Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site decwrl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!decwrl!boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN)
From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Jayembee Reviews
Message-ID: <3719@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 17-Aug-85 10:24:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.3719
Posted: Sat Aug 17 10:24:25 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 19-Aug-85 22:08:01 EDT
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 90


Reviewed this time around:

BALDER THE BRAVE #1	LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #16	THE UNCANNY X-MEN #199
THE BLACK DRAGON #5	NIGHTCRAWLER #1			ZOT! #10

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


BALDER THE BRAVE #1	[Marvel, mini-series, $.75]	B

	Back in the Good Old Days, my favorite comic was JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
(I *said* they were Old Days), my favorite super-hero was Thor, and my favorite
supporting character was Balder. Back then, I felt that Balder deserved to be
the hero of his own comic. Well, it took 20 years, but he finally made it, even
if it's only a mini-series.
	I'll make this quick. If you don't like Simonson's THOR, and don't
buy it, then you can pass this one by. If you *do* like Simonson's THOR, then
you should be picking this one up. Unless of course, you buy THOR solely for
Simonson's art. BALDER is drawn by Sal Buscema, although it does have what I
think is a conscious Simonsonesque touch. Story-wise, this interleaves with
what's going on in THOR, and will be important to what's going on in THOR.


THE BLACK DRAGON #5	[Marvel/Epic, mini-series, $1.50]	C+

	At last, things are starting to happen, and the quality of the art
and story have increased as a result. This is the first issue that I have
really felt interested in. I hope this bodes well for the resolution next
issue.


LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #16	[DC, $1.25]	C-

	Nicely done as it stands. There's a major problem with the whole
idea, though. Considering the time-flux problems shown in CRISIS, it would
have seemed more reasonable for Brainy to be upset over Kara's *recent* death
rather than the 1000-year anniversary of her death. After all, what is so
significant about it being a thousand years? Was the 999th anniversary less
of a hurt? And since the 30th Century has known about Kara's death for 1000
years, they must have known about the Crisis for all that time. Why then,
were they so surprised when its effects manifested themselves? Why was Dawn-
star surprised by the appearance of Harbinger?


NIGHTCRAWLER #1		[Marvel, mini-series, $.75]	D

	A silly piece of fluff from Dave Cockrum. A mixture of "Kitty's
Fairy Tale" and the Nightcrawler story from the X-Men issue of BIZARRE
ADVENTURES. Either you go for this kind of silliness or you don't. I don't,
unless it's *really* well done. And this isn't well-done enough.


THE UNCANNY X-MEN #199		[Marvel, $.65]		C+

	Very much an improvement over the last couple of issues. Nice
character bits with Cyclops, Rachel, Magneto, and Kitty. The scenes at
the Holocaust Memorial alone were worth the price. Just goes to show that
when Claremont shines, he *shines*. Too bad he can't do this every issue.


ZOT! #10	[Eclipse, $1.50]	B

	I've not been quite as taken with ZOT! as some (Moriarty, for
example), but I still thought it was in the the top 5% of comics on the
market. And I'm going to miss it. It's too bad, too, as the next issue
(Jenny having to face her own mundane world again) looked promising (I make
no bones about saying that Jenny is my favorite character in the book).
Sigh. "For one brief shining moment..."

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA)

UUCP:	{decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian
ARPA:	boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA