It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another new edition of Kickin’ It Old School, our weekly column in which we look to the past and review books from the original Valiant universe! This week, I’ll be discussing Magnus Robot Fighter #15
Magnus Robot Fighter #15
Published in August 1992
Story by Jim Shooter
Written by Roger Stern
Art by Ernie Colon
Color Assistance by Janet Jackson
Lettered by Ken Lopez with Jade and Scott Friedlander
Edited by Don Perlin
Synopsis:
The comic starts of in 3988 with the introduction of a new Geomancer, Rokkie. After a bit of his background, we see the status of Erica and Albert. At this time, Rai is an old man intent on defending Japan and Magnus is still quite young. Solar is also out of the picture, spending his time ebbing and flowing with the energy of the universe.
Jumping to Magnus’ current time, 4001, Willow is asking Leeja for help finding Magnus. He was abducted (see the last story arc) and hasn’t returned. They track him down to his home, where he just happened to return that morning. Everybody is acting obnoxiously moody. Meanwhile, Rokkie is seeking information to help him track somebody town to aid in the Earth’s defense. He tracks down Gilad, who has been psychoprobed so much that he doesn’t know who he is anymore. Rokkie helps him remember that he is a great warrior that has been alive for thousands of years.
Erica moves her headquarters from San-Gabriel to the time stream. Rokkie and Gilad go to meet Rai, who has just landed on earth after saving himself and his son. Magnus goes to San Gabriel to investigate what is going on and discovers Talpa, a robot with whom he has tangled before. The issue ends with Talpa about to smash Magnus.
Review:
Ernie Colon’s art was great in the last arc, but it looks rushed in this issue. For a guy to take the whole artistic load, he needs time to do it. I’m surprised Valiant would have him fully paint an arc leading up to Unity, then have him do an issue that doesn’t measure up with its predecessor. It’s not all bad, but there are some awkward panels, the coloring often looks like it was done by a kid with crayons, and it feels like the style is constantly changing throughout the book
The writing for this issue was also unimpressive. There’s a lot going on, which may be the one problem with the overall approach to Unity. They had to introduce another new character and build a lot of different story threads at the same time since each book is made to be able to stand on its own. This one suffers for it thus far. Also, all of the characters that we know from this series, Magnus, Leeja, and Willow, are defaulting back to being moody and melodramatic instead of acting like developed characters. This continues to be a problem with this series, and it’s just lazy. The last arc was very good, this issue is a disappointment. I hope the next one doesn’t feel as half assed.
Originally from ValiantCentral.com
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