Dark Horse Presents (1986) #147

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I wanted to like Ragnok—not because Arcudi’s writing, but because Sook’s on the art. But it’s dark and indistinct. Lots and lots of black—very Mignola-lite. If Arcudi maybe had an interesting script, it would work. Unfortunately, the script seems to be going for something eccentric; Sook’s art doesn’t fit it. Maybe it’ll get better….

The last Ghost installment is a waste of time. Luke’s writing has gotten steadily worse as the installments went on (this time, when he tries to talk about sexism, it’s painful). Worse, Baker and Kolle’s art suffers from the script. There’s this waste of a full page panel. Still, it has a funny conclusion.

And Aliens vs. Predator finishes awful. Thompson and O’Connell’s weak art certainly doesn’t help it, but the fault is the script. Edginton goes a different route than expected—he ignores the heavy continuity and just writes a dumb story.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #146

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I was really expecting more from Edginton here. His Aliens vs. Predator starts out as a rip of Alien—bickering crew, uncharted planet—only adding in aliens once the people land (they don’t have spacesuits either). But then it turns out to be a poorly conceived “thirty years in the future” sequel to the first Aliens vs. Predator series. Doesn’t help Thompson and O’Connell’s art is weak. Though I guess the spaceship looks all right.

Shabrken continues with enthusiasm from artists Henry and Lieber (though the scale of the events gets out of control). It’s not terrible—Hartley’s writing is solidly mediocre—it’s just pointless.

Arcudi scripts the Glack strip for Blickenstaff. Considering it’s two lines of dialogue, not sure why it needed a separate writer.

Then Ghost continues. Baker and Kolle’s art is crisp, but Luke is trying to write her as a pulp hero. It doesn’t work out.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #145

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Wow. Another generally stinky issue.

Obviously, Burglar Girls is the worst. Amara’s writing here is more confusing than anything else–he’s trying to pull a trick on the reader, but doesn’t give it any tension. In fact, the only time he foreshadows, he reveals the next panel. Barberi and Velasco’s art continues to be bad.

Shabrken is mostly weird, only getting silly and bad at the end. Henry and Lieber’s art is all right–it’s professional. Hartley’s on dialogue and he does okay for a while, then the finish just gets dumb. There’s only a page dedicated to giving it a hard cliffhanger… which comes off incredibly bad.

This Ghost story is my first. Luke’s attempts at writing a female character have a nice mainstream comics undercurrent of misogyny. Baker and Kolle’s art is so professional and decent it has no personality whatsoever. But it’s the best story this issue.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #144

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If it weren’t for Hedden and McPhillips, this one would be a complete stinker.

Okay, Vortex, from Kennedy, Larson and Moncuse, isn’t atrocious. It’s a dumb superhero story about a guy from another dimension who comes to Earth and does stuff, blah blah blah. What’s crazy is Kennedy does it all in summary, so the story’s present action is maybe a hundred years. The art’s not terrible.

Burglar Girls suggests Dark Horse really wanted to sell American manga… it’s an idiotic little story about three obnoxious thieves in training who go out to a nightclub. There, they meet boys, get in fights, et cetera. It’s awful. Barberi and Velasco’s art is bad, but it’s nothing compared to Amara’s dreadful writing.

Then there’s Galactic Jack (from Hedden and McPhillips). It’s light, sci-fi action comedy stuff. Lots of lasers and slime. It’s a lot of fun. They’ve still got the touch.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #143

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It’s Yeates and Bissette doing a Tarzan issue… how bad can it be?

Not at all; it can’t be bad.

The story is split into three parts–the first features Tarzan exploring the Hollow Earth and thinking about his life, before he runs into some cannibals. Well, are they cannibals if they only eat other humanoids? They also eat each other. So they are cannibals. It’s an amusing buildup to that revelation.

The second part mostly has to do with Tarzan journeying with a Hollow Earth native. She’s trying to find a mythical island. This part is from her perspective so it’s never clear why Tarzan’s hanging out with her.

The final part, scripted by Bissette, is more action oriented. Tarzan goes into the Hollow Earth underworld and finds a malevolent tribe of creatures.

Beautiful artwork–it’s very strong overall.

Now I want to read more of Yeates’s Tarzan work.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #142

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Presents does Lovecraft homage; they do it well.

The weakest is Mignola’s Dr. Gosburo Coffin (with Sook on art). It’s basically just standard Mignola (sure, there’s some Lovecraft influence, but the whole thing plays like an 1800s B.P.R.D. to some degree). Also, either Sook started out as a Mignola mimic or he’s just really good at matching styles. It’s not bad, just not particularly special.

The Devil’s Footprints from Allie and Showman is the strongest story in the issue. Allie manages a first-person narrator, getting a first act in for his story, and comes up with a decent plot. Showman’s artwork is fantastic, very illustration minded. It’s a nice little story.

Hartley and Giarrano finish the issue, giving it a nice, downbeat end Lovecraft might appriecate. Giarrano’s artwork is so good, I’m a little surprised I’d never heard of him before. Hartley’s writing is decent.

It’s a nice issue.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #141

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It’s the all-Buffy issue and, wow, does it get bad.

The first story, which I thought was going to be a low point–from Brereton, Golden, Bennett and Amash–turns out to be all right. It’s Buffy meeting the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Golden’s writing is fine, Bennett’s art is adequate. Golden plots it weird and manages to make it somewhat charming, even if there’s weak dialogue.

The second story is the secret origin of Angel, which is pretty boring. This time Golden is solo, with Gomez and Florea are on the art. The art’s bad. Lots of sketchy lines, bad faces… I guess the scenery is all right. Golden’s writing is weak, mostly due to his terrible narration.

But the third story–from Watson and Perrin (Florea inks again)–redefines bad art and writing for this issue. Watson’s writing is laughably bad. Perrin’s not ready for primetime.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #140

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The art’s not terrible on the Aliens story—Leonardi and Wiacek do all right (they certainly get the art win for this issue)—but Schultz and Amara’s writing is atrocious. They don’t just feel the need for bad dialogue, they want lots of it too. There’s endless poorly written expository dialogue. And the story is some segue into Dark Horse’s next crappy Aliens series, it doesn’t bother focusing on the neat idea—the aliens home planet. Anyway, decent looking crap.

Then it’s Usagi Yojimbo—my first time reading it ever. I thought the art would be better. Sakai seems to be doing a kids’ book, regardless of the samurai content, but he doesn’t take much time detailing his figures. I wouldn’t even call it anatomy.

Chichester, Barberi and Hvam’s Saint Slayer is ugly and bad. The art’s incomprehensible and Chichester’s writing makes the Aliens guys seem like Faulkner. Total crap.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #139

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It’s a strange Roachmill because it’s very confined—Hedden and McWeeney set it at a public school where Roachmill’s after the school bully. So it’s sort of an all-action story. Dark Horse seems to have included both parts in this issue (there’s a very clear break, with cliffhanger), which is nice. McWeeney’s art is still good though it lacks the vivacious enthusiasm of the early days. The story’s also less about the inappropriate laughs. Maybe because it’s set at a school. Still, it’s a nice piece of work and it’s good to have some more Hedden and McWeeney.

As for Chichester and Barberi’s Saint Slayer? Umm… I don’t get it. Dark Horse had the Buffy license, so why did they print this kung fu Buffy knock-off. It’s an unpleasant read—Chichester’s writing is awful and Barberi’s art isn’t much better. It’s all action… but it plods along. Ick.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #138

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Wow, the first Terminator story in Presents. I thought they’d gone through all the licenses, but no. It’s not terrible. Grant’s writing is adequate and Teran’s art has an energy to it. He’s a little confusing in action scenes (Grant’s plotting hurts there too) but he’s got some great designs.

Martin and Rude’s The Moth is just a lot of fun. It borrows some Batman elements and I think Rude does an homage to Spider-Man in one panel. The Moth’s a superhero (maybe) posing as a supervillain and playing mobsters against each other. Rude’s art would make anything good, but Martin’s writing is fine.

Seagle outdoes himself on My Vagabond Days, revealing his protagonist to be not just unlikable, but idiotic. This kid is a complete moron. He’s bringing rocks to Canada because Canada might not have rocks. Maybe Seagle is writing him younger than Gaudino is drawing him….