Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Mike Allred's SOLO

Um, what exactly is SOLO, anyway? Other than a comic book, I mean.

It's a series of one-shots, basically, all under the SOLO banner, with each issue devoted to the work of a partiular creator. There are ususally several stories in each comic, with at least one invoving DCU characters.

Cool.

After fighting a raging hangover this morning and trying to keep awake after a few hours' sleep, I drove an hour to pick up my copy of SOLO (then went to work for the afternoon).

Very nice! I especially liked to see the DP prominently featured. And Streaky too!

Were "Girl Archer" and "Queen Arrow" pre-existing characters, or were they created just for this book?

(And, as an aside, I've always thought Wally should have been known as "Speedy," for obvious reasons. Maybe Roy could have been called "Kid Arrow" or something...)

This was a great Solo issue, probably my favourite after Darwyn Cooke's - Metal Men, Doom Patrol (Rita with a white purse! That's pure original DP.), Streaky - lots of old friends. He even had the New Gods, although that was not as good a story as the others. And who couldn't love a guy who dresses up in a leopard suit?

I just read half and it's as awesome as I expected. The Titans/DP story was one of the coolest things I've read in awhile. Like FC said, it's my fave after the Darywn Cooke one.

Allred's love of DC's past shines through. Love seeing Streaky, Mon-El in the Phantom Zone and nice guy Bruce Wayne returning with Cathy Kane from the Hero Banquet.

"This confirms the not-so-secret policy at Dan Didio's DC. Campy, funny, playful, all-ages or accessable versions of DC Universe characters are forbidden. Didio hates that stuff (I hear he literally HATES Metamorpho and Metal Men), and only wants to push grim & gritty superhero work. I also have it on good authority that clean-line, 'cartoony' art is definately OUT. No more Darwyn Cooke/ Mike Allred-ish stuff for Dan Didio, no siree. Call me when his ass is out the door, thanks."


I guess that means there's NO WAY I'll ever get work at DC...

This was fun, but didn't quite gel (in some parts) for me.

Hourman seemed for all the world like...Space Ghost!

The TT/DP story was a scream, but I had a few problems picking up on the visual cues. (It took me awhile to figure out what Wally was doing in the phone booth AND to see the abuse of poor Streaky's tail.) The "Here Chicky" panel was unpleasantly creepy. On the other hand...QUEEN ARROW! (I have gone nuts over Queen Arrow lately.) The Flips! And the Supergirl/Mon-El a-go-go scene is an instant classic!

I liked the clubhouse story. (I must wonder, though: is Sandra going to show up and raise a li'l hell?)

Not to mention that Cooke is now exclusive to DC.

Good. That's the pin popping the balloon of that theory, then.

I read the Batman story last night and have to say it really creeped me out, but after rereading it, I really like it. It says a lot about the history of Batman and comics. I definately didn't love it at first, but the dream ending was a welcome relief to such a dark tale.

I guess we can still hold on to our idealistic heroes if people like Allred, Cooke, etc. give them to us, although the dark trends will most likely never go away...

I had the same feeling when I read the Batman story. I don't think I've ever been so relieved to find an "It was all a dream" ending. For most of it, I was getting the BAD feeling that Allred had done yet another post-modern revisionist take on the Silver Age, as Darwyn Cooke had done in NEW FRONTIERS story. In that, while it appears he's paying tribute to the 50's & 60's, you still had the CURRENT Batman in there, acting creepy and pushing Martian Manhunter around in a very threatening fashion (not to mention the Feds trying to capture The Flash as his friends on the local police force stand by and wonder "What the HELL are these guys doing?"). Allred's story really points out how STUPID what makes up so much of modern comics really is. I can see how the current editorial regime would NOT like this comic-- it not only flies in the face of all the darkness, gloom, doom & hoplessness they favor, it's a blatent slap-in-the-face against it. I guess that makes it one of MY favorite DCs of this year...!

That's not the current Batman.

That's the pre-Robin Batman of the late '30s. Note how he starts to change once he adopts the sidekick near the end of the book, much like the original.

Loved the art and the issue. I loved Aqualad eating frozen fishsticks! Who wants to meet Mike and Laura? Just come visit us in San Francisco February 2006:
http://www.comic-con.org/wc/wc_guests.shtml

I hope he's sketching! Who should I ask for?!? Legion or X-Statix?

Well, if it were me - JSA all the way. Probably that Earth-2 Robin in full Bat-themed gear.

But we can't decide for you (well, we could....). Fortunately, you've got plenty of time to think about it.

It was this little picture that gave me a HUGE crush on him...

OHMIGAWD!!!!!! Tell him his # 1 fan lives in Memphis