Valor #6

Valor #6 (April 1993)
title: "Blasters To The Rescue!"
writer: Robert Loren Fleming
penciller: Jeffrey Moore
inker: Trevor Scott
letterer: Bob Pinaha
colorist: Eric Kachelhofer
associate editor: Eddie Berganza
editor: KC Carlson
cover: Howard Chaykin (signed)

reviewers: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage and Jason

"Anachronistic Kid" Knol

Guest-Star(s):
The Blasters
Opponent(s):
Kanjar Ru and the troops of Starlag II

Summary:
The Blasters arrive at Starlag II in order to break Lar Gand free, just as Babbage encounters another imprisoned alien named "the Unimaginable."


The Blasters arrive at Starlag II and Gunther uses his Dominator membership card to dock their ship without any issues. Gunther gets on board posing as a master with Amos and the green alien cat lady (whose name is not shared with us initially) as his prisoners. Amos talks the Starlag II guard into locking himself up, then the three of them access the prison's computer system in order to locate Valor's cell location.

Meanwhile, Babbage (Valor's space-ship's artificial intelligence) sneaks into the Unimaginable's cell, accidentally helping it escape.

Snapper begins the second part of the Blasters' breakout plan by teleporting Fritz to the generator coil so that he can destroy the power to the prison's armory. Fritz only shows his explosive abilities when he is angry, so Snapper has to aggravate him into destroying the prison's weapons.

After that explosion, Snapper teleports the others to where Amos, the Dominator, and the Cat-Lady (Churljenkins, as finally referenced) are. The group breaks Valor and his elderly Green Lantern cellmate free.

Then, the whole group are discovered by the Starlag II guards. As they are all fighting, Dr. Bendorion busts free from the Unimaginable's cell and proclaims that he has destroyed it.  

Russell's comments: 

Valor is featured on one page of this story. 

He is then shown in the background on two more pages. 

Yet, we are not introduced to the Blasters, who are the real stars of this book. They simply appear at Starlag II, responding to a call for help issued by Babbage. We are not told who they are, what their powers are, or what their team motivations are. They are dropped into this story without any real characterization, and it shows.....witness the fact that we don't learn the Cat-Lady's name until page 16. We don't understand how Snapper teleports to where she is, because we aren't told what Looking Glass (Dexter) can do. 

So here, as a Public Service: here's the Who's Who on the Blasters from the DC Encyclopedia. Double the amount of information we learn in this particular story.  

Click to embiggen

As for the art....uggh. There are too many blank spaces and full-page spreads that are a waste of space. The art by Jeffrey Moore and Trevor Scott is not bad, but it's not really good, either. 

So....yeah, this is the worst issue of Valor yet. We keep getting worse as the series progresses. Eventually, we have to hit rock bottom and start moving up, right? 

Jason's comments:

Yes, Valor was blissfully only featured on one page of this story. I don't even like the Blasters but I find them more interesting than Valor. The characters are painfully lame and derivative. For example, ze German vis ze accent transforms into a powerful monster when angered. Instead of a certain green Marvel's catch-phrase, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry," we're treated to "I am varning you-- it is not so smart to make Frag angry!" Woof.

There's really, really not much to say about this issue. There's no reason the plot here had to be dragged out for a full issue. Much like Russell's comments about the art, I feel like this issue isn't bad, but it isn't good, either. It had a couple funny moments but just dragged out, and then the most anticlimactic ending of maybe any single comic issue I've ever read...

Since the last issue when Valor was locked up in this prison we were told about this horrific threat, by far the most powerful entity contained within this massive space-prison, the painfully unimaginative... "The Unimaginable." Never seen through that issue, and throughout this issue we're shown his cubic enclosure, surrounded by a tunnel of organic matter. We're warned that it has the energy readings of "a small sun...trying to burn its way out!"

The cell begins to weaken, and it seemingly escapes just in time for a final-page splash reveal of the horrifying creature we've been waiting to meet. And what do we get? Some humanoid dweeb with a triple-wide brain cavity named Doctor Bendorion, and he has apparently defeated The Unimaginable. All momentum for something cool finally happening in this series was utterly destroyed in one fell swoop. Fantastically disappointing.

Daxamite Space Ranger Report:  

• The Unimaginable made its debut appearance in Justice League of America (v1) #42, then re-appeared in JLA #44. 
• There are two ads for MILESTONE comics in this book. Both look vastly superior to the story around them. 

Status: 
This series has never been reprinted. With stories like this, we are not surprised.