Cancellation of New Voyages (due to the impending New Universe or simply low sales, take your pick) was announced before the title even entered its second year. Thankfully a stay of execution enabled them to properly conclude what became an epic 20 issue storyline.
Micronauts: The New Voyages #13 (1985)
Pencils: Kelley Jones
Inks: Danny Bulanadi, Kelley Jones
Scion guides the Micronauts to their original intended holiday destination, Fiome. There's little time for chillaxing though, as Scion has his sights on Zodiac Keys that are powering the locals' blob shaped chitin starships. The Keys are mystical MacGuffins from one of Mantlo's sagas, here recast as part of the language of the Makers. More wonderfully odd sci-fi and great character work on display here, beautifully delineated by Jones and Bulanadi.
Micronauts: The New Voyages #14 (1985)
Pencils: Kelley Jones
Inks: Danny Bulanadi
Next stop on Scion's magical mystery tour is the planet Aegis, which to the Micronauts horror, has become an overcrowded refuge for displaced citizens from all over the Microverse. They're all fleeing from an overwhelming metaphysical pain caused by the death screams of Homeworld, which has also driven the Enigma Force insane.
The next step in Scion's master plan is to secretly put Bug into some chrysalis state. In a remarkable sequence, Solitaire attempts to break him out by devolving.
Meanwhile, in communion with the Dreaming Star, Commander Rann gains a glimpse behind the curtain at a Maker, who looks suspiciously like a rainbow coloured Celestial. Although it's not specifically implied, I can't help wonder if the Makers are meant to be an offshoot of their fellow giant space gods from The Eternals.
One of the strongest issues of a fantastic series.
Micronauts: The New Voyages #15 (1985)
Pencils: Kelley Jones
Inks: Danny Bulanadi
Entering the home stretch, the breaks are temporarily engaged with this oddly timed flashback issue. Marionette explains her psychosomatic paralysis is due to her legs being replacements from the Body Banks. The Banks were Baron Karza's spare limb and organ clinic taken from the poor to give to the rich, that he used to extend his lifespan over centuries. Mari's legs unironically came from a dancer friend of hers, a tragic lesson that taught the haughty princess some humility.
Karza is a classic villain (essentially Vader with an optional centaur body), but he casts a long shadow over the series, so it's a shame they felt they had to keep going back to the well with him, even putting his ugly mug front and centre on the cover. Maybe Jones just really wanted to draw the imposing Baron. A Mari spotlight is probably overdue, yet this story is nothing special and I can only assume Jones was on a tight deadline, considering the lack of his usual detailed backgrounds in the second half of the issue.
One nagging plot hole: Princess Mari's friend Diarmid has blue skin. If Mari ended up with her legs, shouldn't they be blue? Also, it's been a few decades since I last read the original Micronauts series, which may explain my utter confusion with the timeline. Mari bizarrely introduces this story from her teenage years as having took place "more than a hundred years ago" (!?). Karza extended his life to over a thousand years, as he was still when Rann left on his travels. I can only assume years are much shorter in the Microverse? A no-prize to the winning explanation.
Micronauts: The New Voyages #16 (1986)
Pencils: Kelley Jones
Inks: Danny Bulanadi
Gillis' mid 80's hot streak at Marvel resulted in him penning three Secret Wars II tie-ins in quick succession. The Beyonder gets a much bigger role here than in his New Defenders cameo, but again he's utilised as a deus ex machina to move the plot forwards. The Micronauts are initially suspicious of this tousle haired omnipotent saviour, and with good reason, as the one from Beyond is secretly in league with Scion. Scion's needlessly convoluted plan to manipulate the Micros like chess pieces culminates here. First the Beyonder essentially plays pool with planets, destroying several as a firebreak against the onrushing tide of pain. Then Huntarr levels up the Micros, resulting in the destruction of Scion's current form.
Gillis makes the best of having to shoehorn in Secret Wars at a critical juncture in the storyline. And if you're wondering why the Beyonder doesn't just snap his fingers and fix the whole mess, know it all Scion has that covered as well: "by you refraining from doing more, the Microverse may be healed as life is healed-- by its own forces." Best just to go with it.
Next: the cataclysmic cosmic conclusion.
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