johnfr@dartvax.UUCP (John Freeman) (02/25/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** [Line Eaters of the Universe, Beware!!! I am the anti-matter line eater eater!] For far too long, I have let mundane things (such as school-work) prevent me from making any intelligent commentaries on the net... but, I have been keeping up with things in general, and reading the net, as well as whatever I could lay my hands on here... Obviously, general commentary is called for... Since I don't have them in front of me, I will have to just write on what springs into mind, and hope that people out there can find the issue numbers (who needs them anyhow?) First, Alpha Flight...I remember when I used to like Alpha Flight-I guess it lasted through about issue 3 or 4...then, there was no more team, merely Byrne writing about a bunch of solo heroes: Geeze, even when the Defenders were a 'non- team', they had more unity than Alpha Flight...now with the demise of Sasquatch, the original decent core members of the group are gone down the tubes...especially if Shaman retires, or whatever...don't really think that I'd like to continue working with Snowbird, if she should just decide that I was one of the beast (Honest, really, it was just a costume...*aarrgh*...'thus dies another beast') that she is systematically eliminating...Byrne is loosing it, and resorting to cheap theatrics-two examples: a) he doesn't really kill Walter, his 'spirit' is alive somewhere, maybe in dimension x, where we can save it, and put him back in his body, but powerless...so he can join the group like Heather? b) and this campy plotline with Mac supposedly brought back from the dead-if you're going to kill them, then let them stay dead (if Mac was thrown into a parallel Universe by the forces unleashed by the sudden, overwhelming power-surge of his suit, and exists as a sort of amnesiac zombie, well, I just won't forgive that one...)... I for one think that Alpha Flight had great potential to be a really good 'team book'-we don't get all that much personal info for the Avengers, and not all of them have their own books, so why disassemble Alpha Flight? Fantastic Four:Once again, a book that goes up and down... I am glad to see the new changes with She-Hulk, and Kristoff as Doom is an interesting idea (isn't Doom's conscience still alive in the body of a guy in New York? Oh, Well...)-the one thing that I find hard to believe about Doom is that he could have had THAT many contingency plans; the thing with Kristoff is number 2384, I think...once again, if Ben is goin to leave, then stay gone for a long time, please (personally, I think that he will be back before too long)...but all in all, I think that this book is again on the general upswing about now, or has the potential to be very good again... by the way, I loved the picture of Doom's ego, by viewing that as a 'massive' scar-I've had paper cuts worse than that!! (of course, I wasn't trying to contact the Netherworld at the time, especially since the postage rates have gone up...) Dr. Strange-not too much to say about this book; you either like it or you don't:I like it...good, simple plots, with not excessive loose ends, solid art, and 'believable' magic... My only fear here is that is will become 'popular', and then bye-bye... X-Men:Am I imagining things, or did the X-men used to be a good comic, with good plots...what is this lately with all the time-shifts, and overlaps? Anti-mutant sentiment at the airport-more thoughts like: 'Where the H*ll's my luggage?'-? Xavier beaten up, and Wolverine not going beserk after the people? Rumors of Phoenix returning somtime(I hope not)? I think this comic has been on a downswing since they had their long 'space-opera' thing with the sleezoids...the stories are just too far off base now, I feel...maybe it's just me... The Hulk: I haven't written anything on the Hulk's exile at the crossroads yet...maybe because I think that it is stupid (Like sands thru the hourglass, these are the days of our lives...)-and now they propose to bring him back to earth (at least long enough for one fight with Ben...), where he will be a mindless brute again-that would be a big mistake, unless they allow him to retain Banner's intellect again-or at the very least, allow him to stay as the Hulk for good (never did understand why Banner wasn't picked off by a sniper long ago...guess Ross didn't have the money left for one, after buliding his anti hulk weapons...) the Hulk is better as an indestructable monster, or as Science fiction material...the only time I ever liked him was as Banner/Hulk... Thor is defintely looking up lately, with the entire Surtuir (sp?) affair ended....except for recovering Odin...not too much to say here, things are going pretty well here, I feel... although I understand this book is catching on...what is going to happen with Bill and Sif? Will they become heroes on Bill's world, or on the earth? Will Their children have noses, or be like Bill? But perhaps you are wondering if I have anything to say about any non-Marvels....well, off-titles are hard to find here, but I do touch a few...even keep up with some DC's... (I'm glad you asked me that...) Mostly, I agree with what has been said about CRISIS, although I can't see how DC could reconcile down to one world...I agree that they will make a 'catch-all' world where all the heroes and villians to keep will be kept, as well as the DC staff from earth-prime, and readers of the net....the 'big' hero who bites it will be Flash, I would guess-I would like to keep Superman and Batman, although I that I wouldn't shed any tears if Wonder Woman went *poof*... All in all, I don't read too many DC's, although I do buy more than I read somtimes...my general idea is tha they aren't that good overall, for a variety of reasons... I do approve of the new Green Lantern, but I wish that they'd do something with Hal; make him a rebelious Lantern, but why spend so much time on him each issue, when I want to see Stewart learn about the ring...I think there must be something in store for Hal-hopefully, it will involve the demise of Carol Ferris (I agree with Green Arrow on this one;she's kind of a real b*tch sometimes, and Hal is at his best when challenged with overwhelming things...) if Stewart is killed, (and Hal feels that he must pick up the ring-'this is what I was born to be:a Green Lantern'- that would be very sad, indeed...) I will be quite disappointed, but I think that it could happen... The Flash:*sigh*...wasn't he too, good once? How long has the entire return of Zoom(even again)/death scene/JLA trial/ jury trial gone on? Only about 12 issues too long...has anyone figured out if issue #350 (the one that is constantly referred to in CRISIS) coinceides with what issue of CRISIS? Apparently that was the issue where Flash is resolved, for good, I suppose...I too, am of the of old school who remembers Flash when he was something-his only power was his speed, but he used it so well...pick up an older issue of the Flash, and then one now-but try not to throw the recent one down in disgust;after all, you did pay for it(but it is hard to be sure why)...if he dies now, I think it would be a mercy killing-back in Showcase #4, he marked such a new beginning... I for one, was put off by all the reprints in Flash, and remembrances lately, but I concluded that they were DC's way of telling Flash good-bye:doing all his history before he goes... I believe that he deserves at least that.... q Whoever said on the net that the kid with wings in Teen Titans should be in young romance was right...and yes, it does seem that everyone and their grandma in NY is really some super- powered baddie these days, doesn't it? I liked issue #50 (the wedding), just because it was a good, quiet wedding-remember when Reed and Sue got hitched? This thing with two comics running at the same time, but not happening at the same time has really got me screwed up-when did/will the Titans fight (and get trashed by) Trigon...a year in the future, by out and out 'real' time, or 12 issues? If DC wants to run the two comics like Batman/Detective, that's okay...although it will show how money hungry they are...but tryin to tie them together over the course of time just ain't cuttin it... There is still some potential in Titans to be good, but they could just as easily lose it, I feel-and the two comic plot overlaps aren't terribly helpful... Also, The Legion...alas, another good comic that is taking a turn for the worse, *in my opinion* (notice how that is starred for effect...:-))...once again, DC attempts to cash in, and make two comics...but even worse than that, they attempt to run them at the same time with the plots bouncing back and forth instead of being continuous...when Karate Kid died, I really thought it was a cheap was to introduce their new comic, and go for sales, but there was almost no mention of it in the regular comic-the legionares were lost, and took a few issues to get home, but they were only alluded to in the regular comic...when Saturn Girl was giving birth, she went into Labor in one, crossed over into another, and finally decided to have the kid(s) in the annual...Geeze!!! I have always felt that the legion was such a large orginization that there would be trouble focusing on them all, but they only touch on one or two an issue...perhaps your favorite legionaire will be spotlighted sometime within the next three years, unless the roster grows again....oh, well, I still have hope that things will pick up, and it isn't THAT bad of a comic... Perhaps it seems that I have nothing good to say about any comics...I will admit that I do feel that there has been a sort of general decline from a certain 'high point' that occured through the 70's, when comics decided to be more realistic, and tried new, exciting things...I do enjoy Swamp Thing, which I picked up on the recommendation of the net...I love Cerebus, who is the best thing to happen to comics in some time...I read 'off titles' when I can find them, although that is rare here-some I like, and some are really poor; I suppose that it's all a matter of taste... Well, that's my general, vague sweeping commentary for now... Any comments? John Freeman Dartmouth College decvax!dartvax!johnfr