Issue: #5 - July 1995
Title: Don't Touch That Dial!
Creative Team: Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris Bachalo (art), Mark Buckingham (inks), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Steve Buccellato & Electric Crayon (colors).

Summary/Review:
Chris Bachalo shines in this ish, I must say. After the 4 to 5 month break to do the AoA thing, Bachalo seemed to improve on the artwork of the characters. Anyhoo, in this ish, Synch, Jubilee, M, and Skin go to the Big Apple (NYC, in case ya didn't know) to meet up with Ms. Frost at Frost Enterprises. They're stopped short first by M going into a catatonic state and completely out of nowhere and then (after they left Monet) their drivers are chopped up real quick-like. They're assured by Ms. Frost psionically that she's alright and to go get help, but, being the stubborn kids that they are, they decide to investigate first. They're greeted by Hemingway at the end of the elevator ride but Synch takes him down. That's when they hear about Leech but find Artie first. Oh yeah, Hemingway muttered something about being in GeneNation.
Meanwhile, Chamber and Gateway have a small psionic conversation about Husk and Jono goes and finds her drunk (from one beer), all depressed-like from learning about the Legacy Virus. Jono sympathises with the "life ain't fair" part. Oh, two more things; Banshee tries talking to Penance and Gateway watches Beauty and the Beast. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Quick Thoughts: An odd combination here, I felt. On the one side, this issue relieved me a great deal, as I was hoping this wasn't going to be a boring kids book about, well, kids. I've read those before, and they bore the h-e-double hockey sticks outta me, plus they aren't even written accurate. But by the looks of it, things aren't so happy-go-lucky. I mean, did you see those panels with the car crash? Egad, man! Pretty gruesome. On the other side of the spectrum, I saw, and liked, some of the more traditional aspects of a teen book. That being the now blossoming relationship between Jono and Paige. Another interesting thought is that Chamber is becoming a major character quickly... yet his parts are seemingly so minor. A tricky thing to accomplish, but executed well.

Rating: