I wonder if I would've been more or less pissed off reading this month-to-month: as it stands, it feels like I've been in this storyline for fifteen years now, but that probably isn't the case. Maybe. Also, all space cops may be bastards. From 2010, Booster Gold #36, "This Man...This Chipmunk!" Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, art by Pat Olliffe, cover by Kevin Maguire.

The Maguire cover makes this one look like it's going to be deadly serious, as Booster was still trying to put together the pieces of Maxwell Lord's plan, which no one else believed was a thing. He had made multiple trips back to his Justice League-heyday, and this month while Blue Beetle gets some with an alien queen; Booster, Mr. Miracle, and Big Barda are getting the hassle from a pair of Darkstars, who don't believe they were trying to disarm a planet-destroying weapon. The Darkstars had previously impounded said weapon and put a failsafe in it, then are about to get violent after they get the records on their "perps" from Apokolips. Mr. Miracle boom tubes them back to earth, then realizes they forgot Beetle, but Barda has had enough of "future boy's" nonsense. (A running gag: past characters claim they recognize future-Booster by the thinning hair, which he vehemently denies.) Barda says they had agreed to help Booster get the Book of Destiny, and unless there was something he wasn't telling them--like Beetle's future death--he didn't need their help. Booster tries to play on Barda's heartstrings, which not only gets him no help, it also gets past-Booster punched through a wall.

Booster has to return to the present to check in with the rest of his anti-Max team, in Justice League: Generation Lost, a 24-issue series with 49 covers that I have managed to not read a single one of. That goes poorly, so it's back to the past to save Beetle...who has been turned into a chipmunk by the spurned queen! I don't know if the planet is named this issue, but Queen Artemis has magic powers and the eye-antenna things the Legion's White Witch had. She claims the transformation is permanent, worse, before Booster can talk her out of the Book of Destiny, the Darkstars show up again and zap him! Beetle, Booster, and the Book are taken into custody, classified as "illegal combatants" and shipped off to Starlag. That name should ring a bell...

Booster and Beetle are in "another fine mess" verbal sparring, when they meet Vril Dox, who is not super-impressed with them. Booster realizes it's from Invasion! and that he really shouldn't discuss it with Beetle since it hadn't happened for him yet. Still, Booster knows Skeets will come for them, and the brave little 'bot is--but the gold-skinned Estrogina is making her break first!

This issue was cover-dated November 2010, and Generation Lost ran until June 2011? Giffen and DeMatteis may have stayed on until around then with BG #43, but I don't think it stayed 'bwah-ha-ha' the whole time...but Booster might not have made a lotta progress against Max Lord, either. There is an issue in there where Booster finally has to accept Beetle's death; I still haven't.

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An X-Men post, with no scans of the X-Men, 'cause that's how we roll...

Today, a book from the dollar bins that I was thrilled to get a replacement copy of; since I bought it off the spinner-racks in 1989 for a dollar! From Uncanny X-Men #245, "Men!" Written by Chris Claremont, pencils by Rob Liefeld, inks by Dan Green.

This was the second in a pair of more humorous issues, since Uncanny X-Men was about to get pretty grim again in short order. Uncanny #251 was the cover that sprang to mind there, as the team is whittled down seemingly month by month. But #244 was the ladies' night out (and the first appearance of Jubilee) and the guys' night is far more broad; as well as being a parody of DC's Invasion! While Wolverine, Havok, Colossus, and Longshot get ready for a night out; a somewhat familiar looking batch of aliens invade Australia. The Australians, for their part, are nonplussed.

While Colossus brawls with the alien troops, Longshot charms the pants off of (figuratively speaking) the winged woman warriors, and Havok drunkenly shoots down an alien battlecruiser. Wolverine faces an alien commander in poker, and bets his life against the commander's...on a bluff. The guys have a fun night, but the issue ends on a dark note, as Donald Pierce has escaped from the Hellfire Club.

Actually, despite a lot of jokes, Claremont keeps most of his regular plots going as well: Colossus still couldn't turn back into human, Dazzler was worried that her powers seemed to be leveling up, and Wolverine didn't like the Reavers' surveillance systems watching him, telling Havok they may have corrupted Madeline Pryor and could do the same to him. So still a lot going on!

Still, I was glad to get this again, because I had a friend that just hated the cover...
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80-Page Thursdays: Invasion, Book Three!

In the last issue of Invasion, the Dominion and their allies were defeated; which makes the world suddenly going black-and-white all the more surprising. Invasion, Book Three, plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Bart Sears, inks by Joe Rubinstein with Tom Christopher.

Having deduced the nature of humanity's metagene, the lowly Dominator researcher drops the gene bomb on earth, irradiating it with particles that will effect every super-powered being on earth. (Well, except for the aliens. And a few like Starman and Robotman, who are so altered as to be unharmed. And the Atom. And Wonder Woman. And Green Lanterns...) Heroes and villains alike begin losing control of their powers, sometimes explosively, before collapsing into comas. Max Lord develops the nosebleed that signifies his powers as well.

The Omega Men and the Blasters make their way to earth, just in time to run into a contingent of earth's heroes (and Superman, who had been planning to leave earth forever...) trying to get to the Dominion's homeworld to look for a cure. There, the Dominator higher-ups are a little pissed at the researcher, since they planned on harvesting superhumans, and are trying to figure out how to reverse the genebomb as well.

Back on earth, Metamorpho has mysteriously returned from the dead, and Bart Sears would keep drawing him for some time in Justice League Europe. And in space, Robotman and J'onn J'onzz (disguised as a Dominator) get the information they need from the researcher, but then have to go to the space stalag for equipment. With an antidote-bomb prepared, the heroes return to earth...without Superman, who begins his exile.

This is a fun conclusion to a fun mini-series, and it's still one of my favorite DC crossovers.
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80-Page Thursdays: Invasion, Book Two!

Continuing DC's crossover event of 1988, Invasion #2: Battlefield Earth. Plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Todd McFarlane and Keith Giffen, inks by P. Craig Russell, Al Gordon, Joe Rubinstein, and Tom Christopher. After the Alien Alliance takes Australia, and demands the surrender of earth's super-heroes (and about 20 crossover tie-ins...) a 24-hour cease fire is declared, to allow the heroes time to give up. Or to plot their counterattack...

Led by General Eiling, Captain Atom, Amanda Waller, and Max Lord; earth's heroes break the cease-fire early, impressing the Khundish commander. He's still intent on killing them all, though, even as doubts as to the Dominators' intentions grow. The commander also convinces the newly-empowered Daxamite observers to "defend themselves" against Superman. And this early post-Crisis Supes wasn't in their league, facing six of them.

As the Alliance is put on the defensive, cracks begin to show. A Dominator, seemingly out of character, insults the Khundish commander, and is rewarded with a punch in the face. The Doms capture the Flash, but decide to experiment on him themselves, rather than turn him over to the Psions. That bites them in the ass, since it's a "hero-bomb" created by Lex Luthor. And the Daxamites, after putting Superman on the ropes, begin to weaken. Supes brings them into space, out of earth's atmosphere, which helps them recover; and the Daxamites wonder if they aren't on the wrong side. (Long time Legion of Super-Heroes readers will recognize the Daxamites' weakness as trace amounts of lead, but it's not spelled out here; just that something in the atmosphere hurts them.)

While the Khunds are forced out of Australia, the lowly Dominator researcher we saw last issue makes a fateful discovery: the metagene, source of humanity's unpredictable super-powers. This is less like Star Wars midi-chlorians (which tried to put an explanation on something that didn't need it) and more like Marvel's mutants (a blanket explanation for whatever) but will come into play later.

Flash (Wally West) and Manhunter (Mark Shaw) have almost driven the Durlans out of Cuba, but Wally's dad sacrifices himself to blow them up. (Somewhat surprisingly for a supporting character family member, I think he comes back.) Earth's relatively few space-capable heroes--Guy, Hal, Firestorm, and J'onn in a spacesuit--join Superman and the Daxamites to take the fight to the aliens; as one of the Daxamites returns to earth to call his homeworld, sacrificing himself.

While the Okaarans are pushed back in the Russian front, the non-powered prisoners of the Starlag riot; part of Vril Dox's escape plan with the Omega Men and the metagene prisoners. And the Daxamite fleet arrives at earth. To defend it. With super-powered troops. As the Alliance ships are besieged, a message is sent from the Dominator flagship: preserve earth for the Doms' metagene project at all costs, even their allies. Enraged, the various Alliance races surrender; except for the Khunds and Dominators; but earth has an ally we haven't seen yet...

It plays a bit against expectations that the Alliance and the bulk of the invasion is over in the second issue of three; but it still has about ten crossover issues to run through.



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80-Page Thursdays: Invasion, Book One!

We're coming up on a full year of 80-Page Thursdays, even though I'm writing this in March. Actually, I'm behind schedule, since it took me a while to find these issues again: from 1989, Invasion! Book One, The Alien Alliance. Plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, script by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Todd McFarlane, inks by P. Craig Russell, Al Gordon, Joe Rubinstein, and Todd McFarlane. I love this book, to be honest. It's the rare comic I enjoy, even though there's all sorts of things in it that I don't necessarily care for.

The titular alliance is several alien races, mostly from Legion of Super-Heroes continuity or the Omega Men, led by the Dominators. Although they first appeared in Adventure Comics #361, this was the first time I saw them, and the Doms had been redesigned slightly to make them more inhuman and emphasize their disc caste-markings and their teeth. I always thought they had a very Mars Attacks! feel, although that could just be me. (It really comes through in some of the house ads as well.)

Experimenting on captured humans, the Dominators are concerned about the unpredictability of humans and human genetics. Already, earth had given rise to multiple super-powered beings (and reams of alien and alien-powered defenders, but ignore that...) and the collected aliens worry about potential armies of them. Again, never mind there's really not that many supers on earth, and you can't put three of them in the same room without two trying to beat each other up...

With their allies--the Khunds, Durlans, G'il Dishpan and observers the Daxamites from Legion comics; the Thanagarians of Hawkman (who, as a race, are generally more dickish than Carter) and the Citadel, the Psions, and Okaarans from Omega Men (And possibly Teen Titans, maybe.) the Doms already have the ball rolling. Depowered Green Lanterns are hunted down, to prevent them speaking on earth's behalf. Darkseid is approached, and while he doesn't join, he does tell the Alliance to do what they like to earth, but not to destroy it, since he's still looking for the Anti-Life Equation. Doom Patrol villain Garguax is evicted from his strategic position on the dark side of the moon.

To keep Rann safe, Adam Strange is forced to surrender himself, hoping he'll be able to warn earth when the zeta-beam wears off. Strange is taken to the Starlag, a giant prison satellite build by the Citadel for dissidents, political prisoners, and test subjects. He briefly manages to escape to earth, only to find the Khunds have an advance station at his return point. Strange's former cellmate, Garryn Bek, is then celled up with a seemingly emotionless Coluan, Vril Dox. Meanwhile, the Omega Men are attacked by the Durlans, and captured after several casualties. And a lone low-caste Dominator wonders if maybe the human genetic anomaly couldn't just be neutralized, as the Invasion begins...

As a beachhead, Australia is taken in short order. Somewhat disturbingly for the alliance, the Daxamites develop super-powers in earth's atmosphere; although as observers they don't seem intent on doing anything, unless they get orders from their homeworld. The alliance also isn't sure what to make of the JLA's teleport tubes--technology seemingly far beyond the earthlings. And elsewhere, the Lords of Order tell the Spectre if he or earth's mystic heroes get involved, Chaos may ally with the aliens...

At Belle Reve prison, Amanda Waller is ordered to bench the Suicide Squad, as the President waits to see what the aliens do. She doesn't listen...and the Dominators make their demand: they will spare earth, if the humans surrender their super-heroes. The next day, the headlines at the Daily Planet tell the story: "Earth to Invaders: Drop Dead!"

Despite building on years of continuity of some of DC's less popular books, Invasion! is still pretty accessible. (Aside from the Thanagarians, I knew of the Khunds and Daxamites going in, but the rest were new to me.) This issue is almost all set-up, and although we see a few familiar faces like Adam Strange and Perry White, there isn't a main hero in the story yet. The plotline with the humans experimented on by the Dominators, the Blasters; goes nowhere. I've never read an issue of L.E.G.I.O.N. either; but still plenty to like here.
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