Alan Scott: Green Lantern #4: Sheridan delivers the Crimson Lantern's origin here, and, honestly, it makes a lot more sense than Alan's at this point.
Johnny, or Vlad, narrates his origin for Alan as Alan lies on the floor after Vlad sucked punched him at the end of last issue. Vlad was born in 1932 in Bobruisk, Belarus, where his father was stationed. Vlad leaves home as a young (barely) man to escape his abusive father, who later loses his house in a card game and dies penniless in the streets.
Vlad grows bored in the Red Army and sleeps with a high-ranking official in the Political Directorate to become a spy. (Vlad will later try to wrap the tattered remains of his heterosexuality around himself, so it's interesting to see how early into his career he was using it as an excuse to have sex with men.)
Vlad explains his first assignment is ironically his last one, as he's assigned to infiltrate Project Twilight. He's chosen because his mother taught him English by reading him ancient myths; coincidentally, the "Red Fires of Béringovo Môre" (i.e., the Crimson Flame of Death) fascinated them.
Vlad is initially concerned that someone is going to realize that he's a spy since he isn't an engineer, but he realizes he's dickmatized Alan so he finds another way (i.e., dick) to stay on the project.
Once he and Alan contain the Crimson Flame, Vlad thought he was close to victory, as a Soviet submarine was speeding toward the ship. But Alan's heroism gets in the way when he releases the Flame to save "Johnny." Of course, the Flame winds up getting Vlad anyway. After Vlad drowns, the Flame resurrected him, and he notes he saw a brief green flash under the water before the Soviet divers rescued him.
He spends two years under the knife in the Red Labs, though it becomes clear the Flame only responds to him, dooming the Soviets' plan to create a whole legion of Crimson Soldiers. Reading about the Green Lantern, the Soviets create a lantern and ring for Vlad, who notes that "these two incredible cosmic forces are bonded," just like he and Alan.
In the present, Vlad continues to monologue, and it's clear he's just finding a reason to talk to Alan. Like, if he were really a straight guy who simply used Alan to get what he wanted, I don't think he'd be pondering aloud his decision to choose Florida State College as his alleged alma mater since it's a women's college. (He comments about how it's like he almost wanted Alan to catch him.)
Eventually, Alan catches Vlad off guard and attacks, and "Johnny" tells him his real name before bolting through the wall. Alan follows him, and we get a hilarious scene where they move through an apartment's walls unnoticed while the family listens to a radio broadcast about the missing Soviet submarine.
Alan depletes his ring's energy mid-flight, and Vlad saves him from falling by encircling him in a bubble. Vlad explains to Alan that the two Flames contain "all the ancient magic of this universe concentrated and contained within the heart of the star." (Sure.) It allows for "flight, strength, even energy constructs," and it's interesting Alan didn't know about the constructs. That said, Alan does understand that the ring allows him and Vlad to move through solid walls by moving them to a time when the wall doesn't exist, meaning they're capable of some form of time travel. Vlad ponders whether Alan hasn't realized his potential because the Flames' powers are based on emotions and he always suppresses his. (Um, OK, pot.)
Alan approaches Vlad through the bubble and asks why he killed the men. Vlad says he didn't want to kill anyone, and Alan asks if he was jealous. Vlad rages at him, saying he has a wife now, and cuts off Alan as he asks, "Does she know you're a --?" He doesn't finish the question and instead leans with his back agains the bubble; Vlad does the same, leaving them back to back.
Alan tells Vlad that he bought the house in Lake George that Vlad loved (and Alan hated), explaining that it had an echo of him there and that he's been picking up pieces of that echo in people (i.e., his "Johnny" doppelgängers) and places. They have a moment here as Alan puts his hand against the bubble. Vlad whispers his name before reciprocating...
...and Alan punches him, grabbing the Crimson Lantern and recharging his ring with it, despite Vlad's warning not to do so.
All in all, it's a solid issue. Given Alan eventually marries a woman (actually, two, I think), Vlad isn't the villain simply because he isn't living a fully realized life. By including the story about the Political Directorate official "plucking" him from the Army, Sheridan makes it clear that Vlad is as gay (or at least bisexual) as Alan is but struggling with it just the same.
At some point, Sheridan does have to answer this question of why Vlad killed all those guys. Even if it was "just" jealousy, he clearly seemed to do it to lay a trail for Alan to follow, which raises the question why he didn't just capture or kill Alan in the first place. In fact, given the submarine story simmering on the back burner, we're still not really clear if Vlad is here on the Soviets' behalf or on his own.
Duke #2: First things first, the "Energon Universe's" time frame is still unclear to me. I'm really not sure how "Duke's" time frame fits into the larger "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" and "Transformers" time frames.
To wit, this issue ends with Rock 'n Roll and Stalker successfully nabbing Duke and his buddy, Clutch, and bringing them to an abandoned Pit, which we learn the Army decommissioned in the '80s but still uses to hold high-value prisoners. Given this series began at the same in-universe time as "Transformer" #1 (recalling Duke goes on his bender because he sees Starscream kill his buddy in "Transformers" #1), it seems like "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" is at least several months, if not years, in the future (or, I guess, the past), since Duke isn't a drunk and the Pit is the Pit.
At any rate, to start at the start, Duke finds Clutch, who's a friend from before he joined the Army — Clutch used to build cars that Duke would crash (presumably in derby races). He has a B.S. from MIT and lives in a trailer at the junkyard he runs. He's a pretty great bro, even if he does forget the name of his girlfriend when he tries to introduce Duke to her. He does, however, realize the device that Dr. Burkhart gave Duke triangulates where her tech is, and it seems like it's with Destro. It's at this point where Rock 'n Roll and Stalker appear and manage to get the jump on the boys.
Back at the Pit, it turns out Duke and Clutch are in the cell next to the Baronnes, who proposes an "arrangement." I'm sure that'll turn out well.
Local Man #7: Oof, Jack gets it in this issue.
First things first, Jack confirms that whatever drugs the hippies gave him unlocked a new understanding of his powers. It isn't just that he was able to find solutions when he was high; he realizes that he's always been able to put himself on the right path. He's explaining this discovery to Brian, who's locked him in jail after overhearing Jack yell at Inga on the phone and mentioning they had sex. (I imagine Jack's powers are part of the reason he's popular with the ladies.) But Jack wonders if he wasn't drawn to Inga after taking down Deliverance (I assume the crew selling drugs) because she was behind it all.
At any rate, Jack uses his shoe to knock out Brian, swipe his keys, and escape prison. He gets his usual Drvr dude and tells him about his situation. He still doesn't really understand what Inga's doing or why she's doing it, since it involves doing said thing and then building a whole life to cover up the thing she's doing. When Jack mentions Seascape, the Drvr dude hypothesizes she's a fey, since he and his brother-in-law have been playing a bunch of DnD. (Ha!) He explains fey love children, but they go all John Wick when they get hurt. This statement matches what we saw at the start of the issue, when Seascape grieves when she realizes she killed Michelle, a child.
At this point, Jack's mom calls, and he rushes home to find his dad lying dead in the field, the "Auntie Inga" bag Inga gave him earlier suspiciously close to his body. At the Future Forum event, Inga reveals Rudy as The Slick 2.0 to some investors. She then lights a cigarette and sets Rudy on fire! After panicking, Rudy realizes she's fine, and Inga tells the investors bidding starts at $2 million for this power set.
At the farm, Jack comforts his mother when he sees a tsunami heading to town. There, Seascape accuses Inga of dumping Michelle's body on her parents' doorstep. (Two other "whys" here are why Michelle was attracted to Seascape's song and why Inga would leave Michelle's body for her parents to find.) Jack arrives with the Drvr dude and lets Inga know she killed his dad (another "why" to add to the list). Inga then asks Jack if he's going to stop her or save Farmington.
Brian arrives and asks "How do you want to do this, asshole?!" At first I thought he meant fighting over Inga, but then I realized Brian is Brian and he meant how they were going to save the town. Jack tells Brian to get his kids and head to high ground and then turns to Slick 2.0 and tells her to start helping people. Inga tells Brian she'll come with him, and he tells her not to touch him. Good for you, dude.
Downtown, Drvr guy (quickly becoming my favorite character) is elated because he has Jack throwing horseshoes at Seascape since "'cold iron' is plus five against fey." Ha! Jack sends Drvr guy to help folks and then apologizes to Seascape, who stops when she recognizes him.
The issue seems to end with Inga leaving Wisconsin, though I don't know if that means that she's going to get the blame for everything that happened in Farmington. Suddenly, though, at the news station reporting on the tsunami, they play video that Brian sent them showing Jack killing Camo Crusader! Damn, Brian!
Moon Man #1: This issue is one of the best debuts I've read in a long time. Kid Cudi and Higgins present a fully realized cast of characters in just one issue, the type of cast that makes me feel justified every time I find myself criticizing a book for its lack of characterization. Moreover, it isn't just the protagonists that Kid Cudi and Higgins present so authentically; they make Buckley into a villain with just a few words and a well timed elbow to the ribs. In other words, they do more here than some authors do over the course of entire series.
The issue starts with Ramon, our protagonist, begging a bunch of scientists to let him and his colleagues go after they've endured six weeks of testing. When Ramon and his colleagues eventually leave the facility, the press shout questions at them. Through their responses, we learn Janus —a corporation whose owner's son is Buckley, one of Ramon's fellow crew members — sent them to the Moon so Buckley could be the first man in 50 years to walk on it. However, they encountered "cosmic turbulence" and disappeared for seven minutes; Ramon was the pilot who managed to return them to Earth. When the media start focusing on Ramon, Buckley elbows him into a cameraman to retain the press' attention. As Ramon is trying to help the cameraman pick up his stuff, he suddenly experiences a colorful hallucination.
Ramon returns to his home in Cleveland where his angsty teenage brother, Micah, lives. Micah veers from expressing hatred for Janus ("[T]hey've cut competition everywhere because they own everything") to Ramon ("You been gone for years. Why'd you even come back here?") while telling Ramon he's sorry that he didn't make it to the moon. (Ah, teenagers.)
Micah leaves for an anti-Janus rally, and Ramon experiences a strength surge, crushing his phone in his hand due to his frustration with Micah, as well as another hallucination. After seeing the protests have turned violent, Ramon heads to where they're happening to find Micah. He wears his spacesuit to hide his identify and, when he sees cops nearing Micah, leaps through the air, surrounded by the same colorful energy that he sees in his hallucinations. The concussion of his landing knocks away the cops, and he and Micah flee.
Later, Ramon insists to Micah that he didn't fly — it was more like something shifted. Micah starts criticizing Ramon for not owning his powers, but Ramon lays into him, telling him that it's easy for him to take the high road since Ramon is the one who's been paying his bills since their parents died. (At one point, Micah criticized Ramon for leaving NASA, and Ramon commented that Janus — and certainly not NASA — was paying their bills.)
Micah acknowledges that Ramon doesn't owe the world anything, but he has a lot to give and it's fair for him (Micah) to want to see Ramon give it in a way that just doesn't serve Janus. (Fair, Micah.) Later, Ramon experiences another hallucination in his front yard and demands from the universe to know what the Hell is happening to him.
All in all, it's a spectacular issue. Kid Cudi and Higgins create such a totally coherent world in just one issue. You can imagine a scenario where all five crew members develop powers à la Fantastic Four (but not using them altruistically). You can also imagine Micah's warning that people are going to come after Ramon once they figure out he was the one under the mask coming true.
I can't wait to see what happens next.
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