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Monday, December 31, 2018

On This Day: 31 Dec

Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - The Devil's Playground by Jonathan Clements. (Big Finish Productions; 2009)

Births:

Alfred Taylor (1889); Patricia Lamburn (1925); Dave Westaway (1946); Tom Morton (1955)

Deaths:

Maurice Dodd (2005)

Notable Events:

The Schoolboys' Own Exhibition began at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, London, in 1951. Eagle was represented by a Dan Dare Rifle Range, with the best shot of the day qualifying for a specially-made B.S.A. air rifle.
The Schoolboys' Own Exhibition began at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, London, in 1952. Eagle took a 40' stand (the largest in the exhibition) in order to show off all the products based on characters from the comic. For added effect, the stand was in the form of Dan Dare's spaceship. Brian Reece and Wilfred Pickles were there for the grand opening.
The AAARGH! comic exhibition, organised by Michael Kustow, began at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1971. It was the first serious exhibition of comic art in the UK.
Due to family ill-health, Mike Conroy was forced to close Maya Merchandising (an offshoot of The Edge of Forever), which ceased trading on this day in 1982. The Perfect Mailing Company took over existing orders
Happy Birthday Broons! was broadcast on BBC One Scotland in 2006.
Just Dandy, a celebration of The Dandy, was broadcast on BBC One Scotland in 2012.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

On This Day: 30 Dec

Births:

Sidney Conrad Strube (1892); T.C.H. Jacobs (1899); Christopher "Kipper" Williams (1951); Charlie Nicholas (1961)

Deaths:

Claude Allin Shepperson (1921); Matthew Sandford (Matt; 1943); Ronald Searle (2011)

Notable Events:

Roger Mellie: The Man On The Telly animated series began on Channel 4 in 1991.
Ken Bulmer's funeral took place in Tunbridge Wells in 2005; a quiet ceremony attended by family and friends.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

On This Day: 29 Dec

Births:

David Nixon (1919); E.W. Hildick (1925); Dave McKean (1963)

Deaths:

Don Lawrence (2003); Robert A. Monkhouse (2003); Tony Greig (2012); Jim Baikie (2017)

Notable Events:

Dan Doofer newspaper strip began in The Daily Mirror in 1945.
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 30-minute program featuring Dan Dare and Judge Dredd in 1991. Garth Ennis, Rian Hughes and John Wagner added their thoughts.
The Bogie Man television movie, based on the comic by Alan Grant, John Wagner & Robin Smith, was broadcast in 1992.
J.H. Batchelor awarded M.B.E. for "services to Illustration" as part of the Queen's New Year Honours list in 2012.

Friday, December 28, 2018

On This Day: 28 Dec

Births:

Bill Martin (Williams; 1919); P.J. Holden (1969)

Deaths:

Toby Baines (1967)

Notable Events:

The first of Studdy's War Studies theatrical animations was released in 1914.
Camille and Her Boss newspaper strip ended in 1937.
Beelzebub Jones newspaper strip began on this day in The Daily Mirror in 1937, ending on this day in 1945.
Frank Sidebottom's single Oh Blimey it's Christmas entered the charts at #87 in 1985.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Batman Vol.3 #5

Nov 2012. Cover price £2.99.
76 pages. Full colour contents.
Titan Magazines.

Cover by UNKNOWN.

Contents:

 2 Digital Comics Now Available!
 3 Contents Page
 4 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #07 (May 2012).
 5 Driven w: Peter J. Tomasi; p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #07 (May 2012).
25 The Fall of the House of Wayne, part 2, w: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV; a: Rafael Albuquerque, lettering by Dezi Sienty, colouring by Dave McCaig.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #10 (Aug 2012).
32 All-New Superhero Sagas! In the DC Universe! in-house advertisement.
33 The Fall of the House of Wayne, part 3, w: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV; a: Rafael Albuquerque, lettering by Dezi Sienty, colouring by Dave McCaig.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #11 (Sep 2012).
37 Missed an Issue? back issues
38 Batman poster; a: Andy Clarke, colouring by Tomeu Morey.
r: variant cover from Batman (DC Comics) #11 (Sep 2012).
40 Subscribe
44 Batman pin-up. p:
r: UNKNOWN.
45 Ghost in the Machine w: Scott Snyder & James Tynon IV (p22-28 only); p: Becky Cloonan (p1-21) & Andy Clarke (p22-28), i: Becky Cloonan (p1-7; p12-18; p21) & Sandu Florea (p8-11; p19; p20) Andy Clarke (p22-28), lettering by Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt, colouring by FCO Plascencia).
r: Batman (DC Comics) #12 (Oct 2012).
73 A Mark Millar Mindgasm in-house advertisement for CLiNT.
74 Batman Letters readers' mail
75 Next Time!
76 Batman: The Dark Knight in-house advertisement.

Ah - I knew there was a reason I persisted with this title. Damian Wayne being tortured by Nobody is one of the highlights of the series so far, but unfortunately Batman arrives in time to save him from something worse than a few fractures - if we ask nicely, DC might give us a monthly "lets torture Robin" series, so I wait in hope. Actually, this version of Batman isn't quite there for me either, so seeing him tortured issue after issue would be welcome as well.

The first story collected here at least manages a decent line of dialogue to end the issue, and there's enough room for the "character" of Damian to develop some... well, character, mainly. His portrayal throughout the various reprints thus far has lacked a believability which is still undercutting any sense that this is an actual child. Even the most stoic character has to have a moment where the facade cracks slightly, otherwise they are forever held apart from any understanding of their inner life. Damian is extremely difficult to understand as a living, breathing person.

The best story is Ghost in the Machine, with some superb artwork by Becky Cloonan. Harper is the first character (in all five issues) to feel even remotely real, and is thus, by far, the most interesting individual to appear in the title - no mean feat for a single appearance. I'm still unimpressed by the relentlessly grumpy Batman, but with the poster and pin-ups at least there is some value to be had here, though the artwork is far from the heights of the Marshall Rogers run in the seventies.

While I hope the title keeps improving, there's simply too much baggage being dragged along to see things changing dramatically.

#04

Batman Vol.3

06

On This Day: 27 Dec

Fiends of the Eastern Front: Operation Vampyr by David Bishop (Black Flame; Dec 2005) ISBN-10: 1 84416 274 5

Deaths:

George Roland Parvin (1997); Geoffrey Bond (2009)

Notable Events:

The London première of Smashing Time, written by George Melly, took place in 1967.
Fungus the Bogeyman live–action mini–series adaptation began on Sky1 in 2015.

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Batman Vol.3 #4

Oct 2012. Cover price £2.99.
76 pages. Full colour contents.
Titan Magazines.

Cover p: Greg Capullo, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: cover from Batman (DC Comics) #10 (Aug 2012).

Contents:

 2 Justice League in-house advertisement
 3 Contents Page
 4 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #06 (Apr 2012).
 5 The Real Me w: Peter J. Tomasi. p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #10 (Aug 2012).
25 Subscribe
26 Batman pin-up; p: Greg Capullo, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: cover from Batman (DC Comics) #10 (Aug 2012).
27 Assault on the Court w: Scott Snyder; p: Greg Capullo, i: Jonathan Glapion, lettering by Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt, colouring by FCD Plascencia.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #10 (Aug 2012).
37 Missed an Issue? Back issues.
49 My Brother's Keeper w: Scott Snyder; p: Greg Capullo, i: Jonathan Glapion, lettering by Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt, colouring by FCD Plascencia.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #11 (Sep 2012).
73 Win an Awesome Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Bat Vehicle competition.
74 Batman Letters readers' mail
75 Next Time! in-house advertisement.
76 Batman: The Dark Knight in-house advertisement.


Promising much yet, alas, delivering very little, The Real Me could have been a stellar story, though pulls back from anything radically different than we have seen dozens of times before in Batman narratives, falling into a rut when it should have been carving out a fresh path. It is pointless, at this remove from the character's inception, to expect any different, but the sheer level of carelessness in creating what should be a tense thriller is a sign that the era of the bat is well and truly over.

The pin-ups, here, are fine - while not displaying any true sign that there is something more than crass commercialism in mind, they fulfill their role in adding to an otherwise unimpressive collection of stories. Relaunching the Batman line could have been the impetus for a complete overhaul of the tired and redundant elements, bringing a freshness to the character, in line with the cinematic overhaul instigated by Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight, though instead we are presented with material which is undistinguished.

While this might, superficially, feel like great value for money, it lacks a sense of vibrancy which really should be present in a new title.

#03

Batman Vol.3

#05

On This Day: 26 Dec

Births:

Roger Hall (1914); Denis Gifford (1927); Roy Raymonde (1929); Xavier Musquera (1942)

Deaths:

Raymond Groves (1958); Robert Stewart Sherriffs (1960); Paul 'Lou' McDermott (1975); Gerry Anderson (2012); Harold Whitaker (2013)

Notable Events:

The Snowman animated short broadcast on Channel 4 in 1982.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Wildcat #10

25 Feb 1989 - 10 Mar 1989; Cover price 40p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
Fleetway Publications.

Edited by Barrie Tomlinson.

Cover by Ian Kennedy (signed).

Contents:

 2 Turbo Jones UNTITLED [Back in Orbit] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
 7 In Space, Some Things Are More Important Than Others... subscription coupon.
 8 Joe Alien UNTITLED [Guest of the Dargonlites] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Ron Smith (signed).
11 Kitten Magee UNTITLED [At the Hoboan City] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Jose Ortiz (uncredited).
16 Joe Alien UNTITLED (cont.)
18 Time-Warp Data Link feature page (uncredited). / Alien readers' art; The Mighty Mr. Kobra by Andrew Halpin, Cyber Wolf by David Alderslade, Toothy by James Heal, The Outer Galactic Piblo Player by Antony Jones, The Bloby Ball by Sam Howell.
20 Loner UNTITLED [The Mouth of Danger] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: David Pugh (uncredited).
25 The Wildcat Complete Earth 2 w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Joan Boix.
31 Meet Dobbin next issue information; illustrated by David Pugh (uncredited).
32 Weetabix Free Corgi Cars advertisement; a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Whatever the missteps in some of the series presented within, Wildcat maintained a high quality when it came to the visual component of the title. While a security droid is hardly the most threatening entity to grace a cover, the manner in which the robot is depicted makes the image stand out - presented in vivid reds, blues and yellows, this is the kind of thing which ought to get a poster treatment.
Wildcat Update: Turbo Jones has escaped from his Arglon guards... so the Arglons have given the order to destroy the Wildcat spacecraft, which is in orbit above their planet!
The Arglon craft takes off, and, unable to prevent the destruction of Wildcat, Turbo Jones flies with Robo on the pterodactyl. Rescuing Burroids from the ceremonial executions which had been prepared, and with this ad-hoc team is able to take command of an Arglon border post which has been in communication with the recently-launched attack craft. Launched in a second vessel, Turbo and Robo attempt to catch up to the first ship - it is only when they approach it that Robo realises that the crew is comprised entirely of robots, and they intend to ram Turbo's craft before launching a suicide run at Wildcat.

Finally outside of the planet's communications blanket, Turbo doesn't immediately contact Wildcat to inform them of an imminent threat. What a hero. The manner in which the Burroids are rescued is slightly too easy, giving Turbo a ready-made commando squad behind enemy lines, although the scene is handled well. This is a strip which has maintained a sense of urgency no matter the immediate situation, and manages to keep things from monotony through the kinds of madcap antics as seen in this installment.

The plot holes, when they appear, are gigantic, but I'm hoping that an explanation for this issue's omission is forthcoming.
Wildcat Update: Joe Alien's exploration team has discovered an area of the new planet where the vegetation is alive, intelligent and hostile! They fall into a hole made by a massive slug-like creature... and end up in a slime-filled pit.
Joe's brain-pack is immediately retrieved and restored to its rightful place on the back of Joe's head, and the giant slugs introduce themselves as Dargonlites, the enemy of all plant-life on the continent. Joe questions the Dargonlites about the substance which has covered the team, and is informed that it is harmless, provided to cushion the team's fall. Assured that they will be safe, the team are told they can move freely through the tunnels, though Joe begins acting as if his brain-pack has been removed.

After attacking the Dargonlites, Joe appears to have slime oozing from beneath his brain-pack, and while his men attempt to clean out the device in one of the pools of water, a stinger electrocutes the team.

This strip is beginning to frustrate me - nothing we have experienced thus far is of consequence, and it appears that this is, yet again, a random encounter with no lasting significance. It isn't a bad outing, despite not building upon the prior stories to really throw Joe into trouble.

Leading Kitten's team onwards to the city, Hobos eventually brings them to Hoboan. An immense settlement, of elaborate construction of glass and plastic, which is protected by steep cliffs on all sides - having arranged transport, Hobos' people arrive to take the women into the city. Greetings from the inhabitants make Kitten aware that they have been travelling with "Mighty Hobos, Magnificent Mornarch of the Hoboan People," who has ruled over the city for five centuries. It is not long before he shows his true colours.

It has been a long time coming, but the group have finally discovered the truth about Hobos - and are immediately thrown from one life-threatening situation to another. It would, for once, be nice to have characters use their words rather than their fists (or blasters) to solve problems, but the revelations present in this installment largely work well without extended dialogue. "Hobos the Murderous" certainly lives up to his name here.

That the city comes as a surprise to Kitten and her team bothers me. Having travelled down to the surface in the shuttle, the team should have had ample opportunity to chart out the land beneath them, noting the position of the landscape's features - which includes habitation. And as we haven't seen Hobos' species anywhere else on the planet's surface, this city must represent the extent of the colony's domain upon the surface of the New Planet.

Loner attracts more of the bugs, increasingly larger in size, and must run before he is swallowed whole by the largest of the bugs. Seeing another shape-changer, Loner decides to persuade it for assistance in returning to his former size, though is swept away by a surge of water which he was attempting to cross, and faces being swallowed alive by the local wildlife.

Beautiful to look at, but a disappointing story - this strip feels extremely slight, mostly thanks to the lack of dialogue. I'm beginning to miss the Fuzzballs.

Kelvin Kroosh, of Wildcat TV News, reports on a series of cases of space madness, a condition which can occur when crew-members dwell too long on the fact that their home-planet has been destroyed. Prof. Jed Gruber appears to have an answer to the problem, a holographic recreation he calls Earth 2. Two men break in, demanding to stay in Earth 2 forever...

A darkly amusing complete story, with a pay-off in the final panel which is as close to black comedy as the title ever ventured.

The ebb and flow of its constituent parts have resulted, in this issue, with a sense of the title treading water. Increasingly feeling as if problems are being created to keep things moving, rather than answering the question which has been driving the Wildcat since the beginning - is this a place where humanity can survive for an extended period of time?

I'm guessing that the answer is no.

#08

Wildcat

#10

Batman Vol.3 #3

Sep 2012. Cover price £2.99.
76 pages. Full colour contents.
Titan Magazines.

Cover by UNKNOWN.

Contents:

 2 Mark Millar's Clint in-house advertisement
 3 Contents Page
 4 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #05 (Mar 2012).
 5 Mutineer w: Peter J. Tomasi; p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #05 (Mar 2012).
25 Batman: The Dark Knight #2 in-house advertisement.
26 The Call w: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV; a: Rafael Albuquerque, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by Nathan Fairbairn.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #08 (Jun 2012).
33 Missed an Issue? back issues.
37 Batman pin-up.
38 Batman pin-up; p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #05 (Mar 2012).
41 Subscribe
42 Batman
43 Night of the Owls w: Scott Snyder; p: Greg Capullo, i: Jonathan Glapion, lettering by Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #09 (Jul 2012).
52 Missed an Issue? Back issues.
53 Batman pin-up; a: Greg Capullo, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: cover to Batman (DC Comics) #08 (Jun 2012).
54 Attack on Wayne Manor w: Scott Snyder; p: Greg Capullo, i: Jonathan Glapion, lettering by Richard Starkings, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #08 (Jun 2012).
53 The Legend Ends advertisement for The Dark Knight Rises novelization.
64 The Fall of the House of Wayne, part one, w: Scott Snyder; a: Rafael Albuquerque, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by Dave McCaig.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #08 (Jun 2012).
74 Batman Letters readers' mail.
75 Next Time! in-house advertisement.
76 Star Wars Galaxy in-house advertisement.

The reprints are feeling increasingly haphazard and inconsequential, with shorter pieces which appear to be disconnected from one another. Although giving more story opportunities for the reader to discover, none of the contents are particularly satisfying - I find myself asking "Why should I care" instead of feeling as if the adventures are worth reading, and the bright spots within this collection are so few and far between as to negate their worth.

Adding to the problems is an incredibly messy cover design which clutters the main image with over-large lettering, making the title look more in line with something aimed at a much younger audience. Having the ongoing stories run concurrently is rather unfortunate, as complete stories would at least justify the page count, but given the numerous problems this is a title I simply cannot recommend.

In trade paperbacks the contents might be worth approaching once more, but in this format the stories are unsatisfying and irritating.

#02

Batman Vol.3

#04

Future Tense #4

Britain's Chilling New Science Fiction Weekly

26 Nov 1980; Cover price 14p.
32 pages. B&W contents.
Marvel Comics Ltd.

One of Marvel's Big Ones!

Edited by Paul Neary.

Cover p: UNKNOWN.
r: UNKNOWN.

Contents:

 2 Britain's Most Exciting Science Fiction Weekly! (half page) text introduction by Paul Neary. / The Concise History of the Galaxy (half page) UNTITLED [Fresh Brains] w: Tim Quinn; a: Dicky Howett. / Indicia
 3 The Micronauts Divided They Fall, part two, w: Bill Mantlo; p: Pat Broderick, i: Armando Gil, lettering by John Costanza.
r: Micronauts (Marvel Comics) #19 (Jul 1980).
12 Meet the Micronauts, part three, Bug w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
13 Seeker 3000! The Dying Sun!, part four, w: Doug Moench; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Denise Wohl.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #41 (Apr 1978).
18 BMX - The Hottest Thing on Two Wheels! advertisement for Halfords.
18 Star-Lord Windhölme, part four, w: Chris Claremont; p: John Byrne, i: Terry Austin, lettering by Tom Orzechowski.
r: Marvel Preview (Marvel Comics) #11 (Summer 1977).
23 Paladin In Manhattan, They Play for Keeps, part four, w: Don McGregor; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Gaspar Saladino & Bruce Patterson.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #43 (Aug 1978).
27 Warlock And Men Shall Call Him... Warlock!, part four, w: Roy Thomas; p: Gil Kane, i: Dan Adkins, lettering by Sam Rosen.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #01 (Apr 1972).
32 Science Fantasy in Television, Cinema and Graphics in-house advertisement for Starburst.
As we got to press this week, the big news is that we have got Star Trek for you, and its scheduled to begin in issue 7! We will be printing the Marvel authorised comic strip version of the recent film, and then getting into new adventures... untold stories of the crew of the starship Enterprise!
If the current roster of material was stronger then the announcement of a further two issues wait might have been bearable, but with the interminable "adventures" of the Micronauts, Star-Lord and Paladin to look forward to, this is not an announcement that is pleasing to read. But there is some news which has piqued my interest:
Also we might just have a few photographs of our recent Marvel Convention for you!
This is more like it. I'm a sucker for behind-the-scenes material, and any record of the convention has to be better than the strips. There must be a wealth of information on the Marvel Convention awaiting publication...

The brief appearance by Ant Man at the end of the current Micronauts story, leading into a full appearance in the next issue, shows that this is not, however it is marketed, an SF story, but merely another tired, predictable superhero story, with all the scientific curiousity of a cocker spaniel. The fact that it is a superhero story isn't an immediate mark against the series, but, because of it being marketed as SF, the superhero elements are a drawback.
The Seeker 3000 makes the jump intact, triumphantly blazing though an eternity of warped time and space!

For thr first time in man's history, infinity is at hand, the vast cosmos within grasp...

...and it took this to accomplish it: the death of the sun!

In one searing instant of cosmic hell, Earth's reality is... vaporised.

Every planet, every moon and asteroid, every man, woman and child in the solar system dies...

...save these precious few aboard a warp-streaking ark named Seeker-3000. They gather now, in mingled jubilation and grief...
The main problem with the warp sequence in Seeker 3000 is its glorious celebration of something which, elsewhere in the title, is treated as a relatively easy accomplishment, undermining the difficulty of the process, and making the characters look like idiots for not figuring out an easier way of accomplishing what others have done with far less destruction. It isn't even depicted with the strength of an average Star Trek or Star Wars FTL sequence, which further cuts away at the melodrama on show.

Thankfully a brand new story is promised for the next issue.
In Chinese Legend, it is told that Buddha died on a bleak new year's day...

On that dying day, Buddha supposedly summoned all living creatures to his side. Twelve responded, and he rewarded each with a year of homage on the lunar calendar.
The moments of interest in Paladin are largely unconnected with the battle which the titular character is involved in, and when he starts talking any tension evaporates. Paladin is a wooden, two-dimensional walking plot point, with dialogue so corny and hackneyed that I actually laughed out loud when reading his utterances:
You killed Marsha. She was sensitive... alert... vibrant.

You ended all her moods and excitements.
That makes me smile every time I read it. How, given the number of people involved in the creation of the strip, could such awful lines get through the entire creative process to see print? No comic strip of this type should turn the death of a character into prime comedy material.

#03

Future Tense

#05

On This Day: 25 Dec

Births:

US cartoonist Robert Ripley (1890); Philip Zacanovsky (Philip Zec; 1909); Eric Hebden (1910); Don Melia (1953); Dylan Teague (1973)

Deaths:

William Kerridge Haselden (1953); Art Wetherell (2003); Suzanne Henriette Einzig (2009); Anthony J. Bryant (2013)

Notable Events:

Film and comic strip star Charlie Chaplin died in 1977.
The television short Statuesque, written and directed by Neil Gaiman, was broadcast by Sky in 2009.
The fourth Gorillaz studio album, The Fall, was released to members of their fan club in 2010.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Wildcat #9

11 Feb 1989 - 24 Feb 1989; Cover price 40p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
Fleetway Publications.

Edited by Barrie Tomlinson.

Cover by Vanyo (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 Kitten Magee UNTITLED [Aurora Eaten] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Jose Ortiz (uncredited).
 7 Hobos pin-up; illustrated painted by Jose Ortiz (uncredited).
 8 Joe Alien UNTITLED [The Giant Slug] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Ron Smith (signed).
11 Loner UNTITLED [Spider's Web] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: David Pugh (uncredited).
16 Joe Alien UNTITLED (cont.)
18 Time-Warp Data Link feature page (uncredited). / Robojoke UNTITLED ["Do you know where Martians go for a drink?"] (pocket cartoon) w:/a Damien Cowley. / Alien readers' art; Winged Scorpian by Scott Dawber, Dylom the Deadly by Julian Linsel, Eight-Eyed Tongue-Wart by James Lee, Three-Legged Menace by John Sims.
20 Turbo Jones UNTITLED [Escape from the Arglons] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
25 Chirpers w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Josep Gaul (uncredited).
31 Brainless Joe Alien! next issue information; illustrated by Ron Smith (uncredited).
32 The Weetabix Workout advertisement; a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Kitten decides the best way to save Doc and Cassandra is to frighten the monster with a show of force, though the combined weaponry put to use merely angers it into making an attack. Aurora converts her Snarler Gun to fire Flamer Shells, and while she manages to strike the creature with a direct hit the flames go out almost immediately - attempting to get closer, for another attempt, she is snatched up in the beast's mouth and swallowed. The others can see Aurora through the transparent skin, and can tell she is, for the moment, still alive, but have no means of rescuing her. Aurora's emergency limpet wire keeps her from dissolving in the digestive acids, but the beast begins ponding itself to dislodge its meal.

A bat which had been captured for later study breaks free of its net, and immediately begins attacking the beast, and soon manages to create enough of a distraction to knock the creature unconscious. Aurora is freed, and Hobos (watching from a safe distance) vows that the next trap he has planned will see the end of the team once and for all.

It really is a shame that the zero fatality rate of the strip is in place, which goes for all of the main characters, as having a named character succumb to the threats of the planet would sell the fact that it is, in fact, a dangerous place to be. Even a secondary character, such as Robo or Crud, would serve as a perfect example of how much of a threat the indigenous life on the planet is, if they were to be served up as a sacrificial lamb. While it is a clever rescue, and capably handled, it further undermines the notion that this is an extremely human-unfriendly locale.

And see-through skin? It was dumb in The Visible Man, and it is just as dumb here.

Ortiz's lovingly-detailed painting of a naked Hobos staring directly at the reader is one of the most disturbing images published by Fleetway Publications, made worse by his grin. I'm forced to concede that it is a very memorable image - for all the wrong reasons - and expertly crafted, but... Did anyone think, even for a passing moment, that this was what the title's readers wanted to pin up on their walls?

With rapidly-decreasing options, Joe Alien's team face imminent death at the hands of approaching trees, yet Joe's optimism is undaunted - and he has reason to be so sure of his survival when trees and plants start vanishing beneath the soil. An immense slug-type creature breaks through the surface, and Joe suspects, by its behaviour, that it wishes the team to follow it. Following it beneath the soil, Joe's brain-pack is accidentally dislodged.

Whatever else, this is a strip utterly unafraid of ridicule.

It must be noted, as the strips within the title are (increasingly loosely) connected, that after Loner and Turbo Jones, this is the third strip to venture into subterranean parts unknown, yet each of the strips has maintained an appearance and identity which is entirely unique. While I have no problem with the varied life upon the planet, that we have yet to see any creatures cross over from one strip to another is a slight visual cheat. It suggests something more than unique biomes across the surface - it, in effect, is a depiction of natural selection, and specialisation, to an unnatural degree.

Worms are found all over the surface of the planet earth. As are flies, and spiders, and beetles... To not encounter something in one location may be the result of a competing species, but to have an entire absence of anything seen in Loner or Kitten Magee is troubling. These stories all take place on one planet, with (presumably) common ancestors of each and every creature to be encountered, yet the diversity is greater than that of Earth. What is this planet's secret? Why are so many of the locations radically different from one another?

The troubling answer may lie in a passing acquaintance of Loner - The Bellari's arrival on the planet was supposedly an accident, and the Great Beast's existence there (while no other of its kind was, presumably, present) suggests that this might be a dumping ground for the most violent, unrepentant, recidivist criminals the galaxy has ever known. It would explain why it is the galactic version of Australia, with almost everything upon the surface, and beneath, posing a credible threat. Whatever life exists on the planet might have been placed there so as not to pose a problem for civilised planets.

It is a better explanation that "just because it is cool," after all...
Wilcat Update: An alien creature has caused Loner to be shrunk to mini-size. Chased by insects, he runs straight into a web!
Stuck fast, Loner anticipates his demise as an immense spider approaches, but the two-headed ants arrive en masse, and in the confusion of battle betwixt spider and ants he is able to pry himself free. Escaping, while the spider is devoured, Loner falls asleep in the comparative safety of a flower - until woken by a plant-eating creature which barely notices him. Finding a creature smaller than himself, Loner approaches it, only for the bug to attach itself to his throat.

Loner was a thrilling, menacing, and utterly enthralling strip while concerned with matters beneath the planet's surface, but now... it really could be a story that any number of characters could have been dropped into. There's no sense that this is a tale only Loner could be part of, and the generic dangers are all too familiar from any number of low-budget, straight-to-video films of the era. It is saddening that such a critical component of the title's appeal has been reduced to this.

The alien designs are, as can be expected, still sumptuous, yet this comes across as a strip which has lost its way. A shame.

From the Time-Warp Data Link!:
Wildcat is about a quarter of a mile long. Aboard, we have many different types of animals. Lots of cows, horses, sheep and other farm animals. As soon as we set up base on the New Planet, these animals will be transported down... as we want to get back to basic farming. In the 26th century, Earth eating habits were very sophisticated and we hardly knew what it was to have fresh food. We want to change all that! In total, there are about 2,000 animals and birds aboard.
This seems very... contained. While it is acceptable that there are some corners cut to appeal to younger readers, the hard number on Wildcat's size is very small, and although it appears large in illustrations, one has to remember that the engines would take up a lot of room. That doesn't seem to leave much space for the inhabitants and everything which would be needed for continued life away from Earth.

By comparison, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault holds more than 980,000 samples in its collection, and covers an area which is comparable to (or, indeed, larger than) Wildcat's volume. It has been estimated that there are over eight million species of animals alive upon the Earth right now, not accounting for those which have gone extinct, so even a vessel fifty miles long would be pushing credibility if it was required to transport all the species we would require to comfortably recreate humanity's current standard of living on a far flung planet.

My head hurts every time numbers are thrown at the reader, as believability suffers with every fresh revelation.

Turbo Jones agrees to assist the Arglon war effort, in a bid to prevent an attack on Wildcat. When he sees his chance, Turbo flees with Robo, who has secured his pterodactyl ready for an escape - which Turbo refuses to partake in, as Wildcat is in imminent danger. The Great Ark passes judgement, and declares that the Earth-man's ship be destroyed, and a ship is readied for the extermination mission.

Building nicely, the plot is beginning to throw open greater and greater questions about the technological level of the Arglon species (or culture, or... whatever), as not only do they have dinosaurs with which to ride around on, they also have spaceships. It is, by the looks of things, a very advanced ship, so the disparity in technology is even greater than if they merely intended to launch crude missiles at Wildcat.

Their behaviour also indicates my guess as to the planet's varied life-forms may be close to the truth.

I wonder what the Burroids did to land themselves there...

Tap, tap.
Tap.
Tap, tap, tap.

Chirpers is one of those stories - able to get inside your brain and ignite all manner of neuroses.
Computer log entry, Day 28. I can hear the infernal creatures tapping at the walls, trying to get in. Can't survive much longer. Got to make a run for the ammunitions store.

I won't make it.

I remember how all this horror began, just over a month ago, aboard Wildcat.
With none of the expeditions having communicated their findings back to Wildcat, they are presumed dead - a new team is put together to to land on the planet, and, hopefully, to discern what has become of the original teams. Taking a shuttle down, the leader of this new expedition sees an island overflowing with life, and lands in the hope of finding Loner or Turbo Jones. Attempting to report back to the ship on their progress, the radio interference becomes apparent. Making camp for the night, they encounter "Chirpers" above the tree-line - small birds which make an incessant noise. When birds of prey start killing the Chirpers the team is split in opinion on what to make of events.

Jepson decides to kill the birds of prey, and soon declares his mission a success. Over the next few weeks the Chirpers numbers increase dramatically, and soon swarms of them are present. Dolan is pecked to death by a swarm of Chirpers, stripping him to the bone in seconds. As Grucker sits in the relative safety of the camp, he writes up what has happened.
I have been in here five days now. Food ran out three days ago. Water ran out last night. When we arrived, one crew-member named this island Paradise because of its beauty. It has taken just one month to turn Paradise...

...Into Hell!
This is why I love the title. Where else would the main characters be assumed deceased by their subordinates, and have replacements ready? Star Trek is too entrenched to deal with a plot such as this, and as most other series want to be Trek, they won't take such a risk. It is a plot which, unfortunately, isn't backed up by the other strips failing to appear. Had each of the story threads elsewhere ended on a cliffhanger the issue before, and this issue dealt with reactions aboard Wildcat to their possible demise, then there could have been a great sense of loss created, but we know that the others have survived.

The reason for the communication blackout - due to a radiation storm centuries before - still doesn't make a lick of sense, which is especially annoying as there are a few good reasons why such equipment wouldn't operate, though as a handy hand-wave to excuse easy back-and-forth with scientific experts, or what passes for same, it isn't an awfully large leap to make.

Quality craftsmanship, an enthralling sense of its creative teams having fun, and a fantastic complete adventure, Wildcat is one of the great comics of the 1980s despite any flaws.

#08

Wildcat

#10

Batman Vol.3 #2

Sep 2012. Cover price £2.99.
76 pages. Full colour contents.
Titan Magazines.

Cover p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, c: Moose Baumann.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #01 (Nov 2011).

Contents:

 2 Justice League in-house advertisement
 3 Contents Page
 4 Batman pin-up. p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by Moose Baumann.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #03 (Jan 2012).
 5 Knightmoves w: Peter J. Tomasi; p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #03 (Jan 2012).
25 The Dark Knight Rises official movie novelization advertisement.
26 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #04 (Feb 2012).
27 Matter of Trust w: Peter J. Tomasi; p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #04 (Feb 2012).
37 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by Moose Baumann.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #03 (Jan 2012).
38 Batman pin-up; a: Jason Fabok, colouring by Peter Steigerwald.
r: variant cover from Batman (DC Comics) #08 (Jun 2012).
43 Subscribe
52 Missed an Issue? Back issues.
53 Batman pin-up; a: Greg Capullo, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: cover from Batman (DC Comics) #08 (Jun 2012).
54 Attack on Wayne Manor w: Scott Snyder; p: Greg Capullo, i: Jonathan Glapion, lettering by Richard Starkings, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #08 (Jun 2012).
74 Batman Letters readers' mail
75 Next Time! in-house advertisement.
76 Batman: The Dark Knight in-house advertisement.

Continuing on, without any discernible personality or style, this reprint title presents absolutely no incentives for readers interested in the character of Batman, resorting to relentlessly churning through DC's relaunched line with no commentary. hoping that its insipid strips will, somehow, achieve a degree of sense by virtue of so many appearing in one publication. It is folly to assume that volume equates to quality, which this does.

With this issue I'm beginning to really like Morgan. More than Batman, even - and I think everyone knows by now that I want to see the Joker snuff out Damian just like he did with Jason Todd. Maybe an entire issue dedicated to having him slowly boiled to death. The character isn't merely depicted as a brat, but as an entirely unbelievable collection of stock traits, gathered together without a balancing degree of humanity to offset the more ridiculous elements.

Damian's fundamental cartoonishness drags the stories down to such a degree that it is difficult to remember that there was a time when Batman routinely enoyed top-tier creators and stories.

While there are highlights to savor (Damian being drugged, a few beautiful pin-ups, and one of the dumbest speeches Batman has ever given), the rather silly dialogue given to Alfred is beginning to annoy me. The Owls storyline ramps up in fine style in comparison with a rather poor main feature, and the addition of a page for readers' letters finally gives the title a little more value. Not much, but it is a start.

#01

Batman Vol.3

#03

Future Tense #3

Britain's Newest Science Fiction Weekly!

19 Nov 1980; Cover price 14p.
32 pages. B&W contents.
Marvel Comics Ltd.

Edited by Paul Neary.

Free 'Build Your Own Spaceship' piece, part three, designed by Rahid Khan.

Cover p: UNKNOWN.
r: UNKNOWN.

Contents:

 2 Welcome to Issue Three (half page) text introduction by Paul Neary. / The Concise History of the Galaxy (half page) UNTITLED [Uncle Frank] w: Tim Quinn; a: Dicky Howett. / Indicia
 3 The Micronauts Divided They Fall w: Bill Mantlo; p: Pat Broderick, i: Armando Gil, lettering by John Costanza.
r: Micronauts (Marvel Comics) #19 (Jul 1980).
11 Meet the Micronauts, part two, Princess Mari... Marionette w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
12 Seeker 3000! The Dying Sun!, part three, w: Doug Moench; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Denise Wohl.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #41 (Apr 1978).
16 Marvel Back-Issue Bonanza! in-house advertisement.
18 Star-Lord Windhölme, part three, w: Chris Claremont; p: John Byrne, i: Terry Austin, lettering by Tom Orzechowski.
r: Marvel Preview (Marvel Comics) #11 (Summer 1977).
22 Paladin In Manhattan, They Play for Keeps, part thee, w: Don McGregor; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Gaspar Saladino & Bruce Patterson.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #43 (Aug 1978).
25 Contact! w:/a: Tom Sutton; lettering by Tom Sutton.
r: Son of Satan (Marvel Comics) #08 (Feb 1977).
27 Warlock And Men Shall Call Him... Warlock!, part three, w: Roy Thomas; p: Gil Kane, i: Dan Adkins, lettering by Sam Rosen.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #01 (Apr 1972).
32 Science Fantasy in Television, Cinema and Graphics in-house advertisement for Starburst.

Before you think that the quality has dipped so low as to negate any possibility of salvation, The Concise History of the Galaxy contains a classic moment of comedy, with more than a hint of 2001: A Space Odyssey being lampooned. While I may be alone in seeing a slight resemblance, the Captain Caveman styling present is greatly appreciated.

With the immensely original title of Divided They Fall, this issue's Micronauts tale strikes out in a bold new direction, with Bug being spooked by a dog's appearance, then engaging in dramatic battle with a chicken, before being capture by a bespectacled amateur scientist who refers to himself as "Odd John." Would anyone actually call themselves such a name? Strips this bad are rarely seen, so to see this in a Marvel title is plain embarrassing.

Star-Lord gets a sentient ship, called (in another startling leap of originality) "Ship". Honestly, why do I bother tormenting myself with possibilities that the quality of this title might rise to the level of... mediocre, perhaps. A lot of the strip's charm has evaporated as the story has progressed, though the appearance of reptilian aliens provide a brief jolt of excitement.

A highlight of the issue is Contact!, which - although the punch-line has been used time and time again - manages to raise a smile thanks to clever writing, some lively art, and a sense of the ridiculous which is entirely appropriate. Unfortunately, yet predictably, things return to normal with Warlock's mangling of science, in a speech so idiotic that even readers possessing no scientific knowledge whatsoever are likely to utter a sigh of despair at how moronic the notion is.

There is word of Star Trek strips forthcoming in the editorial, though I doubt even as tasty a promise as this is likely to have ensured readers' attention through so much of the poor material slapped together for this title. Had the Star Trek material been present since the start it might have held more immediate appeal, though I can't help thinking that the only way for the title to distinguish itself was to opt for original strips.

#02

Future Tense

#04

On This Day: 24 Dec

Births:

John Glashan (1927); Martin Baxendale (1952); Mark Millar (1969)

Character Births:

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward (2039)

Deaths:

Charles Hamilton (1961); Harold Mack (1975); Jordi Buxadé Tonijuan (1997); Vic Neill (1999); Gino D'Antonio (2006); Ken Langstaff (2008)

Notable Events:

Father Christmas broadcast on Channel 4 in 1991.
Famous Fred broadcast on Channel 4 in 1996.
Ivor the Invisible animated short released in the UK in 2001.
The Snowman and the Snowdog broadcast on Channel 4 in 2012.
Mistress of Line, a documentary on Lorna Miller, uploaded in 2015.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Wildcat #8

28 Jan 1989 - 10 Feb 1989; Cover price 40p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
Fleetway Publications.

Edited by Barrie Tomlinson.

Cover by Ron Smith (signed).

Contents:

 2 Turbo Jones UNTITLED [Robo - Traitor!] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
 7 Great Ark pin-up; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).
 8 Joe Alien UNTITLED [Caterpillar] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Ron Smith (signed).
11 Kitten Magee UNTITLED [Cave of Death] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Jose Ortiz (uncredited).
16 Joe Alien UNTITLED (cont.)
18 Time-Warp Data Link feature page (uncredited). / Robojoke UNTITLED ["Ever had the feeling you're being watched"] (pocket cartoon) w:/a James Neil. / Alien readers' art; Dworb by Mark Plastow, Robotic Forest Creature by Brian Peter Lisle, Grin by David Minish, Alien by Thomas Clancy.
20 Loner UNTITLED [Seringar Shape-Changer] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: David Pugh (uncredited).
25 In Space, Some Things Are More Important Than Others subscription coupon.
26 Gliz w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Joan Boix (signed).
31 What Has 10 Legs, 10 Eyes and a Big Appetite? next issue information; illustrated by David Pugh (uncredited).
32 The Weetabix Workout advertisement; a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Its cover is pure space opera, which - given the contents throughout the series thus far - is entirely appropriate.

Turbo refuses to assist the Arglon forces defeat the Burroids - told by the Council of Elders that their nation needs more land to survive, and that he has until the seventh moon (one day) to contemplate his fate, Turbo is taken to the sacrificial temple, where the Arglon gods will either change his mind or receive him in sacrifice. Robo awakens to discover his master missing, and is quickly captured by Burroid forces as a traitor. As the remnants of the Burroid forces face losing the city, evacuation procedures are put in place to protect the remainder of the inhabitants.

Robo's batteries register zero when a confession Burroids attempt to force a confession from him, and, technically dead, it is thought best to throw him onto a rubbish pile outside. Once free of his captors, Robo recharges with his reserve battery and journeys out. Overhearing reports of Turbo defecting to the Arglon side, Robo ventures to Arglon territory to learn the truth.

Although not explicitly referencing Lebensraum, the Arglon logic for its war, and the appearance of the Council of Elders, makes clear that this is, in essence, a reprise of World War II. Neither adequately developed nor consistent in tone, the strip fails to convince as military spectacle precisely because of the obvious elements which are dusted off and presented here with an SF twist. We aren't privy to the tactics, so must infer strategy behind maneouvers. Random damage? Nope, that's all part of some greater plan. Showing the intelligence behind what has appeared to be one desperate, last-ditch plan after another would have given the strip more authority.

Joe Alien arms his men with lasers to fend off against the encircling trees, and they begins a desperate run through the forest to freedom. Seeing a giant caterpillar under attack from the trees, Joe watches it get thrown around, though holding its own against the superior forces of the plants. Hitching a ride on its back, the team manage to make their way to the location of their shuttle, though find it has disappeared.

There is so little accomplished with the caterpillar that it is difficult to come up with a reason for its inclusion - aside from encouraging Eric Carle jokes, that is. Yet another oversized creature, in the manner of a cut-price Mighty Samson strip, points at the lack of care in establishing the rules of the planet. From Turbo to Loner, immense creatures have been a recurring element irrespective of where the presence doesn't make sense. Is this planet, perhaps, excluded from the square-cube law somehow?

It is also a shame that within three panels the small unit manages to run three miles, completely ignoring the terror which could have been ramped up had the journey back to the shuttle been presented - something which might have challenged The Evil Dead for achievements in making people afraid of foliage.
Unit leader Kitten Magee, robotic companion Crud and all female back-up team have met a seemingly friendly alien called Hobos. In reality, however, the massively fat being is an evil killer who means to cause the deaths of all the humans. After several failed attempts on their lives, Hobos has an idea how to guarantee their destruction...
Leading the women to a cave, they discover the remains of dozens of bones, the remains of victims of the beast which used to live there, aiding Doc in her survey of the planet's wildlife. She is captured by the alien still inhabiting the cave while the others are busy fetching firewood, and Cassandra is soon in its clutches - Kitten rushes back to assist her teammates, Crud leading their rescue mission. They finally discover it, after battling through a colony of bats, and are awed at its immensity.

Let down, somewhat, by a hint of the monster in the second panel, the strip nevertheless manages to maintain its style. Utilising horror movie techniques, Doc is snatched right behind an unaware Cassandra, although the following sequence makes it clear that the captured women were not immediately murdered. As for the monster, which has a see-through chest and stomach, I have to state that this is likely the single dumbest visual in the title's short history - it is almost an invitation for a clever opponent to deliver a fatal blow.

Loner sucks in fresh air, glad to be free of his subterranean nightmare, and discovers that communications with Wildcat are unavailable. Seeing a large sphere on the ground, he decides to get in some impromptu football practice. It turns out to be a gelatinous life-form, and he is soon encased within its mass while permitting him breath. It identifies itself as a Seringar Shape-Changer - shrinking Loner is reprisal for the unwarranted attack, it leaves him a fraction of his original size. As the blob departs, Loner is immediately attacked by two-headed ants.

Although he's hardly the most fleshed-out individual in the title, the kick comes as a surprising act which seems out of character. As a means of transitioning to the next story act it is a clumsy and awkward moment, more appropriate for a less mature character. The blob is a shameless appropriation of, naturally, the recently-released remake of The Blob, while shrinking Loner down is likely in reaction to pre-publicity for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Originality is in short supply here, though, as a means of spurring on the story, these inspirations are grafted into the existing world with panache, if not subtlety.

Gliz is a humanoid alien in possession of two tentacle-like protrusions on its chest. One would imagine this enables him to be more efficient than mere humans, though his clumsiness merely prompts insults and jokes from his co-workers. He tells Grenzel, his sole friend aboard Wildcat, that he is so clumsy because the others make him nervous. That night Grenzel's mother chastises him for consorting with an alien, telling him to stay away from Gliz. After more abuse at the hands of his human colleagues Gliz attempts to talk to Grenzel, but is rebuffed.

One of the pilots, Chadwick, has damaged his hands, and is unable to fly a mini-ship down to the far side of the planet's first moon, and it seems as if the mission will be cancelled until Gliz states that he is a qualified pilot. Things go well at first, with a perfect landing, but the expedition soon encounters hideous aliens who demand to know the identity of the group's pilot - vaporising the rest of the crew. They order Gliz to fly them to Wildcat, where they intend to kill the occupants. Faced with a desperate problem, Gliz has to find a way to protect Wildcat.

After everything else which has appeared, I shouldn't be so surprised to find myself typing the words "space pirates" here, but it still comes as a shock to see something so utterly unimaginative turn up. The notion of a completely disregarded character laying down their life for the benefit of the greater good, even though they do so without recognition, is one which has a fine history, but here the use is troublesome - is the technology aboard Wildcat so poor as not to have some indication of what is happening aboard their shuttles? Even if a real-time "black box" transmission is not in place, there is a more fundamental problem - this is the same moon upon which four crewmembers have already been lost.

Questions are being piled atop one another, as if the writers were playing Jenga with the plots, and - as much as I like the basic premise - it feels as if any attempt at a cohesive overriding plot has already been abandoned.

#07

Wildcat

#09

Batman Vol.3 #1

Aug 2012. Cover price £2.99.
76 pages. Full colour contents.
Titan Magazines.

Cover p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by Moose Baumann.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #01 (Nov 2011).

Contents:

 2 Star Wars Galaxy in-house advertisement
 3 Contents Page
 4 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by Moose Baumann.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #01 (Nov 2011).
 5 Born to Kill w: Peter J. Tomasi; p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #01 (Nov 2011).
25 Justice League in-house advertisement.
26 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #02 (Dec 2011).
27 Bad Blood w: Peter J. Tomasi; p: Patrick Gleason, i: Mick Gray, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #02 (Dec 2011).
37 Batman pin-up; a: Dustin Nguyen.
r: variant cover from Batman (DC Comics) #07 (May 2012).
38 Batman pin-up; p: PAT (Patrick Gleason), i: Mick Gray, colouring by John Kalisz.
r: cover from Batman and Robin (DC Comics) #02 (Dec 2011).
43 Batman: The World of the Dark Knight competition.
52 Subscribe
53 Batman a: Greg Capullo, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: cover from Batman (DC Comics) #07 (May 2012).
54 Previously - Batman Vs. The Court of Owls recap.
55 The Talons Strike! w: Scott Snyder. p: Greg Capullo, i: Jonathan Glapion, lettering by Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt, colouring by FCO Plascencia.
r: Batman (DC Comics) #07 (May 2012).
75 Next Time! in-house advertisement.
76 Batman: The Dark Knight in-house advertisement.

For a first issue, this is incredibly poor. Aside from the lack of profile pages (as the London Editions Magazines launch had), this also neglects to explain anything about the New 52 status quo, for those expecting material published prior to DC's perfect jumping-off point. A complete lack of text signifying that there are major differences in the background to the title is frustrating, and promotes the sense of this comic being little more than a chore for Titan, when it really ought to be a celebration of a long-lived character.

The primary villain encountered in the first story, for instance, isn't even named in the comic until over halfway through the issue, which is compounded by the problem of an entirely different storyline making up the final third of the issue. With the Joker or the Riddler, enough exposure across various media negates the necessity to tag the character for reader identification, but second-rate villains should always be named as early in the script as possible to prevent frustration. These lapses point to a sloppiness and disregard for the reader that is, in this day and age, completely unacceptable.

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.
                     Rudyard Kipling.
What is the diabolical plan Batman must overcome? Why is the villain undertaking such a plan? When, importantly, is this story set, in relation to material which the reader has possibly encountered? How does it fit in with the stories previously published, and how have we gotten to the point where the story picks up? Where, thankfully, is covered well, establishing Gotham as central to the continuing narrative. Who are these characters?

An abysmal entry-point for new readers, who should have been provided with a far cleaner and less convoluted tale.

There are a few positives here - notably the clean presentation of the covers as pin-ups - though the mish-mash of contents, and the unfortunate continuation of Damian Wayne's presence, mean that this is a chore to read rather than a piece of entertainment.

Batman Vol.3

#02

Future Tense #2

SF from Here to Eternity!

12 Nov 1980; Cover price 14p.
32 pages. B&W contents.
Marvel Comics Ltd.

Edited by Paul Neary.

Free 'Build Your Own Spaceship'.

Cover p: Dave Cockrum, i: Joe Sinnott.
r: recoloured cover from Marvel Premiere (Marvel) #41 (Apr 1978).

Contents:

 2 Future Tense ...Second Great Issue! (half page) text introduction by Paul Neary. / The Concise History of the Galaxy (half page) UNTITLED [Heavy Sunspots] w: Tim Quinn; a: Dicky Howett. / Indicia
 3 The Micronauts Child Eyes!, part two, w: Bill Mantlo; p: Howard Chaykin, i: Al Milgrom, lettering by Irving Watanabe.
r: Micronauts (Marvel Comics) #18 (Jun 1980).
12 Meet the Micronauts UNTITLED, part one, w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
13 Warlock And Men Shall Call Him... Warlock!, part two, w: Roy Thomas; p: Gil Kane, i: Dan Adkins, lettering by Sam Rosen.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #01 (Apr 1972).
17 Seeker 3000! The Dying Sun!, part two, w: Doug Moench; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Denise Wohl.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #41 (Apr 1978).
21 Paladin In Manhattan, They Play for Keeps, part two, w: Don McGregor; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Gaspar Saladino & Bruce Patterson.
r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #43 (Aug 1978).
26 Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in-house advertisement for Star Wars Weekly.
27 Star-Lord Windhölme, part two, w: Chris Claremont; p: John Byrne, i: Terry Austin, lettering by Tom Orzechowski.
r: Marvel Preview (Marvel Comics) #11 (Summer 1977).
32 Science Fantasy in Television, Cinema and Graphics in-house advertisement for Starburst.

This may be one of the most unappealing covers to appear on a Marvel title, with the crew of Seeker 3000 rendered as plant people, or really bad Green Lantern cosplayers. The interior is, mercifully, black and white, so further artistic desecration is limited to the truncation of the strips rather than rendering them entirely unappealing through ham-fisted colouring.

The Concise History of the Galaxy isn't quite as funny (yet) as other Quinn and Howett strips, though I'm holding out hope that it improves. As it is the sole beacon of originality within the pages of Future Tense, and with the remainder of the contents struggling for definition and differentiation in the issue, it is a strip which really should be more energetic.
The Microship Endeavour has escaped from the Microverse and has landed on an unknown planet! They see amongst the giant vegetation, a house which they recognise to be in the style of a dwelling from planet Earth... But it is much too small! Two of the Micronauts - Space Glider and Marionette - approach the curious structure from the air...
If, like most intelligent readers, you will have guessed that Marionette and Arcturus are looking at a doll's house, then you are smarter than any of the characters in this story. The sole concession to some semblance of originality are models capable of movement, though as the notion of living toys dates back to the myth and legend we shouldn't rush to congratulate the script - the creepy girl, whose powers animated the toys, is not necessarily a villain in events, but merely a child wishing to play.

To have such an unusual cast of characters, with the unique selling point of being the same size as their action figures (on sale in all good toy shops, circa 1980), but delivering such a predictable tale with them, makes this is massive disappointment. The wasteful tale is mercifully wrapped up quickly, and followed by a single-page introduction to the characters. It is a feature which really ought to have appeared before the strip in the first issue, and is utterly useless here.

Warlock really is an abysmal story with which to tease in an SF audience, with its recap highlighting everything which is wrong with the strip:
The High Evolutionary has in the past created a race of animal-men who revolted, and nearly destroyed him! He now lives in a hollow asteroid spaceship with his companion animal-man Sir Raam! Raam has summoned his master to examine a strange cocoon found floating in space...
Why is the High Evolutionary in space? More pertinently, how did he get there?

Actually, I don't care. The awful writing and mediocre art can hardly encourage empathy with any of the characters.

Seeker 3000 continues to plunder Star Trek for everything not nailed down, is one of the most shameless comic strips in Marvel's retinue. The idea of telepaths being marked so that they are easily identified is a brief moment of sense in what is largely a forgettable story.

Paladin boasts some impressive cityscapes, though is mostly a rehash of better material, while Star-Lord stands as the sole strip which does something interesting with its main character - until, that is, it turns into a superhero strip more suited to The Mighty World of Marvel than an SF title. The plot nudges the story into becomming one of the most disappointing strips of the issue, and, given the undistinguished strips which it shares space with, must be seen as quite the accomplishment.

#01

Future Tense

#03

On This Day: 23 Dec

The Steel Claw: The Vanishing Man by Ken Bulmer & Jesús Blasco. (Titan Books Ltd.; 2005)

First Appearances:

Roback's Raiders in Warlord (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.) #379 (26 Oct 1981).

Births:

Francesc Masip (1941)

Deaths:

José Ortiz (2013)

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Wildcat #7

14 Jan 1989 - 27 Jan 1989; Cover price 40p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
Fleetway Publications.

Edited by Barrie Tomlinson.

Cover by David Pugh (signed).

Contents:

 2 Kitten Magee UNTITLED [The Other Path] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Jose Ortiz (uncredited).
 7 Crud pin-up; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).
 8 Joe Alien UNTITLED [Death of the Gardener] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Ron Smith (signed).
11 Loner UNTITLED [Loner's Ascent] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: David Pugh (uncredited).
16 Joe Alien UNTITLED (cont.)
18 Time-Warp Data Link feature page (uncredited). / Robojoke UNTITLED ["A man walked into a bar"] (pocket cartoon) w:/a Gideon Dewhirst. / Alien readers' art; Fangs by Neil McCambridge, Alien by Jim McNamara, Blaster by Matthew John Pullen.
20 Turbo Jones UNTITLED [Hijacked Terrosauron] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
25 A Perfect Crime w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).
31 Another Monster Issue! next issue information; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).
32 The Weetabix Workout advertisement; a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Mixing up the running order of strips to highlight a particularly good story in an interesting attempt at keeping the title fresh, this merely staves off the feeling of over-familiarity with what is happening in Turbo Jones. Not that the invasion of a city by enemy forces isn't an interesting subject, but its handling has been a mix of overly-elaborate melodrama (the attack from below) and mundane inanity (the raising of a wall), rather than a character study showing the stress of maintaining order in a besieged location, while simultaneously commanding military forces to appropriate defensive positions.

But it is Kitten who leads off this issue, so it is only right her story be tackled first.

Following Hobos, the women of Kitten's team (and Crud) are told that the path ahead of them is infested with savage creatures, so the alien leads them along a 'safer' track instead. Kitten questions the safety of the route as the ground becomes more swampy underfoot, and is reassured that it is the safest way to their destination - in what feels like an earthquake, an immense form raises itself from the sand. Hobos identifies it as a Zicker Beast, a murderous meat-eater with a massive appetite. The women fire all of their weapons at it, though this only results in the beast being angered.

Kitten manages to trick it into chopping off its own mini-head, after which it retreats back into its lair. Doc is about to take some blood and tissue samples for her research into her study of the planet's wildlife when it proves to be not quite as dead as it appears. Kitten kicks it aside, and as the beast resurfaces she fires its own mini-head into its mouth.

A story rife with symbolism. From the top: A group of women are led (literally) down the wrong path by a duplicitous male and placed into harms way, whereupon they are attacked by a monster, which only the strongest female of the group is able to (symbolically) castrate. Then she feeds the monster its own... Well, mini-head. As his plan hasn't worked, the male figure then leads the women towards a cave. This script cannot have been written without some notion of how it would be perceived.

There's probably two or three layers of subtext to this, all the while following the Fleetway Adventure Story Rulebook. Reading this story now, it is impossible to ignore the similarity in theme (if not specifics) to the scene in which Hannibal Chau in eaten in Pacific Rim, and although what we are given works, it reinforces the notion - after so many near-misses - that these characters are decidedly not in danger. Kitten's team is protected by seriously strong plot armour.

If I don't believe that characters will be killed off for shock value, the tension decreases dramatically. No character should be sacrosanct.

Crud's pin-up shows that a degree of thought went into its design, yet the overall impression is of a poor mans Tik-Tok. The clasps on its chest even match the positions of the bolts on Tik-Tok, though I do like the detailing on its waist.

Joe Alien manages to reach out to the trooper who has been knocked into the water, and drags him to safety - with a carnivorous plant attached to his leg. The former astronaut tells Joe that he has ordered that the group face the supreme court of the trees to determine if they are guilty of crimes against the plants. The vote is split, with the deciding vote coming from the Gardener, who spares them - but first inspects Joe's external brain pack. A trooper grabs Joe's brain back, in the process pushing the old man over and accidentally killing him.

I had hoped - somewhat optimistically - that there would be more to the Gardener's story, though such revelations are now moot. There's every indication that the strip is heading for a tedious reprise of Anabasis, with the characters battling their way through a hostile landscape back to safety, which is slightly depressing given how much there remains to uncover regarding the trees. We still haven't had a reasonable answer as to the plant life ability to control rocks, which is a massive tool in their arsenal.

Discovering the Beast spits acid, Loner quickly goes on the attack, driving it back until it falls over a cliff, impaling itself on stalagmites. Having accomplished his mission, Loner returns to the weapons room, guided by the Fuzzballs, where he learns that he must wear a bio-organic headband when facing the Bellari - a device which will prevent the lizard from attacking him telepathically. Freed from any influence, he is able to dispatch it with ease. Loner returns once more to the weapons room to place the firearms back in their rightful place, and learns from the Fuzzballs that the headband will prevent mind control hereafter.

Also, it will translate all alien tongues into his own language, but has also been embedded into his brain, and can never been removed. For every silver lining...

The art is still top notch, yet the story has a rushed feeling, concluding all matters beneath the surface in double-quick time so that Loner can return to the surface with his new abilities. The Bellari, so fascinating and formidable an opponent upon his introduction, is given the briefest of scenes in which to be destroyed. It is entirely too quick an installment, lacking proper gravitas required to sell Loner's journey as having been so difficult.

It also conforms entirely too closely with the Journey to the Underworld myth cycles, having descended into Hell to defeat a great enemy before returning, changed. Unlike the majority of those stories, Loner doesn't lose anything of significance in his passage through the depths - there isn't a sense that he is, in some ways, poorer for the experience.

A two-man pterodactyl is sent to plant a control box on Turbo's Terrosauron, in a last-ditch attempt to turn the war in the Arglon's favour. They succeed, and Turbo finds he no longer has control of his mount, as it begins attacking Burroid forces - considered a traitor, Burroids are ordered to bring turbo to the Supreme Monarch. The Terrosauron, meanwhile, transports Turbo to an Arglon outpost.

There isn't much in the way of subtlety on display, with one scene of destruction after another. Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay have so thoroughly covered every manner of explosive, earth-shattering scenario that this strip suffers in comparison to what is expected from this type of broad-strokes science fiction. Although I do wish the Arglons weren't using something so mundane as pterodactyls...

Before I hone in on A Perfect Crime, I have to make an admission:

I'm not a fan of Columbo. While its basic premise is sound, the main attractions of a murder mystery (for me, at any rate) isn't seeing how the pieces fall into place for the investigator. I don't want to be privy to the details of the murder until relatively late in the narrative, preferring the dual questions which drive the engine of the story - "How was the person murdered?" and "Why were they murdered?" If, during the story, the possibility is raised that the accused might be innocent, then all the better.

In the case of A Perfect Crime, we are treated to the murder, and the rationale behind it, straight from the beginning.

Fears regarding a strange mould growth being able to eat through the ship's metal sees two men sent out onto the hull to investigate, and finding nothing in the space fungi to be concerned about, the Captain decides it is in their best interest to merely scrape it off. Joe Stefano sees the opportunity to get rid of his superior officer, in order to obtain for himself a promotion, and sends the man drifting into space. As he floats off, the Captain tells Stefano that in the event of his death Roderick Serling will be promoted to the position.

When a derelict alien craft is piced up on the Wildcat scanners, Stefano and Serling are assigned to investigate to see if anything can be salvaged or learned from the vessel. Stefano seizes this as the perfect way to get rid of his competition - after shooting Serling, Stefano contacts Wildcat to inform them that the crew of the ship perished due to an alien disease, and Serling is seriously ill, though he remains unaffected. After waiting an appropriate length of time, he reports in that Serling is worsening, the medicines he has administered having had no effect. He then dispenses with Serling's body into space.
"Stefano calling Wildcat at 1900 hours! Serling has died of the alien disease. He made a last request before dyin'... His body became so grotesque he wanted it ejected into space after his death... Then none of his family would ever see him in that state! I carried out his wish...

Can't do anythin' else here, so I'll return to Wildcat..."
His request to return is denied, with Wildcat authorities concerned that he might be carrying the disease himself - however small the risk, he can't be allowed back on board if he poses any risk to the lives of those aboard the ship. Food and other provisions are arranged to be shipped over to Stefano, and he is informed that if he attempts to return he will be destroyed. Thus exiled, he will have to remain on the alien ship for the rest of his life.

Tales of the Unexpected this isn't. A twist that is obvious as soon as the words "alien disease" are uttered, this is a complete waste of what is actually a rather neat scene. By cutting the tether to allow the Captain to disappear off to his doom Stefano had committed the perfect murder, and if the story had followed the investigation, revealing what actually happened at its conclusion, the drama would be so much more fulfilling. As it is... the story is okay. It is a perfectly adequate strip, with little to draw it out from the morass of similar strips - hardly to the quality of even an average Future Shocks strip.

In structure, the strip resembles nothing less than the episode Final Escape, from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, with every step Stefano takes bringing him closer and closer to his awful fate. It is a story type which is almost tailor-made for comics, though the handling of the twist is, unfortunately, so poorly handled that it fails to capture anything in the way of rising tension.

#06

Wildcat

#08

Aliens Vol.1 #8

Sep 1991. Cover price £1.50.
52 pages. Colour & B&W.
Trident Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Martin Skidmore.

Cover by Denis Beauvaus.
r: UNKNOWN.

Free poster; illustrated by Dave Dorman (signed).
r: Aliens Vs Predator (Dark Horse)

Contents:

 2 Contents / Title Credits / Indicia

 3 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).
 4 Aliens Earth War, part two, w: Mark Verheiden; a: Sam Keith, lettering by Pat Brosseau, colouring by Monika Livingstone.
r: Aliens: Earth War (Dark Horse) #01 (Jun 1990).
15 Humanity's Last Hope Has Returned in 1991 in a Last Ditch Attempt to Save Their Future in-house advertisement for The Terminator Vol.1 #02; illustrated by Chris Warner.
16 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).
17 Predator Big Game, part one, w: John Arcudi; p: Evan Dorkin, i: Armando Gil, lettering by Kurt Hathaway, colouring by Julia Lacquement.
r: Predator: Big Game (Dark Horse) #01 (Mar 1991).
32 Aliens in-house advertisement for graphic novels and t-shirts.
33 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).
34 Aliens Vs Predator Untitled, part eight, w: Randy Stradley; p: Phil Norwood, i: Karl Story, lettering by Pat Brosseau, colouring by Monika Livingston.
r: Aliens Vs Predator (Dark Horse) #01 (Jun 1990).
49 Model Kits in-house advertisement.
50 Next Issue! (half page) / Subscriptions (half page)
51 Terminator T-Shirt Offer in-house advertisement.
52 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis in-house advertisement.

While the grey semi-border makes the cover appear slightly drab, and the title of the comic difficult to easily discern at first glance, the image of the Predator is superb. It is an extremely powerful and immediate image, an effortlessly encourages speculation on the contents. The boast of a poster is, for some reason, in a rather stark white jagged balloon rather than being coloured, lessening the overall effect of its news, and the positioning is awkward in the extreme. Poor layout consideration also applies to the Predator side-box, which uses poorly-cropped art featuring lettering.

I don't expect perfection, merely adequate presentation. The amount of times I have had to stop and look closer at something in a Trident title to see what is going on is unbelievable. Time after time the look is spoiled by some minor, easily-fixable element, and the end product suffers from appearing so (dare I say it) amateurish. To have made this cover far more impressive would have taken ten minutes of light editing.

Earth War continues in stylish fashion, and footage from Earth serves to remind Newt of her childhood is a slightly heavy-handed manner, though is none the poorer for the echo. Keith's artwork ranges from extremely stylised to very real in rapid pace, and although there is definitely a 'look' to the series, I wish he had been more experimental with the layout, pushing the nightmarish elements to the forefront - this is, after all, the end of humanity we are witnessing, and yet there isn't an overriding sense of the futility of defence against the aliens.

A far better Terminator advert, sans low-resolution artwork, manages to make the series (finally) look appealing. Unfortunately it is another B&W ad, which calls into question just what was going on at Trident. Were the colour plates not available, or was this merely a theme the publisher was extending through all their promotions?
Most of Cibola County in New Mexico still looks like a Frederic Remington landscape.

The terrain is wide open and rugged, with very few people around to spoil the view.

Occasionally, however, there are things that disrupt the serene community.

Grants Airport is not too far north from here, so overhead traffic is not uncommon.

Frightened though they are, the locals venture out into the open after only a few minutes -

- and within the hour, things are have returned to normal.

That is, as normal as things will ever be again.
Predator: Big Game can be looked at as a compendium of settings dragged from blockbuster movies: the army base, the small-town diner, vast empty landscapes, all threatened by the arrival of The Outsider. In stories The Outsider is a position taken by invading armies, various kinds of aliens, technological monstrosities, relentless serial killers, or any other force which upsets the regular existence of a populace. Having already established the modus operandi of the Predator, no long introduction is required to explain back-story, getting straight to the drive of the story.

If you think disassembling the story in this manner is a simplification of what is presented, don't worry - this is, against a background of similarly-themed stories, a perfect little machine which ticks along with elegance. It is the Bugatti of story engines, which is why Arcudi's use of it here, with a wonderfully light touch, is so appreciated. While accusations of a generic feel might be warranted in places, he sets up events in such a precise manner that not even the most cynical of readers will fail to appreciate how much craft there is in the telling.

Turned down for a three-day pass, Enoch Nakai goes on anti-aircraft duty with his unit in the wilds of New Mexico.
The many smells of the prairie are like words to Enoch Nakai. Each smell has its own meaning.

As the fragrance of loam means fertile soil, and the scent of a hare means food -

An unfamiliar smell almost always means danger.
Stopping the tank upon which he is travelling, Enoch points to a tree which he claims is host to something unfamiliar. Investigating, his colleague is immediately killed by the hidden Predator, and only Enoch's fast reflexes save his skin. Running for assistance he encounters a passing jeep, which takes him to Sergeant Coates and Colonel Athelry, who are in command of transporting the alien ship away from its landing point, and he informs them of the occupant's actions.

Stock story elements are not a bad thing. Using familiar storytelling techniques draws the reader in to a tale of a rogue Predator hunting a military unit down one by one, and the art - using enough recognisable detail to sell the realism of the location - is able to convincingly locate the story in a time and place. I really do love this story, and, although there are pieces of its story which feel slightly out of position due to the truncated reprint format, it works magnificently.

Machiko flees as the Predator and aliens go after one another, and manages to get back to the secured area to warn the others.

#07

Aliens Vol.1

#09