boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (08/03/85)
Reviewed this time around: AMAZING HIGH ADVENTURE #2 MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #17: REVENGE OF THE DC COMICS PRESENTS #87 LIVING MONOLITH JOHN BOLTON'S HALLS OF HORROR #1 & 2 NATHANIEL DUSK II #1 THE OUTSIDERS #1 Ratings for the comics reviewed are as according to the Mad Armenian Scale, a shameless rip-off of the Moriarty Scale, stolen out from under the very nose of the Napoleon of Crime. Nyah-ah-ah!! "For a critic, it's better to have wrong standards than none at all." -- Elmer Allyn Craft ******************************************************************************** |=>A+< A veritable Classic. One of the best of All Time. Example: THE SPIRIT | |==>A< One of the best of the year. Ex: TEEN TITANS #38: "Who Is Donna Troy?" | |==>B< A very good issue, one of the best of the month. Example: CEREBUS | |==>C< A well done, entertaining issue. Satisfying. Example: JON SABLE | |==>D< Rather boring, or a few good spots mixed with more bad ones. Ex: ROM | |==>F< Boring AND stupid or childish. Example: MARVEL SUPERHEROES SECRET WARS | |==>Z< Actually offensive. Example: DAZZLER --- THE MOVIE GRAPHIC NOVEL #12 | ******************************************************************************** AMAZING HIGH ADVENTURE #1 [Marvel, $2.00] D A lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Despite the array of talent in this comic, the result was a collection of somnifacient stories. There was only one high point to this issue --- the discovery of new artist Topham Hayes. The guy is *good*; definitely one to watch. DC COMICS PRESENTS #87 [Superman & Superboy) [DC, $1.25] C- Given my reservations about Earth-Prime stories, especially in the existance of super-heroes on E-P, I have to admit that this story was quite well done. Most of the quibbles I had with the story have been brought up in the newsgroup already by others, so I won't repeat them here. JOHN BOLTON'S HALLS OF HORROR #1-2 [Eclipse, micro-series, $1.75@] D This is a collection of reprints of stories with art by John Bolton that first appeared in the British magazine HALLS OF HORROR (which is mostly a fantasy/horror film magazine that also runs a few comic stories). All of the stories have the same flavor of the old Warren magazines (CREEPY, EERIE, etc.) --- rather pedestrian. The only reason for this book is to showcase Bolton's art, and even then, this is far from his best work. for completists only. MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #17: REVENGE OF THE LIVING MONOLITH [Marvel, $6.95] C- The main concept here is to present a comic that was reminiscent of the old 50's giant-creature-runs-amok films. Sounds pretty dreadful, but David Michelinie manages to pull it off rather nicely. The Living Monolith, an old X-Men foe, runs afoul of the FF, Capt. America, and Spider-Man, trashes New York, and eventually gets disposed of, never to return again (maybe). Not only does Michelinie manage to write a decent comic story out of it, but Marc Silvestri and Geoff Isherwood contribute some fine artwork. But... Yes, there's a but. Just like the graphic novel before it (THE ALAD- IN EFFECT), this story would've been better off as a $1.25 Special on Mando paper. As a graphic novel at $6.95, it's just too damn expensive for what you get. So, it's with reluctance that I not recommend this one. NATHANIEL DUSK II #1 [DC, mini-series, $2.00] C I was rather unimpressed by the first Nathaniel Dusk series. It was Ok, but not the great revolutionary piece of comics work that MacGregor would like us to believe. Just because it does not have super-heroes does not make it good. As a mystery/suspense/detective story (by which it *must* be judged) it was merely adequate. This new series is a differnet kettle of fish. MacGregor presents an intriguing mystery indeed, and does it in such a way that I'm eagerly looking forward to the rest fo the series to find out what happens. I still don't feel that it's quite worth putting on Baxter paper for the price, but if you want a well-done mystery story, here's your action. THE OUTSIDERS #1 [DC, $1.25] D+ What always turned me off of BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS most was Barr's handling of the Batman. Now that Bats has split from the group, and they've gone off on their own way in Hollywood, my major objection goes away. Still, I find that I don't have much interest in any of the other members of the group, inluding the new one --- Looker. And the villains of the story, the Nuclear Family, are rather silly. Not an auspicious debut, in my opinion. And, as I've said before, while Aparo is a consistent and competent artist, many of his stylistic quirks rub me the wrong way. While I don't think it takes away from the comic, it's doesn't help spur any interest in it for me, either. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA