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From: moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Old!  Unimproved! MORIARTY REVIEWS (Part 1 of 5: Da Real Good Stuff)
Message-ID: <2553@vax4.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Aug-85 02:54:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax4.2553
Posted: Tue Aug 20 02:54:35 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Aug-85 00:37:35 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: The Institute for Criminal Masterminds
Lines: 123

Gad!  For a while, I thought maybe I was going through grade inflation
again, but, no, looks like a very good month for comics...

Reviewed:

SHE-HULK GRAPHIC NOVEL		ECHO OF FUTUREPAST	ZOT
CEREBUS 	SWAMP THING	MAGE		NEXUS

------------------------------------------------
"There *are* standards.  If you can't see one, you *make* one and stick to
 it come Hell or high water -- until you see a BETTER one."
						-John Gaunt

        "Well, if you can't believe what you read in a comic book, what *can*
          you believe?!" 
                                -Bullwinkle J. Moose
****************************************************************************
|==>A< One of the best of the year. Example: ZOT #8                        |
|==>B< A very good issue, one of the best of the month (usually 6/month)   |
|==>C< A well done, entertaining issue.  Satisfying.  Example: Jon Sable   |
|==>D< Boring, but with a few good points.  Example: SQUADRON SUPREME      |
|==>F< Boring AND stupid or childish.  Example: Secret Wars.               |
|==>Z< Actually offensive.  Example: Several of Haney's UNKNOWN SOLDIERs   |
****************************************************************************

SHE-HULK  Graphic Novel [C+]:

Well, I'm an old lover of S.H.I.E.L.D. (I have the complete run of
Strange Tales and the SHIELD comic, including the Steranko stuff),
and if the Nick Fury Mini-Series is anything like this, I'll follow it
through.  The main question that has been brought up here before
is, is it worth it as a Graphic Novel?  Frankly, I would say yes, due
to the large panels and extremely good color -- I thought it more
entertaining than it would have been in a mini-series, printed on
standard paper, with smaller frames.  While I was not crazy about
the partial nudity (does Shooter make this a requirement of all
graphic novels?), I still thought it a very good piece of work, and
some of the best storytelling out of Byrne in a long time, especially
in the graphic design area (remember those old X-Mens, and first
FFs, where a sequence almost progressed without a script?). 

Oh, is this the place Fury starts his exploration of S.H.I.E.L.D.?  And
I was glad the side effects of the atomic pile were what they were
-- I was afraid we were going to get into the "the extra radiation
could make you turn into a REAL Hulk someday" plotline (it's
something Marvel would think of), and I'd hate to see it.  One tragic
behmoth is enough...

ECHO OF FUTUREPAST #5 [C-]:

With Bucky O'Hare, Mudwog and Tippie Toe Jones, one of the best
anthology books on the block.  However, jeers for the fact that
while TTJ has his mug on the cover, the story inside is only two
pages long!  Grak!

Well, several of the poorer stories ended with this issue, and next
issue promises the premiere of Torpedo, a European creation I've
heard many good things about.  It's expensive, but I guess I just
don't notice these things (after I pass $50 for a month's worth of
comics, I don't notice much else...).

ZOT! #10 [A- (only in comparison to two issues ago, which was an
A+ )]:

LAST...
ISSUE...
ARGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"No, officer, the last we saw of him, he had an Uzi machine gun and
was heading for Jim Shooter's office... said he was going to `force
that great hairy booger to print ZOT!', or else introduce him to the
`Great Beyonder'..."

Well, it looks like poor sales weren't the only reason ZOT! is gone
for a while... McCloud seemed to feel that Zot was stagnating, that
the quality was lower than it should have been.  Myself, I think the
man doesn't realize that you have to have low spots too, and his
low spots are gold when compared to other comics high points. 
Anyway, I'll write him and plead....  This issue is fully worth your
while, as all ZOT! issues are.  Fantastic art (look at that center
spread!  Just LOOK at it!  Wowsa!).    And, Oh, I liked the final
panel...

CEREBUS #76 [A]:

Quit possibly the best Cerebus story of the year, which means (due
to the calibar of Sim's work) one of the best comics of the year.  If
I'm correct, there is a LOT of interesting things revealed here, and
quite a few more hinted at.  God only knows where the plot will go
next, which is, of course, one of the great features of this book.  Oh,
and a letter from Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, in the
letters page.  However, the Connie Lingus bit is getting real old, real
quick...


SWAMP THING #42 [B-]:  Grotesquely funny; I found the pawky
humor much more distinctive than the Gothic Romance features. 
As normal, about eight great characterizations; but the nice (and
funny) touches include a Hollywood Prop that fools even possessed
spirits, and a zombie who finds just his line of work (I think we
have one of these guys running the *projector* at a theater I
frequent...)

MAGE #8 [B-]:

1)  Anyone commented on the beautiful coloring done in this comic
yet?

2) How many black Captain Marvel T-shirts does Kevin have,
anyway?

NEXUS #15 [C+]: 

Has Nexus gone from decadent to fanatical?

Beats the Hell out of me, but I'll follow this comic anywhere...

				"You... VILLAIN, you."

                                        Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb1, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want to me, but leave my employers alone! <*>