🚀 go-pugleaf

Reviewed this time around:

FANTASTIC FOUR #285	THE NEW MUTANTS SPECIAL #1	THOR #362
FIRST ADVENTURES #1	THE ROCKETEER GRAPHIC ALBUM	THE UNKNOWN WORLDS OF
FREAK BROTHERS #9	STRONTIUM DOG #1		    FRANK BRUNNER #1-2	
MIRACLEMAN #1		SWAMP THING #43		    	WORDSMITH #1

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 Napoleon of Crime. Nyah-ah-ah!!

"For a critic, it's better to have wrong standards than none at all."

						-- Elmer Allyn Craft

********************************************************************************
|=>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 #38: "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   |
********************************************************************************


FANTASTIC FOUR #285		[Marvel, $.65]		C-  [A for effort]

	The Human Torch almost quits the superhero business when he finds out
that a young child who worshipped him lit himself on fire in order to be just
like his hero. This is a very powerful story, and one that deserved to be told.
just the panel of the boy in silhouette staring at the fuel can was enough to
send shivers up my spine.
	Still, Byrne blew it in two ways. First, the story was too short. We
got only a surface glimpse of Johnny's feelings. I think this story would have
worked better as this year's Annual. Secondly, the Beyonder's appearance was
too pat. The problem posed in the story is a human one, and it deserves a human
solution. For Johnny to get over the event, he needs to work it out for himself
rather than have it shown to him by an all-powerful alien.
	But the impact of the story, however blunted, is still strong, and if
it tells just one kid out there not "to do this stuff at home", it'll be worth
tons of any other comic.


FIRST ADVENTURES #1	[First, $1.25]		D+  [BB: C-, Wh: D, DJ: D+]

	First's first anthology comic is a mixed bag. In ascending order:
"Whisper" --- Could be better, could be worse; could be a lot better, could
be a lot worse. Not as good as her initial adventure and not very deep. Seems
more interested in getting into the action than giving us a glimpse into the
character.
"Dynamo Joe" --- I generally don't care for giant robot comics, but there's
something about this strip that I liked back when it first appeared in the back
of MARS. I think what that something is is that the characters are what's
carrying the strip, not the robot. I'll be interested to see where this leads.
"Blaze Barlow" --- Interesting, amusing, weird. Angels with automatic rifles
pursuing a walking, sentient cake, with a dimension-hoping P.I. that shoots
bullets with his (her, actually, if I remember the advance word correctly). It
may turn out to be a dud, but so far, I'm entertained.


FREAK BROTHERS #9  	[Rip Off, $2.00]	C-

	Finally, after all these many moons, the second part of "The Idiots
Abroad" --- a picaresque journey to foreign lands by those eternal hippies.
I realize that the Freak Brothers are not to everyone's taste, but I get a
chuckle out of them despite the fact that they are a product of a by-gone era.
	But, be warned --- the story is "to be continued"...


MIRACLEMAN #1		[Eclipse, $.75]		story: A-  art:D+  production: F

	I've been praising Alan Moore's Marvelman work in WARRIOR for quite
some time. Now, at last, it's in color and in a format suitable for the
general comics-buying public. Unfortunately, I'm underwhelmed. The printing
(done in Finland) is rather poor. Many panels come out too dark, flesh tones
are too reddish, and a lot of the color is just a tad too garish.
	And the artwork is a bit of a puzzle. I liked Garry Leach's art on
Marvelman (the original name for Miracleman, changed to avoid trademark fights
with Marvel) back when I first saw it, and was disappointed when Alan Davis
took over. But looking back at it, it just doesn't seem to quite make the
grade.
	But the story---ah! the story. This is some of the best superhero
writing I've read. Adjectives at this point would be useless. Suffice it to
say that Moore sees wrinkles in the idea of the superhero that no one else
has seemed to think of.
	A warning perhaps --- the first ten pages comprise a reprint of one
of the original Marvelman stories from the 1950's, and it's certainly not
something to rave about, but it puts a nice historical perspective on the
character, and serves a nice prologue to lead into the first chapter. And
it helped the comic to end on a nice cliff-hanger. And just wait to you see
the rest of this storyline --- the villain here makes Dark Phoenix look like
a piker --- and the cliff-hanger for the second issue!
	We're talking real good shit here, man. And it gets better!


THE NEW MUTANTS SPECIAL #1	[Marvel, Annual, $1.50]		B+

	To put it briefly, this is the best New Mutants story I've ever read.
Period. I was *very* pleasantly surprised.
	Let's get the negative stuff out of the way. First, the flexographic
printing detracts from the art. Secondly, much to my surprise, Terry Austin
overinks Arthur Adams' nice pencil work. I much prefer Art Nichols' more
subdued inks in LONGSHOT.
	Now for the positive stuff. Adams' art is simply beautiful. His ren-
ditions of Illyana, Dani, and Shan (yes, Shan --- Claremont presents a truly
inspired method of dieting for our rather large Newtie) are enough to make
one wish one was 16 again. But aside from the art, the story is just damn well
written, too. Characterizations are wonderful (especially Warlock's sense of
humor, aided in no small amount by Adams' drawings of him), the vignettes of
the adventures of the various Newties in Asgard and what happens to each one
are intriguing (especially with respect to Amara, Rahne, and most of all,
Dani --- her life is about to go through a big change). And the attitudes that
the Newties exhibit at the end is both surprising and understandable.
	This is Claremont at his best. I can't wait for the resolution in the
X-MEN ANNUAL. I just hope it does justice to such a wonderful first part.


THE ROCKETEER GRAPHIC ALBUM	[Eclipse, $7.95*]	A+

*also available in hardcover for an unknown higher price (I'm looking for one).

	I don't think that I can say a whole lot about this that Harlan Ellison
doesn't say in his introduction. When these stories were first printed, in the
back of Pacific's issues of STARSLAYER, in PACIFIC PRESENTS, and Eclipse's
ROCKETEER SPECIAL, it was obvious that this was Something Special. And yet that
knowledge didn't help me prepare for the utter mind-blowing experience of re-
reading Dave Stevens' brainchild in one piece, and with coloring, paper, and
production that augment the overall effect. And it's got some new pages to boot
as well as some re-working of some of the reprinted material (I haven't done
any comparisons with the original printings, yet, though, so I don't know to
what degree things have been revised). The more observant of you may notice,
and confirm by the copyright page, that Jaime Hernandez lends a hand on some
of the new artwork.
	This will deservedly become a classic piece of comics work. And I can
think of few other works that deserve this kind of elaborate production more.


STRONTIUM DOG #1	[Eagle, $1.25]		D+

	I can't say that I thought much of the Strontium Dog story that ran
in the 2000 A.D. comic from Eagle (or what I've read in the original British
2000 A.D.). It was too dry and humorless (oh, there were some funny incidents,
but the character of Johnny Alpha is too damn humorless). This is just more
of the same, but I'll admit that this first installment detailing the origin
of Johnny Alpha as he goes bounty-hunting for the man who is his father is
not too shabby as stories go. Not top notch, but not something to avoid like
the plague, either.


SWAMP THING #43		[DC, $.75]		B

	There's a subtle method to Alan Moore's madness, if I may venture into
that dubious realm of literary analysis. This issue started to bother me at
first. Drugs are bad news --- this is something that I've believed for a long
time. And yet, here we seemed to have somewhat of a glorification of drug
experimentation. You know, the old, "hey, I know that stuff can mess me up
bad, but gee, I'd like to see just what it's *like*". *We* know that the odd
yam-like things that grow on the Swamp Thing aren't bad, right, so what's wrong?
It's not the same as acid, or mesk, or heroin, right? And yet, the feeling came
over me reading this that, no, it *was* just like those drugs. The story here
seems to provide a rationale for trying drugs.
	But by the end, its obvious that Moore saying just the opposite. The
hallucinogenic effects of the Swamp Thing's fruit lays bare the inner soul of
the person who partakes of it, and whether it's a good trip or a bad one depends
on the person. And is it really worth finding out what you're really like on
the inside? The protagonist's answer is an answer for all of us.
	In many ways, this is a more powerful anti-drug story than all of the
ballyhooed such stories (Spider-Man, GL/GA, Daredevil, Teen Titans, etc.) put
together. Too bad it's too subtle for the folks for whom it'd probably do the
most good.


THOR #362		[Marvel, $.65]		B-

	A longtime character meets his end (boy, the comics characters are
dropping like flies this year, eh?), and goes out with a bang. Never thought
he had it in him to be so selfless.


THE UNKNOWN WORLDS OF FRANK BRUNNER #1-2  [Eclipse, micro-series $1.75 each]  D+

	The latest in Eclipse's series of deluxe color reprints of horror fan-
tasy work by some of the best artists of that field. Here, it's Brunner's turn.
Most of these stories, judging from the host character, probably came from an
obscure black & white magazine from circa 1970 called WEB OF HORROR. One came
from STAR*REACH, God knows where the rest came from.
	These stories are better than a lot of the horror stories finding their
way in these Eclipse reprints, but not as good as others. A bit hackneyed, but
not bad overall.


WORDSMITH #1		[Renegade, $1.70]	D

	WORDSMITH is a very different comic, one that follows the life, career,
and concerns of a pulp magazine writer in the 1930's. I don't know whether it's
from the shallowness of the writing, or some basic flaw in the concept, but it
seems to me that this is something that sounds like a nice idea for something
different, but doesn't turn out so hot in the end.
	I don't necessarily demand that a comic be two-fisted adventure, anus-
clenching horror, or whatever. It's nice to have a quiet, relaxing comic to
read. But such a comic needs gripping characters and/or a striking, exciting
style to compensate for the lack of action. And sad to say, writer Dave Darrigo
and artist Rick Taylor just don't have quite what's needed.
	I suspect that the device of switching in mid-scene from the larger
story of the writer to the inner story of what he's writing is supposed to
alleviate this dullness, but it doesn't. Darrigo's fondness for the pulps
shines through, but I kept finding myself thinking that I'd prefer to read the
actual pulps instead.

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA)

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