|
Post by tingramretro on Mar 12, 2017 17:13:41 GMT -5
You went to public school? In the US, public school is the same as a comprehensive school, publicly funded via local and state government; not the private school connotation in the UK. Ah. In other words "a school". Two nations divided by a common language...
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
|
Post by shaxper on Mar 12, 2017 17:31:44 GMT -5
So next up within Atari Force continuity is the Star Raiders graphic novel, which takes place on the same planet that the team visited in issue #3. As far as I can tell, the story has no impact upon Atari Force continuity though, so I'm going to pass on delaying these reviews in order to hunt down and buy a copy. Everyone cool with my jumping right to Atari Force volume 2 instead?
|
|
|
Post by tingramretro on Mar 12, 2017 17:55:57 GMT -5
So next up within Atari Force continuity is the Star Raiders graphic novel, which takes place on the same planet that the team visited in issue #3. As far as I can tell, the story has no impact upon Atari Force continuity though, so I'm going to pass on delaying these reviews in order to hunt down and buy a copy. Everyone cool with my jumping right to Atari Force volume 2 instead? Since that's basically where the story starts for most of us, I suspect, very much so!
|
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,042
|
Post by Confessor on Mar 12, 2017 19:46:27 GMT -5
Yep. Get on with it already, shax!
|
|
|
Post by rom on Mar 12, 2017 19:59:37 GMT -5
Great thread! As always, thanks very much for the post & the scans.
I was a big fan of Atari games in the '80's, but only a mild fan of Atari Force comic, primarily because I couldn't collect all of the series I liked at the time due to not having a lot of spending $. However, the artwork was superb - and, I do remember the stories were great as well.
I would be all for a collection of all 26 AF issues, the mini-comics, as well as the Star Raiders graphic novel - I've been waiting for the series to be reprinted for years. A couple of years ago, I read online that Dynamite was planning to reprint at least the 26-issue original AT series - however, plans must have fallen through because I haven't seen any other info. on this since Summer 2015...
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
|
Post by shaxper on Mar 12, 2017 20:19:00 GMT -5
Atari Force (1984) #1 "Fresh Blood" writer: Gerry Conway pencils: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez inks: Ricardo Villagrán letters: Bob Lappan colors: Tom Ziuko Synopsis: Dart and Blackjack are doing a shakedown on Ki for failing to pay their fee but then must flee from the police, an unknown "Master" is attempting to ensnare the two and murders Ki for messing up the plan, two merchants ensnare a baby egg-person in order to sell it as a slave, and Christopher Champion (Tempest) is practicing his teleportation power and brooding over the fact that his father (Martin Champion) doesn't love him, while Dr. Morphea has her first day at A.T.A.R.I. headquarters, and Tukla (Pakrat) plans to take her criminal activities to New Earth. --- Interesting to have a first issue that leaves you guessing this much. Whereas the original mini-comic series was so straight-forward it hurt sometimes, this one is far more interested in developing characters than revealing its plot just yet. How is Dart both affiliated with Atari and engaging in criminal behavior, who is this mysterious "Master" looking to capture her, and how will the rest of these characters end up on the same team? I felt that most of the cast of the original series was underutilized and had tremendous potential (with the exception of Perez and Champion), but it looks like Champion will be the only original member returning. Fortunately, whereas he was portrayed as an uncomplicated and stereotypical throwback action hero in the original series with a forcefulness towards Perez that may have been romantic in the 1930s but would result in a restraining order today, it sure looks like Conway gets it now, Professor Venture describing him as a total asshole in this story. I'm looking forward to seeing that characterization. It's really unique how female-heavy this team appears to be, featuring three female characters (unusual in a male-dominated genre) that generally prove to be more compelling and more remarkable than their male counterparts. Both the wise professor and the toughest bad-ass of the group are female. It's done tastefully and never once feels like a conscious decision -- it really really works. This is what diversity should look like. While we don't have much of a grasp on these characters yet, it's clear that Dart is Garcia Lopez's favorite. His pencils are so thoroughly enamored with her in the classiest of ways: She's gorgeous and feminine while also being strong and never excessively sexualized, even while beginning to remove her clothing at the end of the issue. Most bold of all, though, she has dark skin. Again, diversity done right. We've got exactly one white dude on the team, and he comes off like a whiny baby thus far. It's really hard to determine how good or bad a job Conway is doing as of yet, as the book is keeping most of its plot and characterizations close to its chest in this first outing, but Garcia Lopez makes the whole thing sing with his kinetic artwork: and I'm a sucker for the Egg baby: vulnerable and mistreated and from a fascinating race of beings that grow into mountains upon reaching maturity. Beyond that, it's really hard to know what to discuss about this story. We've got a new team, set 25 years after the end of the mini-comic series, a new Earth within the federation they joined in mini-comic issue #5, and a new HQ as well. Perez is dead, the rest of the team never gets mentioned, and I suspect we'll be seeing Martin Champion again soon. As we have a new Earth, it's unclear both what Atari's purpose is in this new universe, as well as what the purpose of a newly assembled Atari Force will be. And why do we have a new Atari Force, anyway? Why, when informed that Atari Force would be getting an ongoing series, did they decide to end the original team before it had even really gotten a chance to shine? Andy Helfer seems to think, at the end of this issue, that you need to know who the original Atari Force was in order to understand this series, so the team clearly wasn't scrapped just to make the whole thing accessible to a new audience. And, if they were going to create a whole new team on a whole new Earth with a whole new mission, why call it Atari Force and get the Atari licensing involved in the whole thing? There's no more video game promoting going on. Seems like it would have been legally easier to just call them The Liberators or something and scrap the entire Atari Force continuity. Anyway, I enjoyed this first issue for Garcia Lopez' art, but it's really hard to get a grasp of anything else going on in this new series just yet. Grade: B+
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
|
Post by shaxper on Mar 13, 2017 4:35:25 GMT -5
Everything Wrong with The Death of Lydia PerezIt's only now sinking in, hours later, how really really messed up the death of Lydia Perez is in Atari Force #1. Sure, it's weird to so quickly kill off one of only two characters in the original series who got the spotlight every damn issue, but there's a lot more than that to the whole thing. 1. Tact So a lot of the fun and intrigue of Atari Force #1 is how little it's willing to tell you. It introduces its characters in the middle of minor adventures with no explanations offered, leaving you to wonder who they are and what's going on: a powerful technique borrowed from the Greeks known as in medias res. Essentially, the less we know, the more we want to know, and thus the more we care. So the one and only thing we're pretty much outright told in this story is the following: It's just sort of thrown out there for the reader, as if to say "Hey, you can care about this new group, and you can even be left wondering what happened to the old team, but forget about Lydia Perez. She dead." I mean, can't we even be looking at an image of Lydia on a computer screen instead of a random rooftop while we're being told this? 2. Betrayal Thank God the characterizations in the original series sucked: Martin and Lydia's relationship was the very linchpin of the original series, the first issue leaving Martin confused as to why Lydia was suddenly cold to him, and the last issue ending with this: Meaning that any kid who was actually enjoying this series would have been invested in that relationship and cheering for the two at the very end. But, ya know, she's dead now kids. 3. Unintended Irony Seriously, how much more screwed up does this scene from just last issue seem now? Needless to say, had she kept her word, she wouldn't now be dead along with them. 4. Logic Okay, so traveling through the multi-verse caused Lydia to die upon giving birth (and also gave her child super powers). But the entire human race warped through the multi-verse to colonize New Earth. So are all human women who give birth going to die now, or did they miraculously find a cure right after Lydia? Blackjack appears to be human and Christopher's age, so where the hell did he come from? Maybe that does explain why Dart has super powers, though her white hair might indicate she isn't human. 5. The Feminism Angle The new Atari Force is impressive in its representation of strong, capable women who steal the spotlight from the few male characters. And yet killing off the old love interest, unceremoniously and off panel, in order to make two other male characters more complex/interesting just feels wrong to me. There are a million potential medical risks that could be caused by the unknowns of space -- cancers, mutations, aggravating of previous conditions -- but the idea that only Lydia died, and that it was in childbirth, feels (forgive me) sexist. Truly, her only value to this series was as a literal vehicle for delivering us a super-powered protagonist with a tragic backstory. Once that was done, she had no value to Conway alive. Had Conway offered us a sympathetic death in flashback -- given us some compassion for poor Lydia and her unexpected end -- I don't think I would have had an issue with this, but the whole thing just seems so convenient, dispassionate, and done in service of a plot. I guess this goes back to the matter of tact. However this plays out in later issues, poor Lydia. She was a terrible cliche of an under-developed character in the original series, but I'm really feeling for her now.
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 13, 2017 9:56:28 GMT -5
Excellent review, shaxper!
I re-read Atari Force recently and am curious to see if you'll react to the series the same way I did. I loved it the first time around, and you mentioned several of its qualities: strong female characters, uncommonly good use of diversity, gorgeous art by Garcia Lopez, etc. The second reading wasn't as felicitous, though.
Where the series generally disappoints, in my opinion, is in its script. We are treated to some exciting moments, but also a lot of plot-mandated silliness. Characters sometimes act in odd ways that are needed to drive the story along, but the reasons eventually given for their behaviour is rarely satisfying. ("I act all abrupt and unpleasant because I have something very important to do! Like pushing on this button, the same way I've done for ten years straight with absolutely no result!")
The concept of "multiverse", which is kind of crucial, is at best confusing in the series. The multiverse isn't something one travels to or travels through; it's where we live. Our universe is already part of the multiverse. In Atari Force, it's sometimes used to that way... but at other times it sounds as if it's one alien dimension in particular. That'll be pretty jarring at the end of the series.
I really love Dart as a character, but Blackjack is a real pain (and not only because he really looks like a castaway from the 1980s). I didn't much care for one of their scenes either, the one where to emphasize their competence the writer has them save an entire army from the brink of destruction by just hustling a little. The sequence was built up as a "now we're doomed for sure" one, and was resolved faster than Indiana Jones taking care of a swordsman.
Did the character profiles start in the first issues? The ones in which Martin Champion is, like, eleven feet tall?
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
|
Post by shaxper on Mar 13, 2017 11:35:06 GMT -5
The concept of "multiverse", which is kind of crucial, is at best confusing in the series. The multiverse isn't something one travels to or travels through; it's where we live. Our universe is already part of the multiverse. In Atari Force, it's sometimes used to that way... but at other times it sounds as if it's one alien dimension in particular. That'll be pretty jarring at the end of the series. This was problematic in the mini-comics too. In the second issue, where the multiverse is first really laid out, it makes perfect sense, but in the third issue, they often confuse travelling through dimensions with travelling through space. I was really really hoping Blackjack wouldn't be sticking around... That was issue #2. Not yet.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
|
Post by shaxper on Mar 13, 2017 13:33:23 GMT -5
Atari Force (1984) #2 "Direct Encounter" writer: Gerry Conway pencils: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez inks: Ricardo Villagrán letters: Bob Lappan colors: Tom Ziuko Synopsis: Dart and Blackjack are now fighting on the rebel side of a civil war after Ki (a general for the opposing side) failed to pay them. Against impossible odds, they somehow save the day, at which point the unnamed villain of the series deploys a warbeast to capture Dart since her family and allies could potentially cause trouble for him. She easily defeats the warbeast while Tempest sulks about being different and unloved, Dr. Morphea visits Martin Champion and mistakes his fears of some villain creating all the wars in this once peaceful universe as signs of guilt/insanity, Packrat steals some food and continues to head for Earth 2, and the eggling baby is still trapped and crying. --- Not a very impressive second issue. In the letter column, Conway explains that they scrapped the original team because they didn't find the characters all that impressive. Well it's starting to look like, Dart aside (who Conway goes on and on about), they've churned out even worse characters this time around. Christopher/Tempest is downright obnoxious. I'm a pretty sensitive guy (and proud of it), but this dude sulks so much that I just want to smack him. He seems to have no other characteristics, and Conway proudly shows off his abilities at least once per issue as if he hadn't just ripped them off of Marvel's Kitty Pryde. Dr. Morphea has no personality. She just seems to be there to observe everyone else: Christopher last issue, and Martin now. Why exactly is ATARI sending her all over the place to observe these people? Is she screening them for admittance to the new team? The Eggling is still crying in this issue. That's really all it does. No characterization lent to it, no particular pathos evoked. It doesn't even have a name or gender yet. With Pakrat, we're not given much. He loves to steal and is dangerous when cornered. One of my least favorite conceits in comicdom is when a writer does such a poor job developing a character that we learn more about them in their bio than in the story itself, and that happens here, where Dr. Morphea (who hasn't even met Pakrat yet) writes in his fact file that he is amorale and yet also fiercely loyal. We can't possibly know that about him yet, as he's never yet been shown interacting with anyone. I had high hopes for Martin Champion as a psychologically disturbed asshole, but all we're shown this time is that he is (correctly) pursuing a theory that some mysterious villain is triggering all the wars occurring across this once peaceful universe and is considered crazy by most as a result. That's not characterization. Dart is truly proving to be the star of the series. Conway says as much in his write-up, but it truly seems like she's the only character Conway and Garcia actually want to spend any time on. 11 of the story's 20 pages are focused entirely upon her as we watch her win a military engagement against impossible odds almost single-handedly and then explain to no one in particular that she is the daughter of O'Rourke and Singh from the original series. It's at least nice to know that the most compelling character of this series is the offspring of the most compelling (if underused) characters from the original series. Blackjack helps out Dart but plays no real meaningful role. He just does what she tells him and has no personality beyond their forced banter. I really enjoyed the brief characterization of Professor Venture last issue, but she's not in this one and seems set to play more of a supporting role. So, really, this issue doesn't have much to offer (even Garcia Lopez' art isn't as passionate this time) leaving me to worry that I may not get as invested in this series as I'd hoped. Important Details:- Dart is the daughter of O'Rourke and Singh - Christopher / Tempest was raised by O'Rourke and Singh as a sort of stepbrother to Dart since his dad wouldn't raise him after his mother died. - Wait wait wait. Perez died in childbirth because she was subjected to the multiverse. Chris and Dart appear to be the same age. How come the same didn't happen to O'Rourke (who traveled in the same damn ship as Perez and went on all the same missions), who was clearly around to raise Dart and Chris?? - The ATARI acronym has been revised to now stand for Advanced Technology and Research Institute. Maybe it was a typo when we were told it stood for "The Atari Technology And Research Institute" in mini-comic #1. Grade: C-
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
|
Post by shaxper on Mar 13, 2017 14:39:33 GMT -5
Atari Force (1984) #3 "I Saw You Die" writer: Gerry Conway pencils: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez inks: Ricardo Villagrán letters: Bob Lappan colors: Tom Ziuko Synopsis: Seeing increasingly vivid images of Blackjak's death, Dart pushes for the two to get off world, where they are repeatedly pursued by an unknown assailant. Meanwhile, Pakrat encounters his law-abiding brother who serves as a security officer and manages to evade him while the brother stealthily pursues, Chris whines some more about his life to Professor Venture, and Dr. Morphea rescues "Babe" from his captors. Dart and Blackjak, finally safe, get a tender moment before he is seemingly killed by their mysterious assailant while repairing their broken ship. --- A somewhat better issue, as we are getting closer to a direction for this series and Conway addresses several of my earlier concerns, from my feeling it was rather unoriginal for an anthropomorphic rat to be a hoarder/thief (his brother and family are law-abiding), to "Babe" finally getting a name and personality (though only in the fact file, and what two year old is "incapable of cruel or violent emotions" ), to our finally having the matter of Lydia Perez's death addressed a little more satisfactorily: Okay, so it's not that exposure to the multiverse causes all mothers to die during childbirth; just Lydia. In that case, how are they so sure it's the exposure to the multiverse that caused it? I was unimpressed with the art last issue, but Garcia Lopez is firing on all engines again, and, this time, Villagrán really steps it up along with him: Beyond that, and despite the cover, this is still mostly Dart's story, and it hinges on our being invested in her relationship with Blackjak since she spends the entire issue trying to avert his death and then finally (seemingly) losing him. Problem is, I'm not even remotely invested in that relationship. Whereas Garcia Lopez' art and Conway's plot points continually show us how awesome Dart is, Blackjak just sort of follows along and maintains a forced cutesy rapport with her. There's nothing more to the guy. Conway tries to throw us this moment of tenderness: but it doesn't work for me. Sleeping together repeatedly (once per issue at this point) doesn't make me feel any particular affection for the two. Extra points to Garcia Lopez, though, for continuing to make these moments tasteful. He never subjects Dart to shameless fanboy-servicing half-nudes. It always looks classy, even if Conway's plotting really doesn't present it as classy in any way. Incidentally, who is the target audience for this comic??? We've got cutesy aliens on the team and newsstand presence, but Dart and Blackjak are clearly getting it on once per issue. So three issues in and the team isn't even assembled yet, nor is a clear conflict established. I'm not used to seeing this kind of extreme decompression in a Bronze Age comic, and it's especially frustrating since the purpose of the decompression is to spend more time developing character when I mostly do not like these characters. Important Details:- (Apparent) death of Blackjak - Dr. Morphea liberates (and, according to the fact file, adopts and names) "Babe" - 1st appearance of Rident, Pakrat's law-abiding brother - Dr. Morphea can sting people with her mind - 1st clear image of the unnamed bad guy of the series: Minor Details:- Fact Files for the remaining team members, including Dart, Babe, and Dr. Morphea Still not a great issue, but Garcia Lopez and Villagrán offered us some killer images, and Conway did a little better than last time around. Grade: B-
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 13, 2017 15:05:34 GMT -5
More great reviews, shaxper!
That chain-smoking doctor (I forgot her name!) was one of my favourite characters in Atari Force. Her genuine and selfless affection for the disturbed Christopher is something we rarely see in comics... usually such a character would have had some dark ulterior motive or been attracted to the brawny blond guy with blue eyes. Here, no... she's just good people! She's a welcome presence compared to the completely #$#@ Martin, who abandoned his only child because he was sad... but not so sad as to abandon his work.
Babe is another interesting one, who could have been a one-note character: the team's muscle with emotional problems. But as we'll see, he (or she, I'm not sure we ever found out Babe's gender) will prove to be intelligent, a quick study, and one brave child.
Villagran is an amazing inker, and his partnering with Garcia Lopez makes the book look amazing. I can't help wonder what a Star Wars comic illustrated by these two artists would have looked like.
Yep... Needs must when the plot drives. I can't even understand what it means to be "subjected to the multiverse"... We all live in it!
Say, did you look at the numbers in the fact files? Clearly the metric system is alien to whoever wrote them, because the characters are all gigantic!!!
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
|
Post by shaxper on Mar 13, 2017 15:10:01 GMT -5
More great reviews, shaxper! That chain-smoking doctor (I forgot her name!) was one of my favourite characters in Atari Force. Her genuine and selfless affection for the disturbed Christopher is something we rarely see in comics... usually such a character would have had some dark ulterior motive or been attracted to the brawny blond guy with blue eyes. Here, no... she's just good people! She's a welcome presence compared to the completely #$#@ Martin, who abandoned his only child because he was sad... but not so sad as to abandon his work. Babe is another interesting one, who could have been a one-note character: the team's muscle with emotional problems. But as we'll see, he (or she, I'm not sure we ever found out Babe's gender) will prove to be intelligent, a quick study, and one brave child. Villagran is an amazing inker, and his partnering with Garcia Lopez makes the book look amazing. I can't help wonder what a Star Wars comic illustrated by these two artists would have looked like. Yep... Needs must when the plot drives. I can't even understand what it means to be "subjected to the multiverse"... We all live in it! Say, did you look at the numbers in the fact files? Clearly the metric system is alien to whoever wrote them, because the characters are all gigantic!!! Man, I write these reviews worrying that I'm coming off too bitter and scathing, and then your replies just take it twenty levels further. I'm laughing my but off but also suspect I'm enjoying this more than you did upon your re-reading
|
|
Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,942
|
Post by Crimebuster on Mar 13, 2017 16:06:04 GMT -5
Geez, people actually read those case files?! I mean.. I probably did when I was a kid, but I don't even look at those things now. They might have been intended as exposition, but I look at them as a way for DC to publish less actual story.
I just re-read the first three issues and I think I'm still giving these a higher grade than you, shax. And certainly higher than Roq is! But I have read it before, so I'm aware of the decompression going in, and I've also seen how the characters end up developing. The series tells one complete story, so even three issues in we're still only partway through the first act. I'll be curious to see what you think of the next issue, as it's mostly character work and the actual plot finally starts.
Plus, no spoilers, but the metric system mistake in the case files is addressed with an entire lettercolumn devoted to it. Which... here I thought the files themselves were space fillers!
|
|
|
Post by String on Mar 13, 2017 17:51:39 GMT -5
IMHO, Atari Force is one of the best space opera comics ever produced, which is funny considering it's video game origins. I actually got the first two mini-comics from the Atari games themselves, even going so far as to nag my mother beyond the point of aggravation to buy Berserk for me so I could get the second comic. She relented as much to shut me up than anything (but to my credit, I didn't just chunk the game to the side afterwards, I played the helluva out of it, fun and frustrating). Sadly, no stores in my local area ever carried the rest of the games that carried the later minis so I never got them.
As for this iteration, the characters you all seem to hate is the main reason why I think this is one of the best 80s comics. The interaction between them that Conway develops and explores is interesting and entertaining. Martin's singular obsession with the Dark Destroyer that breaks the remnants of his family (the reasoning behind this obsession is explored later on). Chris may come off as sullen and over-brooding, but his father is literally a Founder of this new society, a Saviour of Earth who abandons him for reasons Chris has never understood (but soon will) so I don't blame him much for the whining here in the beginning. In fact, his foster relationship with Dart after the O'Rourkes adopt him is one of the more touching relationships of the series, a necessary grounding for Chris in showing that he can still be appreciated and part of a loving family.
As for Dart, frankly, she's one of the strongest female lead (yes, lead) characters ever, one that many fans have probably never heard of let alone read which is a damn shame. How Morphea's race considers the aspects of family leaves her, an empath, feeling ostracized and she finds a surrogate family in Babe, who was wrongfully taken from their own home and family. Pakrat may seem a stereotype, but he's fleeing the rigid confines of his family's tradition of law enforcement, a tradition personified strongly by his brother Rident.
So you see, the major theme, as I see it, of this series is Family. What can tear it apart, what can bring it back together, how it withstands the pressures and failures of it's members. Conway has set up an intriguing mix and blend of characters and relationships that explore this theme against the backdrop of eye-popping sci-fi aided by the awesome gifts and talent of Lopez.
Speaking of, Lydia Perez, her memory and fate, plays a major role in this family drama and has a very personal touch for myself as well. It's somewhere around #10-13, I forget which specific issue (time fades all memories) that the...circumstances of her death are more clearly explored. Seeing what really happened to her, how strongly that affected Martin (her 'true' love if you will), the future of their family and directed his future path, for some reason that really resonated with me. In fact, after reading that particular issue, I couldn't sleep that night, kept having nightmares and such. This series is one of the absolute handful of few to ever have such an effect upon me.
The Dark Destroyer may be a corny name but he's far from trivial. He's one of the better realized villains within comics and his 'connection' to our heroes is something both frightening and dramatically moving.
And I'm glad this series has a finite ending, it's fitting given the nature of the overall conflict and the themes involved. Thus, it is a terrific story complete unto itself, fulfilling and exciting. What more do you want?
|
|