Total Carnage #2

May 1993. Cover price £1.50.
48 pages. Colour & B&W.
Dark Horse International

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by John Bolton.
r: Army of Darkness (Dark Horse) #01 (Nov 1992)

Contents:

 2 Forbidden Planet advertisement.

 3 Total Carnage contents. / Indicia

 4 Batman Vs Predator, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; painting by Arthur Suydam.

r: cover from Batman Versus Predator (DC / Dark Horse) #03 (Feb 1992).

 5 Batman Vs Predator, part two, 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).

15 Action Stations text feature by Dave Hughes.

17 Army of Darkness, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; painting by John Bolton.

18 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).

26 Raimi Knights text feature by Seamus A. Ryan.

28 Mask, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; illustration by Doug Mahnke.

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

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

35 Killing Games text feature by Dave Hughes.

36 Grendel, part two, What Has Gone Before recap; illustration by Patrick McEown & Matt Wagner.

37 Grendel War Child [chapter] 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 in-house advertisement.

48 Timeless Terror from Dark Horse in-house advertisement for Dracula #06.

A John Bolton cover can improve any title. Inside, Batman Vs Predator improves, with clearer reproduction assisting the story, though there are still spots where the darkness of the strip causes problems. Some oddities in colouring, with the oval logo on Batman's chest briefly appearing red, is exactly the kind of minor annoyance which can jolt me out of the story, but isn't enough to spoil the mood which has been building - the final-panel appearance of the Predator is a great way to conclude.

Dave Hughes' Action Station covers National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 rather positively, and there's a reference to Isobar as well, for those who like tormenting themselves with the prospect of one day actually seeing the film. Point Break snags the first Video of the Month title, with James Cameron's aborted Spider-Man adaptation getting passing mention - it is almost as if the feature existed for the sole purpose of teasing people with films which were never made.

The quote - in boxout - from Columbia TriStar president J. Edward Shugrue made me smile, and justifies the existence of the feature by itself. Comedy gold.

Army of Darkness finally gets moving, with Ash getting his hand on his chainsaw - then using it to great effect. Maintaining Bruce Campbell's likeness remarkably well, the artwork throughout is fantastic, and easily better than the official film poster - as pointed out in the following article... Seamus A. Ryan covers the evolution of the Evil Dead series from its 16mm origins through to Army of Darkness' release, though the breakneck pace of the article sips over much of the juicy detail.

The Mask, suffering the worst case of Witzelsucht ever seen, is a joy. There's more violence in the handful of pages here than in the rest of the issue combined, yet the underlying humour ought to be able to override any objections. Hughes' second feature, on the relative merits of the Batman Returns versus Predator 2 games, is little more than a free plug for the Predator game, and lacks even rudimentary side-by-side analysis.

Grendel suffers the most from being chopped into segments, and there's not a great deal of progression from where it left off in the first issue. It is slightly mystifying that use wasn't made of the shorter material which ran in Dark Horse Presents, which would have fitted the format perfectly, and which (for the most part) were filled with solid storytelling and great art.

#01

Total Carnage

#03