Weird’s Sighin’s: THE WEIRD #3-4 (JLI 25)

[tcampbell1000]

Last time out, the Weird dramatically flushed a toilet, implying to “the Jason,” “See what I did to this poo? This is you in five more seconds.”



Most of issue #3 is skippable today, unless you love hearing a psychopath tell you why he’s the specialest boy ever. I think the 1980s audience was hungry for psychological analyses of people like Jason, but in an age where mass shootings are depressingly common, we don’t have as much patience for that. Reality never indulged Jason’s egocentrism, and so ending everything is the only way he can become as important a person as he thinks he is. He was cruel to animals, he murders his dates. You’ve heard it all before. Starlin could've boiled it all down to Jason's best single line: "I'm doing it because life sucks."

Jason traps the Weird and lets two of the hateful, marauding macrolatts into our world before the Weird turns the tables. The Weird disrupts Jason’s brain long enough to shut the macrolatts’ portal to our world, the only way he can.



The Leaguers find the Weird standing over a dead human being, and honestly? Their reaction’s LESS hair-trigger than I expected:





The macrolatts have possessed Superman and…Infinity Inc.’s Nuklon, for some reason. I mean, Captain Atom was right there.

In issue #4, the Weird explains everything to Batman, including that the macrolatts don’t use their powers in all the cool, creative ways he does. He's informed by the human perspective, whereas the arrogant macrolatts don't believe they have anything to learn from humanity, and so they don't.




Batman tries to short out the macrolatt controlling Superman with a live wire. It's not a bad plan, but "not bad" is not good enough. The rest of the League falls to their power and they start burning Metropolis, feeding on the energies that result. The Weird shouts for them to stop.




The macrolatts attack the Weird for his "insolent" implication that they need his help.






You probably saw it coming, but I'm here for that climax. FUCK those macrolatts! Having severed their links to the material world, the Weird crushes them with his freakin' bare hands.

(Also, how can you not love the little swaddling gesture the Weird makes when he talks about how great it is to be eaten by predators? “It’s the cirrrrcle of liiiife...”)



Unfortunately, there’s still a few feels left to feel. Neither Doctor Fate nor Guy can repair the instability in the Weird’s body, and he’s running out of time. Dr. Yamada was busy, I guess.





Superman and Guy take the Weird to an isolated planetoid to die. For once, Guy doesn’t even front. His last words to the Weird are “Good luck, pal.”





Me finishing this miniseries: “Oh, wow. That actually got me in the heart a little. Good on ya, Jim and Bernie. I hope no one ever…”

Me researching the history of the character: “…goddamnit.”

Starlin brought the Weird back 18 years later for a handful of other miniseries using Captain Comet and other spacefaring characters. He died again, might've become God (it wasn't very clear), returned to life again, returned to Earth, and made plans to look in on Billy and the superhero community, though we never saw if he followed through on that. That was the last time Starlin used him; he popped up one more time, almost at random, in Deathstroke Inc. #2 (2021).



None of that was as interesting as this affecting little story, which could've been one of DC's great works with an editor tightening it up. True, the costume design is just "GI Joe ninja zombie," there are a couple of baffling casting choices (Dr. Yamada? Nuklon?), and Black Canary does so little, I'm not sure she isn't some intern posing in Dinah’s wig. But those death scenes pack a punch, Starlin’s offbeat dialogue works well for the title character, and the whole thing has an undeniable charm. Dare to be weird.

Wednesday: After Manhunters, Max’s computer, the Cluster, Lobo, para-demons, the Weird, and the macrolatts, the League fights some more aliens. Honestly, guys, shouldn’t you just call yourselves “Justice League Interstellar” at this point?

Comments

[scorntx]

Well, that was very... Starlin?


-"I want this creature off this planet immediately"
"Treacherous animal!"-
Wow, Batman's really in a mood in this story.


Sometimes, with Starlin it's hard to tell when he's intentionally doing something funny or not, but J'onn invisibly clobbering Weird has some good timing.
If that was meant to be funny.

Related to The Weird's later history, did anyone besides Starlin use the Zarolatts and Macrolatts after this at all?

[tcampbell1000]

There's a sort of undercurrent of physical comedy that runs through most of the fight scenes, like setting the big Weird-Jason fight around the toilet and the Weird escaping Superman by hiding underfoot. It's a solid approach!

Zarolatts and macrolatts--pretty sure they didn't, no!

[agharta75]

Bats has to be deliberately overacting.

[beyondthefringe]

Hey Weird, you know who else can alter his molecular density as part of his power set? Nuklon. That’s right, one of the possessed guys. Your argument nearly failed.

Poor Weird. Never to be seen again.
Starlin: “hey, remember that character I created for a mini?”
I said never seen again!
Starlin: “Stormwatch!”

[thanekos]

If there was any originally intended ending for Omega the Unknown, it probably would've been something like this.

[iamrman]

Batman not getting immediately triggered by somebody killing? I call bullshit.

[cygnia]

Everybody's gotta job to a Starlin toon...

[tcampbell1000]

Jim Starlin's version of Batman wasn't the Punisher or anything, but he was a lot less rigid about "no killing" than most interpretations of the character. This would've come out the same year that Starlin had Batman leave KGBeast in a locked room underground to "let nature take its course."

[super_fly]

Bye Weird, I'll always remember... your eyebrows. Bushiest things I've ever seen.

[cainofdreaming]

What? No "This was kind of... weird." from anyone?

[zylly]

I vaguely recall hearing/reading Nuklon was a last minute substitute for Captain Marvel, after editorial denied the latter’s use.