moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (03/10/86)
REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE:
MEGATON MAN MARVEL UNIVERSE DELUXE JOURNEY
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS
=================================================================
Spring is here, and both the weather and some of the excellent
offerings (many from DC -- if I'd told myself that ten years ago...)
seem to have raised my spirits considerably. And notice! The
Moriarty comics rating scale hasn't changed! I'm calling it
CLASSIC Comic Grades (TM)...
------------------------------------------------
"There *are* standards. If you can't see one, you *make* one and stick to
it come Hell or high water -- until you see a BETTER one."
-John Gaunt
"Well, if you can't believe what you read in a comic book, what *can*
you believe?!"
-Bullwinkle J. Moose
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|==>A< One of the best of the year. Example: ZOT #8 |
|==>B< A very good issue, one of the best of the month (usually 6/month) |
|==>C< A well done, entertaining issue. Satisfying. Example: Jon Sable |
|==>D< Boring, but with a few good points. Example: SQUADRON SUPREME |
|==>F< Boring AND stupid or childish. Example: Secret Wars. |
|==>Z< Actually offensive. Example: Several of Haney's UNKNOWN SOLDIERs |
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MEGATON MAN #8 [C-]:
The storyline here (what little of it there is) is disolving rapidly,
and I'm not sure the bizarre humor is enough to support it alone.
However, Simpson's art is -- especially in the backup strip BORDER
WORLDS, which I'm beginning to take a shine to. The spaceships,
the characters and some of the outer worlds in BORDER WORLDS
are very nicely done, though some of the farcical elements of
MEGATON MAN seem to taint the characters faces.
MARVEL UNIVERSE #7 [D]:
Took a look at this -- what's so deluxe about it? The Baxter
paper? I admit that it is nice for catching up on characters whose
titles I don't want to read, due to lackluster story or art. But this
deluxe bit is rather silly.
JOURNEY #25 [D+]:
Has Loebs lost interest in this book? The art looks like it was
sketched, and the story is just dragging on and on... I enjoy new and
different art techniques (Grell's work in JON SABLE, etc.), but this
is beginning to look like someone who has too many irons in the
fire, and is taking it out of work time...
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS [A-]:
I think anyone who reviews anything eventually reaches a point
where they grade things on two general features: emotional effect
and technique. Emotional effect is how much you enjoyed it, or
how much you liked it. Technique is how well done the piece of
work is, comparing it to all the previous stuff you've watched or
read. The difference between these two can be quickly
encapsulated in the difference between a "favorite" comic and a
"best" comic. Frank Miller's work here definately rates an 'A' in
technique, and he just about rates an 'A' in emotional effect.
Cripes, I could go on for pages about this book. The artwork --
taken on a panel-by-panel basis -- has the classic Miller/Janson
quality "you've come to expect" -- great lighting, stark
perspective, and a gritty feeling to it. But it's when you see how
Miller takes these pictures, edits them, mixes them, and then pulls
a plot, a story, a mood and your undivided attention out of them all
that is really stuns you. There are accomplished artists and
writers in the comics field today, and a few people who meet both
qualifications. But after this book, and his current work on
DareDevil, I doubt there is anyone (obligatory exception of Will
Eisner -- Mea Culpa) out there today who does both with as much
feel for melding graphics and text into a narrative force. I keep
wanting to compare it in cinematic terms -- but that is another
visual medium, with different limitations and strengths. Others
-- Hitchcock, Kubrick, Welles -- are the people reknowned for
grabbing the reins of their particular art form and making it jump
through hoops. Miller will be known as one of their counterparts in
the comic art form.
Examples: The sequence with Waynes memory of his parents'
murder, interspliced with news footage -- fantastic graphics, a
palapable beat and rhythm, colors which emphasize what's going
on, culminating in the strobe-like approach of the bat towards the
window -- Black, white, grey and red. How many times have we
seen Wayne's parents murdered in the comics? Lots. Tons. Hell,
it's ingrained. It's the same old story here, but you have to
condense it down to the bare minimum plotline to notice any
similarites to past flashbacks. The scene with The Joker
beginning to regain his smile (has he had a lobotomy?)... Well. You
get the idea.
And the emotional impact is here, too. The old Dirty Harry/Death
Wish/"God the cities have gone to Hell why doesn't somebody DO
something" feeling, which has been played to banality in books like
Vigilante, Punisher, etc., is done just right. And when The Batman
(notice the capital letters, dammit!) comes back, he is THE
BATMAN. Full-blown nostalgia (I loved the sequence with the
teenage girl he saved looking across the skyline until she sees the
BatSignal. Not campy a'tall...). He doesn't shoot or kill (unless he
has to), but he hurts. Hurting, to him, is implicit in punishment,
and that's what he's out to do (besides preventing crime).
I also liked the touches in the newscasts and the on-the-streets
interviews; Miller has played the TV sequences just right, playing
up all the problems and ugliness in the media today with very
little amplification (watch a local TV newscast -- they are really
terrible). Also, the "future-speak" is very nice -- phrases which
we can divine but which are not used in our slang today. These
give you a feeling that this is another period, and not just 1980
with newer tinkertoys.
Get this book.
"But isn't there some
other way to call him?"
"At least a dozen."
"Then WHY?"
"To let them know,
Merkel, to let
EVERYONE know.
"Hit it."
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (03/10/86)
REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE:
SOUTHERN KNIGHTS THE FURY OF FIRESTORM STAR TREK
CEREBUS MAGE DALGODA
THE NEW TEEN TITANS JON SABLE
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SOUTHERN KNIGHTS #11 [C+ (+ is for personal gratification)]:
Well, if you expect *me* to be unbiased about this issue after that
little panel on page 17, you must be crazy! With my ego... Anyway,
there are several things that I liked about this issue *besides*
that little name-dropping episode... first, the art in this issue
reaches a level which you would expect to find (and often not find)
in any of the major company's magazines; Bill Neville's inks really
look good on Chuck's pencils. The dialogue and personalities are as
good as ever, the SK humor is ever-present, and the plot is much
tighter than the previous issue. Besides, the back-up issue is
really quite interesting (though not as well-drawn, by any means),
in that it explores the way in which "normal" people in comics see
superheroes -- Electrode is unable to stop the killing of an old
man, and recieves a public backlash because of it.
One question, though, pertaining to the mystery man on the last
page of the main story -- why has Zephyr Flint hired Stan Lee to
kill Dragon? :-)
THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #48 [C+]:
A normally good issue of a normally good comic -- but a little
extra credit should be given to two speeches given in the
courtroom scene of this issue. Robert Ingersoll will probably
point out all the legal atrocities in this sequence in his next "The
Law is an Ass" column in CBG, but I like these type of speeches (I
liked Sam Cogley's speech in the Trek Episode "Court Martial", too
-- so sue me, I'm a romantic); besides, Conway is vocalizing a
situation which hasn't come up (though I seem to remember
Claremont's idea of "super-hero insurance" in New York), mainly,
who's responsible for the mess they leave? This goes even farther
(during the excellent prosecution argument) into a debate as to
why super-heroes do what they do? (besides the driven (read:
crazy) ones like The Batman...)
STAR TREK #27 [C+]:
One of those slice-of-life issues I enjoy so much in almost any
comic; Saavik does a lot of investigating of human rituals, and a
day in the life of the Excelsior is nicely portrayed. I particularly
liked Greenberger's depiction of Kirk; he doesn't come of as the
saintly, all-things-to-all-crewmembers captain that Diane
Duane (and others) show him to be. He can be abrupt,
short-tempered, and opinionated ("Fencing is for dreamers").
CEREBUS #82 [C+]:
Boy, I knew Sim was going to catch up some of the old characters
and "what's going on", but this! Still awfully funny stuff, though
("I SAID I LOVE ALL MANKIND *DAMMIT*!!"); and why does that
fellow under the new Tarim look so much like Archie Goodwin? Is
the new Tarim supposed to be Jim Shooter? Just how tall *is*
Jimbo, anyway? Questions, questions... Oh, PS, the photo covers
suck.
MAGE #11 [B]:
Y'know, I haven't *really* had a favorite continous comic since
ZOT! bit the big one -- one that I could get behind every issue and
go "Why the %#$@! aren't you reading this?! Buy it or I'll tell
everyone that your mother swims after troopships!" Well, I think
MAGE has reached that level for me. This is getting to be a lot of
fun to read....
DALGODA #8 [C]:
Last issue. Death of a major character, but not gratitous, I think.
The story will continue elsewhere, and I think I'll follow it, though
I still find the way Strnad and Fujitake mix humor and drama
somewhat unnerving. Sorry to see this book go...
THE NEW TEEN TITANS #21[D+]:
You know, I was all set to praise this book for it's ending, until I
realized that I liked it simply because it didn't end as most comics
would have (Terry leaves Donna for several issues, both go through
heck, and then they get back together again); Terry comes back and
admits his problem at the end. Trouble is, this is a character who
has been portrayed as pretty self-aware from the beginning, and
his flying off the handle seemed pretty odd in itself.
JON SABLE #37 [B-]:
Why the %#$@! aren't you reading this?! Buy it or I'll tell everyone
that your mother swims after troopships! (oops...)
"You know, sir, that there
*is* a precedent for
wheelchair detectives..."
"Shut up, Alfred."armstron@sjuvax.UUCP (L. Armstrong) (03/13/86)
> THE NEW TEEN TITANS #21[D+]: > > You know, I was all set to praise this book for it's ending, until I > realized that I liked it simply because it didn't end as most comics > would have (Terry leaves Donna for several issues, both go through > heck, and then they get back together again); Terry comes back and > admits his problem at the end. Trouble is, this is a character who > has been portrayed as pretty self-aware from the beginning, and > his flying off the handle seemed pretty odd in itself. > Terry MAY have been pretty self-aware, but certain pressures can get to even the best of us. And despite all Terry's confidence in himself, and support of Donna and the Titans, he has always been portrayed as very fearful that he would not be able to keep his tenure. No, I don't think this was really out of character at all. I personally like the story in this comic alot, especially the way the Titan all left at the end... it showed that this new team new that they were called together for one mission, and with this done, there was no real need to hang around at the Tower for a few days. However, being one of Perez's biggest fans, I have to say that I was somewhat dissappointed with his portrayal of Jade on the cover. Oh well, I guess I was just spoiled by the cover on issue #20. -- NAME Len Armstrong UUCP {astrovax | bpa | burdvax | allegra }!sjuvax!armstron ORGANIZATIONS RCA Advanced Technology Labs St. Joseph's University PHONES (WORK) (609) 866-6647