I have been living in the late '80s recently (actually I have been commuting back and forth), and it occured to me that I have read almost the entire First Comics series Crossroads over the course of various discussions. I read issues #1-2 as part of my Sable discussion, #4 as part of Grimjack, and #5 as part of Dreadstar. It struck me that #3 is the only one I have left to read and that I might as well go for it. Then I got to thinking about one of my boxes labled "Miscellaneous New Universes" and that I might as well dip into that as well. My thesis will be that, in the '90s, one of the problems with the comic book field is that publishers were no longer content merely to publish good comic books, they wanted to launch entire universes. I think I have pin-pointed where this trend began, and I will identify it when I get to it. First, though, on to Crossroads.
Crossroads was a series of "done-in-one" stories in which characters from various First series met for the first time. ("Across infinite space and time, parallel lives meet at the Crossroads.") The beauty of this series is that each issue was entirely self-contained; one need not buy any issue of the connecting series nor even the entire crossover series itself in order to get a complete story. Each issue was done by a different writer/artist team, and Steve Rude provided the covers for all five. One character from each issue would carry over into the next, then "hand off" the series to the next character, and so on. For example, Jon Sable was the common character in issues #1 and #2. In issue #1 he met Whisper, and in #2 he met Badger. Of the three, Sable was the character most based in reality. Whisper wore a costume, but was still "realistic"; the Badger could be.
The Badger carried over from #2 to #3, where he met the comic relief character from American Flagg!, Luther Ironheart. In #4, Judah Macabbee met Grimjack (the "Luther" connection is there, but its tenuous), and in #5 Grimjack met both Dreadstar and Nexus. As I have written elsewhere, #4 and #5 blend seemlessly with Grimjack and Nexus and Dreadstar, but it is not necessary to have read the regular series to follow Crossroads or vice versa.
NEXT: Total Eclipse
Replies
Each of Dark Horse's four "cities" had a distinctive logo of its own...
Yes, seen in the upper right hand corner of the covers (for those unfamiliar).
...an appearance by Nexus in the last issue of "Out of the Vortex".
Really! I did not know that. I'll have to seek it out.
ARCADIA: Week Two
PIT BULLS:
Writer: Jerry Prosser
Artist: Joe Phillips
Cover: Bob McLeod
Prologue: By 1942, the area of the desert where the UFO (now underground) landed has become part of the local lore.
The story picks up immediately following the end of X, with Lt. Timothy calling a woman named Anita. She runs a group of mercenaries (Queenie, Duke and Spike) called the "Pit Bulls" headquartered in Arcadia's waterfront district. They confront both X as well as Gault's S.W.A.T. team as the etherial aliens look on. The aliens refer to themselves as "Seeker Unit One," report to "Control" and are apparently searching for the "Unholy One." James Xavier Sinclair, a columnist for the Daily Arcadian, is also mentioned. It strikes me how much story is conveyed in the 16 pages (15 really, since the last page is a preview of the next issue) of each of these installments.
NEXT: Ghost
ARCADIA: Week Three
GHOST:
Writer: Jerry Prosser
Artist: Adam Hughes
Cover: Dave Dorman
Prologue: Underground, a "scientist from another world" builds a machine... "THE Machine! He knows time is hort... for the Destroyers are coming."
X has already killed Johnson, Sauer and Briggs, all affiliated with the "Waterfront Project." Now he is after Bradstreet, of Bradstreet Construction. But a woman known as "Ghost" is after him, too, seeking information about her own murder. She is intangible (although she carries a handgun) and can only been seen when she wishes to. One of the etherial aliens, Brother Meresin, reports to Brother Paimon of Control. He observes as Ghost and X arrive confront Bradstreet simultaneously. Against Ghost's wishes, X kills Bradstreet. Brother Meresin becomes involved, and she can see him. X proposes comparing notes, but she refuses and leaves. While X is setting explosive charges, someone or something approaches him from behind.
Peter Edwards of the Daily Arcadian reports that investment banker Jules R. Moravczik was shot and killed by a woman who reportedly walked through a wall. I don't know about Pit Bulls, but Ghost definitely got her own series.
NEXT: Monster
I had forgotten about the Pit Bulls. I'm fairly certain that they appeared early on X's series, but I doubt they had a series of their own. The previous issue was probably their only solo feature.
Ghost, however, is one of the mainstays of Dark Horse's superheroes line. She well outlives this CGW initiative.
Nothing against this cover -- Dorman does really great work here -- but it's hard to even imagine a time when a publisher would have Adam Hughes art in a book and he wouldn't put his work front-and-center on the cover.
ARCADIA: Week Four
MONSTER:
Writer: Jerry Prossner
Artist: Derek Thompson
Cover: Doug Manke
Prologue: 1947: While atomic tests are being conducted above ground, "a test of far greater signifigance is about to commence... beneath the desert surface."
This issue begins a few minutes before the end of Ghost, and follows "Monster" up from the sewers. More details are revealed about the Waterfront Project, how it will benefit crooked polititians and real estate developers. X is familiar with Monster, likely from articles written by Bambi Marie Roland of the Daily Arcadian. They fight, but X is outmatched. As the S.W.A.T. team attacks, X withdraws and detonates the explosives he set in Ghost. Brother Paimon arrives on the scene to find Brother Meresin mortally wounded. Readings indicative of the "Unholy One's" influence seem to be emanating from Monster. After the explosion, X removes his hood and reveals an X-shaped scar over his blind left eye. He disappears down the same manhole from which Monster arrived, and Paimon teleports away.
I should probably have also mentioned that each issue features a Watchmen-like character profile on the inside back cover.
NEXT: Golden City
GOLDEN CITY: Week One
REBEL:
Writer: Barbara Kessel
Artist: Tim Hamilton
Cover: Jerry Ordway
Prologue: The underground experiment comes to a head just as the atomic bomb explodes. "Something has gone wrong..."
Our introduction to Golden City comes via Rebel, one identity shared by two identical twins, Matt and Mark, who have some sort of energy absorbing power. They report to a woman named (Amazing) Grace, who runs the Citadel, high on a hill overlooking Golden City, which is described as "a utopia ruled by a benevolent monarch." Many want to live there, but only a lucky few are allowed in. Today, Grace tasks Rebel with transporting a super-criminal called Warmaker to The Vault, but something goes wrong and he escapes. Mark is involved with Rhapsody, who has healing powers. Two other "Brothers," Arioc and Rimmon are there, searching for signs of the Heretic. Another as-yet-unnamed super-powered woman is also on the scene. Journalists include Debby Belasco of KCGT-TV and Shannon Dray of the Golden City Guardian.
NEXT: Mecha
Golden City was probably my favorite among the four environments of CGW, with Cinnabar Flats (the fourth and last one in this debuting series) in second place.
Grace is equal parts lovely and exasperating, and most of Golden City's superpowered beings are intriguing in some way.
GOLDEN CITY: Week Two
MECHA:
Writer: Barbara Kessel
Artist: Chuck Wojtkiewicz
Cover: Dave Johnson / Karl Story
Prologue: The "godmaker" machine explodes and implodes at the same time... "and a sinister new shape begins to form in its place!"
Mecha is an armored hero, but more in the vein of X-O than Iron Man. The armor might be sentient; he talks to it, but it doesn't talk back. As the story opens, he's saving a little boy from a fire. Theboy is badly burned, but the armor directs him to Rhapsody nearby, where Rebel is fighting Warmaker. Arioc and Rimmon continue to observe. Warmaker gets the better of Mecha, then Grace transports him back to the Citadel. He is not one of her chosen, but he convinces her that he is an asset, so she sends him back. the battle between Mecha and warmaker could go either way by the end of the issue.
NEXT: Titan
GOLDEN CITY: Week Three
TITAN:
Writer: Barbara Kesel
Artist: Brian Apthorp
Cover: Walter Simonson
Prologue: Some sort of "vortex" is created, and the underground scientist is sucked into it.
Titan joins the fray just as Mecha's armor, quite unexpectedly (even to himself), transforms into a much more formidable configuration. Titan is Comics' Greatest World's "Superman" (Frank Wells is its "Clark Kent"), and he is very much the "Boy Scout," philisophically opposed to the way Grace runs the citadel, even that there is a Citadel. during Titan's battle with Warmaker, a nearby apartment building is damaged and a woman falls (putting titan in a quandry), but Rebel saves her. After that, Titan makes short work of Warmaker. The "Brothers" observe, but determine titan is not connected to the "Heretic" they are seeking. In the Citadel, Grace argues with a man named Madison about their course of action. Meanwhile, Warmaker recovers and threatens a female bystander, freezing titan. Then Grace and Madison arrive. The Golden City police chief is Aaron Newberg.
NEXT: Catalyst: Agents of Change
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 8 Next