science fiction... (Page 6)
for a complete alphabetical list of ALL reviews start here
A
- B - C - D
- E - F - G
- H - I - J
- K - L - M
- N - O - P
- Q - R - S
- T - U - V
- W - X - Y - Z
Mystery in Space, vol. 1 & 2 2007, 2008 (SC TPB)
Written by Jim Starlin. Pencils by Shane Davis, Jim Starlin, Ron Lim. Inks by Matt Banning, Al Milgrom, Rob Hunter, others.
Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)
Reprinting: Mystery in Space #1-5 (vol. 1) and Mystery in Space #6-8 plus the original The Weird mini-series (reviewed here).
Number of readings: 1
Reviewed: Dec. 2015
Published by DC Comics
This was collected across two TPBs -- for some reason, since it is meant to be a single story arc.
Mystery in Space is one of those odd projects which sort of comes out of nowhere (I think -- I mean, was anyone clamouring for a mini-series featuring Captain Comet and The Weird?) and is somewhat isolated from DC's mainstream -- even as it heavily draws upon and plays with existing mythos (meaning there are characters the reader is presumably supposed to know...even as it isn't that hard to follow the plot if you don't).
It's set in deep space on an artificial satellite, an intergalactic waystation inhabited by multiple races, called Hardcore Station -- which was featured in its own self-titled Jim Starlin mini-series a few years before. Central to the story is Captain Comet, an earth-based 1950s super hero whose latter day adventures included a stint as the hero-in-residence in the 1970s comic, The Secret Society of Super-Villains, and space-based adventures as part of L.E.G.I.O.N. in the 1990s -- and now he lives on Hardcore Station. But just to give the comic a slightly off-beat ambition, it's actually split between two features, telling a parallel adventure of The Weird who also arrives on Hardcore Station. The Weird being a character Starlin created for an eponymous mini-series a few years earlier. These aren't two stories. Instead their exploits run parallel to each other, presenting different threads in the same tapestry.
Jim Starlin writes the Captain Comet story and writes and draws The Weird story (Starlin began as an artist, but his pencils have become rarer over the years). And Starlin is one of those comics creators who can lay some claim to the term "auteur" in that there are often distinctive, recurring themes and ideas that crop up in his writing. On the plus side, that lends his work a sincerity, a sense he is pouring himself into the pages. On the negative side, it can feel like he's just recycling increasingly tired ideas to the point of echoing earlier, better stories he wrote.
He's reusing characters and settings he used before (The Weird, Hardcore Station) and in a sci-fi milieu (Starlin more prone to sci-fi comics than straight super hero -- though he did have a run on Batman years ago) and with the villainy instigated by a church/corporation (Starlin's criticism/satire of religion a recurring theme for him, from his classic Adam Warlock stories of the 1970s to Batman: The Cult). The story even climaxes with a kind of gritty, moral ambiguity, as Comet is forced to do something ethically problematic -- also something I associate with many Starlin sagas.
And maybe it's because I was aware that Starlin has done all this before that it seems a bit by rote, Starlin not necessarily finding anything penetrating or provocative to say. The church is just cartoony evil rather than Starlin trying to explore what it offers to its followers to make them devout. At one point, the church brainwashes The Weird into being a (temporary) disciple -- but it's a fairly minor sequence (in terms of any impact upon the story) and without much effort expended upon presenting a convincing indoctrination.
The saga begins with Captain Comet being murdered -- yup, you read right. But don't worry. He quickly gets better, though now with slightly modified powers (another cliche, in a way -- when a writer dusts off an old character, then instantly sets about reinventing him, if only in a minor way). So Comet sets out to find out why he was killed and how he came back (though the latter is simply because of a chance encounter with the life essence of The Weird, who died at the end of his own mini-series, the two becoming reborn).
It isn't that there's anything especially bad about Mystery in Space -- even as it never really becomes that interesting. Both Captain Comet and The Weird are perfectly nice, agreeable heroes, without either of them actually being that charismatic, both fairly generic hero-types (a problem I had felt about The Weird in his own mini-series). There aren't a lot of supporting characters, and likewise they aren't more than agreeably-generic (Comet has an intelligent, talking dog, and is friends with the local police chief, Max -- another carry over from the previous Hardcore Station series). Comet has an aging, alcoholic friend, Star Hawkins, who is also an old Silver Age character, who then gets killed off -- and kind of makes one wonder if Starlin at some point was thinking of making this a kind of Watchmen-type series. Y'know, dusting off old Silver Age heroes, but presenting them in a cynical, deconstructed way. But Hawkins is the only character like that.
While the plot can seem a bit tepid. Partly that may be a result of my own misapprehension. By using the title "mystery in space" (borrowed from an old Silver Age DC Comics comic) I kind of assumed Starlin was going to present it as some complex, Byzantine mystery. But it's kind of slow moving, with limited questions posited, and with the villains (the church and its Deacon) revealed to the reader early. There is a bit of a mystery as to what the church is up to, and why they are interested in Comet, but it's not enough to sustain 8 issues (and is answered part way through). The first few issues can feel a bit slow -- not so much plodding, but meandering a bit. So it's strange when the story suddenly kicks into high gear in the last few issues, with the church attempting to take over the station -- because it can feel a bit like it comes out of nowhere, as if Starlin suddenly realized he was nearing the end of the series and he needed a climax. While other plot points feel too conspicuously like plot points, like a fusion bomb that is crucial to his plan -- even as its introduction only really seems to be so it can play a part in the climax. For that matter, the heroes' strategy involves exploiting a rift between two of the bad guys, The Deacon and Prime 7 -- when I'm not sure how they knew there was this rift to exploit, or even that there were the two villains!
In other words, for a 320 page epic told as two parallel but intersecting storylines, it can feel like some of it is Starlin just recycling ideas he's used before, and the rest is him just winging it, writing to a deadline.
Art-wise, though, I can't fault much. It looks good. As mentioned, Starlin himself draws the Weird chapters (with old pal Al Milgrom inking) and it's some of Starlin's best work. Maybe the fact that he doesn't draw as regularly means he was able to put more enthusiasm into it -- though his visuals, like his writing, tends to rely on certain recurring techniques and tropes (the aliens looking -- with lots of pointy ears -- like the sort of character designs he's used in Dreadstar, Warlock, etc.). While Shane Davis' art on the main Captain Comet feature is really quite striking, with realist faces and figures, hyper detailed and insanely busy backgrounds but -- and here's the important part -- generally presented with clarity. I've often complained about modern comics artists with their overly busy and detailed styles and how it can often just collapse in a mess of lines that my eyes have trouble deciphering. But for reasons I can't identity, Davis mostly avoids that (maybe credit the inker and colourist, too). Davis ends up bowing out toward the end, and frequent Starlin collaborator Ron Lim pitches in. Lim is one of those artists I tend to be mixed on -- I don't fault his basic skill, but he just rarely excites me. Yet with that said, this, too, is among his better work, and the shift from Davis to him isn't jarring (the two employing similar styles).
Ultimately, it isn't that I hated or even especially disliked Mystery in Space. But it fails to really justify its massive length. At 320 pages it really needed more plot threads, more characters (and more interesting characters and character nuance), better development of the plot it had, and maybe a subtler exploration of its themes of religious and corporate tyranny. Even the idea of telling it through two separate story lines doesn't really add any extra layers or perspective to the plot.
Nexus Archives, vol. 1
see Nexus: As it Happened (reviewed below).
Nexus: As it Happened, vol. 1 2009 (SC TPB) 208 pages
Written by Mike Baron. Illustrated by Steve Rude.
Black & White. Letters: Mary Pulliam, others.
Reprinting: Nexus (vol. 1) #1-3, Nexus (vol. 2) #1-4 (1981-1983) - with covers
Rating: * * * * (out of 5)
Number of readings: 2
Published by Rude Dude Productions.
p>Steve Rude and Mike Baron's Nexus issues have been collected in more than one format. Dark Horse comics has released the series in consecutive hardcover -- expensive -- Archive collections. While Rude Dude Productions (I assume a publisher owned by Steve Rude) has also released Nexus: As It Happened (labelled volume 1). And it reprints -- apparently -- the same material as Dark Horse's Nexus Archives, vol. 1. The difference is, As It Happened is softcover, in reduced dimensions (more like a manga volume), and is entirely black & white (the original three issues were already black & white, so it's only half the comics here that are missing colour...and they've been reprinted using grey tones and washes which evoke the sense of the original colours).
So if you're looking for a prestigious, glossy, permanent collection of Nexus issues -- the Dark Horse Archives is probably for you. But if you're just looking for an economical way to sample series you might have heard of...As It Happened might better fit the bill.
Nexus is a mix of tones and elements. Though the main character wears a costume and has super powers, it's far more a science fiction series than it is super hero. There's action and adventure...but also plenty of talking head/human drama scenes...some political intrigue and moral philosophising...and elements of whimsy, humour and satire.
Set amid a 25th Century interstellar civilization, Nexus is a mysterious, rogue element. A super powered being plagued by nightmarish dreams that compel him to seek out and kill tyrants and war criminals. Yet Nexus is not, himself, a blood thirsty man, only carrying out these assassinations essentially as a form of self-preservation, to temporarily stop the nightmares that will otherwise destroy him. His actions make him a villain to some...and a folk hero to others. His home, on the moon Ylum, acts as an open refugee camp for victims of tyranny, but Nexus' selectivity in his killings confuse many of these refugees who don't understand why Nexus won't kill whichever tyrant persecuted them.
As such, the series touches on real world issues of war crimes and dictatorships, without being some simple gung ho Punisher clone which exists just for the cathartic thrill of seeming some bad ass kill scumbags. Indeed, Baron and Rude don't even entirely dress it up in the distancing blanket of metaphor -- explicitly evoking the real world parallels by having characters with earth names (as opposed to fantasy names) and referencing real political ideologies. At the same time, there can be a sense it touches on such deeper themes and moral dilemmas...rather than delving into them whole heartedly.
And my attitude to this collection changed a bit from the first reading (which I mildly enjoyed) and a subsequent one a few years later...when I enjoyed it a lot more.
I picked this up just for a chance to sample Nexus -- my only previous experience with the character being the rather underwhelming Magnus / Nexus crossover mini-series. And as a sample, it does that. It's enjoyable enough but didn't leave me necessarily desperate to follow further adventures.
This was among the earliest things by artist Rude, and you can see his style evolving and changing over these few issues. The early issues are maybe a bit less polished -- but it's still actually better work than a lot of experienced pros! His early style puts me in mind of George Freeman (interestingly, Freeman was hired as the colourist on the first issue of the Nexus colour series). Yet as these issues progress, Rude's style becomes more polished, more impeccable, and he starts to develop a firmer, less subtle line work that puts me in mind of someone like Russ Manning (particularly given the hi tech environment that evokes Manning's Magnus, Robot Fighter). Although there's an overall improvement...I won't say there isn't some equal appeal to the style of the earlier issues. (Of course, Rude's style would continue to evolve later, getting a bit more Spartan and minimalist in its line work). Rude also shows, not only a flare for figures and detailed, rich backgrounds and environments, but also minutia, body language, and little "extras", the backgrounds often delightful to examine for little actions involving peripheral or background figures. There can be a density and complexity to the visuals that even in a slightly shrunken, black & white format never becomes cluttered or confused.
Story and script wise, Nexus is a mix of elements. For a series that could be, simplistically, described as "space vigilante doles out ruthless justice", it spends more time on character interaction, and machinations, than it does on many of the action scenes -- while still having those, too. Yet the series (at least at this point) can seem a bit meandering. Even the veering from brooding drama to satirical silliness can seem a bit like the creators are just kind of throwing in whatever struck their fancy that day, and less concerned about the greater whole.
For example, at one point representatives of the main galactic government are shown conferring about Nexus, worried that his power seems to come from draining energy from stars, creating a threat to the galaxy...then later, are talking as if their only concern is getting Nexus to share some of his energy resources. Likewise, a thread where some mercenaries infiltrate Ylum in search of a power generator Nexus is rumoured to have can seem like a bit of a tenuous plot (they go to all this trouble...over a rumour?)
Character stuff can seem to hiccup here and there. One of Nexus' chief aides, Tyrone, is a militant, who actually leads a bit of a coup at one point...then later is right back at Nexus' side. While late in this run of issues, we are suddenly introduced to another Ylum inhabitant, a catwoman, who takes up a chunk of the story as if an important character...except I'm not sure we'd seen her before.
There's a thread of whimsy and satire throughout -- I'm assuming all of it intentional. That is, I'm assuming the fact that aliens have names like "Dave" and "Tyrone" is meant to be humorous. Such whimsy, while adding layers to the overall tone, seems to increase as the issues go, and may explain why the plotting can be a bit lax at times -- scenes are thrown in just for their quirkiness. Such as a scene where the aforementioned catwoman, acting as a lawyer, faces off against opposing counsel, a catman, and the two start hissing at each other because, we are told, the two genders are incompatible (when not in the mating season) -- basically a joke on the territoriality of cats. It seems as though it's setting things up for the court room conflict...yet then they have no further scenes together!
Yet though these are legitimate criticisms, as mentioned -- I liked it more after a later reading. Indeed, in my initial review, I wrote that for a series that expends so much time on characters and characterization, of Nexus, of the romantic interest, Sundra, of Nexus' right hand man, the unflappable Dave -- the characters are pleasant and likeable enough...without being especially compelling. Though Mezz, an alien boy, is effectively cute and endearing. But I liked and enjoyed the characters a lot more -- maybe now that they had an aura of familiarity, like revisiting old friends.
As well, the variety of tones I mention, from drama to comedy, space battles to political machinations, travels to different worlds and flashbacks filling in Nexus' origin, is what makes a collection like this an enjoyable read, as it never really has time to grow stale.
Because this is the early issues of an on going series, it doesn't build to any particular climax, with plenty of threads and mysteries (including some relating to Nexus' origin) still left dangling. At the same time, the final issue doesn't end "to be continued" and enough threads are resolved, or dealt with (including giving some explanation for Nexus' backstory) to make for a satisfying enough read just taken on its own.
With attractive, sumptuous art by Rude, and a mix of tones, thoughtful and whimsical, and some quirky, off beat ideas, Nexus is an enjoyable read. And As It Happened makes a nice collection as a sample of the series.
Rascals
in Paradise 1995 (SC GN)
102 pages
Written and illustrated and painted by Jim Silke.
Letters: L. Lois Buhalis.
Reprinting the three issue mini-series in over-sized, tabloid dimensions;
Rating: * * * (out of 5)
Number of readings: 2
Re-reviewed: Dec. 5, 2009
Recommended for Mature Readers
Additional notes: sketch gallery; intros by Dave Stevens and Geoff Darrow; retrospective of Silke's career.
Published by Dark Horse Comics
Rascals in Paradise is at once very modern and yet very old fashioned at the same time. It's old fashioned in that it's a deliberate evocation (with tongue-firmly-in-cheek) of pulp-era adventures. Set in the distant future, the location is a planet that has been remodelled as a tourist trap meant to evoke the nostalgic days of 1930s earth...but something went wrong and, instead of evoking the real 1930s, it evokes the pulp fiction world of dank jungles, lost tribes, and jodhpur-wearing adventurers. The logic behind this is vague. (If the world was artificially created, who are these people who inhabit it? Are they real or constructions?) The plot involves kidnapped damsels, jungle cults, and secret maps. Like I said, old fashioned.
On the other hand, there is a modern aspect to Rascals in that it features a "mature readers" story with plenty of nudity and racy material. This isn't so much a re-creation of old time adventure stories, as it's a re-construction of the milieu with modern explicitness.
The result is hit and miss.
Written and illustrated by Jim Silke, this was his first foray into sequential art ("funny books" to you and me). Before that, Silke worked as a jack-of-all-trades in Hollywood for many years, publishing fanzines, writing screenplays (including the 1985 version of King Solomon's Mines), hanging out with Hollywood legends like Sam Peckinpah, and working as an artist and photographer in the glamour field (ie: doing pictures of beautiful women). It's that latter career that is clearly fueling Rascals in Paradise.
Silke's a good artist, but not quite a great one. And his newness to the medium leads to some rather flatly presented scenes, particularly action scenes, and even some confusing ones (where a caption is sometimes used to bridge two panels that otherwise don't flow clearly one from the other). His painted style can certainly capture a beautiful woman or two, and his technique adds to the whole "nostalgia" flavour: soft, blurry colours, and a sometimes unsure handling of figures (with hands and feet sometimes indistinct) actually evoking old pulp magazine cover painters, as if someone like Margaret Brundage (of Weird Tales fame) had taken to illustrating comic books.
The story is a brisk romp, only vaguely coherent, and never takes itself too seriously. This latter aspect presumably explains how Silke could get away with all the blatant sexploitation without raising hardly an eyebrow among critics -- including a ravishment scene (off camera and semi-consensual) and a flagellation scene (somewhat demurely depicted, focusing as much on the people around the scene as the damsel herself). It's a joke homage.
On the plus side, one can certainly appreciate the wanton uninhibitedness of the story (well, at least if you're a guy). Others have tried similar efforts, but usually with a result watered down and self-consciously apologetic. Silke clearly takes the attitude that if he's going to do this story...he might as well do it, and political correctness be damned (resulting not just in underclad women, but natives speaking in pidgin English). And not just the nudity, but the story itself benefits from this attitude, with Silke throwing in everything but the kitchen sink -- from jungle temples and sacrifices, to jet packs and laser guns. As well, the tempo is brisk and sprightly, keeping things moving along at a good clip.
At the same time, if you remove the nudity, and the sexploitation, I'm not sure the rest is strong enough to stand on its own. The characters never really gel into people you care about (you can't even be sure who the main character is, with the nominal heroine being "Spicy" Saunders who arrives to join the local jungle patrol, but there's also her immediate supervisor String, and a roguish mercenary, and a damsel in distress who they're trying to rescue). At first, the story makes a loose kind of sense -- at least enough to get us from one scenne to the next. But by the end, it just seems to get muddier and muddier, with too few explanations. "Spicey"'s suit has strange properties, like turning invisible and rendering her nude at various moments, but it has other abilities which manifest themselves in the climax with little justification. Even, as noted, the "reality" of the story doesn't seem to permit even a casual scrutiny.
At the end of the book is a sketch gallery showing preview images from the next storyline. But either sales for this first storyline weren't what they were hoping for (though this TPB collection was still in print years later) or Silke just lost interest, because to my knowledge, no further adventures of "Spicey" and the gang were published. There's a problem with writing a story in which some threads are meant to be part of something larger...if the creator doesn't have the discipline to follow through. Silke's only other foray into the comicbook field, I believe, was the later, similarly-themed Bettie Page: Queen of the Nile (taking the real life 1950s pin-up queen and featuring her in a racy, tongue-in-cheek sci-fi adventure).
The bottom line is, if you don't expect much, Rascals in Paradise can be campy fun (more for guys than gals) simply for its unapologetic luridness (lots of nudity, though no full frontal), the brisk pace and the old fashioned idiom it evokes.
Ronin
1987 (SC TPB), 302 pgs.
Written, illustrated and edited by Frank Miller.
Colours: Lynn Varley. Letters: John Constanza.
Reprinting: Ronin #1-6 (1983 deluxe mini-series)
Rating: * * * * (out of 5)
Number of readings: 3
Published by DC Comics
Mature Readers
A 13th Century Japanese ronin, killed in a bitter struggle with a demon, reappears mysteriously in a gone-to-hell 21st Century New York, his renewed struggle with the demon focusing on a bio-technology corporation that's developing a whole new form of living machine. The corporation's beautiful head of security, Casey, hunts the ronin, unaware that the real menace is the demon.
Frank Miller's unusual, stand-alone blend of SF, fantasy, martial arts, human drama, social satire, time slips, violent action and mystery -- yes, mystery -- is kind of like Philp K. Dick meets Edgar Rice Burroughs, filtered through Japanese Samurai films. Ronin was one of DC comics first forays into the field of "mature reader" comics. Frank Miller also experimented with a "cinematic"-style -- telling the story solely with dialogue; there's no voice-overs, thought balloons, or narration in Ronin. Ironically, although other writers instantly started emulating him, Frank Miller himself re-introduced narration in his own subsequent work, obviously recognizing the limitations of that technique (after all, the beauty of a comic book is it's a blend of cinema and literature and shouldn't slavishly imitate one or the other). Still, Ronin works well. Not only is Frank Miller a master of dialogue and panel composition, he also has the ability to invest his sometimes crude, though always dynamic, drawings with genuine expression and subtle nuances in a way that, even a lot of the great artists, can't.
Ronin is a gritty, exciting, atmospheric, completely off kilter work. Personally I can't think of anything else quite like it in novels, movies, or comics. I first read it all out of order, though, picking up back issues when I could, so my impression of it is a little distorted (I knew some of the surprise answers before I even knew there were questions).
When first released, it wasn't regarded as an unqualified success, and it's uneven in spots. Sometimes the action scenes can be a bit long, and the series is a bit too episodic in spots. Miller was obviously making some things up as he went along. In the first issue, reference is made to police, but subsequently we are told there is no police force in New York; important characters are introduced as late as the penultimate issue, and vital "clues", likewise, come in kind of late. But, viscerally, it's an exciting, memorable read.
Like a lot of Frank Miller's work, Ronin can be pretty violent, though for whatever reason (perhaps Miller draws gore so stylized) I don't find him as "icky" as some (the 2nd issue struck me as the most unpleasant). There's also some nudity. Most "serious" comic folk when doing "mature reader" stuff throw in violence and profanity, but their nudity is usual restricted to off-putting, disturbing scenes as in the Batman: The Killing Joke or The Sandman Mystery Theatre: The Tarantula (I'd hate to be the psychoanalyst listening to Alan Moore or Matt Wagner pontificate on sex and women); here, Casey spends an entire issue gratuitously in the buff (well, actually she spends most of an issue in shadow, and only a half-dozen panels in the buff), though it's, more or less, justified by the story.
This is a review of the version originally serialized
in the Ronin mini-series.
Runners: Bad Goods
Rating: * * * * (out of 5)
Number of readings: 1
see my review here
ON TO > SF Page Seven
BACK TO < SF Page Five
