moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (12/09/85)
REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE:
FLAMING CARROT AMBUSH BUG STOCKING STUFFER HULK
SWAMP THING GREEN LANTERN CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS
------------------------------------------------
"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
****************************************************************************
|==>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 |
****************************************************************************
FLAMING CARROT COMICS #9 [C]:
As the kid on the Apple IIc ad is saying, "Another Christmas
Miracle." Finally, the Carrot has gotten through those ka-ka dream
sequences, has gone on the wagon, and is back to his old dangerous
& retarded self. There is a semblance of a plot, and no one spouts
poetry anywhere in it. Patience is its own reward, I guess; or
better still, "It's guys like that that make it fun to be Bad Guys!"
AMBUSH BUG STOCKING STUFFER #1 [B-]:
Not up to mini-series, but still very, very funny. The scenes with
Cheeks running around ingesting various dolls was just what I
needed after an evening in a local mall; and the Mr. A. satire had
me dropping the comic with laughter. If you like AB, you'll want to
get this; if not, 1) you won't want to get this and 2) have you
considered nitrous oxide?
HULK #317 [C+]:
Some may be wondering just how much good John Byrne can do for
Superman once he starts on that. I suggest that they take a look at
his work on the Hulk -- a comic that I haven't read for six years on
account of consistent re-treads of old plots and poor writing.
Byrne has made it interesting again through about the only way I
can see of doing it -- by taking the Hulk out of the majority of the
story, and focusing on the supporting characters. Doc Samson
(looking quite a bit like a updated Doc Savage) and Bruce Banner
lead the new "HulkBusters" (that suffix is getting somewhat
tiresome), and it looks like an interesting crew. Basically, this
doesn't remind me of a superhero book as much as a well-done
version of a fifties sci-fi films, with someone releasing
something awful, and now having to get it back in the bottle.
Recommended.
SWAMP THING #45 [C-]:
I think you'll enjoy this more if you look at this as macabre humor;
otherwise, it seems to be more of a watered-down Twilight Zone
episode (off the subject, anyone notic that Marty Pasko did the
"Beacon" episode of TZ last week?). The humor is Moore's
imagining what the famous Winchester house (here called the
Cambridge house) really lived up to it's legends, i.e. the Winchester
house is an archaelogical nightmare built to house the ghosts of
all those killed by Winchester rifles. I found it amusing to find
that this included bison and rabbits, and the two cowboys in the
never-ending gunfight reminded me of The Black Knight in Monty
Python and the Holy Grail ("Come over here and I'll gnaw your
kneecaps off!").
SWAMP THING #46 [C]:
Finally, the reason for all the errands ST has been running for the
last few months, and the tie-in with Crisis. The suggestion of
spiritual as well as physical disruption by the Anti-Monitor is a
neat idea, and I think it'll work well -- especially the thought of
having a supernatural cult using the chaos to destroy Heaven. This
should give Moore lots of grist for ideas. Oh, the constant
twitting of ST by Constantine is a nice ribbing about keeping up
with the Crisis...
GREEN LANTERN #196-198 [B-]:
Whew! Read these in one long stretch, and the last story ('0')
really had the juices flowing. Kind of like an updated version of
the Lensmen stories (in fact, the Green Lantern Corp have always
struck me that way). It DOES make you wonder, though, how
entities as bright as the Guardians are supposed to be could ever
have picked Sinestro or Guy Gardner for any kind of duty at all.
And Tomar-re, the Green Lantern who (in the pre-Crisis days of
continuity) was responsible for Krypton surviving long enough for
The Els to get Kal off in a rocket ship.
The major thing this story leaves me with are more questions than
answers (haven't read Crisis #12 yet). Who is left in charge of the
Guardians? Will the Lanterns remember how things were before
the Crisis (the old Flash, etc.)? Who is being shipped where (two
Lanterns on Earth? Three (Katma Tui)? Four (Guy Gardner gets out
of his slump)? Any suggestions? I imagine that either Stewart &
Katma will stay on Earth and Hal will take outer space, or (more
likely) visa-versa. All three are rather independent of their homes
-- Katma and John just want to be together, and Hal (with Carol
gone) just wants be a Lantern. Well, I hope none of them are
phased out of the storyline -- Katma and John make a nice team to
follow (Englehart always is good with couples -- check out the
VISION & THE SCARLET WITCH mini-series). Any ideas?
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #12 [B-]:
Phew! Satisfactory ending from the emotional standpoint;
however, it doesn't tie up things in a way I would like. All the
John Byrne changes, with the Kents being alive and all -- will
Superman remember the way it was? Most of the DC heroes seem
to have their memory left from this -- do they notice the
difference? OK, let's assume that the Byrne changes are seperate
from the Crisis changes. Then we have the huge coincidence that
everyone who was "left over" (not recognized by the general public,
like the Earth-2 Superman, Robin and Huntress) after the merge to
one Earth conveniently perished. Does that seem to be straight?
Unless some "higher forced" marked the "leftovers" for
annihilation. Also, I assume that the battle in issue #12 is
remembered by the populace at large -- how is it being explained?
As I understand it, no one remembers (except for the heroes
involved in it) the merging of the multiverses into on universe; but
they do remember the battle in #12, which killed one hell of a lot
of people. This has got to leave a mark on the planet...
Finally, I'm a bit worried that DC writers from now on are going to
use Crisis as a blank check for continuity errors; when someone
says, hey, that person doesn't have the power to do THAT, or how
could ______Man know that villain, he never fought her, the author
will just say, well, when Crisis melded the universe, it changed it
so that they DID fight. If I see some of that, a little flaming will
be called for. Crisis was, in my opinion, a good idea in the first
place, besides the fact that it was executed with more panache
than I've seen in years. But if it's used as a Handi-Wipe for editing
errors, that would be shoddy; I'd prefer they just say "We Goofed!"
I wouldn't have any problems with that...
An admirable mini-series, one of the best ever. Everyone involved
should be very proud of their work, especially Marv Wolfman.
[Err, does this mean that George can go back to Teen Titans?]
"And I heard Jeff exclaim,
as they strolled out of sight,
`Merry Christmas to all
-- you take credit cards, right?'"
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) (12/09/85)
REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE:
JON SABLE SOUTHERN KNIGHTS SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
THE MASKED MAN BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT HAWKMAN SPECIAl
X-FACTOR BLUE DEVIL VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH
STAR TREK and GREENBERG THE VAMPIRE
----
JON SABLE, FREELANCE #24 [C]:
I don't mind a "Waste-their-Ass" (i.e. you set up villains so nasty
that you're just waiting for the protaginist/hero{ine} to "waste
their ass") type of story every once in a while, as long as it's done
well, e.g. not simplistic, cardboard villains, etc. These guys look
like, well, scum you'd find in reality. So, waste their ass, Jon...
SOUTHERN KNIGHTS #10 [D+]:
Not up to snuff; as I've said before, drama does not become the
Knights real well, and I kept getting the impression that things
were a bit rushed -- the FBI agent at the end rattles off a very
hurried summary of Viper in a way that sounds stilted. And the
little character quirks I've enjoyed in the supporting characters
weren't there, either (though the Viper agents were well done --
Henry seems quite adept at writing thugs who sound like Company
Men). The backup story was more in the spirit, but I figured out
what was going to happen in the first three panels, and the
dialogue wasn't funny enough to keep it going. Hope the next issue
is better...
SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #110,112 [C]:
I think the thing I enjoy most about Peter David's writing is that
his plots don't end up with nice neat answers that everyone likes;
or even neat answers people aren't crazy about. Like real life (or,
as it's known on the West Coast, Real Life), his stories end in
compromise, frustration and failure as often as having a "happy
ending" -- the Jean DeWolffe four-parter showed this. He also
brings up situations which really have no right or wrong answers,
and leaves them hanging. Again, the parallels to Hill Street Blues
seem strong...
The Christmas story was nicely done ("Last year it was slasher
films. Now it's this. I'm not laughing"), though the art had too
much T&A emphasis for my tastes (Miami Vice Comics!). Also, DD
and Spider-man now know each other's true identity, though Matt
may be too gonzo from the occurences in DD to remember later.
Anyway, it appears that Spider-Man and Batman are suffering from
the same fate of "public" secret identities -- seems everyone
knows who they really are, these days...
THE MASKED MAN #6 [D]:
This is getting maudlin...
BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT #1-4 [C]:
I'm not sure why this has gotten so much lauding by various
critics. It is, to be sure, an interesting story which I enjoyed very
much; however, I think overall I prefer the film "Murder by Decree"
for Jack the Ripper speculations. I've read a lot of books and
mysteries in the vein (sorry, couldn't resist) of this series --
combining the Ripper with Dracula (or Holmes), and while this is a
pretty good job, it isn't up to some of the other ones. Also, unless
you're already familiar with the case, I think you may find the plot
confusing (the text sections in the back help, but my memories of
"Murder By Decree" helped fill in most of the gaps).
HAWKMAN SPECIAL #1 [C+]:
Dat Tony Isabella, boy, he shure can write. Comes up with an
original plot, great dialogue, and introduces about the most
unlikely ally to the Hawks in the Shadow War you can imagine.
Gentleman Jim Craddock has been a villain that has survived
almost forty years, in the pages of the Golden Age Hawkman, and
it's nice to see Tony breathing some, err, new life (or new death?)
into the character. He's the kind of a rogue Napoleons of Crime try
to set aside as examples...
X-FACTOR #1-2 [D]:
I didn't expect to dislike this book as much as others have (though
Jean's ressurection still grates); and you won't be getting any
rabid thrashing diatribes from me about this book. However, it has
several major problems, and I think it's safe to say that this book
is off my list from now on. First point: #1) The plot here is
riddled with more holes than Idi (V.D.) Amin's brain -- Madeline is
just left up in Alaska (where's Candy Southern? after #1), Hank's
personality has regressed, etc. This point has been repeated over
and over again, so I'll leave it lying. #2) The stupidity of having a
method of finding mutants which stirs up anti-mutant hatred. Yes,
it's a flashy plot idea, and technically it is very nice indeed when
you don't think of the side effects, but geez... anyway, enough said
on this point also. #3) All the great characterizations that
existed under Roy Thomas or Chris Claremont are shot to blazes.
These are very shallow people being described here, and I'll not
follow their paths. #4) Remember how Marvel use to have
incredibly slow subplot development in their early books? Karen
Page and Matt Murdock taking 40 issues to admit that they loved
one another? Jean and Scott waiting two years to hold hands?
This kind of build-up annoys me these days, and I'm not going to
wait four issues, much less ten, to have Scott tell Jean that he's
married. I mean, let's remember how much these people were in
love. They finally get back together and all they do is hold the
fort? Gimme a break... #5) The humor here is rather cruel and
crude -- the X-Factor people remind me of a group of stereotypical
frat brothers out on a gag. Layton and Micheline came close to
going over the bounds on this type of humor in their IRON MAN
days, but Layton is just not up to it. In fact, I suspect this is the
books biggest problem -- a weird plot premise I could take, if the
scripting was good. But it's not. Bob Layton is a fine
Inker/Penciller, and I like his Ant-Man stuff. But here he is
shovelling coal, not diamonds.
P.S. If you can't figure what's going to happen to Hank McCoy by the
next issue, you haven't been reading comics very long...
BLUE DEVIL #21 [C]:
Say, if you want a free BD plotline from Mishkin, just write and
tell them that Jack Edison is the guy who builds the Batman's cars,
and you last saw him in the Legend of the Batman mini-series.
VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH #6 [C+]:
Interesting that Englehart has probably got as good of a tack on
Magneto's personality as Claremont. He is one heck of a versatile
writer...
STAR TREK #24 [B+]:
Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee...
GREENBERG THE VAMPIRE Graphic Novel [A]:
Many, many moons ago I happened to pick up a copy of Marvel's
BIZARRE ADVENTURES (back when it was black & white magazine
format) advertising a Stephen King story on the front (something
to do with a lawnmower). The King story lacked punch; however, a
second story titled "Greenberg the Vampire", got to be one of the
most re-read stories in my comic collection. It told the story of a
writer of horror fiction who, a few years previous to the story,
had been turned into a vampire. The women (i.e. female vampire)
who had bitten him and caused his transformation, a perfectly nice
midwesterner, had moved in after The Change, and he had settled
down into a (more or less) stable lifestyle in New York. His
family, while not crazy about it, were tolerant; and the
understated, funny nature of J.M. DeMatteis's (at that time a *real*
unknown property) story had me enjoying the characters a great
deal. More importantly, however, I was amazed at the potential
these characters had; all sorts of story possiblities presented
themselves, and I *wanted* to see them present themselves. I
wanted MORE.
I had to wait a while...
But it's worth it. Denise, Morrie, Ira, the (briefly seen) collection
of vampires peacefully co-existing with New Yorkers (and
considerably less weird than most...). And Oscar, the vampire
author; through him, DeMatteis does a very beautiful, neat piece of
work. It has its faults -- the demon part of it doesn't work as
well as it should -- but there are few books that have two page
text portions scattered throughout the book which I gobble up as
cleanly (and with as much enjoyment) as the art pages. Mark
Badger's art is quite good, in fact, probably the best he's done,
though in a different, err, vein (there I go again...) -- like a cross
between Kent (MOONSHADOW) Williams and Bill S-word.
I think, perhaps, I'll write Marvel and J.M. this time, suggesting
that they don't wait so long until the next appearance of Greenberg
(I hope Matteis will consider doing another story -- maybe
something a bit more in the mystery genre? Yeah, I know, Marvel's
already GOT a vampire detective, Hannibal King (probably gives his
younger brother Stephen all his story ideas...)). Anyway, the first
Marvel Graphic Novel since "God Loves, Man Kills" that has been
worth the cover price... Moriarty says, check it out.
"Ah, you know the type. They like to blame
it all on the Jews or the Blacks, 'cause if
they couldn't, they'd have to wake up to
the fact that life's one big, scary,
glorious, complex and ultimately
unfathomable crapshoot -- and the only
reason THEY can't seem to keep up is
they're a bunch of misfits and losers."
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! <*>bob@plus5.UUCP (Bob Simpson) (12/11/85)
In article <2489@colossus.fluke.UUCP>, moriarty@fluke.UUCP > HULK #317 [C+]: > > Basically, this doesn't remind me of a superhero book as much as a well-done > version of a fifties sci-fi films, with someone releasing something awful, > and now having to get it back in the bottle. Thought one; how will Dr. Banner cope with the progress of technology? Is it assumed that when Dr. B wasn't the Hulk he kept up with all the medical/technical journals between odd jobs and being hunted by Gamma Base? -- Dr. Bob ORG Plus Five Computer Services St. Louis, MO 63105 UUCP ..!{ihnp4,cbosgd,seismo}!plus5!bob
ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian) (12/14/85)
> Thought one; how will Dr. Banner cope with the progress of technology? > Is it assumed that when Dr. B wasn't the Hulk he kept up with all the > medical/technical journals between odd jobs and being hunted by Gamma > Base? *** Apparently he managed. I remember stories here and there that go back years that mention various secret labs Banner had set up in the desert. I think he did other experimentation, but I guess the main line of research was how to get rid of the Hulk side of himself. Interesting, though, that how these (the secret bases) were funded and built was never mentioned. There was a recent Avengers annual (really stinko, but that's another story) that dealt with the government's opening up of one of Banner's labs. I guess one must assume that Banner went through long periods of not being the hulk which were not detailed in the book. -- -- Ron Christian (Watkins-Johnson Co. San Jose, Calif.) {pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix,vecpyr,certes,isi}!wjvax!ron Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: "If you are seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it."
slrichte@uok.UUCP (12/17/85)
/* Written 5:27 pm Dec 13, 1985 by ron@wjvax.UUCP in uok.UUCP:net.comics */ >Apparently he managed. I remember stories here and there that go >back years that mention various secret labs Banner had set up >in the desert. I think he did other experimentation, but I guess >the main line of research was how to get rid of the Hulk side of >himself. Interesting, though, that how these (the secret bases) were >funded and built was never mentioned. It was established in one of the many Hulk stories published in the last ten years that Banner has bank accounts in many banks around the country. He presumeably has money to put into them. --Steve Richter USENET: {ihnp4,allegra!cbosgd}!okstate!uokvax!uok!slrichte USMAIL: S. Richter c/o Southside, 754 Asp, Norman, OK 73069