Archie Giant Series #590

May 9, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Back From the Future

Meet the Time Police!

Writer: Rich Margopoulos
Pencils: Rex Lindsey
Inks: Jon D’Agostino
Colors: Barry Grossman
Letters: Bill Yoshida
Editor: Victor Gorelick
Cover Art: Rex Lindsey
Publisher: Archie Comics

In the late 80s, Archie Comics tried a lot of experiments in expanding Archie’s universe, including giving titles to characters like Hot Dog and Dilton, goofy spin-offs like Jughead’s Diner, Faculty Funnies and Archie 3000 and attempts at adventure like Explorers of the Unknown and Archie’s R/C Racers. Most of these didn’t even last a year, but as they came out just when I was really heavily into Archie, they’ve always held a special place in my heart.

My favorite of this crop of experimental titles, however, was Jughead’s Time Police, a sci-fi series that had its roots in this issue of Archie Giant Series. It’s an exciting day in Riverdale when Senator Bailey, an important presidential candidate, is planning to make a speech in Pickens’ Park. Suddenly, a young woman suddenly appears to Jughead claiming to be from the distant future and warning him that he is fated to save Senator Bailey’s life, and that bandits from her own time are on their way there to stop him.

Jughead and the young woman, January McAndrews of the Time Police, are chased across Riverdale and time itself, racing from the bandits in an effort to keep the timestream flowing on its proper course. Jug learns he’s destined to become one of the most important figures in history (of course) and even gets to the cusp of learning the answer to the all-time greatest question (who does Archie choose, Betty or Veronica?) before drawn back into action. At the end of the adventure, Jughead’s memory of the future is removed, but it was restored when the Time Police got their own short-lived series and he was made a full deputy.

I recently managed to track down a copy of this issue, one of my favorites from my youth, and the story has held up very well. It’s a shame that Jan and the Time Police have been shuffled off as footnotes in Archie history, because it’s really a great concept, one that still has plenty of storytelling potential. Ah, dare to dream…

Rating: 8/10

Batman #621

November 23, 2003

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Broken City Part Two

Batman continues to seek a murderer whose most recent crime strikes too close to home.

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Art: Eduardo Risso
Colors: Patricia Mulvihill
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis & Bob Schreck
Cover Art: Dave Johnson
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue is a step up from the first part of “Broken City,” but I’m still not in love with the arc. Batman is looking for a killer who slaughtered a mother and father, but left their young son alive. The hero is written more in-character this issue than last issue, but some scenes still strike me as odd at best. As nice as it is to see the Gotham City PD being put to good use in a title beyond their own excellent Gotham Central, I have a very difficult time swallowing a scene where Batman calls up Det. Crispin Allen to discuss the crime and winds up swapping grilling tips. I just kept asking myself, “This is Batman?”

Killer Croc is another big problem – while some people complained about his mutated form in the “Hush” story arc, I found that preferable to the current hairy, sleazy pimp incarnation that we’re treated to in this story… which brings us to the story overall. How many times, over the past 60 years, have we had a story where Batman sees parents get murdered and broods over his own origins?

Azzarello does have a good writing style, I’d never deny that. His captions and dialogue read like an old Raymond Chandler potboiler novel, which is to say, like a classic detective story. It just doesn’t feel like a classic Batman story to me.

Risso is a much better fit for this book, fortunately. He draws a wonderful, shadowy Gotham City, essential for a town that is a character in its own right. His Batman, while clearly inspired by Frank Miller, looks very good. The character looks tough, but not superhuman. The fight scenes are good and detailed.

This is a book that looks better than it reads these days. Fortunately, we’re only two stories into the six-issue arc. There’s still time for it to get better.

Rating: 7/10

Ultimate Spider-Man #54

March 13, 2004

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Hollywood Part One

“Spider-Man: The Movie” is now in production… but nobody told Peter Parker!

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Art Thibert
Colors: J.D. Smith
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Cover Art: Mark Bagley
Publisher: Marvel Comics

When May Parker leaves town for a week to visit her mother, Peter plans an uneventful week of going to work and wishing Mary Jane weren’t grounded. His plans get messed up, though, when he gets news that a Spider-Man is filming right there in the Big Apple.

Brian Michael Bendis really wowed me with this issue. While I’m usually impressed with his writing skill, he usually goes as a snail’s pace that begins to lag after a while. This issue has as much actual story content as any three regular issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, though, starting off with a very funny Peter/Gwen scene, cutting to a subplot involving Dr. Octopus (leaving the reader to figure out where, exactly, Ultimate Six fits in), and even brings Pete all the way to the movie set, where he confronts the people involved in fictionalizing his life.

Although this story, as most of them in this title, has the potential to turn serious very quickly, for the most part it’s a really funny issue. The banter between Peter and Gwen at the beginning paints them as cohorts, almost siblings, really putting an original twist on their relationship. We get a page of goofy interior monologue and an amusing schoolroom scene as well. The laughs continue as Peter heads to the movie set, where Bendis gleefully uses the actual principals of the real-life Spider-Man movie to tell his story. Although the in-jokes may be a little tedious for people who didn’t see the real movie (both of them) or for people unfamiliar with director Sam Raimi’s career (a few more of those out there), for the most part the whole thing comes together very well and has me happily anticipating next issue.

Mark Bagley and Art Thibert, as always do a masterful job on the artwork. Bagley even goes so far as to make Tobey Maguire in a Spider-Man costume very visually distinctive from the “real” Spider-Man, and he does it entirely by playing with body structure and poses instead of altering the costume or making it look “fake.”

This is an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man that gives you your money’s worth – a fantastic story, wonderful art and a genuine sense of excitement over what it to come. This time Bendis and company really knock it out of the park

Rating: 9/10