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Post by rberman on Jul 5, 2018 7:54:54 GMT -5
#3 “Internal Affairs” (November 1999)
Cover Tag: Warning: Disarm All Prisoners The Libra Case: Micro-maid the shrinking pathologist returns to normal size after an internal autopsy of the decapitated Immune Girl. Lieutenant Peregrine berates Shock-headed Peter for letting Immune Girl go free with a warning rather than taking her into protective custody. Peregrine and Phantom Jack bring in a reluctant Airbag Soames, Immune Girl’s last known contact, for questioning, but not before he has a panic attack and goes all pufferfish on them, fracturing Peregrine’s ribs.   The Boots and Saddle Case: Toybox and Irma Geddon (I will never tire of typing her name) book the struggling Boots Wesson. When she finds out her boss Professor Gromolko is dead, she lawyers up with Larry “Frenzy” Fischmann, the shark-headed attorney. The Gograh Case: The Fabulous 5 gang tag a police car with graffiti and threaten Peter and "Dust Devil" Duane that Ernesto Gograh’s 800 foot tall dad will be enraged to discover that his son is in jail. Sure enough, drunken Gograh shows up at the end of the issue, swilling beer from a tanker car.   Other Story Stuff: Kemlo Caesar tells Sung Li that, as a dog and thus colorblind, he can indeed perceive her as being as naked as she actually is, but she shouldn’t worry about it since dogs are not sexually attracted to humans. This last part turns out to be a lie, but at least it gets her off his case.  My Two Cents: The Sung Li plot thread continues to be the silliest element; if she were really as modest as she’s acting, she’d know that body paint doesn’t have the effect of clothing. Maybe she’s a satire on clueless women who don’t realize the effect they have on those around them? Cannon and Ha continue to give us distinctive faces with amusing expressions. Moore’s dialogue focuses less on the details of the cases and more on the cops’ interactions with each other in the course of doing a job that for them is mundane, despite how crazy it seems to outsiders. For that matter, Robyn Slinger isn’t really getting much “wow, this is crazy” dialogue. She’s supposed to be new around here, but apart from asking occasional question to prime other characters to give exposition, she acts pretty much like all the experienced cops. Easter Eggs: p.7: A sign for “Junior League of America.” p.11: Signs include “Multi-Medea,” “Doc Demoniac’s Discount Disintegrators,” “Power Rings ‘n’ Things,” “Fortress of Pizza,” and an advertisement for a song “Boy Wondering” by Sidekix. p.21: The two-faced secretary is named “Jan” as in “Janus, the two-faced God” of Greco-Roman mythology. The Latin word for door “Ianua” derives from this (since a door has two faces), as does the month “January” (which looks back to the old year and forward to the new year, I suppose). 
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 5, 2018 12:21:55 GMT -5
I think you mean Moore's dialogue, not Morrison (though Morrison has followed Moore's lead for so long it is easy to make that mistake). Micro-Maid's helmet is an homage to the 1930s sci-fi classic, Things to Come and the futuristic aviators uniform of John Cabal, played by Raymond Massey.  At some point in the series, it is revealed that Girl 1 was created by a couple of adolescents (ala Weird Science), which probably greatly informs her personality as being both exhibitionist and angered at being objectified. Moore never fully spells it out; but, my theory was that she broke programming and went her own way; but, that she still had elements of the original programming in her, that created personality tics. |
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Post by rberman on Jul 5, 2018 12:28:11 GMT -5
I think you mean Moore's dialogue, not Morrison (though Morrison has followed Moore's lead for so long it is easy to make that mistake). Gah! I corrected that error in an earlier draft and then failed to re-correct it when I lost the corrected draft. Thanks; I will fix that (again). I just got so used to typing "Morrison" during my "New X-Men" reviews that my fingers were operating sans input from my cerebral cortex. Happening more and more as I get older! Lots of word substitution errors, and then I look back and ask, "Why did I say that?" Good thing this forum has an edit function! I will have to look for that backplot on this re-read; I totally missed it the first time through. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 5, 2018 13:56:07 GMT -5
Yeah, the whole Girl One thing about her obsession with Kemlo knowing she's naked is so so silly! But it's actually pretty consistent with a lot of silly stuff in the comics from the Golden Age all the way to … oh, right, TODAY! The silly things of today (some of them) are DIFFERENT from the silly things of the 1940s or the 1950s or the 1980s, but there's still a lot of silly things in the comics. (And I think the silly things are a lot more noticeable and out-of-place when the writers are taking themselves so seriously.)
(And in movies based on comic books. But there's no need to go into that here.)
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Post by rberman on Jul 6, 2018 6:56:42 GMT -5
#4 “Eight Miles High” (December 1999)
Cover Tag: Face the Window The Libra Case: A hooker ( “Neural ‘Nette” Duvall) stumbles into the precinct house, gives Kemlo Caesar her severed finger, and faints on the floor. It’s a surgically clean cut, just like the decapitation of Immune Girl two issues back. Then follows a dialogue pun:  When Duvall awakens, she reports being attacked by “purple candy floss” that came out of the sewer drain. Samples from the drain reveal the perpetrator to be one M’rrgla Qualtz, a native from the Antares star system, where the creatures have atom-thin monofilament tentacles that can slice anything to ribbons. So, who wants to go in the sewer after her?  The Boots and Saddle Case: Against the advice of her shark lawyer, “Boots” explains that she and her fiancé “Saddle” stole drugs from their boss Professor Gromolko, hoping to get enough money to get married. A second pass over her apartment at the dilapidated museum turns up a container of dangerously unshielded radioactive materials. Her story also leads to a club called Chemicals and Lightning, where all the revelers are passed out on the floor after imbibing a drug called “ Mongoose Blood.” The Gograh Case: Gograh isn’t 800 feet tall, but 300 feet is still plenty of monster to lurch drunkenly through town, demanding his son be released from jail. Micromaid shrinks him down to pocket size; problem solved! “I belittled him,” she says. Heh.  Other Story Stuff: When Peregrine removes her costume to have her broken rib evaluated, she’s revealed (panel below in yellow tights, center frame) to be quite muscular, with a white buzz cut. Not what the reader expected from her Wonder Woman-looking exterior! It turns out that her mane of long black hair is part of her costume headdress, not her real hair.  My Two Cents: Moore continues to amuse with the discrepancy between his naturalistic cop dialogue and the fantastical surroundings and characters. Synaesthaesia’s power, as implied by her name, makes her handy to have around for crime scene investigations. Moore leaves us some musical puzzles. What tune is she hearing at the crime scene that can be represented as “Daa da da da, Daa da da da…” The one that comes to mind is Ravel’s “Bolero.” Easter Eggs:p.1: "Eight Miles High" is a song by the Byrds. It's also mentioned in the song "American Pie," as part of a lyric describing the eclipse of American pop music by the British Invasion: "The Byrds flew off for the fallout shelter/Eight Miles High, and falling fast." p.10: “Chemicals and Lightning” are two popular super-hero origins, preferably at the same time (e.g. The Flash). p. 12: A giant statue in the background looks kind of Adam Strangey.  p.14: Decective Corbeau criticizes comic books as childish. Hey, now! A wall poster reveals that Boots and Saddles used to be a circus team. p.15: A movie poster for Clint Eastwood’s “Pale Rider” is on Boots’ bedroom wall.  P.17 One of the partyers is the woman from the Schoolhouse Rock video “Sufferin’ ‘Til Sufferage.” She wears a blue crop top with a white star on it.  P. 22 On the seamy side of town where marquees read “Stretchable Sluts” and “Quadruple Lass in: Fourplay,” Cheetah wanders in the street on the left side of the panel, while on the far right is a frizzy-hair girl and mangy dog, neither of whom has pupils in their wide eyes. Orphan Annie and Sandy? 
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 6, 2018 12:09:06 GMT -5
I think your panel with the Adam Strange head answers your musical question.
You can barely tell from the panel; but, the computer that Jackie is looking at is the head of Robbie the Robot, from Forbidden Planet.
That looks more like Huntress/Tigress there on the lower left, bottom panel, not Cheetah.
Captain Traynor, aka Jetlad, gets some nice scenes in this issue, as he calms Gograh down. We get to see more pieces with him, which establishes a really great character. He gets to take center stage, as a young man, in The 49ers.
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Post by rberman on Jul 6, 2018 12:37:02 GMT -5
I think your panel with the Adam Strange head answers your musical question. I am afraid I am still missing it. Too subtle for me! We'll see the whole robot in a later issue. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jul 6, 2018 14:35:26 GMT -5
Robyn Slinger's very cropped T-shirt seems an odd choice for a career woman desiring to be taken seriously at a new job; chalk it up to fan service. She’s also way invested in her “kids’ toys” gimmick, to the point of carrying her tech in an unwieldy cube that ties up both hands much of the time. I liked the DIY punk look, and just assumed that dress codes were a lot less stringent on planet superhero. Oh My God, I was really excited for the ABC books at the time. I've never been someone who bought more than a handful of mainstream books at once, but I was buying all of these. Top 10 was quite enjoyable but my least favorite of the four titles.... It just felt like generic cop show + in-jokes, which is a little unimpressive coming from Alan Moore. |
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Post by Cheswick on Jul 6, 2018 23:44:17 GMT -5
The drug's name, "Mongoose Blood" is a reference to how the Golden Age Marvel character Whizzer got his powers.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 6, 2018 23:47:37 GMT -5
Robyn Slinger's very cropped T-shirt seems an odd choice for a career woman desiring to be taken seriously at a new job; chalk it up to fan service. She’s also way invested in her “kids’ toys” gimmick, to the point of carrying her tech in an unwieldy cube that ties up both hands much of the time. I liked the DIY punk look, and just assumed that dress codes were a lot less stringent on planet superhero. Oh My God, I was really excited for the ABC books at the time. I've never been someone who bought more than a handful of mainstream books at once, but I was buying all of these. Top 10 was quite enjoyable but my least favorite of the four titles.... It just felt like generic cop show + in-jokes, which is a little unimpressive coming from Alan Moore. Tomorrow Stories was the one I thought was the weakest, mainly due to the varying tone of the contents. All were humorous or satirical; but, some succeeded better than others. Promethea was one I didn't connect with; but could see what Moore was doing in it. My favorite list for the ABC line ran League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, then Top Ten, then Tom Strong (though Top Ten and Tom Strong were always neck and neck). Robyn is a character who develops across the series, then gets to be a major focus in Smax, along with Jaff. They made a great duo. I don't know if I would call her costume fan service, as much as characters like Girl 1 and Jack Phantom. All (of the female characters), really, transcend appearance, which was refreshing. Really, the visual diversity of characters and the more rounded personalities were one of the elements that made this a favorite for me. You had skinny, chubby, tall, short, human, animal, alien, gay, straight, mechanical and more in this series. You also got some real mystery, which so few writers these days seem to be able to write. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 6, 2018 23:48:41 GMT -5
The drug's name, "Mongoose Blood" is a reference to how the Golden Age Marvel character Whizzer got his powers. While his name explained the color of his costume.  |
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Post by rberman on Jul 7, 2018 7:18:28 GMT -5
#5 “Great Infestations” (January 2000)
Cover Tag: Top 10 is your friend!  The Libra Case: Peregrine gets exposition from an alien: The Antarean in the sewer, M’rrgla Qualtz, is undergoing an occasional metaphorphosis into a head chomping monster. It’s temporary, she’s assured! Duane, Shock-Headed Peter, and Phantom Jack venture into the sewer to confront Qualtz. Large Marge arrives with her bevy of whores; Sergeant Caesar lets the hookers act as sentries at possible sewer exits; he chats up Neural ‘Nette until M’rrgla erupts from the sewer and attacks, severing his prosthetic leg with her razor tentacles. Peter immobilizes the monster, whom he recognizes as an actor from a porno movie. In the sewer, they find M’rrgla’s collection of severed heads.  The Boots and Saddle Case: Toybox and Smaxx arrive at the precinct house with half a dozen ravers, one of whom (dressed kinda like Robin, the Boy Wonder) turns out to be Glenn “Blue Jay” Garland, a member of the teen boy band Sidekix. Wolf-Spider retrieves the radioactive case from Boots’ hide-out in the museum. Saddles’ belongings included a ticket to another dimension, which is apparently quite unusual for a lowlife such as him.  The Gograh Case: Smaxx wants to vent about Ernesto Gograh’s release from jail. He gives Toybox a ride home so he can vent at her the whole way to Carlingsville. Other Story Stuff: Duane’s elderly mother endures robot rap music blaring from the apartment upstairs, and Ultra-mice, dressed in tiny costumes, in her kitchen.  The invisible Ghostly Goose pinches Phantom Jack’s butt as she orders coffee in a diner.  My Two Cents: We’re seeing Robyn Slinger recede into the ensemble rather than being the single protagonist. I suppose she has served her purpose of introducing us to the squad. The sewer sequence is realistically confused and inelegant, with several failed attempts to make contact with the monster and a distinct lack of effective communication between all the different parties trying to hem it in. Easter Eggs: Much of this issue takes place in the sewer, where there’s little opportunity for visual gags, but there are still a few. p.1: Duane’s mom’s has a framed picture of Jesus, hands folded in prayer, wearing a crown of thorns. p.2: This sewer is helpfully labelled with signs pointing the way to various subterranean areas of interest, including Magicave, The Shrike-Cave, The Victory Vault, and the Terrifi-Tunnel. p.7: Across the street from the precinct house is a tavern called “Godz: Mead and ambrosia. Happy Hour: Burnt offerings, two for the price of one.” p.8 A billboard advertises stretchy pants with the catchphrase “You wouldn’t like me when I’m naked.” One panel has somebody riding a flying carpet; another has a red version of Silver Surfer. “Alternative color schemes for familiar characters” is one of the hallmarks of this series, both for artistic and legal purposes.  p.20-21: Krakatoa’s Diner (“for the hottest Java in town!”) is run by a sentient volcano.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 7, 2018 10:24:15 GMT -5
Man, I loved the Ultramice!
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Post by rberman on Jul 8, 2018 7:26:53 GMT -5
#6 “You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry” (February 2000)
Cover Tag: Drive Carefully This Season
The Libra Case: M’rrgla Qualtz is locked inside a forcefield jail at the precinct house. Kemlo Caesar’s robotic exo-skeleton is in the shop, having been damaged by M’rrgla last issue, so he has to walk around looking like the quadruped Doberman that he is, rather than upright. That’s as far as this plot goes this issue. The Boots and Saddle Case: Airbag Soames tests positive for S.T.O.R.M.S. How many hookers has he infected? And probably his wife as well. Paparazzi arrive, having heard of the arrest of the rave party which included some celebrities. The Santa Case: Irma and Sung Li’s police cruiser collides with Santa’s sled, being pulled through the air by reindeer. One of the reindeer dies, and the others defecate on top of the cruiser. Santa himself is William “Brainstorm” Bernhardt, a surly telekinetic who is responsible for the unseasonable snow. He holds Irma and Li at bay and takes control of Slinger’s robotic toys. Finally the Harry “The Word” Lovelace, the police’s hostage negotiator, uses mind control to subdue Brainstorm. The Norse Case: After dealing with the fake Santa, Smaxx and Toybox are accosted on the street by the Norse goddess Freya, who leads them to the nearby tavern Godz (seen last issue across the street from the precinct house, but now it’s across from the Church of the Great Hole in the Ground) to investigate her murdered son. Other Story Stuff: Smaxx dreams about his deceased Uncle Mack and deceased partner Stochastic Fats. We see that Smaxx lives in a run-down trailer (in “Pleasantview Trailer Park”) littered with fast food containers; his bedside table is a car tire on two cinder blocks. Duane’s mom has Ultra-Mice in her kitchen, so the Ex-Verminator brings his Atom Cats (a pun on “tomcats”) to catch them. It’s a battle of the super-animals!  My Two Cents: Having dropped Slinger off at home after work, Smaxx arrives to pick her up the next morning. He’s clearly lonely and enjoys her pleasant company but tries to play it off as him doing her the favor. Moore has adopted a breezy style, low on jeopardy, and we aren’t supposed to take any of this v very seriously. What should we make of the fact that Kemlo Caesar wants to wear an exo-skeleton so he can walk upright? And Peregrine wears a wig of luxurious ebon hair when she’s in costume. It seems that characters in this world of freaks still feel the impulse to conform to traditional super-hero appearances as much as possible. But also: If Caesar is really shaped like a regular dog, then where do his front legs go when he’s in his exo-skeleton? They ought to be sticking out of his chest. Dog legs won’t swivel out to the side like human arms do.  Easter Eggs: Although this issue was released in February, its story takes place in late October, apparently Halloween. So some of these Easter Eggs may represent people in costumes for the holiday, as opposed to their usual everyday costumes. Who can tell? p. 3: Stochastic Fats (deceased partner of Smaxx, seen in a nightmare) wears a tarot card, the Wheel of Fortune, on his chest.  p.8-9: Journalists covering the arrest of the boy band Sidekix include Doctor Documentary (with a celluloid cape) and The Snapping Turtle (a photographer). And note the periodical for which Doctor Documentary writes:   p.11: A robot makes a snowman with square body segments. Heh. The head of the robot is an iMac G3, a line of Apple computers from 1998 whose backside was a tapered piece of translucent colored plastic.   p.12: Hey, it’s Charlie Brown and Snoopy! Except Charlie is wearing a Doctor Doom suit. Snoopy has his “World War I Flying Ace” aviator goggles and scarf. A little girl in the scene has a cute ladybug suit.  p.13: More cute costumed kids. One is dressed as Rocket Raccoon, and another as a squirrel. Another looks like Deadman in a parka. Another looks sort of like Doctor Mid-Nite, but for a cowl he’s wearing the pulled-down toboggan of Dumb Donald from the Fat Albert cartoon. So many mash-ups!  p.17: The Ultra-mice costumes (pictured far above) are versions of the Martian Manhunter, Captain America, Fawcett’s Captain Marvel, etc. The Atom Cats are dressed like the Super Friends (Black Lightning, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc.) One also wears Isis’ tiara, and one has Dr. Strange’s collar and sash. p.22: A leprechaun flies through the air, with Banshee’s wing-fins stretching from his wrists to ankles. Bwahaha… I don’t recognize the other characters, including a woman walking her dog in mid-air. Who are those Tweedlee looking guys in the foreground?  p.23: Raven from Teen Titans is sporting glasses under her deep cowl. p.24: The crowd at Godz tavern includes several recognizable Norse deities including Odin (missing an eye) and Thor (called “Thunor,” with a hammer tucked into his belt). Smaxx’s instruction “Nobody move in a mysterious way” refers to the hymn “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” which was also the inspiration for the U2 song Mysterious Ways (“She moves in mysterious ways”). 
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 8, 2018 10:25:35 GMT -5
One of those hookers looks suspiciously like Black Canary.
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