moriarty@uw-june.UUCP (05/15/84)
[New Snappy Line Needed]
OK, here we go (quite a few goodies, and more than a few anthologies):
BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #13:
Boy, am I embarassed to say I still read this after issue #13 (aptly
numbered). What a bow-wow! Get Jim Aparo back, quick! Plot sucked and the
art looked like it was out of a 30's Batman issue, not one done in the 80's.
I think Barr had his mind elsewhere (hopefully on CAMELOT 3000, STAR TREK or
the OUTSIDER's annual).
MARVEL SECRET WARS #5:
Maybe they are acting strangely due to the planet. I have noticed,
however, that Shooter does a much better job on the villians than the heroes
(Magneto excepted); Doom is good and the rest are O.K. But the heroes...
the Torch hasn't acted like a refuge from Beach Blanket Bingo since The
Smilin' One went West to replace Don Pardo as one of the world's great
voice-overs. Oh, never mind. The thing I liked about this book was the
computer-generated ad for "The Last Starfighter" on the inside cover.
AMAZING HIGH ADVENTURE #1:
Good, but worth $2? Very subjective... I'd say yes because I have
few hobbies other than comics, movies, reading 19th century English Female
authors, croquet, and teaching my cat to talk like you-know-who in
you-know-where. The Englehart/Severin story is good, especially as there
are no "heroes" and I like historical fiction when there's more history than
fiction. "Gold" is too different to hold attention. The Carlin/Talaoc story
is amusing, except the punchline sucks; but I kept laughing because I
thought it could be done on TV just right (what a wonderful TWILIGHT ZONE
episode!!!). The Simonsin/Leialoha story is not very adventurous, but good.
It only makes me wonder if I've been missing something in EPIC ILLUSTRATED.
VANITY #1:
Say, this is good! I looked at the cover and assumed it was
soft-core nookie time, and was this what Meugniot had left the DNAfolk for?
Well, it is funny and it looks interesting and Will does very good dialogue.
The O.S.A. building diagram is a scream.
ECHO OF FUTUREPAST #1:
The other anthology book, for $2.95, but worth it no doubt about it!
Several reasons for this: Bucky O'Hare, Larry Hama & Michael Golden's
oft-delayed series. The writing is excellent: in so many pastiches we are
expected to keep laughing at the premises and satirizations long after they
have worn out their welcome, but Hama is much too experienced at humor to
let this happen. I just love the name of Bucky's ship... "The Righteous
Indignation"! And between homicidal ducks with cornball Irish accents
("C'mon, ye slimey bilge suckers! EAT HOT IONS!!") and the only child of
some San Francisco ex-flower children ("-A home computer terminal sounds
selfish and elitist to me, Willy! Don't scientists have some sort of
Hippocratic oath?"), this one just delights me with the detils. Golden is
an artist whose art I can look at forever when it's good, because it looks
close to 3D; here it's as good as it's ever been. Take a look at Bucky's
ship. Lindley Farley & Louis Mitchell's Tippie Toe Jones is the other one
in the bag which makes this a must-buy. I can't describe how outrageously
funny this is (very sharp and not very nice, but as sarcasm goes, Yow!).
Mid-range humor is Mudwogs by Arthur Suydam. The comedy is crude (very,
very, crude). The comedy is crass (very, very crass). It is probably also
offensive. But somehow it reminded me of what would happen if Terry Gilliam
got a really good artist and did about 12 pages of his Monty Python
Cartoons... kind of like X-rated, demented Warner Brothers stuff. Rounding
it out was something called Virus which was too pointed and Neal Adams'
Frankenstein work, which is in it's third reprint (has this man done
anything 1) worthwhile 2) original 3) on deadline since "Muhammed Ali vs.
Superman"?). This is enjoyable, though.
GREEN LANTERN #179:
Gibbons art is good, but Len, not the "Oh gosh save the world or
save Carol again" plot, eh?
BLUE DEVIL #3:
Oh, boy, David Michelline's Iron Man has been reincarnated in an
even better form (the last panel was very good subtle humor... from all
those Sharon Carter scenes in old CA's). Just splendid ("He's the one in
the green-and-purple-spacesuit, right?").
NEW MUTANTS #19:
Mr. Gumby: "My brain hurts!"
The Robot: "DANGER! DANGER! Subplot overload on all pages!"
Mrs. Robinson: "Well, the pictures ARE pretty..."
AMERICAN FLAGG #12:
Good resolution, nothing inspired except for the ending... still
head-and-shoulders over the rest ("It was an act of civil war -- of
REVOLUTION -- perpetuated by Reuben Flagg and his Italio-Brit Zionist
cohorts
-- AND his God damned CAT!"
"Thank you, Ranger Scheiskopf")
SWAMP THING #27:
#$%&! it, I missed issue #26. This is good. Buy it. Oh, what a
friend we have in Swamp Thing...
----
BLAST FROM THE PAST DEPT: Picked up a back issue of Action #554, "If
Superman Didn't Exist...". Not only wonderful & moving story, but a great
tribute to two men who deserve more credit (and money) than they often get,
for they started an era; when you see credit (and respect, and yes, even
love) given to these men by two other men who will be remembered as
landmarks in their field, you begin to appreciate the kind of people you
find in comics. 'Nuff said.
The Napoleon of Crime | Currently skulking around
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