by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik
issue 1, November, 1984
Marvel / Epic
After reading the Void Indigo graphic novel, I decided to search out and investigate the short-lived, 2-issue comic book series that Epic comics released in November, 1984 and March, 1985.
The reason for the series' cancellation after the first two, of what were intended to be six issues, apparently had something to do with the outcry from comic book critics over what they perceived as 'Void's' portrayal of sadistic violence and misogyny (according to the 'Void Indigo' Wiki entry, a comic book critic named Bob Ingersoll called the comic 'a crime against humanity).
The plot, which picks up at the end of the graphic novel, is barely coherent: Ath Agaar, a barbarian warlord who was killed eons ago by a cabal of four evil necromancers....
......has been reincarnated in the body of a red-skinned, shaven-headed alien space pilot named Jhagur......!
After his spaceship crash-lands in the desert of New Mexico......
Jhagur - who has a variety of superhuman powers, including the ability to alter his appearance - takes on the form of a young man named Michael Jagger.....!
Jagger / Jhagur takes up residence in L.A. with a shapely blonde named Linette, and embarks on his mission of vengeance. For the Dark Lords who murdered Ath Agaar have been reincarnated, as denizens of southern California no less, where they are enthusiastic participants in all manner of evil acts.
As 'Void Indigo' issue 1 opens, Jhagur has eliminated one of the four Dark Lords, and is actively seeking the other three....who have no intention of going quietly......
Posted below are the contents of the first issue of 'Void Indigo', the comic book.
It's an awful comic. Val Mayerik's artwork is horrible - little more than preliminary sketches hastily reworked to meet an obviously too-close deadline.
The color printing is the worst I've ever seen in a major publisher's comic published in the 80s......even making allowances for the poor quality of the color separations, which in the 80s relied almost exclusively on cheap, plastic printing plates, Void Indigo's colors are truly awful.
But, looking at the contents of the first issue of 'Void', well....I broke out laughing when I finished reading page 2 !
Looking at the comic 30 years after its initial publication, 'Void Indigo' is not a 'crime against humanity', but garish, freewheeling, exploitative mess of a comic book. A mess that, despite the dysfunctional plot, artwork, and coloring, has some real entertainment value...particularly in its crazed depiction of California culture of the mid-80s, its gratuitous nudity and violence, and its cheerful violation of every one of today's standards for politically correct comic book content.
Stand by for the contents of issue 2, coming soon to the PorPor Books Blog !
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