As you may or may not
know, this graphic novel - the original series - was made into a film starring
Bruce Willis in 2009. While the book and film begin similarly enough, they
alter course pretty quickly after the first two surrogates are electrocuted. People
are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic
surrogates - mechanical representations of themselves. It's an ideal world
where crime, pain, fear and consequences don't exist. But most of the
population is shut away in homes. We see all sorts here – people gender
swapping, alteration of physicality, and even insane activist groups hell-bent
on destroying the surrogate population.
The plot flows at an
even pace. Sci-fi noir, police detection mixed with science fiction elements,
being the key. We are balanced with the main character abandoning his own
surrogate in order to catch a madman with a plan to plunge the entire city, 92%
of which are people who have given their lives over to living via robot, into
darkness. This is juxtaposed against the protagonist's own personal life. His
wife is a person who cannot conceive of a life without her surrogate.
Various additional news
reports and histories and articles from fictional sources are included
after each chapter. These real help build a fascinating world where everything
is run via remote and all risks to the individual are eliminated. It is as if
every person is in a panic room and working, afraid to come out. The one thing
the book didn’t address was that this inevitably would result in a population
decrease of catastrophic proportions. The next generation of children would be
a fraction of the normal amount, if everyone only used robots as sexual
surrogates. Besides this point, an excellent story overall in art and plot.
The
Deluxe volume one collects the first three softcover graphic
novels, or issues 1 - 16 of the science fiction series. Which is half of the 32
issue series. Not a bad get if you’re willing to pay. It was a Christmas
present for me, so I didn’t have to shell out. This has been followed up by the
sequel series, Ascender, which has lasted for fifteen issues so far. I have no
idea of it ends there because I have not read them. But I sure might, as the
story presented in Descender is
compelling and interesting. Recommended for lovers of the space opera
In a distant system, or
series of interconnected systems - the plot is nebulous about that - the human
race has abandoned Earth and created the United Galactic Council with various
other sentient species. Into this comes nine giant robots, dubbed the
Harvesters - think Voltron sized times a hundred- who appear out of apparently
nowhere and attack the major hubs of civilization. After causing untold damage
the robots vanish back to where they came from. This leads to a cull on
Artificial Intelligences and robot across the civilized world were hunted down
and destroyed. Some hid away, some banded together to make a resistance
movement called the Hardwired. All this happens in the first ten pages.
Ten years later, a small
boy companion robot, one designed for empathy and love (similar to the main
character in the underrated A.I.
film) comes back online. He was saved from the robot holocaust because the
mining colony he was stationed in suffered a catastrophic gas leak where most
of the crew was killed. It is determined by various hostile parties that, for
whatever reason, this model of robot has the same baseline codex - that is
initial code, similar to mechanical DNA I guess - as the Harvesters. Things go
off the rails following that.
Dept.
H
is presented as a locked room mystery six feet under the ocean, but they
certainly don’t get to it in the first volume. It collects the first six issues
of the series, there being twenty four in all, collected into four volumes. In
this particular one, the mystery builds and builds, with no actual resolution
and damned little investigation. The main character is swept up in event after
event precluding her from looking into the actual death which brings her to a
research station on the ocean floor.
Similar to Sealab 2021 without the humor, huge
parts of this underground exploratory and research development center are blown
up or flooded in the first six issues. We are introduced to a select number of
interesting characters who, I’m sure, all have secrets of their own - which
will be revealed in upcoming issues. But if you are interested in a mystery
then you are in it for the long haul, because I’m sure this one won’t wrap up
until the 23rd or 24th issue. The pacing is somewhat leisurely, and drifts
along like the contents of the ocean.
Some people have ragged
on the art, but it’s watercolors for an undersea story, which I think is
fitting. We tend to see the science fiction art as more detailed and technical
with lots of gauges and lights and mechanics in the background. This is not
present, but the beginnings of an interesting story is in the works. If only we
were given a little more. Maybe I should’ve just bought the omnibus edition.
There are three volumes
to this story, but I have only bought the first. I may or may not buy the rest.
Let’s see what kind of deal I can get on them. Two things you need to know
about this series right off the bat. Michael Moorcock’s name is on this, but he
had nothing to do with its story, but all of the characters (except one) come
from his various stories. Don’t worry though, this story is definitely in the
style of Moorcock, and the writers are well versed in Moorcock’s worlds for
they are well represented here. So while this isn’t written by the man himself,
the plot certainly could have been.
Second, this series is
called Elric, but it's more to do
with the Eternal Champion of Moorcock's multiverse. I suppose they just gave it
that title due to the character being the most popular of the Eternal
Champions. For those who are unaware, the Eternal Champion was Moorcock’s way
of connecting all of his various stories and characters through a central
archetype. The Champion is a
semi-conscious appointed warrior of Balance who exists in every world and age
of the Multiverse. His mission is to keep the balance between order and chaos.
If either side becomes too powerful in one dimension then it is doomed.
Additionally they all seem to have an unbreakable bond with a sentient
Chaos-aligned weapon, the Black Sword, which in turns takes on a different
shape for each Champion. Champions are forbidden to coexist in the same
dimension, unless some sort of massive catastrophe is underway - as is the case
in this series, but what is exactly the source of this lost balance is not
revealed in volume one.
Which leads us to another
problem. If you aren’t sufficiently knowledgeable in the various works of
Moorcock, beyond Elric, you might be
lost or miss the significance of much of the material. If you know Moorcock,
then you will certainly enjoy the ride. Four protagonists are presented here.
The first is the titular Elric, traveling the moonbeam roads between universes
with his signature sword Stormbringer. Next is Duke Dorian Hawkmoon von Köln
who is uncovering a remnant of the Beast Lords who survived the last decisive
war. Corum Jhaelen Irsei, Corum of the Silver Hand, who rescues an old friend
then goes to thwart an attack of order creatures, only to come across a version
of the Runestaff - which readers might recognize as part of the Hawkmoon series. And a new member of the
Von Bek family, Eric Beck. The family is often picked to be a part of the
Eternal Champion down through the multiverse. Also making appearances are
Oswald Bastable, and the cast of the Second
Ether series.
Eric Beck being the new character and
oblivious to his role, should have been the entrance cypher for the readers,
but as of the fourth issue here he hasn’t been. All the protagonists are given
the same amount of page space- for good or ill. However, it does make the
assumption that people are well versed in the many short stories and books of
Moorcock as the author. If everything in the previous passage comes across as
gibberish, you may not enjoy this graphic novel as well as you might.
This
is the last issue based I bought of the old “illustrated adult fantasy
magazine” 1984 put out by Warren Publishing back in the late 1970s to the mid
1980s. I managed to find the first four relatively cheaply - albeit they
arrived a bit musty - on eBay, but when I look at the prices for more of them,
they certainly aren’t cheap. Granted, each issue is a fill 80 to 90 pages of
material - just below standard for a graphic novel - so they price might be
justified. But I plan to take a break from them for a while.
Issue
four of this magazine contains a story which is rumored to have caused the
downfall (ie bankruptcy) of Warren Publishing. The story is called “Mondo
Megillah”, the third in the issue. Editor DuBey decided to adapt some classic
sci-fi stories for the magazine. One writer suggested “A Boy and His Dog” by
Harlen Ellison and DuBey agreed without contacting Ellison. When Ellison
refused to grant permission, Dubay had an artist draw the story anyway, then
provided the art to the writer to use as the basis for a new story. Ellison
then sued for plagiarism and won - easily won. For if you ever read the story,
you’ll see there’s no doubt the story was a rip-off, despite the gender swap of
the main character. It’s said that this lawsuit drained the coffers of Warren
so much, that when the market took a slight downturn, they couldn’t survive.
In
this issue we are presented with the stories of “The Last War of the Worlds”
which is a sequel to H. G. Wells’ War of
the Worlds. Essentially it is a miniature version of the great sci-fi
graphic novel Scarlet Traces - albeit this story came out first. Next is the
continuing story of Idi Amin, in “Idi and Me”. Where a former dirty tricks
agent, named Dogmeat, and a gender-swapped Idi Amin must travel through a new
world filled with devolved human mutants. Again my suspicions was that the art
for this piece was initially written for an entirely different story
altogether.
After
the infamous “Mondo Megillah”, was the latest installment of Mutant World, by
Jan Strnad and Richard Corben. This feature’s dimwitted character continues on
his post-apocalyptic journey for food and love - with tragic results. Fifth is
“The Stunning Downfall of Muhammad Reptillicus” which is a contiunation of the
Sally Starslammer story from last issue. Here Sally becomes involved in the
fight business, only to find it’s rigged - shocking but true. After this is
another full-color entry by Richard Corben, called “Ogre”. An orge in a fantasy
setting lusts after a beautiful woman. Irony and tragedy are the result. One of
the highlights of the book. “Lullaby”, the next story is incredibly messed up.
Very sexual, lots of nude drawings, and deals with the aristocracy is a future
civilization. Eighth is “Boys Camp” about two people setting up a detention camp
for human children at the behest of alien invaders.
Last,
we have what will become a recurring character, “Rex Havoc, Asskicker of the
Fantastic”. In a similar world to the True Blood series all of the Universal
Monster species have come out of the closet and announced themselves to the
world. Collectively they are called the Fantastic and are now demanding human
rights and the vote, etc. Rex Havoc, a tongue-in-cheek character, and his team
attempt to prove the evilness of the fantastic races.
On to issue three of the
adult fantasy magazine 1984. This was published by Warren Publishing in the
late 1970s to mid- 1980s, where it ended at issue 29 due to the publisher’s
bankruptcy. I comment on the last post about how most stories were written by Bill
DuBey and as such many of the stories have the same feel to them. Especially
when dealing with sexual issues. As it turns out, that is because DuBey had a
bad habit of rewriting other people’s dialogue and rearranging artwork without
consulting the artist first.
In
the first issue, the story by Wallace Wood was cut down, rearranged and totally
rewritten to make a very different story. As a result, Wallace Wood refused to
ever work with the company again. The Mutant
World continuing series in 1984 by Jan Strnad and Richard Corben often
struggled with DuBey who would add what Strnad called, ”a spew of juvenile
obscenities." This arrogance would ultimately cost the Publisher everything.
As we will see next issue.
Despite
what I said, this is a great issue of stories, with an amazing cover by Patrick
Woddroffe. DuBey could write fast and
quick, and produce quality material - which is perhaps why he was so dismissive
of other people’s abilities. Eventually the only writers who stuck around were
hungry and just needed a paycheck. One thing which I do miss, that exists in
the more popular magazines, are the lack of advertisements. Where is the weird
old stuff? The lockets containing dirt from Dracula’s Castle. The creepy masks
and ancient paperbacks? Ah well.
First
story, drawn by Jose Ortiz, must have recycled from an old issue of Creepy or
Eerie, because I swear I’ve read it before. It’s a weird sci-fi tale about a
pair of old telepaths secretly run the world’s military apparatus. Next we have
the first in a recurring character, Idi Amin - yes, that one - it’s another
truly odd tale, set in the near-future where a character called Dogmeat Jones,
part of the America’s Dirty Tricks Squad, causes the African dictator to have a
sex change. In retaliation, he unleashes several genetic diseases which wipes
out most life and leaves the rest as hate-filled mutants. This is another story
which I swear the art was drawn for a different story and DuBey slapped new
text onto. Third is, “In the Beginning” where scientists send a group of
scientists back in time to observe the very first appearance of microscopic
life on Earth, only to be terribly surprised.
Fourth,
we have the next installment of Mutant World, which continues to be the
highlight of the magazine - partially because it’s a color insert, partially because
of Richard Corben’s art. The story itself is simple, but enjoyable. Fifth is,
“Bring Me the Head of Omar Barsidian” illustrated by Jim James and Rudy Nebres,
one of the more sexual tales in this issue. In it, the titular Omar is chased
for escaping from the planet Orgasty, where he as one of the beautiful people
he isn’t allowed to quit society. Sixth is a silent feature, illustrated by the
mononym Nebot, called “The Strange Adventure of Doctor Jerkyll”. This obvious reference
postulates what would happen if the scientist’s potion had turned him female.
Seventh
is “Scourge of All Disneyspace”, another bizarre story where men have been
mutated so they have no genitals, and a group of renegade women from the
insemination factories run across a real penis for the first time. Eighth is
‘COMMFU” - Complete Monumental Military Fuck Up, where a psycho, trained by the
government, accidentally initializes a killing spree in Flordia, rather than
his intended target. Last is “The Harvest”, a story which caused controversy at
the time. In a future world, where there are limited resources, white people
hunt blacks for food. The ending splash page was particularly messed up. It
depicts a man pulling a fetus from a dead woman and proclaiming to his son,
“Your mama was asking for some veal”. Or words to that effect.
Here we are, second issue
of the magazine dubbed 1984, which
ran with the tagline “Explosive Illustrated Adult Fantasy”. Which was Warren
Publishing’s attempt to cash in on the success of Heavy Metal magazine - just like The Goblin was Warren’s attempt to grab some of the superhero boom
from the 1980s. . And to some extent, it was a success. While it only lasted 29
issues, the reason for its cancelation was Warren Publishing’s bankruptcy.
In my opinion, the
material here doesn’t come close to that in Heavy Metal or even Epic
Illustrated magazine. For one Heavy Metal
published a lot of material from many authors in many styles, often European
material which had a proven track record of success. To cut costs, most of the
material here was written by Bill DuBay. A talented man, make no mistake, but
still one who has a specific style, so many of the stories have a similar
cadence. Along with this, the magazine reuses many of the same artists from Creepy, Eerie, and Vamperella. So you are most likely going to see the same art styles
from issue to issue, unlike Heavy Metal
whose style varied wildly from story to story and issue to issue. Finally, what
put 1984 behind was its adherence to black and white illustrations - the made
the exception with Richard Corben’s recurring Mutant World stories, but that’s it. All other illustrated
magazines went full color. There were a few stories that were exceptions, but
that’s all they were - exceptions, not the rule.
I’m convinced that at
least the first two stories (and possibly the seventh one as well, “Messiah”)
were made from leftover art for a completely different tale, that DuBay
repurposed. Often the art in “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” and “Scourge” were
showing something completely unrelated to the text near them. He always made
sure they connected up at the end, but my suspicions are strong on this. The
frist details the sexual war between two different groups of mutated men, as
they fight over the last of the women. One side had massively oversized
genetailia (not shown) and the other causes the women to explode when they have
sex. “Scourge” discusses the scourge of women in the universe. As it turns out,
humans are the only race with two sexes. All the rest are made up of uni-sex
races whio instantly want to capture and conquer as many human women as
possible, which leads to glagatic war and the destruction of all civilizations
in the Milky Way.
Third is “The Kit” when euthanasia
becomes legal, suicide kits are all the rage -until their used for murder. This
one goes on too long, when it’s obvious where the story is headed. “The
Janitor” contains no text, but shows the sexual exploits of a janitor at a
catholic boarding school with a sci-fi twist. The highlight of this issue was
Richard Corben’s “Mutant World”, just as it was in Issue 1 out protagonist
Dimento now has to deal with the concept of religion and sin in his
post-apocalyptic world. It finished up
with “Maneaters” about a space ship captain who survived a doomed expedition
through cannibalism and is vilified by all polite society in many worlds for
it. Finally we have “The Microbe Patrol”
which is like Fantastic Voyage meets The Happy Hooker. You can figure that
one out on your own.
This is the premiere
issue of Warren Publication's attempt at a science fiction illustrated
magazine, even though it is billed as “Tomorrow's World of Illustrated Adult
Fantasy”, the stories (in this issue at least) are billed are all science
fiction. 1984 is, of course, a
reference to the classic dystopian novel of the same name, written in 1948. It
was designed to compete with Heavy Metal
so much of the material has more sex and violence than one would normally
expect- even from a Warren publication. The magazine changed its name to 1994 with issue 11, supposedly due to a
request from Orwell’s estate. It continued on until issue 29 when the whole of
Warren Publications went into bankruptcy.
This wasn’t like the
previous title from Warren I covered, The Goblin - in which most of the
premiere issue seemed to be made up of leftover crap from the pages of Creepy - the premiere of 1984 began with a strong collection of
stories by proven masters. Under the helm of Bill DuBay - The Rook. It clocks in at 82 pages, with 10 features and a cover by
Richard Corben, well worth the buck fifty asking price. The editorial claims
they “wanted to bring back the space adventures of their youth. The Shadow.
Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon.” Well they didn’t quite succeed in this first issue,
but made a decent effort.
First we have “Last of
the Really Great, All-American Joy Juice” written by Bill DuBay and drawn by
Jose Ortiz: A tongue in cheek story in the aftermath of a massive war on Earth
where nearly every male has been sterilized. Thus a space adventure begins to
recover the last of the sperm banks on the planet. A little too silly, but as
long as they aren’t all that way, I can take it. Second is “The Saga of Honeydew
Melons” by Nicola Cuit and drawn by Esteban Maroto. A weird story about a
talent scout having difficulty keeping live entertainment on a planet of
miners. He turns to a mechanical solution with disastrous results. Fun story.
Third is “Once Upon Clarissa” by Bill Dubay and drawn by Alex Nino. A truly
weird love story about a girl being kept alive through the magic of future
technology. Its only flaw is that most of the text is written in cursive, and
has faded due to the age of my copy - making reading it less enjoyable than it
should have been.
Fourth is “Quick Cut”
written and drawn by the master Wallace Wood. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic
future where humanity has divided into two distinct species and the sexual
interplay and violence between the two groups. Rather more brutal than I
expected, but I enjoyed it. “The Saga of Xatz and Xotz” no author or
illustrator given, is a one-page filler about a couple of aliens landing on a
devastated earth. Fifth is “Bugs” by Bill DuBay (surprise, surprise) about an
exploratory earth vessel encountering what they think are the ships of an alien
race. Sixth is the first installment of a recurring story called Mutant World,
written and drawn by Richard Corben. Easily the highlight of the issue, this is
the only color story which centers on a rather dim protagonist, Dimento, as he
tries to make his way through a mutated Earth.
The last three are:
“Faster Than Light” by Jim Stenstrum and illustrated by Luis Bermejo, a comic
story about the first faster-than-light cruise ship and the attempt to hijack
it. Definitely not hard science fiction. “Angel” by Bill Dubrey and illustrated
by Rudy Nebres, this seemed to be an attempt at another recurring character,
revolving around a young lady raised by a militant monk society after a nuclear
war. It ends with see more Angel next issue, but I don’t think we do. The final
tale is “Momma Can You Hear Me” by Nicola Cuti and illustrated by Alex Nino -
one of the better stories- about a man who was sold into slavery as a child and
mutilated so nearly half of him is cybernetic implants, he comes back to his
home planet in search of his missing mother. I would rate this last one as
maybe third best. Always go out on a high note. All in all, a decent first
issue.
Once again I’ve
found a graphic novel for way cheaper than people are selling it for online. The Age of Darkness by Caza, if you wish
to buy it - and you should as it is a beautifully told and illustrated book -
look on the Heavy Metal website, where you can purchase a new copy for $5.18.
When I look on eBay and Amazon these rip-off merchants are trying to sell it
for $75 to $125. Forget it. Take the sealed, brand new copy from the original
publishers for a more-than-fair price.
Set
in the very far future, in the year 666 of an unknown calendar the cities of
‘oms, a degenerated human race, begin to fail and die out under the changing
world. This was the Shadow Age, a time when the planet Earth still rotated on
its axis, but more and more slowly. At that time, the 'Oms, the Inhabitants of
the Shadows, still lived in their fortified cities. But the ramparts of the
Night were closing in on them, terrifying them and swallowing them up. And yet,
among the Shadows, dreams gradually rose up in the form of primitive beings
that became known as the "Others." Knowing neither pity nor hatred,
these creatures had only goal: to reclaim their birthright, the land they had
Lost: the Earth.
This
story is told through a series of 14 vignettes set in this world mentioned
above. Many have been published in Heavy
Metal Magazine, and were previously published in the French Metal Hurlant. The artwork is stunning
in its detail and use of color, and is ably reproduced in this book. Although
each entry rarely is longer than 5 -6 pages, the plots are well-composed and
show measures of quirky humor, horror, and pathos.
Lone Sloane was
first published in the 1966 French magazine Mystère
des Abîmes and continued onto the Belgium comic Pilote (which also gave us the Smurfs)
Along with its French contemporaries, the author was incredibly influential
especially in the field of science fiction comic artistry, eventually bleeding
over into American art in the 1970s. Honestly, I am kicking myself that I
haven’t read this author before. He is truly a master of his craft. Each panel
is intense and precise. It is a crime more of his work hasn’t been translated
into English.
This
particular story was first published in English in the 2000s. While the clothes
are science fantasy and cosmic, as sci-fi was wont to be in the 1970s - replace
the flying horses with spaceships - and this story is as cosmic as they come.
Universal forces, railroads through time space and dimensions, and enough
allegorical exposition to make Dante puke.
Set
ten years after The 6 Voyages of Lone
Sloane, this book sees our protagonist return from the dead to challenge a
universal force of evil which has overcome most of the intelligent life in the
galaxy. This time, he comes face to face with his old enemy, Shaan - who gives
us a twist. Whether it’s a good or ill one is up in the air. Not that it
matters. The plot is a little mystical and doesn’t make much sense, but then
the reason to read one of Druillet’s books is the wonderful wonderful artwork.
Which does not disappoint in any way. I’ll let the artwork do the talking here.
The final five
issues of the original series. From what I gather it wasn’t canceled from low
sales, but the author felt he could take the character as far as he could at
that time. In the final issue, Scout walks away. For some time, the character
had been war- weary, a person who never wanted to be a warrior or soldier in
the first place. It was immediately followed up by two 4-issue mini-series, Swords of Texas and New America where minor characters come to the forefront. Then later
succeeded by Scout: War Shaman which
picks up with the main character fifteen years later.
As
it stands, these are the best issues of the entire series. Gripping and raw,
the stakes have never been higher and that tension ripples through the pages
and illustrations. Though I do have to say that Scout seems to become an
observer in his own comic. Everyone else is running about with big plans and
he’s just swept up in the tide. No wonder the author chose to tuck him away.
From the beginning he had no real ambition beyond living wild in the Apache
hills of his ancestors.
Issue
20: “Black Cat Bone”: Monday and Scout hook up with the Swords of Texas and a
US Senator who has caught wind that something nasty was hatching from the top
of the U.S. government. The side-story deals with recurring character Lt. Rose
Winter who is sent by the President’s office to secure the nuclear warhead.
These stories collide as the Swords of Texas and crew find the warhead about to
ship off with the people who shot up the mercenaries. Violence breaks out and
the warhead is accidentally dropped onto Las Vegas.
Issue
21: “I’m on Fire” With the aftermath of the bomb, Scout and his allies move
south and begin a propaganda campaign against the current administration. While
the country is really being ruled by Vice President Lowery, the president
becomes suspicious of his activities. Rose Winter and her troops catch up with
Scout.
Issue
22: “The Wolf is At Your Door” This begins the final three issue arc of the
series. Scout, Monday, The Swords of Texas are squared off against the
communist Mexican forces invading Texas. Meanwhile, Lt. Rose Winter defies her
orders to pull back and allow the insurgent forces free reign. The Vice
President then murders the President, attempting to make it look like an
accidental overdose, and seizes control, but the act is recorded by Mossad
agents.
Issue
23: “Cryin’ at Daybreak” The invasion continues on for a week. Many are killed
on both sides. Then the United States Army appears and orders everyone fighting
the invasion to lay down arms and surrender. The rebels choose a third option
and essentially the rag-tag team declare civil war on the government. Israeli
troop arrive to help the Scout and friends, but then discover that their own
country was invaded after they left. This leaves us to the final showdown and
the confrontation with whoever is pulling strings in the shadow.
Issue
24: “Sittin’ on Top of the World”. The skirmish along the Mexican border has
caused a domino effect across the world, culminating in what seems World War III
has broken out. Monday has a plan to end the conflict and blasts off into space
to take command of a Russian Nuclear Defense Platform.
As
the rest of the series has never been collected into trade paperback format, I
bought all the rest of the issues off of Mile High Comics, My Comic Shop, and
eBay, and I got them for a fairly reasonably price with sufficient shuffling
about. There were a few sellers with ridiculous asking prices, but the most I
paid for any individual issue was $4 (issue 16- the 3D issue) , most circled
around the two dollar range.
As
I stated in the previous entry on this series, Scout takes a little bit of time to find itself and these next
seven issues I believe it does that. Gone is the overt supernatural elements of
the series, replacing them is more unnerving, covert mysticism, where the
reader finds the line between divine inspiration and insanity a thin line. There’s
enough political drama in the world of Scout
without needing to add much more to it.
Starting
with issue 15, featurettes become common in the series, where a mini-story is
added to look at the perspective of another character in the same universe. Their
stories will eventually merge with the greater arc of the world of Scout.
Issue
15: “Uncle Sam Blues”: In the last issue, Scout was taken prisoner by the U.S.
military. Rather than imprison him, the chuck him into a veterans asylum for
his P.T.S.D and drug him up. He goes through another mystical experience,
naturally, before summoning up the strength to break out. But he is stopped by
another mystical warrior imprisoned in the hospital, a mass-murderer called
Monday the Eliminator. The side-story deals with the mercenary group Swords of
Texas, who are tricked into smuggling an important crate of McGuffins to a
terrorist organization and then are double crossed.
Issue
16: “Stormy Monday”: This was a 3-D issue which was a minor fad in comics back
in the late 1980s. It passed quickly though, leading to the bankruptcy of one
publisher Blackthorne. In this issue, Scout and Monday have a protracted fight
scene (needed to justify the 3-D costs I guess) before teaming up and breaking
out of prison. Honestly this is only issue of Scout where virtually nothing happens.
Issue
17: “Key to the Highway”. The art really improves in this issue. You can see,
smell, taste, and touch the talent as the artist finally blooms into his own.
Monday and Scout spend months being tracked by government forces as they take a
circular route to meet Scout’s uncle at the ancient Apache hills. He goes on a
mystic quest once again and fights his personal demon, with the help of some
weird beings from Beanworld - another
comic from Eclipse about minimalist beans- making just about one of the
weirdest crossovers ever. The backup feature deals with Missy and her band,
survivors of the Houston massacre, are strong-armed by local thugs in Las
Vegas.
Issue
18: “Blues Hit Big Town”. Scout and Monday hit Las Vegas and become wrapped up
in Missy and her band’s legal trouble. Which nearly leads to violent
confrontation and a glimpse at the future of the series. The backup feature
deals with Monday meeting several underground connections in the city. We learn
more of his boring “mysterious” past. He doesn’t need to sleep. He’s also some,
apparently, immortal warrior who travels from conflict zone to conflict zone.
Not much else is revealed. A pretty standard “mysterious” past for an 80s character.
Luckily the rest of the issues don’t waste any time on it.
Issue
19: “Houserockers”: This issue carries another gimmick, briefly popular in the
1980s, the floppy square 48 record attached inside. This was mostly done in
books, I remember Bloom County: Billy and
the Boingers had one attached - there must have been others. They were
cheap, easy to produce, so why not. The used issue I bought still had it
attached. Recorded by the Dixie Pistols,
a band fronted by Scout creator Tim
Truman, gives us two songs: Double Moon Stomp and Blues Crusade. I won’t
comment on the quality as I haven't listened to them, but below I included a
video of Truman doing a karaoke version of Blues Crusade.
The
rest of the issue deals with Missy and her band struggling against the local
gangsters and trying to win a battle of the bands. While Monday picks up
information that a nuclear warhead has been stolen - the mysterious package
from issue 15 - while the Communist Mexican army begins moving north. Issue 19
is easily the weakest of the series. All these important events are revving up and
yet we focus on a stupid battle of the bands.
The second book in
the Scout series collects issues 8 -14 from 1985 and 1986 - or issues 9-15 if
you are reading the Dynamite reprint. Originally released by Eclipse comics, it
has some of that drag and momentum of the time, but also remains an indie pleasure.
In these issues, as well as the future one, he begins to expand the Scout
universe. Political maneuverings and weirdos abound. A fascinating world of
hi-tech future wild-west America is opening. Shotguns and mechs abound.
As
I stated in the previous entry on this series, Scout takes a little bit of time
to find itself and these next seven issues I believe it does that. Gone is the
overt supernatural elements of the series: the Gahn and the Four Beasts.
Replacing them is more unnerving, covert mysticism, where the reader finds the
line between divine inspiration and insanity a thin line. The series benefits
greatly from this adjustment. There’s enough drama in the world of Scout
without needing to add much more to it.
Scout
is set in the dystopian future of 1999 - our old future- where, in a similar
vein to Solyent Green, the problems
inflicted on modern American society are due to overfishing and exhaustion of
the soil from overproduction. Most of the rest of the world seems to be under
the grip of a Soviet Pact and have leveled trade embargos on the United States
and allied countries, forcing us to fend for ourselves. A power struggle is
occurring between the new president of the United States, a former junkie, and
the former advisor to the previous president, who summoned up the four beasts.
Here
a religious movement has taken over a decommissioned nuclear missile silo,
which mistakenly had a few nukes left. Half the government wants the group to
fire off the bombs, so they can take tighter control of the country, while the
other attempts to stop the missile launch. Scout is caught in the middle. He
makes new friends - if a man like him can be said to ever make friends - and
loses a few as well. This story arc is the tipping point, in my ever humble opinion,
the series. The issues where it really begins to sit up and cook.
