boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (11/27/84)
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 Napolean 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 #39: "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 | ******************************************************************************** Not a whole hell of a lot to review this time. Just a couple of odds and ends. BLOODY BONES AND BLACKEYED PEAS #1 D- Other than a marvelously different title, there isn't much here to recommend. The long primary story is an introductory story of a sorts to the strange duo who will apparently be the "hosts" of this new horror comic (a la Cain, Abel, Uncle Creepy, Cousin Eerie, the Crypt-Keeper, etc.). As a story, it leaves a lot to be desired --- it rambles through its 24 pages like one giant run-on sentence. Art-wise, little more can be said. Pat Boyette has never been one of my favorites, though this is one of the better jobs he's done in quite a while (it still doesn't do much for me, though). There are some occasional little tricks, sort of little asides from the central story, that are rather interesting, but these don't prevent this comic from sliding into the pit of mediocrity. The second story is one that one would be likely to find in an unusually bad issue of CREEPY or EERIE. To top all of this off, the printing is awful, causing a lot of the color to look muddy. Galaxy Comics is off to a bad start. If this is intended to be their flagship title, they are in trouble. WALLY WOOD'S T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #1 C [Art: C+ Writing: C-] The most cynical of critics would look at this book and proclaim it just another Marvel/DC clone, and in a sense, they'd be right. Front and back covers by George Perez, one story by Dave Cockrum, one story by Perez (pencils) and Cockrum (inks), and one story by Keith Giffen. Plus, "pin-ups" by Jerry Ordway, Steve Ditko, and Pat Broderick (and as well as Stan Drake). The writing is by Dann (Mrs. Roy?) Thomas, Steve (TIMESPIRITS) Perry, and Steve (COYOTE) Englehart. But what a clone! You don't have to be a fan of the old T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents --- that mid-60's comic produced by the likes of Wally Wood, Al William- son, Mike Sekowsky, Gil Kane, Reed Crandall, et al. --- but it does help. Con- sidering the third-rate T.H.U.N.D.E.R. material that John Cabonaro had been foisting off on us a couple of years ago, this is really a breath of fresh air. Art: Perez's contributions are, quite frankly, not his best work, but they're still better than a lot of what you'll find around. And it'd really hard to describe how strange the combination of Perez and Cockrum on the Raven strip is. But it works, it really works! It combines the strengths of both artists without displaying their weaknesses. I'd have to say that Cockrum is second only to Romeo Tanghal in inking Perez's pencils. The comic is worth picking up for this alone. Cockrum's solo art effort on the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents strip is better than I've seen by him in a while. The only problem I find with it is that his storytelling still seems too clumsy. Giffen's art on the Menthor story is almost unrecognizable, being far more experimental than his most recent LSH work. Here, it looks more like Trevor von Eeden's THRILLER art than the Giffen we all knew and loved. I can't blame the guy for wanting to try something new and different, but I confess that it leaves me cold. Writing: Steve Perry gives us a quite servicible, if uninspiring story about the new Menthor. His main strength, characterization (as evident from TIME- SPIRITS), is certainly here, and the story does work as what it was most likely meant to be: merely an introduction to the new Menthor character. I look forward to future installments. It came a little late for Halloween, but the other two stories were a trick and a treat. The treat was Dann Thomas's Raven story. Like the Perry/ Giffen Menthor story, it serves mostly as an introduction to the character, but there was much more of a sense of tension and suspense here than in the other story. Thomas's Raven struck me as a much more interesting character than Perry's Menthor. The story is a rather short "thriller", but I thought it worked well. The trick was the very disappointing T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents story by Englehart, who is one of the most innovative comic writers of the '70's and '80's. The plot is hackneyed, and the characters mere stereotypes (and silly ones at that). I certainly hope his future efforts are better than this. Give this comic a try. I really don't think you can go far wrong. STARSTRUCK: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #13 C- [Art: C+ Writing: D] Hunh???!!! If someone can understand what the hell happened in about the first 1/2-2/3 of this book, will you enlighten me. I hope that the regular comic series from Epic is more comprehensible than this. I will admit, though, that the more understandable parts were quite enjoyable. The only thing that really saves this book is the beautiful artwork by Mike Kaluta, whose work of- ten reminds me of what it would look like if a Renaissance painter drew comics. BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #16-18 D Considering that people whose judgements I trust (like Don Thompson of CBG or Moriarty) have been praising this book, I thought I'd give it a second try. I bought the first half-dozen or so issues and, to put it mildly, I didn't care for them. In fact, one of the things that the supporters think most of --- Mike Barr's handling of the character of the Batman --- was one of the things that turned me off in the first place. Anyways, I gave it another try, and I still don't care for it. I can't say that I despise it like I did 10-12 issues ago --- Barr's characterization of the Batman offended me back then, I found it almost nil in these issues. But: (1) I find that I have no feelings at all for any of the characters here, and (2) the stories were rather humdrum. I'll admit that the "Halo is reunited with her family" story might have had more impact if I'd been following the book all along, but the sign of good writing is to make that emotion come across even for a new reader. I will pick up the next issue, though, because the only interesting thing I found in these issues was the sub-plot in #18 about the poor girl committing suicide, and I want to see how that turns out. Maybe I'll try again in another year, but I'm warning you, Mr. Barr: three strikes and you're out. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA