Issue(s): Micronauts: The New Voyages #9
Cover Date: Jun 85
Title: "The dreaming star!"
Credits:
Peter Gillis - Writer
Kelley Jones - Penciler
Bruce Patterson - Inker
Bob Harras - Assistant Editor
Ralph Macchio - Editor

Review/plot:
Before i start with this issue, i should mention that with most of the comics i'm going through, i've read them at least once before, or i at least have a general sense of where a series is going based on what i've read in future stories or just online summaries. But with some books i'm going in blind, and the Micronauts (both the original and the New Voyages) is one of them. The Micronauts are only tangentially connected with the main Marvel Universe for the most part, so i really only concentrated on picking up key issues of Mantlo's series - the first year with Golden's art and the various issues that have guest appearances. But i'm a big fan of Peter Gillis' Defenders, so i made sure i had his entire New Voyages series before starting my work on 1984 and 1985. So far i'd say it's been a little disappointing but it definitely has its moments. But the point of this note is to say that as i review each issue, i don't really know what's going to come out of the revelations in each issue, so these reviews are more "real-time" than others.

Anyway, this issue starts off with Commander Rann dreaming about a former associate called Devil, who looks quite a lot like a red Beast (don't tell Jeph Loeb)...

...and later Devil actually gets a message to the Micronauts (even though he's supposed to be dead) stating that the Enigma Force has gone crazy and is endangering Homeworld. He also mentions the Worldmind but not necessarily the one that Acroyear used to fight Baron Karza in the original series.

Meanwhile, the creatures of the Confluence introduce the Micronauts to something called the Dreaming Star, which is "psycho-active -- that is to say, it absorbs the impressions of a being's thoughts -- and obeys that mind's commands!". The greatest minds, as well as the "hopeless madmen and psychopaths", of the Confluence race enter communion with the star so that they can pursue their ideas without limit (presumably, however, without affecting others, or the universe would constantly be endangered by the madmen and criminals.

The Dreaming Star is a concept not unfamiliar to the Microverse, which already has given us the Enigma Force and Captain Universe and the Worldmind. If there's a difference, i guess it's that the others represent the power of collective consciousness focused through a single individual, whereas the Dreaming Star has many individuals all drawing power from a single source.

Rann uses the Star to receive Devil's message, and he finds its power seductive.

Also in this issue, Biotron and Microtron are revealed to be repaired...

...and we are led to be suspicious of Bug's new girlfriend Solitaire (who has taken the form of Sepsis, Rann's mother; often invoked in the phrase: "Dallan and Sepsis Preserve Us!").

It's funny when Marionette finds out that Solitaire had previously been using her form while dallying with Bug.

Nice art...

...and a cool, weird sci fi story, but a bit on the talky side. We'll see where it goes.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This issue ends with the Micronauts and a fleet from Confluence heading back to the Micronaut's portion of the Microverse.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A