"Demon in a Vacuum"

I told myself that I wasn't going to do another review of Marvel's Iron Man offerings, especially after the controversy that my opinions on Iron Man: The Inevitable #1 caused. But since this is actually a re-release of my own work, I figured that I could probably get away with a few comments without too much flack.

First off, let me say that I'm very happy that Marvel made the decision to keep this award-winning saga in print. Numerous fan surveys over the years has chosen this storyline as the best Iron Man story ever done. (see last month's Wizard if you don't believe me.)

The reason I'm writing this isn't because I want to blow my own horn or wallow in past glories.

It's because of that stupid cover.

I purchased several copies of the trade paperback from my local comics shop (Marvel NEVER sends any comp copies--I have to buy them myself). When I got home, I left them on the kitchen island and went about my business--not taking the time to actually look that the publication.

When my wife got home from her job that evening, Jill comes storming in into my studio with a copy of the paperback in hand. She asked me to look at the cover and explain to her how Marvel could have allowed their printer to make such an egregious error.

To my horror, I discovered that Marvel had used a re-colored cover of Iron Man #126 as the packaging for this trade. Not that retooling old art is a horrible thing--but my dismay was caused by the

glaring fact that they removed some key elements from the composition WITHOUT compensating for the dead space that deletion created. Jill truly thought it was some sort of printer error, until I dug out a copy of the original to show her what was excised from the original artwork.

All she could say was, "Well--that's really dumb, isn't it?"

Yes... it is.

My thanks to Marvel Comics for giving me a clearly-indicated area to autograph copies of this trade for my fans.

See, I can be positive about a current Marvel Comics' Iron Man book!

5/1/06

P.S. It's still a great read--so go get yourself a copy!

COLONY SERIES PREVIEW!

Next month, Dick Giordano, Ian Sokoliwski and I will kick off the first installment of the comic version of Colony. The story, originally written to be an ongoing television series, was broken into three, separate tales that interconnected through the main characters. The first story takes place in the facility of the Colony prison itself.

In that part of the saga, our lead character, Scott Landus, discovers the harsh realities of life in the 'ass end of the universe'--convicted to hard labor, without hope of parole, for a crime he did not commit.

Most who encounter Scott Landus think of him as a loser. However, the truth lies much deeper.
Landus has a secret that he shares with no one. Scott suffers from an incurable genetic disease that will eventually take his life. Every male member of the Landus family has died while still relatively young. As a result of this, Scott Landus is the ultimate pragmatist. Without a cure and without much of a future to look forward to, Scott tends to be reckless, forming attachments to nothing and no one.

PANEL FROM PAGE ONE--MASON BRIEFS THE CON-FED TROOPS

In what we'll call as 'Story One" of Colony, Landus begins to accept that fate and searches for something meaningful to him with his life with the little time he has left. The irony is that a life sentence on Colony might have been the best thing that ever happened to him.

PAGE TWO--MASON AND LANDUS HOLOGRAM

PAGE THREE--MASON LEAVES IN DISGUST

The prison planet's indigenous race of beings are known as the Taul. However, under the thumb of Con-Fed rule, they have become little more than second-class citizens, conscripted as servants to the ruling class on Colony. Brought into the Colony facility as maintenance workers, Landus eventually befriends the Taulians and their tribal leader, Feu.
In the months that follow his initial incarceration, Landus learns much of Taulian culture through Feu, including their most guarded secret, their spiritual devotion to their ancient god, Erus--The Immaculate Consciousness.

PAGE FOUR--MASON AND

FIELD MARSHALL STANTON

PAGE FIVE--THE ESCAPEES FACE THE ELEMENTS

Meanwhile, Confederation President Alexander Wayne, in a move designed as a show of strength, has ordered the execution of all political prisoners on Colony in order to dishearten the growing underground movement on Earth.
In order to thwart the executions of the political prisoners, the first Colony prisoner uprising begins and an unwillingly Landus finds himself thrust into the center of the conflict.
The Colony uprising continues for several weeks. Chaos envelops the entire facility as hundreds on both sides are killed. Eventually, the Confederation army regains control of Colony from the rioters.
During the confusion, with Feu’s help, Landus and a eclectic band of human and alien prisoners succeed in a daring escape from the Colony compound. Among this band are a alien female whose was the facility's head physician named Orina Zon, a Bal Traphu philosopher named Noblan, a mysterious and dangerous Crall warrior named Faz, (the only Crall who has ever been captured in ConFed history) and Colony’s black market czar, Perry Callisto.

Callisto, unlike his fellow escapees, is a career criminal, sentenced to quadruple life on Colony for being deemed as morally unsalvageable.
Perry’s loyalties will be the huge question mark. Callisto’s allegiances could make the difference between life and death for the escapees.

Back at the Colony facility, Colonial Governor Artis Mason, a inept, career officer whose punishment for his last transgression landed him in the unenviable position of overseer of Colony, is working against the clock to restore order before word of the rioting reaches Homeworld.

Hunted by roving Con-Fed Death Squads, unarmed and facing the elements of a hostile alien world, Landus and his five companions run blindly towards a date with a destiny that will change life in the galaxy forever.

This is where Story Two of the Colony saga, and our comic version, begins--next month @ boblayton.com!