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Post by spoon on Aug 18, 2024 10:28:58 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #286 does more of the heavy lifting of the retcon. The most poignant, emotionally resonant parts are the depictions of Jean Grey in distress because she doesn't know what's going on. She a woman out of time, although much more modest that Captain America was. Unfortunately, the emotional impact is blunted somewhat by Byrne's writing. First, he focuses on making Jean very pedantic about how this must be a villainous trick - like focusing on Sue being called Invisible Woman rather than Invisible Girl. Frankly, I think it would have worked better just focusing on her general confusion rather than have her focus on details she might not have even noticed given the circumstances. Second, he give Jean some stilted, thesaurus-straining, Silver Age/early Bronze Age sounding dialogue. I wonder if it's a metafictional effort to make her sound like she's been plucked out of an old comic or if it's just bad scripting by Byrne. I can picture all the replies saying the latter, but others in the issue don't talk quite like that. Another way that it could've been made more emotionally resonant is by focusing on Jean's loss of telepathy. That's mentioned in a very offhand way, but I imagined it would make the situation even more terrifying. I keep forgetting the extent of Jean's telepathy that developed in the later Silver Age years, which is a reason I want to re-read the individual costume era of the Silver Age X-Men. We also get an explanation of how Jean's will end up being the thing that stopped Phoenix. It should very a triumphant, poignant moment, but I do feel like the expositional dialogue could made it feel more emotional than procedural. It's hurt a bit by the stiffness of Reed's dialogue. There are some pages of FF #286 that look weird to me. I just learned from the GCD that's because pages from the flashback Phoenix scene were drawn by Jackson Guice (doing a Byrne/Austin impression). In addition, those pages and a couple more were written by Chris Claremont, apparently by editorial dictate. I guess that's why "You Know Who" was credited as writer/penciler. So I guess some of my scripting criticism should be directed to Claremont rather than Byrne. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Aug 18, 2024 13:52:11 GMT -5
There are some pages of FF #286 that look weird to me. I just learned from the GCD that's because pages from the flashback Phoenix scene were drawn by Jackson Guice (doing a Byrne/Austin impression). In addition, those pages and a couple more were written by Chris Claremont, apparently by editorial dictate. I guess that's why "You Know Who" was credited as writer/penciler. So I guess some of my scripting criticism should be directed to Claremont rather than Byrne. Tom Brevoort's blog has Byrne's original unaltered pages from that issue here. Brevoort seems to think it was Jim Shooter not Chris Claremont who altered the script. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 20, 2024 22:07:21 GMT -5
Requiem: Vampire Knight v1  Got an itch to re-read this recently. Man, did I miss this book (and man am I STILL incredibly angry that there's no physical release anymore). Requiem is an amazingly grim story (a nazi soldier who falls madly in love with a Jewish woman is killed in battle and wakes up in "Resurrection", this counter-earth where everything ages backwards and the drug of choice is black opium. Here, the nazi is reborn as vampire and trained on the moon to be one of the order of the nosfratu, their knights) matched only by some amazing artwork (by Olivier Ledroit) that has always reminded me of Clive Barker's Hellraiser series  |
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Post by spoon on Aug 24, 2024 19:13:37 GMT -5
I read X-Factor #1, then Dazzler #41-42, then X-Factor #2-6. These X-Factor issues are written by Bob Layton and drawn by Jackson Guice, with the exception of a fill-in by Keith Pollard, until Louise Simonson takes over as writer in X-Factor #6. The Dazzler issues are courtesy of writer Archie Goodwin and artist Paul Chadwick.
I've read all these comics before, but I don't think I've read the Dazzler issues and X-Factor issues together. And I've never read them shortly after reading the end of New Defenders, because I hadn't read many issues of New Defenders before. Reading them together makes me curious about the behind-the-scenes events regarding the creation of X-Factor. I’ve read that Dazzler was originally slated to be the fifth member of X-Factor before it was decided to revive Jean Grey. But the last issue of Dazzler, which ends with Beast seemingly offering a spot on the team, was published the same month as X-Factor #2. Online chronologies place it between X-Factor #1 and #2, when Jean would already be on the team, and Alison’s answer is not referenced in any of these issues of X-Factor. At that point, Dazzler was being published bi-monthly, so maybe Dazzler #42 was completed months in advance X-Factor and then simply decided to leave it be.
I admire Goodwin and Chadwick for trying a new direction with Dazzler. It’s an intriguing moody super-hero angle instead of the second-rate, milquetoast romance mixed with poorly drawn action that characterized many past issues. However, Goodwin writing (both script & plot) seem unclear at points. I figured out that Dazzler #40 was part of this story, which might’ve given more context. But I don’t own that one, so I didn’t read it.
It’s unclear exactly how much time passed between New Defenders #152 and X-Factor #1, which were published in the same month. But Bobby and Hank are moving out of Warren’s New Mexico home to turn civilian life. It’s quite a bit of whiplash for them to turn their backs on superheroing after the devastating end of their last team, only to start a new team. But Layton does a decent job given them a reason around Jean’s return and the shock of the X-Men now working with Magneto.
I was surprised to see Beast’s old girlfriend appear so late in the run of New Defenders, because I remember Beast being surprised to see her again in early issues of X-Factor. But X-Factor #1 builds in some gaps to the timeline, and we aren’t told specifically it’s been since Hank and Vera saw each other. His big shock is seeing Vera’s transformation from mousy librarian to edgy rock chick. It would’ve cool if Layton had specifically referenced how neglected Vera felt by Hank, because that’s a perfect rationale for her quarter-life crisis. However, the New Defenders references are limited.
I think Layton’s brief run is generally viewed as a failure. A good deal of that is merited. But he’s also said that the X-book people considered him an interloper and gave him a hard. I don’t know how his run would’ve played out if he didn’t quit. A big problem is what he does with Scott. Scott receives a call from Warren that Jean is alive, after which he leaves his family without explaining why he’s going to meet Warren. There are several problems with this. First, Layton has Madelyne tell Scott that if he leaves not come back. Maybe this is to depict Maddie as a spiteful hag, so it isn’t so bad if Scott leaves. But it reflects poorly that Scott doesn’t try to explain when he’s total it will destroy his family. Second, he has Scott worry about how to tell Madelyne about Jean and tell Jean about Maddie. However, he barely has Scott express a single thought bubble about his son Nathan Christopher! I think of Layton as a jock, while Claremont/Nocenti/Weezie Simonson are the theater/art clique. So maybe it was just Layton being himself by having Scott worried about juggling two women rather than his own innocent child. Third, when Scott finally calls to check on Maddie & Nate, it’s after a couple weeks have passed! The phone is disconnected, and Scott doesn’t really follow up during Layton’s run. Having Scott initially paralyzed into inaction is bad but plausible. Having him do nothing for weeks is awful.
Plus, Layton’s stumbles into the writer’s pitfall of nothing important happening between scenes. Jean has been under Jamaica Bay for years, but she comes up thirsty. She literally jumps into Scott’s arms when they’re reunited. But when Scott is standoffish, Jean does work that hard to follow-up. Jean is a fiery, determined woman, and she just . . . lets her reunion with her fiancée (they were psychically engaged in X-Men #136 IIRC) just stall. Where’s her persistence? There are scenes when explanations seem imminent but get interrupt. They should resume when the action dies down. Layton has Jean assume it’s because she can’t match the grandeur of Phoenix without bothering to dig deeper.
As much crap as Scott gets for how Layton portrayed him, Warren behaves like a cad. His girlfriend Candy Southern was a huge part of the New Defenders, serving as their operational leader. Warren chose Candy way back in the Silver Age, ending the love triangle with Scott and Jean. However, now Warren is suddenly willing to go behind the back of his smart, beautiful, loyal live-in girlfriend (who has apparently stayed in New Mexico) to flirt with Jean. I think Layton really wanted to write stories evocative of the Silver Age X-Men, because a new Scott/Jean/Warren love triangle certainly does that.
Speaking of which, his treatment of Beast is a regression. Not only does he de-fur the Beast (while Guice gives him an ugly new haircut), he also blunts the funny blue beast persona in favor of having Hank wear out the thesaurus, but without even the verve with which Silver Age Beast used to talk.
I don’t want to be too harsh, because there were definitely some great moments. The Scott and Jean reunion was great, even with how it incorporated Scott’s indecisiveness. There’s also a great moment when Jean telekinetically lift a security fence out of the ground for Iceman and her to slip under without triggering the alarms. Then, she telekinetically lifts them over a second fence. When Bobby asks why she didn’t do that the first time, Jean says she was just showing off. Such a great character moment!
Also, it’s possible Layton meant to resolve some of the seeming missteps in good time. For example, the originals posing as mutant hunters seems like an alarming bad idea. However, Layton already has Jean and a Senator (who is an old friend of Warren) express misgivings about how it’s playing out. In addition, Cameron Hodge (the administrator of X-Factor and Warren’s childhood friend) is scripting in a way I think is subtly evasive and opaque. I don’t believe he has any thought bubbles. It’s possible Layton planned from the beginning that the mutant hunter ploy would be a disaster that would implode (and that Hodge would be a villain), rather than being something Louise Simonson decided on her own. Also, very early in X-Factor’s run, Maddie surprising pops up in pages of X-Men. I wonder if Layton might have had more decisive plans to deal with the Maddie dilemma but maybe Claremont got possessive of her.
Layton also does some interesting things with Rusty Collins and Artie Maddicks as supporting characters. Less interesting are the Alliance of Evil, a messy hodgepodge of a team assembled by Apocalypse. Apparently, Layton was intending for the mastermind to turn out to be the Owl. Weird. Anyway, Simonson gets a start on making Apocalypse interesting, but it’s a bit messy and uncertain who this character is at this point.
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 25, 2024 19:48:55 GMT -5
The Last American by Wagner, Grant, and McMahon  A book that's been on my bucket list for eons (read a small sampling of it years ago, hence where the Charlie quote comes from in my signature). I was kind of expecting a long, epic journey of ups and downs. What I ended up with was bleak musing on the futility of war The book is about John Pilgrim, the last surviving man of a nuclear war who is put into cold storage for 20 years and branded an "Apocalypse Commander" by the president. He's looked after by three robots, Kane, Abel, and Charlie (the last having watched so much tv, he uses it in everyday life and conversation, much like yours truly). What he's trying to find out there, no one knows, but I guess something of a reason to go on? If I had one gripe, is that it's only four issues long. But man, is it a good ride while it lasts~ |
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 29, 2024 4:06:38 GMT -5
I'm at the halfway mark of the 1984-85 Jemm, Son of Saturn limited series, a title I've wanted to read for decades, and I can't decide if I like it or not. Oh, I love the art by Gene Colan and Klaus Janson just fine, even though sci-fi is not Colan's forte. I also have no issue with the basic plot. But something about Greg Potter's scripting is off-putting. Maybe it's the overabundance of underdeveloped characters or maybe it's the awkward pacing, I dunno. I just know I don't feel that anticipation to see what happens in the next issue that a good comic should evoke. Nevertheless, I'm gonna plod on and hope there's a dramatically satisfying climax awaiting me in #12. I'll keep you all posted.
Cei-U!
I summon the ambivalence!
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Post by commond on Aug 29, 2024 8:10:40 GMT -5
I'm at the halfway mark of the 1984-85 Jemm, Son of Saturn limited series, a title I've wanted to read for decades, and I can't decide if I like it or not. Oh, I love the art by Gene Colan and Klaus Janson just fine, even though sci-fi is not Colan's forte. I also have no issue with the basic plot. But something about Greg Potter's scripting is off-putting. Maybe it's the overabundance of underdeveloped characters or maybe it's the awkward pacing, I dunno. I just know I don't feel that anticipation to see what happens in the next issue that a good comic should evoke. Nevertheless, I'm gonna plod on and hope there's a dramatically satisfying climax awaiting me in #12. I'll keep you all posted. Cei-U! I summon the ambivalence! I read this a while back and I'd say you're spot on in your assessment. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 29, 2024 9:00:46 GMT -5
I'm at the halfway mark of the 1984-85 Jemm, Son of Saturn limited series, a title I've wanted to read for decades, and I can't decide if I like it or not. Oh, I love the art by Gene Colan and Klaus Janson just fine, even though sci-fi is not Colan's forte. I also have no issue with the basic plot. But something about Greg Potter's scripting is off-putting. Maybe it's the overabundance of underdeveloped characters or maybe it's the awkward pacing, I dunno. I just know I don't feel that anticipation to see what happens in the next issue that a good comic should evoke. Nevertheless, I'm gonna plod on and hope there's a dramatically satisfying climax awaiting me in #12. I'll keep you all posted. Cei-U! I summon the ambivalence! I bought it as it was coming out, but I'm not sure that I've read it since then. So the only thing I remember is the art...which was very nice. |
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Ryot
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Post by Ryot on Aug 29, 2024 21:56:48 GMT -5
Finally got all of The Crow: Deadtime! My fiancé gifted me Issue 1 about a year ago since she knows the OG is my favorite comic/movie of all time. I finally got the last 2 at my LCS! It's a bit of an odd book with the art changing constantly. It's pretty jarring from panel to panel, but its still a fun story! I'd love to see the concept of this book adapted in some way but who knows if that'll happen now.  |
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Post by berkley on Aug 29, 2024 23:02:53 GMT -5
I'm at the halfway mark of the 1984-85 Jemm, Son of Saturn limited series, a title I've wanted to read for decades, and I can't decide if I like it or not. Oh, I love the art by Gene Colan and Klaus Janson just fine, even though sci-fi is not Colan's forte. I also have no issue with the basic plot. But something about Greg Potter's scripting is off-putting. Maybe it's the overabundance of underdeveloped characters or maybe it's the awkward pacing, I dunno. I just know I don't feel that anticipation to see what happens in the next issue that a good comic should evoke. Nevertheless, I'm gonna plod on and hope there's a dramatically satisfying climax awaiting me in #12. I'll keep you all posted. Cei-U! I summon the ambivalence! I agree about Colan generally not having any special talent or feeling for science fiction but even without having ever seen Jemm, I can't help wondering if part of the problem might not have been the pairing with Klaus Janson, whose inking style didn't usually mesh well with Colan's pencils, to my eyes. There was a big drop-off in the art on Howard the Duck, for example, when Janson replaced Steve Leialoha (one of Colan's very best inkers, IMO). And I thought Colan and Palmer produced some top-notch artwork on the Marvel Preview Star Lord issue they worked on, so it seems he could do SF under the right circumstances. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 31, 2024 18:38:35 GMT -5
Finally got all of The Crow: Deadtime! My fiancé gifted me Issue 1 about a year ago since she knows the OG is my favorite comic/movie of all time. I finally got the last 2 at my LCS! It's a bit of an odd book with the art changing constantly. It's pretty jarring from panel to panel, but its still a fun story! I'd love to see the concept of this book adapted in some way but who knows if that'll happen now. Didn't know that Barr even wrote more Crow comics beyond what was in the first TPB |
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Ryot
Junior Member
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Post by Ryot on Sept 1, 2024 12:42:41 GMT -5
Didn't know that Barr even wrote more Crow comics beyond what was in the first TPB Same here! She came home with it and I was very shocked. It's a completely different take as well, as it follows a Native American who is brought back in a modern world. Pretty interesting idea that allows him to keep the standard look of the crow, while giving a completely unique story. |
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Post by spoon on Sept 1, 2024 16:17:57 GMT -5
I read the Mister Miracle By Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber HC reprinting team-ups with Batman in Brave and the Bold #112, 128, and 138, the revival of his solo series in Mister Miracle #19-25, and a guest appearance in DC Comics Presents #12. This is new territory, as most of Mister Miracle reading is from the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League. I never read the original Kirby run, and I think the only pre-Crisis appearance I've read were a Justice League of America guest appearance.
The three B&B stories are by Bob Haney & Jim Aparo (with no one named Steve). The first one is published almost immediately after the first run of Mister Miracle was canceled. I wonder if it was written before the cancellation to promote the series or after to keep his profile alive. Aparo's art is beautiful. As someone who grew up with the Aparo/DeCarlo Batman art of the 80s, comics from the 70s where Aparo did penciling, inking, and lettering himself are at even higher level. The B&B stories are fairly suspenseful, but they have common team-up books limitations. They don't really contribute to a character arc for the guest star or give him supporting cast much play.
The issues of Mister Miracle in the book are a Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers run (overlapped with the team's time on Detective Comics) and a Steve Gerber/Michael Golden run. Englehart's last issue features the John Harkness pen name he has used when he's dissatisfied with editorial interference, but according to his website in this first case it was just because he felt he hadn't met his own standards rather than dissatisfaction with editorial.
I like the Gerber/Golden run more than Englehart/Rogers. I think it might be because it feels like Englehart tropes are being imposed on the series in ways that feel clumsy, but yet I have read the previous issues to see how consistent it was with Kirby's conception. Mister Miracle decides he's going to promote himself as a messiah and push for a revolution in Apokolips. He finds that certain powers he had attributed to his Mother Box are in now in him. It's suggested that since Scott Free is the son of Highfather, of course he should have the godlike powers of a New God. The effect is to make the character feel more cosmic & distant, but less grounded. Also, Barda spends a lot of Englehart's run unconscious or brainwashed, so we don't get a lot of Scott and Barda interaction. Mister Miracle goes to Apokolips to try to kill Darkseid. I am intrigued by how these stories explore the dynamic between "the lowlies" who make up the average inhabitants of the planet and ruling power of Darkseid's regime, but the consequences of trying to get them to rebel don't seem that well thought out.
Steve Gerber sort of reverses some of these developments. He puts Scott through a hallucinatory experience with a being with Ethos that ends with decides to embrace his humanity, seemingly undercutting the god/messiah thing. Gerber's three issues do reference that "messiah" a couple times but emphasize it was a secular idea. He also seems to go back a bit on the Mother Box vs. internal power thing, but the scripting is a little murky on that. He also makes Scott realize the negative consequences of full scales war against Darkseid, renounce his allegiance to New Genesis, and return to Earth. That's gives some more grounded stories, with more interaction between Scott, Barda, and Oberon. There's also an unusual villain who appears to be rescued from the control of Granny Goodness at the end of Mister Miracle #25. Unfortunately, a story that looks like it will have future repercussions gets cut short.
I have conflicting feelings about the art of Marshall Rogers. It's a very distinctive style, and there are some very beautiful panels. You can see fundamentals in work in things like the draping of fabric. But sometime his rendering is not so great or the poses are awkward. There are a couple of panels with Darkseid and Granny Goodness side-by-side where Darkseid is drawn smaller. It might be the least imposing Darkseid I've seen. Michael Golden is very good with facial expression and the common Earth-based features of stories. Also, I think I may actually prefer how his art looks less exaggerated than in later work that I've read.
The DC Comics Presents story is produced by Englehart and penciler Rich Buckler, but it doesn't work in the themes from his run on Mister Miracle. It follows more a generic team-up book template with a gimmick that puts the two heroes at odds. With apologies to those that don't like the term, this issue features some egregious super-dickery. Mister Miracle moves to Metropolis and carries out a series of rescues and crimefighting exploits that draw attention from Superman. If one wanted to construct the story in a way that reflects well on the star (Superman), one would portray Mister Miracle as making mistakes or foiling crimes in a way that spoils a longer term investigation by Superman. That's not the case here. Instead, Superman is basically jealous. There's a flimsy pretext that MM won't work with him, but with no showing that there are actual negative consequences.
I also re-read Strange Tales vol. 2 #5-7 (just the Doctor Strange stories in the first two of those issues). I thought in light of finishing New Defenders, the reappearance of the characters who seemingly sacrificed themselves at the end of that series might make more sense in context. It didn't. There's a reason I hadn't remembered what was up with the New Defenders in this arc. It's basically some messy mystical gobbledygook that I feel didn't advance the fate of the characters in a material way.
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Post by Batflunkie on Sept 1, 2024 21:01:56 GMT -5
I read the Mister Miracle By Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber HC reprinting team-ups with Batman in Brave and the Bold #112, 128, and 138, the revival of his solo series in Mister Miracle #19-25, and a guest appearance in DC Comics Presents #12. This is new territory, as most of Mister Miracle reading is from the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League. I never read the original Kirby run, and I think the only pre-Crisis appearance I've read were a Justice League of America guest appearance. The three B&B stories are by Bob Haney & Jim Aparo (with no one named Steve). The first one is published almost immediately after the first run of Mister Miracle was canceled. I wonder if it was written before the cancellation to promote the series or after to keep his profile alive. Aparo's art is beautiful. As someone who grew up with the Aparo/DeCarlo Batman art of the 80s, comics from the 70s where Aparo did penciling, inking, and lettering himself are at even higher level. The B&B stories are fairly suspenseful, but they have common team-up books limitations. They don't really contribute to a character arc for the guest star or give him supporting cast much play. The issues of Mister Miracle in the book are a Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers run (overlapped with the team's time on Detective Comics) and a Steve Gerber/Michael Golden run. Englehart's last issue features the John Harkness pen name he has used when he's dissatisfied with editorial interference, but according to his website in this first case it was just because he felt he hadn't met his own standards rather than dissatisfaction with editorial. I like the Gerber/Golden run more than Englehart/Rogers. I think it might be because it feels like Englehart tropes are being imposed on the series in ways that feel clumsy, but yet I have read the previous issues to see how consistent it was with Kirby's conception. Mister Miracle decides he's going to promote himself as a messiah and push for a revolution in Apokolips. He finds that certain powers he had attributed to his Mother Box are in now in him. It's suggested that since Scott Free is the son of Highfather, of course he should have the godlike powers of a New God. The effect is to make the character feel more cosmic & distant, but less grounded. Also, Barda spends a lot of Englehart's run unconscious or brainwashed, so we don't get a lot of Scott and Barda interaction. Mister Miracle goes to Apokolips to try to kill Darkseid. I am intrigued by how these stories explore the dynamic between "the lowlies" who make up the average inhabitants of the planet and ruling power of Darkseid's regime, but the consequences of trying to get them to rebel don't seem that well thought out. Steve Gerber sort of reverses some of these developments. He puts Scott through a hallucinatory experience with a being with Ethos that ends with decides to embrace his humanity, seemingly undercutting the god/messiah thing. Gerber's three issues do reference that "messiah" a couple times but emphasize it was a secular idea. He also seems to go back a bit on the Mother Box vs. internal power thing, but the scripting is a little murky on that. He also makes Scott realize the negative consequences of full scales war against Darkseid, renounce his allegiance to New Genesis, and return to Earth. That's gives some more grounded stories, with more interaction between Scott, Barda, and Oberon. There's also an unusual villain who appears to be rescued from the control of Granny Goodness at the end of Mister Miracle #25. Unfortunately, a story that looks like it will have future repercussions gets cut short. I have conflicting feelings about the art of Marshall Rogers. It's a very distinctive style, and there are some very beautiful panels. You can see fundamentals in work in things like the draping of fabric. But sometime his rendering is not so great or the poses are awkward. There are a couple of panels with Darkseid and Granny Goodness side-by-side where Darkseid is drawn smaller. It might be the least imposing Darkseid I've seen. Michael Golden is very good with facial expression and the common Earth-based features of stories. Also, I think I may actually prefer how his art looks less exaggerated than in later work that I've read. The DC Comics Presents story is produced by Englehart and penciler Rich Buckler, but it doesn't work in the themes from his run on Mister Miracle. It follows more a generic team-up book template with a gimmick that puts the two heroes at odds. With apologies to those that don't like the term, this issue features some egregious super-dickery. Mister Miracle moves to Metropolis and carries out a series of rescues and crimefighting exploits that draw attention from Superman. If one wanted to construct the story in a way that reflects well on the star (Superman), one would portray Mister Miracle as making mistakes or foiling crimes in a way that spoils a longer term investigation by Superman. That's not the case here. Instead, Superman is basically jealous. There's a flimsy pretext that MM won't work with him, but with no showing that there are actual negative consequences. I also re-read Strange Tales vol. 2 #5-7 (just the Doctor Strange stories in the first two of those issues). I thought in light of finishing New Defenders, the reappearance of the characters who seemingly sacrificed themselves at the end of that series might make more sense in context. It didn't. There's a reason I hadn't remembered what was up with the New Defenders in this arc. It's basically some messy mystical gobbledygook that I feel didn't advance the fate of the characters in a material way. I enjoyed the original Kirby MM a lot and didn't really see much need in reading any following series of any of Kirby's 70's DC work (OMAC, The Demon, and The Forever People included). Really don't know why, I think it had more to do with Kirby just nailing it right out of the gate. My love for anything Steve Gerber notwithstanding |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,143 
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Post by Confessor on Sept 2, 2024 8:57:41 GMT -5
I re-read the second Elfquest TPB this week, "The Forbidden Grove", which collects issues 6-10…  Six years have passed since the end of the previous volume, and Cutter and Skywise decide to leave the safety of the Sun Folk village to search for other clans of elves. The pair find the burned ruins of their old home, the Holt, and encounter dangerous tribes of trolls and humans. Meanwhile, Cutter's wife Leetah decides to follow her husband, bringing their young children along, as well as several other Wolfriders, including Strongbow, Redlance, and Treestump. This second party is attacked by huge birds of prey, with only Leetah and the children managing to escape into the sinister and enchanted Forbidden Grove, while the other elves are all captured and imprisoned atop the forboding Blue Mountain. Leetah and the children are then waylaid by mischievous woodland sprites, but luckily Cutter and Skywise rescue them. This second Elfquest story from Wendy and Richard Pini is every bit as good as the first five-issue adventure – and it might even be better! The relationship between the elves and humans is examined in a little more depth than it was in the first volume, showing that the humans aren't just destructive, primitive barbarians. The two elves even experience kindness and help from some of the human's they encounter! The trolls too get a much more three-dimensional treatment here than they did in volume 1. There's a hilarious episode in issue #7 where Cutter and Skywise are captured by trolls and spend the day chatting with their captors and quaffing distilled dreamberry juice, which ends up with the two elves thoroughly inebriated. There's great dialogue in this scene, which serves to bring a lot more depth to the troll race than we've seen before. Wendy Pini's artwork continues to improve by leaps and bounds. In particular, she's excellent at conveying the characters' emotions with subtle facial expressions and body language. There's also plenty of pleasing background detail in her art, and I really like her distinctive style of hatching and cross-hatching. Her artwork is still pleasingly cartoonish, but it's always skilfully rendered and highly detailed. Overall, this was a cracking good read. The volume ends on something of a cliffhanger, which makes you eager to read the next instalment. "The Forbidden Grove" expands the setting of Elfquest considerably, with some excellent world-building, while the characters are all so well written that you can't help but be touched by their relationships and their tragedies. There's also an important subtextual message throughout about the dangers of isolationism and prejudice, and how these sentiments are always destructive. It's good stuff! |
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