Strip #2

...The Comic Grows Up!

03 Mar 1990. Cover price 95p.
40 pages. Colour contents.
Marvel Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Dan Abnett.

Cover by Don Lawrence.

Free pull-out Marshal Law poster.
r: Cover from Strip #01

Contents:

 2 Marvel Graphic Novels in-house advertisement.

 3 Contents illustration by Don Lawrence. / Indicia

 4 Marshal Law Stars and Strippers part two, w: Pat Mills; a: Kevin O'Neill, lettering by Phil Felix.

18 The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad part two, w: Alan Grant & John Wagner; a: Ian Gibson, lettering by Bambos Georgiou.

20 Storm The Pirates of Pandarve title page; illustration by Don Lawrence. / Credits

21 Storm The Pirates of Pandarve w: Martin Lodewuk; a: Don Lawrence, lettering by Helen Stone.

29 Davros Says Don't Buy It. (half page) in-house advertisement for Doctor Who Magazine. / Subscribe! (half page)

30 Before Excalibur There Was... Captain Britain in-house advertisement for Captain Britain trade paperback.

31 The Man from Cancer, part two, w: Glenn Dakin; a: Phil Elliott, lettering by Phil Elliott, colouring by Euan Peters.

39 Next Issue illustrations by Gary Erskine & Kevin O'Neill.

40 Get Doctor Who Magazine Now in-house advertisement.

A hefty second issue, thanks to the large poster bound in its centre pages, and with a fabulous Don Lawrence cover, there is much to be excited about in this issue. While there isn't an introduction, this issue's contents page displays how to present the material properly - where other titles often merely list the strips with a page number, there is enough information about what is happening in the strips to inform readers of what to expect. It is only by going back and forth through the series looking for specific stories that this becomes noticeable, and it is a detail which is appreciated.

At the bottom of the page is a rather nice note regarding the fold-out poster contained in the middle of the issue. As if the poster could possibly be missed... Gloriously large, it is the perfect free gift with which to showcase the character, relishing in Marshal Law's madness.

In Marshal Law it is possible to see Pat Mills' thoughts about the medium's most persistent hybrid-genre given life. Augmented by Kevin O'Neill's art, which continues to resist any pigeon-holing. Battling a group of former superheroes, Marshal Law in overpowered, his weapon taken from him in the fight, and his hunt for the killer known as Sleepman seems no closer than before. There are more details filling in the history of the war, with some telling details sprinkled through extensive text boxes. While I'm not particularly fond of this method of storytelling, it is an effective use of space.

From the Panama Canal Zone to the Amazon Jungle, it was known simply as "The Zone."

The war, as described, certainly sounds as it it sprawled over an impressive area, and given the abilities of those involved must have been more brutal than any conflict up to that point. While immense battles featuring numerous superheroes had, by the early nineties, already developed something of a reputation, this is unlike many depictions from the other side of the Atlantic.

Far more chilling, and a counterpoint to generally-bloodless superhero romps from the Big Two, is an account of an earthquake:

The official explanation for The Big One - the megaquake that took out San Francisco - was the Jupiter effect - the tidal pull of the planets on the San Andreas fault.

60,000 buildings were destroyed and 8 square miles of the city. The quake measured 9 on the Richter Scale, hitting the city with a force 300,000 times that of the Hiroshima bomb.

The tidal wave that followed hurled ships inland, leaving the U.S. aircraft carrier John Paul Jones straddling the freeways, then came the fire... and the death cloud from Diablo Canyon nuclear plant...

You couldn't measure the human misery...

The Chronicles of Ghengis Grimtoad continues to pose storytelling problems by introducing yet more characters, while refusing to propel the narrative forward more than absolutely necessary.

And the door of the great hall did open and the ladies of the court did avert their eyes. For therein towered the awesome figure of Quanah-

He, of the painted tribes of Torbeck - savages, untamed men who lived and died by the blade!

And who, unfortunately, appears to be made of pink bubblegum.

While the character designs are impressive (Ian Gibson is on top form here), at two pages of story every two weeks, this isn't going anywhere fast. There's a difference between developing back-story and showing one's work, and this feels (rightly or wrongly) as if it is a discarded Dungeons & Dragons proposal, dusted off and changed just enough so that nobody is going to raise an objection. I want to like this, as there are minor glimmers of what could be a rattlingly good story, but it is so slight in this form as to discourage interest.

The universe is infinitely more vast than the human mind can ever comprehend. Merely writing the light-years that separate Earth from the planet Pandarve would take a lifetime... But no matter how vast the distance may be, it is not unbridgeable...

...and it is Marduk, the theocrat of Pandarve, who intends to span the distance between his planet and Earth...

Affixing the Egg of Pandarve in place, a beam is shot across the galaxy to the planet Earth, millions of years in the future.

The tissue of space and time is disturbed by the sudden glare from Pandarve's Egg as it finds its way through bare and lifeless solar systems...

It passes dark planets. Spreading fear and awe among the followers of mysterious religions. Priests predict death and calamity, witnessing the dreadful omen in the sky...

Until the fateful moment when the beam from Pandarve reaches its goal... The anomaly!

Hmm. A mysterious, powerful red orb capable of miraculous events? Did J.J. Abrams read this story at some point? The depictions of the beam hitting Storm, and Ember's attempt to rescue him, are wonderful, as is the pair's arrival at Pandarve. Or, I should state, above the planet. Realising that their situation is relatively safe for a while, the possibility of burning up with friction as they descend occurs to Storm. Encountering a flying whale, Storm and Ember are separated.

It is impossible to pay too many compliments to Storm.

Mr. Crust Acean is placed in a coffin, and Mr. C. Urchin investigates his death - despite him being very much alive, and trapped inside the casket. It's the kind of story which you either instantly fall in love with, or which remains tantalisingly out of reach. I doubt I'm ever going to understand the intricacies, or have a strong interest in the series.

Liking two out of four strips in an anthology is, surely, not enough reason to consider the title a success, though others might disagree as to the value of The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad and The Man from Cancer.

#01

Strip

#03

Strip #1

...The Comic Grows Up!

17 Feb 1990. Cover price 95p.
40 pages. Colour contents.
Marvel Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Dan Abnett.

Cover by Kevin O'Neill.

Free cover-mounted badge.

Contents:

.2 Get Doctor Who Magazine Now in-house advertisement.
.3 Contents / Indicia

.4 Marshal Law Stars And Strippers part one, w: Pat Mills; a: Kevin O'Neill, lettering by Phil Felix.

18 The Man from Cancer part one, w: Glenn Dakin; a: Phil Elliott, lettering by Phil Elliott, colouring by Steve White.

26 The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad part one, w: Alan Grant & John Wagner; a: Ian Gibson, lettering by Bambos Georgiou.

28 Incognito w: Paul Buck; a: Art Wetherell, lettering by Stuart Bartlett, colouring by Euan Peters.

36 Upholding The Law text feature by Kevin O'Neill; illustrations.
39 Next Issue
40 Marvel Graphic Novels in-house advertisement.

The proclamation may be "the comic grow up", but this still has a cover gift, shies away from more mature elements, and has (however tenuous) roots in superheroes with the presence of Marshal Law. If anything, this can be seen as a tame precursor to CLiNT, but there's still enough skewed weirdness to keep things interesting for those of us perpetually bored by the antics of costumed characters punching each other in the face - although there is that as well, and superbly done.

Without its claim beneath the title this would be an excellent first issue, but with that hanging over everything, a reminder of what could have been, this is merely a good title. Can merely defining itself as a mature title be so damaging? You might disagree, but such claims ought to be backed up with strenuous efforts to advance the form. The badge, surprisingly, doesn't refer to the comic at all, with the slogan "Bare Faced Chic" instead, as if advertising a women's fashion magazine. It isn't a bad statement, in and of itself, but not one which brings to mind comics.

What would be the perfect badge to sell a mature line? I'm not sure. It would have to be both amusing, as well as speaking to a sensibility that is interested in matters beyond spandex. Being so vague with (what is essentially) free advertising is a misstep - how are people to equate the random slogan with the title?

How good a first issue is this? The trade dress, stylish though understated distressing, is a very eighties look, and slightly disappointing. More critical is a lack of introduction, laying out the intended purpose of the title. Very large contents type makes this appear to be aimed at younger readers, and utilising the space better could have allowed for some communication from Abnett. A discourse with readers is one of the fundamental strengths of comics, and by ignoring this tool the title distances itself needlessly.

After the Big One destroyed San Francisco... After the war in the Zone ended in stalemate... After the superheroes came home...

A strippergram, dressed as the heroine Celeste, walks home through dark Downtown streets, fearing for her safety as a masked man follows her. Asking a stranger the location of the nearest police station, he answers that it is a secret, and when requested for the number is told that it is unlisted. As he leaves her, she runs in an attempt to lose her stalker. The masked man eventually corners her, dragging her to a rooftop where he drops her off the side, saying that "all super heroes should fly."

Marshal Law uses visual references to The Shadow, Bulletman, along with other classic characters, superbly, establishing the setting well. Employing a muted palette to emphasise the art, rather than drown it, further deepens the mood. A beautiful grotesquerie masquerading as a superhero story, with decay and squalor sitting beside gaudy Vegas-style illuminations to heighten the oddity of the city - somewhere between Furst's Gotham, Mega City One, and a Jean-Pierre Jeunet cityscape.

We don't get nearly enough of the background details to fully comprehend how everyday things manage to operate in such a place, but it is assumed that there are still-functioning utilities, and that people aren't slowly being driven crazy merely by proximity to such a place.

Reading like a pitch for an adult cartoon series The Man from Cancer isn't as clear in presentation as a first installment of a series really ought to be, with numerous imaginary elements (in the same style as the rest of the strip) crowding the events, this isn't as clear as a first installment of a continuing story ought to be.

Ian Gibson's artwork on The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad is simply amazing, though great art alone is no incentive to keep reading.

On the world known as Shadow-Earth, it came to pass that in the seventeenth year of the reign of Ranald the Protector, the savage hordes of Kang did storm the walls of Haven, and the blood of the brave ran red on the ramparts...

And the hideous image of Toadthrax the sorcerer did darken the skies, and his demons poured forth their fury upon the defenders...

In Inner-Haven, Karbunkle Grimtoad, sorcerer to King Ranald, cast the portents...

It reads like an awkward and unconvincing mix of every cheap fantasy paperback from the seventies smooshed together in a sticky pulp. Firstly, they called their world Shadow-Earth? My problem here (which I also have with DC Comics' Earth 2) is that is it difficult to imagine a civilisation referring to itself as being the alternative to the "real" Earth, in however diminished a capacity. A completely original name would have worked far better, as would a non-punny name for Karbunkle Grimtoad's given name. Would you call your child Carbuncle? Honestly?

At only two pages, of which a great deal is presented with text boxes, so little happens that it is difficult to get a sense of this setting as a real location, with attendant problems, unique culture, and character personalities shining through. Far too much is made of matters which aren't directly related to the title character. It is a strip which takes time to get into, which is a terrible handicap when given such a brief appearance.

The complete story, Incognito, follows Gloria Grant, a famous film actress, as she encounters a man and seemingly builds a brief friendship thanks to him not recognising her. It is a strip which draws on old crime comics, such as published by EC, with a satisfying twist in the tail. Although finely drawn, and with a definite style to the telling, there isn't quite enough to justify eight pages.

The most entertaining element is the three-page text piece by Kevin O'Neill, where he points out that Pat Mills hates superheroes. Hmm. There's a reason I like Mills' comics. Replete with numerous sketches, showing the development of Marshal Law, this is a piece which brings a little of the personal touch I appreciate so much.

It isn't the best start, but a much better opening salvo than most new titles.

Strip

#02

On This Day: 05 Oct

The Best of Matt 2017 (Orion; 2017) ISBN-13: 978-1409164630

Births:

Isaac Cruikshank (1764); William Timyn (Tim; 1902); Harry Ross Thomson (roSS; 1938); Clive Barker (1952)

Deaths:

Frank Eric Smith (Trow; 1985); Jack Potter (2014)

Notable Events:

Newsfield Ltd. registered in 1983.
Hardware, regarded as the first film adaptation of a 2000 A.D. property, released in the UK in 1990.
Garth Ennis, Brett Ewins, Glenn Fabry, Myra Hancock, Graham Higgins, David Hine, Alan McKenzie, Mark Millar, Steve Pugh and Kevin Walker attended a joint signing for 2000 A.D. Prog 750, the 2000 A.D. Yearbook 1992 and Judge Dredd Yearbook 1992 in Forbidden Planet, 71 New Oxford Street, London, in 1991.
Alan Grant was among the guests at the Wasted comic launch at Forbidden Planet, Edinburgh, in 2008.
Alan Cowsill, Glenn Dakin and Andy Lanning were on the panel for Revolutionary War at the London Film and Comic Con at the Olympia in 2013. Among other news, Dark Angel, Death's Head, Knights of Pendragon, Motormouth, Super Soldiers and Warheads were to return to print for the first time since the closure of Marvel UK, albeit as US comics.