Dark Horse Presents 119 (March 1997)

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.

CREDITS

Trout, Nicky Nicky Nine Doors, Part One; story and art by Troy Nixey. Hectic Planet, Part Two, Shot on Goal; story and art by Evan Dorkin. Monkeyman & O’Brien, Gorehemoth – The Garbage Heap That Walks Like A Man, Part Two; story and art by Art Adams; lettering by Lois Buhalis. Predator, No Beast So Fierce…; story by Mike W. Barr; pencils by Scott Kolins; inks by Dan Schaefer; lettering by Sean Konot. Edited by Bob Schreck and Jamie S. Rich.

Dark Horse Presents 118 (February 1997)

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.

CREDITS

Monkeyman & O’Brien, Gorehemoth – The Garbage Heap That Walks Like A Man, Part One; story and art by Art Adams; lettering by Lois Buhalis. Trypto the Acid Dog, Wheel of the Broken Voice, Part Six; story by Bill Mumy and Miguel Ferrer; art by Steve Leialoha. Hectic Planet, Part One, 5 Years Ago and Counting; story and art by Evan Dorkin. Dr. Spin, Part Four, Doc Spin: Agent Of A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.; story by Gordon Rennie; art by Roger Langridge. Edited by Bob Schreck and Jamie S. Rich.

Dark Horse Presents 100 5 (August 1995)

Only in Dark Horse Presents can you open with Art Adams and close with Paul Pope.

The Adams Monkeyman and O’Brien story appears to be some kind of homage to Plan 9 from Outer Space. So maybe Adams’s terrible dialogue is in line with that approach. Regardless, it’s fairly awful.

Then Hernandez has an utterly fantastic story about a bunch of carnies reunited. It opens with one thing, moves somewhere else. It’s just great. Second story in and they’ve already made up for Adams and set the issue apart in terms of quality.

Hedden’s Frankenstein, P.I. is well-drawn and mildly amusing.

Oh, then there’s a Milk and Cheese from Dorkin mocking alcoholism. If these strips were only a page, they might be a little less putrid.

Pope (with Smith) closes with a THB. It’s beautiful looking, but even more–Pope finds a profound moment in his action. Just great.

CREDITS

Monkeyman & O’Brien, I Was the Alien; story and art by Art Adams; lettering by Lois Buhalis. Los Malcriados; story and art by Mario Hernandez. Frankenstein, P.I., Butcher’s Night Out!; story by Rich Hedden; art by Hedden and Mike McPhillips. Milk and Cheese, Alcoholics Unanimous!; story and art by Evan Dorkin. Panfried Girl; story and art by Paul Pope and Jeff Smith; lettering by Lorie Witte. Edited by Bob Schreck and Scott Allie.

Dark Horse Presents 80 (December 1993)

Are there Art Adams fans out there? He’s not bad, but his faces are awful. I’ve never seen someone vary his perspective of a face so much—it’s like he does these three dimensional faces, except the nose. The nose is 2D. I guess he drew the monsters well. Monkeyman & O’Brien is not terrible. It’s just mediocre.

Then it turns out I read the last Hermes installment wrong—I didn’t notice Campbell had a visual framing for flashbacks—so we do get to see the supervillains in their costumes. It also turns out they’re responsible for the fight between Hermes and the Eyeball Kid. Campbell puts in a “Simpsons” reference, which is odd, but it works. Very nice installment.

Shadow Empires continues to be poorly written and enthusiastically, if amateurishly, drawn. Moeller signs the last page and it’s a little sad. It’s a full page panel and the art’s awful.

CREDITS

Monkeyman & O’Brien, Tortorus; story and art by Art Adams. Hermes versus the Eyeball Kid, Part Five; story by Eddie Campbell and Wes Kublick; art by Campbell, Peter Mullins and April Post; lettering by Campbell. Shadow Empires, The Passage, Part Two; story and art by Chris Moeller; lettering by Vickie Williams. Edited by Randy Stradley.