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PIPELINE COMMENTARY AND REVIEW #24
16 November 1997
by Augie De Blieck Jr.
http://www.nic.com/~augie/pipeline
Not One Single Standard Super-Hero Book In This Column!
This isn't to say there aren't any super-heroes discussed herein. It's just,
well, you're not going to get a review of this week's issue of Spider-Man or
Batman or Superman or anything. We have a weird mix this time around
starting with my pleasant surprise of the week.
(But one quick comment, if I may, on a book which might be considered
"standard" super-hero fare: THE SAVAGE DRAGON #43 came out this week.
Long-time readers of the series will appreciate it for all the loose ends it
ties up and for the death of a major character. New readers would probably
be better off waiting for next issue or going out and buying a TPB of
previous issues. DRAGON remains my favorite super-hero title of them all.)
Gladstone Comics put out a new TPB this week, DONALD DUCK AND UNCLE $CROOGE:
THE BESTS AND FIRSTS. For $20, it's basically 3 of the old albums Gladstone
used to put out bound together. These are all worthy stories and all
pleasantly reprinted. If you liked the second season of DuckTales, in
particular, you're going to enjoy seeing the stories on which many of those
episodes were based printed here. It's done on over-sized solid-white
non-glossy paper for the best possible presentation. Susan Daigle-Leach's
coloring is magnificent, and it's interesting to compare her work here with
the type of stuff she does today. As wonderful as it was then, it's even
better now.
So what do you get? Well, for starter's there's Carl Barks' first Donald
Duck comic, "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold," a lengthy effort comprised of
copies storyboards for a cartoon which never happened. As such, it can seem
padded in spots, but I like it. It's more atmospheric this way. And the
coloring is amongst the best I've ever seen on a Donald comic - bright,
toned, and almost air-brushed in appearance in spots.
"Only a Poor Old Man" is also in here, reprinting UNCLE $CROOGE #1,
basically. It's a classic and always fun to reread. The collection is
rounded out with a trio of Magica De Spell stories, including her first
appearance in comics, "The Midas Touch." This is the first time I've read
any of these stories anywhere. They're lots of fun, and DuckTales didn't do
a half-bad job of adapting them. (Heck, I still hear "Flight of the
Valkyries" when Magica takes off with a flock of Yeekers.)
I wasn't going to buy this one. Then I saw it on the rack and flipped
through it. It was a remarkable package. I'm glad I "invested" in it.
And now for something a little more serious: Malcolm Bourne has done a
wonderful job in writing the first issue of his CHILDHOOD'S END mini-series,
published this month by Image's non-line. It's a serious look at the way we
perhaps glorify our childhoods, and one case in particular. Growing up is
tough. We learned everything we know today from what we experienced back
then. When everything is new, everything is scary. In addition, Bourne's
script is wonderfully fluid, carrying us through one long scene taking place
in a park, drifting in and out of conversations. Jim Calafiore does a
magnificent job drawing kids that look like kids and who don't all look
alike. Pick it up for something decidedly non-superheroic and worthy of your
money.
The closest I can come to standard fare this week is Awesome Entertainment's
THE COVEN #3. Drawn and plotted by Ian Churchill with script by Jeph Loeb,
I'm still on the fence. They're not superheroes, and that point is made
pretty deftly in one scene in particular this issue. It's mostly
super-natural people who might happen to act heroically. (Of course, you
can't tell the heroes from the villains for the most part without the
explanatory captions.) Ian Churchill's art carries the book, sometimes at
the expense of the story. The characters seem like they could be interesting
and some bits get moved along nicely here, but there are few answers to be
had, and a lot of character bits that need the front-inside-cover summary to
explain them. That was my main gripe with the first issue: I learned more
from the summary in the beginning than I did in the actual comic. I'll give
it another issue. See if something wraps up. Past that, I don't know.
The no-holds-barred funniest comic of the year is Acclaim's QUANTUM AND
WOODY, wherein Christopher Priest and M.D. Bright tell the story of our
favorite forever-embattled best buddies who just happened to have switched
bodies. Yes, it's a horrid cliche, but one made hilarious by way of how it's
handled differently than in any other interpretation. (The bathroom scene,
in particular, has to be read to be believed.) Even if you've never read
this comic before, pick this one up. If you like what you see, go back and
pick up the TPB collecting the first four issues for $8. It's a wonderful
series.
Finally, KURT BUSIEK'S ASTRO CITY #11 begins to tell us the story of
Jack-In-The-Box. It involves time travel, and is not complete in one issue.
So we'll have to wait until next month to pass judgment on this story. But
there is a more-or-less complete story told in this issue, if you don't mind
having a lot of questions left dangling. Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson, as
usual, pull it off without stopping the eye or the ear. Reading an issue of
ASTRO CITY is a wonderfully deep experience. There's more than just what
appears on the surface, but it all tracks well and doesn't stop you dead in
your tracks at any point, whether to laugh at something or to slap your head
and scream, "I can't believe they did that!" It's a wonderful series in all
of its forms.
And I didn't say any of that just because my letter appears in that issue.
(I'm also in the DRAGON's letters column this week, if you're looking for
me.)
-Augie
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