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Pen-Elayne
For Your Thoughts - Week of January 7-13, 1996
This week's digest: UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN #7 UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN #7 Writer: Kurt Busiek Here's what I thought... Marvel's best title, and the best title this week, just keeps rolling along. We open on Spidey feeling a little uneasy, looking behind him and finding - Batwing. Kurt, another stupid pseudo-Marvel-newbie question: Is Batwing your creation? It really feels like this is a new character, especially considering the rich origin you've given him. I love the fact that Peter, in addition to his other responsibilities, has made friends with the kid and is bringing him food. This is really nice. Also nice is the fleshing out of Peter's schoolmates. This issue focuses on Sally and Jason, out to make a bundle by exposing Spidey's secret identity. Jason's rather cowardly, but Sally seems to thrive on the excitement. Spidey's sense homes in on them (great captioning to let the readers know he considers J&S more of a threat than Batwing, and that their presence was what was making him uneasy) and pretty much scolds them. He gives Sally, especially, something to think about - if he really were the criminal JJJ paints him to be, they'd be in a good deal of trouble. Back at school, of course, Jason embellishes the story of his and Sally's encounter with Spidey to the point of absolute fabrication. The others aren't buying it, and Peter walks by at a safe distance, grinning. He happens to come upon a kid giving away pamphlets for a free eye exam at a just-opened clinic - a golden opportunity to put to rest Aunt May's fears about his eyesight without alerting his regular doctor. Of course, there's something fishy about Dr. "Winslow" and his automated contraption, and Peter's spider-sense goes off just before he temporarily blacks out. He awakens, is given his clean bill of health and leaves, somewhat perplexed, as "Winslow" (whose real name is now revealed to be Winkler - should I know this character?) cackles behind him. With the bad doctor is a mysterious silhouetted figure wearing some kind of hoot with a lightning motif - uh-oh... We finally get to see Peter and Betty on a date - yay! Jonah's pissed that Peter doesn't have any pictures of the Big Man and his Enforcers yet, but that's going to have to wait until next issue. Peter blacks out briefly again during his date, and Betty expresses her concerns quite touchingly, but Peter ignores her advice to get some rest and goes cruising for photos. He's just broken up one of the Big Man's gangs when he suddenly blacks out again, swipes their loot and starts walking, zombie-like (along with lots of other zombie-like folks) towards a rundown theater. Fortunately, Sally and Jason haven't given up on tracking him, and decide to follow and see what's up. Inside the theater, Winkler's ally is revealed to be... Electro! Steve tells me this guy's one of the major Spidey villains, but you don't have to know that here because Kurt pretty much runs down his origin story - cool! This is one of my favorite aspects of UTOS, that old-time Marvel readers will get that little extra something but newcomers won't get lost because the story tells them exactly what they need to know, as all (okay, most) stories should. It's also what makes UTOS the comic Marvel should be pushing to get new readers. Okay, so Spidey is under Winkler's (and hence Electro's) power, and seemingly nothing can snap him out of it. Well, turns out Sally's flash bulb can. Spidey's still groggy, but manages to push Electro into Winkler's controlling machine, figuring he'd put up a protective shield around himself and short things out. As the others snap out of their daze, Electro prepares to battle a still-weakened Spidey, when... Sally saves the day! That's right, remember, she's a gymnast? Swings right down on a handy nearby rope and distracts Electro with a hard kick to the head so Spidey can regroup long enough to knock him out. And this gives Peter an idea - he's going to let Sally (who deserves it) and Jason (who of course doesn't) take credit for foiling Winkler's scheme - and gets the pictures to prove it! Good thing the kids didn't check that photo credit when showing the paper around and bragging to friends. Of course, Flash Thompson is less than impressed, and actually acts like a bit of a mensch when Peter confronts him. Really nice scene, and all's well that ends well - except that Sally still has something up her sleeve, which I'm sure we'll see in future issues... along with lots of other stuff, including a couple guys named Osborn. My only two complaints with this issue is, first of all, I still think Sally and Jason look too old to be in high school - I don't yet get the feeling that Olliffe does teenagers well - and secondly, I thought the always-unnamed Comicraft guys did a lousy job with lettering this issue. The captions are fine, and most of the dialogue is okay too - but I think those brightly-colored balloons with the block lettering in different colors ought to be used much more sparingly, and never with more than one or two words in the balloon. I could hardly read a few of them. Other than that, everyone did their usual spiffy job - thanks for another terrific story, guys! So, what did y'all think? AQUAMAN #18 Writer: Peter David Here's what I thought... Very quick review this time - I didn't think I'd be able to get any reviews in, but I didn't want to shortchange this week's books entirely. Orin gets out of his fix with the Hy-Brasilian Empress by pretty much asserting himself. Dolphin hears a voice emanating from a floating skull and loses it, inadvertently shooting a bunch of Hy-Brasilians - oops. She's captured and put on trial. The H-Bs try to get her to talk, but she's mum, and their High Seer decides to probe her to try to find out her origin (which, it's revealed, even Orin doesn't know). We're teased with just enough backstory to make us pissed Peter doesn't tell us more, and then Dolphin hears the menacing voice again (this time coming from a set of monstrous teeth) and offs the High Seer, breaking his neck with her feet. Eee. She comes to her senses, Orin blows off the H-Bs, whereupon they decide (apparently) to kill their reticent queen and follow this stranger when he comes to them for help. Fickle folk. Meanwhile, Admiral Strom's working for Ocean Master. Everyone probably knew this but me. I can no longer keep track. Atlan, Orin's dad, is apparently hatching something or other with Garth (aka Aqualad), undeterred by sinister threats from unidentified opposition. And Koryak and the Atlantean people are nowhere to be seen. It's still taking me awhile to get used to Egeland's highly stylized art - Dolphin's so darn anorexic-looking... At least Orin seems to be packing it, the way he draws him (especially on the splash page), so we gals ought to be grateful for small (or not-so-small) favors. <g> And the cover is very striking. So, what did y'all think? Writer/Co-Creator: Brian Augustyn Here's what I thought... Apologies to the creative people and fans who read this - due to reasons far too numerous to elaborate, this'll be a quickie review. I keep trying to get into this book, but I'm not quite there. I'm pleased to say that there are at least women present in this issue - one in particular is part of some sort of strike team, and I can't tell if they're good guys or bad guys yet (they appear to be involved in some sort of eugenics program, so I'm tentatively pegging them as bad guys), and she dresses the same way as the men on the team, is considered an equal in strength, etc. etc. - of course, she's also the only one who gets a very prominent butt shot, but I fault Velluto for that, not Augustyn. The thing of it is, I don't know that we learn anything more about Sanchez this issue than we learned last issue. We're introduced to a bunch more characters, some possible nemeses, and the field's getting a little crowded for me to keep proper track, but I feel kinda like... like there's no there there, you know? I can only conclude that this isn't my type of thing - which is okay, but on the basis of things I liked in the first issue I guess I was expecting more development. The bit that felt most out of place to me was when Sanchez talks about making mistakes like letting the bad guys get away. I was under the impression he was a damn good cop - don't they train you in police school not to let the bad guys get away? He should have had this down pat before he even became Firebrand. New-superhero-type errors are to be expected, but he should be beyond rookie-cop-type errors, methinks. Velluto draws men very well - lots of variation on faces and body types - and I look forward to seeing him extrapolate that talent to women (a fully-clothed secretary in this issue is a nice start). And Augustyn has the craft down in spades, so... why doesn't this book do anything for me? I'm still trying to figure it out. I refuse to drop the book until I do figure it out, in fact. :) So, what did y'all think? THE BOOKS OF MAGIC #22 Writer: John Ney Rieber Here's what I thought... Quickie review this time - not meant to slight John or anyone, but I'm swamped. However, I couldn't go without at least mentioning how wonderful this story is. Circe's perplexed. She's trying to figure out what makes Tim-Cat tick, and is determined to take him apart (literally separating his soul from his shaped body, and then poking around in there) to find the animal she knows must be in him. Her first surprise comes when she chides Tim for borrowing a cat's body - then suddenly realizes he didn't borrow it, he shaped it himself. Oh dear, she's dealing with a Maker, and this realization scares her exceedingly. Meanwhile, Tim's dad is well on his way to acquiring a love life. Good for him. Gwen's still hanging out at Ravenknoll Estates, being the nanny to nobody in particular. Odd. Hope we get back to her story soon. I do like this Holly person who seems enamoured of Bill Hunter, though. And good for Bill. Have I mentioned that Peter Gross draws beautiful cats? And it seems to be Cat Week over at Vertigo (see my SANDMAN review elsewhere). Guess this means Paul Jenkins had better beef up the dog quotient over in HELLBLAZER. :) Out of cage, out of shaped body and out of his clothes (love the boxers, though - one of my favorite lines: "Suns? Monkeys? Well, this is new."), Tim is examined by Circe, who cuts open a window so she can look into his heart. What she discovers shocks, then humbles her, and she actually falls to her knees, weeping. Wow. Seems everyone has a beast inside them - even Circe. With some people, "their beasts have consumed their humanity." She wanted to tame Tim's beast, to protect Molly (and herself?) - but he doesn't have one. "You're the most human human I've ever met... you're more human than I am." According to her rules, this means she can't do bupkiss to him without his permission. And Tim surprises her, and us, by begging her to do something so that he can never hurt Molly. And she readies her instruments. This is going to be very painful... Tim returns to Ravenknoll in a state of considerable frustration, as we see by the emphasized Starkings lettering as he shapes a walkway for Filthy to climb up and see his lady-cat-love. Tim attempts to do the same to see Molly, and collapses in agony. He remembers what Circe said: "Respect. This one demands... respect." Molly? Or Tim? Dad runs toward him - he's been crazed with worry, though you wouldn't know it to look at him, you'd have to read between the lines - and Tim shows off his new beautiful chest-sized tattoo, which we see on the front of the page. Circe does gorgeous work. I believe she did Tom and Roseanne, but I could be mistaken. (If she did, however, I personally believe it would explain a lot of things.) No Molly this issue, except by implication, but that's enough to satisfy me - she's heavily in Tim's and Circe's thoughts. Another nice issue in what ought to be Vertigo's next flagship title. So, what did y'all think? Writer: Neil Gaiman Here's what I thought... The only thing that would have made this issue better would have been if it had been printed on rice paper. A friend of mine sent me this 19th century Japanese comic book. Well, he called it a comic book, but it looks more like someone's diary. And it's brittle, and it's beautifully painted, and I can't read a word and I have no idea what it says, but I treasure it. It's a work of art. It's totally incomprehensible, I'll never fully understand the culture that produced it - but I handle it gingerly as I flip through the pages, and gaze in wonderment. And I felt like doing that all through this issue of SANDMAN, who deals with Master Li, an old Chinese imperial advisor past his time. The current Emperor has had his son killed for presumably being a traitor, and he's being sent with a faithful servant into exile (seems he's still too respected to suffer the same fate as his offspring). And they wander through the desert on the way to Wei (I love this), Master Li and the servant... and a kitten that Li has picked up along the way. And we're treated to this ongoing narrative in the form of a thought- letter Master Li is "writing" - to whom he never says - and here I must commend the considerable talents of Todd Klein. Sure, the Muth art is incredible and evocative and perfect, but Klein's lettering makes this issue. It wouldn't work nearly as well without his touch. So they're in the desert, and Master Li dreams of the perfect cup of wine, and he's suddenly blinded by a wind - and finds himself face to face with his dead son. Then the kitten escapes the folds of his robe and scampers off to a nearby tent. He chases after it, and finds... well, he's dreaming of Dream now. They talk, and I remember the title, "Exiles" plural. And I wonder, is Dream an exile as well? He says he comes to this place "to think, and to remember," but I still wonder. Li asks for a cup of wine; his request is granted, and payment is refused. Li and the kitten depart, and walk across the desert, "and from across the plain I hear the sounds of madness" - all manner of things vaguely carnival-like. And Li pulls the level of the claw machine, which dispenses a bridge, and he walks on. Only to run into Dream again, on the other side of the chasm. They encounter some soldiers, which Dream dispatches - where? Back to the waking lands? All he says is "Perhaps," and all the general says is... well, we'll get back to that. Then Dream asks if Li would like to be his advisor now. Li politely declines, citing his duty to his emperor, which persists despite the circumstances of his exile. Dream nods acceptance and, when prompted, translates the general's Latin for Li - "Omnia mutantur, nihil interit." "Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost." So may it be said of this fine series, as it nears the end of its run, with only one more issue ("The Tempest") to go. Exquisite. There simply is no other word. So, what did y'all think? CASUAL HEROES #1 Writer/Penciller: Kevin McCarthy Here's what I thought... Boy, am I undecided about this one. On the one hand, it's the first offering from Motown Machineworks. On the other hand, Image distributes it. :) No, seriously, I want to support it, and goodness knows it's supporting my friends (there's a lovely ad for Friends of Lulu in the back, yay!), but... Well, McCarthy's style is interesting - kinda reminds me a little of the stuff Scott McCloud used to do in ZOT!. I think it's still a bit unpolished, especially the faces (those lips!), but I think he's working on it. The little touches he puts in his panels are nice. But -- But, the thing of it is, I don't know these people, and from what little I see I don't much like them. There's nothing yet for me to really hang my hat on. It reminds me a little of the first issue of SOVEREIGN SEVEN - we're introduced to a whole mess of characters who seem to be in the middle of their lives, and we're left to fill in a lot of blanks. We learn the main "code names" of these "heroes," but nothing about who they really are aside from two of them being sister and brother - and the fact that the "leader," a famous character named Saturn Red, likes to take sexual advantage of his underage female fans. Is this supposed to endear me to him? We meet a couple bad guys, and a couple more heroes. We see Saturn Red drinking in a bar, and aactually get a page of exposition, of sorts (see, most of this hero-vs-villain stuff is supposed to be faked, like pro wrestling, in order to sell comics), before SR follows his pants and goes for his next "victim." It shows promise, don't get me wrong. I just didn't get into it, as much as I wanted to. I think younger kids might get more of a kick out of it, but then my husband (who's 7 years my elder) liked it more than I did as well. Another one that I can't put my finger on as to why it made me uncomfortable, so I'm going to recommend it, with reservations, so readers can decide for themselves. So, what did y'all think? [These review are reprinted, with permission, from the Usenet rec.arts.comics newsgroups, and are copyright 1996 Elayne Wechsler-Chaput, caught between the Blizzard of '96 and another storm supposedly on the way this weekend, relying on a whole lotta providence to get her down to the Philadelphia Comic Book Spectacular on 1/12-14 to help staff the Friends of Lulu booth...] |
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