From: jordan@castor (Jet Jaguar)
Subject: Re: DC: misc stuff
Summary: RUG DOCTOR: Steamin' mad at monkeys!
Keywords: Get Anxious!
Organization: University of Georgia
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 05:13:21 GMT

jz1j+@andrew.cmu.edu (James D. Zelenka) writes:
>Thoughts on several DC titles of late, in no particular order:

It's refreshing to see somebody on r.a.c.m. who actually *agrees* with some
of my opinions!  I was starting to feel like the black sheep of the Internet.

>Sandman: I've enjoyed this title a lot up to Brief Lives, and BL itself
>is pretty good but somehow doesn't seem quite up to the level of quality
>of the previous storylines. I can't put my finger on exactly why though.
>Maybe it's just the pacing. Jill Thompson's (sp?) art is OK, but not
>outstanding. I wish she could draw hair and eyes a little better.

I forgot where I read it, but somebody described Jill Thompson's (sp?) people
as all looking like dummies.  I think that's a good description.  It's
adequate, I guess, but I'd prefer somebody else...
	As for the storyline, it has been a little slow, but I haven't gotten 
bored with it.  Mr Gaiman has put in just about every other genre of story 
into the series; it's nice to see the Sandman take on a whodunnit story.

>Animal Man: moving to a mature reader's label was good for this book, I
>think. This first storyline has been really good. I'm glad there wasn't
>any urge to suddenly make Cliff "all better" now that he's reunited with
>his family. It looks like he's gonna need some serious counselling. I
>don't think "Cannibal Kid" is a symptom of his problems, even though
>it's the sort of thing that'd probably make a lot of parents suddenly
>worry about their son's stability. Rather, it's his attitude that "Life
>is really terrible, and you can't convince me otherwise," and the way he
>treats his sister. I wonder if in some way he blames his parents for
>what happened with Uncle Dudley.

I really don't like Steve Pugh's art (I didn't like it in Hellblazer,
either) and Jamie Delano seems to me like an Alan Moore wannabe.  Some of
his characters (like Uncle Dudley) are a little one-dimensional, and I usually
just tune out the parts where he tries to go all introspective.  But, I have
to say the last part of the latest issue, with Cliff's Cannibal Kid comic
book, was really chilling.  A lot more than any monster-lurking-in-the-shadows
would be.  I thought it was very ominous and I imagine Cliff's instability
is going to be a major subplot in the future...

>Hellblazer: this is one of my favorite DC titles. It's consistently very
>good, both the artwork and the storyline. John Constantine is a great
>character; I'm glad they're pressuring other writers _not_ to use/abuse
>him in other titles (even if the consequence is a legion of Constantine
>clones like Kipling :-).

Especially when you see how badly other writers can handle the character.
(I'm thinking of the recent crossover in Swamp Thing, which was abysmal.)
I don't know if I agree with you about the "consistent" part, but I'm
very happy with the latest issue, art and story.

Dani Zweig mentioned the laundromat issue by John Smith -- I actually liked
this one.  It wasn't supposed to be a major deal; I think it was just supposed
to be kind of creepy and surreal, and it worked.  Actually, I haven't really
disliked any of the stories except for the Royal Blood storyline.   The writing
wasn't bad, I just thought the whole concept was pretty lame and overused.  If
Ennis wants to make comments on the Royal Family, I think there are lots better
(and more subtle) ways to do it.

Also, I'm glad to see in the Vertigo Preview that Garth Ennis made another
Pogues reference in an upcoming issue of Hellblazer.  Are any of you other
Hellblazer fans fans of the Pogues, too?  I'm just glad to see somebody else
recognize how perfect the storytelling in some of their songs fits in with
the whole Hellblazer storyline -- it's not all just drinking music.

>LSH: I like a lot of Giffen's stuff, but judging from how this title has
>improved since he's left, he was dragging it down. The destruction of
>Earth was handled much better than I thought it would be, and made for a
>couple powerful issues. The most recent issue wasn't quite up to snuff,
>though. Maybe it's because the old-legion-meets-young-legion was just
>too corny for me. I dunno. I'll be happy when the two legions go their
>separate ways. In general, though, I like the book. Pearson's pencils
>are much easier on the eye than Giffen's.

Actually, I MUCH prefer Giffen's art to any of the other art I've seen on
the series, but the new team they got (Immonen, I think the guy's name is)
is pretty good (if not as innovative) and is certainly miles ahead of the
last art team.
	I hope that after the Legionnaires series gets started, the writers
will leave the corny old-Legion type stuff in that book and keep the LSH
series as wacky as it used to be.  If only they'd return to the level of
writing they had reached in the first 12 or so issues and stop trying to
throw too much stuff in, and stop trying to write down to the old Legion 
fans.  (IMO, of course)

>Swamp Thing: I like Doom Patrol. I like Sandman. I like Hellblazer. I
>like Shade. So, every so often, I forget and pick up a copy of Swamp
>thing thinking, "It's billed as being one of DC's better books, just
>like those others. Maybe the last issue I tried was a fluke." Then I
>read it and think, "Eeeew, why did I even bother? Why do I ever bother?
>I'll never make this mistake again..." Maybe it's just that I really
>really hate Collins' writing. Or something.

It's horrible.  Just loathesome.  I was thinking that actually having a
person who knew about Louisiana would add some authenticity to the book, but
actually, all the Cajun background stuff has just gotten annoying.  Granted,
the book was in pretty dire straits when she picked it up (I think the whole
idea of Tefe is lame.  Swamp Thing as a family man?) but the writing is just
not there.  I don't even consider it a "mature title" anymore.

Chuck

-- 
                  Chuck Jordan | jordan@castor.cs.uga.edu
"It's for you, McGruff."
"Did you hear what he called me?  I HATE that!  Let's sneak up into his
room and drain all the liquid out of his body."		-- Sam & Max
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