O_O, or Hu-bu-wha-?
Century 23: Return of the Warrior opens with the enigma of four armoured figures somewhere deep moving what looks like a casket...
...Like the gold casket bearing Stephanie Trevor that Supergirl Blue and Supergirl Red transport to Paradise Island and Wonder Woman's mother, Queen Diana. Stephanie has fallen in battle and is dead. Diana thinks that maybe the Purple Ray might revive her daughter. It revived her father Steve Trevor once - perhaps that was when he and Diana first met during World War II - or Season One on ABC, whichever you prefer...
Elsewhere, Metron is stuck on his Mobius Chair in space, without the benefit of the Sunday - or Wednesday's - Comics. It appears that whatever rose from the ashes of Apokolips has displaced and trapped New Genesis in a void...and what Superman is doing about it is having nightmares with Dreamer.
The original Buddy Blank clone gets an examination from his doctor; and, we learn that it is the year 2225.
We see that the Parademons are behind the battle. Batman has renewed the OMAC project and Younger Superman are beating them back.
When she realizes that her daughter Stephanie is alive but may be brain damaged, Diana returns with The Super Twins to turn the tide of battle.
After a century with the New Gods, Superman finally allows Dreamer to unravel the mystery in the back of his head that is causing his nightmares. He sees Brainiac 5 send Saturn Girl back in time to warn Superboy.
The Good ~
The pieces of the puzzle may now be starting to fall into place!...
The Bad ~
...It's only taken four issues and three hundred years. Three centuries?!
I'm wondering if Byrne has written himself into a corner with this one. This is pretty solid and airtight. This might be one of those locked room mysteries.
1) We see Brainiac 5 fall in a battle and send Saturn Girl back to warn Superboy in 1925. She's unsuccessful because she's somehow mortally wounded too and covers everything up to preserve history, and probably the idea of the Prime Directive.
2) Batman is the only one that anticipates the Parademons, realizing that they have been appearing pretty regularly around the same time every one hundred years. Like in Kingdom Come he's got his team put together and mobilized in action. Even Younger Superman and the Super Twins. Here he prods Diana back into the game pretty forcefully.
3) Saturn Girl buried a message in Superman's subconscious, but it hasn't come to the surface. Kal-El doesn't notice it or do anything about it - even after a century of being "trapped" with the New Gods and marrying Dreamer! So, the one person that can really unravel this whole thing, is a) not the sharpest brick in the knife tray; and b) in both the best and worst place to do something about it, and doesn't! It takes a New Gods intervention to get him to deal with this seemingly insignificant thing that turns out to be the hinge the story hangs on. This is almost similar to Kingdom Come, in which Superman withdrew from his responsibility - even as a role model in Kingdom Come.
It seems that when broken down, this story is more about the parts than the picture they all fit together to make. Byrne is weaving an epic, but the pieces don't all fit together neatly. This issue starts out puzzling and enigmatic and only through dialogue is it explained that the Parademons are invading, and continue the invasion across the centuries through time toward the past.
On the other hand this could be a brilliant epic. There's just that niggling feeling that the Saturn Girl thread is a bit goofy.
The Ugly ~
There's really not much ugly here, except for the Superman storyline.
It's cool to see Diana back in action as Wonder Woman.
The Skinny ~
This is one of those story arcs that is best read all at once. Like taking a weekend, and staying in your pajamas and watching a season box set of your favorite show. Or taking the weekend to read your favorite sci-fi book. Each issue is a chapter. Reading them each individually over thirty days does not help enjoy it more.
It's a shame this wasn't collected and this is how the whole Elseworlds Generations Universe is wrapping up and winding down. I would have loved to have read a G4, or seen this continue in another volume as an ogoing. Byrne is a pretty good writer and artist.
...Like the gold casket bearing Stephanie Trevor that Supergirl Blue and Supergirl Red transport to Paradise Island and Wonder Woman's mother, Queen Diana. Stephanie has fallen in battle and is dead. Diana thinks that maybe the Purple Ray might revive her daughter. It revived her father Steve Trevor once - perhaps that was when he and Diana first met during World War II - or Season One on ABC, whichever you prefer...
Elsewhere, Metron is stuck on his Mobius Chair in space, without the benefit of the Sunday - or Wednesday's - Comics. It appears that whatever rose from the ashes of Apokolips has displaced and trapped New Genesis in a void...and what Superman is doing about it is having nightmares with Dreamer.
The original Buddy Blank clone gets an examination from his doctor; and, we learn that it is the year 2225.
We see that the Parademons are behind the battle. Batman has renewed the OMAC project and Younger Superman are beating them back.
When she realizes that her daughter Stephanie is alive but may be brain damaged, Diana returns with The Super Twins to turn the tide of battle.
After a century with the New Gods, Superman finally allows Dreamer to unravel the mystery in the back of his head that is causing his nightmares. He sees Brainiac 5 send Saturn Girl back in time to warn Superboy.
The Good ~
The pieces of the puzzle may now be starting to fall into place!...
The Bad ~
...It's only taken four issues and three hundred years. Three centuries?!
I'm wondering if Byrne has written himself into a corner with this one. This is pretty solid and airtight. This might be one of those locked room mysteries.
1) We see Brainiac 5 fall in a battle and send Saturn Girl back to warn Superboy in 1925. She's unsuccessful because she's somehow mortally wounded too and covers everything up to preserve history, and probably the idea of the Prime Directive.
2) Batman is the only one that anticipates the Parademons, realizing that they have been appearing pretty regularly around the same time every one hundred years. Like in Kingdom Come he's got his team put together and mobilized in action. Even Younger Superman and the Super Twins. Here he prods Diana back into the game pretty forcefully.
3) Saturn Girl buried a message in Superman's subconscious, but it hasn't come to the surface. Kal-El doesn't notice it or do anything about it - even after a century of being "trapped" with the New Gods and marrying Dreamer! So, the one person that can really unravel this whole thing, is a) not the sharpest brick in the knife tray; and b) in both the best and worst place to do something about it, and doesn't! It takes a New Gods intervention to get him to deal with this seemingly insignificant thing that turns out to be the hinge the story hangs on. This is almost similar to Kingdom Come, in which Superman withdrew from his responsibility - even as a role model in Kingdom Come.
It seems that when broken down, this story is more about the parts than the picture they all fit together to make. Byrne is weaving an epic, but the pieces don't all fit together neatly. This issue starts out puzzling and enigmatic and only through dialogue is it explained that the Parademons are invading, and continue the invasion across the centuries through time toward the past.
On the other hand this could be a brilliant epic. There's just that niggling feeling that the Saturn Girl thread is a bit goofy.
The Ugly ~
There's really not much ugly here, except for the Superman storyline.
It's cool to see Diana back in action as Wonder Woman.
The Skinny ~
This is one of those story arcs that is best read all at once. Like taking a weekend, and staying in your pajamas and watching a season box set of your favorite show. Or taking the weekend to read your favorite sci-fi book. Each issue is a chapter. Reading them each individually over thirty days does not help enjoy it more.
It's a shame this wasn't collected and this is how the whole Elseworlds Generations Universe is wrapping up and winding down. I would have loved to have read a G4, or seen this continue in another volume as an ogoing. Byrne is a pretty good writer and artist.