Category Archives: Comic Reviews

Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe, Transformers: Generation 2

G.i. JOE #141: A POUND OF FLESH

Leave a comment

This somewhat uninspiring cover welcomes us to the latest issue of G.I. Joe and the penultimate chapter in the Transformers crossover leading up to the launch of the Generation 2 comic. William Rosado and Chris Wallace’s poorly coloured foreground distracts from the silhouette of Megatron in the background holding a captured Dr. Biggles-Jones. Not that we can tell who she is.

Unfortunately, in general the art for Sucker Punch inside isn’t the best I’ve seen in G.I. Joe over the years, or even in these few issues. In particular Megatron suffers from a lack of detail, the end result coming across like the artists just aren’t comfortable with Transformers at all. At some points he looks more like a Go-Bot than a Cybertronian, which is a real shame as his was one of the few really good G2 toys produced by Hasbro.

Written by Larry Hama (who else), this chapter is pencilled by Steven Leiber (Whiteout, Hawkman, Gotham Central) and William Rosado (The New Titans, Green Arrow, Iron Man of 2020), inked by Scott Moulter (a search for comics he’s worked on only brings up this issue) and Chip Wallace whose inking in previous issues has been great, and coloured by Bob Sharen and lettered by Rick Parker, both regulars on the series.

Among the 11 pages of adverts (nearly a third of the comic, normal for Marvel) there’s a strip in there somewhere too and we find out part of Cobra Commander and Megatron’s deal is the handing over of Dr. Biggles-Jones to the Decepticon leader for transport back to Cybertron. Her mastery of advanced weaponry and inventions impressed Megatron so much he saw the potential of letting her loose on Cybertronian tech, just as we saw her excited by the prospect last time.

“The Protoplasm Stripper is just the thing for hacking away all of that excess tissue!!”

Megatron

We also see Biggles-Jones continue to demand Scarlett admit she’s working undercover for the enemy, despite defending her against such accusations from Slice and Dice. Clearly the doctor knew they’d kill Scarlett if their hunches were proved right, which begs the question what have Biggles-Jones’ intentions been all along? Also, did anyone fall for the elaborate ruse?! It appears not. Snake Eyes watches on, ready to pounce to protect his love, but he and his men soon find themselves on a neighbouring rooftop against Cobra Night-Creepers, leaving the two women locked in their potentially deadly conversation.

As you can see, Cobra Commander is still going through his eating-a-thesaurus-for-breakfast phase, so much so that Larry has even included a little translation caption for us. Less successful is how Megatron is presented. Especially after the amazing work in the previous issues where he had real-world weight and scope, where he felt like a real threat. The previous months really spoiled us, it would seem.

See past the art though and the revelation of what will happen to Dr. Biggles-Jones is a shock and a few pages later (after some fighting in the sewers and on rooftops between the male Joes and Cobra), the more interesting story returns just after Biggles-Jones has told Scarlett some big revelation. Before we can find out what it is a huge robotic hand smashes through the window (and half the wall I presume) and takes her away.

I do hope we get the answer to what this conversation was about before the end of next month’s issue because that’s when the blog will be heading off in the direction of the actual Transformers: Generation 2 comic, leaving any unresolved G.I. Joe arcs for me to discover when I finally take delivery of the complete Marvel run in the Skybound box set next year.

Over the next few pages the action ramps up as the leader of the Night-Creepers, angry at Snake Eyes sitting zen-like on the roof instead of fighting him, slowly realises what he’s up against. Scarlett makes her escape in a moment of karma for Dice that was particularly satisfying to see after the last couple of issues, before she tells everyone that he was actually right while she makes her way, no-holds-barred, towards The Ark. Then her lover equally puts an end to things.

There are some other scenes here too, such as the rest of the Ninja Force leaving Snake to go and rescue other Joe teams in the sewers and on the streets, Dr. Mindbender’s continued recovery and Hawk sending Storm Shadow and Spirit back into the town to retrieve Snake Eyes after the former enemy refuses to follow orders to leave. But overall this chapter is very light on story.

This is not a complaint. Thanks to the previous chapter telling a good story this is a welcome action-filled issue with each of these incredibly well-written characters bouncing off each other. The action is pretty much non-stop. I only wish the previous art team had been responsible for bringing it to the page. The one plot that does get advanced is that between Scarlett, Biggles-Jones and Megatron.

The fact Scarlett is ready to go up against Megatron is a much bigger shock ending than any of the grander scale cliffhangers

The final double-page spread has Snake Eyes finally breach the hospital to rescue Scarlett, only to find she’s already escaped. Making light work of those that wished her harm he soon finds himself trapped against overwhelming odds, but the cliffhanger is the more entertaining moment. Clearly, whatever Biggles-Jones told Scarlett was important enough for her to… well, see below.

Now there’s a match up I can’t wait to see! Showing the resolve of the character, the fact Scarlett is ready to go up against Megatron is a much bigger shock ending than any of the grander scale cliffhangers. Vastly out-matched, does she have a plan? Is anger clouding her judgement? Just what was she told?! Next month’s issue is highly anticipated and we’re actually in for a double dose of excitement in September. Why? Take a closer look at the next page.

The Marvel Comics Bullpen Bulletins were identical across all of their titles every month, often containing news or views the company wanted to share with their readers across the board. At the bottom there’s also the Hypeline, a comics checklist which is described as showing what’s on sale that week, but it’s actually showing us what’s going to be on sale the week of the following issue. You’ll notice two certain comics right beside each other.

That’s right, the next G.I. Joe and the first Transformers: Generation 2 went on sale on the same day, so you’ll see both reviews on the same day here too. I’m glad, given the agonising wait there’ll be after this issue. Among the comedic commentary it’s also nice to see Marvel’s executive editor, the late Mark Gruenwald and I agree on comics being created to be read rather than collected for monetary value and never opened.

At the back of the issue is the Postbox: The Pit letters page and this is the first time we’ve seen it over these few months. You can see that the same ‘issues’ (female readers, cover price) that plague dark corners of social media today (where certain ‘people’ try to use these topics to justify their hatred or piracy) were being brought up even back then. At least the former of the two topics wasn’t a complaint at the time. What surprised me was that everyone’s address is printed! A way for fans to reach out for new pen pals at the time? Defintiely couldn’t do that today thanks to those same dark corners of the web.

Some disappointing art aside this has been an action-packed addition to the story, with just enough plot progression to make me eager for the final chapter. The mystery between Scarlett and Biggles-Jones in particular, not to mention Scarlett’s solo standing up to the might of a Deception, have me counting the days. I just hope we get to see some resolution, although with the predicament the doctor is in with Megatron I’m coinfident we’ll get an ending one way or the other.

But what kind of ending? That’s the question. That’s what’s made me impatient, but wait I must. Not for too long though, and with both G.I. Joe #142 and of course Transformers: Generation 2 #1 on the same day the wait will be doubly worth the wait. It’s all been building to Sunday 29th September 2024. Be here for the beginning of a most hotly anticipated sequel.

iSSUE 140 < > iSSUE 142

TRANSFORMERS: GENERATiON 2 MENU

MAiN TRANSFORMERS PAGE

Aliens, Comic Reviews

ALiENS #3: GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU BiTCH!

Leave a comment

Beginning with another Paul Johnson cover, the third issue of Dark Horse International’s first (and ultimately flagship) comic really settles into its format this month with a whopping four strips and well written features across its 52 pages. Aliens is a meaty read and even for the time it was great value for £1.50. I’ve so many issues remaining but already I’m really glad I chose to cover this in real time on the blog.

So, inside the first strip is part two of Newt’s Tale, Mike Richardson’s retelling of the film from the young girl’s perspective. Over its 13 pages there are some genuinely shocking moments that, with hindsight, really seem to add to the character so brilliantly portrayed by Carrie Henn (amazingly, her first acting role) and the haunted child that first appeared to Ripley and the marines. 

In a secured bunker the colonists shelter in hiding from the creatures that have appeared out of nowhere, seemingly not piecing together they’ve come from the thing that had attached itself to Newt’s dad’s face. Of course, the reader knows that alien was the queen Ripley would ultimately face. We see Newt’s mum and brother Timmy here also, her mum Annie convincing someone to give her a gun and she stays awake all night as the kids rest.

Banging noises from outside suddenly occur and arguments begin. We know what’s out there but the colonists have lost contact with their men sent to the nest to exterminate the creatures, thinking they’d easily outnumber them and just set it alight, not knowing what the aliens are actually capable of. In a moment deliberately intended to frustrate the reader we see two sides argue over opening the door. It’s frustrating because we know which side will win, that their self-imposed macho superiority will lead to disaster for everyone, including all of the children.

But there’s no reasoning with them and as soon as we turn the page they’re overrun in seconds. This page (pencils by Jim Somerville, inks by Brian Garvey, colours by Gregory Wright, letters by Pat Brosseau) is so much better than the overly cartoonish chest burster scene last time, but it’s only the beginning of the horrors over the next few pages. Such as Annie telling her children she’s sorry before aiming her gun at Timmy!

Clearly she sees what’s happening around her and, as heartbreaking and terrifying as the moment is for her, at least it would be instant and they wouldn’t suffer at the hands of the aliens. It’s only a few panels but it hits hard. Newt begs her not to and instead they make a run for the ventilation shafts where we’ve previously seen the kids playing. They know where they lead; they can escape.

To see it played out, even if it is in comic form rather than celluloid brings the cold, harsh reality of it to bear

Timmy and Newt are bundled inside just before Annie is grabbed from behind and a curtain of blood pours down in front of the shaft entrance a few feet from the kids. The most shocking moment of all sees Timmy jump out and pick up Annie’s gun, shouting that he’ll save his mummy. He shoots the alien, its acid blood squirting over his face and blinding him. But as if that wasn’t enough for the small child, he’s killed right in front of Newt, and this is where the chapter ends.

Of course we already knew Newt would end up being the only survivor, we knew all of the mums and dads and their children died, but it all happened off screen. To see it played out, even if it is in comic form rather than celluloid brings the cold, harsh reality of it to bear. After this part of the story it’s gone from being an interesting curiosity to the best strip of the comic.

The middle pages might initially feel like a strange place to have a back up strip, but that’s where Mark Verheiden’s Predator: Cold War tale is, sandwiched between the two Aliens stories and, while I don’t really understand a lot of what’s going on in its 12 pages, I’m still enjoying it and am eager to learn more about these particular extra-terrestrials. As Lt. Ligachev makes her way back to Siberia the aliens are preparing for another hunt at the oil pumping station.

As you can see there are pages set on board their spacecraft somewhere in the frozen wastes (pencils by Ron Randall, inks by Steve Mitchell, colours by Chris Chalenor and Rachelle Menashe, letters by Clem Robins) and while Ligachev’s internal narration of what she’s about to face again is well written, I’m pretty lost when it comes to the images. What is that disc-shaped object it’s taken from the walls and why is it discarded like that? This would probably makes sense if I’d seen the film of course.

As I’ve said before I’ll be doing so this Hallowe’en so I’ll assume (hopefully correctly) that this is all self-explanatory to Predator fans. I look forward to finding out for myself though, and the air of mystery around these creatures while I read only acts to heighten my interest. So please, as much as you might think explaining it would help, let me discover it for myself (the spooky season isn’t far off anyway).

The attack has begun and the first victim is a dog, which lures in one of the men, who then sees the aliens and makes a desperate run back to his colleagues, giving away the location of everyone else. The way they move through the complex and dispose of anyone in their path is chilling, even with the still images of a comic it’s clear to me they’re doing it for sport, for recreation, and there are some brutal moments.

Instead of running for safety, some of the men grab shotguns in an attempt to slow down the attackers. They know they’re no match for them, they know they’re alien and can’t be stopped, but they also know Ligachev is on her way and their last desperate gambit is to hold them off until their reinforcements arrive. But the first thing they come across is a load of their men strung up by their feet, blood pouring out from the gaping holes where their heads used to be.

Upon seeing it, one of them comments, “What kind of hell is this?” After a few more pages of gruesome killings, one man at a time, we arrive at the final moments of the strip and one of the Predators repeats back the very same line as the man’s torso slides down its spear. All dead, the Predators lie in wait for Ligachev and her military might. It’s atmospheric, I’ll give it that, and as an introduction to these creatures it works. I’m just impatient to see more of the interesting lead character, so I’m looking forward to the next issue.

The other main Aliens strip is the third chapter of Jerry Prosser’s Hive, originally the main story in the first issue. Mayakovsky and Lish send Norbert (the alien synthetic) and their poor dog, Max down to the surface of the planet where they find the aliens around the hive are sleeping! Max soon finds another lander ship with humans and it’s surrounded by more sleeping aliens who appear to have nodded off mid-attack.

Is it wrong of me to kind of love Norbert? I mean, he’s still programmed to act like a proper alien as you’ll soon see, but to see this frightening beast looking after Max and reporting back is genuinely funny without ever breaking the illusion of the universe created by the films. However, over the next two pages that affection soon disappears as his programming takes over with some horrific results, as drawn by Kelly Jones with Les Dorscheid’s colours and Clem’s letters.

It appears these humans (hinted at last time) have used something called “infrasonic suppression” to put the xenomorphs into a deep state of hibernation while they collected the slime our lead characters have also come for. Mayakovsky is rather jealous of their idea; it could’ve saved him a lot of time and money in developing XL1 (Norbert). But as Norbert tracks down and kills all of the crew one-by-one, part of the ship’s computer systems becomes damaged, and you just know what that part controlled, don’t you?

Yep, the aliens are now awake and have surrounded the ship. Will they realise Norbert is a synth? After all, in the films it’s established they won’t attack a synthetic human unless they’re attacked first, that they know the difference. Surely they’ll see through this? Anyway, the chapter ends with a worrying development for Max. Given Norbert’s goodbye, I don’t know if I want to see what happens next!

At the very back of the issue is the next instalment of the strange little Alien Vs Predator strip I mentioned in #1 of Alien³ (actually, it’s called Alien Vs Predator II, so I must’ve missed the original in the first volume of the comic). The strip was written in two-page chunks for Dark Horse Insider magazine in the US and ran for 14 issues. It’s written by Dark Horse co-founder Randy Stradley (Marvel Star Wars, Crimson Empire, Jedi Council) and illustrated by Chris Warner (Terminator, Alien Legion, co-creator of Barb Wire).

As you can see there’s not a lot of story to tell in two pages but by the end it’ll have lasted for 28 pages in total so we’ll see if it develops beyond a long battle between the two alien species. As I said in the review for #1 of Alien³ these two franchises hadn’t met yet on film, so this could’ve been exciting for fans of both in 1992. This will take until next summer to complete so I’m hoping there’s scope over that time for more depth.

There are the usual plethora of features in this issue including news and the Technical Readout section, the latter also containing this spread about synthetic humans, a key part of the Alien universe. There was an interview with Lance Henrikson in that one issue I bought as a teenager and I remember being disappointed that he didn’t mention the Super Mario Bros movie he was in for all of five seconds. As if he would! (No pictures of Ash from the first film though, which is a shame.)

The beginning of the Alien³ video had an exciting trailer for Alien War, a place in London where fans could experience the terror of the second film by being led through an area by Colonial Marines while being stalked by a giant xenomorph. It actually began life in Glasgow and it’s this original setting that gets its own feature in this issue. I always thought the trailer looked fantastic and would’ve given anything to have gone with my like-minded friends but alas these things just never came to Northern Ireland at the time.

At the back of the comic underneath the letters page is the latest comics checklist and the first non-Aliens title from DHI was about to launch at the end of September. Featuring an Indiana Jones back up strip (because of George Lucas’ connection), Star Wars #1 surely couldn’t miss, right? Thing is, it’s not mentioned in any of the checklists or adverts in Jurassic Park which launched the following year, so it mustn’t have lasted long, which is surprising.

Upon checking I can confirm it only lasted ten months and was abruptly cancelled even though it advertised the next issue and #11 appeared in the checklists. It’s another franchise (alongside Predator) that I haven’t really seen (I know – unforgivable!) so until I do I doubt I’ll collect this particular DHI comic, but it’s good to see them expanding already by this point in this read through, and I can’t wait to see what else they released that I might bring to the blog.

(Actually, I already have a completed set of one of their other comics! That’ll start in January 2025 and I’ll leave its name a mystery for just a bit longer.)

Three issues down and plenty to go. This comic is already pretty incredible, it’s going to be a great read through if it keeps on improving as it has already from one month to the next. Aside from the crossover strip I’m eager for the next chapter of all the stories, there’s not one of the three main stories that I’d say is a weak link. A great selection of extras too this month. Aliens #4 will be reviewed on Tuesday 24th September 2024, but before then is both #2 (Monday 26th August) and #3 (Monday 16th September) of Alien³! A busy month ahead. Bring it.

ALiEN³ iSSUE 1 < > ALiEN³ iSSUE 2

ALiENS MENU

Comic Reviews, OiNK Contributors

DAViD LEACH CONQUERS THE UNiVERSE #3: DO YOU EXPECT ME TO TALK (AND TALK)?

2 Comments

Did you know OiNK cartoonist David Leach is also a secret agent who has saved us from Godzilla-like monsters and Predator-like alien invasions? Well, if you didn’t pick up the first two issues of his occasional comic series David Leach Conquers the Universe now you know! It’s been a long time coming (#2 was released seven years ago) but #3 has finally arrived and is available now for all pig pals to buy.

In his four-issue series David’s character is self-deprecating, sarcastic and skilled at annoying the baddies with his endless patter, all the while being a hilarious spoof of action movie stars. This issue moves into familiar James Bond territory with a villain who has a suitably outlandish scheme, living in a secret lair with a band of minions (in this case a faceless robotic army). We even get a brilliantly funny ‘Q’-type scene in which he picks the most useless piece of tech imaginable, one which you instantly know is setting up a very specific pun for later in the issue, making the pay off even more satisfying (and hilarious).

As in the previous issues we get strange interludes of some people bent over a tabletop role-playing game who seemingly control the scenarios in which David finds himself. His reference to the mysterious “They” shows us he’s clearly aware of some higher power but it always comes across as conspiratorial, leading to ridicule from his family in a great opening scene where he’s hired for a new top secret job right in front of them.

My favourite moment is when he’s reminded about how he’s meant to keep a low profile in his role as a secret agent for M.A.R.S. (not Destro’s organisation in G.I. Joe, the acronym here is much better) before being lectured about appearing on Come Dine With Me, something the real David actually did back in 2013! I nearly bust a gut laughing at this moment.

I won’t give too much away here about the villain, his profession or his overall plan because it’s one of the highlights of the issue. What I will say is, after Godzilla and Predator, David clearly had his eyes on the Bond franchise next and as a fan of those films I can say he does not disappoint! Having met already, a later scene has our sort-of-hero notice something different about the man who now holds him at gunpoint.

The character of David here has an innate ability to talk. In fact, very often throughout the series his mouth gets him into all sorts of trouble because he doesn’t seem to have a brain-mouth filter. Just how much of the fictional David is based on the real-life one? I couldn’t possibly answer that, but you do come away with the impression that he’s having a good laugh at himself throughout these comics.

There are so many hilarious moments here and it’s so difficult not to tell you about more of them because they’re that good! It’s a catch-22 situation of course; I want to tell you more about the contents so you know just how brilliantly funny it is and you’ll want to buy it, but if I do so it’d ruin those moments for you and you wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I did. Plus, this is David’s job, for which he deserves to be paid for his work and at a measly £4.99 this is a bargain for the amount of laughs you’ll get in return.

Not only was I delighted to see a third issue after I’d assumed there’d be no more, the addition of the new ‘#3 in a four-issue series’ banner on the cover shows there’s another on the horizon. With said banner and the open ending (the panel below is not it) I do hope this means David has already begun working on it and we won’t have to wait as long for the conclusion.

Why have I reviewed the third issue first? Simple, because it’s new and, while I will be adding older comics released by OiNK’s cartoonists as the blog continues, any new releases will get covered straight away. No, you don’t need to have read the first two issues of David Leach Conquers the Universe to enjoy this one, but they’re all so good why wouldn’t you?

Published by Aylesbury comics shop Dead Universe Comics their website is down at the time of writing but it’s easy to order by phone. They’ll be happy to take your order on 07852 836307 and for £4.99 you’re going to get 36 pages chock full of brilliant art and even better laughs.

GO TO iSSUE FOUR

OiNK CONTRiBUTORS’ RELEASES MENU

OiNK CONTRiBUTORS MENU

MAiN OiNK MENU

Alien³, Comic Reviews

ALiEN³ MOViE SPECiAL #1: THiS iS RUMOUR CONTROL

Leave a comment

While it may say ‘Monthly’ in the Dark Horse International border on the cover, the three issues of the Alien³ Movie Special were released every three weeks (bit of a pattern there) like the earlier editions of Jurassic Park would be the following year when it was also publishing its movie adaptation. Instead of being printed as part of their regular Aliens comic, DHI decided to release this adaptation separately and include a wealth of fascinating extras.

What I instantly like as I flick through the issue is the fact that the free poster is actually free! It’s separate from the rest of the comic and isn’t just the middle pages. (I’m looking at you The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Doctor Who Magazine.) It’s not the image you’d expect it to be from the cover but it’s still a cracker and on the gloss paper it really sizzles.

The comic’s cover is taken straight from their American publication rather than being an original like their monthly and it’s by Arthur Suydam (Marvel Zombies, Deadpool, Moon Knight). Inside, the editorial by Dick Hansom welcomes us to both this limited run comic and DHI as a whole, promising many more titles to come over the years. Of course, DHI would close down in 1994 but I love their ambition. While I hadn’t really discovered James Bond for myself at the time, that definitely would’ve been one for the blog if they’d gotten around to bringing it over.

There’s an interesting feature right off the bat written by the main title’s regular features writer Dave Hughes. 20 Things You Should Know About Alien³ is a smorgasbord of little tidbits about the film which was still 16 days away from its UK release date. What you as blog readers should know is that I’m a big fan of Alien³, even more so today than at the time.

I always enjoyed it and thought it made for an original contribution to the series, making the first three films very different from each other. Some friends weren’t as crash-hot on it though. However, since then the Collector’s Edition has been released and to me it raises Alien³ up to an equal footing alongside the first two classics. In it there’s a lot more story, a lot more to the alien itself and some of the characters we only saw a little of are now central to the plot. In the case of Golic, (played by Eighth Doctor Paul McGann) he went from being a background player to being a main lead and central to the more complex plot.

So it’s interesting to see there were more creatures due to be featured at one point, including a bigger, armoured version of the facehugger and there’s mention of the ‘ox-burster’ being replaced by the ‘dog-burster’. This was switched back again for the Collector’s Edition, which altogether is much closer to David Fincher‘s original vision for the film. Point four above hints at the chaos in pre-production (pre-Fincher) and you can read more about that in the review for Aliens #1.

Point 13 stands out as well to me, both that the film wasn’t trashed across the board and also what it says about American fans. According to Dave, of course. 

So now we move on to what is essentially the main event, the 25 pages of strip that make up the first part of the comics adaptation. For those new to the blog I’ll quickly explain I’m not usually a fan of movie adaptations, ever since being disappointed with them in childhood. However, since writing the blog I’ve seen some which definitely start off well and have potential to be really good (so I’ll always give them a chance), but ultimately they’ve fallen apart because there’s so much to cram in.

That’s the main issue here. There are only three chapters, one less than Jurassic Park was given, so within these 25 pages we’re already a third of the way through the film! As such it rockets along and leaves everything I love about the film (the atmosphere, the characterisations, the unique portrayals, the mystery, the plot development) behind in order to simply copy and paste passages from the script into speech balloons and accompany them with something looking vaguely like what we saw on the screen. There doesn’t seem to be any proper attempt to adapt this adaptation for a different medium.

Strangely, it starts off by showing us Ripley being impregnated by the symbiote after Newt dies in her cryo tube. In the film this scene was presented as quick-cut moments between the credits so we didn’t know what was really going on. We knew there was something wrong but the scene later when the alien doesn’t kill Ripley was a surprise and the audience could start putting two-and-two together, but here it’s all laid out for us before anyone in the UK would’ve seen the film.

Another issue is the art pencilled by Christopher Taylor (Old Man Quill, Hulk, Blood Pack), inked by Rick Magyar (Captain America, Deathlok, Rom), coloured by Matt Webb (Spider-Girl, Adventures of The Mask, Fish Police) and lettered by Jim Massara (Transformers, The Real Ghostbusters, Droopy). I do like how it’s all framed in black, giving it an overall darker feel, possibly trying to mimic that atmosphere, but no one resembles their on screen actor in any way, not even Ripley. It also doesn’t help that all of the bald white men look identical here. There’s just no way of following who is who, who they’re talking to, or what’s happening to whom.

Moments that were jump scares in the film just don’t work and a lack of narrative captions doesn’t help either, so scene changes are very jarring, especially when they involve the same characters. Even for someone who has seen the film countless times this is a very confusing read. Unfortunately, script-wise it’s a very by-the-book strip by writer Steve Grant (The Punisher, X, Whisper). I don’t envy his task (as Don McGregor told us in The Lost World: Jurassic Park comic it’s ludicrously difficult to adapt a movie to the medium) but the end result feels even more rushed than most.

Take this scene above. When you first turn the page it certainly catches the eye, that’s for sure. But it’s only from watching the film so many, many times that I know what the characters are doing, why they’re lighting candles (even that isn’t obvious), or what happens in the sequence that sees one of them killed and has the other two running in circles trying to escape in sheer panic. In the film this is a terrifying scene, expertly directed and lit by nothing more than tiny flames.

The latter part of the comic houses more features by Dave, beginning with a look at the complex back and forth between the movie and UK model company Halcyon. I didn’t think I’d find this interesting but it really is, especially when founder Barry Jones admits their model of the alien itself isn’t accurate due to changes made during production of the film. They kept the model as it was because in a stationary pose it just didn’t look right with the changes, while it looked excellent in the film.

Unfortunately for readers at the time it’s a bit spoiler-heavy. Could they not have kept some of these details back at least until the film was released here? Then again, the fate of Newt and Hicks was already in the strip the reader would’ve just read. What’s most interesting is the fact that there was no definitive chest-burster alien to draw from before now, that Alien³ was the first time we actually saw one in its entirety.

“To me, the alien wasn’t just a monster, it was a character”

David Fincher, director Alien³

After that is a strange little two-page black-and-white Aliens vs Predator strip involving no more than three panels and a splash page that tells us the predators are responsible for spreading the aliens throughout the galaxy. It’s to continue across both Alien³ and the monthly Aliens so I’m sure I’ll show you a more interesting bit at some stage. After this is the best feature of the issue, called Trouble Comes in ³s, again by Dave.

Thankfully he moves beyond the heavily publicised pre-production problems and instead concentrates on the actual production of the film. Again, as great as it is I can’t help but feel it should’ve been held back for at least the second issue. Okay, so I don’t know yet what that one will contain but this is very spoiler heavy for any comic fans reading before watching the film.

Even the ending is given away! I do like how the feature praises first-time director David Fincher, who was unfairly maligned for problems the film faced even though they were beyond his control. What he did produce was great, and that newer version of the film in particular is testament to that. 

There’s mention too of the more complex story involving the capture and release of the alien by Paul McGann’s character, all of which was excised in the original cut before being placed back in over a decade later. The article also works as a fascinating look at the beginning of what would be an incredible directing career. Finally, effects technician Chris Halls is a name you’ll see more of on the blog as he’s the artist of some stunning covers for the UK comic to come. 

The issue ends with a brief one-page feature I won’t include because it’s a very quick interview with an incredibly arrogant British special effects supervisor who boasts about how his team made life awkward for the Americans working on the film and he does nothing but slag off (that’s the best way to describe it) the script. Not what I’d include in the comic when it completely relies on said film.

Out of the 48 pages in total the 23 that don’t contain comic strip are by far the best and as a fan of the movie I’ve found them fascinating, not only for the information on the film they contain but for how this eagerly anticipated sequel was covered at the time. As such, I look forward to more of those pages in three weeks when #2 of the Alien³ Movie Special leaps from the shadows and on to the blog on Monday 26th August 2024, and before that on Tuesday 20th August remember to check in on Aliens #3 too.

ALiENS iSSUE 2 < > ALiENS iSSUE 3

ALiENS MENU

Comic Reviews, Death's Head

DEATH’S HEAD #10: A STARK ENDiNG

Leave a comment

It’s been such a fun ride but all good things must come to an end (to use two clichés) and this is the final issue of Marvel UK’s Death’s Head, which came to an exciting end on this day 35 years ago when he clashed with Arno Stark, the Iron Man of (the then-futuristic year of) 2020. The cover is by regulars Bryan Hitch and Mark Farmer, but for the strip itself Bryan goes it alone, with Euan Peters (Knights of Pendragon, Action Force, Transformers colourist/designer/editor) colouring behind Annie Halfacree’s letters, with Steve White editing and Simon Furman bringing it all to an end.

Not that the story reads like an ending. Strangely, even though the final issues of both Dragon’s Claws and Death’s Head were flagged as such in the editorial pages of Transformers, neither of their last editions actually said so, although with hindsight it’s clear the editorial team knew. While the Head Lines page still includes the “Subscribe Now!” banner it’s followed by a glimpse of Death’s Head crossing back over into Fantastic Four after they’d appeared in #9. It’s clear this is telling us where we can see him now that his comic is over, but at the time it could easily be mistaken for a regular plug for a crossover before #11.

Now trapped in 2020 (what a year to be sent to!) Death’s Head is making the most of things and business is good. In fact, in a turn up for the books, for once the far future dystopian time of the comic (8162) actually has less crime than 2020 according to our main character. So he can afford to be choosy. As such, he’s suspicious about his latest client. But first, let’s check in on our special guest.

Both of Iron Man of 2020’s stories so far were selected as back up strips in Marvel UK’s Transformers comic

So who is the Iron Man of 2020? Arno Stark may have inherited Stark Industries but he’s no hero. Instead, he uses the suit in his role as a mercenary for hire for individuals and sabotage for corporations. This was his third appearance in Marvel comics. The first was in the rebooted Machine Man of 2020 mini-series where the old tech of Machine Man won over the futuristic Iron Man thanks to his having a good heart.

Then in Spider-Man, in a plot I won’t go into detail about Arno travelled back in time to 1986 to avert a disaster involving his home city, his business and his family. But his means of doing so put him at odds with Spidey, who defeated him. Upon returning to the future his entire city had been destroyed, taking his family with it. In a surprise turn, we were left feeling sorry for him. Both of these stories were selected as back up strips in Marvel UK’s Transformers comic.

There’s no mention here of the events in the Spider-Man strip but he is in New York, a different city than normal so it would seem to follow on after it. In the opening pages we find out he’s been hired to protect some foreign dignitaries. The only thing is, they don’t seem to understand why; they haven’t hired him and say they aren’t in danger. Some hitmen do turn up and Arno kills them all very easily, after being told to take no prisoners. But something doesn’t sit right with him about the job.

We then take a trip to a large mansion somewhere and a very rich man by the name of Chance and his English butler Athey have been watching the events pan out. In fact, their conversation has acted as a running commentary over the opening pages. They’re part of The Dicemen, a group who appeared in various Marvel comics although there’s little information about them online. They’re basically a bunch of rich elites who like to play games with other people’s lives.

One hard and fast rule of The Dicemen is to never use the same players twice, but Chance thinks there’s more fun to be had in using Iron Man again, especially when Athey shows him a news report of Death’s Head taking down some local warlords. The game is on. Athey will approach both of them, Death’s Head for a hit and Arno as the protector. Then, after eight pages of strip in his own comic it’s time for the Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent to finally make his entrance.

That reminds me of something we’d have seen from RoboCop. I love it. This criminal group have kept a young child hostage for a ransom and Death’s Head easily disposes of them, partly thanks to a collapsing ceiling in the middle of the fight. After seeing him rescuing another young boy last month and how he speaks to this child does our anti-hero have a soft spot we didn’t know about? I do like how the kid is seen playing with his face spikes as they exit the building together.

Arno isn’t the only one suspicious of the job he’s been given. Death’s Head’s inner thoughts betray what he really thinks about Athey after he’s hired to kill two diplomats and given half the large fee up front. It all seems too easy. So both men have been hired and in the middle of a shopping mall the diplomats are arguing with Iron Man that they didn’t ask for, nor need protection as he pushes them into a lift, and it’s time for Death’s Head to tell someone else to talk to the hand.

The fight scene is classic Death’s Head and classic Simon Furman, with the quips matching the violence panel after panel. But Arno is deadly serious and the anger he feels at being potentially set up is taken out on the mechanoid as he blasts them both into the night sky, shouting that he won’t let him butcher innocent people in what feels like (when reading this fully, in context) that he’s trying to convince himself he’s actually doing the right thing. It’s actual character development from someone who only cared about money before. It seems losing his family has brought out his better side.

Then we turn the page to this spread below which contained a genuinely shocking moment had the front cover not used it to promote the story. You can’t really blame them though, of course they were going to use it. Although, from the speech balloon on the cover I thought Death’s Head had taken over Iron Man’s suit somehow, so I was initially a bit disappointed I was wrong in that conclusion. That disappointment soon turned to laughs when I saw what happened next though.

Again his hand is used as a great gag and over the next page or two Death’s Head tells Arno that he believes him and agrees that they should work together to get to the bottom of who has used them, however he’s still angry with him and just has to work that out of his system first, by beating seven shades of blue out of him. Then, clipping his head back into place like a Transformer Headmaster he’s able to detect a camera filming them for Chance and locates the signal controlling it.

Cue a few pages of Chance panicking before Athey, a long time loyal member of The Dicemen himself, shoots his boss point blank in the face and sets the scene up to look like a suicide. He leaves their money in cash so as to trick Death’s Head and Iron Man into hanging around, but they soon pick up a detonation signal and narrowly escape the destruction of the mansion. Then it all very suddenly ends in two panels.

This is directly after the explosion panel. It feels very cut down and a bit of a rushed ending, making way as it does for two pages of panels with yellow borders, telling of how Spratt arrives in 2020 and crashes Death’s Head’s ship, somehow bringing Big Shot with him who takes up the final splash page, coupled with a Happily Ever After caption! While this may have been the original cliffhanger taking us to #11, the rushed ending with Iron Man makes it seem like this whole section was added in at the last minute. But why do this for the final issue?

It’s not how I expected it to end. Yes, Death’s Head has been a surprising comic on many occasions but I did expect something along the lines of how the final chapter of Dragon’s Claws wrapped things up satisfactorily while leaving things open-ended. Was the chop brought down suddenly on the writer? It’d explain why the secretive woman hinted at in the last couple of issues isn’t mentioned, the mystery not revealed, actually not even acknowledged here. That’s incredibly annoying. But perhaps there’s hope in a graphic novel to come. More on that below.

There’s a bit of a dig at those
high up in Marvel UK

After the strip comes the Head to Head letters page and a chance for the comic to throw out more hints that this is the final issue. Perhaps there were instructions from on high to not mention the end for some reason. Perhaps they didn’t want potential buyers flicking through the pages, realising there’d be no more and not buying it. Whereas, mentioning it in stablemate comics may lead those readers to part with their pocket money for a collector’s final issue. This is all speculation of course.

However, as you’ll see there’s a bit of a dig at those high up in Marvel UK in the answer to the first letter. For the second letter, in response to a lack of free gifts the reader is told to go and check out a different comic, but the most obvious (again, with hindsight) hint comes at the end of the response to the final letter. It was always annoying when a comic just stopped without telling us, so kudos to the team for trying to tell the readers without really telling them.

So what’s next for Death’s Head on the blog? Is that the end of it? Not quite. After his original series he popped up in a serialised story in Strip (between #13 and #20) which was then collected in graphic novel The Body in Question. Given the real time nature of the blog you can expect that in October next year. It’s a long wait for me but I set these rules so I must follow them. I can’t wait to read it though. Will I be covering his return as Death’s Head II and III? Let me finish his original timeline first and we’ll see what the future holds.

After that frustrating ending I really can’t wait for the graphic novel to see if any further questions are answered. If they are that would explain some things about this issue. Don’t tell me if you know though! I’ll find out next year. This series has been a blast from beginning to end. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read his own comic after I enjoyed him in Transformers decades ago, but Death’s Head was certainly worth the wait, yes?

iSSUE NiNE < > THE BODY iN QUESTiON

DEATH’S HEAD MENU