Leviathan Wednesday: Eclipso #11, #12, And #13

We are rushing to the end of my Leviathan Wednesdays. Checkmate is coming out in two weeks. We will see just what Mark Shaw is planning on doing as Leviathan. 

Last week I covered Manhunter #14 and #15 in which we learned just how broken Mark Shaw was, just how devious the DEO was, just how horrible Shaw was used by the various espionage agencies in the DCU. No wonder he rebelled.

In that review we were shown how Manhunter was killed by a thrall of Eclipso. But that Manhunter was not Mark Shaw; it was another DEO agent programmed to think he was Shaw, including all the backstory.

Given I knew that Manhunter wasn't Shaw, I thought I could skip reviewing the Eclipso issues. But the truth is, if I was deep diving into Shaw's history, I thought I should cover it. Moreover, I ran a twitter poll asking if I should run it. God bless the 16 people who voted! 12 said cover the issues.

So here we are. Eclipso #11-13 was written by Robert Loren Fleming with art by Audwynn Jermaine Newman and Ray Kryssing. Succinctly, it is a bloodbath. Fleming has a unofficial Suicide Squad invade a tropical island under the complete control of Eclipso. Not many make it out.

Now I will try to look at this story from the perspective that this is Mark Shaw. I'll also look at it from the viewpoint that this is that nameless DEO agent thinking he is Shaw. Either way, Shaw has reason to be angry.

The art is very much 90's extreme. Newman and Kressing have a style that looks like a perfect amalgam of Erik Larsen and Bart Sears. Somehow it works for this story and it's crazy plot. 

On to the book. Settle in.

Back Issue Review: Valor #2

It is a 5 Wednesday month which means comic companies find some filler and stretch out their books to cover the extra week of releases. It also means, despite twice a month shipping of Action and Superman as well as Superwoman, New Superman, and a new Supergirl book, I have no new book to review.

That meant I had a bit of carte blanche to head to the long boxes and find a relevant back issue for the site. And with the news that Mon-El is the mystery pilot of the Kryptonian pod on the Supergirl show, I thought I would review Valor #2.

It is important to put all this in some context for those not immersed in both the Superman books at the time as well as Legion lore and reboots.

For Supergirl, this is the Matrix version of the character. This book was released in October of 1992, months before the Doomsday storyline took over the super-books for some time. This was a time when Matrix was still naive to our world, readjusting to things, and basically subservient to Lex Luthor. And to make matters more confusing, this is a young, strapping, Aussie, red-haired Lex Jr. who is, in actuality, the real Lex cloned. But this was a dark time for Supergirl fans as Matrix is basically a slave to Lex, innocent and being duped. This wasn't easy to reread, let alone review.

And Valor? He is Lar Gand. In this new DCU where there was no Superboy, Gand's origin needed to be tweaked. He isn't called Mon-El. He goes by Valor even though he is the same character. Without Superboy to inspire the Legion, Valor is now the 20th century hero that the future heroes look up to. And here, he is pure 90s with his massive shoulder pads and some angst. I didn't get this book at the time (outside this issue) so I can't comment on some of the threads mentioned by the character. If anyone did read this book, chime in and let me know about the book in general.

I love the cover which uses the trope of Supergirl hoisting a large weight over her head. It grabs the eye. And it is clear what the plot is ... Valor Vs. Supergirl.

Overall, this is an issue to revisit if only to showcase just how far the character of Supergirl has come in the last 20 years (really the last 10 years).  On to the book ...