Collects issues 1-6 of the long out-of-print Series One by the Alien Legion creative team, originally published in 1984. Marking the jumping off point for Force Nomad and Piecemaker, Footsloggers is the beginning of the series that started the saga.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Originally published in the mid-1980s, this trite science fiction epic follows a gang of intergalactic soldiers from a myriad of species. These Legionnaires in the Tophan Galactic Union are charged with guarding distant outposts and other tough duties. The Alien Legion, which contains only one human member, takes on politically sensitive assignments where they must fight with very complex and limiting rules of engagement. For example, on the ecologically fragile moon Wedifact IV, a primitive sentient species is evolving while pirates have set up an illegal mine. The legion can only fight with biodegradable darts, but their foes use lasers and other ecologically damaging weapons. The legion's arch enemy, the Harkilon Imperium, appears to consist of one species only, and that points to this work's underlying theme: how does an extremely diverse society survive and thrive? This interesting idea isn't well served by the paper-thin characterizations and overly familiar space opera trappings. The full-color art is competent and realistic but unexceptional. Although there's plenty of action within, calling grog "grogh" doesn't make a story science fiction. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Carl Potts is a Checker Publishing author.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alien Legion: Footsloggers,
By sleeping sheepsnake "Seth" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Alien Legion: Footsloggers (Alien Legion (Checker)) (Paperback)
If you're a fan of Star Wars, you'll probably like the Alien Legion. If you read the Legion Of The Damned novels by William C. Dietz, you will probably enjoy the Alien Legion. Heck, if Science Fiction with a lot of weapons, soldiers, alien races, battle-primed spaceships, hostile planetary environments, a dab of galactic politics (that doesn't descend to Phantom-Menace-like mediocrity), and lots of action is appealing to your sensibilities, then the Alien Legion Wants You!!
Much as I admire the artwork by Frank Cirocco, penciller, and Terry Austin, inker for chapters 1-4, I'm anxious to point out that Footsloggers features some Chris Warner art as well. He inks Chapters 5 and 6 and, before that, does the pencilling on some back-up stories that are squeezed in between the main Chapters. Chris Warner was always a favourite artist of mine; I recall that he drew a Predator mini-series, something called Black Cross, and even pencilled issue #408 of Batman before having some kind of falling out with DC Comics after failing to deliver some artwork on time. DC had been heralding his upcoming stint on Batman, at that time, and it never happened--oh, what might have been. Anyway--Chris Warner--an artist you might want to check out, even here in Alien Legion: Footsloggers. As for the stories and their characters, creator Carl Potts and scripter Alan Zelenetz do resort to certain "types" when filling out the Legion ranks--the no-nonsense Commander, Sarigar; the brutal, violent warrior Jugger Grimrod (fan favourite who would appeal to fans of Wolverine, Lobo, etc.); the conscientious medic/telepath Meico; the all-around likeable and reliable human Torie Montroc the Third; the cowardly Skob, who must redeem himself...and on and on. But the fact that these characters are all different races allows for some creative skewing of what has become a little too familiar: Sarigar is serpentine, Meico is mollusc-like (I suppose), with four arms, Skob is avian, and Grimrod is green and mean. Every attempt is made to flesh out these aliens and give them a few surprising facets. Sarigar is quick-thinking and quite intelligent, but one of the back-up stories shows how he was foolishly duped by his own sister--probably one of the few "people" close enough to him to play with his emotions. Torie Montroc, left to die by himself by a traitorous comrade, experiences odd flashbacks that turn into fantasies of revenge against his own father, a sanctimonious tycoon who forced his son to give up the cushy life and join the Legion; this is one of my favourite sequences, because it is such a dark look at a heroic character's deep anger. We also have the hyena-esque (?) Zeerod Travane who becomes less of the Legion's annoying resident chatterbox and more of a 3D character when we learn what he gave up, and what guilt he needs to expiate, by joining the Legion. All this, plus the evil Harkilons trying to subvert peace in the galaxy, with their illegal accumulation of dangerous fissionable materials off planets ripe for exploitation unless Force Nomad (that's Sarigar and Co.s regiment name) can intervene. Other enemies include a group of pacificists on the planet Kol, who stage a bizarre military coup involving mind-snatching and hostage-taking, while at the same time trying to remain true pacifists. This tense stand-off brings out the best and worst in some of the Legionnaires, as well as the formerly nonviolent enemy, as complicated situation degenerates into a total mess. The back-up stories--with the art by Chris Warner--are not just filler. They relate to some development or mystery barely alluded to in the main Chapter that precedes each back-up piece; either a character drops a hint about his past, which gets highlighted in its own little tale, or some part of the main Chapter leaves some puzzling piece of action or political intrigue unresolved until it is dealt with later. All in all, this is a wonderful treatment of Space Opera in comics books, now collected into Alien Legion graphic novels--and Footsloggers will get you signed up with the Legion, in fine style, though Jugger Grimrod fans will be left wanting more.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE PREMIERE OF THE ALIEN LEGION,
This review is from: Alien Legion: Footsloggers (Alien Legion (Checker)) (Paperback)
Checker Books has put out two previous volumes collecting the adventures of Carl Potts' Alien Legion but this book, "Alien Legion: Footsloggers" takes readers back to the very beginning, reprinting the first six issues of this classic series from Marvel's Epic line. The series was created by artist Carl Potts although Alan Zelenetz handles the writing chores accompanied by a host of talented artists including Terry Shoemaker, Frank Cirocco, Terry Austin, Potts, and Chris Warner.
Potts' Alien Legion concept is described as a French Foreign Legion in space which is pretty accurate although I like to compare it to some of those big budget, all-star cast WWII films like The Guns of Navarone or The Dirty Dozen that featured groups of diverse characters and a tough commanding officer, hauling down the most grueling assignments the Galarchy can throw at them. As the book unfolds, two Legion shuttles are fired upon by the Harkilons who've broken an uneasy peace treaty. They crash on the world of Wedifact IV, where they were going to investigate mineral pirates who are stripping the planet of their natural resources. The Legionnaires are at a disadvantage right off the bat. Because the inhabitants on Wedifact IV are still somewhat pre-historic, they are armed with only light dart guns as opposed to lasers. The Pirates have so such constraints and completely wipe out the Legionnaires of the first shuttle. We then meet Captain Sarigar and his diverse band including Lt. Montroc, the only human among the group. It's up to Sarigar and his soldiers to take down the pirates while maintaining the developing balance on the planet. In addition to the two-issue length opening story, there are several shorter stories in the book, many giving a bit of back story on the various members of the Legion. Potts' book is really like an old, episodic space adventure, similar to Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon. The influence of Star Wars is evident in the design and look of the various aliens who make up the Legion. There are insectoid aliens, reptilian aliens, beasts...all looking like they came out the Cantina scene. The characters are rather standard, stock characters but Zelenetz keeps the action moving well throughout all the tales and the average ranges from very good to outstanding. Thankfully Checker Books continues to make fun titles like this available to fans again. Reviewed by Tim Janson
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
