Dark Horse Presents (1986) #127

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The issue opens with Brereton’s finish for The Nocturnals. It’s charming and light, which is totally at odds with the visuals. I guess if I’d known more about it, I would have had an idea where it might go. Some great art.

Metalfer does not get any better this issue—Manoukian and Roucher somehow make their protagonist unlikable, even when he’s being unjustly pursued. But the art is excellent, especially here, where they’re setting big action sequences in a future city.

Then there’s Oakley’s Stiltskin, which reminds a little too much of A Prayer for Owen Meany for it to be original, but it’s still a rather good story. Oakley’s a fine artist, but his writing—especially his first-person narration from the titular character, a dwarf growing up in the sixties—makes the whole thing work beautifully.

A mildly amusing one page Blue Monday from Clugston closes the issue.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #126

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It’s another big issue of Presents and a decent one.

Brereton’s The Nocturnals looks real nice and reads well. He introduces a bunch of characters, but the protagonist’s plot is compelling. It’s often very funny.

Schutz has a one page thing (art by Mireault and Bottenberg); it’s okay, if not special.

Hedden and McPhillips have an excellent story with Snipe, about a monster hunter on a talk show. Great art, great script.

Watson’s Skeleton Key is… fine. It’s a page.

On the other hand, Weissman’s Phineas Page is only a page too; it could have been a feature story. Awesome little strip.

Reprinted from Europe, Manoukian and Roucher’s Metalfer starts. Superb art, confusing, kind of dumb story. It might get better.

Strnad and Edwards cover Starship Troopers. Nice art, competent writing for filler.

DeMos and Gillis close with a story a guy obsessed with holes (the shape). It’s quite good.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #125

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It’s a fantastic issue.

Zero Boy and Pander’s Jack Zero finishes up here, with a mildly unpredictable ending. The sensitivity the two give to the story is amazing. They manage to be both revisionist and iconic in their approach to the Western genre. It’s one of Presents’s best stories.

Brereton starts a Nocturnals story. The writing’s fine—it’s almost cute, a little witch (or something) and her scary bodyguard out on Halloween. The draw is the art. Brereton can’t escape the problem of painted art appearing static, but the art itself is so good, it makes the story worthwhile. And it’s got a funny ending (or cliffhanger setup).

Then Lutes has this gentle story about a couple high school friends at thirty or so, going through their old hometown. Lutes’s art is wonderful as always, but his writing is great too. The story has a lot of humor as well.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #124

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It’s a strange issue.

First is Seagle and Rouleau’s take on Predator, which might be the most harmless Predator story ever. Three boys camping out in one’s backyard go into the nearby swamp and see a Predator. Rouleau’s art is charming, the writing’s decent… still, it’s a Predator story. It can only be so good.

Then Lewis has a long story about two adopted kids and their tragic misadventures. The root of the problem is their choice in gifts at their first Christmas after being adopted. Lewis’s cartooning does well, but his writing is the real success. He manages to cover three years in a short story, getting in everything important to the characters. It’s an excellent piece of work.

Pander and Zero Boy bring Jack Zero closer to the end. It’s good, with an emphasis on Jack’s friendship with his married love interest’s daughter. Just hope it finishes well.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #123

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Imago‘s finish opens the issue. Arcudi might have needed more time–this installment just gives up, admitting the concept was more interesting than the execution. O’Connell’s art is okay. His faces aren’t distinct enough, but it’s fine for a short story.

Nixey continues the issue’s lackluster vibe with Trout‘s conclusion. In it, Trout (the character) gets his big moment. Except Nixey hadn’t been building toward it except in this installment, so it sort of misfires. Nixey was best when he brought the questing aspect to the story. Without it, like here–an all-action installment–Trout has some good artwork and design, but nothing compelling about it.

Jack Zero reverses the issue’s negative tide a little. It’s got a problematic end, but Zero Boy and Pander do come up with a fantastic resolution to Jack’s trip to the west. Better, they continue coming up with unexpected developments. It’s fine work.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #122

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I can’t believe I’m saying it but Snejbjerg’s art messes up this Lords of Misrule. He’s unable to draw a regular person. Instead, the person appears frightening, even though he’s not supposed to be frightening. It’s an okay story–but the art, though great in most respects, doesn’t work.

Nixey’s back on track with Trout, at least as far as the art is concerned. He sort of hurries through this installment, which takes a lot of the charm out of it. I expected him to have a big world for Trout; instead, it’s very constricted.

Jack Zero has another good installment from Zero Boy and Pander–it’s very successful as a Western, a genre I’m not used to reading in comics. The ending is a little ominous though.

Arcudi and O’Connell’s Imago is a Batman and Robin analogue where Robin lets Batman die because he’s an overbearing pain. Mildly interesting.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #121

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The issue opens with Zero Boy and Pander’s Jack Zero, which starts out a little awkwardly… but then quickly establishes itself as a good Western. Pander’s art looks fantastic, bringing a lot of energy to the setting and Zero Boy’s script is thoughtful.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about Nixey’s Trout installment this issue. He changes up styles here for effect (a dream sequence) and it loses the charm the previous entries had. It’s confounding and almost adversarial. Nixey doesn’t give a point of entry for the reader here.

Macan and Edwards’s Aliens story is kind of interesting, without being noteworthy (rather good art from Edwards, of course). Macan doesn’t like the sci-fi constraints and wants to tell a human story instead; it’s a little obvious and doesn’t work.

Then Snejbjerg does scripting and art on Lords of Misrule. It’s creepy, with great art, but an awkward finish.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #120

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The Gully story from Schultz and Williamson doesn’t have much of a script; with Williamson’s art, who cares about the writing? It’s some otherworldly sci-fi Western thing. Lovely to look at.

White and Snejbjerg’s The Lords of Misrule is a little confusing, but decent. Snejbjerg does a great job with the tone and the art is excellent… he just doesn’t take the time to design it to fit the layers of White’s script. Still, creepy and solid.

Trout’s becoming a new favorite, even though this installment shows Nixey has some peculiar problems with perspective. Lot of charm to it though, very nice characterizations.

Hectic Planet goes on forever here. Dorkin has a bunch of silly sci-fi elements in what should be a human story. It gets tiring after the first page then goes on forever.

Schreck, Rich and Jones have a one page closer. Great art from Jones.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #119

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I’m not sure what Nixey’s Trout is about or if it’s going to be about the events of this installment (in some fantasy land, an elf brings a living nightmare back from his sleep… or something along those lines). Since the writing’s so tied to the confusing plot, it’s mostly about Nixey’s art. He combines a fantasy setting with some disturbing ideas (more than imagery) and creates something quite nice.

Dorkin’s Hectic Planet is about a girl’s mysterious new boyfriend. Some good art, totally fine writing… it’s like “Friends” for nineties hipsters.

Adams’s Monkeyman and O’Brien this time features a giant monster (who’s more detailed than anything else, art-wise) and absolutely no excitement, of course. His script’s plotting is exceptionally anticlimactic from the start.

Finally, Predator from Barr and Kolins. Kolins’s work is very rough here (weak perspective). It’s a pointless story, just Presents giving a licensed property pages.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #118

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I thought the other Monkeyman & O’Brien stories were bad. Here, Adams seems to forget how to draw with perspective and scale. It makes the story a hideous curiosity, but not much else. The script’s incomplete at best.

Then Trypto finishes up and it’s probably be Leialoha’s best installment as an artist… and Mumy and Ferrer’s worst script. Trypto apparently isn’t from space. No, he’s an inter-dimensional ghost dog out to do something. Get back with his original family. How he got the new family in this story is never explained. There’s also a talking raccoon. It’s a very strange finish for the series, which started so strong.

As for Dorkin’s Hectic Planet? I liked the art a lot. The story’s about Dorkin making fun of this character, both in plot with supporting cast mocking him. It’s exceptionally mean-spirited and not aware of it. Still, it was compelling enough.