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From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Comics Reviews #3
Message-ID: <2903@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 26-Jun-85 07:05:17 EDT
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Posted: Wed Jun 26 07:05:17 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 27-Jun-85 08:08:26 EDT
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Reviewed this time around:

THE ALADDIN EFFECT (MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #16)
ALIEN ENCOUNTERS #1
MECHANICS #1
THE ORIGINAL E-MAN AND MICHAEL MAUSER #1
TIME BEAVERS (FIRST GRAPHIC NOVEL #2)

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   |
********************************************************************************


THE ALADDIN EFFECT (MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #16)	[Marvel, $5.95]		C-

	Simple plot: A.I.M. has shut off a small Wyoming town from the rest of
the country because they've discovered some power source there that they have
not yet pinpointed. The town has been shut off for two months now, and society
is in the process of breaking down. It turns out that the power source that
A.I.M. is looking for is an 8-year-old girl named Holly, daughter of the sher-
riff. Apparently, she is a mutant [yes, another one!] and her powers are now
manifesting themselves. One night she wishes with all her might that her heroes
were there to help. Next day, we find that her wish worked, as Storm (before
she went punk), Wasp, Tigra, and She-Hulk (before she left the Avengers) all
appear in town with impaired memories (quickly restored) of who they are or
how they got there. Naturally, despite all odds, the good guys win.
	Seems just like a fairly average comic story, but somehow, David
Michelinie takes this plot (by Jim Shooter) and makes a fairly readable story
out of it. Not that it'll win any awards, but I found it to be much better
than I expected, and I got caught up in what was happening. The character of
Holly-Ann was interesting, and I hope we see more of her in the future.
	If there was any problem on the creative end, it was mostly in the
rather pedestrian art by Greg LaRocque and Vince Colletta. The *real*
problem, though, is in the format and price. This could easily have been done
as a special on Mando or newsprint for $1.25. As a graphic novel for $5.95,
it just isn't worth it. So, as much as I enjoyed reading it, I can't really
recommend it.


ALIEN ENCOUNTERS #1	[Eclipse, $1.75]	D+

	This is basicly ALIEN WORLDS sans Bruce Jones. Since Jones (and his
wife, April Campbell) owned ALIEN WORLDS and TWISTED TALES, Eclipse had to
come up with something else when Jones and Campbell decided to leave the
comics field for the cinematic field (mostly to work on the planned Somerset
holmes film). So, the still forthcoming TALES OF TERROR and this book are the
replacements.
	Generally, in an anthology book like this, the greatest dependence
is on the stories. And here we have a mixed bag. The first story, by Eric
Dinehart, is virtually incomprehensible. The last story, by Marc Hempel, is
perfectly comprehensible, by extremely trite; it's something you'd expect to
see on THE TWILIGHT ZONE. The third story, by Buzz Dixon, is amusing, but no
more than that. It's about how heartless, money-is-everything movie moguls
destroy everything that they touch. It's a story we've heard time and time
again, and *it's* got a TZ-ish ending, too. The only saving grace, storywise,
is the second one, by Ken Macklin and Toren Smith --- it's light, silly fun
that somehow manages to seem fresh despite itself.
	Artwise, we fair a little better. Mike Gustovich, Ken Macklin, and
Marc Hempel all turn in good, solid work, though none of it really stands out.
Mike Hoffman (illustrating the Dixon story) is technically OK, but it doesn't
do much for me.


MECHANICS #1	[Fantagraphics, mini-series, $2.00]	A-

	All right --- you guys that have been ignoring LOVE AND ROCKETS just
because it's in black-&-white or it's magazine-size have no excuses any more.
MECHANICS is a three-issue mini-series that reprints, for the first time in
color, the "Mechanics" serial from the first couple of issues of LOVE AND
ROCKETS. For the faithful few who are already familiar with the magazine, you
now have a chance to see the story in color, as well as the two new stories
(well, one's continued next issue) about Penny Century and Hopey.
	I won't mince words. Jaime Hernandez's "Mechanics" has some of the
most fascinating characters in comics (Maggie, Hopey, and Penny, among others),
as well as artwork that is beautiful in its simplicity.


THE ORIGINAL E-MAN AND MICHAEL MAUSER #1  [First, mini-series, $1.75]	B-

	This is classic material from the early 70's. For those of you who
enjoy First's E-MAN comic, you ain't seen nothing yet. For those of you who
don't like First's E-MAN, give this a try --- it's much better than the First
series. For those of you who were faithful fans 12 years ago, here's your
chance to have all the original E-Man stories on Baxter paper, along with the
Mauser stories that ran in Charlton's VENGEANCE SQUAD, as well as an E-Man
story that only appeared in a "house" fanzine, CHARLTON BULLSEYE, and one that
has never before appeared.
	Of course, all this isn't in the first issue, but be patient. Here,
we have the stories from the first two issues of the Charlton E-MAN, and I'm
happy to say that they hold up well (but better stories are to come). This is
definitely worth picking up.


TIME BEAVERS (FIRST GRAPHIC NOVEL #2)	[First, $5.95]		D+

	The Time Beavers are of a race whose mission is to protect the Great
Dam from attack by the Rats. The Great Dam regulates the "Dimensional Time
Streams", and the Rats want to break through to wreak havoc on all Time. In
this story, a party of Rats manages to steal some Objects of Particular Power
from the Great Dam and try to use them to change the course of Earth's History
so that it may fall under their control. The Time Beavers, of course, manage
to keep that from happening.
	If you're a fan of Timothy Truman's art, this is worth getting --- he
does some terrific work here. Unfortunately, as regards the story, it's so
*ordinary*, it hurts! Amusing at times, to be sure, but most of the time, it
felt like I was turning the pages not so much to find out what happens next,
but just to get closer to the end of the story.
	Unless the art really strikes your fancy, don't bother with this one.

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA)

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