Dark Horse Presents (1986) #68

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The Predator story continues and its problems become real clear. Stradley’s trying to take a “real” approach to certain elements–gang members, serial killers–and it just comes off as silly with the Predator running around. Raskin’s art suggests he’s unprepared for such a big assignment (and Wiacek seems to have been brought in to correct things via the inks). Then there’s the inexplicable cliffhanger. So far, very unimpressive.

Campbell’s got two Alec strips. One is really cute, the other is just a nice example of a one page narrative.

Davis is back with Paleolove. The story is longwinded and the art is still primarily concentrated on the scenery. Davis objectifies his female protagonists in the last panel, which sums up all of Davis’s work.

Duffy and Sakamoto have a story with a bunch of kids and their guardian angel, a hit man. It’s well intentioned, but not any good.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #67

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The issue opens with an idiotic story about an annoying character called Zoo-Lou. Hedden and McWeeney usually do great work. The art here’s excellent, but the writing is an absolute nightmare. Dark Horse really loves poking fun at themselves… and usually it comes out awful, like Zoo-Lou.

An Accidental Death comes to its conclusion here. No one does this kind of angst and suffering like Brubaker. Everything he does these days is a waste compared to what he could be doing. Brilliant work from Shanower too.

Duffy and Sakamoto have an awful story called Nestrobber. It’s just atrocious.

The Predator story is weird–it’s based on an Andrew Vachss story. Not bad, just too soon to tell.

Campbell’s got a funny Alec, then Russell closes with an Oscar Wilde adaptation. It’s a brilliant piece of work, but it really needs color to make the fairy tale element work.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #66

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Obviously, the major attraction is the second chapter of An Accidental Death. The pace changes throughout; it opens with the body being hidden, then Brubaker moves to summary, then to scene again. The final scene–the discovery–comes after the two boys (the protagonist and the murderer) start to discover where they really live. Reality, in more ways than one, rushes in on them. But Brubaker’s writing is nuanced, never obvious. It’s just lovely.

Then Dr. Giggles, hopefully, finishes up. I don’t think I’ve mentioned how inept Coto is at plotting this narrative. The plot developments get stupider and stupider. At least it’s over.

The Concrete story is a little overwritten… lots of narration, but it’s amusing and Chadwick and Hotchkiss do a great job with the art.

The issue ends with two one page Alec comics from Campbell. Both are quiet, wonderful and somewhat profound. It’s such good work.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #65

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An Accidental Death opens this issue. It’s been a while since I’ve read it. The most immediate thing is Shanower’s art. It’s finished and precise; I’m sure Dark Horse Presents has had artwork as good, I just can’t think of any example. But then there’s Brubaker’s writing–and the way he presents the moral ambiguity of being a teenager. He’s able to make the naive behavior create sympathy… then the danger arises. It’s great work.

The Dr. Giggles story has awful writing from Coto. He didn’t get any better between issues. Burrows has some really gross visuals here and they work. It’s just sad Dark Horse used Presents to hawk their crappy movie tie-in. Unfortunately, it’s not even the worst thing they published to this point.

Hedden and McSweeney contribute a story without dialogue or narration. The reader gets to cut and paste. The art’s fantastic, but it’s pointless.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #64

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Seriously, they thought this issue was good enough?

The opening is a terrible bit of corporate synergy–a prologue to the Dr. Giggles movie from screenwriter Coto, who’s just as awful writing comics as he is writing movies. It’s a mean, gory eight pages of crap. Though Burrows’s art isn’t bad.

Then there’s a Boris the Bear, which is funny if you like Richardson making fun of Dark Horse. It’s weak, except for Smith’s artwork, which brings a certain amount of charm.

The Creep ends on a very depressing note. It’s one of the finest things Dark Horse Presents has published in the last twenty or so issues… just amazing work from Arcudi and Eaglesham.

The closing story is this writing workshop collaboration. Though Rubio’s art looks like a Disney movie, it’s all an obnoxious blind guy who’s mean to his dog. Definitely problematic, but it has a great finish.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #63

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Well, the Moebius story is pretty but I’m not sure it’s got much in the way of narrative. It’s a fine little diversion–I think it’s my first Moebius short story–but it’s got zero heft. No idea why they opened the issue with it.

The Creep gets near its finish with more great art and a rather big surprise in the narrative. Arcudi doesn’t just deserve credit for the concept, but the execution as well. While Eaglesham makes the series look perfect, Arcudi really does do excellent work here. It’s not just well-written in scene, he really does come up with some great plot developments.

Wheeler and Hoffman’s story about a boy being emotionally abused by his mother and grandmother brings the issue to a depressing close. Wheeler’s writing–specifically the boy talking to himself throughout–is somewhat problematic. Hoffman’s artwork is fantastic. The story is quietly devastating.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #62

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Maybe what Miller needs for Sin City is a full issue.

This issue, dedicated to Marv finishing up all the villains–I wonder if Miller intentionally gave his psychotic cannibal a harmless name like Kevin or if there’s some backstory to it–and getting executed, is nearly reasonable.

The opening is a disaster, with lots of the Miller narration, but there’s actual humor in the issue, like when Marv crawls into bed with the girl. Miller has some extra lazy moments with art here, though no more than usual.

The issue works because of Marv’s likability. It’s all contrived and really stupid, but he’s genuinely likable. Not too sure it’s believable he’s a virgin until this point.

The conclusion also requires Marv to be unreasonably stupid (to leave his mom in danger, unbelievable)….

But it’s not as bad as I would’ve assumed a full issue of Sin City to be.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #61

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Sin City has gotten useless to the point I’m not even sure I should talk about it. It’s sort of interesting in regards to Miller’s terrible plotting. One might think he’d adapt Chandler or even Hammett, just amping it up, but he doesn’t. He figures out his own “hard boiled” structure and it’s awful. I guess he draws a little bit more this entry than usual. Not much though.

It’s the longest Earth Boys story so far and the extra pages don’t help the writing. But Story’s back inking Johnson, so it definitely looks a lot better.

The Creep is a continued delight. Eaglesham gets in some more street scenes, which look great, and Arcudi has a few surprise developments. It’s just a fantastic series.

Not fantastic is O’Barr’s Frame. He seems to think making his subject as horrendously awful means I should read it. Actual writing doesn’t matter. Boo.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #60

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Oh, lucky me, Sin City isn’t over yet. Instead, Miller spends most of his pages with one image, a lot of white space and even more terrible narration. I think I hate this entry the most. Not sure if it’s because I’m subjected to more of Miller’s writing or if it’s because I thought I was actually done with Sin City for now.

Geary has two different strips this issue. One’s two pages, the other is one. Neither is particularly good, but the second one is pretty bad, actually. Nice art, weak sentimental nonsense.

The Creep starts its second story arc and Eaglesham is even better than he was on the first. It’s nice to see Arcudi able to write something well, considering he’s always got a decent plotting sensibility.

Earth Boys closes the issue. Johnson’s art (probably the Story inks) is better. Maybe Biggers and Brooks’s writing is too.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #59

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Wow, I really don’t know what’s the best thing in the issue.

Geary’s one page entry is a failure. It’s his solid art, but the writing doesn’t work here. It’s just too much forced sentiment.

Alien Fire seemingly comes to an end this issue–some very nice space frog art from Vincent–but Smith’s writing is just addlebrained. I can’t believe more attention would make it make any sense… I also can’t imagine giving it any more attention. It’s been one of the biggest wastes of time in Dark Horse Presents in a while.

I think Sin City‘s first arc ends here. It’s twenty-one mostly lazy pages from Miller, who apparently discovered back in the nineties all one needs to do is use full page action spreads to pad out the page count. There’s one or two slightly amusing lines, but it’s really just idiotic.

It’s a lousy issue.