MILLENNIUM

Writer: Steve Englehart

Year: 1988

Publisher: D.C. Comics

Pages: 192 (issues 1-8)

Millennium was D.C’s big event comic of 1988 and featured most of the characters and teams who were popular at that time i.e. the JLI, the Outsiders, the Green lantern corps and Infinity inc. It was best known for being the first book to really highlight the manhunters, of Green lantern fame, even if they were alluded to a little bit earlier in other comics, similar to the O.M.A.C’s.

The story itself revolves around two Oans who arrive on earth with the intent of selecting ten humans to teach to depart their power to and who will evolve mankind. At the same time, there is an organisation of androids hell bent on stopping this happening at all costs. They have robotic sleeper agents as well as humans who’ve been brainwashed, keeping a close eye on pretty much all the heroes of the DCU. The only real revelation is when we find out who’s a manhunter (which takes place in the tie-ins). We’re never really given any details why, just that the guardians created them to be their police force before the green lanterns, they malfunctioned & have a grudge against said guardians. What follows is a game of cat and mouse, alliances and betrayals and large battles.

Anybody more accustomed to the modern versions of the manhunters will be a bit taken back by the characterisation they’re given here, all anger and emotion. These villains are reminiscent of the silver age and even referred to as a cult.

The book tends to be quite repetitive, with the entirety of the 2^nd issue dedicated to the Oans seeking out the ten individuals and repeating the same few sentences to them! They even use the same panel over and over again. The plot tends to meander and stall at several points and when reading, it was the first book I found to be boring (in parts) in quite a while. The overall plot is only average and the writing and art are nothing to write home about. It seems that early on in the book, the writer decided to impart his own political views on various world powers (never a good sign).

The 2^nd biggest problem with this book is that at the end, there’s no payoff. None. The entirety of the last issue is dedicated to these so-called “new guardians” and setting them up for their own short lived series before going off into limbo.

But, by far, the greatest problem of Millennium is the tie-ins. There were many of these, featuring various teams and individuals and the main plot of the book ran across the whole line, none of which are collected here. What’s left is a confusing mess with huge gaps in plot and very difficult to follow. The best way to describe it would be if you had the trade of Watchmen or The Filth and about five issues were taken out at random throughout the book. With this collection not re-coloured and printed on matte paper, there is no excuse for D.C. editorial not to include at least the important ones (Booster Gold, JLI, one or two others)

The bottom line.

Confusing book that reads more like a group of random scenes than a series. The lack of any tie-ins to flesh out the plot really do kill this non-event. No amount of money is worth this half-assed collection

Next stop.

Invasion, probably. A much stronger event that actually has a lasting impact on the DCU that’s still here today.