|
This week's digest: DC VS. MARVEL/MARVEL VS. DC #3 DC VERSUS MARVEL/MARVEL VERSUS DC Writer: Ron Marz (with thanks to Peter David) Here's what I thought... Dear Diary, P.S. So, what did y'all think? Writer: Mark Waid Here's what I thought... For all that this issue deals with "Who Is John Ga-- er, Fox?", I still consider it a Linda issue. Not only do we get to see Linda anew through Fox's eyes and words, but she carries much of the plot along as well in Wally West's absence. Unfortunately, we also get to see Linda through the pencils of Castrillo and the inks of Rodriguez - and while both are competent enough (nice backgrounds, good use of humor, characters well differentiated and, my goodness, the guys in spandex have actual crotches) some things just feel... off. Especially Linda. She seems to be built differently every time she changes clothes, and her eyes (besides being a tad too rounded) are just... weird. Very large, and in some close-up shots she even looks crosseyed. Page 8 is the strangest - she's talking with John and Piper (yay, Piper! Always great to see him playing a key role in an issue) about how "I may not have the cleavage to be a sword-swinging super-heroine," in an obvious reference to Jesse Quick. And I'm thinking, boy, I don't remember Jesse having that much cleavage during the "Dead Heat" storyline. Worse, Linda's saying this whilst practically falling out of her top. (And, of course, she may not wield swords, but one particular artist thought her "babelike" enough to have her heft two awkward-looking guns at once in FLASH #100... but that's neither here nor there.) This issue is about crises in faith. We see Linda at her strongest - she's seen Wally perform miracles, and her belief in his return remains steadfast throughout most of this issue as she goes about doing what she does best. Piper doesn't have a tremendous amount of faith, or trust, in John, who is relatively new at the Flash business himself but believes he's finally gotten to the point where he can think of Wally as an equal (his story is, he's "just jaunting" through time and happened to appear at the same point where Wally left... why doesn't this sound right?). He later goes through a little crisis and tantrum) of his own in failing to stop the latest heir to the Captain Cold mantle, a nasty sort calling himself Chillblaine. And we see Jesse Quick's and especially Libby's (Jesse's mom, Johnny's estranged wife and former superhero Liberty Belle) faith shaken by Johnny's - okay, may as well call it "death" for purposes of this issue, since they hold a funeral for him. Libby and Jesse would appear to remain estranged for some time to come. And to say Libby's bitter would be an understatement. John tries his best to restore people's faith by comforting Jesse as best he can, helping XS get back home to the 30th century through modifying the "Cosmic Treadmill" (although it appears Jenni made some unscheduled stops along the way, judging by a couple things she said in the last issue of LEGIONNAIRES; hope we someday find out what/when they were), saving various citizens (in Wally's absence) from the machinations of Chillblaine, and generally being there for Linda. Who doesn't seem to need him, up until page 20. And damn it, I always seem to have weird problems with Mark's page 20s. I don't know what it is. They appear to be his "wham" pages, you know? And most of the time the "wham"s are terrific, but they have the effect of making me a little uneasy. This issue's no exception. Linda mentions something about Wally coming back, and suddenly John is silent. "What's wrong?" she asks. "I should have told you before," he responds. "How do I...? Oh, God..." This tells us nothing. Linda infers, "It's Wally, isn't it? You know something! He... he never comes back, does he?" And she throws her arms around John (?!) and starts sobbing, "Tell me! Is it true?" His thought caption - "It is now." So there are a couple things going on at once here. Does Wally's return rest only on Linda's belief? Why does she suddenly have less faith in Wally than the readers of this book have in Mark? (There's been no real indication up until now that she's this close to the edge. Has she just been hiding it well?) Does John in fact know something? Does Wally's travel through the timestream negate what John knows anyway, because Wally's probably travelled (from the looks of pp. 21-22) beyond John's time? Should we trust a guy whose Scott Bakula white tuft keeps appearing and disappearing at random (hi Tom)? And most importantly, is Mark playing around with time travel more just to make my head hurt? What do I know, I just go with the flow. Wally may in fact be in DC Annual land (that's what it looks like to me, anyway), but this book has become about him and Linda. And they will be together again, no matter how many ways Mark finds to tease and aggravate his readers. Nope, no crisis of faith here. So, what did y'all think? WONDER WOMAN #108 Writer/Artist: John Byrne Here's what I thought... A rather lackluster ending to this particular storyline, I thought. Felt like a kind of denoument, ending with a whimper rather than a bang. But that's okay. I liked the interplay between the "heroes" in question, and I especially liked the fact that Diana opined her and the Stranger's initial victories over Etrigan and then Arion were accomplished too easily, moments before she was proven right. Perhaps I should have seen that coming, but I didn't. I like the fact that Diana's instincts are this well honed, and that Etrigan "blended in" as well as he did until they were in Morgaine Le Fay's compound. I have trouble seeing Arion quoting Twain, but I defer to Kupps on All Things Arion, and if he didn't have a problem with Byrne's characterization then neither do I. :) I also thought Vandal Sandwich was handled well - his little soliloquy about how he could have broken his bonds at any time but chose not to because he was bored and wanted to see what would happen next was, to me, very spot-on. And some interesting questions are answered during the fall of Le Fay. I guess I hadn't paid attention that Diana actually gave up her immortality upon leaving Themiscrya; glad John clarified that. I actually enjoyed the battle scene with WW and Le Fay, something I rarely admit to doing, but perhaps I liked it best because of Diana's decision to go limp and passive towards the end, thus depriving Morgaine of what she wanted most by refusing to fight. (Yay, let's hear it for refusing to fight! That always seems to take more bravery, as far as I'm concerned.) I also like the explanation John gives for why Etrigan wasn't rhyming, and personally I don't think he did that badly on the rhyme stuff at the end, although I found some of the language a little stilted elsewhere. I can't get into the Dr. Lazarus subplot at all, which is probably to my detriment as I think that'll be the next big arc. The art was wonderful (and the coloring lovely - yay, Trish, once again!), but Kupps has some nice news in the letter column - soon Terry Austin will be coming on board to ink Byrne on this book. I was also very impressed that Paul printed a couple of negative letters and seemed to hold back (well, for him <g>) in his response to a particularly vitriolic one. It does give a letter column a lot more balance when you allow differing opinions through, and show respect for the writers of those opinions. I've already seen the pencils for #109, and I have no idea what's going on either. :) So, what did y'all think? LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #79 (L #7 for 1996) Co-Writer: Tom Peyer Here's what I thought... I'm going for the record here - shortest Pen-Elayne review to date. This was one long fight scene, which was pretty much as promised, so I'm not complaining about false advertising at any rate. But I thought character development was minimal (except for a few nice revelations about Starboy's additional powers), some stuff was just too silly (wow, the old arsenal-in-the-ear trick, why didn't I think of that...) and other stuff seemed to lead nowhere. At least Brainy's out of his cell now. Inexplicably, nobody's yanked on the Empress' navel-chain yet. Duh, the Legionnaires finally figure out they were suckered and the Sun Eater scare is bogus. But really, just one long fight scene. The dialogue was cute, the art (especially on the faces) wavered in places but was certainly serviceable, the crafting was there. But I couldn't really get worked up about it. Quickest Legion book read I've had in quite awhile. Shortest review, too. So, what did y'all think? [Here's a couple reviews of books from last week, written in response to a request from Kurt Busiek] AMAZING FANTASY #18 Writer: Kurt Busiek Here's what I thought... The key to being a good person, I think, is never quite believing you're as good as others might say you are. Even when you acknowledge that you may have a redeeming quality here or there worthy of attention or, heaven help us, admiration, you feel like you have to hold back and never fully believe the hype, or you become the hype and lose track of what you set out to do in the first place. You can tell I'm still sorting out my feelings about that RAC* Queen and Elayne's Groupies business, can't you? :) In Peter Parker's case, he's just starting to acclimate himself to this amazing ability with which he's been... blessed. He's believed the hype about the other superheroes on TV, and he knows there's no way he can be one of them. He's just Peter. The guy who's going to be beating himself up for the next decade at least over "causing" his family's financial straits by not capturing the thug who murdered his breadwinning uncle. He's obsessed with "trying to make up for my mistakes. That's not being a super hero..." 'Cause superheroes, why, they probably don't even make mistakes, let alone own up to them. That's the Hype, at least. For Peter, what he does is "just trying to help out." And that's the unglamorous, un-newsworthy reality. And the wonderful thing about Peter Parker, as Kurt writes him, is that, as glib as he may be under the mask, he never for one moment allows himself to believe the hype over the reality - at least as it concerns himself. He still has a ways to go before he overcomes his starstruck admiration for other superheroes, but that makes for a delicious irony, as we see him saving a kid from a burning building (lovely 2-page spread) while the radio report talks Hype about him. He's constantly, alertly questioning his motives, even as the media glorify him. Still, Peter pays just enough attention to the Hype to realize it might be a good way to finally get out from under a financial crush. He may not have to sell out completely, but perhaps just a little piece of him, make his agent Maxie Schiffman happy, give the public what they want, maybe get on a can of pasta or something... Maxie, for one, can't believe his luck at his prodigal talent's return - what a godsend! In fact, might as well make it two for the price of one... Screw that astronaut, that John Jameson character - let's get Spidey and a second "hero" on "It's Amazing" tonight! Of course, that astronaut's father, J. Jonah Jameson, is less than pleased that a couple costumed jokers are usurping his boy's place in media history (if Parker were there, he'd probably say John's "the real hero" at that), and this further fuels his personal fire - and no doubt blood pressure level - which will blaze brightly against the webbed wonder in the years to come. Well, the "other hero" in question is this character named Supercharger, a disreputable type who immediately sets Peter's spider sense atingling, only Peter's not sure what's ringing the alarm bells. Hell, maybe it's his nervousness. Or his conscience berating him for selling out. More internal justifications ensue, as Supercharger beats a hasty retreat to "get ready for the show." Uh-oh. Well, show's on - and so's the Charger, who proceeds to take over and threaten to off everyone in the studio, especially the audience. Since he's got his 15 minutes to kill, he relates his origin story, which reveals how he too admired the hype surrounding superheroes - he and his father, who sought to induce and possess superpowers. Dad the scientist wound up getting killed, but not before his nebulous experiments succeeded in charging his son with "awful, terrible power." And the dark side thereto. Because Charger only wanted the glory of it - not the responsibility, not the work. He bought into the power, with no desire to question its implications. He didn't want to feel the burn, so he wound up getting burned by the enormity, the sadness on which the hype-happy media never focuses, "that these super-beings were nothing but monsters - freaks - who bring nothing but death, destruction and tragedy in their wake..." And since all he can see is this one side, that's what he chooses to emulate. Heroes don't fight evil, they bring evil - therefore, that's his destiny. And Spidey tries desperately to contact the folks he thinks of as real heroes to help out in this situation. But the phones are cut off, and there's no time - Charger's already threatening his first would-be fictim. "I can't do it. I can't just ABDNDON these people to this madman." Screw this hero stuff, there's just the job. And as Peter's internal battle continues, he finds himself on the losing end of the external one. Until he hears Flash Thompson's voice of belief - Flash, who buys the hype. And Peter realizes it's not exactly about the hype, but others' belief can sustain him, can help him focus on THEM, not himself. On what needs to be done. And he uses his head, wires a couple cables to the bad guy and maxes him out to defeat him and save the day. But speaking of Max... seems Schiffman hasn't been all that honest with Spidey. As the studio crew assesses the damage done, Max confesses to some outstanding debts and lapses in judgement, and Peter advises he return the show's money post-haste. To which Maxie relucatantly agrees. But JJJ, overhearing this conversation, will have none of it. His mind's made up - nothing Spidey says can be believed. From now on, he's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. He's either a menace or an egotist... And Peter? What does he believe of himself now? "I can help. So I should. That's all there is to it... Who's to say what a superhero feels like?" He's accepted himself, his destiny, his responsibility at last. The self-questioning won't stop, but at least he has a grounding in understanding why he does what he does. And this makes him more than a hero in my book; it makes him a good person. So, what did y'all think? UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN #8 Writer: Kurt Busiek Here's what I thought: I'm not one for father-son tales, possibly because I've never been either a father nor a son. And this one in particular, dealing with Harry Osborn and his father Norman, tends to get a bit heavy-handed, even dipping into the maudlin a couple times. I think, also, that I don't get as much out of it as some others will, because I know very little about the Osborns, who they are, who they're going to be, etc. I get that Norman is pushing Harry aside to get on with his criminal masterminding, but that's about the gist of it. I think this is one of those issues that long-time Marvel readers will enjoy more than me; they see Spidey battling the Enforcers, for instance, and I kinda shrug because I don't have a personal history of reading about the Enforcers. A superhero is defined by his/her actions and thought-balloons and identification with the reader's best hopes and dreams; a villain is defined by his/her history and antagony. You don't need the kind of grounding to get into Spidey that you need to get into the Osborns or the Enforcers or the Headsman as characters. So I tune out the fight and look for character development. Not too much with Harry - he's still defined primarily by his situation - and we only really see a page or so of Flash Thompson and Sally and the other high school cronies. But Peter's brashness during their encounter is well done, and carries into his bargaining with J. Jonah Jameson at the Bugle, which is equally precious. I still don't care that much about Harry, even though ya gotta feel sorry for the guy. He wants to Do The Right Thing, so he decides to alert Spidey about the bad guys come to see his dad. Naturally, the good guy wins, and Harry hopes he's helped win his father's love at last. But of course that trick never works, and we get a close-up of the elder Osborn behind closed doors, still not letting Harry in, but doodling a sinister-looking character of whom we'll probably see more in future issues. I don't remember this character's name, but I seem to recall someone telling me he's a major villain in Spidey's life, and based on what Kurt says on page 1 I gather Harry becomes this character. In any case, this was one of the only UTOS issues that didn't do it for me that much, but hey, AF #18 more than made up for that. Even so, Kurt, one should be careful for what one asks, one just may receive it. ;) So, what did y'all think? THE INCREDIBLE HULK #440 Writer: Peter David Here's what I thought... Ordinarily, one would expect the final segment of a five-part storyline to wrap things up. You know, the villain's revealed and punished, usually a couple guys in spandex duke it out, there's a sense of relief and hope, everyone has a chance to regroup before the next big crisis... your standard multi-part comic book story structure. Well, Peter David has chosen not to follow the standard here. And I'm not sure how well his choice succeeds, because most of us are used to our graphic literature achieving at least a few of the outcomes described above. Here we get a protracted fight scene between the Hulk and Thor, we glimpse the goings-on involving all our intertwined subplots (Omnibus or the Leader or whomever he is, the mandatory Pinky and the Brain appearance, the Head-quarters, the usual gang of idjits in Washington)... ...well, we get everything but resolutions. We get Omnibus' minions revolting against him. We get to see a friggin' huge bomb dropped on the frozen tundra wherein the "Maestro" fights faux Thor. We get to see Bruce sort-of explain his reasoning to Betty, before he loses his temper with her and causes her nipples to protrude unnaturally in fear (I mean, really) then we watch him soften to her again, say something sweet and romantic and disappear into the night. And, most perplexing of all, we see Betty laugh at the atom bomb that's dropped up north. Laugh! Oh, la la la, we've just mucked up yet another ecosystem, but Bruce has a plan, not that anyone knows what it is beyond making him a scapegoat, but - well, apparently it is to laugh. A very disappointing book for me, since I expected a denouement and a resolution - at least one resolution - and got neither. As a continuing story it held my interest well enough, but this was in no way the ending of a multi-parter. It cannot stand alone. And therefore, for all its various interesting parts here and there, I don't consider it a good story. So, what did y'all think? Writer: Mark Waid Here's what I thought... Can someone, anyone, explain to me why so many Marvel books seem to need multiple inkers? I mean, I'm glad lots of folks are getting work, don't get me wrong, but what gives? Anyway, the art and coloring are gorgeous - the splash especially knocked me out - so I'm not exactly complaining. I wasn't that impressed with the main storyline, but that's probably a function of not really caring all that much about these characters. I could never get into Bishop. Gambit's mildly interesting. And Beast - well, I'll get to that later. Of course, one of the things I love about Mark Waid's writing is that, even when it's not up to his usual level, it's still better than 90% of what's out there. And when he does write to my expectations (which, again, tend to be a bit skewed given that I don't really have my heart in the X characters), he's wondrous. Take, for example, pages-- Okay, whose bright idea was it at Marvel not to number your friggin' pages? Kindly buy a clue, ladies and gentlemen. *flips through pages, counting* Pages 7-9. The scene in Annandale with Scott and Jean, and Jean's family. Really lovely. You get a sense of what each is about by the way they interact with each other and those around them, you get some terrific dialogue, some romance, some childlike sense of wonder, and some plot development. The characters aren't static, but neither are they jumping around nor beating each other up. They're communicating with each other and, through each other, with us. They're acting and reacting to situations around them. All in three pages. Elegant. This is the kind of thing you can expect, X fans. Revel in it. The news development to which Scott and Jean's family react concerns creepy anti-mutant bigot Graydon Creed, running for President. Thank goodness we don't have any creepy bigots running for President in our reality, by golly. This segues into Xavier placing a call to his friend Louis in St. Croix, a leader of the Mutant Underground network, as a failsafe in case things get uglier. An ominous foreshadowing. Meanwhile back at the main plot, Bishop, Gambit and Beast have been sent to stop a runaway train. They enter and start fending off - other mutants. Only these folks didn't come by it genetically - they're victims of a virus that's spread by physical contact. Ewwww... As they dispatch and disarm the changed passengers, Beast lets a few strange lines slip, which he covers up as jokes. Bishop is suspicious. If I recall, Bishop is from an alternate future like this faux Beast (and we're reminded he's not the real McCoy a few pages later), and he'd be in the best position to sniff out a phony from 'round about his timeline. Still, it's nice to see how even this Hank McCoy uses his head as well as his brawn to come up with a solution (in this case, an oil-based anesthetic solution to knock most of the passengers unconscious and unmutate them). His task accomplished, he comes face to face with bad guy Sinister. Eeep. Elsewhere (like above), Bishop and Gambit try to figure out how to stop the train. Gambit has a plan involving charging the entire train with kinetic energy (nice way of establishing he doesn't just soup-up cards), and Bishop thinks he's nuts. So do I - they're barrelling into Manhattan, and you know, they just fixed up Penn Station so nice and all. Look, just spare the sushi place, that's all I ask. :) Nice bit of suspense, though, and even the Starkings balloon at the end is done well. I make no pretense - I'm reading this book because Mark Waid's writing it. I'm sure I'll get into the characters and situations more as things progress, but for now I'm holding on to pages 7-9 and smiling. So, what did y'all think? Writer: Warren Ellis Here's what I thought... Another Ellis issue that, for some reason, doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's because I'm thoroughly overloaded with and bored by conspiracies. My husband loves this stuff - he's a big fan of X-Files and Nowhere Man and shows of that ilk. I just turn it off. The status quo has screwed up our world enough on their own that I don't need to believe a grand conspiracy is behind business as usual. I mean, it makes a good story, it's just not my kind of good story. So some guy named Alistaire Stuart (what, like a British version of Fox Mulder?) wants some sort of asylum with Exclalibur, I guess, because the Hellfire Club wants to kill him. Of course, nothing's ever easy - he shows up at Xavier's mansion in the states. Meanwhile, Shinobi Shaw plots. Martine is bored. Shinobi wants Brian Braddock. Kurt has a new goatee. Goes well with the tail. Hope he has enough money left over after the hair stylist to buy new pants. Kitty and Peter/ Colossus watch him play with a soccer ball. Soccer bores me more than conspiracies. <g> They turn around and view Meggan, who's sporting enormous mutated growths on her chest. Instead of seeing a doctor about her condition, she inexplicably chooses to worsen it by wearing ill-fitting clothes that barely cover it. "It felt like the thing to do," she explains. Emphasis on "felt," I suppose, since the angle at which she's shown, and the costume itself, practically scream, "Here they are, boys, feel 'em up!" But I'm sure she's not bad, she's just drawn that way. Er, how old is she supposed to be, again? So aside from Megan's silicone injections, the conversations been quite nice and we have a little character development here and there, and we also find out that Kitty's pet dragon Lockheed has finally reappeared from under her bed. Can he teach my cat to do that? It also seems Lockheed hates Pete Wisdom, Kitty's new boyfriend. No doubt zany hijinks will ensue somewhere along the line. The British Hellfire Club broods some more, and I don't care. The Muir Island bunch says hi to the X-Mansion bunch - well, Jean and Scott, at any rate. Back from Annandale this soon? They fill Peter, Kitty and Kurt in on whassup with Alistaire. Kurt goes off to arrange transportation. More stuff with Shinobi, and with his father Sebastian. Shaw the Younger tries to talk Brian Braddock into rejoining the Hellfire Club, and Brian is apparently thinking it over, because there's trouble involving a badguy named Mountjoy. Wait a minute, I thought the Hellfire Club was all badguys??? Please make me care enough to want to sort this out. Meanwhile, Douglock has come to a decision. "Chaos is the way. Today, everything will change. Saying it aloud gives it... force." Not to mention exposition. You know, I don't think Alistaire's Alistaire, if you know what I mean. I wonder if he's Mountjoy? Anyway, Black Air choppers (can't have a conspiracy without black 'copters) shoot their transport out of the sky. Next, please? So, what did y'all think? DEATH: THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE Writer: Neil Gaiman Here's what I thought... A very densely-packed and -worded story - I don't know that I'd have gone with the go-go checks for backgrounds on something this crowded. Then again, we do get the feeling Foxglove's life is sort of closing in around her, so perhaps it's appropriate after all. Famous acoustic rock'n'roll singer Foxglove's on tour, doing the Letterman bit and stuff. She's bummed that she and her lover Hazel seem to be constantly at odds lately, but seems to have made no effort to resolve the situation. She does try to talk her manager, Larry, into letting her come out publicly, and he gives her some very persuasive arguments (at least they are to her) as to why she can't yet. Hazel, meanwhile, has her hands full back home, especially with son Alvie - who seems rather... impervious to injury. And I flip back to the prologue, wherein we see Hazel crouching over a small child's feet, looking up and seeing a figure with an umbrella. Someone she knows. Possible conclusion: Hazel is passing familiar with Death, and has perhaps made some sort of bargain for the life of her accident-prone child. A bargain on which, it seems, Death has come to collect by issue's end. All of which goes unnoted by Foxglove, awhirl in her own world of photo shoots and rehearsals and premieres and no time to talk to Hazel and no time to even think about the implications of Larry suddenly appearing to her, ghost-like, in her dressing room to warn her of things to come. She has no way of knowing he's just collapsed from a massive coronary at 30,000 feet up on the way back to El-Lay. And she doesn't listen to him. She's as dismissive of his spectral force as she is of the woman who loves her. And chances are she will pay dearly. As I said, a dense book - up to 16 panels on some pages - but a fascinating profile of and intro to our main players. And as "noisy" as it is, it still feels quiet at its heart. I'm still hoping love will save the day, but only one other thing is as certain as Death. Highly recommended. So, what did y'all think? [Lots of nice independent stuff came out this week, and I wanted
to alert interested folks about it as well as giving relatively brief reviews,
so let's see if I'm capable of the latter, shall we? <g> Oh, and
spoilers abound, so be forewarned.] WANDERING STAR #11 Two significant things happen before you even get into the events of this issue. First, Teri announces she's moving the title to Sirius starting in May, when it will go monthly and relieve her of the headache of running a business as well as creating a comic. With WS now added to the stable that also includes AKIKO, I'm mildly amused I'm actually going to be looking for Sirius output for a change. The other good touch here is Teri's decision to recap the story from the last three issues, ostensibly for the benefit of those folks who've only read the WS trade pb (which apparently covers #1-7), but I appreciated it too; a nice refresher, and it helped me get right into the story. In this issue, the adult Casandra relates to her inquisitive visitor how she and the now-emotionless Mekon (acting as her servant) were taken back to the Wandering Star, where they again hooked up with Madison - a shadow of his former self. There Casi proceeded to put a previously set-up plan into action - she cued Elli, the ship's sentient computer, to play music to distract their Bono Kiro escorts, then fire on them so that Casi & co. could make good their escape - which worked. Madison helped eliminate the remaining Bono Kiri through his psi power, and we leave the ship spacebound once more, with a furious Commander Narz back on Earth (having just pacified Casi's dad again) vowing to catch up with them. Wood's art has improved by leaps and bounds, her cover is gorgeous, and the story's positively gripping. It'll be a long three-month wait, but I trust it will be well worthwhile RADICAL DREAMER #6 This issue ends the "Dreams Cannot Die!" introductory story arc, after which Mark will return with RADICAL DREAMER PRIME to fill readers in a little more on the background of this fascinating dystopic world of Owners and Employees and Dreamers and others. The art is extremely stylized, as befits the subject matter, and the plot is somewhat confusing, concerning the ultimate overthrow of the Owners' control over the Dreamnet and an addicted populace, the escape of the good guys, the punishment of the bad guys... really wonderful stuff, but it takes a little effort to get into. Looking forward to PRIME to help newcomers understand it all. And Mark, I do hope we see Max again someday - I completely lost it during the goodbye scene between him and Val. The final panel is wonderful. STARCHILD: CROSSROADS #2 Now that James' major story arc is laid to rest for awhile, he's telling a series of smaller vignettes in the form of, well, stories. Sometimes this runs the danger of becoming too self-referential (in point of fact, we're *always* reading stories when we read comics, and Owen seems to delight in stories-within-stories anyway, so it can get somewhat dizzying), but if it's a good yarn who cares? And this one concerns the relationship between the First of the Fallen and Oberon of the Fay (again, tricky if you can't get Vertigo's version out of your head), and their battle for the soul of Martin Keeper. Nice surprise ending, and we never do learn the answer to either riddle posed during the contest. [One good thing about this tale is that it concerns three characters who are very different in appearance - a problem I've occasionally had with Owen's art is the inability to tell some of the characters apart.] EMMA DAVENPORT #6 I think this is the best issue of ED yet. I didn't really get into the Cookie Woofer War stuff that much, although I do like the Proschs' characters an awful lot. What did bowl me over when I met Richie at a convention last year was their "Golden-Age Emma Convention Special #1," and the first story this issue, "The Uff-Da Fest of DOOM!", is a sequel to that one. If they can follow the minimalist art style, kids will love this tale - it's very, very keen. As GA reviewer Joanna Sandsmark might say, it's punk! :) The kids save the day and capture the Nazi badguys once again - hooray! Keep 'em flying, kids! The second short tale, "The Secret of Fangirl's Name," is quite delightful as well, but what really astounded me was the long letter in "Emmanations," their letters column, having to do with Kierkegaard, '50s literary icons like Ginsberg and Kerouac, pop culture references in general... this is like something I'd expect to see in the STARMAN letters column. Real weighty, fascinating stuff. Very recommended. Stuff from Newcomers Publishing "Since 1994," reads the inside back cover blurg, "Newcomers Publishing has been recognized as the best national forum for publishing original work of promising new comic book artists!" Well, this is the first I've ever heard of them, but this week they seemed to bombard my local comic store with about a dozen offerings from different aspiring creators. And I'm very impressed with their methods. I chose two fantasy tales as my purchases, Dale Mitchell's FABLES FOR WINGED CHILDREN (a tad creepy but a fascinating story taking place in a world wherein humans are far from the only sentient race - the main characters are "the incubi, the succubi, the hidden, the enslaved, the free" - nice gothic stuff) and John Molloy's CHELSEA MASCOTT (a book I really liked, about a young artist who suddenly finds herself possessed of extraordinary powers - very manga on the faces, solid storytelling, and it absolutely hooked me). I didn't really check out the other stuff, but it's all different kinds of genres and subgenres, and if the quality is on the level of the two I did buy I believe Newcomers will be a company to watch. In fact, I'm going to E-mail them right now for their free catalog and submission guidelines. Nice work, folks - a great showcase for up and coming talent! So, what did y'all think? [These reviews are reprinted, with permission, from the rec.arts.comics Usenet newsgroups and are copyright 1996 Elayne Wechsler-Chaput, who would like to again thank all the kind people who voted her Favorite RAC* Participant in the annual Squiddy Awards - further proof that the net.gods must be crazy...] |
|||