and in my opinion not the best graphic to have used.

The "One Hit Series Becomes Two" ad uses a pose that looks like it might have been meant for the cover. It's kind of a better image than what ended up on the cover, in my opinion. 

This month's letter page was an introduction to the creative team. 

And just as a side note, there is an ad for a rock/pop band that I thought I had never heard of, Ugly Kid Joe. I certainly have never heard of "the smash" hit song, NEIGHBOR. Funny how Warner Bros records used to buy ads in DC Comics. I miss those days....

I DO know THIS song, though. Maybe you do, too?  (I Hate) Everything About You....

Status: 
This series has never been reprinted.

Milestone: 
This is the first appearance of Lar Gand in his own comic. After Karate Kid, this is only the second on-going series ever given to a Legionnaire (other than Superboy and Supergirl).