Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Seriously, I thought I was missing a #0 issue.


It's odd to pick up an old first issue, and find out you're coming in midstream. Like this issue! From 1995, Gene Roddenberry's Lost Universe #1, "O Brave New World" Written by Lawrence Watt-Evans, pencils by James Callahan, inks by Aaron McClellan; with a concept from Gene Roddenberry and additional characters and development from Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Bill Sienkiewicz did the cover, along with some for the rest of the series; and they're pretty much the selling point for them. (Seriously, his cover for #2 would probably sell some issues of any random book you chose to put it on!)

Regardless of the level of the Roddenberrys' involvement, this issue seems to be written like part of a TV pilot, albeit the first fifteen minutes or so: Dr. Alexander Grange, returning to his homeworld Malay after recovering from a coma, finds he may have been gone for much longer than he expected. And...that's about it. It's pretty sparse, all things considered. The ship, which I believe was called the Deliverance, isn't named here; nor is his companion Penaltra given any motivation--why she's there, why she brought Grange there, what she knows, nothing. I'm not sure either character would be around by issue #6 or so, so it may not matter; in hindsight, that's almost like an actor leaving a series...

Man, I must've been flush with cash in 1995 to keep dropping it on this series. I know I read Tekno Comix Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger as well, and that had better stories from Max Allan Collins and more consistent art from Eduardo Barreto, hence that series lasted a lot longer.

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