This mini revised the series because the originals were killed off by THE SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLIANS.
Each of the characters, except Uncle Sam, were give new secret identities. Although the characters looked basically the same, they were not the same personas as the last incarnation.
This mini led to the First of the new generation series: UNCLE SAM and THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS.
UNCLE SAM comes back from the dead to lead this new team.
As you can see from the cover noted above, the costumes for most of the heroes changed dramatically from the previous versions of the team. The tone of the team changed as well.
It became more Anti-Government and created a new organization (S.H.A.D.E) Lead by FATHER TIME to pull the strings of the team.
There were new threats and some very weird villains.
I think the biggest strong point of this era was that it brought more of the Quality characters into the fold.
Neon the Unknown, Captain Triumph, Mago, The Red Bee Miss America and The Jester all got better exposure than in the THE ALL-STAR SQUADRON. Each playing a better role in new Mythos.
All but the Jester were Heroes. The Jester was with the Arcadians.
These incarnations finally brought all of these new heroes to print.
The thing I hated was that the Freedom Fighters were still on Earth One.
It was just another Hero group with a quirky back story.
The high points were adding RED BEE, MISS AMERICA, and The CRUSADERS (mostly CAPTAIN TRIUMPH and MAGNO). All were improvements over their Golden AGE Counterparts.
Given a better backdrop this team would still be published. Given some of the bad guys such as GONZO the Mechanical Bastard, it was too weird for many readers to stomach.
That is why Grant Morrison got his shot in the MULIVERSARY series which will be the next article I publish.
No comments:
Post a Comment