By Keith Giffen, Alan Grant & Simon Bisley (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-889-8
The intergalactic bounty hunter was first seen in Omega Men #3 in 1982, and cropped up all over the DC universe, even becoming a mainstay of the popular L.E.G.I.O.N. series. He had his own monthly title for a few years as well as many miniseries and specials, and was a popular candidate for inter- and cross-company team-ups.
Lobo roughly translates as “he who devours your entrails and enjoys itâ€. This unstoppable, anarchic force-of-nature exploded in popularity in the decade that followed his premiere, despite being petty much a one trick pony and increasingly an exercise in outrageous graphic excess. He was exactly what a lot of fans wanted.
This new trade paperback collection reprints his the two breakthrough miniseries from 1990, the first of which details an unwelcome mission whilst indentured to the service of L.E.G.I.O.N., an intergalactic commercial police force run by Vril Dox, “son†of the villainous super-villain Brainiac.
Lobo always prided himself on being final survivor of his planet, but in ‘The Last Czarnian’ to his horror he finds that he missed someone when he slaughtered his entire race, that she’s his old grade-school teacher, and that moreover she’s written an unauthorized biography of the Main Man. Forbidden by his own honour-code from killing her, he must escort her to L.E.G.I.O.N. headquarters as all the nut-jobs in the universe pursue them, hell-bent on killing one or other of them.
“Lobo’s Back†from 1992 details his return to the private sector and how he dies trying to bring in the infamous Loo, the most dangerous being in the universe. What follows is an outrageous, darkly hilarious, blood-soaked spin on a venerable old tale (you’ve probably seen the Bugs Bunny cartoon classic) as Lobo makes himself persona non grata in the afterlife.
When both Heaven and Hell discover that the Main Man is too much to handle there’s only once place he go and that’s back here, but nobody said it had to be in his original body…
Brutally, blackly comedic, ironic, sardonic and manic, these tales for older readers aren’t to everybody’s taste, but Giffen and Grant’s sharp, wicked scripts gave Simon Bisley (assisted by Christian Alamy) scope for a multitude of breathtaking and memorable art sequences and sometimes just going wild can be as rewarding as the most intricately balanced craftwork and plot-building.
Pay yer money and take yer choice, ya feeb!.
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