boyajian@akov68.DEC (04/30/85)
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 | ******************************************************************************** DC COMICS PRESENTS #84 [DC, $.75] Story: D- Art: C- A rather strange issue, due to the personnel involved. The guest stars (along with the usual Superman) are the Challengers of the Unkown. Rozakis's story is rather silly (though how Superman vanquishes the villain is a bit creative), but it's the art that counts here. The principal penciller is none other than Jack Kirby, who, unbeknowst to a good many comics fan, is the one who created the Challs back in 1957 or thenabouts. A brief flashback story within the main story is pencilled by Alex Toth. I really liked the work of both artists here, but the overall look of the art is damaged by inker Greg Theakston, who lays it on a bit too thick to properly complement either artist. EPIC ILLUSTRATED #30 (June) [Marvel, $2.50] Grades given for each story "The Last Galactus Story" is still going nowhere at a snail's pace. And the art is not Byrne/Austin at their best. Story: D Art: C- "Selling Insurance" and "The Girl Next Door" are amusing, albeit in- consequential, stories about Cerebus the Aardvark when he was a lad. No dif- ferent than the previous couple of Cerebus stories that have appeared here. Unless you're a diehard Cerebus collector, these aren't worth going out of the way for. The art's real nice though, especially the color. Story: C- Art: B- "Infinity" is a portfolio of artwork done by a few artists of some renown for a friend's record. Among the artists involved are Jim Starlin, Berni Wrightson, Dan Green, and others. Only two really stand out as pieces of fine artwork, though. One is by Jon J Muth (artist on MOONSHADOW), and, my favorite, a gorgeous piece by Jeff Jones (I want it for my wall!) of a girl and a butterfly. "Unicorn Autumn" is really a short story with illustrations. Archie Goodwin wrote the story, and it's a nice enough story, though hardly anything to rave about. Alix Berenzy, though, delivered some fine illustrations. From what was said about her, she does illustrations for children's books. I'm going to have to investigate further. Story: D+ Art: C+ "The Sign" alone makes the issue worth buying. It's a samurai tale of (what else?) vengeance and honor by Jo Duffy. As such, it's rather undis- tinguished. It's the art that's the mind-blower. Kent Williams used watercolor with strokes that make this look like an old Japanese screen painting. It's absolutely astounding in its simplicity and elegance. And fan of fine art would do well to take a gander at this. Any student of art could learn a lot from it. It's not an easy technique. I know; my mother has studied it. Story: C- Art: A- The other stories really aren't worth mentioning. THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 [Marvel, mini-series, $2.00] Story: B Art: B This is the first issue of a five-issue reprint of the Thanos story that ran through CAPTAIN MARVEL and assorted other comics. This is meant to be a companion series to both the WARLOCK reprint (which featured, among other things, *his* struggle with Thanos) and the DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL graphic novel. It's in this run of stories that Thanos, Eros (Starfox), Mentor, the rest of the Titanian Eternals, Titan itself, Drax the Destroyer, and last but not least, Moondragon appeared for the first time. This, along with Starlin's Warlock stuff, is among the best comics material to come out of the 70's. The grade I gave up above is, to be honest, for the whole series. This parti- cular issue should be a little lower in grade, but only because Starlin (and scripter Mike Friedrich) weren't really at their peak yet. But this certainly is key material from the 70's. THE RAVEN BANNER (GRAPHIC NOVEL #15) [Marvel, $5.95] Story: C- Art: C- I wish I liked this more; it's got a lot going for it. It's a tale that reads as if it came out of Norse mythology (I've been out of touch with Norse mythology for too long that I'm not sure if it *is* an actual tale) about one Greyval Grimson, who betrays that trust of his father and of Asgard by letting the Raven Banner, a standard which brings luck in battle to the side that bears it. In order to regain face and honor, Greyval journeys to Hel, the land of the Norns, and eventually to the troll lands in order to retrieve the flag before Asgard falls to the Giants. He's accompanied part of the way by Baldur and Oddbrand Otter, an (what else?) otter god. Unfortunately, this last serves no real purpose in the story except as a Falstaffian figure, in which part he fails miserably. Or perhaps he's there to present a cute animal for the kids to enjoy. Alan Zelenetz's story is nicely conceived and scripted, but is horribly paced, which may well be the fault of artist Charles Vess. There are times when the action *really* drags. His Asgard is the same Asgard of the Marvel THOR comics. The blond Thor himself makes a cameo, as do the Warriors Three. Baldur is, though, unrecognizable as the same character that's appeared in THOR. Vess's art is nice, perhaps too nice. Everyone looks, well, pretty, for lack of a better word. Baldur and Greyval look almost like clones. The art is also very stiff, and there's no sense of movement, almost as if the story is made up of single illustrations pasted up together, rather than as a single, flowing graphic narrative. The colors are nice in spots, but for the most part seem too washed out. It was a nice try, though. THE RAWHIDE KID #1 [Marvel, mini-series, $.75] Story: C- Art: C- I'm generally not one for western comics; they've never really grabbed my interest (with some exceptions). As such, THE RAWHIDE KID wasn't a comic I followed back in the good old days of the early Marvel. These days, it's even tougher for a western comic to impress me, since Doug Wildey's "Rio", in the now defunct ECLIPSE MONTHLY, set standards for westerns that other western comics are to be measured against. To it's credit, RAWHIDE, while certainly no equal to "Rio", compares favorably, mostly, I think to the Herb Trimpe/John Severin artwork. While I don't like Trimpe's pencilling, I have to admit that he's got a great sense of layout, and coupled with a good inker, can do some terrific work. The MACHINE MAN limited series (with Barry Windsor-Smith) and this limited series prove it. though the art seems somewhat stiff at times, it gives a nice flavor of the Old West. Mantlo does a credible job with the story, too. Rather than focus on Rawhide Kid's prime time, he's chosen to examine the character in the twilight of his life, as he's getting old and as the world is changing around him. The Kid (who's not really a kid anymore) just wants to retire and live quietly, but his past and his reputation won't let him be. Hotshots are trying to gun him down, and a fan is trying to learn at his side. Add to this a cover by John Byrne that imitates the Jack Kirby style of the 50's/60's (Kirby was one artist who worked on the Kid back when), and you've got an entertaining comic. If you're not put off by westerns, you'll probably like this one. If you are, give this a try; you might change your mind. THE SHADOW WAR OF HAWKMAN #4 [DC, mini-series, $.75] Story: C Art: C- A nice, solid wrap-up to a nice solid series. Not much more that I can say about it, other than I recommend it. I have only one complaint: I really wish that these "limited" series would stop ending with a tease for more to come. THE UNCANNY X-MEN #196 [Marvel, $.65] Story: C+ Art: D+ The only downer about THE X-MEN is that I really wish that a better, or more appropriate inker for JRJR would be put on the book. Dan Green just ain't makin' it. Script-wise, though... This is one of the better issues of X-MEN in a while. Lots of nice short sequences: Kurt's discussion with Father Bowen, Kitty's discussion with Logan, Kitty's encounter with the bad guys, and most of all, Magneto's speech to Rachel. I suspect that this last was spoken as much to himself as to her. It really hits home how he's evolved as a person. And Claremont's seemed to use the Beyonder in a way that helps define Rachel's character a little better without getting in the way, or, like THE NEW MUTANTS, without making it at all necessary to read SECRET WARS II in order to understand what's going on here. It looks like Rachel's destined to become as powerful as her mother was. Considering what has recently been revealed in FANTASTIC FOUR concerning the power that Franklin has, and considering the fact that Franklin and Rachel were lovers in her future world, can you *imagine* what a child of theirs would've been like? Which brings me to something that just occured to me --- it's been enough of a shock for Rachel to meet Kitty, and it'll undoubtedly be traumatic when she meets Scott and Maddy, but consider what it'll be like if she meets Franklin as he is now... --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA