Attack of the Killer Comic Reviews! n o.7 *********************************************************** This week's haul: Animal Man 80 (DC/Vertigo) Batman Adventures 29 (DC) Groo 2 (Image) Incredible Hulk 426 (Marvel) Marvel: Portraits of a Universe 1 (Marvel) Spider-Man 2099 29 (Marvel) Way Out Strips 4 (Fantagraphics) Mailbox haul: The Coat Closet Meanwhile, In Hell Christmas haul: The Big Book of Urban Legends (DC/Paradox) *********************************************************** Animal Man 80 A new logo greets new writer Jerry Prosser as he begins his run on this title by bringing Buddy back to his childhood home in a story reminiscent of Michael Allred's "it was..." from Grafik Muzik. It's his third or fourth trip on the resurrection wheel, and this time, the mysterious powers that be tell him that he'd better get it right. Nothing here that will make me forget Morrison's or Delano's issues, but I'm going to go along for the ride. ($1.95, DC/Vertigo) Batman Adventures 29 Batman and Ras al Ghul's daughter, Talia, team up to search for a mysterious world-destroying device. I didn't like this issue as much as others I've read, possibly because I don't think Batman does a good James Bond, jet-setting around the world type. ($1.50, DC) Groo 2 The fun continues with a story about a hilarious string of mistaken identities and spells and a witches' convention. It's Groo. It's funny. 'Nuff said. ($1.95, Image) Incredible Hulk 426 (newsstand version, of course) It's a bold new direction(isn't it always?) for this book as Bruce's mind is in turmoil, Betty is on the operating table, the Pantheon is scattered to the winds, and, as always, SHIELD comes butting in. Liam Sharp isn't as good an artist as Keown or Frank, at least not yet, but he's done excellent work on this issue, with some intriguing 16-panel page layouts, a nice change in these days of bombastic splash pages. ($1.50, Marvel) Marvel: Portraits of a Universe 1 (of 4) I thought there was going to be a story in this book. Boy, am I gullible. It's a glorified pinup book designed to line Marvel's pockets and possibly pave the way for another card set. This is a mixed bag of painted art depicting some famous (and some better left forgotten) events in Marvel universe history, with lame commentary by Stan Lee. If you're into pin-ups and cards, you may like this sort of thing, but it's not my cup of tea. Even if it was, I think the price is a bit much for a normal format comic with flimsy paper that isn't much better than standard newsprint. ($2.95, Marvel) Spider-Man 2099 29 It's the lame villain parade in this book. This month its a bunch of post-apocalyptic B-movie rejects called the Foragers, who capture Spider-Man and intend to use him to unlock the secret of an ancient robot. Despite all this, I'm still interested in the characters. ($1.50, Marvel) Way Out Strips 4 This aptly named book presents three stories by Carol Swain, two of them episodes in pair of continuing tales. If there's a common theme to all of these stories, it's that they feature directionless characters, searching for a "way out". Swain's art matches the stories perfectly, and even the fact that all the faces look alike only contributes to the atmosphere. ($2.75, Fantagraphics, 7563 Lake City NE, Seattle, WA 98115) The Coat Closet Meanwhile, In Hell The best thing about writing a review column is that you get to read things you might never otherwise have heard about. These two little mini comics showed up in my mailbox unannounced, and I was quite happy to see them. These comics present two bizarre vignettes drawn in a style reminiscent of a series of woodcuts. The first is a wordless tale of a man's journey into a coat closet and his transformation as a result. The second is the story of a stroll through hell by three of it's inhabitants. It's drawn not with word balloons, but like an illustrated book, with the text and pictures on opposite pages. The text is accompanied with vines and figures, like an ancient manuscript. ($1.00 and $1.25, Eric Schaller, 1047 Sherman Ave., Madison, WI 53703) The Big Book of Urban Legends DC is going after the bookstore business hard with these "Factoid" books from their new Paradox imprint, and the attention that they're giving them shows. This book contains over 200 mostly one page stories about, well, urban legends. All the old favorites are here, with plenty of ones you've never heard, and a few stories that I had thought were true! With so many different cartoonists, you might think there would be some crappy work, but the quality of the art is consistently first rate. My only complaint is about the credits. When I see a new artist whose work I like, I have to flip to the contents page to find their name, and then go to the index to find the bios. And then some of the artists used their space to make sophomoric jokes instead of plugging their work. Their loss. Anyway, the Paradox "Factoid" line is off to a great start, and I look forward to The Big Book of Weirdos in February. ($12.95, DC/Paradox) *********************************************************** Attack of the Killer Comic Reviews is posted on rec.arts.comics.misc, rec.arts.comics.info, and Comics-L whenever I feel like it. An abridged version is posted to the comix mailing list and rec.arts.comics.alternative (when it appears at my site). 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.