moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (06/02/85)
Titles being reviewed:
MOONSHADOW LONGSHOT FIRESTORM
and snapshots (quick reviews) of many others...
------------------------------------------------
"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 |
****************************************************************************
MOONSHADOW #3 [C-]:
The problem I have with this book is that, while the ingredients are
excellent, the mixing tends to be ineffectual. The stark introspective
elements and the comedy elements are each very good: Moon's observations
of the asylum, Ira's break-in, the theft, and Ira's betrayal of Moon; each of
these are very nicely scripted. But the sudden gear-stripping shifts from
comedy to drama and back again are too sudden and violent to allow a sense
of plot progression or continuity. Still, this strikes me as a good comic, and
worth it's price just for being such an alternative to other comics.
--------
LONGSHOT #1 [D+]:
Great art, but a story which neither catches and holds my attention, and a
plot which needs to slow out of warp-speed soon. Another
guy-from-outer-space-being-hunted, with amnesia to boot. Meets lots of
interesting characters (all rather surreal), talks with an interesting turn of
speech, but these are all touches, and do not a good story make. For that
matter, Ann Nocenti has been working for Marvel for about two years, and I
have yet to see her write anything which shows she can do anything but a
Standard Marvel story (grade D).
--------
FIRESTORM #39 [C-]:
Ever since Gerry Conway got back to scripting this book, I've been reading it,
and while I can't say I'm ecstatic with it -- it normally has slow spots, and
the standard sock-em-up, it has no great plotlines, and the art is, at best,
competent+ -- but it has characters which, while not always the best
scripted, are some of the most well-defined in comics today. Ronnie and the
professor's friendship is a pleasure to watch; they're two people who haven't
had a lot of luck in life, but have had to pull themselves up by their
bootstraps, and have found that they can depend upon one another, both in
their combined persona of Firestorm, and in their everyday existence. These
are characters who have visibly grown over the span of this comic, and that
is a rare commodity in this medium; I'm willing to ignore its many
imperfections for this one bit 'o gold.
--------
SNAPSHOTS:
-------
NEXUS #12 [B-]: More on Nexus's past (and his quests of vengeance);
Sundra's early career; and we find out that Boris and Natasha survived the
cancellation of ROCKY & BULLWINKLE... ("Look, Darlink! Moose und Squirrel
wearing Nexus goggles!"). Also Cherchenko...
ZOT! #8 [B]: I can't imagine ever giving this comic a lower grade than this
(hope I never have cause to). The Attack Of The Blue Monkey had me in
stitches ("As for the rest o' these *commie wimps* -- PULVERIZE 'EM!!"). I
am now absolutely positive that the best villain of the last few years has got
to be 9-Jack-9. Oh, well, you know all this since you're reading it...
CEREBUS JAM #1 [B]: Well, it's worth the cost JUST to find out who The
Octopus actually is!!! (But I always thought he was DOLAN!). Actually, of the
stories, I enjoyed the Murphy Anderson and Scott & Bo Hampton stories the
most. Definitely a very good premiere.
CEREBUS #73 [C]
BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #24 [D+]: Well, I'm back to reading this, bugs and
all. Barr does seem to be running dry lately, but it is a good no-brainer (as
opposed to boring no-brainers). And what do you know, this issue shows
that Batman was right all along: criminals ARE a superstitious lot (at least
around bats).
CROSSFIRE #11 [C-]: Crossfire in an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode,
basically. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a Hitchcock fan...
THE MASKED MAN [C]
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #6 [D+]: Reminded me of one of those
in-between issues of a JLA/JSA team-up. Didn't find the other earths to be
all that interesting; however, looks like the villains are up to something,
perhaps independently of The Monitor. Heck, everybody's due a low issue
somewhere along the line...
NEIL THE HORSE #11 [D]: ... like Arn Saba, except he seems to have one every
three issues. If I can predict it, maybe I can save myself some money.
THE GARGOYLE #4 [C-]: I'm giving this a higher grade than Jerry for two
reasons: 1) I think this reads better when you read the series front to back,
and 2) I find that it has a much more impact when you toss out the
knowledge that this occurs in the Marvel Multiverse, or that you've seen this
character around before. I suspect that someone who has not read many
comics would appreciate this a great deal more. I'm not sure if these are
good reasons for inflating a grade, but there you are.
THE RAWHIDE KID #2 [D]: This would be a lot more fun if there was an
actual plot tying this series together, instead of the kid running into people
all through his travels. Tends to seem like a large Western cocktail party full
of living legends...
GRIMJACK #14 [C]
DNAgents #21 [D]: If this book doesn't improve soon, I'm writing it off. It
still has the occasional flash of humor (Harden's discussions with the
henchmen), but I've lost interest in the main characters, and thus the book
tends to be pretty stale to me. Definitely On Probation...
POWER PACK #14 [C]: Again, kudos to Simonsin for emphasizing the dangers
of being a super-hero in an extremely realistic way, and doing such a
realistic job of re-creating the fears and frustrations we have at that age. I
thought Lightspeed's trauma at being suspected of cheating very realistic,
indeed; and to her, it is almost on the par of having her sister kidnapped by
"The Bogey Man". But, having an unusually clear view of priorities, she
comes through in the pinch.
NEW TEEN TITANS #11 [D-]: Taking a rather universal fear (especially with
the younger set) and spinning it through t the old "Mad Scientist who has
Best Interests of Mankind in mind but Does Wrong" with a touch of SWAMP
THING-like art (a touch, mind you). Nothing here that hasn't been done to
death elsewhere.
JOURNEY #20 [C]
MAGE #7 [C]: A bit slow in the plot area, but with this art, who cares?
BADGER #7 [C]: Guess this isn't a humor magazine. What he [Jerry] said.
ALIEN LEGION #8 [C-]: The only reason this doesn't get a 'C' is the art is
much cruder than usual. Still, solid space opera entertainment, and not
boring; I'm curious why Don Thompson of the Comics Buyer's Guide dislikes
it so much.
VIGILANTE #21 [F]: Excuse me, just thought I'd check in and see if
anything's changed... no... nope... unh-uh... well, we can ignore this one for
another 9 months.
SHEENA 3-D #1: [F]: Hey, you mean Dave Stevens isn't INSIDE this?!
Whoops, what a waste.... Lousy 3-D, too, at least compared to the recent AV
3-D.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #3 [F]: This was barely cute the first
time. Now, it's just boring. No redeeming value whatsoever.
My last issue for sure.
LOVE & ROCKETS #12 [B]: I am really getting to enjoy Heartbreak Soup
stories by Gilbert; each is a piece of character craftsmanship. Just amazing.
Oh, no Locus story this issue, just Rocky & Fumble, which was good but not
fantastic (neat ending sequence, tho').
DALGODA #5 [C+]: While this issue does have flaws (the murder of the other
Canidan is discovered much too quickly, and is too obvious; also, the plot
tends to jump to events without filling in the whys and hows very well (the
World Security conspiracy)), it's art, story, and characters kept me engrossed
through the entire story. I'll be amazed to see how they close up the current
storyline by next issue, but I'll be waiting. Also, anyone notice Maggie doing
stretcher duty?
ALBEDO #3 [C-]: Erma Felina's plot slows somewhat, but the samurai rabbit
improves somewhat. I met Felina's author, Steve Gallacci, at the place I pick
up my comics (they tend to greet me with a lot of enthusiasm there; it's nice
to be *somebody's* benefactor ("Here comes Moriarty! We won't have to
send our babies back to the sea!")), and I have to agree with Don Thompson's
assessment; he seems seems to be one of those high-strung, zoned-out
people who treats any criticism as a personal attack (this was before
Thompson's response had been published). Ah, well, not everyone can be as
gracious as moi (WIPE that smile OFF your face!).
"...I shall RIP their limbs off, ONE BY
ONE, and grind them to PASTE beneath my
heel!"
"Y'know, I like his
attitude!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
{cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsri}!uw-beaver \
{allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA