Rich's Reviews

[R.J.JOHNSTON]

Welcome welcome welcome!

On the list today:

Yummy Fur 32
Power and Glory 1(A)
Rune 1
Hero Illustrated 9 (with Bravura 1/2 and Charlemagne 0)

Yummy Fur by Chester Brown published by Drawn and Quarterly.
$2.95 For Mature Readers
Its an all-Matthew book this month as Chester continues his
adaptations of the Gospels. Recommeded for Christians and
non-Christians alike, it portrays a gritty and realistic version of the
Bible... no soft pastel colours here. People are ugly, especially
people like John the Baptist who have been imprisoned for a long
time. This is the story of John's death and also the story of Jesus
preaching and somehow Chester manages to convey the image of
God as Man, especially when confronting the Pharasees. Very
powerful and highly recommended.

Grade 9/10

Rune 1 by Barry Windsor Smith, Chris Ulm, Alex Bialy, John Floyd,
published by Malibu/Ultraverse $1.95

Another reworking of the vampire myth. It isn't as stale or as bland as
it could be... but its no masterpiece. The main attraction to this book,
is BWS work but the inking is too bold and sketchy and can give it a
really atrocious look. I wonder exactly how much time was spent on
this book... it looks very much like a one- two week job.. There are
lots of Weapon X-ish bits too and both new and old BWS fans should
appreciate this comic to some degree. I tend to buy all BWS comics,
but I didn't buy the Rune previews, because of the price for 3 pages,
and I really doubt I'll be continuing with this series. Hey Barry! Lets
see some creator owned stuff from you soon, but take some time on
it!

Grade 5/10

Power and Glory 1A by Howard Chaykin published by Malibu/Bravura.
$2.50

1A? Yes ladies and gents, Malibu have rediscovered that abandoned
marketing ploy of Marvel's, the multiple cover! You can buy a 1B with
a different cover! Golly gosh! Ahem. Its that government-sponsored
super hero gig here peoples and Chaykins does governments really
well. Lots of conspiracy theories to come methinks. You know, this is
all fairly standard stuff but Chaykin has the guts and the flair to carry
this off. Ah, what the hell. I really liked this comic. Y'know. i might
even try the next issue too. Despite the cover (thats 1A cover folks!)
there is no superhero action in this comic, which quite surprised me.
Though after the ending there might just be one...

Grade 7/10

Hero Illustrated 9 by Warrior Publishing $3.95

A cover by Keown. Is it me or is Keown doing more covers, pinups,
posters and promotional bits than actual comics? However, from a
carbon copy of Wizard, Hero has really progressed. News items that
really matter here, Capital are charging $500 for cancelling a title and
$750 for resoliciting a title! Ouch! With that 30 day policy, this is
really going to hit a lot of small press publishers badly. The comic
that I am preparing for self-publication, Dirtbag, if the printers slow
down or an aeroplane crashes, I am really going to be screwed here.
Its encouraging to see Hero doing some investigative reporting here,
and also on the closure of Innovation. The reviews are good and in
depth . Of course there's lots of Image blurb, but an interview with Jim
Valentino is fairly revealing. Shadowhawk hits 1963! The star turn of
the book is the Slave Labor piece and the Grant Morrison interview.
He'll be doing a new monthly title with Jill Thompson called the
Invisibles with DC. I'll look for it! It seems to have a kind of
Sandman-scope to the sound of it and DC could really do with
something like that! And there's a great Dave Sim final Word at the
end. The free comics are pretty bad, ne just advertises Bravura with a
few preview pages and Charlemagne is a Shooter comic so we don't
have to expect anything from that and I didn't get anything from it
either.

Grade 7/10
..................................
RICH JOHNSTON- Creator of "Dirtbag" r.j.jo...@ncl.ac.uk
Artist on "Ken Bradley's Age of Eternity"
"But I'd really love to wake up sleeping,
In your arms again...."- Saw Doctors. Buy Hepcats 11.