Category: 1985
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The issue ends with the Beyonder trying to “forgot” this chapter in his experiences; if only the reader were so lucky. Besides featuring all of the cosmic–sorry–conceptual beings (along with an introduction to each), it’s the Beyonder plays superhero and turns it into a business. It’s all exceedingly lame, except at the end when the…
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Holy shit. I thought Byrne was going to do some kind of responsible story about a kid lighting himself on fire to be like the Human Torch but he does not. There’s certainly an element of that story in this issue, but there’s no responsibility. Byrne turns it into A Christmas Carol (but with only…
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What can make the Beyonder whole? Why, sitting through a partial retelling of Dr. Strange’s origin, of course! Every once and a while I’ll come across a comic where I’m completely unfamiliar–so far as I know–with the creative team. I’ve never heard of Peter B. Gillis, though maybe I’ve heard of Mark Badger, but certainly…
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Where to start? The Beyonder is suicidal this issue, which is pretty stupid. The Thing is some kind of pro-superhero wrestler, which is also pretty stupid. What else…. No, those two pretty much cover the big stupid parts. Then there’s the wrestling politics, the promotors trying to make it in that hard world, which isn’t…
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I kind of remember this issue. It ends with the Marvel heroes beating up on a melancholy, downbeat Beyonder. He shuffles off while they bicker over what to do. One of the benefits to running a company and writing its big crossover is no one’s going to tell you you’re an idiot. Shooter’s got a…
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This Secret Wars II tie-in is a regurgitation of all the other Secret Wars II tie-ins–well, maybe not all of them, but a lot of them. It’s the Beyonder trying to understand the human experience, this time playing with the Avengers. It’s as lame as his costume on that front. And his costume is really…
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Oh, is Rick Jones green and fat as a superhero because he’s supposed to be “hulking out?” Mantlo never made it clear in the writing. I think I’ve tried to read Rom before and failed. This issue is better–and Rom-free–than the last one I tried. Maybe because Ditko draws the Beyonder like Gene Simmons with…
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You know, Alpha Flight? Not bad. I’m always somewhat loathe to compliment John Byrne (he draws Guardian’s wife like a whore, by the way, there’s something about redheaded white Canadians in boots and glasses, makes them look like whores), but he manages a team book pretty well. I had some trouble keeping up (did Marvel…
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I didn’t mention it in the previous Secret Wars II response, but is Dazzler always a loose woman or is she just being written as a loose woman for the Secret Wars II crossovers? Shooter handled it better, but here, Goodwin points it out and it just makes her look cheap. On to the art,…
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You know what’s worse than a Beyonder who’s an obnoxious pin hole in the night sky (see Secret Wars I issue number one through twelve)? A Beyonder who won’t shut the heck up. Shooter has decided, after four issues, the Beyonder is now going to be not just a blabbermouth, but one who knows everything…
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I know people love The Avengers, but I never really got into them. I think I read West Coast as a kid, but I don’t know. Probably. I probably did. Anyway, this issue reminds me more of Star Wars (one of the second two prequels mostly) than it seems like what an Avengers comic should…
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What a goofy comic book. It’s the Hulk’s origin again (I’m not sure if it’s the first time the abusive father has been included but I imagine Mantlo came up with the idea of Thunderbolt Ross destroying Bruce’s childhood stuffed animal). It’s the origin with Bruce’s father abusing him and murdering his mother (this issue…
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Jim Shooter co-wrote this issue (the first Secret Wars II crossover I’ve noticed him work on) and it shows. There’s a lot of idiotic nonsense about the Beyonder trying to buy the world legally. Of course, what lawyer to go to for help? Matt Murdock. This issue might be my first Mazzucchelli Daredevil and, I…
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This issue the Beyonder takes over the world only to release it when he realizes how borrowing ruling the world can be. It’s like a sitcom. I can’t believe Shooter thought he was doing a reasonable job. Again Shooter does pace the comic really well–lots of time passes, lots of stuff happens–but the story itself…
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You know, when John Byrne said Hispanic women with dyed hair looked like whores or whatever, I figured he knew how to draw Sue Storm to look like a chick instead of a John Byrne dude with a crappy haircut. I grew up on Man of Steel so I think I always gave Byrne a…
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This issue reveals Ronnie is not, as it turns out, in bed with the Kingpin. He just contracts him on special assignments. If Marvel had any real nads, they could do Kingpin owning Blackwater. But whatever. Ron Frenz draws a good Spider-Man comic. Not sure what I think of him overall, but this issue had…
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No doubt about it, there’s some good stuff in this issue–it’s all about the government (Ronnie Raygun in bed with the Kingpin–how did that one fly in the eighties?) dealing with the Beyonder turning a building into pure gold–but can Fingeroth overwrite thought balloons or what? No one ever stops thinking about what they’re doing.…
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So, I guess in the Marvel style rules, no one gives the colorist a copy of the plot–at least not in the case of this issue, which has a bunch of action during the day and everyone talking about how it’s dark out and is the middle of the night. It’s like seeing a scene…
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I think, seeing the cover, I had this issue as a kid. I don’t remember any of it–it’s a bunch of electrical engineering mumbo jumbo after a certain point–but I certainly hope I didn’t like it. Marvel always prides itself on that shared universe idea, but this issue, despite some lip service, certainly doesn’t show…
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I thought this issue was going to be a mystery, but it’s not. It doesn’t even have the pretense of one, except for Professor X asking the X-Men to investigate something. It’s too bad, since it might have been a better comic book with that approach. It’s an X-Men book so I can identify the…
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Reading old DC comics–well, not old, but late seventies and early-to-mid eighties, I’m taken aback by the lame one issue villains they sometimes have. Gerry Conway did a lot of these on his Batman run, as far as I can tell. This issue of Captain America shows Marvel did it a lot too and, well,…
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I don’t think I’ve ever read a Sienkiewicz comic before. I know, I know. I was a DC guy in the eighties for the most part and, even if I did, I was a kid and probably wouldn’t have appreciated it. Sienkiewicz did mainstream books? It’s incredible to think about it–his work’s design oriented but…
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Could Al Milgrom’s art be any more boring? Shooter fills the issue–I can’t believe it’s not double-sized given the amount of content–with a bunch of nonsense, but he’s at least competent at filling those pages, but Milgrom’s artwork’s beyond lame. He’s got all these different characters to draw and he does the most standard job…
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There are a couple good things about Commando–the opening titles and James Horner’s score. Otherwise, I suppose Schwarzenegger isn’t bad in the film, which takes his being Austrian into account, something the majority of his blockbuster roles do not. What’s interesting about the film–and it’s hard to find anything to keep the brain occupied for…
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Back to the Future has become a detached experience. It isn’t really dated, it’s just hard to interact with the film in the same way one could when its content was more contemporary (in seven years, it’ll be like watching Michael J. Fox as the parent and Crispin Glover as the grandparent). The scenes set…
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Rambo‘s pretty awful. It’s not terrible–not too terrible to watch anyway (at least once, though New York Times critic A.O. Scott should probably be fired for supporting it to any degree). The main technical fault lies with George P. Cosmatos, who somehow managed to stock the crew with capable people (editor Mark Goldblatt is no…
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Defence of the Realm starts–and spends about a half hour being–a British variation of the Hollywood newspaper reporter story. There’s the story and the reporter’s dilemma about his morality–there’s even the wise old mentor (Denholm Elliot) for the young reporter getting his first big break (Gabriel Byrne). It’s not particularly good, it’s not particularly bad.…
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Mel Damski, if Badge of the Assassin is any indication, might be the finest TV movie director ever (who never went on to good theatrical films anyway). He understands composition, camera movement, editing–how to let actors do what actors do–beautifully. Badge of the Assassin looks like a TV movie and that description is, thanks in…
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Pale Rider is an interesting Eastwood–while it is a milestone in Eastwood coming together as a filmmaker–it’s also one of the few films where he really offered up so much for another actor to do. The film’s some kind of homage to Shane–as well as a colder, more mountainous version of High Plains Drifter–but Michael…
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There’s something real strange about Trancers. It’s not the film’s obvious references to early 1980s sci-fi successes, Blade Runner and The Terminator (cop travels back in time to fight zombie bad guys who look like regular people). It’s certainly not the direction–while Trancers is incredibly low budget, $400,000 still was a few bucks in 1985,…
The Stop Button 