Dark Horse Presents 43 (August 1990)

Guinan’s Aliens finish is incredibly weak, featuring not just an Alien reference but some guy in the future running around in an Indiana Jones outfit. The plotting is so weak, it might be construed as a spoof… But I think Guinan’s serious. He’s got some very profound-sounding exposition.

Davis does a one page riff on 2001. It’s the best work of his I’ve seen.

Inabinet has a great retelling of a fable. The writing and art are fantastic. But even better is his opening, where he does a bunch of humor in a traditional–very traditional–setting. Inabinet makes the issue, him and that one page Davis strip.

Zick painfully finishes his Argosy story. Apparently, it’s all a setup for a sequel, but hopefully I’ll be spared. Zick somehow manages to find even more characters to introduce in the final installment. Important ones. At least it’s over (for now).

CREDITS

Aliens, Terminus; story and art by Paul Guinan; lettering by Willie Schubert. The Dawn of Angst; story and art by Gary Davis. The Tale of Yakub and the Vulture; story and art by Sam Inabinet. The Argosy; story and art by Bruce Zick; lettering by Pat Brosseau. Edited by Randy Stradley.

Dark Horse Presents 42 (July 1990)

So Guinan’s approach to the Aliens mythology is astonishingly unenthusiastic. By some accounts his Heartbreakers collaborator Anina Bennett assisted on the writing, so maybe some of it is her fault. Guinan sets the story on a planet full of pyramids, with zero wonderment about this awesome alien civilization. Then he does some silly stuff with androids and cyborgs. I suppose to art is decent, but I’m still not sure if the protagonist is supposed to be male or female.

Vance and Burr’s Kings in Disguise is a very solid Depression-era story. Burr’s art is good and Vance manages to tell the story without being too self-aware. It’s filled with quiet moments, a couple so quiet I needed to go back and reread.

Zick’s Argosy threatens to finish next issue, which will be amusing since this installment is all setup for a lengthy narrative. It’s a particularly tiresome read.

CREDITS

Aliens, Advent; story and art by Paul Guinan; lettering by Willie Schubert. Kings in Disguise; story by James Vance; art by Dan Burr. The Argosy; story and art by Bruce Zick; lettering by Pat Brosseau. Edited by Randy Stradley.

Dark Horse Presents 41 (June 1990)

I guess up against Zick and The Argosy, Randall’s writing on Trekker seems really good. Maybe the plotting is a little better this time around from Randall–I wasn’t expecting the ending at all–and he’s still doing a lot of good work on the art. It’s crazy how different Trekker looks from when it started, even if it hasn’t exactly become original. Though the relationship between the female protagonist and her sister gets close.

The Argosy is something of a train wreck. The most important thing in the entire story happens in a tiny panel on the last page. Zick’s art is Kirby influenced, but in an interesting, thoughtful way, not the obvious. So it’s all right to look at, it’s just really stupid and pointless. Just rent Jason and the Argonauts or Clash of the Titans.

Sheldon’s “story” is art plates with some text. Art’s good, text’s pointless.

CREDITS

The Argosy; story and art by Bruce Zick; lettering by Pat Brosseau. Trekker; story and art by Ron Randall; lettering by David Jackson. Same Story Told Yesterday; story and art by Monty Sheldon. Edited by Randy Stradley.

Dark Horse Presents 40 (May 1990)

You know, I think Matt Wagner’s Aerialist is homophobic. Every man is forced to be gay. Anyway, it’s not at all impressive, a Rollerball knockoff. When his characters aren’t in costume, Wagner’s art is rather weak. I guess the hot air balloons look good.

Bob the Alien is absolutely amazing as a) Bob moves to a black neighborhood in Brooklyn and b) discovers God. It might be the funniest installment so far. I can’t believe this comic isn’t more appreciated.

The Argosy is a really wordy retelling of Jason and the Argonauts. It’s fantasy, introduces about forty character names in eight pages. It’s a waste of time.

Randall continues his good art on this Trekker installment. Still bad writing–some really silly developments here.

The Wacky Squirrel story’s a waste of pages, but I guess Bradrick’s art is good.

Campbell’s Bacchus features the (presumably true) store of Dom Pérignon. Fantastic.

CREDITS

Trekker; story and art by Ron Randall; lettering by David Jackson. The Aerialist, Part One; story and art by Matt Wagner; lettering by Kevin Cunningham. Bob the Alien, Bob, the alien, Learns About God; story, art and lettering by Rich Rice. The Argosy; story and art by Bruce Zick; lettering by Karen Casey-Smith. Wacky Squirrel, Diet Riot; story by Mike Richardson and Jim Bradrick; art by Bradrick; lettering by Jack Pollock. Bacchus, Gods, Monks, & Corkscrews; story and art by Eddie Campbell. Edited by Randy Stradley and Diana Schutz.