1st Issue Special #13 (1976)

1st Issue Special #13 (April, 1976)
"Lest Night Fall - Forever!"
Plot & Edits - Gerry Conway
Dialogue - Denny O'Neil
Art - Mike Vosburg
Cover Price: $0.30

Hey it's another issue of that strange mid-70's series which I seem to have a bit of an obsession over... 1st Issue Special!

Today we're going to discuss a book featuring the Kirby Kharacters... though the issue itself isn't written or drawn by the King!  This may just be the first story done without his involvement... which is something, I guess.  He doesn't even get a passing mention in the "Story Behind the Story" page...

This is also a series that actually wound up getting picked up as a regular ongoing series... though, it did hit a year later while DC was "exploding".

Well, let's hop in and see just what Orion... that is Orion, right?... and the crew are up to!

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We open with Orion (of the New Gods) busting through a wall.  His costume is certainly different from what we are used to... he's wearing a more traditional-looking outfit which isn't all that dissimilar to Animal Man's... in certain panels, the "eye holes" in his mask are sorta shaped like Buddy Baker's goggles... the headgear also kinda looks like Spartan from WildC.A.T.s.  Anyhoo... enough with the fashion report... he bursts through and enters into battle with Kalibak.  They pound on one another for a bit, while Orion tries to learn the whereabouts of Darkseid.  Kalibak obviously... ain't talkin'.

During the fight, as heroes (especially those in 1st Issue Special) often do, Orion begins to day dream... recalling the events which led him here.  He remembers returning to New Genesis and meeting with Highfather, Scott Free, Big Barda, and Metron.  He comes with dire news to report... Darkseid is planning for a war which involves the invasion of Earth.

No sooner does he share the news than wave after wave of Parademons descend upon the group.  Orion and Barda hold them off the best they can until Metron is able to open a Boom Tube to send the baddies back to Apokolips.  At this point it is decided that Orion head to Earth to stop his father, Darkseid.

Back in the present, Orion and Kalibak continue their struggle.  They are evenly matched, and so... Orion blasts the floor under his foe to send him falling to the story below.  He continues working his way through the tenement, until he runs afoul of... Granny Goodness!  She puts him down with a single blast... after which, his limp body is dragged away by the horde.

Back on New Genesis, Highfather is acting woeful in front of a roaring fireplace.  He is soon joined by Metron who informs him that "The Source" has been activated.  The pair head out to the Wall of Prophecy to see what's up, and are greeted by a message warning what might happen should Orion be successful in falling his father.

Metron expands upon the warning by revealing that he had located Darkseid... and learned that he had, get this... attuned his heartbeat to the rhythms of Earth's Sun... this means, should he die... the Sun will explode.  Sounds legit, right?  I don't think this "stuck"... though, it's just wacky enough that I wish it had.

We rejoin Orion as he comes to.  He is surrounded by his captors... who are just dudes in tank tops wielding spiked clubs and rinky-dink laser pistols.  Orion easily bests them in combat and escapes captivity... only, he's not on Earth anymore.  He looks up to the fiery red sky, and realizes that he's in a lazy Crisis on Infinite Earths tie-in on Apokolips!

Orion walks the streets, and it isn't long before he runs into his half-brother, Kalibak... and, wouldn'tcha know it, they fight again!  This time, Orion wins decisively.

He breaks through the doors of Darkseid's palace... and winds up face-to-face with the man himself.  He threatens to kill his father... which is news that Darkseid basically brushes off.  Kalibak begs for another opportunity to fight... and in a great panel, Darkseid just nonchalantly shoves him down!

Before Orion can lunge at Darkseid, they are joined by Highfather and Metron.  Highfather informs the lad that his efforts have been an exercise in futility... what's best for the Earth is letting Darkseid live... not that we can say with 100% certainty that Orion would've been successful, right?

The New Genesis gang heads home, leaving Darkseid alone with his thoughts.  To his mind, they are currently at a stalemate with the good guys... but, I don't think I agree.  Darkseid can kill any and all of the New Genesis folks... it's just that they cannot kill him.  I dunno.  We wrap up with Highfather and Metron telling Orion not to lose hope... there will be a war, but for the moment at least, there is peace on New Genesis.

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Another interesting issue of 1st Issue.  This one is strange in that what happens could (should?) have had an effect on the entire DC Universe.  This is almost too relevant a story to appear in this series, ya know?  The idea that Darkseid is readying for an all-out war on not only his neighbors on New Genesis, but the Earth as well... really should be something the DC heroes know about, and aid the opposition against.

Now, I don't wanna slag on the relevance of my beloved 1st Issue Special... but, c'mon, this series brought us Lady Cop, the Dingbats, and the Outsiders (not those Outsiders)... hardly movers and shakers of the DC Universe.  This story feels large, and important... which is a good thing!  Just a weird way to end this volume... as this is the final issue of 1st Issue Special before it faded into the sunset.

I mentioned it above, but... as silly as it is, I really kinda dig the idea that Darkseid cannot be killed without the Earth being destroyed.  I haven't read the Return of the New Gods series that spun out of this, but I'd definitely be interested in checking it out... to see how creative they get with this concept.

I'm not sure quite how I feel about Orion's new costume.  It's definitely more traditional... which, I dunno... I mean, it's sharp, but it's lacking something from his earlier wacky helmet.  The art overall, however, was really quite good.  It's definitely not Kirby, but Vosburg does a great job here with the characters.  Darkseid is perhaps a bit on the dinky side, but overall, I really dug the look of this.

I keep thinking, with how many DC characters that it would be great for them to bring a concept like this back... even if it was a digital-only (or digital-first) sort of thing.  There are plenty of characters we haven't seen (or seen very little of) since Rebirth... it might be interesting to explore some of those.

As for a recommendation... well, if you recall... we sorta kinda have a demandment here, if you come across an issue of 1st Issue Special in the wild (for a reasonable price), you just gotta snag it!

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1st Issue Special #12 (1976)

1st Issue Special #12 (March, 1976)

"Starman"

Writer/Editor - Gerry Conway

Artists - Mike Vosburg & Mike Royer

Cover Price: $0.30

Got a bit of a late start on this one.  Found myself pretty ill over the past couple of days, and somehow wound up sleeping entirely through yesterday.  Guess the body knows what it needs, right?

Today we're going to discuss the first appearance of a character I think most think is from the 1990's.  Mikaal Tomas was a part of the post-Zero Hour James Robinson penned Starman series... and it was the first time I'd ever seen (or heard) of him.  It was interesting to learn that he had actually been around almost two full decades before that!

So lets find out just where the blue Starman came from, shall we?

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We open with a ship crashing in the Bronx late one night.  It is mistakenly thought to be a meteor.  The lone inhabitant of the vessel is a blue-skinned man with a very timely mid-70's haircut and low cut top... too bad he doesn't have a tuft of chest hair peeking out the top!  He hops away from the wreckage and into a wonderfully seedy Bronx neighborhood... where he gets jumped by some jamokes.  Here we learn that our visitor is quite adept at fighting, may have some enhanced senses, and might not bleed when he's cut.

In the moments following the crash, emergency personnel swarm the wreckage... including a pair of officers and one Air-Force Colonel.  Col. MacGruder calls off the inspection, and claims that he's "got it from here".  I'm guessing Conway was trying to make the military man look uptight during this scene, but unfortunately he didn't do enough to ingratiate either side of this to the reader/me.  Either way, it's all a moot point.  The ship explodes... killing Inspector Dave Clarson.

We shift to Clay's Grocery Store, where our gibberish-speaking visitor wanders in.  Shop owner, Frank Clay aims his rifle at our man who, as a defensive measure lets forth some sort of sonar beam from the amulet he wears around his neck.  This causes the rifle to disappear... and our man to slump down unconscious.  Frank decides against calling the police, and instead gives him a bed for the night.

We shift to a domed city on the Moon where Billy Batson is reporting on the world-wide cupcake disappearance epidemic er, Master Komak is going on a rampage because someone he calls Mikaal Tomas has gotten away.  He kills the poor schlub who failed to capture/execute him... and then we meet Lady Cormell.  She's drawn to look far too nice to be a baddie... but, she be bad.

She asks what Komak's plans are for the Tomas situation.  He points to a Mind-Slaver called Turran Kha who has the power to crush a chair... which I suppose is quite impressive on the Moon.  He will surely bring Mikaal to justice!

We rejoin Mikaal as he is having a nightmare.  He is dreaming about his last conversation with his lover Lyysa... hmm... well, to be fair, it is never said outright that they were lovers... just what I took from the scene.  Anyhoo... here we learn that their Mind Council has picked Earth for enslavement.  Lyysa cannot abide by such juju, and has decided to become a revolutionary.  Sadly, her revolution last about... 30 seconds... she gets shot dead just a few feet outside the front door.

Now, Mikaal loses it!  He starts pounding the trigger-man into hamburger.  Just as he's choking the baddie out. he gets *bunnt*ed on the back of his head by another member of the Council.  He is than taken to stand before the big-wigs for sentencing.  They are giving him the same sentence they would have given Lyysa... had she lived.  Mikaal shockingly tells them to "burn in hell"... which ya don't see often in Code-Approved books... it's usually "go to blazes" or something or the like.

He is shackled and led to his final fate... when he is able to escape.  Truly the Mind Council has some of the most incompetent and inept guards.  I mean, this dude's got his arms shackled, and he takes them out without a problem.  He uses one of their dropped ray guns to free himself of his bindings.

Around now the Clay's wake Mikaal up.  They've got a big bowl of something for him to eat.  From here, we find out that Mikaal speaks English and can communicate with his new pals.  He explains that all of his kind were required to learn English to prepare for the invasion of Earth.  He continues by spilling the beans on what brought him here.

Ruth Clay excuses herself to... er, make a cake... yeah, that's it... gotta make that cake... and Mikaal's starman-sense starts tingling.  He figures she's going to call the cops, so he (after thanking Frank for his hospitality) takes his leave.  In the moments that follow, we find that Ruth wasn't calling the police... she was calling a hospital to get Mikaal some treatment.

We shift scenes to Clarson's funeral (man, that was quick!), where his partner Sgt. O'Donnell has another run-in with jerkface MacGruder.  The Colonel takes the Sarge to the Harlem River where another of those creepy exploding space planes has been located.  Conway has MacGruder check off another box in the cliche list by having him suggest that the man on board may be... dun dun dun... a spy!  If only it was that easy, Kernel.

We wrap up our tale with Mikaal observing his new environment.  He notes that it is quite similar to his own... the differences are so small, they may as well be non-existent.  While his mind wanders... he is jumped by Turran Kha, who helpfully introduces himself as he begins pounding away on him.  The issue closes with the pair getting ready to face off... if you're interested in seeing how this one winds up... you're going to need a time machine, and some stamps!

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A decent enough origin story... if not a bit contrived.  It feels as though we've read this before.  Like, this is some well-trodden ground... very much been there, done that.  Perhaps that's unfair, being as though this is a forty (!) year-old comic at this point.  Maybe the peaceful rebel of a warring planet wasn't as tropey back then.

What really struck me about this was the art.  It's really quite wonderful.  The character designs, and even the work on the civilians looks great.  Looking at Lady Cormell, she's almost too "pretty" to be evil.  I thought for sure she's come around by the end.

This, like many/most/nearly all of the 1st Issue Special books really makes me wonder if DC really thought this concept could actually maintain an ongoing (or even limited) series.  I mean, I like the character... but all I know of him is from almost twenty-years after this issue came out... and even then, I doubt he could carry a series.

Overall, worth a look for the novelty.  A decent first-half of a first chapter... I'll have to reread my Robinson run to see if Master Komak, Turran Kha, Lady Cormell and this first adventure get a shout in there.

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