boyajian@akov68.DEC (04/25/85)
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!! ******************************************************************************** |=>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 | ******************************************************************************** CONQUEROR #5 [Harrier, b&w, $1.75] Story: D+ Art: D This has to be one of the most inconsistent comics around. One month it's boring, the next month OK, the next month almost offensive, and so on. This issue is probably one of the better issues to come along. Characterization has improved somewhat --- relationships between characters have become better defined. The plotting has improved --- there are some events that appear to be having some long-range effects. It actually has me interested to see what the next issue brings. Mind you, it's still not a great comic. The art is rather stiff and amateurish; the scripting somewhat frivolous and trite. But there's a certain undefinable *something* that keeps me coming back. KILLER #1 [Eclipse, one-shot, $1.75] Story: D Art: C Two of the three stories in this one-shot, both written and drawn by Truman, are reprinted from a gaming magazine, ARES. The third, drawn by Truman, but written by Gardner Fox, is something they've worked on over the last few years (actually, Truman worked on it all that time, Fox apparently wrote it fairly quickly). The Fox story is, I'm sad to say, just hack sword & sorcery. One of the Truman-scripted stories is also nothing pretty original, either in concept or execution. The third, and sf/horror story, is reasonably good; it reads like something out of EC's WEIRD SCIENCE. My only complaint about it is that the story isn't broken down very well and betrays an awkwardness in Truman's scripting talents. But of course, with Truman, it's the art that counts. This work is much like that in GRIMJACK, only a tad cruder. Still, it's better than a lot of ork you'll find in comics. And it's interesting to notice little visual gimmicks (like punkish make-up on characters) that Truman has carried on into his work for First Comics. THE NEW TEEN TITANS #10 [DC, $1.25] Story: D+ Art: C+ This is another one of those (for me) dreaded "tweener" issues, in which, after a big multi-issue battle, things quiet down and nothing of great consequence happens. Sometimes, this type of issue works out well, but I find that they're usually just a little too trivial. All kinds of stage-setting is done here for future plots or subplots: A Tamaranian ship is on its way to bring Koriand'r home, Gar gets some bad news about his father, and Joe and Kole find out that Kole's father is up to something nasty. I think what got me about this issue was the gratuitous sex thrown in. No, nothing graphic, but it just seemed like overkill. On one page, Dick and Kory are wrestling around (obviously in prelude to something else); two pages later, Terry is hopping into the shower with Donna; and two pages after *that* Kole is propositioning Joe. Any *one* of these things might have been OK, maybe even all of them if they were spaced apart a little better, but the way it turned out, it's just all seems rather silly and puerile. NEW TRIUMPH [NORTHGUARD] #2 [Matrix, b&w, $1.50] Story: C- Art: C- A bit of a comedown from the first issue, but not by much. The story here is somewhat suspenseful, but not quite as tight, and a little more con- fused and rambling, than the previous issue. And the art still shows promise, but at this point is still not quite fulfilled. There is a spark of creativity to the book, though, that makes it worth taking a look at. The unexpected treat for this issue, though, is the back feature. It's somewhat crudely drawn, though the style is interesting. It has touches of Ditko, and of Giffen's current style, but the artist here, Bernie Mireault, has just taken these touches and changed them into something of his own. And the story is somewhat of a panic, too. POWER PLAYS #1 [Americomics, b&w, $1.75] Story: C Art: C A couple of years ago, Mike Kelly wrote, drew, and published the original first issue of POWER PLAYS. Unfortunately, it didn't sell quite well enough for him to continue publishing it, which was a damn shame. Anyways, the book was picked up by Americomics, which is both good news and bad news. It's good news because it gives the comic another chance in the marketplace, and with better distribution. It's bad news, too, though, because I'm not sure how reliable or stable Americomics will be as a publisher. Anyways, this comic is mostly a reprint of that original first issue, with a new story of Barker the Beagleman taking up the back. On an absolute scale, the scripting and art cannot get very high marks. BUT!!! The art does have a nice flavor to it. Way back when, when I reviewed the original publication, I remarked that the art had the look of early Joe Staton, which is a plus, as far as I'm concerned. The time since has not changed that impression. And as a scripter, Kelly is no Moore, Wolfman, or Chaykin, but he is a competent writer, with both wit and charm. I can't say that the book is *different* from other superhero books, but there's a sort of refreshing, well, innocence to it. Above all, it's fun. Not funny fun, like BLUE DEVIL, but entertaining fun, like ZOT! I suspect that if you like ZOT!, you'll like this as well. And you'll be supporting an artist/writer who really deserves the support. As for those of you who already have the original first issue, buy this one anyway. First, there *are* eight pages of new material --- a delightful story of Barker that sheds some light on his background (though it still does not explain why he always wears that cowl). But, more importantly, Americomics needs to be shown that there is a market out here for the comic, so they won't drop it. RED TORNADO #1 [DC, mini-series, $.75] Story: D- Art: D+ I suppose that it's nice that *someone* cares for the Red Tornado. Kurt Busiek, going by the text piece in this issue, does a lot. Unfortunately, I don't. This isn't necessarily a detriment. I never cared for Machine Man or Gargoyle, but I found their mini-series to be exceedingly well done. But Busiek just isn't that good a writer. The characters are bland and the script is very awkward. As for the art, well, back in the 60's, Carmine Infantino was one of the top comic artists. His Adam Strange and Flash work from that period are still high points of the Silver Age. But after his sojourn as Publisher at DC during the early 70's, his work got slipshod, and I just don't find it very appealing any more. I just don't find anything of interest here. Unlike some other comics that may get similar grades for story and art, there's no spark here, nothing that makes me interested in keeping up with it. SECRET WARS II #1 [Marvel, maxi-series, $.75] Story: D- Art: D All right, this could easily turn into a turkey shoot, but I tried not to be influenced by the awfulness of the first series when I took a look at this one. I'll say right off-hand that it isn't as bad as the first series. No, it isn't that bad, but Lord, it isn't good (as Opus would say). First of all, I have trouble with the basic premise. The Beyonder wants to know what desire is. Well, if he *wants* to know, doesn't he have desire himself? Why go through all these shenanigans? Secondly, a good part of the book is taken up by the fight between our heroes and Thundersword. The whole thing comes off as rather silly. The art by Milgrom and Leialoha isn't bad, but it's too cluttered. HOWEVER! I should mention that if you follow THE NEW MUTANTS, you may want to pick this up. Not that a whole lot of importance happens here, but if you read TNM #29 and then #30 without having read this in between, you may be very con- fused about how they got from point A to point B. I don't know how integrated the other comics will be to SWII (SWII #1 isn't all that integral to the X-MEN cross-over, for instance), but you might want to be aware of this. Me? Well, I'll be picking up those issues of SWII that cross-over to the comics that I really care about (X-MEN, NEWTIES, POWER PACK, THOR, FF, and DR. STRANGE --- unfortunately, that covers probably at least 6 issues of SWII), but I find that I don't really care enough about the Beyonder's story to worry about the rest. VORTEX #11 [Vortex, b&w, $1.75] Story: D+ Art: C This issue has a few things going for it, mainly a beautiful cover by Jaime Hernandez. Jaime also writes and draws a story, "The He That Walks". It's got the usual good Jaime Hernandez art (though not as good as some of his other work), but the story just doesn't click with me. It's not *bad*, but I didn't find anything particularly *good* about it, either. The other two stories are *extremely* trite. At least the second of these had reasonably good art by Tom Nesbit. Oh, and there's an amusing if not terrific vignette, "Johnny Slaughter". I'll give this much to Vortex Comics and Editor Ty Templeton: they are certainly trying to provide a truly *alternative* comic (many of the indepen- dents aren't really alternative, merely copies, albeit generally better, of the type of material published by the Big Two). What's in VORTEX is the kind of material that you *won't* find in Marvel or DC comics. For that, they deserve some acclamation. But I can't say that I was that taken with the material here- in. But if you're looking for truly alternative comics, you might want to give this one a try. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (05/05/85)
A few more addenums to Jerry's Reviews: >THE NEW TEEN TITANS #10 [DC, $1.25] Story: D+ Art: C+ > > This is another one of those (for me) dreaded "tweener" issues, in >which, after a big multi-issue battle, things quiet down and nothing of great >consequence happens. Sometimes, this type of issue works out well, but I find >that they're usually just a little too trivial. Actually, the "tweener" (good term) issues are some of my favorites, though I think these books (as a whole) have gone downhill since Perez left (and I don't mean just art). I think this one was a LOT better than the "war of the gods" bit. > I think what got me about this issue was the gratuitous sex thrown in. >No, nothing graphic, but it just seemed like overkill. On one page, Dick and >Kory are wrestling around (obviously in prelude to something else); two pages >later, Terry is hopping into the shower with Donna; and two pages after *that* >Kole is propositioning Joe. Agreed, that *was* annoying; I wish they'd just stuck with Joe and Kole. Joe is getting to be an interesting character (I like having an "observer" character around), but the cartoonist in The Buyer's Guide is right, he DOES look like a Mutant Cabbage Patch Doll... >POWER PLAYS #1 [Americomics, b&w, $1.75] Story: C Art: C "Story: C"? Grrrrrr (Quick, Marlin, the tranquilizer Gun! He's on a pet peeve!). >It's >good news because it gives the comic another chance in the marketplace, and >with better distribution. It's bad news, too, though, because I'm not sure >how reliable or stable Americomics will be as a publisher. Agreed. It's rather like having Larry Flynt publishing new SPIRIT stories. >And as a scripter, Kelly is no Moore, Wolfman, or >Chaykin, but he is a competent writer, with both wit and charm. I can't say >that the book is *different* from other superhero books, but there's a sort of >refreshing, well, innocence to it. Above all, it's fun. Not funny fun, like >BLUE DEVIL, but entertaining fun, like ZOT! I suspect that if you like ZOT!, >you'll like this as well. And you'll be supporting an artist/writer who really >deserves the support. Agreed that the humor is somewhat ZOT-like. But, folks, while he may not be a Moore, he has a lot of the elements of a Chaykin (author-wise), and he is already to the point where I find him on a par with Wolfman. Actually, it's an issue of apples & oranges & Romulan cloaking devices; the writing here is *different* and *good*, either one enough to COAX YOU LITTLE BUGGERS OUT OF YOUR CHAIRS TO BUY IT! I WANT TO READ THE COMPLETE 16 BOOK SERIES, AND *YOUR* GOING TO HELP ME, BY EACH BUYING A COPY! OR ELSE! (pant, pant). Sorry, I have these seizures when it comes to POWER PLAYS... Nurse, the pills, please... no, the red ones... >VORTEX #11 [Vortex, b&w, $1.75] Story: D+ Art: C > > This issue has a few things going for it, mainly a beautiful cover by >Jaime Hernandez. Jaime also writes and draws a story, "The He That Walks". It's >got the usual good Jaime Hernandez art (though not as good as some of his other >work), but the story just doesn't click with me. It's not *bad*, but I didn't >find anything particularly *good* about it, either. I DID enjoy the story, though; a combination satire and tribute to Japanese animated characters, methinks. Speaking of alternative comics, what happened to RAW, anyway? I don't even see THE COMICS JOURNAL review it anymore, and they have a clause in their contract stating that they must laud at least one incomprehensible comic a month (and it can't be G.I. JOE). More later on these CBS stations... "Well, we've come full circle, Lord; I'd like to think there's some higher meaning to all this. It would certainly reflect well on you." Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. UUCP: {cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \ {allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (05/05/85)
A few more addenums to Jerry's Reviews: >THE NEW TEEN TITANS #10 [DC, $1.25] Story: D+ Art: C+ > > This is another one of those (for me) dreaded "tweener" issues, in >which, after a big multi-issue battle, things quiet down and nothing of great >consequence happens. Sometimes, this type of issue works out well, but I find >that they're usually just a little too trivial. Actually, the "tweener" (good term) issues are some of my favorites, though I think these books (as a whole) have gone downhill since Perez left (and I don't mean just art). I think this one was a LOT better than the "war of the gods" bit. > I think what got me about this issue was the gratuitous sex thrown in. >No, nothing graphic, but it just seemed like overkill. On one page, Dick and >Kory are wrestling around (obviously in prelude to something else); two pages >later, Terry is hopping into the shower with Donna; and two pages after *that* >Kole is propositioning Joe. Agreed, that *was* annoying; I wish they'd just stuck with Joe and Kole. Joe is getting to be an interesting character (I like having an "observer" character around), but the cartoonist in The Buyer's Guide is right, he DOES look like a Mutant Cabbage Patch Doll... >POWER PLAYS #1 [Americomics, b&w, $1.75] Story: C Art: C "Story: C"? Grrrrrr (Quick, Marlin, the tranquilizer Gun! He's on a pet peeve!). >It's >good news because it gives the comic another chance in the marketplace, and >with better distribution. It's bad news, too, though, because I'm not sure >how reliable or stable Americomics will be as a publisher. Agreed. It's rather like having Larry Flynt publishing new SPIRIT stories. >And as a scripter, Kelly is no Moore, Wolfman, or >Chaykin, but he is a competent writer, with both wit and charm. I can't say >that the book is *different* from other superhero books, but there's a sort of >refreshing, well, innocence to it. Above all, it's fun. Not funny fun, like >BLUE DEVIL, but entertaining fun, like ZOT! I suspect that if you like ZOT!, >you'll like this as well. And you'll be supporting an artist/writer who really >deserves the support. Agreed that the humor is somewhat ZOT-like. But, folks, while he may not be a Moore, he has a lot of the elements of a Chaykin (author-wise), and he is already to the point where I find him on a par with Wolfman. Actually, it's an issue of apples & oranges & Romulan cloaking devices; the writing here is *different* and *good*, either one enough to COAX YOU LITTLE BUGGERS OUT OF YOUR CHAIRS TO BUY IT! I WANT TO READ THE COMPLETE 16 BOOK SERIES, AND *YOU'RE* GOING TO HELP ME, BY EACH BUYING A COPY! OR ELSE! (pant, pant). Sorry, I have these seizures when it comes to POWER PLAYS... Nurse, the pills, please... no, the red ones... >VORTEX #11 [Vortex, b&w, $1.75] Story: D+ Art: C > > This issue has a few things going for it, mainly a beautiful cover by >Jaime Hernandez. Jaime also writes and draws a story, "The He That Walks". It's >got the usual good Jaime Hernandez art (though not as good as some of his other >work), but the story just doesn't click with me. It's not *bad*, but I didn't >find anything particularly *good* about it, either. I DID enjoy the story, though; a combination satire and tribute to Japanese animated characters, methinks. Speaking of alternative comics, what happened to RAW, anyway? I don't even see THE COMICS JOURNAL review it anymore, and they have a clause in their contract stating that they must laud at least one incomprehensible comic a month (and it can't be G.I. JOE). More later on these CBS stations... "Well, we've come full circle, Lord; I'd like to think there's some higher meaning to all this. It would certainly reflect well on you." Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. UUCP: {cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \ {allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA