boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (08/16/84)
> **************************************************************************** > |==>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 | > **************************************************************************** Interesting way of rating. Mind if I use it? > P.S. ("The next question is > for YOU, Jerry Boyajian: Who won the Dorchester cup in 1953?....") Hunh?? What is the Dorchester cup, and what has it got to do with the STAR TREK comic? > Is the artist at all connected with the now-defunct CAPTAIN CANUCK? Looks > familiar. Nope (well, he may have had *something* to do with it). George Freeman, who drew the JACK OF HEARTS mini-series, and who's going to be working with Mike Gilbert on ELRIC, did the art for the Canajan Captain. > MACHINE MAN #2 [D+]: > > Humor and adventure here don't seem to mix, though I like the > artwork and MM's lines when he's out on his feet. And of course the art > is pretty good. "Pretty good"???? "Pretty good"???? Sigh. I suppose this is what makes you, you, and me, me, and not us, us. Personally, I think MACHINE MAN is the best thing Marvel is producing these days (the novelty of THOR has worn off; I'm no longer surprised by *its* excellence). I think the humor is just light enough to not get in the way of the drama. And the art is *terrific*!! > LEGION OF SUPERHEROES #3 & TALES OF THE LEGION #84 [C+]: #84??? Been hitting the back issues lately? > VOID INDIGO [F]: > > ...the gore level in this book negates much of his [[Mayerik's]] talent, > and he's one of those people I enjoy more in Black and White anyway (like > Lucille Ball :-) ). Now, unless Gerber has a weirder sense of humor than I > think, this is meant to be taken seriously; in which case it's kaa-kaa. No > originality, words without emotion, and a seeming love of cynical violence. Here, I have to agree 100%. The violence put even *me* off. And there didn't seem to be any point to anything that went on. > MEDUSA CHAIN [A] > > Now just to prove I don't mind gore when their are PEOPLE, PLOT and > DIALOGUE firmly behind them, look at the grade above... you won't see many > of those. Now, I don't know about art, but Ernie Colon knows 1) empathy, 2) > characters, 3) humor, 4) horror, 5) narrative storytelling, and 6) science > fiction. And he has that touch, that rare, unusual behavior to put so much > of himself into the story that you really (REALLY... no exagiration) step > back and say, "Wow. This is GOOD. This almost belongs with the great comics > of my past." How often do you see something that looks like the writer/author > really spent time sweating over it? You will here, and you'll see how > talent and ability are nothing unless you have the drive to want the story > to work... it is written all over this. Ah, well, back to disagreement. This was really frustrating because it had so many good ideas, and the plot was really intriguing, but it read like Colon didn't put *enough* work into it. I thought the story had too many gaps in it, leaving it too incoherent. I never did quite have a good grasp of just what the hell was going on. I would swap the grade you gave this with the one you gave MACHINE MAN. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
boyajian@akov68.DEC (02/19/85)
> SWAMP THING #35 [A-]: Funny thing, y'know, but I didn't find this two-part story all that chilling. It seemed kind of, well, not exactly *pointless*, but if you disregard the seriousness of the topic (nuclear comtamination), there just doesn't seem to be anything to the *story*. And I can suspend my disbelief pretty far when I have to (especially when reading comics), but even I had a hard time accepting a guy who drinks nuclear waste without needing Rolaids afterwards. > SUPERGIRL #16 (Ambush Bug) [D]: > > Non-Giffen, Non-Fleming AB -- hence, non-funny. A standard DC story... For the most part, yeah, but I *did* get a kick out of Bug thinking that Kara was Supes in drag. > BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #20 [C-]: > > Jim Aparo is leaving with this issue, and I don't think there is > another artist who can bring out such sympathetic characters simply > through his art. And this book needs it, as Barr treats the book with > the continuity of a slot machine. I suspect this will be the last good > issue for a while (and even the story has flaws). I think that Aparo > is probably one of the finest and most underated artists working > today... I hope he is given a project which can use his abilities to > their fullest. As far as I know, Aparo is giving up *this* book to work on the "hardcover" (read: deluxe) OUTSIDERS book. If memory serves, his place here is being taken by British artist Alan Davis, who has done, among other things, "Marvelman" and "Captain Britain" with Alan Moore. Currently, Davis is drawing "Captain Britain" (with a different writer) and "Axel Pressbutton" (in WARRIOR). Aparo certainly is a good artist, but I find myself getting tired of how much alike most of his characters look. Aparo's art hasn't gotten me to buy BATO, but Davis's art may do it. > JOURNEY #16 [B-]: > > I don't know why everybody's > complaining about the plot complexity; I haven't had any problems with > it, and it seems pretty simple when you compare it with Time Spirits or > any Marvel "Heavy Continuity" Mag... It's not so much the complexity that gave me trouble, it was that the story didn't seem to *lead* anywhere. And I found TIME SPIRITS *much* easier to follow. > TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #53 & THE NEW TEEN TITANS #7 [C-]: > > #1, I'm getting real tired of the kid with wings... seems like he > should be in "Young Romance" or something... I couldn't agree more. > MS. TREE #13 [F]: I couldn't agree less. I'll admit that the particular story in this issue isn't awe inspiring, and it seems to be just a cash-in on the Vanessa Williams thingie, but these two issues are the rare exception (probably the only issues of MS. TREE that I didn't care much for --- the previous story- line wasn't overwhelming, either, but it was a fair mystery). However, I still think MS. TREE is one of the better books on the market. Besides, you don't want to agree with Gary Groth, do you? > JON SABLE, FREELANCE #23 [C-]: I am not finding Grell's (actual) > African adventures to be entertaining, or even informative. Just > rather short and brutal. It's funny. I rather enjoyed the first installment of his safari tales, but the second part seemed rather, well, you said it---brutal. I didn't bother with the third part. > HAROLD HEDD: HITLER'S COCAINE #2 [D-]: Never try to add relevance to > bathroom humor... Not to mention that this is ANOTHER artist who can't > draw sharks correctly! Hmph! Gee, I liked these two issues enough to go back and pick up the previous two HAROLD HEDD comics. Granted that the older ones were better (especially #2), but "Hitler's Cocaine" was entertaining enough. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA