Random Thoughts

Kilgore (1987) #1-4 by Brian B. Chin and Jesse Jarvis

When I’m typing these blog posts (I wouldn’t call it “writing”), I generally do so after I’ve read the entire series I’m er typing about, but I do so as if I was typing in real time while reading? (Rare peek behind the scenes! Secrets revealed!) I don’t take notes while reading, but I add little post-it flags to the pages I want to talk about, and as my short-term memory is kinda good (my long-term memory basically doesn’t exist), I’m able to type up these little ditties.

I’m mentioning it here, because I was befuddled when reading the first couple of issues, and in retrospect some of the points I was going to bring up seem… kinda moronic? Because I didn’t get what the creators were going for, at all?

But I’m still gonna type this blog post that way! Hah!

So let’s read the first three pages together:

OK, so we have a pretty standard WWII setup, with an ornery general and an irreverent Colonel Kilgore (with sidekicks and dames). The artwork’s kinda attractive. It’s totally of its genre: This could have been from any WWII comic from 1951 to 1987, and from either the US or Europe. (This sort of stuff was being churned out by the metric ton in Italy, for instance.)

Oh, er… So Kilgore is kinda more of a rake? And he’s very very small? Or those women are reall really big? Hm.

Shouldn’t they move the tug boat further away if they hit it last time?

And then… they hit the tug boat again? Presumably killing those people aboard? And the general just shrugs off Kilgore’s actions here and is just… “whatever”?

How… what… where…

And Kilgore is robbing the military? (But remember than panel for later.)

That’s some good dancing! OK, is this supposed to be funny?

And then we get a two-page spread with… apparently… real historical facts? Or is this a joke? I can’t tell.

The creators apparently don’t think we have good short term memories, so they remind us of that panel up there. Which makes me wonder whether this series was originally meant to be serialised in an anthology somewhere?

(Oops. Out of focus snap…)

Anyway, it all ends with Kilgore being hailed as a brave war hero, because he’s got a guy to spin all these nonsensical stuff into a heroic narrative.

So at this point in the reading, I was going: “This is meant as a biting satire on military history? The most assholish of assholes in the military will be portrayed as heroes?”

But of course, what we’re looking at here is Mad Takes A Look At WWII, and when I realised that, I went “aaaaah! Now it all makes sense!” (I don’t quite remember when I realised that — it might be half-way through issue two.)

It’s just that the artwork is so staid and standard that it’s hard to believe that you’re looking at outrageous joke after outrageous joke: That panel where Kilgore was riding on her shoulders should have been a dead give-away, but in the context, it didn’t read as Mad-like zaniness, but just… slightly humorous, bad WWII comics.

The other possibility is that I am, indeed, a humourless moron.

I have no idea whether anything on this introductory page is true, or is meant to be a huge joke. I mean, the central conceit of Kilgore writing this is a … thing … but did Brian Chin work at the military museum? That might explain the seemingly-accurate WWII stuff here. And as there’s no credits in the first three issues, this is the only intimation that the writer (?) is Steve Jarvis, but that may or may not also be a joke.

A serious problem with this comic is that the writing is just bad. I mean on a sentence by sentence basis.

In the second issue we drop by Norma Desmond at random — presumably because Chin just wanted draw her? What happens in this scene has no repercussions on the… storyline, if you want to call it that.

In this version, she’s a mass murderer with (at least) three dead men floating in her pool at the same time. Was the reason for doing those pages just to get to this … punchline?

A writer voices her disapproval of Kilgore — like me, she seems to have a problem with reading the book as goofy over-the-top zaniness: The furthest she’s willing to go is “subtle satire”. (Another reader likes it a lot and says “I supposed it’s supposed to be a comedy”, and the rest seem to think it’s straight-up adventure.)

This back-up strip, where Kilgore is a TV preacher, makes the point a lot more clearly.

(I should use a different lens or have a whole lot more light when I’m zooming in to specific panels…)

Anyway, in the third issue, Kilgore fights UFOs and Godzilla.

And visits a comic book convention.

The fourth and final issue has the best artwork of the bunch: It’s cleaner, and we get to a look that’s quite John Severin-derived. Some of these pages are really good. It’s a shame that the plot is basically a noir McGuffin chase with little humour. (And it has nothing to do with the military.)

But at least we get a peek into the San Francisco bath houses. I mean, showering facilities. (That is apparently just a grotto with no fixtures, and the water just… comes from the ceiling…)

Most of the Renegade series that were cancelled got some prior notification, so that they could at least say goodbye on the letters pages, and swear to return at a later date. That didn’t happen here.

This series was reprinted a couple years later, and the final two issues (as mentioned above, this was planned as a six issue series) were supposed to be created, but that apparently never happened. The publisher, Diamond, apparently specialised in picking up Renegade series: At least half of those are Renegade-derived.

Amazing Heroes #133, page 100:

No doubt you know’ that these are the
true adventures of Col. Kilgore and have
been chronicled by creative team Brain
Chin and Steve Jarvis. COL Kilgore
wanted his biography written up for
posterity, but felt that it should be
accompanied by illustrations so that the
reader will really feel that he was there
with the Colonel in the heat of battle.

[…]

In July, #5 is what I call the “Oliver
North Meets Godzilla” issue. Kilgore
meets a beautiful French revolutionary
and some dinosaurs, as well as attempt-
ing one of the most terrifying, death-
defying feats known to man—facing a
Senate Congressional Committee!
Well, I might as well finish up with
#6. due out in September 1988: There’s
a Kilgore guest appearance on the “Ben
Casey” television show. What more
could you ask for?

Amazing Heroes #183, page 16:

CB Publications: The adventures of
Colonel Kilgore (by Chin with Jarvis)
are collected into The Kilgore Papers
#1, a $9.95 black & white softcover.

That didn’t happen, I guess?

RJS writes in Amazing Heroes Preview Special #5, page 69:

KILLGORE
Written and illustrated by BRIAN CHIN; edited by
WENDI LEE
32 pages; $2.00; bi.monthly from RENEGADE
PRESS
According to writer/artist Brian Chin,
Killgore is based on a real-life person who
was active during WWII with the Coast
Artillery Defense based in San Francisco.
“The guy really existed, but he really isn’t
as sleazy a character in real life as I make
him out to be in the comic,” Chin told us..
In the comic, Killgore is a military man
who is a frustrated actor. To satisfy his
artistic bent, Killgore has a tendency to
turn any given situation into his advan-
tage. “He’s a bit of a practical joker,” says
Chin, “and he wants to make himself out
to be a hero.” Chin went on to describe
Killgore as a dashing figure in the Clark
Gable or Errol Flynn mold, with bedroom
eyes and a pencil-thin mustache. Done in
a “film noir” style, Killgore is “sort of” a
humor/adventure book.
In issue #1 a Japanese sub attacks San
Francisco and Kilgore finds a way to turn
the attack to his advantage. In #2 he is
down in L.A. to assist with their harbor
defense, and spends most of his time
trying to land a part in a Hollywood movie.
In #3 Killgore finds himself inj the ’50s
tracking down some aliens who landed in
the desert: seems he wants to land them
a spot on the Ed Sullivan show. (Appar-
ently, like Billy Pilgrim, Chin’s Killgore is
“unstuck on time.”) Issue #4 deals with
a mysterious lady from Shanghai.
The catch phrase for the series is:
“He’s not peace, he’s not war, he’s just
Killgore.”

I’m unable to detect any chatter about Kilgore on the intertubeses, but you can pick up the series cheaply if you should wish, although I really wouldn’t recommend it.

This blog post is part of the Renegades and Aardvarks series.

Agent Unknown (1987) #1-3 by Robert Sodero, Dell Barras and others

Man, that’s an amateurish-looking logo.

But let’s read the first three pages.

As usual in a Renegade series, there’s no contextualisation as to what we’re reading — my immediate thought upon seeing these pages was that this had to be a reprint of a Spanish comic… but I recognise Dell Barras’ name, and I don’t think he’s Spanish? Lan Medina inks the first two issues (I think; there’s no credits in the second issue). Or… is there a vague whiff of Japanese comics here in the rendering? I googled right now, and Medino is from the Philippines, which er let’s carry on.

The storytelling veers from accomplished to incomprehensible… often on the same page. It’s not clear how these people are moving in relation to each other, or who they are, or exactly what’s going on here. So you have to resort to “well, that guy is blond(e)… but so’s that other guy… but one has a bow tie, and the other one has a sweater, so it’s the … sweatery guy that’s getting the money? But it’s the bow-tied guy that’s showing him in?”

I wish I could say I cherry-picked this page, but they’re basically all like this.

(Oh, the “accomplished” part was about the look dark-haired-guy and bow-tie-guy exchange — that’s pretty nice.)

I guess you can tell what’s going on here, but… it doesn’t make much visual sense.

There’s two stories per issue — the backup feature is by the same creators, but is about a different secretish agent.

I think those two are brothers? I’m like 80% sure they are? So this is witty repartee… but since the book hasn’t really established for sure that they are, it’s… “Ol’ son”… weird…

Some of the panels look a lot more like Japanese comics than others.

Is it? Is it droll? What’s droll about it? WHERE”S THE DROLLITY!!!

In the second issue, we get the contextualisation that was missing from the first issue: This is not a reprint from a Spanish action comic, but was thought up by Sodaro, who was apparently working for Amazing Heroes at the time. Which explains a lot.

And he seems to have pretty grand plans for the series…

… and then it’s cancelled. The explanation in 1) and 2) — sure. But “cash flow”? I’m not sure he knows what that means…

He ends with a threat: He’s gonna continue the series at another company, or if that’s not possible: He’s gonna make other comics. It seems like he carried out his threat, but is mostly writing about comics.

The final issue is inked by Cesar Magsombol, and it’s clear how much of the Spanish/Japanese look was from the inker: This looks totally different, and…

… it’s kinda bad? The faces shift dramatically from panel to panel, and they mostly looks kinda insane.

I would not be able to tell you: That final issue was incredibly badly written, even on an Agent Unknown scale.

This series was not continued anywhere, and has apparently never been reprinted… except in the Norwegian Agent X-9 magazine, which made me titter a bit, because they’ve carried so much junk over the years. But even they limited their exposure to a couple of the back-up stories featuring the female agent.

Amazing Heroes Preview Special #5, page 7:

“They carry guns, badges, and they have
their government’s permission to kill
people.” This is the premise for this new
spy series premiering in October. It
features a sweeping storyline where it is
the rank and file of an organization that
are the featured players, rather than the
high echelon officers. “l always found it
odd that a Captain Kirk or a Colonel Fury
would always lead off all action by their
respective organizations,” writer Robert
Sodaro told us. “In Agent Unknown it is
the agency, not the agents themselves,
who is the star.”
The book will be broken up into sec.
tions to tell the 30-year history of a top
secret governmental organization known
as The International Law Enforcement
Division (ILED).

[…]

In the initial six issues of the series,
Sodaro will be concentrating on intro-
ducing and defining the main characters
of his cast, which include the three
previously mentioned characters, as well
as Larry Haloran, a tough-as-nails ex-MP
whose wife and son were killed by terror.
ists; and David Benjamin Stryker, an ex-
Mossad Israeli, both of whom now are line
agents within the Division. “With Agent
Unknown I’m attempting to put the secret
back into secret agent stories,” concludes
Sodaro.

Amazing Heroes #148, page 8:

RENEGADE PRESS will discon-
tinue ROBERT J. SODARO & DÉL
BARRAS’s Agent Unknown after
issue #3. Publisher DENI LOUBERT
cited “A lack of reader support,” as
the reason for the cancellation, but
SODARO actually suspects a govern-
ment conspiracy to suppress the cur-
rent flood of classified information
being leaked through the comic book
industry. Either way, the book is
done, for now.

The Comics Journal #127, page 20:

More rumors, and debt. “I talked to
Deni because she owes me money for
Agent Unknown,” said writer Bob
Sodaro. “She told me she’s closing up
shop.
‘ ‘I just asked her how things were
and she was nebulous because she
wasn’t sure on what she’d be doing
other than trying to close up shop with-
Out owing any money. I heard this
straight from her,” Sodarosaid. “She
just said she was tired of being a pub-
lisher and worrying about money all
the time and she wasn’t having fun any
more.”
Sodaro, whose book Renegade re-
cently cancelled. said Louberl told him
she was “in the process of placing pr0-
perties with other companies,” was
‘ ’embarking on a writing career, ” and
“thinking of opening a handy-craft
shop.
Apprised of Loubert’s response to
such reports, Sodaro said he “might
have read too much into” their con-
versation.
‘ ‘I just got the impression she wasn’t
going to publish for a while.” he said.
“She told me she didn’t like being a
publisher. that she spent too much time
worrying about money, that she hop-
ed to go some place else and raise
capital and come back to the comics
industry — she didn’t want to do a
Spotlight number [see “Spotlight De-
clares Bankruptcy,” Newswalch, Jour-
nal #1261 and stiff people. That Ren-
egade’s still alive is not inconsistent
with what she told me, it’s just that I
got the impression she was closing up.
“Renegade is still a going concern
as far as she’s concerned,’ • Sodaro
said, “just like I consider Agent Un-
known an ongoing project even though
I’m between publishers right now. ”

Harsh!

Sodaro is still working in the business, and so is Barras and Medina.

This blog post is part of the Renegades and Aardvarks series.

Roscoe! The Dawg, Ace Detective (1987) #1-4 by Martin Trengove and others

Roscoe! The Dawg had appeared in various issues of Fox — the Australian anthology, but this is his first solo series. Let’s have a look at the first three pages:

Yes, indeed, we’re in zany noir pastiche territory. I assumed that this was gonna be a funny animal series, but Roscoe! The Dawg is the only animal in the first issue (which is commented upon only by this obnoxious child).

I like how Trengove mikes up the styles a lot, according to what every scene needs. These are very gangsterish gangsters.

Oops; out of focus… anyway, what I was going to say that… the jokes aren’t all there? The comic has some good things going for it, but neither the plot nor the jokes in the first issue impress.

Trengove gives an introduction to the book.

The second issue starts with this page, and… isn’t that kinda fabulous?

Trengove goes for chaos and non-sequiturs for a lot of the humour… and Roscoe! The Dawg is (it turns out) a total asshole. Which adds to the chaos, because the stories don’t go where you expect them to. But Trengove’s storytelling skills sometimes leave something to be desired: In that those very busy first two panels, it’s not obvious that Roscoe! The Dawg is throwing away his cigarette into that nest of reel-to-real tape… or whether he’s doing so on purpose.

Trengove does have a lot of fun doing this series, though.

But then! Issue three! It’s got two storylines at the same time — one at the top, featuring a mystery set on a ship, and one on the bottom, which is… er… is that a continuation of the plot from the second issue? It’s not clear, but the boat mystery has both an actual fun mystery plot, a lot of gags (that work) and yet another rendering style. It’s an actual good issue! I’m flabbergasted — it’s great.

And then… the final issue is a reprinting of older Roscoe! The Dawg shorts, in a variety of styles. The gags work quite well in a shorter format (even if the gag is usually that R!TD is an asshole).

I’m guessing this is a very old piece?

I was starting to wonder whether I was hallucinating that there had been a plot set up in the second issue, but then this … collage … of random panels seem to refer to that stuff.

And Trengove clarifies that indeed, there had been a plot, but since the series had been cancelled (due to low sales), he can’t be bothered to finish up that series, and is just doing some reprints instead. SORRY! I totally misread that! He’d planned on wrapping up that storyline in two issues, but since he only had one left, he couldn’t be bothered, so he just ran some reprints instead.

SORRY AGAIN! My fingers keep on writing something he didn’t actually say… so read for yourself.

Amazing Heroes Preview Special #4, page 94:

ROSCO’S DAUG
Written by MARTRENGROVE; illustrated by
‘ DAVID VODKA; edited by DENI LOUBERT
24 pages; $2.00; bi.monthly from RENEGADE
PRESS
Imported from Australia (where it was
published by Fox Comics), this series
witl reprint the strip of the same name
for the first time in the US. “The series
is really very visually interesting,” says
editor Deni Loubert. The main character
thinks that he is Bogart, but he really
isn’t. From there is where the fun starts.
While Loubert has a verbal
commitment from the other parties
involved, thetontracts had not been
signed when#is preview was given.
Thus, barring any unforeseen circum-
stances. the. book will appear from
Renegade in the US. in June. —RJS–

Correction incoming:

Philip Bentley writes in Amazing Heroes #114, page 67:

Okay, now from here we move on-
to the one and only:
Roscoe the Dawg
Which somehow appeared under
the title “Rosco’s Daug.” Now I’m
not too sure what a “Daug” is. but
I can assure you Roscoe doesn’t own
one. He is, in fact, a dog, or as you
might say: “a dawg.” Following that
the credits read as follows: Creator,
scripter and artist—MARTIN
TRENGROVE (not Martrengove):
Co-P10tter—DAVID VODICKA
(not Vodka, although we all got a
good laugh from this one).
If you want to get technical, too,
the comics are not “imported” from
here since it will be a Renegade title
printing all new strips. Roscoe has
previously appeared out here in Fox
Comics, but these were different
stories. It is, at least, a funny animal
book of sorts (though there are also
“funny humans”).
So there you have the ugly truth.
Of course I realize that it’s of no
great importance since rightly or
wrongly spelt, these guys aren’t
going to mean much to your average
punter, but I’d hate to think someone
out there was going to go through
life thinking that we had some kind
of a stnall furry animal out here
called a “Daug.” Moreover, I’m well
aware that in part this confusion
emanates from the respective Amer-
ican editors, on whom I have been
exceptionally lenient just in case you
happen to print this.

Russell Freund writes in The Comics Journal #116, page 68:

A couple Of titles due out in July
deserve mention. I’ve had an
advance look at both Roscoe the
Dawg and Mechthings, and was
impressed with both. Roscoe, by
Martin Trengove, is a very funny
trip through Hammett/Chandler
territory in anthoropomorphic
drag. Trengove’s angular cartoon-
ing has a hell Of a lot Of zip, and
evokes the requisite film noir ambi-
ance without sacrificing silliness.

I can’t find any discussion of the series on the intertubes, and as far as I can tell, it has never been reprinted.

This blog post is part of the Renegades and Aardvarks series.

Mechthings (1987) #1-4 by Brad W. Foster

Oh, I remember him — Foster used to pop up in various small press anthologies all the time, and I like his artwork and zany humour.

Well, the artwork is like I remembered it — it’s kinda… uhm… it reminds me of Howard Cruse (the stippling and the cuteness) and also Rick Geary, perhaps?

But what’s with all these chapters? Was this also destined for a comics anthology originally? Foster packs in so much background and backstory into the text here that it’s hard to pay attention.

I like the meta bits.

But oy vey. I read someone saying once that you should write down all the details and stuff about the sci-fi world you’re creating, so that you have a solid milieu in mind that you can draw from. And then you should chuck all that away.

Foster instead seems to have just written it down on the pages. And there’s really nothing here a reader has to know that couldn’t have been expressed in a couple of sentences: “Free-thinking robots are illegals, so we need you as a front human.” Hey! That’s only one sentence.

Well, OK, perhaps if he frontloads the issue this way with all the exposition, perhaps we can get all that out of the way and then all the zany adventures can start?

But no, it just goes on and on, and my own eyes are doing the same thing at this point.

IT NEVER ENDS!

But then he runs out of pages. *phew*

Jabberwocky Graphix! I remember them! Lots of minis and stuff… haven’t heard them mentioned in a few decades, though — it was stuff that wasn’t arty enough to be taken seriously, and not professional-looking enough for a mainstream audience.

Anyway, the first issue was excruciating, and I was about to give up on this series, but then…

Second issue! It’s all action and fun and slapstick and bad puns! And look at that robot fight!

And Foster’s having a lot of fun with the storytelling here: They disappear into a maze, so he draws the panels in a maze… and the panels do connect via the maze! Hours of fun for the whole family.

How much you get out of these shenanigans depends on how much patience you have, though.

Nice robot drawings.

I’ve never seen anybody put it quite that way: “Second issue syndrome.” It’s after you’ve made the second issue and it dawns on you that you have to continue doing this, month in month out, and explains why so many series never have a third issue, I guess.

A probably super effective ad.

You can’t argue with that logic.

Cool, ey?

So the first issue was barely readable, and the second and third issues were a lot of fun. But the third issue was the end of the first story, so how is Foster introducing the next storyline?

NOOOOOOOOES!

I have to mention the design of the protagonist: He’s got so huge cheekbones that they cover his years. And they’re round. He looks even weirder from other angles, but it kinda works seen from the front?

Foster feels that he has to put all this exposition in here to introduce half a dozen new characters, and explain how everything relates to everything else… but fortunately he grows tired of just drawing them talking, so instead we get a nice cityscape instead with the dialogue floating above it.

And then it ends.

Foster said that the first issue’s orders were dismal, and then the second issue had half of those sales (which I don’t find surprising at all if they were placed after reading the first issue), so I’m guessing Renegade just had to cancel the series due to low sales.

The Comics Journal #120, page 49:

Brad Foster is another small press
figure moving gradually into profes-
sional ventures. In the first issue of
his Mechthings (which is set in the
41st century), a young kid named
Bertram Baum showsålp for his first
day on the job as “the new human
supervisor” Of a “reclamation
center” or robot junkyard. Before he
can get his bearings, a violent police
raid ensues and malevolent, Keystone
Cop-like figures tear the place apart
in search of “wild robots’ ‘—robots
who have developed into “people who
just happen to have metal skin.” In
the aftermath, Bertam gets acquaint-
ed with some of the individualized,
quirky ‘Smechthings” that dwell in
the junkyard—they have names like
“Jaz,” “Crit,” “Bartholemu,” and
“Jaxon”—and develops an abiding
sympathy for their plight. The series
will develop from this premise.
I had a good time with Mechlhings.
The book is an entertaining concoc-
tion, a featherweight, tongue-in-cheek
version of Blade Runner told from the
robots’ point of view.

I thought Blade Runner was told from the point of view of the robots?

It’s a good
vehicle for Foster, who has always
been better at drawing things than
people, and he takes an obvious
delight in creating this futuristic land-
scape full of idiosyncratic robot/
people. The first two issues are,
I think, marred by an overabundance
of dialogue. Foster doesn’t appear to
understand that much of the verbiage
could be easily distilled or simplified,
to better effect. The word balloons
impinge on some good examples Of
Foster’s ornate draftsmanship. (A
good, Strong editor would help him
out here.) In such scenes as the
ing raid on the junkyard or the ap-
pearance of the “Death Mouse” In
the first issue, Foster gets to strut his
stuff. The visual flourishes are a lot
Of fun.
Foster has labored for years in the
relative obscurity Of small-press
publishing. (Foster would omit the
“relative” in that last sentence, but
if there is such a thing as a “small
press empire, ” Foster has built one
on his Jabberwocky Graphix.) Rene-
gade Press is publishing and distrib-
uting Mechthings, which is an attempt
at something more commercial than
Foster’s small-press work.
He’s a bright, imaginative guy, and
he’s been struggling to get a foothold
in the comics industry for a long time.
I hope RISter benefits in positive ways
from the exposure Mechthings
bring him.

Ah, Foster was the guy that ran Jabberwocky Graphix.

A pin-up by Foster from an Amazing Heroes Swimsuit edition.

Amazing Heroes #133, page 115:

“I finally came up with a title for Book
One,” says Foster. “It’s ‘Of Men, Mice,
Machines and Mooses.’ I’m not too sure
what Book Two is going to be titled yet.”
Issues #4-6 make up that second book,
and conveniently they will be out before
the next Preview Special.
Foster has created an elderly super-
hero for the story. Heavyduty Man is the
seventh in his line, and with the passage
of genes from generation to generation,
his powers have become diluted, “It’s
sort of like: the first guy starts out with
heat vision, and by the time you get to
him, he’s got ‘warm’ vision.” He’s getting
older without an heir, so he builds a
robot to carry on the name (“Basically
he’s shaped like a battery with a cape—
‘Heavyduty.’e get it? Real subtle”).
The villain each Heavyduty Man has
fought in his time is Vincent von Eric,
a nearly immortal vampire. “It suddenly
dawned on me that a vampire isn’t
immortal, it does have a limited lifespan.
The flesh does finally deteriorate beyond
rejuvenation at some point. He’s really
old just like the Heavyduty guy is real
old. *This whole story came about
because I had this image of a full page
at the end of the story of the two robots
blazing away at each other on top of a
building in good Marvel style, while
down at the bottom of the building
there’re these two old guys in wheel-
chairs whacking each other with canes.”

[…]

“Basically what
I’m trying to do is talk about prejudice
and racial bigotry and all that shit
without having to put it in there
[blatantly] and knock them over the head
with it.”
Depending on sales (doesn’t every-
thing?), Mechthings may be renewed
beyond the sixth issue. If so, keep an eye
out for the dynamic debut of Hitler’s
head, the return of Max the Maximum
Moose, this time with an army of flame-
throwing dolls, and giant cardboard
robots—maybe not all in the same issue.
Foster promises to continue putting in
more dots and lines per inch than
humanly possible. And of course he still
wants you to send him toy robots (but not
those stupid transforming ones). The guy
has a ‘bot on his back.

Russell Freund writes in The Comics Journal #116, page 68:

Mechthings also plays a familiar
genre for laughs. In this case, it’s
the story of the robots on the run
from human who fear their mecha-
nistic intelligence and individuality.
It’s Blade Runner with a smile
from the robot’s point Of view.
Brad Foster gives it a most beguil-
ing look. He has a gift for creating
walking junkpiles with real char-
acter, and his pointillistic shading
technique lends his work a seduc-
tive touch of depth and drama.
And I did mention it’s funny?
Well, it is. Renegade is becoming
a very funny place.

These issues have never been reprinted, and the Mechthings storyline doesn’t seem to have been continued.

You can buy the series from Foster here.

This blog post is part of the Renegades and Aardvarks series.

Ms. Tree’s 1950’s Three-Dimensional Crime (1987) #1 by Nick Alascia, Pete Morisi, Ray Zone and others

OK, I’m up for some 3D Ms. Tree stories… sure…

Oops. That didn’t turn out so good.

But instead of that, Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty explain that they just don’t have the time to do a special, so instead we’re getting reprints of Johnny Dynamite (which they had bought the rights for to use as padding I mean back up strips in Ms. Tree).

I don’t want to go all technical on you, dead reader, but Johnny Dynamite (to use a technical term) “sucks”. It’s unreadable pap. Even as 50s crime comics go. And repurposing old comics for 3D usually doesn’t work well — comics made for 3D have a lot less problems with threedeeisating the eye (sorry again for being technical), so we have here the (tech. term alert) “double suckitude”.

Let’s drop the red filter…

There’s two Johnny Dynamite stories here, and I can’t really tell you what happened in them, because I lost interest after a couple pages. The artwork’s not that bad, though.

The Secret Agent story has even more rough charm in the artwork, but again I didn’t really find the story very interesting. The 3D-ification here works better, but it’s nothing spectacular.

And then we have a whole gallery of Ray Zone-processed old Ms. Tree covers.

Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? The small comic book swindle.

This blog post is part of the Renegades and Aardvarks series.