Crisis on Infinite MORIARTY REVIEWS (Part I of II)
The Napoleon of Crime
FLAMING CARROT AMBUSH BUG STOCKING STUFFER HULK
SWAMP THING GREEN LANTERN CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS
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"There *are* standards. If you can't see one, you *make* one and stick to
it come Hell or high water -- until you see a BETTER one."
-John Gaunt
"Well, if you can't believe what you read in a comic book, what *can*
you believe?!"
-Bullwinkle J. Moose
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|==>A< One of the best of the year. Example: ZOT #8 |
|==>B< A very good issue, one of the best of the month (usually 6/month) |
|==>C< A well done, entertaining issue. Satisfying. Example: Jon Sable |
|==>D< Boring, but with a few good points. Example: SQUADRON SUPREME |
|==>F< Boring AND stupid or childish. Example: Secret Wars. |
|==>Z< Actually offensive. Example: Several of Haney's UNKNOWN SOLDIERs |
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FLAMING CARROT COMICS #9 [C]:
As the kid on the Apple IIc ad is saying, "Another Christmas
Miracle." Finally, the Carrot has gotten through those ka-ka dream
sequences, has gone on the wagon, and is back to his old dangerous
& retarded self. There is a semblance of a plot, and no one spouts
poetry anywhere in it. Patience is its own reward, I guess; or
better still, "It's guys like that that make it fun to be Bad Guys!"
AMBUSH BUG STOCKING STUFFER #1 [B-]:
Not up to mini-series, but still very, very funny. The scenes with
Cheeks running around ingesting various dolls was just what I
needed after an evening in a local mall; and the Mr. A. satire had
me dropping the comic with laughter. If you like AB, you'll want to
get this; if not, 1) you won't want to get this and 2) have you
considered nitrous oxide?
HULK #317 [C+]:
Some may be wondering just how much good John Byrne can do for
Superman once he starts on that. I suggest that they take a look at
his work on the Hulk -- a comic that I haven't read for six years on
account of consistent re-treads of old plots and poor writing.
Byrne has made it interesting again through about the only way I
can see of doing it -- by taking the Hulk out of the majority of the
story, and focusing on the supporting characters. Doc Samson
(looking quite a bit like a updated Doc Savage) and Bruce Banner
lead the new "HulkBusters" (that suffix is getting somewhat
tiresome), and it looks like an interesting crew. Basically, this
doesn't remind me of a superhero book as much as a well-done
version of a fifties sci-fi films, with someone releasing
something awful, and now having to get it back in the bottle.
Recommended.
SWAMP THING #45 [C-]:
I think you'll enjoy this more if you look at this as macabre humor;
otherwise, it seems to be more of a watered-down Twilight Zone
episode (off the subject, anyone notic that Marty Pasko did the
"Beacon" episode of TZ last week?). The humor is Moore's
imagining what the famous Winchester house (here called the
Cambridge house) really lived up to it's legends, i.e. the Winchester
house is an archaelogical nightmare built to house the ghosts of
all those killed by Winchester rifles. I found it amusing to find
that this included bison and rabbits, and the two cowboys in the
never-ending gunfight reminded me of The Black Knight in Monty
Python and the Holy Grail ("Come over here and I'll gnaw your
kneecaps off!").
SWAMP THING #46 [C]:
Finally, the reason for all the errands ST has been running for the
last few months, and the tie-in with Crisis. The suggestion of
spiritual as well as physical disruption by the Anti-Monitor is a
neat idea, and I think it'll work well -- especially the thought of
having a supernatural cult using the chaos to destroy Heaven. This
should give Moore lots of grist for ideas. Oh, the constant
twitting of ST by Constantine is a nice ribbing about keeping up
with the Crisis...
GREEN LANTERN #196-198 [B-]:
Whew! Read these in one long stretch, and the last story ('0')
really had the juices flowing. Kind of like an updated version of
the Lensmen stories (in fact, the Green Lantern Corp have always
struck me that way). It DOES make you wonder, though, how
entities as bright as the Guardians are supposed to be could ever
have picked Sinestro or Guy Gardner for any kind of duty at all.
And Tomar-re, the Green Lantern who (in the pre-Crisis days of
continuity) was responsible for Krypton surviving long enough for
The Els to get Kal off in a rocket ship.
The major thing this story leaves me with are more questions than
answers (haven't read Crisis #12 yet). Who is left in charge of the
Guardians? Will the Lanterns remember how things were before
the Crisis (the old Flash, etc.)? Who is being shipped where (two
Lanterns on Earth? Three (Katma Tui)? Four (Guy Gardner gets out
of his slump)? Any suggestions? I imagine that either Stewart &
Katma will stay on Earth and Hal will take outer space, or (more
likely) visa-versa. All three are rather independent of their homes
-- Katma and John just want to be together, and Hal (with Carol
gone) just wants be a Lantern. Well, I hope none of them are
phased out of the storyline -- Katma and John make a nice team to
follow (Englehart always is good with couples -- check out the
VISION & THE SCARLET WITCH mini-series). Any ideas?
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #12 [B-]:
Phew! Satisfactory ending from the emotional standpoint;
however, it doesn't tie up things in a way I would like. All the
John Byrne changes, with the Kents being alive and all -- will
Superman remember the way it was? Most of the DC heroes seem
to have their memory left from this -- do they notice the
difference? OK, let's assume that the Byrne changes are seperate
from the Crisis changes. Then we have the huge coincidence that
everyone who was "left over" (not recognized by the general public,
like the Earth-2 Superman, Robin and Huntress) after the merge to
one Earth conveniently perished. Does that seem to be straight?
Unless some "higher forced" marked the "leftovers" for
annihilation. Also, I assume that the battle in issue #12 is
remembered by the populace at large -- how is it being explained?
As I understand it, no one remembers (except for the heroes
involved in it) the merging of the multiverses into on universe; but
they do remember the battle in #12, which killed one hell of a lot
of people. This has got to leave a mark on the planet...
Finally, I'm a bit worried that DC writers from now on are going to
use Crisis as a blank check for continuity errors; when someone
says, hey, that person doesn't have the power to do THAT, or how
could ______Man know that villain, he never fought her, the author
will just say, well, when Crisis melded the universe, it changed it
so that they DID fight. If I see some of that, a little flaming will
be called for. Crisis was, in my opinion, a good idea in the first
place, besides the fact that it was executed with more panache
than I've seen in years. But if it's used as a Handi-Wipe for editing
errors, that would be shoddy; I'd prefer they just say "We Goofed!"
I wouldn't have any problems with that...
An admirable mini-series, one of the best ever. Everyone involved
should be very proud of their work, especially Marv Wolfman.
[Err, does this mean that George can go back to Teen Titans?]
"And I heard Jeff exclaim,
as they strolled out of sight,
`Merry Christmas to all
-- you take credit cards, right?'"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!mori...@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>
Bob Simpson
> HULK #317 [C+]:
>
> Basically, this doesn't remind me of a superhero book as much as a well-done
> version of a fifties sci-fi films, with someone releasing something awful,
> and now having to get it back in the bottle.
Thought one; how will Dr. Banner cope with the progress of technology?
Is it assumed that when Dr. B wasn't the Hulk he kept up with all the
medical/technical journals between odd jobs and being hunted by Gamma
Base?
--
Dr. Bob
ORG Plus Five Computer Services
St. Louis, MO 63105
UUCP ..!{ihnp4,cbosgd,seismo}!plus5!bob
Ron Christian
> Is it assumed that when Dr. B wasn't the Hulk he kept up with all the
> medical/technical journals between odd jobs and being hunted by Gamma
> Base?
Apparently he managed. I remember stories here and there that go
back years that mention various secret labs Banner had set up
in the desert. I think he did other experimentation, but I guess
the main line of research was how to get rid of the Hulk side of
himself. Interesting, though, that how these (the secret bases) were
funded and built was never mentioned.
There was a recent Avengers annual (really stinko, but that's another
story) that dealt with the government's opening up of one of Banner's
labs.
I guess one must assume that Banner went through long periods of
not being the hulk which were not detailed in the book.
--
--
Ron Christian (Watkins-Johnson Co. San Jose, Calif.)
{pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix,vecpyr,certes,isi}!wjvax!ron
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility:
"If you are seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it."
slri...@uok.uucp
/* Written 5:27 pm Dec 13, 1985 by r...@wjvax.UUCP in uok.UUCP:net.comics */
>Apparently he managed. I remember stories here and there that go
>back years that mention various secret labs Banner had set up
>in the desert. I think he did other experimentation, but I guess
>the main line of research was how to get rid of the Hulk side of
>himself. Interesting, though, that how these (the secret bases) were
>funded and built was never mentioned.
It was established in one of the many Hulk stories published in the
last ten years that Banner has bank accounts in many banks around the
country. He presumeably has money to put into them.
--Steve Richter
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USMAIL: S. Richter c/o Southside, 754 Asp, Norman, OK 73069