m postmaster@awenet.com Thu Jun 15 22:43:13 1995 Received: from vuse.vuse.vanderbilt.edu by marimba.cellbio.duke.edu via SMTP (920330.SGI/920502.SGI) for merlin id AA28697; Thu, 15 Jun 95 22:43:13 -0400 Received: from awenet.com by vuse.vanderbilt.edu (8.6.12/SMI-4.1/VUSE-1.15) id VAA09333; Thu, 15 Jun 1995 21:43:02 -0500 Received: from pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (132.170.243.2) by awenet.com with SMTP (MailShare 1.0fc6); Thu, 15 Jun 1995 19:36:12 -0700 Received: by pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Smail3.1.29.1 #7) id m0sMRGy-0001xsC; Thu, 15 Jun 95 22:36 EDT Message-Id: Date: Thu, 15 Jun 95 22:36 EDT X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 2.0.3 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: superchat@awenet.com Reply-To: superchat@awenet.com Errors-To: postmaster@awenet.com Precedence: bulk From: ind00597@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (Matthew Gerber) Subject: 000REVIEWS Status: RO Spoilers for the following titles: Nifty Gadget Man #2 Spotlight on... Big Behn/House of Murphy (#5) Spotlight on... Team Ottawa (#6) Task Force Aurora #4 Legion of Stuperheros: Year Two #1 Rush #1 Spotlight on... Sweet Dreams (#7) Weird Society #2 Irregulars #2 Weird Society #3 Adventures of Force Ten #9 The spoiler warning is now serious, I'm synopsizing as well as reviewing this time around (and probably will be from now on). 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 1: Very Poor 2: Poor 3: Good 4: Excellent 5: Exceptional (and fairly rare) /// NIFTY GADGET MAN #2 (Kenneth Cooney) /// Political rally, a politician makes a speech, Nifty Gadget Man sees the two Elvises, oohs and aahs for awhile, and then ends up deciding to stop one from killing the other. There's some comfort in the fact that this series isn't a recent effort of Ken's, but it's the only comfort to be had here. Neither the mechanics nor the plot have improved since #1; in fact, they seem to have gotten worse. I know Ken is better than this, and I really hope he starts showing it. Nifty Gadget Man #2: TYPE: 2 RATING: 1 Harley Hotel /// SPOTLIGHT ON... BIG BEHN/HOUSE OF MURPHY (#5) (Chris Angelini) /// This is a split issue, and I'm going to rate it as such, but my comments are similar for both sections. In part 1, Big Behn, now trapped as a hologram, has some extremely well done angst. In part 2, Murphy makes a poor shmuck's life living heck for a day. Somehow, Chris manages to be both extremely funny and somewhat disturbing here. If you haven't started reading his stuff, particularly since the Tribe of Behn's later arcs, you're missing quite a bit. Spotlight #5 [Big Behn]: TYPE: 4 RATING: 4 bitter holograms Spotlight #5 [House of Murphy]: TYPE: 3 RATING: 4 shredded credit cards /// SPOTLIGHT ON... TEAM OTTAWA (#6) (Chris Angelini) /// Team Ottawa was SUPPOSED to head to a casino and bond after arriving at either the Demonia battle or the Liftmaster fiasco (I'm not certain which) too late to do anything about it, but apparently Dimwater's somewhere he isn't supposed to be (REALLY isn't supposed to be, as in, Frobozz doesn't want him there) so it ends up being a fight issue. The Harold Dimwater subplot is now not only weird, it's _officially_ weird. Amusing, though, as is the rest of this issue (but I tend to enjoy Authorial appearances in general, so YMMV). Spotlight #6: TYPE: 2 RATING: 4 pulsing crystal something or others /// TASK FORCE AURORA #4 (Chris Angelini) /// The Prime Minister decides to split control of Aurora between Treis and Anaesthetic, a Very Bad Thing (at least as far as Treis is concerned). Meanwhile, Rea and MacDonnel are investigating the Windsor casino with their usual, um, style. Oh, and we find out that the political situation in Canada looks a lot like the one in the USA. Hilarious as usual, and the characters are meshing better and better; this is becoming one of my favorite series _very_ quickly. Task Force Aurora #4: TYPE: 2 RATING: 4 armored combat mecha air bags /// LEGION OF STUPERHEROS: YEAR TWO #1 (Kenneth Cooney) /// Sigh. Ken, _please_ bring back Mind Trekker. What's left of the Legion of Stuperheroes goes through some home life, and Redundant Man returns again for the second time. It's better than Nifty Gadget Man, at least--in fact, it's much better than Nifty Gadget Man; Redundant Man is actually funny. Still, I'd really, really, _really_ rather have Mind Trekker back. Legion Of Stuperheroes #1: TYPE: 1 RATING: 3 professional door openers /// RUSH #1 (Rick Rechowicz) /// It's those darn pesky Origin Lightning Bolts again, and this time apparently they get one speedster and someone else whose powers we don't know yet (unless it's just the power to have glass embedded in his skull). Nice origin--half-origin, really, as this is obviously the setup to an arc. Absolutely terrific characterization. There are a few noticeable similarities to other series and characters, but I'm guessing these will be differentiated, at least after the origin arc. (There are, after all, only so many ways you can homage The Flash.) An excellent first issue and I'm looking forward to seeing more of this one. Rush #1: TYPE: 3 RATING: 4 random (yeah right) lightning bolts /// SPOTLIGHT ON... SWEET DREAMS (#7) (Chris Angelini) /// Three characters with dream-related powers decide to take on the Boogeyman on his current home turf--the Dreaming. Chris' _fourth_ entry in this roundup is probably his best; a great read with wonderful characterization, again successfully combining the humorous with the disturbing. I'd like to see more of this little group, even if they already _have_ toasted their arch enemy. Spotlight #7: TYPE: 4 RATING: 4 miniguns /// WEIRD SOCIETY #2 (Renee Perry) /// The Weird Society discovers the Mask Principle. That's basically it. I think the series is showing signs of improvement, but it still needs a little work, and something needs to _happen_.... Weird Society #2: TYPE: 2 RATING: 2 makeup kits /// IRREGULARS #2 (Chris Meadows) /// The Irregulars try to stop a robbery, and actually _succeed_. Well, sorta. :) I still don't like the acronym, but this one is even funnier than the first one, particularly a certain scene involving Amana Man.... I'm really looking forward to #3 now. Irregulars #2: TYPE: 2 RATING: 4 plummeting washing machines /// WEIRD SOCIETY #3 (Renee Perry) /// The Weird Society versus The Substitute Teachers From Heck. Well, something's finally _happening_, and things are improving still more. Mechanics still need a little work, though (at least one switch from third person to first person in the middle of a sentence....) Weird Society #3: TYPE: 2 RATING: 3 evil substitute teachers /// ADVENTURES OF FORCE TEN #9 (Jesse Taylor) /// Roger is back, Force Ten starts putting what's left of itself back together, we get some G.E.N.U.H.M. foreshadowing, and Fractalman gets a potential romantic link. Force Ten is back. And it's as wonderfully incomprehensible as usual. I'm happy. Adventures Of Force Ten #9: TYPE: 2 RATING: 4 shadowy megacorporations Matthew Gerber ind00597@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ind00597/