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The Stars, My Desperation
Star Masters #1
Good.
“A planet-sized object has just materialised in your star system on a trajectory toward Earth.”
Quasar is the protagonist here, and it feels exactly like an issue of his series. He’s framed for something he didn’t do. Meanwhile, the Earth is 5 hours away from being destroyed!!
Smartly-told sci-fi.
First meeting of Beta Ray Bill and Quasar.
8/10
Lunatik
Lunatik #1
Imaginative but not funny.
Lunatik comes to Earth--to kill the first Lunatik!--and uses Avengers Mansion as his hotel!
We also learn his origin. In a lot of detail. Clearly, a lot of thought went into this. But it's really stupid, and I didn't enjoy reading it.
2/10
The Day Gravity Went Wild
Avengers Unplugged #2
Bad story.
Graviton.
It's a weak story with a boring technobabble conclusion. The Avengers seem slapdash and unprofessional in their approach to the threat. Deathcry is the focus, and her scenes are mostly trying to be comedic.
There are also several mistakes where dialogue balloons are pointing to random background characters.
Glenn Herdling (2 of 5).
M.C. Wyman (2 of 5).
4/10
111
Silver Surfer III #111
Dull.
Surfer intercepts a distress call that causes him to relive a planet's destruction.
Boring way to start a new storyline. Reams of clunky text. The vision/dream bit is okay. Starting with that would have been better. More of a hook.
Good cameos at the start.
Release date: November 16, 1995.
George Pérez (1 of 13).
Tom Grindberg (10 of 15).
6/10
An Age Undreamed of…
Fantastic Four Unlimited #12
Reading these 50 pages is like a test of endurance.
Artabazus!
Pages 1-4: A weak start, where all the regulars seem out of character. In the normal monthly FANTASTIC FOUR, the team tolerates Kristoff while being suspicious of him. Here, there is no subtlety. Just outright hostility and aggression. Yawn.
Pages 5-15: Even weaker. We learn what happened back when Reed and Doom disappeared. In turns out that very little happened. They met Hypterstorm for the first time. Somehow, using flashbacks, the script is able to drag this out to 11 full pages of tedium.
Pages 16-24: This is probably the best section of the book. It shows us Reed's adventures after he arrived in the past. I could have tolerated several more pages of this, to be honest.
Pages 25-34: Very boring battle in which the mystic minions of Artabazus attack the heroes.
Pages 35-36: A page about Hyperstorm; a page about Scott Lang. Both skippable.
Pages 37-40: This bit is okay. Ben is alone and he manages to impress some hill pirates while battling them.
Pages 41-50: Ben and his new pals come to rescue the FF, and Reed and Artabazus go leaping around in time and the villain meets a grim end.
Overview: Not enough story here for 50 pages. And the art is bad. Most scripts in this series fell into the so-bad-it's-good category and were unintentionally hilarious. A guilty pleasure to read. This one is not one of those. Perhaps because the writer was constrained by having to tie his plot closely to events in the main book and wasn't free to go bonkers. A pity because I was look for a few laughs and this didn't deliver.
Release date: November 9, 1995.
Roy Thomas (11 of 11).
Herb Trimpe (11 of 11).
3/10
Reunion!
Fantastic Four #407
Very good.
The FF find themselves facing raiders in the Hyborian era!
More time-travel fun. This time in the distant past. There's sword-wielding action and a long-awaited reunion. A reunion that works really well. Not using dialogue is an effective choice. You rarely see that done in comics.
In the far future, exciting developments as we watch Doctor Doom making his move...
Wizard Top 100: #67.
Tom DeFalco (56 of 66).
Paul Ryan (53 of 60).
9/10
Crimes and Misdemeanors!
Fantastic Force #14
Dull; cliché-ridden.
In Wakanda, Vibraxas must face judgement for taking a life.
You could use this comic for a drinking game. Every time you meet a tired old phrase or idea you've seen many times before take a drink. ("You turned you back to me... to us... to our country.") And the problem with all these clichés is that they make it difficult for us to care about what's happening.
The lack of a strong plot doesn't help. There's a vague, superficial trial scene at the start. Then, Vibraxas gets annoyed. That's it. That's the whole comic. Except for 2 pages where Devlor randomly runs amok and carries a woman off(!!) and a page where the dastardly Diablo... does absolutely nothing.
Tom Brevoort (15 of 19).
Mike Kanterovich (15 of 19).
Dante Bastianoni (11 of 15).
5/10
The Devil You Know
Captain America #446
Exciting; smart.
Kübekult.
As well as thrilling action sequences, there are big sci-fi/fantasy ideas here. It's a mix that works really well.
Characters are well written. We get Sharon's backstory, Red Skull's motivation, and a big moment of decision for Steve.
Wizard Top 100: #82.
Mark Waid (3 of 11).
Ron Garney (3 of 11).
10/10
