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From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Comics Reviews #2
Message-ID: <2840@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Jun-85 02:36:28 EDT
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Posted: Mon Jun 24 02:36:28 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Jun-85 05:17:02 EDT
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Reviewed this time around:

ALL-STAR SQUADRON #49	STIG'S INFERNO #4	THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #1
DRAGONFLY #1		SUPER POWERS #1		THE VISION AND THE SCARLET
THE NEW MUTANTS #32	VALENTINO #1			WITCH #1
SOLOMON KANE #1					DETECTIVE COMICS #554
						    (out of sequence)

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


DRAGONFLY #1	[Americomics, $1.75]	D+ [with a B for effort]

	I figured that between MS. VICTORY and NIGHTVEIL, I'd sampled all of
the standard Americomics I needed to (or could without upchucking). DRAGONFLY,
however, like POWER PLAYS, is "creator-owned" and just published/distributed
by Americomics, so I thought it might be safe enough. The creator in this case
is Rik Levins, and he's got a pretty good concept on his hands.
	It seems that in the universe of this comic, there was an earlier,
male Dragonfly, who gained his powers through a mystic ritual invoking an
insect god of some sort. In the present, an engineer for whom the occult is a
hobby, comes across the diary of the original Dragonfly, and attempts to repeat
the ritual. Unfortunately, right at the crucial moment, his fiancee walks in,
and *she* gains the Dragonfly powers.
	So now we have a woman who's got these powers, but she's not sure just
what she can do or how much. Plus there are a few other complications that
come with it. The script and art are uneven --- at times they're very pedes-
trian, at other times, they shine (I'll confess that part of the reason I
thought of giving this a try is that Dragonfly's outfit is pretty sharp). But
Levins is putting a good honest effort into this, and he does have talent
that's worth developing (moreso in the art department --- if he plotted and
pencilled, and had a good writer and inker, this book could be really good).
I'll stick this one for a while, as well as look for Dragonfly's previous
appearance in AMERICOMICS #4.


THE NEW MUTANTS #32	[Marvel, $.65]		D-

	A very nice cover by Steve Leialoha, with very uneven interiors by
same. As for the story, well, Dark Claremont rides again! I wish the hell he'd
clean up his act. THE NEW MUTANTS is sliding downhill faster and faster with
each issue.


SOLOMON KANE #1		[Marvel, mini-series, $1.25]		C+

	Solomon Kane is another of Robert E. Howard's sword-and-sorcery heroes,
though instead of being a barbarian in a time-lost land, he's a Puritan who
travels around 16th Century Europe on a mission for God. I've always been more
fond of Kane than any of Howard's other heroes, and I'd always hoped that we'd
get a decent comic featuring him one day. He *has* appeared here and there in
some of the black-&-white magazines of the early to mid 70's, as well as a
couple of issues of MARVEL PREMIERE (by Chaykin).
	This first issue of a 6-issue mini-series adapts the story "Red Shad-
ows", which was done once before (by Chaykin, if memory serves), but that's
OK, it's done better here than it was before. It's been a while since I read
the original story (I must re-read the collection one of these days), so I
can't tell how faithful the adaptation is, but I can say that it *feels* right.
While I have some minor quibbles, Ralph Macchio has a good grasp of the char-
acter, and the Steve Carr/Bret Blevins art is quite suitable (it can't match
the Alan Weiss and Neal Adams work that graced previous Kane appearances, but
I certainly won't hold *that* against it).
	Future issues will be mixing adaptations and originals. Whatever, I'll
be looking forward to them.


STIG'S INFERNO		[Vortex, b&w, $1.75]		B-

	No doubt about it. Now that the AMBUSH BUG mini-series is over, STIG'S
INFERNO is back to being the funniest comic book on the market. I urge you to
try it, just for laughs.


SUPER POWERS		[DC, mini-series, $.75]		F

	It's bad enough that Marvel had to inflict SECRET WARS II on us. Now,
DC inflicts a second SUPER POWERS mini-series on us. Gag me with a smurf. The
Kirby/Theakston art isn't too bad, actually, maybe even better than it has
been recently. But the story is awesomely awful. Picking up where the HUNGER
DOGS graphic novel ends, we have Darkseid once again up to no good --- this
time, attempting to remake Earth in Apokolips image.
	A bit of warning (if the above wasn't already enough!): the heroes in
this comic seem to be more derived from the SUPER FRIENDS cartoon show then
the DC multiverse --- Hal Jordan is Green Lantern, and Dr. Fate is hanging
around. Also, they meet in the "Hall of Justice".


VALENTINO #1	[Renegade, b&w, $1.70]		D+

	Short autobiographical stories by the writer/artist of NORMALMAN.
Interesting, but forgetable. The best piece was the one about his grandmother's
death of cancer. Having had a father go from the same, I can say that it
struck me right at home, but others may find it too depressing.
	For completists only.


THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #1	&	THE VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH #1

    [Marvel, $1.25]	    Both: D+	    [Marvel, maxi-series, $1.25]

	Lo! how the mighty are fallen. In the 70's, Steve Englehart was a
writer to be reckoned with, considered then to be one of the best in the
business. Now, his stories seem to just limp along, competent at best. And
these books are no exceptions. I'm reviewing them together since they are
tied together (along with the next issue of each). Ultron is back, along with
a few other old-time baddies, and the objects of their hunt are the two
embodiments of Simon Williams: Wonder Man and The Vision (this might give you
a clue to who Ultron's ally is).

	Two minor comments: (1) I must say that I was quite taken aback when
Wanda gave Gyrich "the arm" in TV&TSW. (2) What DC does, Marvel does better ---
Black Canary gets an awful new outfit, and Iron Man gets an even awfuller new
one. God, that is the *ugliest* costume I've *ever* seen!


DETECTIVE COMICS #554	[DC, $.75]	D+

	Welllllll.... the Canary's new outfit isn't *that* bad. I suspect that
it'll grow on me (those "wings" really have to go, though). It's amusing that
the cover says "For the FIRST time anywhere...the ALL-NEW BLACK CANARY", when
this new outfit has already shown up in WHO'S WHO and CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.
	That's alright, though, since Marvel did *this* better, too. Iron Man's
new armor, which is to be the big revelation in #200, has already appeared in
THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #1, as well as ads for SECRET WARS II #4.


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

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