PIPELINE COMMENTARY AND REVIEW #95
28 March 1999
by Augie De Blieck Jr.
http://www.nic.com/~augie/pipeline
GET IT OUT OF THE WAY
I know what you're all waiting to hear from me: What do I think of that Top
100 Comics list that's been circulating this past week?
I think I'm not giving that publisher any free publicity by mentioning its
name, and I'm certainly not going to validate such a farcical list with an
in-depth discussion of why Los. Bros. Hernandez are not Gods' Gift to
Comics.
Sheesh
AD OF THE WEEK
There was a time when this column featured an ad every week. It was just
some advertisement in the middle of the book that came at a funny point, or
some ad which juxtaposed with the comic in an odd way, or which featured a
weird character.
I looked at the back of the stack of this week's comics and have to ask:
What's Calvin Klein's obsession (pun intended) with young boys?
REVIEWS
In lieu of the usual crop of professionals looking like fools this week, I
bring you reviews. Fear not; I'm sure someone will open their mouth up
this week and provide me with cannon fodder for next week's big 96th issue!
(There was, however, a fascinating piece by David Coulter in this week's
CBEM about Chris Bachalo. I wish I had written it. You can read it over
at CBEM's web page. Try hopping on over to
http://www.digitalwebbing.com/cbem/ and clicking on "Let Me Tell You
Why.")
DC published BATMAN: NO MAN'S LAND: NO LAW AND A NEW ORDER TPB this week.
I think that title just about sums it up. It only took 20 seconds to type
out.
Give DC credit for waiting more than 2 issues before beginning to collect
this storyline in TPBs. But for $6 this one, collecting the first four
chapters of the storyline, is a pretty good price.
And what do I think? It's uncomfortable. That's what it is. It has some
good moments in there and a lot of thought, but I still have a HUGE problem
with the whole premise. It's so bad that I can't take the rest seriously.
This is a shame, since Bob Gale is an excellent writer and Alex Maleev and
Wayne Faucher do a good job on the art side of things. Special mention
should also be made of Matt Hollingsworth's dark and fitting colors.
So if you can swallow the premise, read on and enjoy! I may have to write
"Elseworlds" on the cover if I'm going to read the next part.
Erik Larsen writes WOLVERINE #138. This isn't odd; not only has he written
the previous 5 issues, but he's also writing AQUAMAN (for now), THE SAVAGE
DRAGON, and NOVA (starting this Wednesday).
This is the grand finale of the 6 part epic "Wolvie in Space" storyline.
In this issue, Wolverine fights Galactus. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't
it? Erik Larsen pulls it off. Seriously. It doesn't revolve around some
macguffin or deus ex machina or some contrived plot elements, but the story
comes off as real. (Well, as "real" as the Marvel Universe gets.) It's an
interesting and unexpected ending to the saga. I don't do spoilers in this
column, so I can't go any further, but I think this works well.
If you're a die-hard BABYLON 5 fan like myself, you probably picked up
Wizard's FATHOM special edition issue just for the 7 pages of story in
RISING STARS #0 that comes with it. It's worth it. This is looking to
be some good stuff. JMS doesn't write dumb. I don't think he's capable
of it. There's a narrator to the tale, who speaks as eloquently and as
dramatically as G'Kar. Keu Cha's art is pretty good, too. Granted,
there's not much of it, but the first impression is not one of incorrect
exaggeration. The only thing that scares me is that Keu Cha didn't finish
all 7 pages. There's a fill-in artist for the last two pages. Is this due
to a tight deadline from Wizard? Or is Cha just not able to produce work
fast enough? I'm hoping for the former.
My only problem with the book is that it looks like EVERY OTHER Top Cow
comic. Do they all have to be so earthy-colored? Do they all have to use
the same color palette? Do the computer separations always have to look so
belabored and obvious?
The first issue of the series comes out in time for the Wizard Chicago
Comics Convention. I'll remind you when the time comes; I think this is
definitely a book to look out for.
I also read GEN13 #39, and it left me wondering: Can one really fight
bad guys and run on the beach that easily while wearing heels? I would
think the heels would sink right in. . .
PLEA FOR HELP
Because I'm an idiot, I missed The Learning Channel's comic book special
on Saturday. I normally wouldn't come begging here for a copy of a
videotape of it, except for the fact that there was a brief interview with
Erik Larsen in it. Argh! And according to Click TV:
http://www.clicktv.com
it won't be repeated in the next two weeks! So if anyone, by any chance,
happened to tape it (preferably at SP speed) and wouldn't mind lending me
their copy/making me a dub, please e-mail me. I'll cover the costs.
Thanks,
-Augie, augie@nic.com
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