Valor #11-16

This is the start of the Mark Waid run. Will the series actually get interesting? Well I’m still rushing trough it, so…

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Valor #11 (1993)
by Mark Waid & Jeffrey Moore
cover by Jason Pearson

It looks like Mon-El is fighting against his own series here.

Unusually for this series we begin in the 30th century, where Triad (the SW6 Triplicate Girl) is thirsty for our favorite Daxamite.

If you thought we could escape the horniness of the Legionnaires series without the Bierbaum… Waid is following their characterization of Catspaw (if you can call it that).

Also if she was using Hulk-speak in that series I completely missed it.

Meanwhile in the past (???), Mon-El is having trouble controlling his powers. Which is a problem because he has a Green Lantern with him and he’s wrecking the ship.

He manages to run into some Green Lanterns for help, but since he’s not controlling his powers this ends into a Big Dumb Fight.

Even though he convinces them that he needs help to stop his out-of-control spaceship, it’s no use because it’s yellow and their powers won’t work on it.

So he has to do everything himself. Great use of a cameo there.

But really, the only reason they’re here is that Waid doesn’t seem interested in the supporting cast he inherited, and this allows Mon-El to dump his friend on Oa.

Kilowog also does fixes the ship to a completely different design.
It won’t matter since Mon-El barely uses it anymore.

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That’s basically the last we see of the female Green Lantern that Mon-El befriended.
As far as I can tell, she’s not referenced again until she receives a profile on “Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps Secret Files and Origins #1” from 2008.

Some sources give her next appearance being Green Lantern Corps vol2 #59 from 2011.
There’s a bunch of disposable Green Lanterns without dialogue there, so either she’s this redhead or she’s not in the book.

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Valor #12 (1993)
by Mark Waid & Jeffrey Moore
cover by Adam Hughes

This issue begins the D.O.A. storyline, which will last beyond the entirety of this review.

Throughout the story, this being wearing a purple robe with a fixation on Mon-El’s past and future keeps making appearances.
Who could it possibly be?

Remember that the only reason Mon-El ended up in a space prison in the previous issues is that Vril Dox II tricked him into going there, so we have our requisite visit to L.E.G.I.O.N.

I just love Vril Dox’s honesty. Say what you want about this manipulative nihilistic fascist jackass, but he’s honest about what he is.

Interesting to see Mon-El still having respect for him.

Mon-El gets distracted by a damsel in distress needing rescue from a splash page.

However she eventually saves herself.

No red flags whatsoever in this encounter.

We reach the reason why this saga is called D.O.A: Mon-El has lead poisoning.

He takes this well.

It’s not a bad premise: Superman has done the whole “you have a month to live” thing a few times and generally it lead to good stories.
Considering where Mon-El is coming from, pardon me for not being optimistic.

As if THAT wasn’t sad enough already, there aren’t good news from Daxam.

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Valor #13 (1993)
by Mark Waid & Jeffrey Moore
cover by Stuart Immonen

The other reason why the saga is called D.O.A: Daxam is also dying.

You’re not exactly inspiring confidence with that face, Mon-El.

Lori and her six feet of hair have joined the cast.

So now we’re going to Daxam for a cure.

After getting through the planetary defenses, Mon-El discovers that Daxam is ravaged by Covid-93.
(too soon?)

After finding one of his old Daxamite friends, Mon-El learns that the “plague” spread after an alien was brought to Daxam.

Mon-El deduces that this is lead poisoning, even if the Daxamite believe it’s an infection caused by the alien.
I’m not sure this tracks how the Daxamite weakness to lead typically works… yes even microscopic quantities of lead are lethal for them, but the whole planet!?

To be fair, Mon-El has the exact same doubts.
Nice detail about the fact that Daxamites don’t even know what lead is… of course it’s not on the planet if it’s so lethal, and they started to explore the Galaxy only recently.

At least Mon-El still has some resistance to red sun light, so he manages to find the innocent alien.

At least we’re given an explanation for how the whole planet got poisoned: it was the ship’s hull.
Granted it still doesn’t make much sense, considering the ship would have needed to shred lead particles ACROSS THE ENTIRE PLANET.

Unfortunately the problem with Daxamite lead poisoning is that removing the lead is not enough, so Mon-El’s mother is still dying.

Characterization is not exactly the strongest point of this series, but this is a good scene.
It’s also probably the last time Mon-El’s mother will be an actual character, or even mentioned.

We close with a cliffhanger about the 30th century forgetting Mon-El ever existed.

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Valor #14 (1993)
by Mark Waid & Colleen Doran
cover by Stuart Immonen

 I didn’t expect the first 30th century crossover to be with Legionnaires.

Triad is taking this plot better than expected.

I know the Legion is no stranger to time travel shenanigans, by why would time manipulation be your first thought instead of, I don’t know, somebody messing with your computer?

The records show that Mon-El died in 1994, which convinces the Legionnaires to investigate with a Time Bubble™.

Meanwhile in the past (???) Mon-El is back on Earth, and he saves a guy from a lion.
I’m not sure where this is supposed to be set, or what language Mon-El is now speaking.

He’s back to Earth to see if any of the heroes have a cure for him, but they’re busy.

Mon-El is too weak to be too much help…

…but he does stick around, while Lori defends herself.

The alien invaders disappear on their own, so we can go back to the main plot.

Unfortunately this version of the Justice League isn’t much help.

Considering how important Lex Luthor (Junior) was to the beginning of the series, it’s notable that he’s not involved.

Instead we get Superman, who as you can tell by the mullet has already gone through his death and resurrection.
Note that since the Legion was busy with its own 5YL nonsense, they were COMPLETELY disconnected from Superman’s death and his return.

It’s a very brief interaction, but Superman manages to sell how highly he thinks of Mon-El.

We close with Mon-El deciding he’s going to spend his last days helping people and kissing girls.

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Valor #15 (1993)
by Mark Waid & Colleen Doran
cover by Stuart Immonen

Even if I have no idea what the cover is showing, it’s a neat design!

With only a month left to live, Mon-El decides he’s going to help just one world.
And Lori decides to bring him to Baaldur.

I was going to do a “guess who the final boss is” gag to show how absurdly obvious it was… and then Waid just namedrops Glorith’s world.
At this point, either you hadn’t read any 5YL story… and I have to imagine this book, if it had any target audience, it would have been hardcore Legion fans… or they just telegraphed the twist.

This is a BAFFLING decision, because really, who could it be but Glorith?
We previously saw a Time Trapper-esque figure talking about time, and there are time travel shenanigans. OF COURSE IT’S GLORITH.

I’m with Dragonmage on this one. This plot makes no sense, even with the flexible time travel rules of 90s DC Comics.

Or maybe the time manipulation is also affecting MY memory, because… when exactly did Dragonmage fight side by side Mon-El?
The closest thing is that they were both active during the last phase of the rebellion against the Dominators, but Dragonmage was BARELY a character there.
(I would argue he hasn’t really improved either)

Once again, the Legionnaires consider the SW6 Mon-El to have died.

The scenes with Mon-El solving problems on Baaldur are the highlight of the issue.
There’s something semi-mythical about them.

The artwork definitely helps. You can tell Colleen Doran was more interested in this section.

Mon-El definitely goes overboard, arresting all the leaders of the various states and basically acting like the planet’s emperor.

Mon-El’s plan is to have the planet fire all its nuclear weapons at him, so that he can re-enact Superman IV.

He misses one nuke, though, which hits him in a splash page too beautiful for this comic.

So Mon-El dies…

…for three panels.

Turns out this was all a manipulation on Lori’s part to make him the king of the planet, because OF COURSE IT WAS, you didn’t need telescopic vision to see this coming!!!

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Valor #16 (1993)
by Mark Waid & Colleen Doran
cover by Kevin Maguire

Let’s finish this 1993 batch with the revelation of the real bad guy of the series.
For the three people who haven’t figured it out yet.

Mon-El is feeling a bit under the weather.

Mon-El has fallen head over heels for Lori. I should point out that he knows basically nothing about her at this point.

She then walks through a portal without taking ANY precautions about being caught.
Remember this for later.

This portal leads directly to an audience with Totally The Time Trapper, who has been manipulating everyone.

The next sequence is… weird. Mon-El tries to save Lori, only this isn’t Lori.

No, instead Temu Time Trapper was actually Lori.
Mon-El referred to the hooded figure as a “he” during the previous scene, making me wonder if Lori has a masculine voice.

Lori, despite supposedly having phenomenal time powers, is then taken by surprise by the Legionnaires dropping by.
Without their Time Bubble™ for some reason?

And now, because nobody demanded it, we have Cancer Treatment Mon-El fighting the Legionnaires.

Including a totally necessary two page spread with Ultra Boy.

In the only bit here that I liked (I’m grasping at straws), Mon-El misunderstands a reference to Legion with a one to L.E.G.I.O.N.
That’s the problem with these two franchises interacting: either they sound exactly the same, or one of them should be pronounced “El-Ee-Jee-Eye-Oh-En”.

During all this, Saturn Girl decides to read Lori’s mind.

Hhmmm, who could this Legion-obsessed blonde with the Time Trapper’s clothes and time manipulation powers POSSIBLY be?

Least. Surprising. Reveal. EVER.

Sooo… remember how I pointed out Lori allowing herself to be followed by Mon-El?
If only she spared a little effort in hiding that portal, Mon-El would never have found out the truth about her and it’s possible that she could have manipulated him further.
But of course she didn’t, because GLORITH SUCKS.

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Legion significance: 0/10
Despite the last few issues trying to convince you that this is an important story… you can VERY EASILY skip this entire mess.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
I suppose there could be SOME in how needlessly overcomplicated Glorith’s plan is, but everything is too aggressively meh.

Does it stand the test of time?
#11-12: 5/10
We’re just stalling in order to find a way to dispose of the subplot left from the previous run. The artwork is rough here and there but serviceable.
#13: 7/10
Almost the only issue that is interested in Mon-El as a character, with the death scene of his mother being the highlight. None of the stories in this series really “needed” to be told, but this one came the closest.
#14: 4/10
The encounter with Superman is nice but very brief, and the rest of the story drags. The artwork isn’t the best, although Mon-El starting to look sick is a nice little touch.
#15: 6/10
There’s the germ of a good story here. If only Lori was an actual character this COULD have worked! The artwork is incredibly inconsistent: sometimes it works to evoke a fairy tale, other times it looks almost amateurish.
#16: 2/10
Is it just me or Glorith ruins everything whenever she shows up?

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Well… that was pointless. Can you believe there are SEVEN more issues!?
If they’re all as boring as these ones, I can imagine my reaction if someone asks me if I’ve read them.