Monday, May 24, 2010

Top 5 Jemm, Son of Saturn Covers

Regardless of what the posting times will read once I'm done adjusting them tonight, I was up until five this morning working on all these cover projects across my blogs. I'm surprised those last few held up on a more fully conscious pass. Still, I'm inclined toward low hanging fruit tonight, so here's a quickie...

Honorary Mentions: Jemm, Son of Saturn #2, Jemm, Son of Saturn #4, Martian Manhunter #4

5) Jemm, Son of Saturn #5 (January, 1985)

Jemm does four things: plays gentle-hearted protector, reluctantly gets into fights, emotes, and gets brutally tortured. That last one is especially important, because all Jemm's done since this series ended is get jerked around and generally abused by powers greater than his own. Lately, he's taken up posturing like Namor, but only because he really hopes all it takes is to stand up to all these bullies...

4) Superman: World of New Krypton #9 (January, 2010)

Jemm gets into fights he can't win with Superman & Martian Manhunter. His current design stems from this image. That is all.

3) Martian Manhunter #13 (December, 1999)

This cover says "nobody gave a crap about me for fourteen years, but now that I've been shoe-horned into the Martian Manhunter mythos, I serve a purpose again. Thank you, retroactive continuity!"

2) Jemm, Son of Saturn #1 (September, 1984)

This is a nice cover about a pro-active alien flying down from above to defend the neighborhoods Superman avoids. It's deceptive, in that Jemm is actually very passive and not terribly heroic in the conventional comic book manner. "B'eta M'ale: Son of Simper."

1) Jemm, Son of Saturn #12 (August, 1985)

The perfect summation of Jemm's mini-series and his essential appeal as E.T.:The Extra-Terrestrial as interpreted by Don McGregor.

Meanwhile, DC's "The Source" blog is now offering its latest 75th anniversary variant cover preview, Frank Quitely's take on Green Lantern #60.

2 comments:

LissBirds said...

I may have asked this before (I forget...) but are Jemm's appearances in World of New Krypton worth reading?

I like the last one. I have a soft spot for E.T.

Diabolu Frank said...

Mike, are you a Nigerian diplomat or something?

Liss, in a word, no. If you're a Legion fan (there are a lot of us in that closet,) check out Jemm's recent Adventure Comics appearance. That's the pay off to dumb Jemm WoNK appearances, but it doesn't work if your sole interest is Jemm, especially in light of his crumby characterization.