Attack of the Killer Comic Reviews! no. 3 *********************************************************** This week's haul: Aquaman 5 (DC) Babylon 5 1 (DC) Batman Adventures 28 (DC) Batman Adventures Holiday Special 1 (DC) Buster the Amazing Bear 5 (Ursus) Groo 1 (Image) Lost Universe 1 (Tekno) Next Men 30 (Dark Horse/Legend) Spider-Man 2099 28 (Marvel) Strange Tales (Marvel) Tyrant 2 (Spiderbaby) Uncle Scrooge 290 (Gladstone) *********************************************************** Aquaman 5 And the plot gets thicker... Aquaman goes hunting for his father, the wizard Atlan, in Alaska, and unsuccessfully tries to blend in with the local population. Aquaman's new armor looks really stupid, and not very protective to boot, but this issue is chock full o' PAD quips, so you tend not to notice it too much. ($1.50, DC) Babylon 5 1 Instead of taking the filler episode approach, this book is featuring Commander Sinclair as he is assigned to be Earth's first ambassador to the Minbari. Not much happens in this issue, and it's a bit early to tell how good the book will be (especially since Mark Moretti will replace series creator J. Michael Straczynski as writer), but I think it's off to a good start. The art is not bad, with an EC-like feel to it, but it's marred by a few awful panels. (BTW, I'm wondering why the word "bastards" was changed to "demons" in the Battle of the Line flashback.) ($1.50, DC) Batman Adventures 28 (DC) Batman Adventures Holiday Special 1 (DC) Batman is awfully busy this Christmas. Joker creates mayhem in Gotham from within Arkham's walls. In the Holiday Special, Joker is at it again, this time free as a bird(so much for continuity). Mr. Freeze also escapes from Arkham, causing me to wonder if the guards have spiked the eggnog a bit too much. Harley and Ivy take Bruce Wayne on a shopping spree, and the hero everyone's been rooting for, Batgirl, takes on Clayface. All in all, great holiday fun. ($1.50 and $2.95, DC) Buster the Amazing Bear 5 Don't take it seriously, because it doesn't work that way. It's about a cute bear cub who changes into a super-strong, super-intelligent super bear. Not to mention an overzealous, overarmed fire chief, a rampaging mechanoid, and a cyborg G.I. Joe reject. ($2.50/$3.50 ppd., Ursus, P.O.Box 4858, Cerritos, CA 90703-4858) Groo 1 I've read Groo before, but I didn't get the book regularly. Somebody slap me. This is damn funny. Strangely enough, however, the supplementary stuff, like the intro starring Evanier and Aragones and the press release, is funnier than the book itself. ($1.95, Image) Lost Universe 1 Lord, this is worse than Primortals. James Callahan can draw a decent background, thankfully, but he draws people like a third rate Image stringer. And the story? What story? Pure space opera drivel. ($1.95, Tekno) Next Men 30 This is what we've been waiting for. Everything is tied up into a neat little bow, except for one thing: what happened to the Next Men? For that, we'll have to wait for the new Next Men series. ($2.50, Dark Horse/Legend) Spider-Man 2099 28 When I started reading this, I thought it was a fill-in issue before I remembered last issue's cliffhanger. So much for the art. Miguel fights a pair of really lame villains, but, incredibly, PAD pulls a good story out of the mess. ($1.50, Marvel) Strange Tales (Marvel) Kurt Busiek wrote this, but it ain't Marvels. It is a good story, with some clever storytelling techniques, but I figured out the nature of the villain right away, and I was wondering why experienced heroes like the Thing, the Human Torch, and Dr. Strange couldn't do the same. The painted art by Ricardo Villagran is nice, even if the figures are a bit stiff, but I don't think he's quite got a handle on how to depict the Thing. I haven't decided if these "Marvel Select" books are worth the hefty price tag they command. ($6.95, Marvel) Tyrant 2 This issue, Bissette turns away from the big dinos temporarily to get a bit closer to the earth, exploring the complex ecosystem of the Cretaceous jungle floor. ($2.95/$5.00 ppd., SpiderBaby, P.O.Box 442, Wilmington, VT 05363) Uncle Scrooge 290 This is part six of Don Rosa's opus, "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck". It's 1887, and Scrooge goes a-huntin' for gold in South Africa. Is there anyone who isn't reading this? Unfortunately, Rosa's chapters have been getting smaller, with the rest of the book devoted to (often non-Barks) reprints. ($1.50, Gladstone) *********************************************************** Attack of the Killer Comic Reviews is posted on rec.arts.comics.misc and rec.arts.comics.info whenever I feel like it. An abridged version is posted to the comix mailing list and alt.comics.alternative(which doesn't appear at my site, so vote yes for raca!). Feedback is welcome and encouraged. I also publish a print fanzine called Stick Figures which is in need of submissions and subscriptions. (Hint, hint) Comics and stuff sent to me will be reviewed here and possibly in Stick Figures.