Detective Comics 536 (March 1984)

Much of the issue consists of Alfred whining to his daughter about being the only father she has left. Yes, the poor woman is distraught, but it’s like Moench couldn’t come up with anything else for Alfred to do. Whine or be an action hero.

Similarly, Batman doesn’t have much to do. Moench doesn’t let Alfred have the whole story–because Alfred couldn’t deal with Deadshot–but he can’t insert Batman into it because he plum doesn’t belong. It should be Alfred’s story and it isn’t.

The mystery of the stolen paintings also gets ignored for Deadshot’s big escape sequence and the chase. Moench’s not exactly desperate to fill pages, but he definitely doesn’t have enough story when both Batman and Deadshot are unengaged participants.

The Green Arrow story ends with a big movie mystery reveal of the villain. Cavalieri has some goofy lines, but it’s much better than usual.

CREDITS

Facing the Dark, Blindly…; writer, Doug Moench; penciller, Gene Colan; inker, Bob Smith; colorist, Adrienne Roy; letterer, Ben Oda. Green Arrow, The Black Box IV: Short Fuse; writer, Joey Cavalieri; penciller, Shawn McManus; inker, Sal Trapani; colorist, Nansi Hoolahan; letterer, Bob Lappan. Editor, Len Wein; publisher, DC Comics.

Detective Comics 535 (February 1984)

Doug Moench has two subplots going; it’s hard to say if one’s a B and the other’s a C, or if they’re both equally weighted. There’s a new crime boss in Gotham, at least Bullock thinks so and Gordon disagrees. Moench likes playing the two off each other quite a bit.

Then there’s his Alfred and his daughter intrigue subplot. That one I assume will eventually involve Batman.

As for Batman, he’s got a beat-up Robin to deal with and that whole thing turns out to be a setup for a plot twist. Moench’s very aware he’s dealing with a limited amount of time–he immediately references how long Jason Todd has been Robin, giving the issue a sense of urgency.

It’s hard to see where it’s going in some ways, in other ways it’s obvious. But it’s sturdy stuff.

Awful Green Arrow backup though; really… just awful.

CREDITS

One Hole in a Quilt of Madness; writer, Doug Moench; penciller, Gene Colan; inker, Bob Smith; colorist, Adrienne Roy; letterer, Ben Oda. Green Arrow, The Black Box III: On the Cheap; writer, Joey Cavalieri; artist, Shawn McManus; colorist, Nansi Hoolahan; letterer, Bob Lappan. Editors, Nicola Cuti and Len Wein; publisher, DC Comics.

The Man Called A-X 1 (October 1997)

239478 The Man Called A-X is a strange and awful thing. It’s pronounced “A 10,” but “A ex.” I wasn’t sure it mattered, but then the hard cliffhanger reveals it does matter.

The comic is a near future thing with androids. Marv Wolfman definitely saw Universal Soldier. He tries to be very topical with the Gulf War veteran stuff, but he’s really just doing a rip-off of Blade Runner and, I don’t know, maybe Tron.

The book seemed interesting because it’s Shawn McManus on the art, but McManus doing glossy “gritty” nineties anti-superheroes isn’t the best use of his skills.

I think it’s supposed to be like Lobo. I don’t know. It’s too pointless and bad to keep going. But I should point out McManus is at least competent on the art, Wolfman’s writing is horrendous. It’s either overwritten exposition or laughable first person.

It’s really dreadful stuff.

CREDITS

A-Ten; writer, Marv Wolfman; artist, Shawn McManus; colorist, Ian Laughlin; letterer, Kurt Hathaway; editor, Peter Tomasi; publisher, DC Comics.

Swamp Thing 116 (February 1992)

16086 Guest writer Dick Foreman tries a little hard to be precious, but the issue’s still a success.

Foreman and Shawn McManus tell a traditional boys’ story. A kid with a crappy, absentee father discovers a Swamp Thing body and plants a still living tuber. The tuber grows into something magical–Foreman doesn’t mention it, but the anthromorphized plant inards suggest it’s too old a corpse… from pre-Alan Moore.

But Foreman’s not going for continuity, he’s going for a solid little story. McManus helps a lot with it, making the mom likable just through that sad but happy McManus face. And the kid’s sidekick is a lot of fun in his few pages.

Then the dad gets home and the story takes some predictable turns and some unexpected ones. The end should be better but Foreman tries to hard.

It’s still excellent stuff. Especially for Swamp Thing without Swamp Thing.

CREDITS

The Growing Season; writer, Dick Foreman; artist, Shawn McManus; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, DC Comics.

Swamp Thing 111 (September 1991)

16081 Collins shows off a lot this issue. She turns the comic into a domestic–it’s young parents Abby and Alec bantering about the baby. Unfortunately Collins dumbs down Abby–she’s just a mom now instead of a development of her previous self; still, Collins writes new Abby well.

But then the couple runs across a swamp ghost who tells them many scary, profound stories. Mandrake and DeMulder beautifully handle most of those stories. Shawn McManus does one of them, the big one. The McManus art isn’t his best and it lacks the activity of Mandrake and DeMulder.

Some of the page transitions are fantastic. An out of place panel showing a character having a realization about what someone else read in a previous panel. They’re intricate and seemingly natural to Collins’s pacing.

Swamp Thing has become exciting again. Collins, Mandrake and DeMulder have something going here. It’s quietly wonderful stuff.

CREDITS

Zydeco Ya-Ya; writer, Nancy A. Collins; pencillers, Tom Mandrake and Shawn McManus; inkers, Kim DeMulder and McManus; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, DC Comics.

Swamp Thing Annual 3 (1987)

This issue, even for an annual, has way too many hands in the art pot. Besides Veitch, who pencils some in addition to writing the script, there’s Shawn McManus, Jim Fern and Stan Woch. Tom Yeates gets the unpleasant task of inking the hodgepodge. He fails at marrying them together.

Just guessing, Woch does the worst work. He gets the finish and some of the interior and Abby and Alec just look wrong. The rest of the comic is a bunch of guest stars–DC ape guest stars. There’s Angel and the Ape, there’s Monsieur Mallah and the Brain, there’s B’wana Beast (or, more accurately, his female ape friend), there’s Congorilla, there’s some other apes.

And, of course, there’s Gorilla Grodd. Now, Veitch is basically doing an eclectic DC crossover here–the Flash’s Crisis death is mentioned–but it just doesn’t belong in Swamp Thing.

It’s not bad, just useless.

p style=”font-size:11px;”>CREDITS

Distant Cousins; writer, Rick Veitch; pencillers, Veitch, Shawn McManus, Jim Fern and Stan Woch; inker, Thomas Yeates; colorist, Adrienne Roy; letterer, Agustin Mas; editor, Karen Berger; publisher, DC Comics.

Detective Comics 534 (January 1984)

Some weirdness this issue. First off, Moench reveals Jason Todd doesn’t want to be called Robin either. It’s peculiar enough it doesn’t feel like more padding from Moench on the subject, even though it probably is just more fluff.

Then there’s Commissioner Gordon. He’s back at work and he’s a complete jerk. Moench shows the legal aftermath of Batman apprehending a suspect and it gives the impression no one Batman apprehends ever ends up in jail for a long time. Moench’s trying to be realistic, which sort of works. The scene’s good as long as one doesn’t think too hard.

Colan doesn’t spend a lot of time on the layouts–some pages are really spare–but with Alcala back, the art’s great.

The Green Arrow backup gets worse, with Cavalieri introducing a lame biker gang. The McManus inks aren’t interesting this time around, he’s barely visible. It’s embarrassingly bad stuff.

Detective Comics 533 (December 1983)

It’s an issue of inappropriate inking. Smith is so reductive on Colan’s Batman inks, the story loses any visceral impact. Instead, it becomes almost academic–seeing where Colan’s pencils have been too diluted for a page to work. The layouts are still fantastic, but not the finished art.

Moench resolves his Gordon storyline–while still stoking the Jason and Bruce one (and no one misses Alfred, which is strange)–and it’s a flop. It’s like no one told Moench Barbara Gordon was also Batgirl. And Moench attempts at inspirational flop painfully. It doesn’t help he’s got a bunch of hackneyed thugs out of a forties comic.

Still, great Colan layouts.

Then there’s the Green Arrow backup. Truly lame writing from Cavalieri can’t overshadow the odd art. Chuck Patton is a boring, superhero penciller. But Shawn McManus inks him, adding a lot of McManus lines. The story’s artistically interesting, if terrible.

Swamp Thing 32 (January 1985)

McManus is back for a guest spot. Moore wisely follows up the previous story (saving Abby from Hell) with an interlude. A group of adorable, friendly little aliens comes to Earth in search of a new home.

It doesn’t work out.

While Moore still manages to make the issue significant, some of the happier parts can be spent marveling at Moore’s writing. He creates a cast of Disney characters, who don’t just look cute, but have an incredibly cute language. Just from look and sound, it’s a Saturday morning cartoon.

But Moore, being Moore, gives this group of aliens a great backstory and the intelligence to interact as real characters. They are cutesy by nature and completely unaware. It’s Moore’s way into the story, which is a sad one about homeless explorers. It reminds me of The Odyssey a lot.

It’s another amazing Swamp Thing. McManus does some beautiful work.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing 28 (September 1984)

When I started rereading Moore’s Swamp Thing, I became worried every other issue I would proclaim it the best issue of Swamp Thing ever. If I were reading it at the time, it might be acceptable… but twenty years later not so much.

This issue concerns Swamp Thing dealing with the ghost of Alec Holland.

Likely not a real ghost, but a literary one. Moore understands how to use ghosts in a fine literary sense. Moore’s writing mixes his very modern, very considered dialogue for Abby (she usually does most of the talking when hanging out with Swamp Thing) and this tragic adventure for Swamp Thing. Moore infuses the comic with the emotional weight Swamp Thing is under, making a (literally) completely inhuman character infinitely sympathetic.

As for Shawn McManus’s guest art… it’s like Will Eisner drew a Swamp Thing comic. Not just the style, but the emotion.

It’s magnificent.