Date: Mon, 31 Oct 1994 21:23:12 CST From: Rich Johnston <[R J Johnston] at [newcastle.ac.uk]> Subject: Reviews (Yea!) - "Rich's Reviews" and "Caught In The Net" Dez Skinn has accepted my original proposal for Caught In The Net. Here is the proposal for the first column. All inaccuracies, biases and stupid stuff should be caught before this is published, so, please, rip it to shreds! CAUGHT IN THE NET: News stories, fights, rumours, all gleaned from the rec.arts.comics.miscgroup on the Usenet newsgroups internet service, and the mailing list Comics-L, where comics fans and professionals all across the world can use their computers to talk to others about comics. But just so the readers of Comics International without a modem don't feel left out, we present this new monthly column: TEK NO NOTICE While Tekno Comix have been flaunting the creators of their comics with a very large amount of publicity, the roles of the creators may be slightly less than they are telling us. On the Genie service, reposted to rec.arts.comics.misc, Neil Gaiman posted: "For the record, my part in the 'Tekno Universe' is pretty minimal. I had a meeting with two of the editors back in March at which I made a number of suggestions, but as far as I know none of them have been acted upon, and I haven't been consulted with since" PUNCH IN THE MOUTH Neil Gaiman also announced his disatisfaction with the marketing department of DC for underprinting the graphic novel Mr Punch, written by Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean, which has led to allocation, a problem with further printing of the book in the USA and a lack of press attention, with press articles being discouraged by DC, because people might then look for the book and find it unavailable. Mr Punch remains healthily available in the UK however. BURGER KING As rumours of DC buying Malibu abound, the comment that certain individuals at DC regard Malibu's title "Prime" as "the one that got away" supports the spirit of the rumour. With more rumours that Marvel may buy Defiant, it is worth bearing in mind that only ten years ago, the Comics Journal was full of stories about Marvel buying DC. Marie Javins has however, announced that Marvel are "buying small companies like "cheeseburgers" with the acquisition of Welsh Publishing who have a large stake in Bongo Comics, and Harvey comics. Aside from the obvious Hellstorm/Hot Stuff crossover, it looks possible that Marvel are really consolidating their licensed titles with a kids line. YET ANOTHER FREAKING DC CROSSOVER In net conversation, Mark Waid has let it slip that he will be writing the next major DC crossover but has refused to comment any further, despite various tempting posts. NOTHING TO PROMOTE Major concern has been expressed about the send-in offers that many comic companies set up. On the net, people who just think that they haven't got their copies yet meet others who also haven't got their copies yet. Concern has been expressed about the Ultraverse cards promotion from last spring, the Hero Bone statue, and the arrival of the Shadowhawk sendaway from Hero has been treated with derision as is it is identical to a previous Hero giveaway. On that point, the Generation X #0 with the origin of many of those mutants will be in the Overstreet Price Guide in November... not a title that many comic shops in Britain carry, so it is going to be virtually impossible to get a copy over here. MOST UNLIKELY RUMOUR OF THE MONTH As the Marvel Editors change their roles and structure, the lack of an Editor-In-Chief has led some to speculate and spread rumours that ex-Editor-In-Chief and head of the suspended Defiant, Jim Shooter will take over the line. THE PRICE OF EXCELLENCE The cost of ClanDestine has been raised a number of times. At $2.50, many think that Marvel is creaming off extra profit. The consensus is that as long as Alan Davis works on the book, no matter what the price is, fans will still buy it. SMALL NETS A number of small press titles rely on the net for a lot of publicity. This month, Primitives from Spare-Time studios has been solicited, created by three regulars to the internet. Copies of pages have been distributed through the net, alowing users to print off samples of the comic, without it even being printed! My own comic, Dirtbag, has used the computer nets to get word out from Texas to Singapore and has built up a group of "followers" who help to spread the Dirtbag message. Greymatter from Alfanitty, Bizarre Heroes from Fiasco and Wrax from Excalibur have all used the net for successful promotion purposes as well. NET PROPHET Peter David's But I Digress, a weekly column in the Comics Buyers Guide, reprinted in Comics International as Major Digressions, recently criticised a Marvel Press release about the new X-Men crossover. Fabian Niceza replied on the net stating that David knew nothing about the crossover, that the Marvel press release was flawed and all David had to do was ring him up and ask. Niceza was then criticised by a user called Carlo for being hypocritical, condemning David's lack of research when Niceza's stories show a similar lack of research. Peter David then replied, stating that he didn't phone Niceza or anyone at the X-offices, because the press release directed further enquiries to Gary Guzzo, Marvel's PR liaison, who wouldn't give out any more information. By then it was too late, as the discussion thread left the X-crossover behind and moved onto Fabian Niceza's writing prowess and then onto fans of his work on Psi-Force which inevitably led to discussion on another New Universe title, DP7, and everybody ended up sitting around saying how DP7 was one of Marvel's best ever titles. David concluded that it was odd that when he criticised Image press releases, Image creators were incensed but Marvel staff supported him. This time round, the situation has been completely reversed. FLAME FEST I posted a summary of personal observations concluding that core-Image fans tended to be more homophobic than other comic readers with possible reasons. This thread continued with those who disagreed wholeheartedly, accused the article of attacking specific individuals, whole hearted agreement, disagreement with scientific methods, alternative explanations and those who thought that such a topic should not be discussed in the first place, and caused a great deal of interesting and confrontational discussion that even Comics International's Comment pages would find hard to match. NET GLOSSARY: post- to send an article to a newsgroup or bulletin board, as if it were a piece of mail. flame- a gratuitous nasty post with the aim of belittling the target. While most flames are frowned upon, those done with style gain respect. thread- a continuing set of posts with the same title, continuing a discussion. Richard Johnston self-publishes the comic book Dirtbag under Twist and Shout Comics and is a regular writer on the computer networks, and is the author of the "Rich's Posts" can be reached through the email at [r j johnston] at [ncl.ac.uk] DC: Batman Madness by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, $4.95 Batman's relationship with the Mad Hatter is examined in this Halloween special and the dark contrasts of the art show a young Bruce Wayne's reaction to Lewis Carroll's Alice stories, linked with the death of his parents. Loeb succeeds in building on a previous icon of a story and Sale's art, while often patchy brings a solidity to the book Grade: 7/10 Image: Shadowhawk 14 by Valentino, Queen, Lash, $2.50 (---) How much do I hate this comic book? Let me count the ways. The 1963 characters are written in a travesty of Moore's work, much more as parody rather than the homage that 1963 was. The art loses the retro-appearance of 1963 and looks like more like the non-Kirby Phantom Force comics. To add insult to injury, the trivialisation of AIDS, as a 1960s plot device has resulted in my copy of this comic to be taken from its bag and placed in the dustbin. Grade: 2/10 Drawn and Quarterly: Drawn and Quarterly vol 2, #1, Seth, Tardi, , Tyler, Roulet (++) A number of fringe creators create very rich tales. Tardi's stands out most visually, as his woodgrowth to civilisation to religion provides a backdrop to a wartime story. Tyler shows a life, using cartoony preconceptions reminiscient of Posy. The Roulets tell a silent story of modern socialising in a stylised but absorbing manner with a very reassuring ending. A fine gallery of comic book tales. Grade 10/10 Dark Horse: Flaming Carrot 31 (++) by Bob Burden $2.50 Hey Kids! Crossovers! Herbie joins forces with the Flaming Carrot to investigate whether or not Shakeapeare wrote his plays, but instead discover he is an aerobics instructor and the inventor of the mousetrap. Very silly indeed, but still the most fun in comics. Grade: 10/10 Antarctic Press: Konny and Czu 1 by Matt Howarth, $2.75 Matt Howarth's strong cartoony style and detailed pen work take this completely alien universe to extremes of surreality. Taking no natural biology for granted, this science-fiction comedy effectively creates new worlds to spin stories around. This tale of crime and corruption in space in a free market system subverts and entertains well. Grade: 9/10 Fantagraphics: Palestine 7 by Joe Sacco, $2.95 (+) A series of tales of depression and enlightenment set in Palestine places revolution and distrurbances within a mundane setting, but the differences in culture make this absorbing. The art is composes of stimple strong strokes with extreme cross hatching and detail with gives the pages texture and emotion. Grade: 8/10 British Small Press: Cats and Hammers 1 by R.S. Weatherley, Questionable Productions, PO Box 24, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, NE 25 9YY stlg1.50 A collection of odd stories with a quirkiness that makes compelling reading. Not so much about anything in particular, the mixmatch of styles for each strip gives an impression that a lot more people have worked on this book than are credited for. Grade: 9/10 J.P.Cooper's Kristof 1, Facade Comics, 85 Broadmeadows, East Herrington, Sunderland, SR3 3RG stlg1.70 Scraggly art with definite action influences encompasses an absorbing self-published comic, about a psychiatric doctor and some of his more unstable patients. Cliches abound but that is the comic's nature. Strong on natural humour, the fragmented panels are used to good effect to suggest memory impairment and dreams. While the comic isn't quite there yet, on professional terms, it has strong potential. Grade: 7/10 Unskinny 3 by Lucy Sweet, (-) stlg1.60 (+ A4 SAE) from 106 Brighton Grove, Fenham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE4 5NT Funny, trendy, rough and ready, Unskinny reads like a simplistic and sexy look at life merging fantasy and reality. The "101 Uses for a Superwaif" and "The Monkey Cut" are the funniest, but the rest is still trying to stretch out ideas that might be getting a little thin. Grade: 7/10 ................................. Rich Johnston,[r j johnston] at [ncl.ac.uk], Student Cartoonist of the Year Dirtbag #1 has shipped. (Bisley, Sim, Lloyd, Bolland) Dirtbag #2 has shipped. (Smith, Buckingham, Campbell, Vertigo) Dirtbag #3 ships in November. (Gaiman, Talbot) Dirtbag #4 ships in December (Wrax from Gary St. Lawrence "Saint") Dirtbag #5 can now be ordered under Twist and Shout Comics. For Dirtbag back issues contact [m r meyer] at [netcom.com]