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From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: More Jayembee Reviews
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Date: Sat, 17-Aug-85 11:33:19 EDT
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Posted: Sat Aug 17 11:33:19 1985
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Reviewed this time around:

AXEL PRESSBUTTON #6	COYOTE #14		SAVAGE TALES #1
CODE NAME: DANGER #1	A DISTANT SOIL #6	WHISPER SPECIAL #1

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


AXEL PRESSBUTTON #6		[Eclipse, $1.75]	C-

	Well, the first five issues of this title reprinted all of the Press-
button stories from WARRIOR. Starting with this issue, we have original mater-
ial, from the same team of Pedro Henry and Steve Dillon. PRESSBUTTON is silly
(amusing silly, though) and violent --- unabashedly so. I can see that others
may not care much for it, but *I* enjoy it. This new story is just as good as
the reprinted stories. And this issue is graced with my favorite WARRIOR cover.


CODE NAME: DANGER #1		[Lodestone, $1.50]	D-

	Lodestone is the alias of Deluxe Comics, while the issue of rights to
the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is settled (and settled is finally is --- the Agents
*are* in the Public Domain). Shortly, they'll be publishing Dave Cockrum's
THE FUTURIANS. In the meantime, we have this comic.
	And what we have here is MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE with super-powers. Big
fat hairy deal.


COYOTE #14		[Marvel/Epic, $1.50]		D+

	COYOTE's been really boring since about issue #4 or 5. And this is
no exception --- at least the Coyote continuity parts of it. But still, this
issue is worth picking up if you're a fan of Mike Baron's Badger, as he and
his cast make a guest appearance here.
	If you're expecting an all-out fight to the death between the two,
you'll be disappointed. The two pretty much just sit around and drink beer.
Lots of beer. "Badger? *Badger*? We don't got to show you no steenking
badgers!" Great stuff. Too bad this doesn't cover the entire issue.


A DISTANT SOIL #6	[WaRP, black & white, $1.50]		D

	I haven't changed my opinion on the main feature yet, but there's
a couple of items of note here. With this issue, a new back feature starts,
"Panda Khan" --- yet another anthropomorphic animal series (this is getting
sooooooooo boring). And it's nothing to scream about. It certainly doesn't
make this comic any more worth picking up.
	Secondly, starting with this issue of this comic, all WaRP comics
will be published in the same size as "normal" comics. This is a very smart
move, as it increases visibility for them, and puts them out where more
comics buyers will see them. Unfortunately, there are too many people who
won't buy anything that is magazine size. Now that WaRP will be on the shelf
next to Marvel, DC, First, etc., they may do better. Of course, they're still
in black and white, which will still put off a lot of folks, but...


IRON MAN #200		[Marvel, $.65]		C-

	The final showdown between Stark/Iron Man and Stane (Iron Monger).
I've been rather indifferent about this ocmic for quite some time, but I have
to say that O'Neil really pulls this one off. It's interesting and exciting.
I *still* think Stark's new armor sucks, though. Stane's looked so much better
it's almost painful.


SAVAGE TALES #1		[Marvel, black & white, $1.50]		C-

	I have to say that at first, I was worried. The cover looked like a
reject from HEAVY METAL. The editorial and contributor bios made this look
like it was going to be a macho, redneck, Good Ol' Boy magazine. A comic for
Real Men when they get tired of having to move their lips so much reading
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. For guys whose idea of heaven is a Harley=Davidson, a
full tank of gas, and a pair of Detonic 45's.
	Fortunately, once you get to the meat of the issue --- the stories
themselves --- all this posturing goes by the wayside. The stories are of
rough and tumble adventure, much heavier than AMAZING HIGH ADVENTURE, but
the quality of the writing and art is surprisingly high. Of the five stories,
two are tales of Viet Nam --- one about the American forces there in the late
60's (by Doug Murray and Michael Golden, probably the best story in the bunch)
and the other (by Archie Goddwin and John Severin) from the earlier period
in which Viet Nam was French Indo-China, and the French Foreign Legion was
there instead of the Green Berets. The other good story was the first install-
ment of a continuing series, "Skywarriors", written and drawn by Herb Trimpe.
It's a curious mixture of genre's. The setting is post-holocaust, but for
reasons that I won't get into here, the characters are fighting with WW I
vintage airplanes. There's a second continuing series --- another after the
bomb series. This one however, by Will Jungkuntz, is a comedy of sorts, about
the perils of going out for post-holocaust pizza. It's not *too* bad, but I
could easily live without it. The final story, by Don Kraar and Gray Morrow,
is the only real dog in the pack. It's a western that's so jumpy that it seems
like it started out too long, and they decided to fit it in the issue by
cutting it in half --- by taking out every other panel and repasting the rest
of them up.
	All in all, not a bad anthology. I hope that editor Larry Hama cuts
the macho bullshit in later issues, though. It does nothing but make him look
stupid.


WHISPER SPECIAL #1	[First, $2.50]		C-

	After a short re-cap of the story so far (from the first two issues,
published last year by Capital Comics), this Special finishes the first ad-
venture in the life of Whisper, aka Alexis Devin. The strip isn't anything to
rave about (especially when it was the companion comic to NEXUS and BADGER
at Capital), but it's still a competently-drawn, well-told story. There's
nothing fresh here, nothing that seems inspired, but it's not a bad comic,
either. Worth you investment more than a lot of Marvel comics, anyway.


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

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