Mind Blown
Although I’ve featured other Alien Legion (AL) issues before, this is the very first AL comic that I ever owned and read. The others I just happened to have found around town, but this one was so great, that as soon as my eyes spotted anything with the AL logo on it, I immediately went to it and picked it up–and if I had the money, purchased it. With an Aug. 1988 cover date, I probably would have bought it May/June of 1988 at (the now defunct) Waldenbooks in downtown Chattanooga and it would have been something that I read over the summer of 1988 before school started. I probably would have been beginning my sophomore year in high-school at that time as well.
Large and in Charge
While the other two AL stories that I’ve review have featured Sarigar, the commander of Nomad Squad, this issue is pretty much a character study on one of Nomad’s toughest characters–Jugger Grimrod. Jugger is given his own command and while I won’t spoil it–it proves to be pretty memorable. We get to see Grimrod command soldiers on what appears to be a routine mission, but is anything but and we get to see his reactions–sometimes hilarious–in the face of extreme danger.
Characterization
Jugger Grimrod is very much a character cut from the Logan/Wolverine mythos. Very much a loner and a hard-talking, fast-living, remorseless killing machine willing to do anything to get the job done. I’ve always likened Grimrod as a Wolverine in space. While you don’t learn his back story until later in the comics’ run (my next mini-review will actually focus on a pivotal part of his back story), you don’t really need it. One thing that the writers actually do for this story is that they give him an advantage and a flaw. While he is one of the best soldiers out there, he is an enlisted man who hates officers. In this story, he is promoted to an officer–in essence, he becomes the very thing he hates. And now he must deal with it. How he deals with it and the ultimate resolution, I’ll leave you to read, but this small detail causes conflict–both external as he has people whom he’s now responsible for and internal–he has to overcome/deal with being the very thing that he despises (or not overcome/deal with it).
Overall Score: A+
The writing (Carl Potts–Creator/Chuck Dixon–Writer) and the art team (Larry Stroman and Mark Farmer) created a story that really set my imagination on fire as a child. It was inventive, clever, and fun. The hero was larger than life and while I couldn’t agree with the character’s ultimate decision at the end of the story, I did understand it. If you happen across this at a “Flea Market” or “Yard Sale” or “Book Sale” of some kind, and if it is inexpensive, you might consider picking it up for an afternoon of fun reading.
Have a great day!
Sidney
- Read Skin Deep (Sci-Fi) for Free at Aurora Wolf
- Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at Electric Spec
- Read Faerie Knight (Fantasy) in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
- Read Ship of Shadows (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
- Read WarLight (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
- Read Dragonhawk (Fantasy) in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
OtherWorlds: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Web Journal 