In the penultimate issue of this DC anthology series, there are a total of 3 stories, all about 'earth shattering disasters.' Well, technically 2 stories are actually earth shattering. The other is a disaster but of a different magnitude altogether.
In the first story, Gotham City is racked by a series of earthquakes. Only these tremors aren't natural but man-made by a technological madman calling himself Quakemaster.
In the final story, the Legion of Super-Heroes discovers that the Metropolis of 2977AD is in peril. For the first time in centuries, the city is without power and engulfed in flames. Someone has sabotaged the power sphere that energizes Metropolis. Being nuclear in origin, the power station is about to reach critical mass, threatening to meltdown in a China Syndrome type catastrophe and destroy the planet once the generator reaches earth's core.
The middle story stars Aquaman. While he is ridding the seven seas of a band of hi-tech pirates, the King of Atlantis stumbles upon an ecological disaster. A giant oil spill. Only this mass of petroleum is alive and growing, feasting on ships and sea life that crosses its path. Teaming with the Navy, Aquaman tries to stop this menace. But as the blob gets closer to a major coastal city, the Navy proposes using A-bombs to destroy it. Seeing another ecological disaster on his hands, it's up to Aquaman to find a solution before the bombs go flying!
I think it's interesting that Gotham City had trouble with earthquakes about 30 years prior to the disastrous events of 'No Man's Land'. This story forms a bit of a continuity error as one of the characters makes a comment that the bedrock underneath Gotham isn't ideal for quakes. Apparently in the 3 decades leading up to the massive tremors that will render Batman's hometown a disaster area, nearly a billion years of geology occurred below to make the topography below more suitable for aftershocks!
I found the Aquaman story hitting a little too close to home. Currently in the South Atlantic, a 5,000 mile long swath of seaweed is making its way towards Florida. The level of destruction isn't as catastrophic as what the growing massive of oil in the story was predicted to do. But the amount of damage to that area's sea life and the proposed level of breathing problems the decaying algae is predicted to do before this ecological disaster is through is rather terrifying.
As for the Legion of Super-Heroes story, I was non-plussed. The story was written by Paul Levitz, who many consider to be the best Legion writer ever. Yet with all the flash forwards and a baddie who I really thought was a Legionnaire, I didn't feel like I was in the presence of a master. As publisher of DC, Levitz was great. But that was in the 90s and 00s. Maybe 1977 Paul Levitz still had a lot of practice ahead of him to get great.
I don't know why I do this. I seem to spend money on really exciting looking DC anthologies from the 1970s and wind up being disappointed. The artwork of all 3 tales was amazing and it's definitely the appeal of the covers, along with childhood nostalgia that got me to purchase this. I'm probably going to fall into the trap again sometime in the future. But at least I didn't pay more than a dollar for this book.
Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.
