boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (07/01/84)
SUPERMAN #400
The big event is here! So how is it? Very uneven. The conceit of this
issue is that we get a look (courtesy of Elliot Maggin and a horde of artists)
of how the legend of Superman will appear in future times. As such, it is a
series of short stories, some good, some bad. Ther were only three that I liked.
The one illustrated by Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin was by far the best in the
issue, the only one to really capture the essence of what Superman stands for.
The Steranko-illustrated (and written, too; the only segment not by Maggin) was
interesting, if slightly incoherent. The surprise was the story illustrated by
Klaus Janson. I'm not particularly enamored of Janson's work, but this was not
too bad, and the story was quite touching.
Now for the pin-ups. The Eisner was disappointing; the Jack Davis was
bizarre; the Moebius was, ah, different; the Sienkiewicz was blah; the Jerry
Robinson was OK; the Byrne was blah; the Grell and Simonson were pretty good.
The only two outstanding ones were the Brian Bolland and Berni Wrightson ones.
The backcover by Frank Miller (who also did one of the stories) wasn't bad,
but wasn't good either. But the Chaykin front cover, ahhhh, now there is a piece
of art! And beautiful, bright color, too.
Not an outstanding issue on the whole, but worth the $1.50 for the good
parts.
ROM #59
Like the previous issue, I thought the writing on this was really bad
(though it wasn't quite as bad as the previous issue). The art, however, is a
different story! I've always admired Ditko's imaginative layouts, and his abili-
ty to tell a story with his artwork. Trouble is, I've never thought much of his
actual drawing; he needs a strong inker to give his work some depth. Here, he
has at last found such an inker --- Bob Layton. This is simply the best Ditko
work I have seen in almost 20 years (It would be the best period, except that
the layouts aren't *quite* as wild as his early '60's work). Here we get Ditko's
wild imagination with some really strong rendering. And Ditko's storytelling
ability is never so prominent --- it's quite easy to follow the story without
reading a single word, just by looking at the art. It's too bad that Layton
won't be permanent inker, but that's life (Tom Palmer is set to do next issue,
so that might be pretty good, too).
Recommended for the art alone.
THE X-MEN #186
Definitely up from the last couple of issues. Barry Windsor-Smith's art
is a feast for the eyes (though I'm surprised that Terry Austin doesn't seem to
suit him as much as some other inkers do). It's great seeing this man back in
action in the comics. I think that my standing dream/fantasy these days will be
to see a full-length comic on quality paper with coloring by Peter Poplaski,
production quality by the Capital Comics people, art by Barry Windsor-Smith, and
script by Alan Moore. Sigh.
Ah, where was I? Oh, yes, X-MEN #186. The story. Well, the story was a
nice change of pace. Except for the interludes involving Rogue, this was a nice
quite character issue.
THE UNCANNY X-MEN AT THE STATE FAIR OF TEXAS
This actually exists! I'm not trying to pull anyone's leg. I first ran
across a reference to it in an ad in THE COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE, advertising cop-
ies of this and three other strange items for sale. I didn't want to order it
without knowing what it was, but oddly enough, that very same day, I was check-
ing out a new comics shop and, lo, there was a copy of this thing. What it is
is a givaway produced by Marvel for the Dallas Times Herald newspaper, promoting
the Texas State Fair. There's no date (or number) on it, but it seems to have
been published early last fall.
This looks just like any other Marvel comic (standard comic size, 32
pages, etc.). It's written by Jim Salicrup (plot) and David Kraft (script), pen-
illed by Kerry Gammil & Alan Kupperberg, inked by Chic Stone, and colored by
Marie Severin. Marvel people all. It doesn't quite fit in to X-Men continuity --
like the X-Men graphic novel, it features Kitty as Ariel in her green outfit,
Storm with her old hairstyle and costume, and Cyclops as a regular X-Man; these
things are all contradictory in normal X-continuity.
The story is rather simple. Prof X detects a new mutant in the vicinity
of the State Fair near Dallas, and the X-Men journey there to find him. Unfor-
tunately, Magneto has beaten them to it, and manages to convince the kid that he
is the good guy and the X-Men are the baddies. Eventually, this new mutant ---
Daniel Wiley, whom Magneto calls Equus, because he can turn into a centaur ---
learns the truth and help the X-Men defeat Magneto. He declines to join the
group, though, preferring to stay and work with his horses (who knows, though,
he may pop up some day). Not a thrilling story by any means, but not as bad as
one might expect this kind of givaway comic to be. The story is well-written,
not surprising for Kraft, and the art is very good (I wish Kerry Gammil could
draw the X-Men in their regular book).
The average comic reader can ignore this comic, but the hardcore X-Men
fan or comic collector should probably haunt comic shops or convention huckster
rooms for this. By the way the other three Dallas Times Herald givaways star
Spider-Man, one of them with Iceman and Firestar (from the X-Men cartoon). Now
that I've seen what one of these things looks like, I've ordered the others
from that advertiser.
SABRE #10
I wouldn't normally review this title, since I normally have nothing in
particular to say about it. And this isn't so much a review of this issue as a
general statement about the book.
In between issues of SABRE, I always feel indifferent about it, maybe
even slightly negative. I often think about how over-indulgent Don McGregor is
in his writing, of how he seems to have this cause that he's fighting, and never
seems to make it quite clear what the cause is. It seems that in the last few
years, we've been hearing nothing but angst-riddled stories about his climb out
of abject poverty and how he's never sold out, preferring to be a starving art-
ist than a sated robot.
But yet...
Whenever I pick up an issue of SABRE, I feel drawn into it, grabbed by
McGregor's undeniable skill as a wordsmith, and his sense of characterization
(whatever one may think of his writing, one thing he *must* be given credit for,
despite all of the self-back-patting ballyhoo he dishes out, is that he has
given the world of comics a sympathetic, non-stereotyped homosexual couple).
Somehow, I don't always look forward to a new issue of SABRE, but when I read
one, I come away with a feeling that I've read something special.
ECLIPSE MONTHLY #8
Unfortunately, this contains a really bad Don McGregor story, which can
almost negate what I said above. I fail to see the point in "Mania Badge". Well,
no, the point of the story is plain, but the point of why he wrote it is beyond
me. If it had been published 15 years ago, I could see it, but it just doesn't
click here and now.
The comic is still worth getting, though. The cover, for the conclusion
of the Carlos McLlyr story is a stunner! And the Masked Man story is enough to
bring tears to your eyes. The Masked Man strip itself is a loving tribute to
Will Eisner's Spirit, but this story, wherein TMM meets a retired 40's crime-
fighter, Phantom Man, is a special one. No Eisner/Spirit fan should pass this
one by.
********************************************************************************
Part two appears soon, with reviews of five first issues (as opposed to five
First reviews), including:
CAPTAIN QUICK AND A FOOZLE; JERRY IGER'S FABULOUS FEATURES; DALGODA; FLAMING
CARROT; and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES.
Till then, ttfn.
--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard, MA)
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