Valor: The Journey from Invasion to Zero Hour

He was born in the ashes of Invasion, and he will die on Zero Hour. Call him Lar Gand, Mon-El or Valor, he has a very specific destiny. Unless history collapses, of course, then destiny means nothing. Before starting their new podcast at the Fire and Water Podcast Network entitled Zero Hour Strikes!, Bass and Siskoid come together for one last First Strike: The Invasion Podcast to cover this Daxamite bridge between the two crossovers. It's filled with Legion goodness!

Listen to First Strike's Episode 41 by clicking HERE!

5YL Supplemental: Zero Hour

Zero Hour #3-1 (September 1994)
title: "Zero Hour"

writer: Dan Jurgens

penciller: Dan Jurgens
inker: Jerry Ordway
lettering: Gaspar Saladino
colorist: Gregory Wright
assistant editor: Mike McAvenie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Cosmic Boy (three versions), Lightning Lad, Live Wire, Saturn Girl (both), Ultra Boy

Guests: 
The rest of the DC Universe

Opponents: 
Extant, Parallax

SUPER ZEROES

Remember Zero Hour?
    Indeed, some fans would probably prefer to forget it. The series was done with the best of intentions, aiming to clear up various inconsistencies caused by the landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths. It promised to consolidate the inconsistent future timelines of the DC Universe into a new unity.

5YL: Valor #23

Valor #23 (September 1994)
title: "Infinite Valor"

writer: Kurt Busiek

penciller: Colleen Doran
inker: Dave Cooper
lettering: Bob Pinaha
colorist: Dave Grafe

assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Stuart Immonen
partners in time travel: Mark Waid and Tom McCraw
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5 (both), Celeste, Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl (both), Duo Damsel, Element Lad, Ferro, Ferro Lad, Gossamer, Inferno, Light Lass, Lightning Lad, Live Wire, Matter-Eater Lad (both), Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl (both), Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet (both), Star Boy, Sun Boy, Triad, Ultra Boy (both), Valor, Wildfire/N.R.G.

Guests: 
Night Girl, Superboy (pocket universe)

Opponents: 
Glorith, Mordru, Time Trapper

5YL: Legionnaires #18

Legionnaires #18 (September 1994)
title: "Changing Times"

writers: Mark Waid and Tom McCraw

penciller: Chris Gardner
inker: Dennis Cramer
lettering: Pat Brosseau
colorist: Tom McCraw
assistant editor: Mike McAvennie

editor: KC Carlson

cover: Stuart Immonen
reviewer: Siskoid

Mission Monitor Board:  
Alchemist, Bouncing Boy (both), Brainiac 5 (both), Celeste, Chameleon, Chemical King, Cosmic Boy (both), Duo Damsel, Dragonmage, Dream Girl (both), Element Lad, Inferno, Invisible Kid (SW6), Kono, Live Wire, Matter-Eater Lad (SW6), Polar Boy, Projectra, Reflex, Saturn Girl (both), Shrinking Violet (both), Star Boy (both), Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy (both), White Witch/Jewel, Wildfire/N.R.G

Guests: 
Amethyst, Night Girl, Rond Vidar, Science Police, Superman

Opponents: 
Glorith, Mordru, Time Trapper; evil Legionnaires pulled out of time to fight for them, including Blok, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Chemical King, Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Element Lad, Invisible Kid I, Karate Kid, Saturn Girl, Shrinking Violet, and Ultra Boy.

5YL: Legion of Super-Heroes #60

Recap: It is the end of an era. Zero Hour is around the corner. The two Legions are trying to thwart the wrinkles in time, battling Glorith and Mordru. But things are unraveling around them. Things are changing ... sometimes noticed. Sometimes unnoticed.

Let's open up this review with an apology.

This arc, End of an Era, rewrote the Legion, rebooting it. As a result, it ran in all three Legion-related books that were out at the time, Legion of Super-Heroes, Legionnaires, and Valor. But my faith in the Legion as a property and in DC in general at this time was wavering a bit. I was only getting the main Legion book. And as a result, I cannot cover all the parts of this arc. You'll only get the 3rd and final 6th chapter of the story. So you'll only see 1/3 of this tale which changed things for years.

More Than Zero: Zero Month 20 Years Later

CROSSOVER! Everybody loves a crossover! Today several comic-themed websites are teaming-up to remember DC's "Zero Month"!

In 1994 DC Comics published Zero Hour, a five issue mini-series designed to not only serve as a major summer crossover but also fix some of the continuity problems that had emerged since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Some have suggested that Zero Hour caused more problems than it fixed (especially Legion fans), but at the time it was the dawn of an exciting new era for DC. To kick off this new age DC followed Zero Hour in August & September 1994 with "Zero Month." As the name suggests all of the main DC books published an issue numbered zero, though each had a different approach to the idea. Some books featured a new origin. Some contained tweaks to the existing origin. Some contained brand new versions of old characters. Some featured a complete reboot (like the Legion). All of them served as a jumping on point for new and old readers alike.