DCU Comic Book Reviews

JSA CLASSIFIED #11

The Fall And Rise Of Vandal Savage, Part 2

June 2006

Written by Stuart Moore

Pencils by Paul Gulacy

Inks by Jimmy Palmiotti

Cover by Paul Gulacy

Synopsis

Archival footage from November 1947 shows Alan Scott (aka Green lantern) telling the rest of the JSA that of all the members of the Injustice Society, Vandal Savage is the one they need to watch out for.  In the present day, Savage is still focused on killing Alan Scott before he dies.  He knows he will prevail; he recalls that even in the beginning nearly 35,000 years ago he always prevailed.  Savage then wonders about Alan Scott’s beginnings and reads how Scott got the power ring in the railroad accident.  A warning buzz indicates that Savage only has 3 days to live.  He recalls the time when he was Blackbeard and two of his crew tried to take the ship.  Savage wonders if perhaps one of Scott’s dead partners might prove the clue.  In Gotham City, Alan Scott is working at his computer.  Suddenly, Wesley Dodd (aka The Sandman) appears and tells Alan he needs help to stop Vandal Savage. 

Review

“All my life, the green.  All down the centuries, every corridor I walk, the green.”

My feelings are mixed on this issue.  I was actually looking forward to more of Vandal Savage’s past, including his interactions with Alan Scott.  Instead we got something else entirely:  Green Lantern’s past.  At the very least we could have had an encounter between Savage and Scott, perhaps even that very first encounter that Savage keeps referring to as the reason he is targeting to Scott in the first place.  I am not really sure if it was necessary top review Alan Scott’s origins, unless there was something in this version that differed from earlier accounts (you know how things change around DC, especially after the Crisis).  Plus, I am not really sure what Sandman has to do with Savage and/or Scott and I can’t imagine Savage’s big plan is to impersonate Sandman to get closer to Scott.  That just seems so...pedestrian.  Besides, I believe the original Sandman was dead and replaced by a son or grandson or something like. 

Again, the presence of the color green all over Savage’s past history (necklace, sword, pants, hook, etc.) was a great touch.  In the first flashback, there was even a green (although the color was muted) lantern very similar to the one Alan Scott found on the railroad.  Besides the flashbacks, Savage realizes the green has followed him throughout his life, even mentioning the collar that was seen in the previous issue.

Did you notice the chess board design on Alan’s computer?  And I liked the reference to the eye patch, which was seen very prominently in the first issue of Checkmate.-- MRB

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