Super Mario Bros. (1990 Series) #2

June 11, 2011

Magic Carpet Madness: John Walker, John Costanza, P. Zorito, Jade, The Gradiations
Museum of Plumbing: John Walker, Gina Going, Jacqueline Roettcher, Jade, Karen Merbaum
The Kingdom Enquirer: Bill Vallely, Mark McClellan, John Costanza, P. Zorito, Pat Brosseau, Andrea Brooks, The Gradiations
Koopa’s High School Yearbook: Bill Vallely, Mark McClellan, Kelly Jarvis, Rich Maurizio, Ken Lopez, Karen Merbaum
Publisher: Valiant Comics

Here’s a blast from the past for you. I recently stumbled across this classic in the cheap box at a comic convention. It’s easy to forget that there was a time these old Super Mario Bros. comics were hot collectibles, because they were in fact the first comics published by the once-hot Valiant Comics. Now you can get ‘em in a quarter bin, along with most other Valiant books, except those other Valiant titles would usually be much more worth your reading time.

At the beginning we see the first thing I hate about early Valiant – the way they lump all the credits together off to the side without actually telling us who did what. But past that, “Magic Carpet Madness” is a weak story. The king tracks mud through the palace, which leads to scrubbing the carpets, which leads to unearthing a flying carpet, which somehow turns Princess Toadstool into a punk rocker. I am not making this up.

“Museum of Plumbing” is a bit better. It’s a one-page gag featuring Luigi showing off… well, the Museum of Plumbing, which leads to a cheesy last-panel punchline, but at least it’s a joke that makes sense.

“The Kingdom Enquirer” is the best story in the book, which isn’t necessarily to say that it’s good, just better than the others. Toad decides he’s going to start up a palace newspaper, but his attempts at journalism quickly devolve into putting together a trashy gossip rag. The conclusion here is actually clever, and it’s that which raises this story up above the rest of them.

The comic ends with another one-pager “Koopa’s High School Yearbook,” which is just four panels in a yearbook format and a few gags thrown in. I’ll say this for the comic – the artwork is quite good. It’s very cartoonish and lively, and suits the Mario cartoons of the era. But it’s a good thing Valiant EIC Jim Shooter had the foresight to license the Gold Key heroes to start his own superhero universe, or else Valiant today would be even more of a footnote than it is.

Rating: 5/10

The Tick: New Series #2

February 20, 2010

The Tick New Series #2 (New England Comics)
By Benito Cereno & Les McClaine

Desperadoe steals a mystic jewel that supposedly has the power to make someone fall in love. As the Tick and Arthur chase her in a mad race across the city, Chairface is making plans to spring himself from prison. Although the two storylines in this issue are relatively simple and self-contained, the laughs are huge. Cereno does a bang-up job of spoofing the conventions of the superhero genre, as the Tick’s comics have always done, but he takes it a step further. The Chairface scenes are a great spoof of prison break stories, specifically those that are kind of dependent on guards who lack common sense. We get a series of really strong gags that lead up to a goofy-yet-ominous last page. McClaine carries his part of the comic too, with plenty of great sight gags and highly expressive faces — especially on Arthur. This team is really proving itself worthy of taking over the reigns of one of the funniest superhero universes out there.
Rating: 9/10

JLA #102

July 25, 2004

Quick Rating: Average
Title: Scarlet Speedster (Pain of the Gods Part Two)

When the Flash isn’t fast enough, will he be able to go back and outrace his mistakes?

Writer: Chuck Austen
Art: Ron Garney
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Art: Ron Garney
Publisher: DC Comics

As surprised as I was to enjoy the first chapter of Austen’s “Pain of the Gods” storyline, I was equally disappointed in this second installment. Is it because it’s bad? No. In fact, I rather liked this issue the first time I read it. When it was called JLA #101.

Let’s recap. Last issue, Superman failed to save a would-be superhero from a burning building, had a personal crisis of conscience and then, with the help of his fellow Justice Leaguers, came to a state of resolution. This issue, the Flash fails to save some children from a burning build – oh, but I don’t want to spoil it.

It seems that this will be the pattern of this storyline. The hero will suffer some sort of failure (if there are any more burning buildings I’m officially going to give up), have an overdramatic reaction to it, and then find some sort of closure. I could be wrong, I suppose. Could be next issue, with Green Lantern, will be completely different. I hope it is, in fact.

This issue didn’t work as well as the last either. Superman may not be used to watching hero wannabes die on their first mission, but Flash was been doing this way too long to be this broken up by not saving people, even children. Would he take it hard? Sure. But would he go off the deep end like he does in this issue? He’s been doing it too long.

Ron Garney fortunately, continues to impress on the artwork. He draws a really great Flash, with nice speed effects. David Baron does a really good job with the fire scene, as well. I’m glad to know that Garney will be staying on when Kurt Busiek takes over as the regular writer in a few months.

It could be worse, I’ll admit, but this issue’s big sin isn’t poor quality, it’s repetition. Which is a pretty big problem in its own right.

Rating: 5/10