Dark Horse Presents (1986) #132

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Cooper brings Dan & Larry to a very disturbing conclusion. I mean, he really goes for it here–after backing down from going too far a few issues ago–but here, Cooper sort of leaps off the cliff and makes the installment just plain disgusting on a dozen levels. It’s great.

As for Warren’s Dirty Pair story, I don’t know what to say. Warren’s artwork is generally good, but since he’s fitting a style for the two protagonists, there’s a limit to it. He lays out his panels well for an action sci-fi comic and I suppose the writing’s all right. Doubt I’m its intended audience.

And then Brubaker starts getting towards the core of The Fall. This installment is particularly nice because it changes so much throughout–the beginning never suggests the end (at least to the protagonist). Lutes does a great job, particularly with on the last page.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #131

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Where to even start.

Beto’s got a good girl future story with Girl Crazy. It’s about a lovesick robot. He takes his time establishing it (then has to hurry towards the end) and finishes the story on a good joke. It’s a very cute story, sort of not what I expected from him.

Then there’s The Fall, from Brubaker and Lutes. It’s this amazing dramatic piece about a working schlub who does something stupid and ends up working for his boss’s wife. Complications ensue. Brubaker has very close, careful third person narration and Lutes’s artwork is fantastic rendering the mundane setting.

Cooper goes a little crazy on Dan & Larry, garnering a lot of sympathy for poor Dan here. It’s gross, it’s funny, it’s great.

Then there’s Nixey’s story about a kid who captures the scary monsters under his bed. Nice art, lots of humor. It gets jumbled, but it’s good.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #130

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Wow, so Presents dropped Shane Oakley’s Stiltskin, one of the best things it’d published, before it finished? Swell.

For a replacement, we get the endless Wanted Man, from McEown. McEown is a good cartoonist, though his writing is self-indulgent and seems only to serve putting topless little cartoon girls in his story. It’s a waste of time.

Cooper’s Dan & Larry this installment expands the story’s world, which is cool. It’s not as disturbing as usual, just vaguely creepy at times. There’s still a lot of solid humor and Cooper’s art is excellent.

Murray and Gregory’s do a biography of Mary Walker, who was a Civil War surgeon. It’s okay… Gregory’s art is nearly up to par. Murray’s script concentrates on the Army’s misogyny, so it comes off poorly at times. Weak (non-factual too) ending.

Weissman’s Phineas Page is rather amusing (crossing over with the Marquis de Sade’s Justine).

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #129

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Wow, Kelley Jones likes the phallic symbols doesn’t he? The character’s called The Hammer, but it doesn’t look like a hammer on his head… Anyway, it’s fine. Nice artwork, some decent scenes. The ending flops though.

Stilkskin continues, this issue turning its dwarf protagonist into a porn star. It’s a change from Oakley, who didn’t have a lot of events in the previous two installments, but somehow he makes it work great. Being in the city (set in the late seventies, which leads to some anachronisms) works great for the series. Gives Oakley a lot more to draw. Once again, fantastic.

Then there’s Cooper’s Dan & Larry and it’s slightly less disturbing than last time, but still incredibly strange. Cooper actually doesn’t take it over the edge, which he could have. It’s good… even with a weak last page.

Mahfood’s Zombie Kid is pop culture blather pretending to be a strip.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #128

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Wow. Dave Cooper’s Dan & Larry might be the most horrifying thing I’ve ever read. Cooper is creating this psychotic, awful version of the standard cartoon buddies. One’s a duck, the other’s a… something or other. And he does awful, awful things. Great art, amazing ideas… it’s awful and strange and wonderful.

Metalfer is a bit better this installment. Manoukian and Roucher spend their pages doing an action scene. The art carries the story and it even gets amusing towards the end. I wish every installment were this good.

Oakley outdoes himself on Stiltskin (once again). This installment covers some more of his protagonist’s formative years. Oakley’s does a lot with just the narration and the story really affects the reader. His art, like before, is solid, good work… but it’s his writing where he’s phenomenal. An excellent installment.

Weissman’s Phineas Page one page strip is great as usual; very funny.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #106

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Okay, so Wray did have something to do with “Ren & Stimpy.” Otherwise, it’d be a little too coincidental. He does the art on Big Blown Baby (Fleming scripts). Great art, very detailed, very fluid. Too bad Fleming’s script is just a mediocre absurdist comedy thing. It’s amazing how many of these poorly written, obscenity-laden strips Dark Horse felt the need to publish.

Very nice One Trick installment, with Pope stranding protagonist Tubby in the middle of nowhere. The story’s a neo-noir, maybe the most inventive ever. Pope paces the installment slowly, more cinematically than the rest of it. I sometimes forget how good Pope is with narrative structure. He really works hard at it.

Then it’s Ed Brubaker writing a Godzilla. More, it’s Brubaker writing a comedic Godzilla strip. Cooper’s art is fun, the story’s inventive. It’s amazing how much better it is than Baby. See, writing helps.

Dark Horse Presents 106 (February 1996)

CREDITS

Big Blown Baby; story by Robert Loren Fleming; art by Bill Wray; lettering by John Costanza. The One Trick Rip-Off, Part Six; story and art by Paul Pope; lettering by Michael Neno. Godzilla, Godzilla’s Day; story by Ed Brubaker; art by Dave Cooper. Edited by Bob Schreck and Scott Allie.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #98

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I’m tempted to mention Cooper’s one page strip first because it’s a page and I don’t really have anything to say about it. Oops, there I went and did.

Brubaker and Gaudiano finish up Here and Now. It’s got a bit of a surprise ending, which makes perfect sense, but for whatever reason (probably a combination of Gaudiano’s realistic illustrating and Brubaker’s occasional summary storytelling), it works perfectly. The story really deserves to be collected (though the private detective angle detracts in some ways).

Rennie and Langridge’s Kabuki Kid features a story about Japanese products and their dismissal of the human worker. I’ve read three of these stories and I can’t tell if they’re really supposed to be socialist propaganda or if it’s another joke.

Campbell’s Doreen Grey has a strange installment. There’s some great stuff, but it feels incomplete. I can’t believe Campbell can tie it up next issue.

Dark Horse Presents 98 (June 1995)

I’m tempted to mention Cooper’s one page strip first because it’s a page and I don’t really have anything to say about it. Oops, there I went and did.

Campbell’s Doreen Grey has a strange installment. There’s some great stuff, but it feels incomplete. I can’t believe Campbell can tie it up next issue.

CREDITS

The Eyeball Kid, The Picture of Doreen Gray, Part Five; story by Eddie Campbell; art by Eddie Campbell and Hayley Campbell. Kabuki Kid, Part Three, Assembly Line Apocalypse!; story by Gordon Rennie; art by Roger Langridge; edited by Greg Vest. Nude; story and art by Dave Cooper. Here and Now, Part Three; story by Ed Brubaker; art by Stefano Gaudiano; lettering by Sean Konot. Edited by Bob Schreck and Scott Allie.