From: [slacker 01] at [aol.com] (Slacker 01) Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc Subject: SLACKER: T H E S L A C K E R F I L E S 002 (Part A) Date: 4 Dec 1994 05:20:10 -0500 T H E S L A C K E R F I L E S 002 Welcome back to The Slacker Files! For those not familiar with it, TSF is an almost-weekly file of News, Views and Reviews featuring the best of the comics industry. If you'd like to be on the E-mail list, just drop me a line and I'll put The Slacker Files in your mailbox every week. Sorry this edition ships so late -- the combination of the holiday, along with upcoming law school finals, have conspired to invoke the "almost" part of our "almost-weekly" schedule. I've made it a double-sized again for two-weeks worth, and will do so again in the next TSF about two weeks from now. After that, look for the regular-sized weekly editions to start appearing again every Sunday. Just a quick note before we start: I want to say thanks to all of the wonderful response folks gave for the first Internet installment of The Slacker Files. I appreciate your kind words very much and I'll be happy to keep writing these as long as people continue to enjoy reading them. A whole lot of news this week.... * N E W S * * As reported last time in TSF, and extensively throughout the net, Marvel Comics will downsize up to 30% of its current line and dismiss as many as 20 of its in-house editors. Marvel expected to make a formal announcement shortly before the holiday, but either because of the brevity of the work week, or because of the holiday itself ("Happy Thanksgiving, you're fired"), Marvel had apparently delayed its announcement a short while. It now appears that Marvel may reconsider the staff cuts, and may instead reduce the number of its comic titles without widespread staff reductions. Joey Cavaleri and his assistant (whose name escapes me) had been the two editors who were certain to receive walking papers; and longtime editor Danny Fingeroth had also been mentioned as a likelihood. Some editorial downsizing will still likely occur, but Marvel staffers remain uncertain of exactly what will happen, or when. On the comics side, Marvel will go ahead with its plans to scale back its lumbering comics line into a more focused and dynamic array of books. The nets have speculated extensively on which books will receive the cuts; TSF has compiled a list from what it considers the most reliable of its sources, but cautions that some of these names still remain formally unconfirmed. Titles most likely to receive cancellation: BLACKWULF; BLADE; DARKHAWK; GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY; all MARVEL MEGAZINEs; MIDNIGHT SONS UNLIMITED; MORBIUS; NAMOR; NIGHT THRASHER; NIGHTWATCH; SECRET DEFENDERS; SILVER SABLE; and THUNDERSTRIKE. Titles which Marvel will also probably cancel: MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS; RAVAGE 2099; the MARVEL MASTERWORKS series of hardcovers; and WARLOCK AND THE INFINITY WATCH. Titles which have been rumored to be cancelled, but which Marvel will continue to publish, include: BLAZE; NOVA; and WAR MACHINE. Marvel will also scale the down The Punishers titles, but the exact format remains uncertain. Marvel will almost certainly cancel PUNISHER WAR ZONE; although some reports indicate that PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL will survive with a female Punisher in the lead. Other reports suggest that Marvel will cancel both ancillary Punisher titles and restart the flagship PUNISHER book at issue #1. Another rumor indicates a shift on the title WHAT IF?, from a monthly book to a series of occasional specials, done in a prestige format along the lines of DCs ELSEWORLDS books. And finally, the 2099 line, which had been rumored to be on the chopping block, will continue on with only one or two titles cancelled (Ravage, and perhaps one other -- possibly PUNISHER 2099). The Slacker Files does note that 2099 editor Bobbi Chase handles many of the to-be-cut titles listed above. On a related note, Marvel has dismissed the entire accounting and legal departments of Malibu Comics, either as part of its new efforts to streamline or as a natural consequence of the recent takeover. ----- * Rob Liefeld has signed on some of the industry's top writing talent for the New Order of Extreme titles which will survive the "end of Extreme" event that comes this January. Among the talent: Alan Moore, Chuck Dixon, Jo Duffy, Keith Giffen, Marv Wolfman, and Tom and Mary Bierbaum. The writers will either handle new titles or revamp existing ones. Also, contrary to previous reports, Extreme will not cancel its entire line of comics and restart them; only PROPHET begins renumbering, at #1, with his first seven issues now called a "miniseries". In addition, Jim Valentino will begin meshing his activities with Liefeld, whom he tutored when the young artist first broke into the business. Valentino will become the regular writer on Extreme's flagship title, YOUNGBLOOD, while his ShadowHawk character becomes a regular cast member of the Extreme team, Brigade. The new writing assignments include: CATWOMAN writer Jo Duffy on a new GLORY series; Punisher and Batman writer Chuck Dixon on PROPHET; Marv Wolfman, of NEW TEEN TITANS fame, as the new writer for BRIGADE; Keith Giffen on THE LEGEND OF SUPREME; Alan Moore on a BADROCK/VIOLATOR miniseries; and Tom and Mary Bierbaum on a new title called MARK 5, who appears to be a Dr. Fate-type of character. Another new book, titled KNIGHTMARE, does not yet have a writer, but will be drawn by Marat Mychaels; while new comics writer Brian Witten, who has worked extensively in Hollywood on films like Predator, Lethal Weapon, and Die Hard, will write a two- part CHAPEL miniseries. Liefeld will also begin publishing a series based on Dave Cockrum's FUTURIANS, which appeared as a Marvel Graphic Novel in the early 1980s and which had been based on designs that Cockrum planned to use as part of the all-new, all-different X-Men. ----- * The God of Thunder will herald the first appearance of a Marvel character in a storyline of the newly-acquired line of Malibu Comics, when Thor makes a major appearance as part of the Ultraverse's upcoming GODWHEEL event. Malibu has also slated a major Marvel villain to appear in the series, but both Malibu and Marvel are keeping his identity a mystery. Thor will remain part of the Ultraverse for most of 1995, with repercussions affecting both the Ultraverse and the Marvel Universe. ----- * After revitalizing the flagging sales of the series, writer Dan G. Chichester has been fired from Marvel Comics's DAREDEVIL. Chichester's last issue will be #342, although he may remove his name from the credits before then. Chichester says that the title's new editor-in-chief, Bobbi Chase, fired him when the book's editor, Marie Javins, went on vacation. Daredevil will return to his red costume shortly after Chichester's last issue. Chichester was responsible for last year's "Fall From Grace" storyline, the first issue of which became one of the most sought- after comics of the year. He will now write an upcoming MOTORHEAD series for Dark Horse as well as do a MARVELS one-shot for Marvel. ----- * Other personnel changes on several books: --- Alan Davis will leave CLANDESTINE after issue #8, complaining that he could no longer tolerate Marvel's capricious support and failure to improve the book's production values after he received several assurances from Marvel that it would address his concerns. --- Popular science fiction writer Lawrence Watt-Evans will leave Tekno*Comix after PRIMORTALS #4, complaining of creative differences. Watt-Evans has worked on PRIMORTALS and GENE RODDENBERRY'S LOST UNIVERSE. According to Watt-Evans, Tekno*Comics functions more along the lines of Hollywood scriptwriting, in which story changes are routinely made from numerous sources up until the last minute; while he had been accustomed to greater independence as a novelist and freelance writer. He described the differences as simply a misunderstanding in the creative relationship and described the split as amicable. Tekno*Comix has gone through a number of creator changes in its early development, including departures by writers Mark Wheatley, currently of RADICAL DREAMER fame, and SF writer Kate Whorley. On a related note, expect a third Neil Gaiman series from Tekno*Comix sometime in early 1995. ----- * The Los Angeles Times reports a deal for a Spawn live-action movie to accompany an animated series on HBO sometime late next year. The Slacker Files offers no suggestion if it will be released as a double-feature with the Doom's IV film and the Youngblood cartoon.... * V I E W S * * While its normal that were all interested in the upcoming cuts at Marvel, we should also remember that, for some of the folks involved, these cuts represent the end of a substantial portion of their livelihoods. Since this is the holiday season, Id like to take a moment to wish the best of luck to the upcoming pink-slipped editors and freelancers who did their best -- not always successfully, but at least sincerely -- to entertain us. --- * I read Peter Davids "But I Digress" column a few weeks ago, in which he reviewed and analyzed the latest Tim Burton film, "Ed Wood". For those unfamiliar with Wood, he holds the singular distinction of being historys most relentlessly incompetent filmmaker. I agree with Peters assessment that Ed Wood deserves a type of surreal, existential respect for having such sincere enthusiasm while remaining so systematically inept; a sort of true creative visionary in need of some seriously thick glasses. But at the same time, I think Peter misses one of the most salient observations, especially in the context of the comics industry: That aside from the fact that the comics person is not also a heterosexual Angora transvestite, Ed Wood is -- Rob Liefeld. If youve ever spoken with Rob or read an interview with him, it becomes clear that hes just full of good ideas -- some of them even his own -- but that hes just entirely unable to translate them into good comics storytelling. Like Ed Wood, Rob is a person taken with the "big picture" of his idea, without the attention to the details of seeing it through. In a way, Rob is the person who breaks the conventional wisdom about what will and wont succeed in the comics industry: As a writer, Rob is the fan who wants a job coming up with cool ideas without having to be the person who turns them into stories; as an artist, Rob is the kid in the portfolio line with a sketchbook full of spandex poses, without any backgrounds, everyday normal objects, or panel-to-panel continuity. Hes the person whom editors tell to go back home and put in some more work... but who has ignored their advice and managed to succeed anyway. On the one hand, I want to recognize that Rob, perhaps, isn't actually the joke that everyone thinks he is, and instead represents the fact that someone can still succeed in this business based on the sheer determination to do so. On the other hand, I want to note that Ed Wood eventually settled into making avant- garde porn films once his SF/horror films turned out to be failures; and can only I wonder what Rob Liefeld will be doing 10 years from now. As always, all IMHO. * R E V I E W S * * THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT #2 I have to confess that I've never heard of Bryan Talbot before this; and quite frankly I'm embarrassed to admit it. I can't help but think that with all the comics I read, I should certainly have picked up something by this wonderful talent somewhere along the line. THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT is not just phenomenal comic book storytelling, it's phenomenal storytelling, period. It gets my highest possible recommendation. The story here doesn't have anything to do with our traditional notions of comic books; nobody's getting bitten by radioactive spiders, yelling at each other about combat mission specs or walking around in moody black capes. In fact, the lack of anything out of the ordinary is what makes this story so powerful: these are the kind of things that happen to people every day. The story involves a teenage girl who's run away from her sexually-abusive father, and her occasional retreats into the fantasy world of Beatrix Potter and the children's stories she remembers from the last time that she felt innocent. I've never read the Beatrix Potter stories, but I didn't need to: It's the imaginary animals who are giving her comfort, and the people who should be giving her comfort that are the true animals. This story also makes perfect use of comic book storytelling, and I say that not because this would make for a good movie, but because it /wouldn't/ make for a good movie. Here, it is the reader who actually sets the pace: I found myself reluctant to move on to the next panel or page because of the tough life of the protagonist, and I would continue reading only after I had adequately prepared myself for what might come next. Talbot also manages this exceptional story with an extremely simple narrative style; whole sections go by in which you don't realize you've just read eight or nine pages of story with only four words of dialogue. Talbot's also capable of a chilling array of facial expressions, such as the small-panel moment of unbridled anguish in which the abused girl finally decides to shear herself off from her past life. I'd mark this series as one of the books to look out for at awards time. This isn't probably the type of title that would quickly sell out, so if you can still find the first issue, I'd make every effort to do so. RATING: * * * * * (Highest Possible Recommendation.) ----- * HELLSHOCK #4 HELLSHOCK #1 was the most stunning, gorgeous, and intellectually sophisticated 14 pages that Image Comics ever charged $1.95 for. While I was pissed off that the book contained more house ads than story pages, I also had to admit that it was 14 pages of very different and very cool stuff, and 14 pages that I would have probably paid $1.95 for anyway. I also gave Jae Lee a lot of credit for handling the criticism of the short first issue like a professional: when people complained that the length of the first issue's story didn't even reach the staples, he didn't blame Peter David or Marvel Comics or the distributors or suggest that the whole thing was planned or ignore that it happened -- he simply apologized, and told readers he'd work harder to deliver better storytelling in the future. Well, I have two words for young Jae Lee: APOLOGY ACCEPTED. This has been one of the best series that Image has ever produced, and could practically qualify for a Vertigo comic if the artwork weren't so dynamic. Yes, I know that some people think Jae Lee inks his books with more sepia anarchy than a psychotic Jackson Pollock; but like any other style, that's a matter of taste. As a matter of storytelling, Jae Lee's got a fantastic grasp of the exciting that has made me a big fan of this bright young man. This issue doesn't rely so much on the high-contrast background photos that Jae used to get himself back on schedule, but I didn't mind those either -- even when they're used here, for instance, they're used appropriately and in a smooth dovetail with the inked artwork. (Check out that gun muzzle -- if you're not looking, you can hardly tell it's a photocopy with the half-tones removed.) Jae also makes effective use of "white" inks, a trick he picked up from Bill Sienkiewicz, and which gives an appropriately unusual and unearthly feel to the book. (Sienkiewicz, in fact, does one of the issue's two covers.) As for the story, it's a gripping parallel tale between the title character and two young boys who Jae Lee make look menacing or innocent at his whim. It sets up what will hopefully lead into a regular ongoing series, and one for which I'll most certainly be along for the ride. RATING: * * * * ----- * WETWORKS #4 I've never quite understood why Jim Lee has become the yardstick against which other Homage artists have been judged. Whilce and Jim rose to prominence almost exactly at the same time, and Whilce's work on X-books actually predates Jim's by 40-some-odd issues. But beyond the actual style of the artwork, Whilce remains a far better storyteller. He has an instinct for paneling and camera shot that leaves Jim Lee holding the lens cap, and Whilce can focus the action in a single clean pose which Jim Lee would have cluttered with excessive detail to mask the inadequacies of his layout. Make no mistake: I think Jim Lee is a damn fine artist. I just think Whilce is better, and WETWORKS makes that difference clear. Wetworks has been a great book, and I suspect it will make a great series once the miniseries runs its course next issue. (Which, I see now, will have the obligatory confrontation with the WildC.A.T.s. Do me a favor and compare a Whilce WildC.A.T.s fight scene with one done by Jim Lee when you get the chance). I don't know exactly how long Whilce will stay on the book, but I want to point out that I think Wetworks will stay a fine book even after Whilce leaves. Aside from the great-looking artwork, Whilce has crafted an eclectic, interesting story, with a mix of aliens, vampires, werewolves, rock stars, psychic cyborgs and black-ops mercenaries that would sound like something out of Buckaroo Banzai if they weren't threaded together so seamlessly. If I have any real complaint about the overall series, it would be, surprisingly, with the lavishly illustrated computer- generated colors that seem to have become the staple of Image books. Joe Chiodo does the colors with great technical skill, but without very much philosophy: details in the background get as much computerized attention as details in the foreground, and this gives the panels the strange effect of seeming both flat and three- dimensional at the same time. This particular issue is a bit off on the pacing, and not so much focused on the action, because it sets up the big fight for next issue; but beyond that, this has been a strong, well-told series. RATING: * * * 1/2 ----- * ARCHIE LOVE SHOWDOWN SPECIAL #1 Okay, what the heck is an Archie book doing in The Slacker Files? Well, not only does this book feature Jughead, the all-time, tin-crowned, King of Slack (hey, he's even got a big "S" on his shirt!), but it represents the culmination of the historic storyline in which Archie Andrews, our carrot-topped bundle of 50- year-old teenage checkerhead testosterone, finally picks between Betty and Veronica. The final results are that he does, and he doesn't, and the ending is expected but not predictable (but you'll have to read the book to find out; I'm not telling here!). In that respect, the Archie creative gang has managed the tricky task of producing an "event" book that still keeps the reader guessing, which is more than can be said for the Big Two's books like Superman #75 or X- Men: Alpha. Not only that, but the end result is a whole lot of fun. The story revolves around a slutty redhead co-ed named Cheryl Blossom who shakes her ass at every Riverdale High guy between Jughead Jones and big Moose. But when Cheryl the Red shoehorns her way between blonde Betty and brunette Veronica to dig her hooks into Our Man Archie, the pair of longtime rivals team up to conspire against their mutual enemy to win him back. Sure, parts of this book are dopey Archie stuff, but parts are also a surprisingly great amount of fun. (My favorite line: Archie wakes up from a dream set in the future in which Betty had married Cheryl's creepy brother Jason, and Archie exclaims, "It was just a dream! Betty and Jason haven't had any grandchildren yet!" Archie's startled mother, standing nearby, replies, "What?! I /knew/ that trip needed chaperons!") I have to say that my exposure to Archie has largely been limited to Batton Lashs Punisher crossover and my sisters stack of comic books at summercamp, which I leafed through when I had finished reading my copy of Micronauts #11 for the 27th time. And, chances are, I'm probably not going to become a regular reader now. But for a one-shot stop into the freckled world of Archie Andrews, this book is a great snapshot. RATING: * * * ----- * JINK #1 With JINK, Wendy and Richard Pini make their first real effort to break free of the mold of traditional Elfquest. They succeed, but....that's part of the problem. The problem with JINK is that it's not really Elfquest at all -- it's just a brand-new story with only some loose (and somewhat contrived) ties back to Cutter and the Wolfriders. And, in fact, Wendy had even created JINK's companion title, THE REBELS, before she and Richard had created Elfquest. Sure, there are some Elfquest-style references, but they all ring hollow, sort of the way Image established its "universe" by having everyone shout, "Is he a Youngblood?" whenever a new character came onto the scene. What it really comes down to is that it's just science fiction, and not very good science fiction at that. The art reads like a bad Malibu comic from its pre-Ultraverse days, and the story focuses primarily on humans, who happen to represent the least- interesting type of character in the Elfquest universe. The one character who actually threatens to become interesting (Jink herself) is made so inaccessible by the plot that she seems more like a story MacGuffin than a title character. Sure, there's a nice John Byrne flip cover, and there are a couple of interesting story threads set up, but there are also a couple of predictable ones, and I'm just not sure how long I'm going to stick around waiting for the payoff. I know that all this probably just amounts to a complaint of "it's not Elfquest," in somewhat the same way that New Blood critics carped, "it's not Wendy." Perhaps that's a valid observation; but, at the same time, JINK's association with Elfquest is pretty much the reason that it's come to people's attention. In that respect, the creators of JINK are somewhat inviting comparison. I'd also distinguish this book from those critics who simply refuse any new Elfquest titles because "it's not Wendy." This book is not only "not Wendy," but it's not Elfquest; and, standing on its own, it's just not all that good, either. RATING: * * ----- * And for the Turkey of the Week this past Thanksgiving holiday... PRIME SEGA EDITION #1 I don't expect anyone will pay the ticket price for a Sega CD game just to get the comic book, but I do suspect that this book will start showing up on dealers' walls along with their ashcan books, so I thought it might be worthwhile to give the comic book a review. The problem with this comic book is that it's not really a comic book: it's more like an introductory guide to the video game. Prime fights bad guy robots on one level; Prime crashes through the ceiling to fight mutant creatures on the next. Theres even a panel where Prime uses his "special" power in which you can just see the Sega game-jocks hitting their "B" buttons. There's simply not any decent story here. The second half of the problem lies in Joe Stanton's artwork. It's not that I think Joe's a bad artist; I just think he's a bad superhero artist. He can pull off a parody like E-Man, and he can /almost/ get away with doing something near-parody, like a Joker story (see the latest LDK arc for that), but the suspension of disbelief invariably breaks down when the more realistic elements of the story intrude. Malibu plans on doing multi-media crossovers between the video games and the comic books, in which the storyline started in the game continues on in the comic books. I'm all for that idea, and I'm presuming those comics will actually be better than the ones packaged in the video game. RATING: * ----- * OTHER RECOMMENDED READING: MACHINE #1 (First issue of Dark Horse's cyberpunk Frankenstein); SHADE: THE CHANGING MAN #55 (A neat series with a great jump-on point for new readers, like me); and SHADOW CABINET #8 (Milestone's offbeat covert team book by great new talent, writer Matt Wayne). ----- * NEXT WEEK: A convention report from Image Con, here in San Diego; and a special TSF announcement about Gen13! Thanks again, and hope you enjoyed it. As always: Slack on! Best, ---Slacker01/AOL