boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (10/07/84)
> SIX FROM SIRIUS #1-4 > A bit more seriously, I really wonder what has happened to Moench. I don't > read Batman, or whatever he does now, but I find this to be almost a parody > of his former style. I really hope he does better next time. That's a good question. Yeah, I relly admired his work on MASTER OF KUNG FU, as well as MOON KNIGHT, et al. Actually, I even enjoyed SIX FROM SIRIUS, but other- wise, I think Moench is really slipping. Contrary to popular opinion, I think his Batman work is substandard, dull, and overly indulgent. His OMEGA MEN is better, but not by much. > Please note, though: the art is the FINEST stuff Gulacy has ever done. > Amazing work... Steranko to the third power. It almost made up for the > dialogue. Yeahhhhh. Great stuff. Funny you mention Steranko, though. Way back when, oh, I'd say when MOKF was at its peak, I asked Steranko at a comic con in Boston what he thought of Gulacy's work. At the mere mention of the name, Steranko's eyes lit up and a smile cross his face. "It looks like I did it... but without the *pain*!" > SWAMP THING ANNUAL #2 [A+]: Wow. What a review (you don't think I'm going to quote it all here, do you?). I couldn't have said it better myself. I had been planning to review this myself, but I can't really do anything more than just reiterate what you said. A few points, though: (1) As far as deaths in comics go, I'll have to say that none affected me more at the time than Gwen Stacy's. (2) And you say that *I* overrate things! "A+" indeed. I would've given it a flat "A", but that's because I'm not quite as taken with the Bissette/Totleben art as you are. It's good, I'll warrant. Moody, expressive, all that good stuff. But it doesn't quite grab me where it counts; it's not, ah, anus-clenching. I would give the art a C+. So with a "C+" on the art, how could I end up with an "A" overall? Well, unfortunately, "A+" just isn't high enough for the writing... To be honest, though, I thought issues #21 and #24 were better written. (3) While I agree that Moore captures the essence of all of the various charac- ters that guest-star here, I am intrigued by the various hints he drops regard- ing the Phantom Stranger, especially during the Stranger's wordplay with Etri- gan. Makes you wonder what Moore's got up his sleeve. There are rumors that he's working on some "secret project" for DC. It wouldn't be a PS mini-series, would it? God, I hope so. (4) In-joke time. The fire-sign that Etrigan makes makes to create a dimensional rift (p. 37) is the symbol from one of Moore's WARRIOR strips, "V for Vendetta". Which brings up another point: you haven't read Moore's British stuff yet? For shame! What's keeping you? > AMERICAN FLAGG #16 [B]: > PS Anyone note how Chaykin and AF SWEPT the Eagle Awards American division? Well, considering that I posted the Eagle winners a couple months ago, it's obvious that *I* noticed. > X-MEN #189 [B-]: > The '-' is for a > mistake I think I found: In the X-Men annual, hasn't Kitty just gotten back > from Japan with Logan? Because if this is true, then why is she in Japan > when Ororo leaves? (Multiple No-Prize ICBM's are ready to go, sir...). So I wasn't the only one to notice. Claremont seems to be losing his whole time sense. Look at the first issue of KITTY & WOLVERINE. It's wintertime! when the concurrent events in X-Men take place in the summer. (No, no --- the snow in K&W can't be from the Casket of Ancient Winters, or Kitty would've reflected on the freak presence of snow in the middle of summer, just like everyone else in all of the Marvel comics has. Not to mention that there would've been a footnote pointing us to recent issues of THOR.) I also noticed in skimming through the latest NEWTIES, that Sam is sporting a "Lila" [Chaney] shirt. This would seem to indicate (though not necessarily) that this issue takes place after the Annual, which it can't for various reasons that are too involved for me to go into here. > DALGODA #2: [C] > Still a lovely concept and the art is good... but I was hoping for > the richness of plot and detail that was shown in the first issue... this > one seemed rather superficial, and not all that funny. Still good. Yeah, I thought it was rather a come-down from #1, too. But "Grimwood's Daughter", ahhhhh.... > CRASH RYAN #1-2 [C]: > A model of how INDIANA JONES *should* have been done. The drawing > and characters recall that same atmosphere that was so prevalent in the old > sci-fi and adventure pulps, but the graphics are good enough to leave behind > the crudeness which the pulps used to have. Oh, that's right; I seem to recall you mentioning that you weren't over fond of the pulps. Well, I am, and I thought CRASH RYAN perfectly captures their spirit. Not as well as "The Rocketeer", but hey, almost anything would pale in comparison with *that*. And RYAN isn't a bad second in any case. I can just see this being done as a movie serial. And did you notice the name of the news- paper on the cover? > A comic with moxie and style. That it has. That it has. > SURGE #2 [C]: > Moved along with no slow spots... but the high point was the Amber > short story. I'm still not sure why they picked Surge for the series... > Amber or Tank would have been more interesting to me. To me too. I'm willing to bet that Surge was picked because they had a story that would fit right into a mini-series format. You know what I'm enjoying most about this comic (and CROSSFIRE), though? It's Evanier's text pages. Those ex- tended anecdotes have real wit and style. It's too bad that they'll be going away in favor of letters. > FINAL NOTES: > > Hmm, what is it with this Shooter/Giordiano debate? My money's on > Jimbo for any real unprofessional behavior... Yes. It's my impression that Marvel's trying to save face in front of its fans by pointing the finger at DC. Giordano didn't seem to be as whiney as Shooter did, and appeared to be simply printing a rebuttal. There seemed to be no rampant emotionalism in Giorando's piece, which is more than I can say for Shooter's. Sigh. One thing I'll certainly agree with Giordano about --- the real loser in this whole snafu is *us*. > Oh, news has it that Swamp Thing no longer carries the Comics Seal > of Approval. OK, in unison: Awwwwwwwwww.... Yeah, my heart bleeds like a turnip. You can forget about the "news has it" part; you can see for yourself --- or rather, *not* see for yourself. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA