frankr@inmet.UUCP (01/16/84)
#N:inmet:18200002:000:1857
inmet!frankr Jan 14 17:03:00 1984
I just finished issue #8 of American Flagg. This is great stuff. I am
really enjoying this book. I would be the first to admit it is not for
everyone. A disturbing amount of violence and sex is a integral part of the
series. But I am not sure why more people are distrubed by these stories more
than by most of the other alternatives (Judge Dread, Dreadstar, Nexus, etc.).
I admit that the first couple of issues seemed to be your basic adolescent
male fantasy riff. Lately, however, there has been progress. Flagg is
showing some signs of honest-to-god charactrer development. I'll grant you
that most/all the rest of the characters are cliches, but at least there is
variety.
I think the thing that holds it all together for me is the consistency of
Mr. Chaykin's vision. The world of American Flagg is not my world but it is
disquietingly close. The amount of disbelief I have to suspend is very small.
The richness of his portrayl of his world, with it's poverty, politics and
prejudice, is the special ingrediant that makes these stories work.
Chaykin's American Flagg strikes me as a kaleidoscopic meld of Richard
Corben, George Lucas, and Samuel Delany. The plethora of sex and violence
has the same larger than life, fantasy-like quality that Corben's work has
always had. The pacingin of each issue, the mad dash to cram as much as possi-
ble into 28 pages seems right out of Star Wars. I like it, but it sure makes
things hectic. And while I can't quite put it into words, there is something
about Chaykin's artistic/story-telling style that reminds me of Delany. It
has for years.
I have some complaints about American Flagg. But they aren't major ( I do
wish Flagg would meet at least one woman who wouldn't immediately begin to
pant). American Flagg gets three out of four stars.
Franklin Reynolds
{ima, esquire, decvax}!inmet!frankrboyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (07/19/85)
> From: ihuxw!blumberg (Marc Blumberg) > My feelings about the future of Flagg! are mixed. The book is of course > one of the best, but it certainly hasn't lived up to the story/art of > say, the first twelve issues. I'd agree for the most part, though I think the current storyline, "England Swings" is up to the level of the early issues. > Perhaps a change of artist is what it > needs. Willingham is certainly a good choice, other choices proving > to be shall we say, less than adequate (issues 13,14). It would be > nice to see Alan Moore step in to write a lead story sometime. Funny you should mention that. When the "England Swings" storyline concludes, the next issue will be a full-length wrap-up of the "Kansas" business going on in the current back-feature strip. I believe that it's being handled by the Moore/Lomax team. While I'd prefer that Chaykin stay on as artist, I'd be willing to accept another artist in his place so that he could go on with something else. Willingham wouldn't be my first choice, I consider him an acceptable substitute. Who would I pick, given my druthers? Well, I'd say (flames to dev/null) that FLAGG! might be a good place for Sienkiewicz's outre' style. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA