moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (11/11/85)
REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE:
FISH POLICE NIGHTCRAWLER CROSSFIRE MIRACLEMAN
JON SABLE MEGATON MAN ECHO OF FUTUREPAST
MR. MONSTER AQUAMAN JOHNNY NEMO THE BOZZ CHRONICLES
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"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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'MAZING MAN #2 [C-]:
I'm still not sure I like this enough to take it off Probation status;
I'm waiting to see if any of its initial charm will wear off with
frequent readings. I do, at least, like their cover blurb "Don't Ask
-- Just Buy!". Seems as if it would be better applied to Secret
Wars, though...
FISH POLICE #1 [D-]:
If you like very weak Maxwell Smart jokes and characters so thin
that anamorphics cannot improve, read this. Other than dressing
like Mick Belker, this character has no relation to the Hill Street
character.
NIGHTCRAWLER #4 [C-]:
Still not great, but reminds me of an old Wally Wood gag strip.
Cockrum even seems to have pointed his drawing towards Wood's
style.
CROSSFIRE #15 [C]:
For those of you who'd like a synopsis of Crossfire's origin, this
story will provide it; but it is also an excellent insight issue into
the background of Jay Endicott, and contains Evanier & Spiegle's
usual comic-strip realism (compounded by cameos of Howard
Hughes, Nixon and Ehrlichmann). The characters, though, are what
make it here; Jay Endicott comes across as one of the "nicest
people" you can find in comics today without ever looking like a
Good Samaritan (capital letters included).
MIRACLEMAN #2 [B]:
OK, I said I wasn't going to go on about something without backing
it up, but, Hey! What do you want? This is a comic where Alan
Moore has done more to shake up the super-hero genre than
anything since Stan Lee started the Marvel super-hero line.
Amazing stuff -- a plot that can knock me on my ass every time I
go over it. That would be enough for a 'C', but we also have good
dialogue, excellent scripting, involving characters, and slick art.
I'm glad to hear that this book is selling out IF it means that lots
of people are buying it; if an artificial shortage is being made,
that would be distressing, because THIS is a comic worth reading.
And re-reading.
JON SABLE #33 [B]:
Sergio Aragones takes Sable's/B.B. Flemm's leprechaun and turns
them into an animated special. Of course, this is better than
almost any animated special I've ever seen (The Doonesbury
Special is the only one I can think of which excells this one). In
short, delightful.
MEGATON MAN #6 [C+]:
Well, I could be wrong, but there is almost no mention of the FF
parody characters in this one -- I expected a much smoother
pull-out due to Marvel's legal vultures. Still, the Hydra take-off is
somehow hilarious even without dialogue. Simpson can draw with
an inherently funny style, which only a few people can do (some of
the MAD artists, Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, NOT Keith Giffen (he
depends much on Robert Loring Fleming's words)).
ECHO OF FUTERPAST #6 [C]:
About the only anthology comic series I read, it almost always has
well-done artwork, and the stories are adequate. As a side note,
probably the best color in any comic today (right, so what?). This
issue has the last installment of Michael Golden's Bucky O'Hare,
but has added on Alex Toth's classic TORPEDO comic in excellent
color. I wish Tippie-Toe Jones would get back to its normal brand
of weird humor, and leave its current brand of weird humor on the
doorstep...
MR. MONSTER #3 [D+]:
Probably the weakest MM (and the weakest Alan Moore story) I've
ever read. Doc Stearns is obviously a lampoon on the two-fisted
scientists of the pulps, but there is just so many times that you
can run his dogmatism by the reader before it gets stale. Not awful,
just not very entertaining.
AQUAMAN #1 [D]:
Beautiful art and an intriguing opening with the Ocean Master, but
it was slowing down to a halt towards the end of the story. On the
other hand, I've always found this to be a character who would be
much more interesting if he stayed underwater, and avoided the
usual superhero/Swords & Sorcery-style stories -- which seems
to be what they're heading in for here.
JOHNNY NEMO #1 [C-]:
Like Kelvin Mace, but not as funny, and with better artwork.
Quality-wise (paper, color, printing, etc.) I think Eclipse does just
about the best job -- their comics always look like they care
(notice, also, that they are the ones publishing reprints of so many
of the comic classics...).
THE BOZZ CHRONICLES [D-]:
Ouch. Double Ouch. I have been looking forward to this for a LONG
time, and then to see such a great concept for a comic wasted in
just such a manner... I think Jerry gave an accurate summary of
this comic; let me only add that I am VERY disappointed -- I
believe the concept of this comic could have been brought off with
a better writer. These characters all seem to be stereotypes, with
very little affection for one another; if something could be done
about that, if we see an alien who is befriended and where an
actual friendship is begun, I would have been very happy with this.
I keep thinking that Claremont would be right for this (if he could
keep away from bondage/posession/Satanism, which seems to be a
redundant point with him...). Michilene has always been good with
current humor (his IRON MAN'S come to mind), but this is nothing
more than cliche's & cleavage (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, indeed).
"Eddie the Mouth was a vicious animal. But he was
one of the old-time vicious animals and as such had
some kind of moral code. It wasn't much of a moral
code, but it was better than nothing..."
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) (11/11/85)
REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE:
MR. X DR. STRANGE SPECTACULAR SPIDERMAN (Annual)
THE PUNISHER POWER PACK (Thanksgiving issue) STAR TREK
VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH NORMALMAN HULK
NATHANIEL DUSK II
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MR. X #5 [D+]:
Much of the charm of the series has been lost now that the
Brothers Hernandez have left. Ty Templeton struggles to keep
some of the atmosphere around, but I'm afraid he's not up to it. I
wish he'd let Mr. X die and go back to STIG'S INFERNO, which is
(was?) about the best humor comic on the market today.
DR. STRANGE #75 [C-]:
Just a question for long-time Marvel historians -- you may
remember that Mephisto has been dissolved (by Franklin Richards).
In this issue, a mysterious creature crawls out of the now-vacant
(who rents out Hades, anyway?) Pit and heads for Earth. The good
Doctor transforms the creature back to it's original form, which is
a woman who looks vaguely familiar. However, she seems to have
a past she cannot remember.
Well, I know that Mephisto has been the tormentor of two major
Marvel characters: The Silver Surfer and Doctor Doom. The
Surfer's love was returned to his home planet, but Mephisto still
had hold of Doom's Mom's soul, last I heard. Perhaps with Mephisto
gone, this is Doom's mother?
Think about it...
PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #109, ANNUAL #5 [B, C+]:
I think the reason I like Peter David's writing so much is that it
reminds me of the kind of stories you get in Hill Street Blues.
Mostly streetwise, with a large repatory cast of characters who
work off one another. While Parker/Spiderman is the main
character to be sure, we have long stretches dealing with lots of
supporting characters, and David is always anxious to fill in a
little more of their personalities. My only complaint at this point
is that SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #110 finishes the Jean DeWolfe
story -- and it's already been out, and I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE!!
ARGH! (and to top insult to injury, #111 is out and it's a Secret
Bores tie-in by Jim Owsley. Pfeh.).
THE PUNISHER #2 [D]:
I still don't like this, and I think I'll drop it -- but did anyone
notice that that the Marvel Universe's biggest racketeer next to
the Kingpin bought it during two panels? I'm speaking of Morgan,
the Harlem boss who was a major character through all those
Steve Englehart CAPTAIN AMERICA/FALCON books.
POWER PACK #19 [B+++]:
Even if you don't read Power Pack, read this issue. If you enjoy it
1/8 as much as I did, you'll thank me for it. Absolutely, positively
the most delightful thing I've read all year. One wonders at the
kind of genetic comics talent any children the Simonsins produce
will have passed on to them. The mind boggles... (Marvel should get
a first-round draft choice on them).
STAR TREK #23 [B]:
Not quite as good as the previous issue, but one of the finest Trek
adaptations to comics. The final closing scene reminded me of the
best of the Trek closing speechs -- probably the best of it's kind.
A very, very nice job.
THE VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH #5 [C+]:
This is quickly turning into one of my favorite comics; Englehart
brings out so much from these two characters that no other writer
seems to be able to (he should, though -- he scripted their romance
together for several years in the Avengers). If you've hesitated,
this is a thumbs-up vote for trying it out.
NORMALMAN #11 [D-]:
Heavy-handed satire (the TradeMarked gag gets old after two
pages) which amazingly tries to combine some sort of quasi-drama
with the whole mishmosh. A soggy, moist fungus of a comic.
Avoid it.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK #316 [C-]:
Let's just call this Marvel Nostalgia Punch-Out, shall we?
NATHANIEL DUSK #4 [C+]:
FINALLY, a mini-series with an ending which isn't a let down. Look
at the coloring on this thing! Colon hasn't been this good since the
color Tomb of Draculas. McGregor doesn't gush, and the whole
thing ends tightly and compactly, just as a good detective story
should. A big round of applause for everyone tied up with this.
"Listen, Kalina, I can either be Johnny Nemo or I
can be careful -- I can't be both!"
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! <*>