Alien³, Comic Reviews

ALiEN³ MOViE SPECiAL #3: DOWN THERE… iN THE BASEMENT/ATTiC

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On this day back in 1992 Art Suydam‘s cover welcomed us to the final issue of Dark Horse International’s special Alien³ Movie Special mini-series. It’s another 48-pager but unfortunately there are a lot less of the fantastic features that made the first two editions so enjoyable. This is because the movie adaptation comic strip is a bumper final chapter, taking up 33 pages. Even with such an increase in page count it still rushes through and isn’t any better than previous instalments.

Steve Grant’s script (lettered by Clem Robins) continues to be a word-for-word reprint of the movie script, the only time it deviates is when it cuts down key dialogue, even giving some to different characters which makes what happens on the page even more confusing than it already was. I won’t go over all of the reasons why I’m not a fan of this strip again, I’m sure I bored you enough with that last time, but what I do love are penciller Christopher Taylor’s, inker Rick Magyar’s and colourist Matt Webb’s take on the alien itself.

This scene above is part of the moment when Ellen Ripley makes her way into the metaphorical basement of the complex (for some reason referred to here as the “attic” instead) to confront the alien and try to get it to kill her. The xenomorph in this movie was somewhat different to what we’d seen previously as we learned that they change depending on what organism they gestate inside, and I think the art team do a great job of bringing that difference to life on the page.

At some points the xenomorph even seems to be taking some delightful glee in the amount of killing it’s doing. That same amount of delight does not extend to the reader or the human characters, who once again are impossible to differentiate between. Even the settings are confusing, such as this depiction of the lead works below. In my head it doesn’t make sense when thinking about the architecture of the film or what it’ll be used for.

The most thrilling part of the film was always the chase sequence, when the inmates would act as bait to lure the alien down certain corridors before closing off doors, forcing it towards the lead works where they planned to trap it. The use of the alien’s point of view as it sprinted along floors, walls and ceilings at equal speed was incredible to watch the first time and it’s not something that could easily be adapted to a comic strip.

However, while this is one of my favourite sequences from the movie I’d have preferred it if the comic had just taken the essence of the chase and built something new, rewriting the script to tell this important part of the story in a way that made sense on the page. Unfortunately, what we end up with is a load of identical people running around in blind panic.

It’s not even explained well by Dillon and Ripley and in the end what everyone is doing makes no sense at all and it’s pure luck the alien ends up where it should. It’s really, really confusing. I can’t tell what’s going on and that’s coming from someone who has seen the film countless times over the years. In the end we all know how it ends, although there’s another change. Sticking with the theatrical version of seeing the alien Queen bursting from Ripley’s chest as she falls towards the molten lead, there’s an additional neck break thrown in too as Ellen somehow still has the ability to twist the creature and kill it, even though both are about to die anyway.

The art team’s depiction of the alien shows that Christopher, Rick and Matt deserved to have a chance to draw a regular Aliens strip together

I’ve covered a few comics adaptations on the blog by now and only the original Jurassic Park one showed a good deal of promise, but even it dropped the ball with its rushed final chapter. Now, having read the adaptations for it, its sequel and Transformers: The Movie (and remembering others from childhood), this one is sadly the worst yet and has done nothing to win me over to the genre. Comics can be adapted to celluloid but going in the other direction just doesn’t work.

This hasn’t been without its good moments though and the art team’s depiction of the alien shows that Christopher, Rick and Matt deserved to have a chance to draw a regular Aliens strip together. I can only imagine how enjoyable the Aliens Vs Predator II mini-strip could’ve been in their hands. As it stands, it remains a curiosity, written by Randy Stradley with art by Chris Warner.

What’s more curious is how they’ve messed up the order of the chapters, which I noticed upon seeing the ‘To Be Continued’ caption. I wondered if it was skipping Aliens #4, which hadn’t been released yet. I went back and checked Alien³ #2 and it’s caption said the next chapter was to be in Aliens #4, and in it (which I quickly checked) it was to continue back into this issue. So it seems editor Dick Hansom forgot Alien³ was being released every three weeks instead of monthly (or perhaps it was originally intended to be monthly) so this chapter and the one to come next week in Aliens #4 are in the wrong order.

I was wondering why all-of-a-sudden we’ve got named Predators. I thought perhaps they’d been named in the previous story (since this is a sequel) but it might just be because we’ve skipped forward a chapter. I’ll find out next week. In the meantime, it seems it’s shameful to be saved by another Predator in battle and the story is from the perspective of a female Predator. Can you imagine the backlash from horrible, sad little corners of the internet if this was released today?

Thanks to the extended main strip the only behind-the-scenes access we get in this final issue is a three-page feature showing off some of the storyboards used in the pre-production stage of Alien³. Comics artist Martin Asbury worked alongside David Fincher on creating these, which would be shared with all of the creative departments. Martin’s comics work has included Captain Scarlett (Countdown), The Six Million Dollar Man (Look-In) and the tabloid strip, Garth. In films he’s worked on several Bond films since GoldenEye, as well as the likes of Batman Begins and Children of Men. Quite the resumé.

Stan Nicholls‘ feature is more of a general introduction to the art of storyboards and their use in moviemaking, rather than going into any depth on Alien³’s particular sketches. You can see some examples though, of the climax and that aforementioned chase sequence, showing a much better depiction of the scenes in question than the finished comic strip.

To finish off with there was also a competition to win some Alien³ merch and this October comics checklist for Dark Horse International.

The Terminator was quite expensive for a fortnightly comic in 1992, however it seems to be as chock-full of strips and features (and a free cardboard cutout figure, no less) as Aliens. Not sure why it’s fortnightly, but seeing as how this is the first time it’s appeared in these checklists and is already at #14 I’m guessing it’s another comic Dark Horse took over publication of (since the American strips were theirs in the first place). A quick internet search and it turns out it was originally published by Trident too, although The Terminator wasn’t given a fresh new volume to enjoy like Aliens was, for some reason.

It could possibly be another one for the blog at some point in the future, who knows. But for now this issue ends with a double advert on the back page for the brand new Star Wars (which I spoke about in the review for Aliens #3) and #13 of The Terminator. The caption makes the latter sound like a brand new comic despite the issue number.

With that we come to the very end of this three issue run of the Alien³ Movie Special. I was able to pick them all up on eBay for a few quid in total and for that money I’d recommend them for fans of the movie. Not for the adaptation necessarily, rather for the contemporary features and incredible access the comic had to information on the making of the film. For those pages it’s worth the price of admission.

From now on though it’s pure Aliens action every month with the ongoing regular comic, the next issue of which (#4) will be reviewed right here on the OiNK Blog on Tuesday 24th September 2024. I’m sure future issues of it will continue to cover Alien³ in its features now and again so watch out for them as we go along. This is Philip Boyce, writer of the OiNK Blog, signing off.

ALiEN³ iSSUE 2 < > ALiENS iSSUE 4

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Obituaries

REMEMBERiNG MARK RODGERS

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If there’s one name synonymous with the 80s humour comics a lot of readers of this blog grew up with, like OiNK, Buster, Whoopee etc., it’s Mark Rodgers, whose birthday it would’ve been today. To say Mark was a prolific comics writer is probably the largest understatement I could make. Working across a multitude of titles for the likes of IPC/Fleetway, he’d often write up to a dozen scripts a week.

These were for comics he’d eventually feel were a little outdated in their humour, but that’s not to say he didn’t love reading them. OiNK may have taken shots at Beano and The Dandy, but Mark was known to love both comics, even making sure there were copies of their annuals in the bathroom of his house for visitors to read while on the loo.

During a visit to a local Manchester library one day he spotted Patrick Gallagher writing scripts for the same comics Mark did and they immediately hit it off. Patrick had already met Tony Husband and together the three of them went on to create a new kind of children’s comic, an alternative to the old-fashioned jokes and traditional weeklies kids were becoming tired of in favour of television and computer games. Obviously, this was the beginning of OiNK.

When I began reading OiNK as a young child, thanks to there being no credits in comics at the time, I’d always assumed the cartoonist had written everything they’d drawn. While this was the case with some of OiNK’s contributors, there was one person who wrote so much of the comic for loads of different art styles. The volume of Mark’s work was phenomenal.

When you look through any issue you’ll see his name (or “MR”) on the majority of pages. My favourite creations of his were of course The Sekret Diary ov Hadrian Vile, brought to the page in all of its jaggedy-art glory by a young Ian Jackson, and Mark’s riff on Saturday morning cliffhanger television serials, The Street-Hogs, illustrated by J.T. Dogg. Highly original and unlike anything you’d have read elsewhere, Mark’s imagination was let loose, finally able to express his sense of humour without the restrictions he’d faced in other comics.

Where else could we be squeamish over Hadrian’s disgusting hobbies or laughing at the torture he put his long-suffering parents through one minute, then enjoying a heartwarming moment at the birth of his baby sister the next? Almost all of Uncle Pigg’s and Mary Lighthouse’s hilarious confrontations were written by Mark and any issues that contained a full-length strip of theirs have been favourites of mine (for both young me and young-at-heart me).

Mark wasn’t shy at starring on the pages of the comic either, sometimes alongside his fellow editors Patrick and Tony, sometimes with his partner Helen Jones. Whether it was as the captain of the Enterpies in Star Truck or as a terrifying alien invader alongside Ian while learning a lesson in love from their spaceship (really Mark and Helen’s boiler in their basement). 

OiNK writer Graham Exton was a close friend of Mark and Helen’s and after he moved away to lived in the Bahamas the couple decided to visit, and while there they photographed a few pieces for OiNK. One was Castaway, a hilarious one-off written by Graham with the two of them in mind. That washed up body/dinner for Helen? That would be Mark. Mark wasn’t above writing in some funny little cameos for his other half too!

Mark’s productivity, his dedication to making kids laugh and his commitment to the comics medium can all be summed up in one bittersweet joke he wrote for a back page spread in the Time Travel edition of OiNK, drawn by Ed McHenry. You’ll notice that long before modern day A.I., Mark had predicted Uncle Pigg would be using a ‘Script Computer’ in the future to produce his comic. But upon closer inspection you can see who was still writing those scripts, long after he  would have left us.

The bittersweet nature of this gag comes from the fact that we did indeed lose Mark to cancer in the 1990s. I know it’ll sound like a cliché to say it, but there really has been no one like him in children’s comics since. OiNK never spoke down to us, it’s three editors understood this and together they were an unbreakable team whose work brought so much joy and laughter to so many people before, during and after its run.

Apart from a few early strips Mark never drew for the comic and, until I started to notice the signatures and little initials beside so many of my favourites as a child, I’d no idea that Mark was so instrumental in moulding my young, developing sense of humour. Several years back, when I mentioned online how I’d lost my OiNK mug decades ago, Helen very kindly sent me a special Christmas present. I can’t begin to describe how happy I was when I unwrapped it and found out it had been Mark’s! I’ll always treasure this.

There are simply too many highlights of Mark’s for one post. In fact, there are literally too many highlights of Mark’s for this entire website! Believe me, I’ve tried. The man was a creative giant in the UK comics industry and when I spoke with Tony a couple of years ago he had possibly the nicest thing to say about his departed friend.

Tony often likened working on OiNK to being in a punk band and that kind of anarchic, rebellious sense of humour was at the forefront of everything they did. “Mark was the glue,” Tony said. “He was the drummer.”

Patrick, Mark & Tony
Royal Television Awards for Round the Bend

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Comic Reviews, The Sleeze Brothers

THE SLEEZE BROTHERS #3: SiGNED, SEALED, DELiVERED

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Before you ask, no I did not get this third edition of The Sleeze Brothers signed by co-creator and artist Andy Lanning. Clearly someone did back in 1990 but the only reason I got my hands on it was through a lucky find on eBay. So lucky in fact that the owner clearly didn’t know the cover had been signed, there was no mention of it in the description and I was able to get it for a pound or two. Bargain, and a unique addition to the collection.

Inside, you could say it was a brave or a risky decision in only a six-issue mini-series to have a story which hardly features our two lead characters at all. Personally, I don’t think it was brave or risky, it was done for one reason and one reason only: because it’s bloody funny. Over the first 17 pages of comic strip El’ Ape and Deadbeat only appear in a small panel at the bottom of four pages! But it works.

A vast array of brilliantly-named characters take the reigns of the story instead, from President Sinartra (son of an embryo farmer who has caterpillar tracks for legs and feet after an accident) and his mistress Marilyn Blondclone, to Man Hugh of the Human Liberation Front (he prefers his name to be reversed, to Hugh Man) and the local mafia head The Cosmos Father and his faithful fixer Caneloni. Then there’s the six-eyed Hairdryer, leader of the Galactic Investigation Bureau and his secret service agents Clint 116, Eastwood 244, Bronson 245, Nimoy 94 and De Niro 124.

The imagination on display here from writer John Carnell and of course penciller Andy is amazing. Stephen Baskerville’s recognisable inks and Steve White’s gorgeous, outlandish colours round off the art in superb fashion as they always do, however this issue’s story, Big Leap, contains more imagery and more written/drawn gags than ever before. Combined with Helen Stone’s letters and all edited by Dan Abnett, Richard Starkings having resigned, although he had commissioned the whole six-issue series. Credited as ‘originating editor’ here by Dan, according to Richard (thanks for leaving the comment!) he left very little to do. This truly showcases everyone’s talents and what Marvel UK was capable of.

Throughout, the Sleezes are sitting in their office waiting for the phone to ring on a quiet day in The Big Apple. Meanwhile, the H.L.F. have sent an alien (The Bugger) capable of rendering itself invisible into The White Wash (future version of The White House) with a little insect capable of recording video in order to catch Sinarta and Blondclone together in a tryst (hence the alien’s funny name). Their plan is to hold him to ransom for their demands.

Things of course do not go to plan and after the recording has been taken the actual bug itself (unaware it’s being used in this way, the recording capabilities are part of its natural evolution) is seen crawling away from his owner, who then ends up falling from the high perch he’d crept to outside the White Wash. Now, when I say it’s a high perch, I’m not kidding.

We’re told at the start of the story this is taking place at 09:00 and over the next few pages we see all the major players out after The Bugger and time creeps on in narrative captions to 09:20, 09:33, and 09:40. We assume The Bugger has met their grizzly end and these characters are rushing out to find the splatted corpse to retrieve the video. But nope, 46 minutes later we see a workman on the side of a building somewhere get a surprise.

This is a running gag throughout most of the story and it genuinely had me in stitches every time. In previous issues we’ve seen how this futuristic city was very much a spoof of Mega-City One from 2000AD’s Judge Dredd strips, and here the sheer size of the megastructures in that comic are taken to extremes. To say the least. So why is everyone clamouring to find the landing spot of this unfortunate clandestine individual?

Well, the H.L.F. want to get the footage they’ve paid for, especially since they’ve already given their (ridiculous) demands to Hairdryer at the G.I.B. The G.I.B. themselves want to protect the country’s leader. The cat-like Greebas, who have sent a ninja to retrieve the tape, have been secretly recording Cosmos Father and as a result now know about it, and the mafia leader himself intends to profit from bribery too. I’m guessing about the Greebas’ intentions because their alien language is never translated apart from the occasional funny word.

This is the moment the Greebas see, when we get an explanation from Caneloni about the bug’s natural recording abilities and why on Earth (or whatever planet they’re from) they have this ability. It’s just more evidence of John’s insane sense of imagination and fun, and we even get to see the end result of the “playback signals”, complete with a minute bucket of popcorn. Brilliant.

There are so many characters and interweaving plots the whole issue is completely chaotic in the best possible way. Despite it jumping from scene to scene and from one group to another incredibly quickly throughout, it’s always very easy to follow and you just go along for the ride, genuinely laughing aloud with every single turn of the page. There are some more subtle adult gags, a career snitch working for all sides who is nothing but professional and the inability of the deadly ninja to be taken seriously.

Some great examples there of the range of comedy in this issue. Soon (at 09:59 as a matter of fact) all of our main protagonists are gathered around the same building awaiting the arrival of The Bugger and their bug. Hugh Man, still living with his mum, is worried she won’t be happy at his failure despite being a sweet old lady, Caneloni fears for his life and in a hilarious nod to the actor, agent De Niro 124 has to convince Hairdryer who he’s talking to.

It’s only after this page that our comic’s namesakes finally take a leading role. Looking out of their window, El’ Ape thinks all of the people looking up at them means their adverts are finally paying off. That is, until their roof crashes in and a strange alien creature, dead from the impact, takes out El’ Ape’s brand new desk. Furious, his temper doesn’t improve when he takes a drink from their water fountain and discovers some form of insect has fallen inside.

Spitting it out and squashing it with his foot he has no idea of the significance of his actions. Not even when their door (and half their wall) is kicked in and the combined forces of the Cosmos Father’s Caneloni, the H.L.F., the G.I.B. and the Greeba all enter, weaponry at the ready. One look at the scene in front of them though and the whole string of plots come to a sudden, funny end.

I particularly like the third panel on this page with De Niro 124 saying with all sincerity that the destruction of the evidence of what the president was actually doing, and thus keeping his ability to lie about his scandalous relationship, will preserve truth and justice! Hugh Man heads home for tea, Caneloni’s time now seems to be short and the ninja Greeba utters one of the few English words they know.

More annoyed at the state of their office in the space of a few minutes than the fact they’ve a dead body and a bunch of crazies on their doorstep, El’ Ape continues to grumble until they check the news and see a reward for The Bugger. In the final panels, El’ Ape’s attitude predictably reverses and he congratulates himself and his brother for all their hard work in finding him!

I definitely would’ve been compelled to buy the next issue of The Sleeze Brothers after this side-achingly funny issue

Only appearing on four full pages and a few panels elsewhere hasn’t blunted the attraction of these two characters. They don’t even need to be the leads in their own comic to be able to steal the story for themselves and in doing so deservedly reclaim their lead status. These two are classic comics characters through-and-through and only three issues in they feel so well established that John and Andy can get away with a Sleeze-lite episode. There aren’t many characters that could get away with that so soon.

The issue ends with a floating Dalek staring down at the reader, weapon pointed and at the ready in an advert that really needed the magazine’s logo at the top. As much as I love the Daleks, this wouldn’t exactly have compelled me to fork out for the latest issue. What I definitely would’ve been compelled to do would be to buy the next issue of The Sleeze Brothers after this side-achingly funny issue. Luckily I already have and it’ll be up for review on Monday 30th September 2024.

iSSUE TWO < > iSSUE FOUR

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Alien³, Comic Reviews

ALiEN³ MOViE SPECiAL #2: THE BiTCH iS BACK

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I know I write a comics blog but I’ve been looking forward more to the written features in this second issue of Dark Horse International’s three-issue Alien³ mini-series, way more than the comic strip. This is not only because the previous edition’s features were so good, it’s also because there’s a big, meaty interview with none other than Ellen Ripley herself, Sigourney Weaver!

Dave Hughes’ piece is definitely the highlight of the issue, although other pages do come a close second. If DHI had instead released a one-off special magazine with all of these articles and left the strip out it would’ve been the most amazing tie-in for this movie. But at £1.50 per issue it’s not like this was overly expensive anyway, even back in 1992. So let’s see what our star has to say about the film, her career and even her family over the opening five pages.

My first encounter with Sigourney on film was the original Ghostbusters but to me the first three (we’ll forget about the fourth) Alien films are what I know her for best (although her cameo during the end credits of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is hilarious). After the article in Aliens #2 which negatively reviewed the Aliens Special Edition it’s nice to read Sigourney’s viewpoint. It really did reinstate Ripley’s “raison d’être” as she says, something that had angered her when it was cut because she’d been playing the character a certain way, only to have the whole reason for her performance edited out.

I also totally agree with her description of Ghostbusters II; despite loving it as a kid my adult eyes see it for what it was now. The original idea for back-to-back third and fourth Alien films sounds interesting and I adore her initial reaction to meeting director David Fincher. I’m not at all surprised at the pathetic criticisms over the cast being bald (I mean, you’d expect stuff like that on certain social media sites these days) and while reading this I was actually saddened they brought her back for Alien: Resurrection.

“I came to realise that the only way she [Ripley] could finally get any peace was if I, the actor, was willing to go deep into the material and allow her a release.”

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney was adamant at this stage that Alien³ was her final film in the series but that they should definitely continue without her. What she says about giving the character this interesting situation, this amount of courage, and how she saw her as a friend and going deep into the material to give the character a release feels so genuine. I remember the first time I heard the recording from the end of Alien played out at the end of Alien³ and it was so poignant. She also doesn’t spoil the ending!

It’s touching to read how filming Aliens with Carrie Henn resulted in Sigourney wanting to start her own family and how this led to the autopsy scene in Alien³ being so excruciating for her to film (although she says it should be an excruciating watch), and I wonder if her wish to make a film about obsession led to Copycat, the fantastic 1995 thriller. It’s a fascinating read so please do take your time to enjoy it all.

After this great start I turned the page and realised I was about to endure 24 pages of the comic strip adaptation again. Maybe that’s unfair, perhaps it would see an improvement over last issue’s chapter. There are definitely some nicely realised scenes with the alien here, Christopher Taylor (pencils) and Rick Magyar (inks) seem to revel in bringing this very different version of the xenomorph to the page, but they still manage to make all of the human characters look identical.

While the film has a muted palette, just like the film the moments of horror bring an outburst of colour from Matt Webb that make these really stand out but the script by Steve Grant (written up by Clem Robins on letters) still reads like a copy-and-paste job from the film script. Overall, it feels like one of those rushed “Previously On…” bits you’d get at the start of a TV show which rushes through things as quickly as possible before getting to the main event. It’s just that this is actually the main event.

It does contain one of the main missing plots of the original theatrical release when they capture the alien only for Golic to become obsessed with seeing it released. This whole character arc for Paul McGann was excised, despite him being credited as the second lead actor, but any excitement felt at its reinstatement in comic form is soon dispersed because it’s all done within a few pages and really adds nothing to this version of the story, unlike the Special Edition of the movie. Such a shame.

Some of the funny moments are also conspicuous by their absence since they rely on swearing which the comic has to limit. It also really makes you appreciate the performances (both powerful and subtle) of all of the fantastic cast assembled for Alien³ and makes me want to watch it again to see how this story was meant to be experienced. In that regard I guess it does the job for a comic adaptation, promoting a film which was in the cinema at the time.

After I praised editor Dick Hansom for keeping the poster separate from the pages of the comic last month, he’s now unfortunately gone and done that pet peeve of mine and called it a “free” poster on the cover while printing it on the middle pages, with the comic strip on its rear. At least it’s still printed on lovely high-quality gloss paper so it really pops next to the matt paper stock. Those pages of the strip also look better now too, so it’s a shame they’d have to be removed to use the poster.

Alien³ Bug Hunting takes a look at some of the merchandise available for the movie, confusingly listed with letters instead of numbers, momentarily making me turn the page to look for the remaining 19 lettered entries. It’s a shame the soundtrack isn’t available on Apple Music because Elliot Goldenthal’s music really was incredible, and I like the funny comment here about what wasn’t included. Fans of the film will know exactly what this is in reference to.

Next to that entry is news of the UK’s version of the VHS pack containing Alien and the Special Edition of Aliens, both in widescreen which was a big deal at the time when we all had 4:3 TVs and were so used to only seeing half the picture of our films. With postcards of original art by Simon Bisley also included this would’ve been on the top of my wish list at the time… if I’d known about it.

After another two pages of that Aliens Vs Predator II strip (I showed you a chapter of it in the review for Aliens #3) You’ve Been Bugged contains no less than 16 quotes from various people involved with Alien³ (and one reviewer) and it’s a quick grab bag of opinions about the film, a smorgasbord of information for fans to lap up. Actor Brian Glover, who played prison warden Harold Andrews, is spot on and perfectly sums up what made the first three movies stand out so much to me (and to my mum when she and I both watch Aliens for the first time together, something she really enjoyed because of what Glover says here ).

By contrast the xenomorph’s original designer, H.R. Giger doesn’t seem to understand this very salient point, which seems somewhat short-sighted when you read the next quote from Tom Woodruff Jnr, who explains just how much Giger’s work inspired not only the alien but the design of the third film. There’s more contradiction between writer William Gibson and writer/producer David Giler in the next two quotes too.

Unfortunately the superb Michael Biehn’s (Hicks in Aliens) quote makes him come across as rather bitter that he’s not in Alien³ but of course we’ve only got this very small quote to go on, without the larger context of the conversation he had with whoever was interviewing him, so we’ll not dwell. David Giler returns with the final quote to ruin the ending again (even before the strip got to the end) and Screen International film reviewer Patricia Dobson seems to have wanted no more than a rehash of the second film instead of something original, which ironically I bet reviewers would’ve heavily criticised.

This bodes very well indeed not only for the next issue of this comic but also for the remaining 19 of Aliens itself

The issue rounds off its nicely varied features with a two-page Technical Readout which is always a great read in the regular monthly title. You may take a glimpse at this double-page spread and think, “Really, Phil? You expect us to read an article about an escape pod? About what is basically a space lifeboat?” Well yes, I do. When I saw this I immediately assumed I wouldn’t be including it here, because how interesting could it be? When I started reading I realised my assumption had been wrong and Lee Brimmicombe-Wood completely surprised me.

Yep, it’s actually an interesting read, isn’t it? That’s testament not only to the detail to be found within every aspect of the Alien universe but also to Lee’s writing, that he can create two pages about a space lifeboat and make it really interesting. This bodes very well indeed not only for the next issue of this comic but also for the remaining 19 of Aliens itself.

So there we go, great features and a strip with some decent alien artwork that has me wishing Christopher and Rick had created a cover or an original poster of their version of the xenomorph. These make up for the disappointing adaptation itself by some margin, and I’m looking forward to the third and final issue in just three weeks. Watch out for the review on the OiNK Blog on Monday 16th September 2024.

ALiENS iSSUE 3 < > ALiEN³ iSSUE 3

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

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

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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

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