Dark Horse Presents (1986) #120

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The Gully story from Schultz and Williamson doesn’t have much of a script; with Williamson’s art, who cares about the writing? It’s some otherworldly sci-fi Western thing. Lovely to look at.

White and Snejbjerg’s The Lords of Misrule is a little confusing, but decent. Snejbjerg does a great job with the tone and the art is excellent… he just doesn’t take the time to design it to fit the layers of White’s script. Still, creepy and solid.

Trout’s becoming a new favorite, even though this installment shows Nixey has some peculiar problems with perspective. Lot of charm to it though, very nice characterizations.

Hectic Planet goes on forever here. Dorkin has a bunch of silly sci-fi elements in what should be a human story. It gets tiring after the first page then goes on forever.

Schreck, Rich and Jones have a one page closer. Great art from Jones.

Dark Horse Presents 120 (April 1997)

Trout’s becoming a new favorite, even though this installment shows Nixey has some peculiar problems with perspective. Lot of charm to it though, very nice characterizations.

Hectic Planet goes on forever here. Dorkin has a bunch of silly sci-fi elements in what should be a human story. It gets tiring after the first page then goes on forever.

Schreck, Rich and Jones have a one page closer. Great art from Jones.

CREDITS

One Last Job; story by Mark Schultz; art by Al Williamson; lettered by Denise Powell. The Lords of Misrule, Part One; story by Steve White; art by Peter Snejbjerg; lettering by Annie Parkhouse; edited by Ian R. Stude. Trout, Nicky Nicky Nine Doors, Part Two; story and art by Troy Nixey. Hectic Planet, Part Three; story and art by Evan Dorkin. Gather Ye Rosebuds; story by Bob Schreck and Jamie S. Rich; pencils by Casey Jones; inks by Monty Sheldon; lettering by Sean Konot. Edited by Bob Schreck and Jamie S. Rich.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #44

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Harris’s Crash Ryan takes place in some kind of alternate 1930s, where America is under attack from some homegrown sky pirate organization called Doom. It’d competently done, but sort of too soon to tell how it’s going to work out. It’s not, you know, guys in tights, but it’s traditional mainstream fare.

Then it’s Geary’s nice little story about some guy’s family and their ailments. Geary has a nice way of doing little stories; this type of story is often attempted in Dark Horse Presents and they usually fail. Geary doesn’t.

The Bacchus entry is about an unknown Greek god. It’s the first time Campbell’s Bacchus art has really impressed me, maybe because this story’s set mostly during the day. It’s amazing how he sets out retelling of a myth and makes it dynamic reading experience.

Sheldon contributes a series of well-illustrated pages and text contrived to bond them.

Dark Horse Presents 44 (September 1990)

Sheldon contributes a series of well-illustrated pages and text contrived to bond them.

CREDITS

Crash Ryan; story and art by Ron Harris. Lower Broadway; story, art and letters by Rick Geary. Bacchus, The Unknown God; story and art by Eddie Campbell. First Love; story and art by Monty Sheldon. Edited by Randy Stradley.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #41

Dhp41

I guess up against Zick and The Argosy, Randall’s writing on Trekker seems really good. Maybe the plotting is a little better this time around from Randall–I wasn’t expecting the ending at all–and he’s still doing a lot of good work on the art. It’s crazy how different Trekker looks from when it started, even if it hasn’t exactly become original. Though the relationship between the female protagonist and her sister gets close.

The Argosy is something of a train wreck. The most important thing in the entire story happens in a tiny panel on the last page. Zick’s art is Kirby influenced, but in an interesting, thoughtful way, not the obvious. So it’s all right to look at, it’s just really stupid and pointless. Just rent Jason and the Argonauts or Clash of the Titans.

Sheldon’s “story” is art plates with some text. Art’s good, text’s pointless.

Dark Horse Presents 41 (June 1990)

Sheldon’s “story” is art plates with some text. Art’s good, text’s pointless.

CREDITS

The Argosy; story and art by Bruce Zick; lettering by Pat Brosseau. Trekker; story and art by Ron Randall; lettering by David Jackson. Same Story Told Yesterday; story and art by Monty Sheldon. Edited by Randy Stradley.