Comics Fondle

Even with Mike Ploog’s most phoned-in art of the series (it’s his last issue), Mike Friedrich’s first issue is a wonderful change for the title. Friedrich’s Jack Russell narration isn’t overbearing, his script is full of action, and the guest villain isn’t really Jack’s mother’s sister’s baby-sitter’s niece who’s after his wallet because the leather […]

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What does God need with a starship? What does Dracula need with a helicopter? That question, along with an eye-roll about every villain desperately needing some ancient tome Jack Russell usually happens upon accidentally, sums up the crossover. The first half, in Tomb of Dracula, is pretty solid (except Wolfman’s Transylvanian bar thug who speaks […]

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Finally, one of Werewolf’s longest subplots–the mystery of Jack’s step-father–gets wrapped up. It’s about ten issues too late, especially given Wolfman’s weak close to it (I’m assuming it’s the original conclusion, even if Gerry Conway’s not writing, the editor’s the same). In fact, it’s practically an aside, segueing immediately into the comic’s next issue.
Wolfman also […]

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I didn’t realize how decent–moderately good even–this issue of The Spirit was until the end. I spent the entire issue pissed off about the Mike Ploog art. I’ve been anxiously waiting for the Mike Ploog on The Spirit–at first I thought he was the new artist, then it turned out it’d just be the one […]

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In an inevitable turn of events, Jack Russell is finally kidnapped by a circus. They don’t just want him for the transformation–in fact, they don’t want him for that bit at all (which makes the scenes where he does transform in a cage for circus patrons inexplicable), but for something mystical. Len Wein has a […]

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