Alien Legion in Amazing Heroes

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Alan Zelenetz, Alien Legion, Amazing Heroes, Carl Potts, Fantagraphics, Frank Cirocco, Terry Austin

Issue #44 of Fantagraphics’ fanzine Amazing Heroes showcases one of our all-time favorite series: Alien Legion. We scored it at our top-secret 50-cent rack, but you can easily find a copy for a couple bucks. Its highlights of the creative team, along with some tasty pencils by Frank Cirocco, earn it a place in your Alien Legion collection.

The creative backgrounds of Carl Potts (creator, plotter) and Alan Zelenetz (writer) make interesting reading. And, you get a good look into how the main characters of the series started out. Alien Legion deals with the evolution of the main characters: how they change in response to their missions and war. In retrospect, this article underscores just how much the characters develop throughout the series.

Collector’s Guide: from Amazing Heroes #44; Fantagraphics, 1984.

alien legion poster by frank cirocco

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Alien Legion, Frank Cirocco, poster

In the late 1980s, my prize possession may well have been my Alien Legion poster. I don’t recall what happened to it. You couldn’t just find it anywhere to replace it, either — not for many years. Then, someone invented the glorious Internet for the express purpose of helping me find it in minutes. I got a brand new one, signed, a couple of years ago.

The poster has a definite irony that might not be immediately apparent unless you know the book. In the stories, we see how life in the Legion continuously borders on nightmare. Yes, the Legionnaires do experience the “wonders of the outerworlds”: brutal, alien environments only slightly less dangerous than the beings who inhabit them, ravaged by war, and sacrificed to politics.

Reviled and under fire everywhere they go, Legionnaires struggle to hold onto their sanity. Their stories explore what kind of person it takes to survive, contrasting Jugger’s ruthless amorality with Torrie’s well-intentioned idealism. The Legionnaires indeed see the wonders of the outerworlds — and it’s a wonder any of them survive.

Lesson: Don’t believe the recruitment poster. It’s brutal out there.

Alien Legion #5: Jugger Grimrod Goes Solo!

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Alien Legion, Alien Legion Omnibus, Alien Legion Vol 2, Jugger Grimrod, Jugger Grimrod Solo

In Alien Legion #5, Jugger Grimrod — the team’s bad attitude guy — gets left behind on an alien world. Jugger narrates this solo adventure as a flashback, as he explains to his commanders what “really” happened. But the pictures sometimes tell a different story.

On Jugger’s next mission, being a war hero turns out to be a major pain in the ass! You can read his first mission after his promotion by clicking Jugger Grimrod.

Collector’s Guide: From Alien Legion Vol. 2 #5. Reprinted in Alien Legion Omnibus #2.
Artwork By Larry Stroman

The Light of the Suns I See Through Its Eyes!

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Alien Legion, Chuck Dixon, Deep Blue, Epic Comics, Larry Stroman, Meico

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.

I’m Dinner for This Bleedin’ Sludge Pile, An’ No Question!

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Alien Legion, Alien Legion Omnibus, Balveebes, Chuck Dixon, Jugger Grimrod, Larry Stroman, Xenos

Volume 2 of Alien Legion kicks off with Major Sarigar leaving the legion to find his lost crew. By issue #6, the team is back in full swing, though a little worse for wear, and a bunch of new recruits join their ranks. In Alien Legion #5, Jugger Grimrod — the team’s bad attitude guy — gets lost on an alien world, and unwittingly uncovers a major galactic consipiracy. Much to his surprise, the Legion promotes him. (He hasn’t had a very good track record as a soldier so far.) Turns out, he hates it.

And that’s all the back story you need, Martian! Here is Jugger Grimrod’s first mission as an officer, wherein he meets his new aide Balveebes and gets swallowed by an alien monster. Cue the bleedin’ sludge pile!

Collector’s Guide: From Alien Legion Vol. 2 #6; 1989, Epic/Marvel. Reprinted in Alien Legion Omnibus #2.

See more artwork By Larry Stroman!