moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (08/01/85)
These have all been a while in coming, but I decided to take a few
evenings off and get them out... I'll give my usual capsule reviews in
these articles, and follow it with a few comics I'd like to look at in depth.
CAPSULES REVIEWS ON:
SWAMP THING #41 BADGER #8 THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT #1
THUNDER BUNNY #2 HIGH ADVENTURE #2 MISTER X #4 MECHANICS #1
AMERICAN FLAGG! #26 JON SABLE #29 MS. TREE #20 RAWHIDE KID #4
NEXUS #14 STAR TREK #19 CROSSFIRE #12 JOURNEY #21
KELVIN MACE #1 DC PRESENTS #57
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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
****************************************************************************
|==>A< One of the best of the year. Example: Byrne/Claremont's Starlord |
|==>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< Rather boring, or a few good spots mixed with more bad ones. Ex:Mars|
|==>F< Boring AND stupid or childish. Example: Secret Wars. |
|==>Z< Actually offensive. Example: Several of Haney's UNKNOWN SOLDIERs |
****************************************************************************
SWAMP THING #41 [C+]: Reminded me more of a standard DC
House of [fill-in] story, though energized through Moore's writing.
Is Alfredo Alcala going to be the permenant inker on ST, or is
Totlben taking a breather? Both are very good, but I've enjoyed
Totlben's grotesquery over the last year's issues, and would miss
him...
BADGER #8 [B-]: Well, so much for insight into the mentally ill...
THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT #1 [D]: With Harrison's basic story, it
couldn't be a bad comic, but if you've read the books, this comic
adds very little to the character. The art is crude, and the coloring
poor. Not recommended.
THUNDER BUNNY #2 [D+]: A trifle bizarre, but not enough to keep
reading it -- seems that the author/artist has a love for the old
Fawcett style of comics, and is trying to implement it here. Kind of
like reading Captain Marvel Jr. with big ears.
HIGH ADVENTURE #2 [D-]: D-U-L-L.
MISTER X #4 [B]: Really fills out the "origin" of Mr. X. However, the
Bros. Hernandez are leaving Mr. X to the fellows who do the other
Vortex titles, Ty Templeton and Klaus Schonefeld. My guess is that
a great deal of the appeal of the comic will go with them, especially
their rendition of Somnopolis and Mercedes.
MECHANICS #1 [B+]
AMERICAN FLAGG! #26 [B]: Not up to issues 4-12, but still a damn
fine comic. We'll miss your art, Howie...
JON SABLE #29 [C+]: More Good Clean Fun...
MS. TREE #20 [C]: Patently absurd (come on, she wipes out a legion
of people, and then is on the streets in an hour! "And on the news
at 11: An immenent dockworkers strike, the Blue Jays lose 4 to 3,
and Ms. Tree slays 50 racketeers. Bill has the weather."), but it is a
guilty pleasure of mine...
RAWHIDE KID #4 [F+]: One of the worst mini-series conclusions
since they killed off Bloodstone. Amazingly bad, as if they just ran
out of steam.
NEXUS #14 [B-]: It's out on time, and consistently good. The
Clonezone video was excellent, but the backup feature abominable.
Still, it looks like one of those penultimate issues next time
around...
STAR TREK #19 [D-]: Very poor story, and this is about as bad as
Spiegle's art has ever been -- sketchy pencils, and the expressions
on the characters is entirely wrong. Spock looks like a cross
between John Carradine and Gilligan. Luckily, I didn't have any
high expectations...
CROSSFIRE #12 [C]: However, nothing wrong with Spiegle here.
Also, Evanier has decided to insert a mystery, which is just the zing
the plot has needed about now. This almost reminds me of a one of
the old adventure strips, right down to Spiegle's signature.
JOURNEY #21 [C+]: Well, MacAlistaire finally reached the delivery
point of his package, and has rolled into one of those... strange...
communities you find in Wade Wellmen novels (i.e. there is
something strange going on here...).
KELVIN MACE #1 [C]: Good, funny first issue; however, I'm not
sure this will stand up like Stig's Inferno... number one, there are a
lot of Tough Guy satires out there right now (though this is
probably the best of the lot). Second, while the language, dialogue
and timing is very good, it isn't quite as good as Stig's. Still, this is
pretty minor. If Templeton can keep the plot fresh and original, I
think this will be fine.
DC PRESENTS #57 [C-]: If this story had NOT featured Superman, I
think I would have enjoyed it much more... the idea of a Superboy
on Earth-Prime was nicely done. I particular like the political
nature of Krypton-Prime's Science Council. But tossing Superman
in was like diluting the story, in both "realism" and character
appeal. Lord only knows how they'll settle this one...
"I'll maim, but no killing."
"It isn't even human! It's just a
filthy, smelly demon from another
dimension."
"Oh, well, that's different!"
If he's not one thing,
he's another. ---> Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
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