boyajian@akov68.DEC (05/10/85)
> STAR TREK #17 [B]: > > Now, this is what this book should always have been: dwelling on the > intracacies of Trek folklore, examining the minor characters to a > greater degree; a Kirk not worn down with grief; a non-galactic menace > (though a bit of world-exploring would be pleasant, instead of > military/police jobs). And the touches that make me sure that Barr IS > the writer for Trek abound: Ah, Jeff, I hate to break this to you, but if you'll look at that issue again, you'll notice that Barr didn't write it, L. B. Kellogg did. Personally, just as I was really getting into Barr's writing on TREK during the whole Crisis on Earth-Mirror story, I felt that this issue was a hard come down. Little things annoyed the hell out f me. Why does Bryce refer to Uhura as her Commanding Officer? Uhura isn't in command. Why is the *fourth* planet of a star system called Cetus *5*? Trivial matters, to be sure, but still annoying. In addition, I found the whole plot rather hackneyed and predictable. And the transporters --- there didn't seem to be any reason to have them installed in the smuggler ship other than as a plot device to get the characters out of there. I could go on and on about all the things I didn't like about this issue, mostly as deficiencies in Kellogg's writing. > CRISIS #5 [B]: Really excellent. I particularly like the "calming > influence" bit used by the Monitor -- it shows just how on-the-ball > Wolfman and Perez are. They notice the little things, and account for > them. Oh, glad to see the villain isn't Darkseid (Must have been his > week to work behind the counter :-) ). Anti-Monitor? Gee, and I found this issue a bit weaker than usual. Seemed like another tweener issue, just as we're getting down to the nitty-gritty. On one hand, I agree with you that it's nice that the villain isn't Darkseid, but on the other hand, I'm disappointed that it isn't. One of the things that always bothered me about Kirby's New Gods stuff was that the Anti-Life Equation, which was an impressive sounding weapon, was nothing more than a mere mind-control gimmick. When reading the previous CRISIS issues, it seemed to me that this anti-matter wave thingie was just what the Anti-Life Equation *should* have been about --- the total annihilation of everything. And this whole business seems just like that kind of nastiness that Darkseid would thrive on. What *have* Darkseid and High-Father been up to while this was going on, anyway? > FF #281 [D]: Pretty boring stuff, except I'll be curious to find out > if the Hate Monger is still Adolph Hitler or not... ...and you'll never find out, since you're not reading SECRET WARS II. I thought that this was really tacky, ending a major storyline from this book in SWII. They're not missing a trick, are they? At any rate, don't worry any more, good ol' Mongy isn't the little paperhanger this time. > THOR #358 [C+]: A bit too much quick repentance, if you ask me. Still > good stuff, though. It was worth buying just for the line: "We may be be thieves, robbers, and criminals, but By God! we're AMERICAN thieves, robbers, and criminals!!!" > POWER PACK #13 [D] A "D"?? A "D"!!! I know, you're just getting me back for giving POWER PLAYS A "C", aren't you? OK, it wasn't one of the better issues, and I don't give two spits in the bucket for baseball, but I found the resolution heart- ening. I'll try to explain, but first I have to issue a SPOILER WARNING!! SPOILER WARNING!! SPOILER WARNING!! SPOILER WARNING!! OK, first they have to interfere with whatisname's hit so that the bad guy doesn't set off the dynamite. And of course, they feel bad about it. Fine. Now, after everything goes back to normal, they decide that they have to interfere *again* to balance the scales again. Arrrgghh!! says I. No! No! That's wrong! It was wrong the first time, but it was necessary to save lives. That's the biz sweetheart. This time, there's no excuse for it. It's cheating pure and simple. But they go ahead and do it anyway. BUT, after it's over and done with, they ponder about whether what they did was right or not. OK, so Alex decides that in this case it wasn't wrong, and I agree with that, BUT AT LEAST THE MORAL/ETHICAL QUANDRY WAS BROUGHT UP. At least they *considered* the point that they might have done wrong. I was *very* pleased with that. I think Weezie is doing a fine job with this book, writing it in such a way that it appels to young people while at the same time entertains adults. END OF SPOILER! END OF SPOILER! END OF SPOILER! END OF SPOILER! END OF SPOILER! While I'm thinking of POWER *PLAYS*, perhaps I should explain my grade. You shouldn't really complain, you know, Jeff. You came up with the grading system in the first place, and at one point, you commented that you thought I was inflating the grades a little. Anyways, I thought the "C" description fit POWER PLAYS to a T --- "A well done, entertaining issue. Satisfying." As you could see from my review, I like it a lot. It's better than the majority of the comics put out by Marvel & DC, and most of the other independents, but I hardly think it's the creme, let alone the creme de la creme. Raw milk is more like it --- not quite refined, but a hell of a lot richer than the homogenized variety. Even so, I'll second your comment that everyone should go out and buy it, so that I, too, can read all 16 issues! Really folks, at least give it a *try*. Kelly gets a "C" for story and art, but an "A" for effort. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
guy@sun.uucp (Guy Harris) (05/11/85)
> > FF #281 [D]: Pretty boring stuff, except I'll be curious to find out > > if the Hate Monger is still Adolph Hitler or not... > > ...and you'll never find out, since you're not reading SECRET WARS II. > I thought that this was really tacky, ending a major storyline from this > book in SWII. They're not missing a trick, are they? At any rate, don't > worry any more, good ol' Mongy isn't the little paperhanger this time. Anybody taking bets on whether the HM is working for Psycho-Man? (The fact that I'll presumably have to buy SWII to find out who he is and who he's working for makes me care even less...) Guy Harris
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (05/15/85)
In article <2103@decwrl.UUCP> boyajian@akov68.DEC writes: >> STAR TREK #17 [B]: >> > Ah, Jeff, I hate to break this to you, but if you'll look at that >issue again, you'll notice that Barr didn't write it, L. B. Kellogg did. mrwrdtt ppdtrnmq frwfrw (excuse me, my foot seems to be squarely inserted in my mouth). Actually, I still like this issue, though the Uhura love sequence was pretty poorly done. The details you mention seem more trivial to me, but I could see how they could prove annoying. For me, the little touches, like Kirk and Bone's fake interogation, and Kirk giving his "justice for all" speech on the slaver planet; that got me. I guess what I enjoy is a story that can take me back, and make me feel like I'm watching a TV episode again. And that's what I found this one to do. >What *have* Darkseid and High-Father been up to while this was >going on, anyway? Aren't they going to answer this in a future issue? I have to admit, a classic 70's Kirby Darkseid would be great, but it looks like no one at DC is willing and/or able to come up with one. I'm getting tired of seeing him carted out when DC needs a Dr. Doom clone for the general public (which is why I love these Ambush Bug closings so much!). >> POWER PACK #13 [D] > > A "D"?? A "D"!!! I know, you're just getting me back for giving POWER >PLAYS A "C", aren't you? What, me, revenge? Savage, pulse-pounding revenge? Revenge, something to keep me going during all those dark days of defeaaaat [Excuse us, Moriarty was reading Stan Lee's biography again.] >While I'm thinking of POWER *PLAYS*, perhaps I should explain my grade. You >shouldn't really complain, you know, Jeff. You came up with the grading system >in the first place, and at one point, you commented that you thought I was >inflating the grades a little. Anyways, I thought the "C" description fit >POWER PLAYS to a T --- "A well done, entertaining issue. Satisfying." As you >could see from my review, I like it a lot. It's better than the majority of >the comics put out by Marvel & DC, and most of the other independents, but I >hardly think it's the creme, let alone the creme de la creme. Raw milk is >more like it --- not quite refined, but a hell of a lot richer than the >homogenized variety. Quite right. Saying "You should have given that a higher/lower grade" is silly; I should have stated that "I disagree with your 'C' grade of Power Plays". I'll get it straight someday (just the facts, Ma'am). But I still give Power Pack #13 a D. I expected Louise Simonsin to have the kids consider that their actions have repurcussions; I've seen Claremont do it in the New Muties. I just had a problem with the pace of this issue; I enjoy the stories which have the standard super-hero scenario slightly twisted to the kids' point of view. I was somewhat bored with it. Oh, well, on to other things... "For I perceive that behind this seemingly unrelated sequence of events, there lurks a singular, sinister attitude of mind." "Whose?" "MINE! HA-HA!" 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