Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities anyone else not really blown away by ANOTHER NAIL?

THE NAIL kicked all kinds of ass, but I found myself rather bored with ANOTHER NAIL # 1. In fact, I never even finished reading it, choosing to skim the pages instead.

I had pretty much decided to not buy the other 2 issues, but then I spotted that cover with STAR SAPPHIRE, POWER GIRL and BLACK ORCHID (!!!!) on it. Davis had me by the goodies, and he knew it.

So I bought it, but I'm still not really sure I'm looking forward to it.

Perhaps some comments here will inspire me to go back and give ANOTHER NAIL # 1 another chance before I attempt to read # 2.

What "nail" was there?

For me, one of the charms of the first series was that it was written like a "what if." That said, I'm a sucker for the intergalactic look see type stories and in my opinion, issue one did this better than most of the crossovers. A war between gods would seem to ignore the collateral. The Lantern Corps would not. It made sense.

I'll help you out MLLASH.

First things first - Another Nail is nowhere near as good as The Nail! Its not even in the same stratosphere.

But if you take it for what it is, a *BEAUTIFULLY* drawn Elseworlds showcasing lots of cool characters that we don't get to see enough of these days and a fairly interesting story, then you'll probably find its not so bad. In fact, when I went back and read the 2 issues with that in mind I found I actually quite enjoyed them.

The big problem with this series is that the plot is still way too sketchy. After issue 2 of a 3 issue series its not a good sign when I still have no idea who the threat is, what the threat is, what any of the heroes are doing about it or what's at stake. Compared to the first series which was incredibly tense and tautly plotted its a big disappointment.

HOWEVER... what I am loving about this series is all the cool cameos from minor-league heroes and Alan Davis' slightly skewed vision of the DCU. LOVED seeing Hawk and Dove (Hank and Don - my favourite pairing), Wildcat (Yolanda Montez), Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, Ragman, Black Orchid, Star Sapphire, Firestorm, Halo (in the body of a black woman) and most especially... the Astral Mage! Now before anyone says "Who?" don't worry - I had never heard of him before either. But thanks to someone on the DC boards that brought it to my attention, apparently the Astral Mage was some small-time hero who gave Superboy (Kal) some trouble in the early issue of his second series. That's probably about his only appearance EVER and yet here he pops up as a new member of the JLA. How random, and yet cool, is that!

So to sum up - I LOVE the fact that Davis is using such obscure elements of the DCU to tell this tale, I just wish the tale he was telling was a little more interesting.

Hope that helps.

I'm... interested. The art alone is enough reason to get it (although why does Davis have such an aversion to men's nipples? He draws sexy men with hairy chests and everything with realistic musculature but no nipples. Really. Look in Another Nail #2 where Kal is putting his top back on. Sans nipples. Very odd).

The story reads to me like something that's building up to something *big*. I only got the first one as a trade and I suspect the same thing might be said about that. Things happen and they're, to a certain extent, unrelated little set pieces until the last chapter when it all gets drawn together. I hope that they're playing the same game here as well because they did it so well in the first book. Unfortunately it could go either way and end up just falling flat.

That being said I'm inclined to think (as has been suggested elsewhere) that this is the Nail-iverse take on Crisis. The whole thing with other worlds and time manipulation and so in just seems very Crisis-y to me. Course that could be what we're supposed to think and it's something else entirely...

I second most of what Blacula said. With so many characters involved and still no real idea what the threat is, I'm not sure how Davis will wrap things up in one issue. This reminds me of "Avengers/JLA" in that it's a huge visual treat and a great tour of the past with the story taking a backseat. There are a couple of interesting ideas thrown around, but the plot isn't the main point of this series.

Thanks for the input, all.

See, I enjoyed plot elements of JLA/Avengers, especially the differences between the heroes & life in general between the 2 universes. I'd never really thought of it before.

I think what I'll do is reread 1 and then read 2 in one sitting, and just enjoy the art.

It IS rather cool to see Black Orchid on a cover... that hasn't happened since her 80s SUICIDE SQUAD stint. (I don't count the Vertigo Black Orchid series)

The new Halo was hella cool!

Don't get me wrong, I am interested in the mystery they've set up and the connection to Darkseid, the GLC and "the one", it's just that the art is the star.

I'm really enjoying it. The fact is that it's kind of unfair to compare it to the original because this one isn't done yet. I think it will be at least as good.

Haven't read #2 yet but I wasn't overly impressed with #1. I just hope that this isn't what we get in place of a second Superboy's Legion. If they had to pick one over the other and Another Nail won then I'll be pissed.

How about comparing the reading experience of this one so far with the reading experience of the first one before it ended? This might actually make the second series seem even less by comparison since the big criticism of the first one was the ending.

The first series did a better job of establishing what the series was about. We were able to see this Elseworlds as "a world without Superman" and all the developments came out of that - we had a basis for comparison between that universe and the main DCU which made for an interesting dialogue.

I also found the mystery to be more enthralling. We were given enough interesting clues centered around the Superman mythos to be drawn in. This time it's a more vague "Darkseid threat" which isn't as engaging because it could be almost anything.

The first series was also more JLA centric which meant a tighter story and more screentime for the team whose name is on the cover - there was time for nice bits of characterization that's barely in this one since they were established in the first series. The Batman stuff and the ramifications for his actions in the first series is interesting, but he and Superman are the only ones who get characterization this time.

The final installment might make this ending better than the ending of the first series, but still in terms of a monthly reading experience, I enjoyed the first series more.

i haven't read part 2 yet !! but i did pretty much enjoy the 1st issue, liked the parts with BARDA and the GL corps, as well as all the cameo appearances !!

but as the others have said there, doesn't seem to be strong plot at the moment !!??

i have bought and flicked through, part 2 !!! and i loved seeing ALAN's twists on classic costumes !!! his ZATANNA looke fab !!! and HALO looked great too !!! thanks for the info on ASTRAL MAGE .... that is pretty cool !!!

Matthew.

Zatanna and Halo made the book for me!!!! What awesome renditions!

I read # 2 last night and rather enjoyed it, especially Batman slipping on a banana peel and busting his ass, then getting squirted in the face!

ps/ I think it should be noted that I was thrilled to see "ANGEL & THE APE" as the movie Lois & Supes went to, complete with CGI Ape.

Anyone who may have spotted me posting on a DCU MOVIES thread may have noticed that I've always been an advocate of A & t A getting a film!

I haven't read Another Nail yet, but I was inspired to dig out my copies of the Nail last night for a little re-read. I had forgotten what a cool story that was. Amazing what a difference a little flat tire can make. And an interesting take on the re-visioned DCU. Black Canary and the Outsiders was cool, and I was loving Hawkwoman, a character that I've always sorta liked, but never really gave much thought to.

Seeing other versions of the characters made me think: why DON'T we have multiple versions of some characters, and have them rotate in their titles? For instance, the Flash. Why not rotate the main star of the Flash title between Wally and Jay? Or in Green Lantern, have one arc feature Kyle, and the next feature Hal? Same with Hawkman: bring back Katar and Shayera Hol, and let them share the title with Carter and Kendra.

Sigh. Maybe I just miss the old "Superman Family" and "Batman Fmaily" titles from the 70s

They tried that for awhile with the current title -- it switched from Hal to John to Guy (Alan was still in limbo). John and Guy got spun out into their own titles, but I think the lack of focus on Hal hurt the title and ultimately the character, leading to "Emerald Twilight" and his ousting from his title.

I kind of thought plot-wise part 2 was kind of a jumbled mess, though I do hope in part 3 Davis can pull it together. I DID really enjoy part 1, since any spotlight on Barda and Scott Free makes me generally happy. I love that happy couple!

Well, at least it wasn't all bad then...

What I am wondering: who the heck is this "Asteral Mage" character shown joining the JLA alongside Firestorm and a redesigned Halo?

Is this a new character for the series, or some minor character I don't seem to be recalling at the moment?

As a Legion junkie, I read somewhwere they're making an appearance in #3!

Yes, #1 was confusing as hell too in that there were so many seemingly unconnected threads running that it seemed so unfocused. #2 was slightly better in terms of giving us what was going on in the first place, but the threads were still pretty much separate.

My idea is, a nail made things different in THE NAIL. Perhaps in ANOTHER NAIL, the nail comes towards the end? Just a guess...can't wait for #3 for some Legion goodness!

P.S. 2005 is the 20th year anniv of Crisis. I wonder what DC has in store (apart from action figures or somesuch)...makes a paranoid guy think...

I read somewhere that he was an obscure character that made only one appearance (I think).

I'm speculating that the death of Darkseid is the metaphorical "nail" in this one -- that because he died, something subsequent happened that "wasn't supposed to happen."

I actually owned "The New Adventures of Superboy" #4, which was the second part of his only appearance. I found the covers for both 3 and 4 at Lone Star Comics:



I can't remember the character being called the Astral Mage... I didn't remember a codename at all, actually. But I DID recognize the costume! Kudos to AD!

Astral Mage: "But why -- why reveal your secret identity to me -- your enemy?"

Superboy: "'Cuz you ain't gonna live to tell anyone, punk...!"