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Alien Legion Vol. 2 #13: “Deep Blue” — another one of my absolute Top Ten favorite comic books of all time. Here, Meico, the medical officer of Nomad Force, takes a squad to investigate the destruction of a science probe. A giant alien whale swallows their spacecraft. To escape certain destruction, Meico attains a psychic bond with the creature. He plants images of food in the creature’s mind to drive it to the surface. This will kill the creature, but save Meico’s squad.

While bonded to the great beast, Meico shares its pains, its age, its life, its fear — its primitive and ancient thoughts. This transcendent merging with the alien whale gives Meico a new perspective on the universe: “Smaller the stars are now. Smaller the universe is to me.”

Aside from the brilliant transcendent theme and poetic script, I love every rapturous line of Larry Stroman‘s artwork here, the gorgeous color palette for this issue, and the attention given to richly individual characterizations.

Plus, we get some fun phrases like “We trapped like Vershnerdels in an oobie box!”

Collector’s Guide: From Alien Legion Vol. 2 #13; 1989, Epic/Marvel.