rs@mirror.UUCP (09/17/85)
Here in the Cambridge/Boston area, MiracleMan sold out in a week
or so. One of the local shops is selling them sealed in little
plastic bags for $3. If anyone's desperate, I'll pick one up...
I agree with the general assesment: the art is ok, but far too
muddied. The writing is very good to excellent. Until I realized
the first part of the book was a reprint, I was really in pain --
it couldn't have been camp; no one can play it THAT straight!
The second part was might fine; I especially liked the way MM's
wife kept saying "oh this is so corny" as he explained the way
things used to be in the 50's. The magic word, "kimota,"
deserved the same treatment however... as it was, it's still too
cutesy/fifties-ish.
--
Rich $alz {mit-eddie, ihnp4!inmet, wjh12, cca, datacube} !mirror!rs
Mirror Systems 2067 Massachusetts Ave.
617-661-0777 Cambridge, MA, 02140
PS: If you're serious about wanting an MM, maybe you should call.tim@k.cs.cmu.edu.ARPA (Tim Maroney) (09/24/85)
The art is only muddy in the color version. It looks much better in black and white, but as usual artistic concessions have to made to pander to the ridiculous prejudices of the fans -- in this case, the anti-b&w prejudice. In fact, comic coloring is usually so bad that black and white is preferable, but try to tell that to the average comic buyer.... The writing is good but not great; I think way too much has been made of it. It certainly doesn't hold up to the same standard I would use to judge a novel. It is excellent =for= =a= =superhero= =story=, but that's all. The basic concept is good -- I won't spoil it for new readers, but it's worth waiting for -- but the execution is often pretentious. I nearly gagged on the incredibly unsubtle foreshadowing in "Chapter Four". Alan Moore has done better work; for instance, V For Vendetta, which, like Marvelman, was published in the British black and white magazine Warrior. Incidentally, the next two issues of Warrior are camera-ready but funding is not available; it would be a damn shame if this magazine were to go under. -=- Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking ARPA: Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K uucp: seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim CompuServe: 74176,1360 audio: shout "Hey, Tim!"