Valor #11

Valor #11 (Sept 1993)
title: "Fight The Power"
writer: Mark Waid
penciller: Jeffrey Moore

inker: Mike Sellers
letterer: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Dave Grafe
associate editor: Eddie Berganza
editor: KC Carlson
cover: Jason Pearson (signed)

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

Guest-Star(s):
Green Lantern Corps members Kilowog, Alia, and three unnamed recruits; Triad and Catspaw from the Legion of Super-Heroes

Opponent(s):
Valor's power surges, bad writing, bad art, bad editing; cameo of the Time Trapper


In the 30th Century, Triad is mooning over Valor, who has been sent into the past by Brainiac 5. She is caught by Catspaw, who does not know Valor at all. Triad misses him, remembering how gentle he was. 

Abrubt scene shift to Valor smashing something. Not quite clear what he is doing, but he's breaking something on his ship, Pilgrim One. So we have an introduction by two guest-stars that mean absolutely nothing to the main story, and then we get a page that doesn't make any sense in the large scheme of things and which is, incidentally, drawn badly. Welcome to the newest issue! 

Valor has woken up from passing out at the end of last issue (will the story EVER pick up directly from where the previous issue ended? So far we are at 11 for 11 for NO) and is finding that his powers continue to run amok. Although he destroyed the Unimaginable last issue, there is a lot of damage to his ship. Also, the Green Lantern is still suffering from a potential critical concussion. Talking to his AI companion Babbage, they decide to head towards Oa.  However, Valor's x-ray vision of her is not turning off, so he is actually heating her up! As soon as he manages to shut his vision off, his super-hearing goes crazy, and he begins destroying the ship in frustration. Because, sure, that's a thing. 

The Green Lantern wakes up long enough to calm Valor down by...uh....talking to him? Wouldn't that, you know, sound like screaming to him in his current condition? No? Okay, moving on then....

Extra Legion points to you if you can tell me what is actually
happening in the first three panels 

Because he can't trust his abilities to touch things without breaking them, Valor gets the Green Lantern to pilot the ship while he goes outside and destroys the meteor swarm they are heading towards. And then we finally learn the name of this Green Lantern: Alia. 

On Oa, Kilowog is training three new Green Lanterns as Pilgrim One quickly approaches. They think Valor is a falling star, so are surprised to find him entering their atmosphere. They grab him, but he asks for help in stopping his ship, which does not have brakes. 

Of course, Pilgrim One is yellow, so the Green Lanterns cannot stop it. It is up to Valor. 

Later, Alia gets some first-aid and Kilowog repairs Pilgrim One (renaming it Pilgrim Two). Valor and Babbage head off to Cairn to talk to Vril Dox about Valor's flip-flopping powers. 

Somewhen, the Time Trapper is surrounded by crystal chards of Valor. He laughs, "Perfect!" He's the only one who thinks so. 

Russell's comments: 

Ugh. 

Let me start by saying that the covers of this series have been the best part of the issues by far. This issue is no different; Jason Pearson does a bang-up job illustrating Valor's efforts to "catch" Pilgrim One before it slams into some Oan architecture. Unfortunately, Jason Pearson doesn't do the interior art.

I am not embarrassed to admit that I was looking forward to Mark Waid taking over this series. I have read a lot of good stuff by Waid, and was hoping that he would be better than the previous writer. 

However.....

This issue is another mess. It's confusing, and just plain stupid. The art is again (still?) not very good. Even the inclusion of the Legionnaires and the Time Trapper are not enough to warrant a good rating on this. How many more issues did this last? If this was a series I was picking up in real time this would have been my last. 

J's comments:

Whoaaa, for starters I thought this cover sucked. There's no perspective to show what Valor is trying to stop, and the bent knees makes it look like, well, he's kneeling. On the while, I agree with Russell that I was disappointed by Mark Waid on this issue. His previous guest spot was a high-point on the series so far, but this issue disappointed. I get the idea of using Triad and Catspaw to build up Valor, especially for people who just picked up the series with this issue. Frankly, he came across as a more heroic character in Triad's recollection than he has in this entire series-- his series! But then the cut to him smashing things and his powers going crazy again was awkward, and Alia's calming voice being enough to stop his powers from freaking out made zero sense at all.

Alia's convenient ability to be strong (and conscious) enough to do exactly what was needed at any given time before passing out again was so absurd that my eyebrows got a serious workout. The highlight of this issue was Kilowog's appearance shouting at some poozers in training. I think I previously mentioned that I didn't read the Eclipso crossover series that this spun out of, but I'm glad that Waid took the time to point out that yes, Kilowog and Valor had previously met, but he looked way different so he wasn't obviously recognized.

The Time Trapper tease at the end is awesome. I love all the DC time-manipulation stuff-- give me Rip Hunter, Vanishing Point, the Time Trapper, anything like that and I'm super excited. Let's hope this goes somewhere!

Daxamite Space Ranger Report:  

• We finally learn Alia's name in this issue, although she was introduced in Valor #5. 

Status: 
This series has never been reprinted.

Milestone: 
This is the first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Time Trapper in this series. It appears that new writer Mark Waid is going to tie this series more closely to the Legion universe.