Swamp Thing 78 (November 1988)

It’s another fill-in issue–Mandrake’s on pencils again (with Alcala inking); Stephen R. Bissette handles the writing chores. It’s also filler narratively, but very nice narrative filler. Bissette doesn’t have much for Abby to do, however. He sends her on another trip to the afterlife, which could be eventful, but instead she just hangs out with Alec Holland for a few pages.

The other Alec, though, Bissette’s got a lot for him. The issue’s something like Bissette musing on how Swamp Thing would be relating to the new developments. It’s a relaxer issue, but a beautifully paced one.

Bissette has this incredible twist in the issue. Bissette paces things for the one sitting read, not an eventual trade. Swamp Thing is a great example of how trades changed comics writings for the worse.

The issue’s not without problems–the end twist is a little outrageous–but the issue’s fine.

CREDITS

To Sow One’s Seed in the Wind; writer, Stephen R. Bissette; penciller, Tom Mandrake; inker, Alfredo Alcala; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Karen Berger; publisher, DC Comics.

Contemporaneously…

Dark Horse Presents 24 (November 1988)

Swamp Thing 77 (October 1988)

Did someone forget to tell Jamie Delano Abby is from Eastern Europe? She’s got a line about being a nervous sixteen year-old and it doesn’t seem very appropriate, given her Iron Curtain upbringings.

Actually, the guest crew of Delano and Tom Mandrake (Alcala’s on inks still) mimic Veitch so well I had no idea he didn’t write or draw it until I went back and looked. It’s a nice interlude issue, with Abby and Alec fighting a bit after her “night” with Constantine.

Delano takes his time with the pacing, following Abby through a rough day. Mandrake layers in some surprises. It’s a lovely issue, actually–it’s surprisingly two guest creators could do such a seamless, significant job.

Constantine shows up for a bit too, which would be more contrived if Delano and Mandrake didn’t introduce him so well. They slickly infer his presence before his appearance.

Excellent stuff.

CREDITS

Infernal Triangles; writer, Jamie Delano; penciller, Tom Mandrake; inker, Alfredo Alcala; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, John Costanza; editor, Karen Berger; publisher, DC Comics.

Contemporaneously…

Dark Horse Presents 23 (October 1988)

Swamp Thing 50 (July 1986)

While touted as an anniversary issue, Swamp Thing barely figures into this story. Moore’s upfront about his limited role–the comic opens with Cain and Abel, after all. It again features guest appearances from the DC supernatural set, with a couple deaths involved.

Moore eventually does make it all about Swamp Thing, but in a relatively quiet way. His experiences and questions about himself inform the greater story, which is a really big one. It’s an all action issue, but the most important action is very quiet dialogue.

What’s strangest about the issue is the lack of intensity. Moore’s done a lot with ominous, disturbing details, but they aren’t present here. Demons are again reduced to funny looking creatures, for example. The supernatural landscape is nowhere near as disturbing as the human one Moore’s been moving through.

Moore brings the fantastical down to manageable size.

It’s excellent, if cloyingly existential.

DC Retroactive: Batman – The ’70s 1 (September 2011)

Once one gets past Len Wein’s expository narration—and his way too self-aware Batman thought balloons—Retroactive is a good bit of fun.

The story’s got two possibilities for predictable revelations and Wein plays with it. He fulfills one of them but then completely ignores the second. Instead, he does something utterly goofy in the context of a one shot but perfect if it were a “missing” adventure.

However, having Tom Mandrake do the art for a seventies Batman book is a little odd. Mandrake’s artwork is utterly fantastic. His Batman is big and scary and his Bruce Wayne is urbane. He’s got some amazing panels of people and I wish he’d do a talking heads series; it’d be beautiful.

But it’s not seventies Batman style. He’s way too good for the absurdities Wein sometimes lobs at him (and the reader).

It’s a surprisingly okay issue… with fantastic art.

CREDITS

Terror Times Three!; writer, Len Wein; artist, Tom Mandrake; colorist, Wes Hartman; letterer, Dezi Sienty; editors, Chynna Clugston Flores and Jim Chadwick; publisher, DC Comics.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1982) #9

The Saga of Swamp Thing 9 I never thought, reading the issues before this one, I would see cheesecake in Pasko and Yeates’s Swamp Thing run. But this issue isn’t Yeates, it’s Jan Duursema. Duursema handles the art in varying degrees of quality. With Tom Mandrake inking, there are some very iconic Swamp Thing action moments. Duursema and Mandrake make Swamp Thing look even more like Redondo’s rendition in the first series than Yeates ever does. But there’s also a strange approach to people—Duursema likes long shots, with the moving figures looking awkwardly static.

It’s not terrible art, it’s just not great.

It’s also strange because there’s no gimmick, no monster. It’s a very plot-filled issue, with Pasko working through a lot of the series’s threads, sort of unraveling a ball of yarn.

Joey Cavalieri takes over Phantom Stranger scripts this issue and he and Carrillo’s story is fine supernatural mystery. It’s perfectly serviceable.

Victorian Undead II (2011) #1

Vu201

Let’s see… Edginton doesn’t just bring in Dracula, he also brings in zombie-hunting gypsies, a conspiracy involving the British throne involving vampires (which changes up the series being a straight Dracula adaptation) and London rebuilding. The interesting part of London rebuilding is how it was a facet of Scarlet Traces too. While the first Victorian Undead series had its problems, he’s been able to build on its resolution quite well. Hopefully the franchise survives DC scuttling Wildstorm.

Unsurprisingly, I have issues with Davide Fabbri’s artwork. Tom Mandrake’s back for a page and it’s another instance of where he should have been the artist, not a guest star. Fabbri takes his time on Victorian London, getting in some great details, but it still looks insipidly commercial overall. The choice continues to bewilder.

Edginton takes his time, splitting between foreboding and Holmes and Watson investigating. He definitely piques the reader’s curiosity.

Victorian Undead (2010) #4

Vu4

Now here’s a way to pad an issue… Tom Mandrake illustrates a flashback (with a far more traditional–read recognizable–Holmes). It’s Holmes and Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls with a different conclusion–Moriarty has zombie juice ready to save him after he… ahem… falls. It’s one heck of a way to waste pages. The artwork’s lovely and all but it’s not narratively important. In fact, it’d have been a lot more effective in the first issue without it being clear it was Moriarty.

The rest of the issue is just bridging material, presumably, to set up the climax of the series. There’s finally a big zombie battle in London, but we only get to see a little bit of it, with Moriarty (the zombie) showing it to his sidekick (and the reader) through a window.

Then tanks show up to save Holmes and Watson (and Mrs. Hudson) and it’s silly.

Victorian Undead 4 (April 2010)

Then tanks show up to save Holmes and Watson (and Mrs. Hudson) and it’s silly.

CREDITS

And Death Shall Have No Dominion; writer, Ian Edgington; penciller, Davide Fabbri; inker, Tom Mandrake; colorist, Carrie Strachan; letterer, Saida Temofonte; editors, Kristy Quinn and Ben Abernathy; publisher, Wildstorm.