boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (01/21/85)
Mea culpa! Here are some I forgot. 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 Napolean of Crime. Nyah-ah-ah!! ******************************************************************************** |=>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 #39: "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 | ******************************************************************************** SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS (MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #14) [D+] Silly, unoriginal, unimaginative, predictable, and rather dull. But it's pretty. Not quite a Ukrainian Easter Egg (the artwork's not *that* good, not is the scripting *that* bad), but I don't know why anyone bothered. On the other hand, I didn't feel that I wasted my time. CAPTAIN BRITAIN #1 [C-] For a while now, two Marvel-UK titles have been generally available in the US, STARBURST and DR. WHO. Both of those are feature magazines, though the latter does contain a Dr. Who comic feature. CAPTAIN BRITAIN, though, is the first full-fledged comic from Marvel-UK to be distributed in the US. Like most British comics, it's an anthology title. The bulk of the Captain Britain is a re-cap of the Captain's adventures up until now, most likely done more so that the American audience will be filled in to what's gone on before than to remind the British audience of CB's career. It's a rather cursory glimpse of the character's career, especially of the Alan Moore reign, but it serves. The only other new strip is "The Freefall Warriors", which was pre- viewed in an earlier issue of DR. WHO. The jury's still out on this one. The other two strips are reprints, but are of strips that have appeared only in Britain, so they are still new to the American audience. The first is "Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer" a Dr. Who spin-off by Steves Moore and Dillon, the team who also bring you the Pressbutton strip from WARRIOR and Eclipse (this strip originally appeared, of course, in DR. WHO). The other reprint strip is "Night-Raven" by Steve Parkhouse and David ("V for Vendetta") Lloyd, which has appeared here and there in the Marvel-UK line. The story isn't terribly exciting, but the art's good. And later episodes were penned by Alan Moore, so one has something to look forward to. All in all, a rather nice package. Oh, one caveat: like most British comics material, this is in black and white. CAPTAIN AMERICA #305 [D+] Captain America fights Captain Britain, or does he? The story is a bit dull, on top of which, there are a few continuity problems (though only ones which would be obvious to someone who was familiar with the career of Captain Britain). First of all, Cap A seems to have forgotten his previous team-up with Cap B way back when during the first run of CAPTAIN BRITAIN. Secondly (and this is a gaff shared with last month's ROM), Cap A remembers fighting alongside Cap B during the final battle with the Wraiths, but that Cap B had his old costume then. I find it hard to believe that the entire run of Cap B stories from when he guest-starred in the Black Knight's strip in the British HULK comic through the Alan Moore scripted feature in DARE- DEVILS (UK) and MARVEL SUPERHEROES MONTHLY (see the re-cap story in CAPTAIN BRITAIN #1) took place in that short an amount of time. HEARTBREAK COMICS #1 [C] Well, it's finally out! David Boswell, who brought us the adventures of Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman has a new comic out. This one concerns the sexual escapades of Laszlo, "the Great Slavic Lover". Unfortun- ately (for Laszlo), one of his lovers is Lena Fleming, wife of the aforemen- tioned demented dairyman. Reid suspects that his wife has been fooling around, and hires a detective to find out with whom. Of course, Fleming finds out who, and confronts Laszlo in a knock-down, drag-out fight. The art is a little crude, but the story is so hilarious, that you hardly notice the art at all. If you liked REID FLEMING, you'll like this. And there's an ad on the back cover for REID FLEMING #2. I hope it isn't too long before *that* one's out. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (06/26/85)
Reviewed this time around: THE ALADDIN EFFECT (MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #16) ALIEN ENCOUNTERS #1 MECHANICS #1 THE ORIGINAL E-MAN AND MICHAEL MAUSER #1 TIME BEAVERS (FIRST GRAPHIC NOVEL #2) 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 | ******************************************************************************** THE ALADDIN EFFECT (MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #16) [Marvel, $5.95] C- Simple plot: A.I.M. has shut off a small Wyoming town from the rest of the country because they've discovered some power source there that they have not yet pinpointed. The town has been shut off for two months now, and society is in the process of breaking down. It turns out that the power source that A.I.M. is looking for is an 8-year-old girl named Holly, daughter of the sher- riff. Apparently, she is a mutant [yes, another one!] and her powers are now manifesting themselves. One night she wishes with all her might that her heroes were there to help. Next day, we find that her wish worked, as Storm (before she went punk), Wasp, Tigra, and She-Hulk (before she left the Avengers) all appear in town with impaired memories (quickly restored) of who they are or how they got there. Naturally, despite all odds, the good guys win. Seems just like a fairly average comic story, but somehow, David Michelinie takes this plot (by Jim Shooter) and makes a fairly readable story out of it. Not that it'll win any awards, but I found it to be much better than I expected, and I got caught up in what was happening. The character of Holly-Ann was interesting, and I hope we see more of her in the future. If there was any problem on the creative end, it was mostly in the rather pedestrian art by Greg LaRocque and Vince Colletta. The *real* problem, though, is in the format and price. This could easily have been done as a special on Mando or newsprint for $1.25. As a graphic novel for $5.95, it just isn't worth it. So, as much as I enjoyed reading it, I can't really recommend it. ALIEN ENCOUNTERS #1 [Eclipse, $1.75] D+ This is basicly ALIEN WORLDS sans Bruce Jones. Since Jones (and his wife, April Campbell) owned ALIEN WORLDS and TWISTED TALES, Eclipse had to come up with something else when Jones and Campbell decided to leave the comics field for the cinematic field (mostly to work on the planned Somerset holmes film). So, the still forthcoming TALES OF TERROR and this book are the replacements. Generally, in an anthology book like this, the greatest dependence is on the stories. And here we have a mixed bag. The first story, by Eric Dinehart, is virtually incomprehensible. The last story, by Marc Hempel, is perfectly comprehensible, by extremely trite; it's something you'd expect to see on THE TWILIGHT ZONE. The third story, by Buzz Dixon, is amusing, but no more than that. It's about how heartless, money-is-everything movie moguls destroy everything that they touch. It's a story we've heard time and time again, and *it's* got a TZ-ish ending, too. The only saving grace, storywise, is the second one, by Ken Macklin and Toren Smith --- it's light, silly fun that somehow manages to seem fresh despite itself. Artwise, we fair a little better. Mike Gustovich, Ken Macklin, and Marc Hempel all turn in good, solid work, though none of it really stands out. Mike Hoffman (illustrating the Dixon story) is technically OK, but it doesn't do much for me. MECHANICS #1 [Fantagraphics, mini-series, $2.00] A- All right --- you guys that have been ignoring LOVE AND ROCKETS just because it's in black-&-white or it's magazine-size have no excuses any more. MECHANICS is a three-issue mini-series that reprints, for the first time in color, the "Mechanics" serial from the first couple of issues of LOVE AND ROCKETS. For the faithful few who are already familiar with the magazine, you now have a chance to see the story in color, as well as the two new stories (well, one's continued next issue) about Penny Century and Hopey. I won't mince words. Jaime Hernandez's "Mechanics" has some of the most fascinating characters in comics (Maggie, Hopey, and Penny, among others), as well as artwork that is beautiful in its simplicity. THE ORIGINAL E-MAN AND MICHAEL MAUSER #1 [First, mini-series, $1.75] B- This is classic material from the early 70's. For those of you who enjoy First's E-MAN comic, you ain't seen nothing yet. For those of you who don't like First's E-MAN, give this a try --- it's much better than the First series. For those of you who were faithful fans 12 years ago, here's your chance to have all the original E-Man stories on Baxter paper, along with the Mauser stories that ran in Charlton's VENGEANCE SQUAD, as well as an E-Man story that only appeared in a "house" fanzine, CHARLTON BULLSEYE, and one that has never before appeared. Of course, all this isn't in the first issue, but be patient. Here, we have the stories from the first two issues of the Charlton E-MAN, and I'm happy to say that they hold up well (but better stories are to come). This is definitely worth picking up. TIME BEAVERS (FIRST GRAPHIC NOVEL #2) [First, $5.95] D+ The Time Beavers are of a race whose mission is to protect the Great Dam from attack by the Rats. The Great Dam regulates the "Dimensional Time Streams", and the Rats want to break through to wreak havoc on all Time. In this story, a party of Rats manages to steal some Objects of Particular Power from the Great Dam and try to use them to change the course of Earth's History so that it may fall under their control. The Time Beavers, of course, manage to keep that from happening. If you're a fan of Timothy Truman's art, this is worth getting --- he does some terrific work here. Unfortunately, as regards the story, it's so *ordinary*, it hurts! Amusing at times, to be sure, but most of the time, it felt like I was turning the pages not so much to find out what happens next, but just to get closer to the end of the story. Unless the art really strikes your fancy, don't bother with this one. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA soon to be: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.COM