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) #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 125 (October 1997)

It’s a fantastic issue.

CREDITS

The Nocturnals, Part One; story and art by Dan Brereton; lettering by Sean Konot. Jack Zero, Part Five; story by Arnold Pander and Zero Boy; art by Pander; lettered by John Costanza. Side Trip; story and art by Jason Lutes. Edited by Jamie S. Rich.

Immortal Weapons (2009) #2

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What a stinker.

The whole thing plays like a bad Marvel horror comic from the seventies, with a team of mercenaries (they have matching outfits, of course) out to retrieve a spider. It’s not any spider, it’s one of the Bride of Nine Spiders’s spiders. There’s a bit of a continuity break, showing the Bride to always be beautiful, when in Immortal Iron Fist flashbacks she wasn’t shown as such.

So, it’s an action horror comic instead of a kung fu horror comic.

Bunn’s writing is occasionally okay—his dialogue is fine—but he’s establishing all these characters in a single issue. The Bride he never gets around to establishing though. She’s barely in her own comic.

Also, Brereton’s problematic—his proportions are off.

It’s just a forced horror comic. Big mistake.

However, great Iron Fist backup. Gaudiano’s inks make Foreman’s pencils fantastic. Still, doesn’t make up for the feature.

Immortal Weapons 2 (October 2009)

What a stinker.

So, it’s an action horror comic instead of a kung fu horror comic.

Also, Brereton’s problematic—his proportions are off.

It’s just a forced horror comic. Big mistake.

However, great Iron Fist backup. Gaudiano’s inks make Foreman’s pencils fantastic. Still, doesn’t make up for the feature.

CREDITS

The Spider’s Song; writer, Cullen Bunn; penciller, Dan Brereton; inkers, Tom Palmer, Stefano Gaudiano and Mark Pennington; colorist, Paul Mounts. The Caretakers, Part Two; writer, Duane Swierczynski; penciller, Travel Foreman; inker, Gaudiano; colorist, June Chung. Letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Alejandro Arbona and Warren Simons; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Immortal Iron Fist Annual (2007) #1

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Are there really enough Howard Chaykin fans out there to make getting him to fill in desirable? His work has gotten so shoddy over the last ten years, it’s stunning.

But even with Chaykin on the modern stuff, this issue is just fantastic. It’s very hopeful and glorious–Brubaker and Fraction reveal Orson Randall had a whole gang of adventurers with him and they had adventure after adventure. Iron Fist as a pulp hero, with a good measure of Indiana Jones thrown in.

Brereton and Djurdjevic do the flashback material; they work well, the painted finishes giving the adventures a nostalgic feel.

There’s very little about Danny Rand here, even though the story follows him to Orson’s now aged sidekicks at their retreat. He does have one action sequence–Chaykin manages to get some energy into that scene at least–but really he’s just listening to Orson’s adventures.

Lovely issue.

The Immortal Iron Fist Annual 1 (November 2007)

Are there really enough Howard Chaykin fans out there to make getting him to fill in desirable? His work has gotten so shoddy over the last ten years, it’s stunning.

Brereton and Djurdjevic do the flashback material; they work well, the painted finishes giving the adventures a nostalgic feel.

Lovely issue.

CREDITS

Men of a Certain Deadly Persuasion; writers, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction; artists and colorists, Howard Chaykin, Dan Brereton and Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic; letterer, Artmonkeys Studios; editors, Alejandro Arbona and Warren Simons; publisher, Marvel Comics.