A face only a mother could love...ooh, too soon.

The back-up feature takes a few pages, and splash pages a bit more; so maybe not as much as could have happens this month. But it's so good! From 2000, Orion #3, "For Purple Mountain's Majesties..." Story and art by Walter Simonson, letters by John Workman, colors by Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh; and "Nativity" Script by Walter Simonson, art by Frank Miller.

Possessed by the Anti-Life Equation, the townspeople of Main Line, Nebraska are about to kill Orion, and his mother Tigra (no, not that one!) is already mortally wounded. Only an overzealous "Apokoliptian suicide jockey" gives Orion the opportunity to get free and to his dying mom, and he changes his face from handsome to "the true visage of Orion" so she can recognize him in her last moments. Using his Mother Box to send her body to the Source, Orion then calls out Darkseid, a message that could be heard across the universe. He just has to get through the zombie-like townsfolk, and does to an underground base, where Darkseid himself may be...maybe.

Also this issue: the Newsboy Legion and Jimmy Olsen visit New Genesis! And Takion and Lightray summon all the citizens to see a message from the Source, telling them to go to Apokolips, to "bear witness...in the firepits a great warrior will fall." And, the aforementioned back-up, with art by Frank Miller in very, very much 300 mode, featuring the birth of Orion! Darkseid takes the baby away from Tigra almost immediately, but Tigra is positive Darkseid is digging his own grave, raising the weapon that will eventually kill him.

I know I don't have all of Orion, which is nice since that still means there's an issue or three left to read. Which three, well, that's a good question. Huh, I've only blogged the last issue so far? Maybe we'll fix that over time.