Who IS the Munson?

I begin today’s column with some information, while it is true that I have a full run of every comic Milestone ever published…. I did not collect all of the titles while they were going on.  Outside of the first four titles -Static, Blood Syndicate, Icon, & Hardware- I picked up all the other titles at various conventions during the 90’s, finally finishing up all my holes around 1999… mostly through 50 cent bins.  So some of these books have remained largely unread by me since then, so when I review/recap them here on this space it may actually be the first time I read them. Xombi#0 is one of those cases, it is a series that I have had sitting in my collection for awhile with the intention of reading it on a rainy day. Let me tell you, it isn’t raining out right now but I am sure glad that Milestone week is going on because this was one of the greatest and quirkiest  Milestone comics that I have ever read.  It’s time to dip into the long box and pull out part 4 of the Shadow War crossover- Xombi#0!

Now to begin with, this issue #0 is not your prototypical issue #0.  Most zero issues provide a background or origin for the main characters in the book, not this one.  This issue jumps right in to the action, as David Kim, a man known that cannot be killed and appears to have some sort of super-human strength, has been active against as Xombi for many months.  The explanation for this lies in the letters page, as John Rozum- the series writer- explains that this zero issue will end up taking place continuity wise after issue 10 of the UPCOMING REGULAR SERIES!  This is clearly a man who plans ahead as he explains that Spring of 1994 will bring Xombi #1 which will “backtrack several months in time to the gruesome events which made David Kim the indestructible man that he is.”  The guy even reveals lengths of storylines, and their names (no details of course…. that way nothing gets spoiled).  Quite impressive for a timeperiod where so many books were massively late and of such poor quality (ahemm…… Youngblood….. ahem).

All tangents aside, this stroy device allows us to see Xombi as a participant in the Shadow War, as the book begins with Dharma looking in on David Kim’s battle with an organization known as The School of Anguish.  He muses that Xombi, with his strange power, would be an excellent addition into the Shadow Cabinet (now we know which side he works for) and possibly tips the scales to his side.  Meanwhile in the aftermath of the battle, Xombi is sitting down in a bar at 10:30 in the AM with one of his allies from the battle, discussing the strangeness that is his life.  This little tete-a-tete reveals many details about Xombi’s life that makes the reader want to know what has come before.  For example, his body’s metabolic processes have completely changed.  He no longer needs to use the bathroom, or brush his teeth as his body processes what would normally be waste to heal any wounds he may receive.  He also will apparently live forever, so that should at least mean his series will last awhile.  However, the discussion having ended with his realizing that he will never lead a normal life now that he has entered into what his friend calls “the world of the fantastic” he leaves the bar and meets the representative from the Shadow Cabinet that Dharma has sent to fetch him.

And this is the point at which I realized this is not going to be the typical super-hero Milestone book that I have become accustomed to.  This guy, whose name is Twilight, seems to be straight out of Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol.  Twilight, much like in other parts of the crossover, has been sent to bring Xombi to the Shadow Cabinet and explains the whole situation about the deadly biological weapon that is going to be perverted by the Star Chamber.  He explains that he is a gateway and that he can bring him to the others if he just “steps inside him”.  It is at this point that the representative of the Star Chamber shows up, and let’s just say he is also a little unique:

So now we know more information about this weapon as we see through Rainsaw (what a great name too by the way) that Dharma and Dr. Nemo (new character alert!) created the weapon.  Whether this is true or not, it’s still shining a light onto Dharma’s true involvement in assembling all these fighters.  Perhaps he is trying to stop the thing he created from being perverted into something he never intended it to be.  We shall have to see.

With both groups sending a representative to talk to Xombi, you have to know that an argument and then fight over which side is right is bound to happen.  Sure enough we are treated to just that very occurrence.  Twilight just won’t take no for an answer from Xombi, and gets VERY pushy about getting him to Dharma and the rest of the Cabinet.  Rainsaw and Twilight start to argue about Dharma’s true nature and Rainsaw threatens him saying “what are you going to do about it? You can’t even come out of there” (meaning the portal that appears to be Twilight my just contain the person who actually is Twilight).  Twlight’s response is simple, “No, but THEY can!”, and he unleashes those that live inside of him:

These strange creatures are released by Twilight with the intention of distracting Rainsaw long enough for Twilight to get Xombi into him, transporting them both back to the Cabinet’s HQ.  It does not work as the creatures start tearing innocent bystanders limb from limb.  Xombi and Rainsaw are both trying to stop this senseless destruction, while an optical illusion called the Refractionary is released by Twilight tries to grab Xombi and force him to enter Twilight.  Rainsaw sees this and tries to attack the illusion, and hurls his razor like body right at him.  The Refractionary changes his appearance to mimick Xombi while simultaneously altering Xombi to resemble himself.  Rainsaw, confused, flies at the altered Xombi cutting his body and flesh to ribbons, seemingly killing him.  Now both parties have failed in their mission to recruit Xombi, and Twilight and Rainsaw bicker over this fact.  What they do not notice is Xombi’s power kicking in, as the issue ends with a rebirth and a decision:

This book was one heck of a departure from the other Milestone books covered so far in this crossover and in other columns I have done.   It looks like Xombi has joined the Star Chamber, specifically to make sure that Rainsaw speaks the truth.  Where he goes from here in the storyline of the Shadow War will be revealed in later parts of the crossover, but let me tell you, I just may bust out the first issues of Xombi this weekend and read them.  This book definitely piqued my interest in seeing if the regular series will be as weird as this issue was.

Next up for the Shadow War is a special 48 page issue #10 of Blood Syndicate.  I will be back with this recap on Monday October 8th as I will be taking a long weekend to help celebrate my niece’s 2nd birthday (ah the joys of being an uncle).  Be sure to join me then, and look for my Friday Night Fight entry tomorrow night, once Bahlactus throws the first punch!

Posted on October 4th, 2007 by Munson
Filed under: Milestone Mondays