Superman / Batman (2003) #75

Levitz wraps up the arc with a Legion of Super-Heroes story guest starring Batman. Superman’s in a panel or two. Lex’s planet has paid-off (in the future), with a Kryptonite-infused Lex clone going through history after Superman (and Superboy).

The story’s unpredictable and funny. And Ordway’s mostly just drawing, not trying to look painted, so the art’s much better.

The rest of the issue is two-page anniversary stories.

Seagle and Kristiansen’s is pointless self-indulgence. Tucci’s actually funny. Hughes does a poster; great art, of course. The big surprise is the Krul one (with Manapul on the art). The writing’s actually funny. Thompson’s got a couple pinups. Green and Johnson (art by Davis and Albuquerque) are unmemorable.

Rouleau’s got a fantastic one, so do Azzarello and Bermejo.

Finch and Williams’s one is atrociously written.

Tomasi and Ha’s entry is pointless but looks nice.

Excellent feature though.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #138

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) #137

So Nazis versus Predator and the best Marz can come up with is a story set in South America? Castellini’s art makes up for some of it—even though he can’t draw the Predator, the rest of it looks good. But Marz’s writing is pretty dumb.

Seagle and Gaudiano have another My Vagabond Days, this time about the space program. Sort of. Seagle seems to think doing a lyrical narrative about growing up in the Sixties is inherently interesting. Even with Gaudiano’s artwork, it’s not interesting. Seagle, it turns out, didn’t grow up in the Sixties as a teen… have I already mentioned that fact? Regardless, it’s still a waste of good art.

Randall and Verheiden finally finish The Ark here. It’s yet another double-sized installment and, wow, Verheiden’s writing is really awful here. Randall still manages to turn in some decent work (except on the aliens, they’re boring).

Dark Horse Presents Annual (1998) 1998

The annual opens with Mignola doing a retelling of Hellboy‘s origin. I guess it’s all right. Kind of pointless, but fine.

Weissman finally gets a two page Phineas Page and shows why he should have stuck to a page.

Van Meter and Ross team for the first comic book appearance of Buffy. The writing is more lame than not, but it’s maybe the best Ross art I’ve ever seen.

Watson’s Skeleton Key is a fairly charming little story about a witch and a little kid. I’m assuming the character’s a witch, otherwise it’d be pointless. Some wacky art mistakes though.

The Ark is a long setup with aliens as pay-off. Verheiden’s got some okay writing and Randall’s art isn’t bad.

Guadiano’s art is the primary selling point on he and Seagle’s My Vagabond Days. It’s not terrible though.

Burke and Bolton’s Infirmary is confounding, but Boltan’s art is gorgeous.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #124

It’s a strange issue.

First is Seagle and Rouleau’s take on Predator, which might be the most harmless Predator story ever. Three boys camping out in one’s backyard go into the nearby swamp and see a Predator. Rouleau’s art is charming, the writing’s decent… still, it’s a Predator story. It can only be so good.

Then Lewis has a long story about two adopted kids and their tragic misadventures. The root of the problem is their choice in gifts at their first Christmas after being adopted. Lewis’s cartooning does well, but his writing is the real success. He manages to cover three years in a short story, getting in everything important to the characters. It’s an excellent piece of work.

Pander and Zero Boy bring Jack Zero closer to the end. It’s good, with an emphasis on Jack’s friendship with his married love interest’s daughter. Just hope it finishes well.

Dark Horse Presents 124 (August 1997)

It’s a strange issue.

Pander and Zero Boy bring Jack Zero closer to the end. It’s good, with an emphasis on Jack’s friendship with his married love interest’s daughter. Just hope it finishes well.

CREDITS

Predator, Bump in the Night; story by Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau; pencils by Rouleau; inks by Jim Royal; lettering by Sean Konot. Outside, Inside (A Constructive Tragedy); story and art by Jon Lewis; lettering by Dave Cooper. Jack Zero, Part Four; story by Arnold Pander and Zero Boy; art by Pander; lettered by John Costanza. Edited by Bob Schreck and Jamie S. Rich.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #113

I was trying to remember where I knew Leialoha from… he inks now. He pencils and inks Trypto, which has a superhero dog splash page and then a rather traditional story. It’s about a stolen dog being forced to dogfight. Mumy and Ferrer’s script is fine and Leialoha has some imaginative composition, but his art doesn’t carry it.

Seagle and Gaudiano’s My Vagabond Days is set in the late sixties; it concerns a disrespectful young kid learning those soldiers in Vietnam are over there dying for his freedom. Seagle’s writing is, politics aside, lame. Worse, Gaudiano doesn’t work very hard on the art—it’s almost like a sketch album.

Thankfully, Brubaker’s Lowlife appears. Is Chris the protagonist the whole time (the Brubaker stand-in)? Anyway, this story chronicles the first day of a breakup. Inventive, human dialogue and some great composition. I’ve read these stories before, and they’re still great.

Dark Horse Presents 113 (September 1996)

CREDITS

Trypto the Acid Dog, Wheel of the Broken Voice, Part One, Circle of Fire; story by Bill Mumy and Miguel Ferrer; art by Steve Leialoha. My Vagabond Days; story by Steven T. Seagle; art by Stefano Gaudiano; lettering by Megan Rodriguez. Lowlife, Part One, Wreck; story, art and lettering by Ed Brubaker. Edited by Bob Schreck and Jamie S. Rich.