Total Carnage #1

Apr 1993. Cover price £1.50.
48 pages. Color & B&W.
Dark Horse Comics International

Comics With Attitude!

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by Simon Bisley.
r: cover from Grendel: War Child (Dark Horse) #01 (Aug 1992).

Free cover-mounted rub-on tattoo.

Contents:

.2 Contents Page / Indicia

.3 Batman Vs Predator w: Dave Gibbons; p: Andy Kubert, i: Adam Kubert, lettering by Adam Kubert, colouring by Sherilyn van Valkenburgh.

r: Batman Versus Predator (DC / Dark Horse) #01 (Dec 1991).

17 Action Stations text features by Dave Hughes.

19 The Evil Dead Army of Darkness w: John Bolton (uncredited), from the screenplay by Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi. a: John Bolton; lettering by John Costanza.

r: Army of Darkness (Dark Horse) #01 (Nov 1992).

25 The Mask Who's Laughing Now? w: John Arcudi; a: Doug Mahnke, lettering by Pat Brosseau.

r: Mayhem (Dark Horse) #01 (May 1989).

31 Seagal Has Landed! text feature by Dave Hughes.
32 Everybody's Kung-Fu Fighting text feature by Dave Hughes.

33 Grendel War Child [chapter 41] w: Matt Wagner; p: Patrick McEown, i: Matt Wagner, lettering by Kurt Hathaway, colouring by Bernie Mireault.

r: Grendel: War Child (Dark Horse) #01 (Aug 1992).

47 Subscribe - Comics For The '90s

48 The Galaxy's Greatest Heroes Return in Classic Star Wars in-house advertisement.

A rub-on tattoo is a rather juvenile gift for a mature readers title to bear. If it had a voucher for a free tattoo - at selected tattoo parlours - then the tone of Total Carnage might feel more solid, but I'm reminded too greatly of gifts given with Buster or The Dandy. Boasting a rather remarkable Simon Bisley Grendel cover is a massive step towards the title redeeming itself, and my confidence is further boosted by a very handsome contents page.

Batman Versus Predator begins with a championship fight between "Bull" Bersaglio and Marcus King. One viewer, enjoying a beer at home, is drawn outdoors by a noise from his dog and murdered. Alex Yeager, a criminal Bruce has managed to get close to through his business dealings, invites him to a victory celebration. Marcus King, the Heavyweight Champion, is disturbed when relaxing with his lover, and a monstrous figure easily dispatches the boxer.

Quickly removing himself from the event, Bruce rushes to the Plaza Hotel. Learning that two guards were killed, and King violently murdered, Batman pays a visit to Bersaglio in order to determine if the act was reprisal for his humiliating defeat in the ring. Batman is being watched throughout his investigation, though he doesn't know it yet.

This should have been better than it turned out, given who is involved. Detailed and interesting linework, some unusual layout choices, and compelling characters... all let down by too-dark printing, with the lower half of page 11 being incredibly difficult to read. It doesn't help that so much of the story is coloured in browns and blues, which make this strip a very unpleasant reading experience.

Dave Hughes' Action Station film feature makes much mockery of Lethal Weapon, and - showing how long ago this appeared - mentions the Corman Fantastic Four film as being in production. We all know how it turned out - yet, somehow, still manages to be more entertaining than Josh Trank's attempt. If only the font had been smaller, or more space made available, then the film news might have been worth including, but it doesn't dig deep enough to be more than moderately interesting.

The Evil Dead franchise has appeared in comic strip form before (in Samhain), and had enough of a following to make it worthwhile reprinting, but once again the printing doesn't do justice to material at hand. Once we get past the recap of events leading to Ash being stuck in 1300, the long march in captivity is recounted. It really isn't worth including this in such small chunks, as there is no way to get dragged into the story when it doesn't even get to a big scene in its alloted page-count. Despite all that, it is much better than the previous story, and John Bolton should be applauded for faithfully capturing the likeness of Bruce Campbell.

The Mask is an odd choice for inclusion, although here the big moment in the progression of the story is allowed to occur before being shortened. We get to see the titular character, though not his personality or behaviour. It is a frustrating tactic on the part of Dark Horse to present this material in bite-size installments. Who's Laughing Now? is, however, the real treat in this issue, with a final-panel payoff which acts as an origin (of sorts) for The Mask and an enticement to pick up the next issue.

We also get a Steven Seagal feature, for anyone interested. Not being a fan of The Seagull (save for his appearance in Executive Decision), it isn't long enough to convince me of his "talents," nor irreverent enough to make me smile.

Grendel is a fascinating series, and it is great to see the character getting some exposure. The opening installment of War Child here is more than enough proof that the character can stand alongside the more established characters as an example of top notch entertainment. It might, perhaps, have benefited from a text introduction to set readers up for the story, laying out the history and main players.