From postmaster@awenet.com Tue Aug 15 19:59:04 1995 Received: from vuse.vuse.vanderbilt.edu by marimba.cellbio.duke.edu via SMTP (920330.SGI/920502.SGI) for merlin id AA00145; Tue, 15 Aug 95 19:59:04 -0400 Received: from awenet.com by vuse.vanderbilt.edu (8.6.12/SMI-4.1/VUSE-1.15) id SAA03479; Tue, 15 Aug 1995 18:58:57 -0500 Received: from Pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (132.170.240.30) by awenet.com with SMTP (Apple Internet Mail Server 1.0); Mon, 14 Aug 1995 21:06:57 -0700 Received: from port34.tserver2.ucf.edu by Pegasus.cc.ucf.edu with smtp RFC1413_id mbg84022 (Smail3.1.29.1 #8) id m0siDDx-0005wAC; Tue, 15 Aug 95 00:03 EDT Message-Id: Date: Tue, 15 Aug 95 00:03 EDT X-Sender: mbg84022@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 2.0.3 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: superchat@awenet.com (Superchat Digest) Reply-To: superchat@awenet.com (Superchat Digest) Errors-To: postmaster@awenet.com Precedence: bulk From: mbg84022@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Matthew Gerber) Subject: 000REVIEWS: Hero Patrol #19 to Team M.E.C.H.A. Journal #6 Cc: DEscutia@aol.com (Mike Escutia's AOL Account) Status: RO Complete spoilers for: Hero Patrol #19 Tornado Knights #3 Sentries #9 Fortunate Force #1 Spotlight On: Susan (#10) Task Force Aurora #8 Jackson Six #3 Super Seven #33 Team M.E.C.H.A. #61 Team M.E.C.H.A. Journal #6 The "review crew" consists of myself, Mason Kramer, Jon Lennox and Rick Rechowicz. Mason and Rick do not review episodes they're affiliated with and anyone can choose to abstain from any review. I still write the capsules. Story type scale: 1: Full-tilt wacko 2: Generally humorous with serious elements 3: Equal balance of seriousness and humor 4: Generally serious with humorous elements 5: Lethal serious, perhaps with flashes of humor Rating scale: 0: Abysmal (As bad as it gets.) 1: Very Bad (Thoroughly wretched, few life signs.) 2: Bad (Still thoroughly bad, but less so.) 3: Very Poor (Might have potential, but needs a lot of work.) 4: Poor (_Does_ have potential, but needs work.) 5: Mediocre ("Eh." Okay, not bad, but not good either.) 6: Good (Genuinely good read. Basic Superguyage.) 7: Very Good (High basic Superguyage. The difference between 6 and 7 is fairly slim.) 8: Excellent (Very high quality writing.) 9: Exceptional (Really excellent, even for Superguy. Can have no serious flaws.) 10: Perfect (The kind of thing that leaves you sitting there in front of the screen going "whoa...." for a while. These are VERY, VERY RARE.) These reviews will be somewhat shorter than usual. Bear with me as I try to catch up on my backlog. /// HERO PATROL #19 (Mike Escutia) /// Another nice episode, good characterization, the only flaw being that it's too short--things seem a bit rushed, which wasn't the case in the Murder, She Wrote episode. Still, an excellent read. Hero Patrol #19: Type 4, 7.25 miraculously effective nonexistent disguises Matt: 7 Mason: 8 Rick: 7 Jon: 7 /// TORNADO KNIGHTS #3 (Jesse Taylor) /// Well now.... THIS is interesting. Jesse's obviously building to something big, and it should be interesting to see precisely what. Great episode all around. Tornado Knights #3: Type 3, 7.25 blatant character parallels Matt: 8 Mason: 8 Rick: 7 Jon: 6 /// SENTRIES #9 (Jon Robertson) /// Jon needs to consider firing his narrator. Another good episode, this one genuinely funny, but again a little short. Sentries #9: Type 2, 6.25 cheerleaders Matt: 6 Mason: 7 Rick: 6 Jon: 6 /// FORTUNATE FORCE #1 (Ben Rawluk) /// There's the potential for something amusing here, but it's buried a very, very, very long way down. Characterization is nonexistent, situations occur with no reason and no explanation, we have no idea who any of these people are or why we should care about them, and the villains come right out of nowhere with no explanation whatsoever. I think Ben can do better if he gets his act together--some of the elements for a genuinely funny series are recognizable here. This episode, however, is roundly awful. Fortunate Force 1: Type 2, 1.75 bricks Matt: 1 Mason: 3 Rick: 1 Jon: 2 /// SPOTLIGHT ON: SUSAN (#10) (Chris Angelini) /// Whoo. Chris is very disturbing when he wants to be, and apparently he wants to be here. Genuinely disconcerting issue, and the reader is left with NO idea what the heck is going to happen next. Hopefully, this one will continue soon. Spotlight On: Susan (#10): Type 5, 7.50 fangs Matt: 8 Mason: 7 Rick: 8 Jon: 7 /// TASK FORCE AURORA #8 (Chris Angelini) /// A parody of every space-based show in existence, mixed with a bit of advancement of the main plot; highly amusing. Task Force Aurora #8: Type 2, 7.00 BEMs Matt: 7 Mason: 7 Rick: 7 Jon: 7 /// JACKSON SIX #3 (Roger Christman) /// Nice to finally learn what the actual plot is. The humor's picking up as well, while maintaining the series' different feel. Jackson Six #3: Type 3, 7.00 fine wines Matt:7 Mason: 7 Jon: 7 /// SUPER SEVEN #33 (Greg Fishbone) /// A really hilarious fight sequence between the Supreme Warlord and.... a whole lot of very strange people. You have to read it to understand. Hilarious. Super Seven #33: Type 2, 7.50 very, VERY badly timed EM pulses Matt: 8 Mason: 8 Rick: 7 Jon: 7 /// TEAM M.E.C.H.A. #61 (Chris Meadows) /// Farm boomers. Yes, farm boomers. More prelude to the Grand Tour, and a fight scene with the aforementioned genuinely amusing set of robots. Nice job with Link and Sally's characterization. Team M.E.C.H.A. #61: Type 3, 7.00 lethal farming implements Matt: 7 Rick: 7 Jon: 7 /// TEAM M.E.C.H.A. JOURNAL #6 (Chris Meadows) /// More talk, more angst, and more loose ends getting tied up in a generally enjoyable fashion. The trap Dog sets for Spectrum is a bit obvious, but it works. __ Team M.E.C.H.A. Journal #6: Type 4, 6.66 cute holographic devils' advocates Matt: 7 Rick: 7 Jon: 6 -- Matthew Gerber mbg84022@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~mbg84022/