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

I agree with pretty much everything that's beenn said!

The Nail was a good reading experience fromm the start - as the set-up was so obvious and the whole super-hero backlash thing was quite easy to understand!

This time though things sure have been confusing. I'm not sure I remember what it's all about! Not only is there a NEw Gods ward thing going off but there's also a crazy supernatural-things-go-wrong element to it as well.

The saving graces have been things like the Widlcat appearance, and the beautiful renditions of Black Orchid and Star Sapphire and of course the all new Halo (who looks brilliant!)

Here hoping that issue 3 sorts things out satisfactorily! (I'm still a bit fuzzy as to why Jimmy Olsen went mad and tried to take over the world in the first series...)

A couple of random observations:

- Alan Davis doesn't really like to use exclamation points in his writing much, does he?

- After seeing what happened in Another Nail #2 and a recent issue of Aquaman, I've decided that, if I were a dolphin, I wouldn't be caught anywhere near Aquaman if I valued my life.

My favorite inadvertently humorous exchange:

"You're growing."

"Courtesy of Elasti-Girl."

Other observations/questions:

- It's about time someone decked the Phantom Stranger.

- My first thought was to send Ferro Lad in to do the job.

- Why does the Legion have Flash held captive in that two-page spread?

- I never noticed the extent to which Alan Davis's characters all have pointy feet (and/or shoes). Gives everyone an elfin look.

Overall assessment: nice art, but the story didn't do much for me. I think they strived for too "epic" a feel, and it really couldn't be done in three issues. Plus, all the mumbo-jumbo about the big threat (plasmic this, organism that) seemed hokey. The cameos were a nice touch, but when it really came down to it, a lot of the characters didn't do much other than sit around and talk (e.g., Firestorm, Halo, Astral Mage, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc., etc.). A bit of a disappointment, especially considering the price.

It's currently an untold tale. "Ultra" mentioned that he knew the Flash - presumably it was from the adventure that we only got a glimpse of here (the "Superboy's Legion" sequel?).

Ah, I completely forgot that Ultra had said that about Flash -- makes perfect sense.

Though, if that untold tale were to be set in the same continuity as "Superboy's Legion," it would have to occur sometime during the time period in which that story took place, since Colossal Boy's still alive. (Unless he's a clone, or resurrected...)

This mini has actually made me hope they don't do a follow-up to Superboy's Legion. I was way unimpressed and basically just flipped through the last issue to spot the Legion appearances.

I waited and bought all three issues and read them in one sitting. The first issue was slow. The second issue built a little steam, but this may have had more to do with Legion appearances than anything else.

I liked the Ollieazo character mainly because I didn't see it coming. That right there gets my respect. The main problem is this story is competing against the original "Nail" and that's hard to do. Overall, I'd give it a slightly better than average rating.

One little point for everyone - Davis wrote & drew this, but only drew Superboy's Legion (which Mark Farmer wrote & inked - he inked Another Nail). This wasn't "Superboy's Legion" that made the cameo, just Davis reusing the costumes he designed (which makes sense, when you think about it).

Overall, I give ANOTHER NAIL a B-minus.

Sequels so rarely match the quality of the first release.

Having come in with #3, I found the story awkward, scattered and uninteresting. A poor man's Crisis - at best.

too much 'gosh-wow' action to a point beyond Overload, and no reason to care about what was going on. Legion cameos weren't worth the price of admission.

I'm with Scott on this one.

I'd give it a B-Minus too. I can't tell if it's effected by a yearning for the Satellite League and the cool cameos though...

And I need to reread this more thoroughly, but was teh stuff with Batman more or less a subplot unrelated to the overall story? It really wasn't clear on my leaf-thru what it had to do with anything going on in the rest of it... He spends all three issues, right up to the big anticlamactic group shot, off on his own tangent. Huh.

The reason you can't remember him being called "Astral Mage" is because he wasn't. His name in this Superboy 2 parter was "ASTRA LAD". He was a geeky high school aged friend of Clark Kent who as an adult participated in a dream study and discovered he could project his astral self back through time. There, he possessed himself (as a teen) and used his astral powers to fight crime. His motivation was to gain popularity by then revealing that super-cool hero Astra Lad was in essence, geeky Joey Silver (IIRC his mild mannered ID correctly). Every time he attempted to reveal his identity, Superboy would thwart the effort, much to Astra Lad's dismay. In an act of desperation, he kidnapped Clark to try and convince Superboy to leave him alone. Clark, after hearing Astra Lad's origin, revealed his secret identity, and told Joey he was dreaming all this, and it was impossible to change the past. Joey realizes what Superboy/Clark says is true and wakes up in the present (1980).

Talk about an obscure character to use in JLA: Another Nail!! I had completely forgotten about him, and I still have these issues. Good eyes and brainwork, Blacula and Pov!!

Wow! Thanks, Craig; your synopsis brought it all rushing back.

Astra Lad! And Superboy trying to prevent Joey from revealing his identity. I remember really liking this story!

Maybe someone will bring Astral Mage into continuity somewhere...?


(Maybe Waid wants to have Astra Lad be a Legionnaire? )

The reason you can't remember him being called "Astral Mage" is because he wasn't. His name in this Superboy 2 parter was "ASTRA LAD". He was a geeky high school aged friend of Clark Kent who as an adult participated in a dream study and discovered he could project his astral self back through time. There, he possessed himself (as a teen) and used his astral powers to fight crime. His motivation was to gain popularity by then revealing that super-cool hero Astra Lad was in essence, geeky Joey Silver (IIRC his mild mannered ID correctly). Every time he attempted to reveal his identity, Superboy would thwart the effort, much to Astra Lad's dismay. In an act of desperation, he kidnapped Clark to try and convince Superboy to leave him alone. Clark, after hearing Astra Lad's origin, revealed his secret identity, and told Joey he was dreaming all this, and it was impossible to change the past. Joey realizes what Superboy/Clark says is true and wakes up in the present (1980).
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Quite a compelling tale -- thanks for posting the synopsis. I think I'll try to scrounge up those back issues somewhere.

I was thinking of picking ANOTHER NAIL up in TPB form. It's supposed to be out in December this year, I think.

I have to admit, the lukewarm reviews (on here and elsewhere) have put it WAY down on my buy list.

Love Alan Davis' art, but his writing? Not quite at the same level.

I -do- wish he'd bring back ClanDestine while he's exclusive for Marvel.

And his Killraven miniseries was good, although I forget if he actually wrote it, or if it was Mark Farmer. Farmer wrote all of their LSH collaborations... Superboy's Legion and the Ferro short story in #100, right?

I liked it a *bit* more than most here-- I'd rate it a B... almost entirely for seeing BLACK ORCHID again.

There was just too much going on, especially in the final installment. 'Ollieazo' (thanks, minesurfer) *was* a complete surprise.

Was the 'other nail' just Clark being on vacation (or whatever) until near the end?

Todd

I bought Adv/Superboy 3 and 4 this weekend... the Astra Lad story really was a decent read! Bates and Kupperberg were really well-suited for the type of younger reader story they were aiming for with the new Superboy stories. It was nice to read #3 for the first time, and I was reminded in rereading #4 that I never felt like I was missing the first part of the story.

AND I have every appearance of Astral Mage/Astra Lad! WooHOO!

Pov,

You are correct, Farmer is listed as writer/plotter of Superboy's Legion and the Ferro short in #100!

And I absolutely agree with you regarding seeing more ClanDestine!!

Did I spoil the surprise for you? I'm sorry if I did. I figured it was late enough after the release of the third book... Sorry.

Oh, no! I was thanking you for the term 'Olliazo'! I read the book the week it came out.

No worries about spoilers from me-- I figure if I read a topic, I'm accepting that risk.

Thanks, though, for the courtesy!

Todd

Phew. I thought I made a faux pa there for a second. Glad I could be of service with "Ollieazo". Other than the Legion appearances it's the only memorable thing about the story.

What I find amazing is how Legion fandom can go all apesh%t over little things like secret admirers named "C", or notes signed "IQ", or whether or not Chuck should wear his hat backwards, but...

(Another Nail Spoilers ahead)

...Jo divorcing Tinya and Princess Projectra being the new step mother to their children gets absolutley no play. What's up with that? I liked it. I think I'd have much rather read that story than the "Another Nail" one.

I liked Another Nail, dispite the how rushed and disconnected some of it felt.

I don't think it was it was implied Jo divorced Tinya what I got from it was that she passed away.

I agree. I assumed that Tinya was dead, and he eventually found happiness with Projectra.