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March 27, 2006
One Year Later: Vandal Savage!
The best DC story last week was JSA Classified #10, by Stuart Moore. It charts the return of Vandal Savage to Earth. In the last issue of the Flash, Savage got a comet ride out of the solar system. Now he returns to Earth OYL. Apparently it wasn't much of a vacation, as he visited the Thanagarians, the Dominators, and maybe even the Khunds. As Savage tries to get his life back together, we see flashbacks of his past throughout different eras in history. This is really cool. Vandal Savage has been one of DC's longest running villains as he's been around since the Golden Age of comics. He's been underused over the past decade or so and this story is a way to remind us of why Savage is a great villain. As he returns to various secret hideouts (which he uses to story organs and body parts from his descendants) Savage discovers that they have been trashed by a mysterious enemy. One sanctuary has working diagnostic equipment, which tells Savage that he only has 11 days to live with various diseases eating away at him. He decides to attempt one last act of revenge against Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern. It will be worth reading this to see if it plays into Scott's role in Checkmate.
I like Paul Gulacy's artwork on this story. We've rarely seen him do out and out superhero work, except for Batman, and his style is perfect for Vandal Savage's villainy. I think his Alan Scott interpretation will be pretty cool as well. I am pretty shocked that some fanboy reviewers are really anti-Gulacy. I guess they just didn't grow up reading the greatness of Master of Kung Fu.
I think Stuart Moore is a writer to watch. In a year or two, he could be the Next Big Thing. Nuff said.
