Primal Force #7

Lessons

Steven T. Seagle ... Script
Nick Choles & Greg Larocque ... Finished Pencils
Barbara Kaalberg ... Inks
Clem Robbins ... Letters
Tom Ziuko ... Colors
Jim Spivey ... Edits

The cover is by Matt Haley and Tom Simmons, and I don't think it's very impressive. But it is exciting to see so many big names, even if they are drawn rather poorly. In the middle is the star of this issue, Jack O'Lantern, surrounded by Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawkman and the Azrael Batman, filling in for Bruce Wayne after Bane broke his back. Another complaint I have with this cover is that it's rather misleading. None of these characters meet Jack O'Lantern in this issue, let alone join Primal Force. They're all just used as teaching examples for Jack O'Lantern.

Primal Force is a rather obscure, short-lived group that was started in the wake of Zero Hour. They're so obscure, in fact, that I only know one member of the team, the android Red Tornado, who would later be a member of the Justice League. But this issue focuses on Jack O'Lantern, Irishman Liam McHugh, who apparently had a near-death experience last issue.

Our story begins with Liam waking up in a pool of water, where he is visited by the mystical Water Woman. In light of his recent failure, Liam considers giving up being a hero, so the Water Woman uses a series of flashbacks to teach him how to be a great hero. She shows him the death and return of Superman, the courage of Wonder Woman in light of losing her powers, and the bad example set by the Azrael Batman. With Hawkman, the Water Woman showed the importance of Primal Force, as Hawkman failed to adequately eliminate the threat of one of Primal Force's villains. And with Green Lantern, Water Woman showed an episode in his life we've already seen before in Green Lantern #59.

On the surface, this is a rather random issue of Green Lantern to highlight, but it was one of my favorites, and Water Woman had a good reason for using it. She showed Liam how Kyle Rayner was able to successfully balance his life between being an artist, a solo hero, a team member and a boyfriend. It was a pretty nice lesson, but Impulse was only incidentally involved, so I don't have much else to say.

None of the letters to the editor mention Impulse, so let's head straight to the ads.

Mad Season. Above. Layne Staely, Mike McCready, Barrett Martin, Baker.

Abandoned dreams. Decimated worlds. A violated peace. Star Trek: The Next Generation. Friedman, Purcell, Pallot.

He's already lost ten years of his life. He's got no more time to waste. Triumph. The quest for justice begins in April. Priest, Miller, Stokes.

How much action can you handle every week! A Superman subscription form.

Kiss of Death. David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson (before he became Nick Fury) and Nicolas Cage (before he became Ghost Rider).

Evil comes when you call his name. Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh.

Next time, Impulse will make another small appearance on a rather obscure team book in Blood Pack #3.