🚀 go-pugleaf

REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE:

SOUTHERN KNIGHTS	THE FURY OF FIRESTORM		STAR TREK
CEREBUS			MAGE				DALGODA
THE NEW TEEN TITANS	JON SABLE

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SOUTHERN KNIGHTS #11 [C+ (+ is for personal gratification)]:

Well, if you expect *me* to be unbiased about this issue after that
little panel on page 17, you must be crazy!  With my ego...  Anyway,
there are several things that I liked about this issue *besides*
that little name-dropping episode... first, the art in this issue
reaches a level which you would expect to find (and often not find)
in any of the major company's magazines; Bill Neville's inks really
look good on Chuck's pencils.  The dialogue and personalities are as
good as ever, the SK humor is ever-present, and the plot is much
tighter than the previous issue.  Besides, the back-up issue is
really quite interesting (though not as well-drawn, by any means),
in that it explores the way in which "normal" people in comics see
superheroes -- Electrode is unable to stop the killing of an old
man, and recieves a public backlash because of it.

One question, though, pertaining to the mystery man on the last
page of the main story -- why has Zephyr Flint hired Stan Lee to
kill Dragon? :-)

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #48 [C+]:

A normally good issue of a normally good comic -- but a little
extra credit should be given to two speeches given in the
courtroom scene of this issue.   Robert Ingersoll will probably
point out all the legal atrocities in this sequence in his next "The
Law is an Ass" column in CBG, but I like these type of speeches (I
liked Sam Cogley's speech in the Trek Episode "Court Martial", too
-- so sue me, I'm a romantic); besides, Conway is vocalizing a
situation which hasn't come up (though I seem to remember
Claremont's idea of "super-hero insurance" in New York), mainly,
who's responsible for the mess they leave?  This goes even farther
(during the excellent prosecution argument) into a debate as to
why super-heroes do what they do? (besides the driven (read:
crazy) ones like The Batman...)

STAR TREK #27 [C+]:

One of those slice-of-life issues I enjoy so much in almost any
comic; Saavik does a lot of investigating of human rituals, and a
day in the life of the Excelsior is nicely portrayed.  I particularly
liked Greenberger's depiction of Kirk; he doesn't come of as the
saintly, all-things-to-all-crewmembers captain that Diane
Duane (and others) show him to be.  He can be abrupt,
short-tempered, and opinionated ("Fencing is for dreamers").

CEREBUS #82 [C+]:

Boy, I knew Sim was going to catch up some of the old characters
and "what's going on", but this!  Still awfully funny stuff, though
("I SAID I LOVE ALL MANKIND *DAMMIT*!!"); and why does that
fellow under the new Tarim look so much like Archie Goodwin?  Is
the new Tarim supposed to be Jim Shooter?  Just how tall *is*
Jimbo, anyway?  Questions, questions...  Oh, PS, the photo covers
suck.

MAGE #11 [B]:

Y'know, I haven't *really* had a favorite continous comic since
ZOT! bit the big one -- one that I could get behind every issue and
go "Why the %#$@! aren't you reading this?!  Buy it or I'll tell
everyone that your mother swims after troopships!"  Well, I think
MAGE has reached that level for me.  This is getting to be a lot of
fun to read....

DALGODA #8 [C]:

Last issue.  Death of a major character, but not gratitous, I think. 
The story will continue elsewhere, and I think I'll follow it, though
I still find the way Strnad and Fujitake mix humor and drama
somewhat unnerving.  Sorry to see this book go...

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #21[D+]:

You know, I was all set to praise this book for it's ending, until I
realized that I liked it simply because it didn't end as most comics
would have (Terry leaves Donna for several issues, both go through 
heck, and then they get back together again); Terry comes back and
admits his problem at the end.  Trouble is, this is a character who
has been portrayed as pretty self-aware from the beginning, and
his flying off the handle seemed pretty odd in itself.

JON SABLE #37 [B-]:

Why the %#$@! aren't you reading this?!  Buy it or I'll tell everyone
that your mother swims after troopships! (oops...)

				"You know, sir, that there
				 *is* a precedent for
				 wheelchair detectives..."
							 "Shut up, Alfred."