Dark Horse Presents (1986) #138

Dhp138

Wow, the first Terminator story in Presents. I thought they’d gone through all the licenses, but no. It’s not terrible. Grant’s writing is adequate and Teran’s art has an energy to it. He’s a little confusing in action scenes (Grant’s plotting hurts there too) but he’s got some great designs.

Martin and Rude’s The Moth is just a lot of fun. It borrows some Batman elements and I think Rude does an homage to Spider-Man in one panel. The Moth’s a superhero (maybe) posing as a supervillain and playing mobsters against each other. Rude’s art would make anything good, but Martin’s writing is fine.

Seagle outdoes himself on My Vagabond Days, revealing his protagonist to be not just unlikable, but idiotic. This kid is a complete moron. He’s bringing rocks to Canada because Canada might not have rocks. Maybe Seagle is writing him younger than Gaudino is drawing him….

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #16

Dhp16

Wow, what an issue.

Chadwick uses Concrete to bookend a short story. Or he uses double bookends to frame a story. It’s kind of pointless, so it fits with the other Concrete stories… At least the story’s mostly about people, so Chadwick’s art is strong. Strong enough. It really feels like something he had in the drawer and threw Concrete in to get it printed.

Captain Crusader limps to the finish. There are some art issues, but Martin’s idiotic writing is the problem. I think he wanted people to talk about how the story ends. I can’t imagine anyone talking about anything but his bad writing.

Then there’s Paleolove, which I’d been looking forward to reading for some reason. Silly me. Davis’s art is very precious and very problematic. His figures lack any consistent realistic proportions and his faces are weak. Not to mention Davis’s writing being way too descriptive.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #15

Dhp15

I’m so glad they put The Mask in the middle. I’m not sure the issue would have been tolerable if it hadn’t been at the center.

The issue opens with another bad episode of Captain Crusader. The only nice thing I have to say about the story is Martin draws brick walls well. Not people, not figures, not regular backgrounds, just brick walls. The real world superhero gets beat up again.

The issue ends with Babes ‘n Arms, which is slightly better than before thanks to Stradley’s writing. Unfortunately, it’s still completely awful. I can’t believe Dark Horse took the time to have this story illustrated.

The Mask story is confusing and Badger hints at revealing things, but never really does. Badger opens the story with a big discussion of art, but continues using his regular Mask style for the story. It works. The opening is almost cute, but not.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #13

Dhp13

At least there’s a Mask story this issue because the rest of it is just atrocious. Since I’ve already started with The Mask, I’ll finish it up. Badger doesn’t write as strongly here and his meta approaches to the storytelling, bookending the story, don’t help. But it’s still compelling and solid.

However, I don’t even know where to start with Babes ‘n Arms, which appears to be Dark Horse’s attempt to do an unfunny manga with girls in bikinis. Sure, they seem stupid, but they’re the only ones who can take down a rampaging giant robot. Dark Horse owns the property–according to the indicia–which I found interesting.

Captain Crusader finishes the issue. It’s this painfully mediocre “real life” superhero thing. Guy runs around New York in lycra as a publicity stunt, ends up getting beat up. All “reality” goes out the window when it opens with him hopping roof tops.

Dark Horse Presents 16 (March 1988)

Wow, what an issue.

CREDITS

Concrete’s Sky of Heads, With a Whimper; story and art by Paul Chadwick; lettering by Bill Spicer. Captain Crusader; story by Gary Martin; art by Martin, Ernie Colon, Howard Simpson and Paul Gulacy. Paleolove, When the Old World Was New; story, art and lettering by Gary Davis. Edited by Randy Stradley.

Dark Horse Presents 15 (February 1988)

I’m so glad they put The Mask in the middle. I’m not sure the issue would have been tolerable if it hadn’t been at the center.

CREDITS

Captain Crusader; writer and artist, Gary Martin; letterer, David Jackson. The Mask; writer and artist, Mark Badger; letterer, Tim Harkins. Babes ‘n Arms; writer, Randy Stradley; artist, Michael Ebert; letterer, David Jackson. Editor, Randy Stradley; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Dark Horse Presents 13 (December 1987)

CREDITS

Babes ‘n Arms; writer, Jon Lee; penciller, Michael Ebert; inker, Robert Caracol; letterer, Pat Brosseau. The Mask; writer and artist, Mark Badger; letterer, Tim Harkins. Captain Crusader; writer and artist, Gary Martin; letterer, David Jackson. Editor, Randy Stradley; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.