Comic-book Quicktake: End War Pt 2 of 3

American comic-book publisher Moonstone’s “reboot” of their flagship title The Phantom continues in this tale of sea-pirates and modern-day terrorist violence.

Illustration from "End War: Pt 2 of 3"

Mike Bullock’s penmanship is accompanied by rather striking artwork from Silvestre Szilagyi and ably colored by Bob Pedroza.

Illustration from "End War: Pt 2 of 3"

The “A” version cover by Joe Corroney is simply eye-catching and captivates you with its effectiveness in simplicity.

The Phantom (c) King  Features Syndicate Inc. The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks #2, published by Moonstone, 582 Torrence Avenue, Calumet City, IL 60409.

The artwork featured in this post  is merely presented for informational and review purposes.

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Comic-book Quicktake: Jewel of Denial

Jewel of Denial, featuring Mandrake the Magician, is a backup filler in Moonstone’s Captain Action #1. The story is scripted by Mike Bullock and illustrated by Samicler Gonçalves.

I’m pretty ambivalent about the positives and the negatives, since the story is more of a teaser/filler/promo (duh, it is a back-up story).

What’s weak/not so good?

• First off, the hmm… I’m thinking so I’m stroking my chin bit is way overdone!
• The Phantom 2040ish look is, again, rather unfortunate. Moreover, the Phantom is not a 1800-PHANTOM vigilante superhero who would be well-known to all people.
• The new-look Mandrake does not have the charismatic appeal of Davis and Fredericks’ memorable illustrations.  Samicler’s artwork could be more appealing (purely subjective). Somehow the artwork appears rushed (or is that a new style?). I am not much of a fan of what is rather gratuitously and sweepingly generalized as manga-like artwork. And Lothar’s getting way too corny in the shades and suit!
• Too much stuffing in the tiny tale! (not necessarily a drawback)

Much kudos to Mike and Samicler:

• Samicler’s artwork of the illusions is really nice and enjoyable and adds an extra dimension to the regular comic-strip version. Perhaps it is stretching fact a bit, but we probably see more Mandrake-magic in this six-page filler than in the drawn-out annual!
• Mike Bullock’s script is every long-standing Mandrake reader’s delight–a light romp in the vein of classic stories with a walk in a park/drive through a desert highway theme.
• An impressive who’s-who of rogues feature: The Brass Monkey makes for an interesting foe in this short tale.  Aleena the Enchantress makes a pseudo-comeback too. And of course, though the Brass Monkey may believe her father to be dead, the newspaper stories assure us otherwise about the Clay Camel! Interesting possibilities for future treatment in an ongoing Mandrake comic series.

The short six-page treatment hooks your interest right at the start and leaves you wanting for more. What else can you ask for?

The artwork featured in this post is copyright King Features Syndicate, Inc. and published by Moonstone, and is merely presented for informational purposes.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Comic-book Review: Moonstone Phantom Annual #2

The second Phantom Annual from Moonstone tries to better the debut Annual which featured a generation-spanning-if-not-too-exciting saga “Five Days of the Dragon“.

The story-chores for “Concrete Jungle” are credited to regular Phantom writer Mike “Lions, Tigers and Bears” Bullock and screenwriter Kevin “Underworld” Grevioux.  The story “guest-stars” Mandrake the Magician along with the Phantom, but to be fair, the cunning conjurer shares equal page space with the Phantom in this interesting ensemble comic issue.  We can expect Mike Bullock to be in his element with the Phantom, his writing strength and understanding of the character amply demonstrated in the current comic-book series with the Checkmate story-arc. Kevin Grevioux brings in an interesting premise for this crossover of Lee Falk’s hugely successful creations: the threat of unfettered manipulation of dangerous plants in the hands of unscrupulous microbiologists.

Unfortunately, the Annual falls way short of being a halfway decent read.

The art appears rushed in most places, and artist Samicler Gonçalves. cannot resist from “improving” the image of Mandrake, Lothar and the Phantom.  The rendition of the Phantom disappoints the most, it seems like the artist used the 2040 series as reference material.  And to top it off, there’s the mandatory mismatched panel/artwork/editing/dialog balloon snafu on page 13.

Characterization? Let’s not even go down that lane now. The characterization is totally out of whack and the “bonding” between Lothar and Mandrake is tasteless and inept at best (and the dialog is again as stilted and lifeless as that in the ill-fated Marvel mini-series).  Mandrake is introduced as a magician with some perfunctory hocus pocus which doesn’t do much for the atmosphere. Moving ahead, unless the lion that attacks a thug midway in the tale happens to be Fluffy (in which case kudos to the writers and brickbats for not making it “more” explicit), Mike and Kevin display a serious lack of understanding of what makes the Phantom tick: the Phantom will not let a thug be mauled by a jungle beast.

It takes one writer to craft a bad story, but perhaps it truly takes two to create a mess. The characters speak “Hollywood” in the worst sense of the word, which unfortunately, does not work any miracles for the already floundering and meandering plot.

Moonstone seems to have a penchant for drawn-out storylines which is, alas, not supported by the plot and detail. Rather unfortunate, since the comic-book series of the Phantom seems to be rather coherently knit together with enjoyable artwork.

Sadly, this issue completely pulls apart the carefully crafted success that Moonstone has achieved with its comic-series of the Phantom till date.

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Justice for the Python [01 Sep 2008 to 27 Dec 2008]

Justice for the Python

We finally have it! The promised rematch between the Phantom and the Python of Bangalla. And what a showdown.

In this highly interesting 224th daily story deftly scripted by Tony DePaul and excellently illustrated by Paul Ryan, the renegade Wambesi killer seeks to unleash a new wave of terror on Bangalla, only to meet his match in the Phantom.

Most adventure strip stories featuring recurring encounters between the protagonist and a villainous foil often degenerate into a festival of repetitive fisticuffs. Not here! The story opens with an all too brief encounter in which the Phantom quickly subdues a physically weakened and sick Chatu. As the story progresses, we learn that the Python seems to be the victim of his own deviousness and is infected with the deadly Ebola virus in an attempt to harness it for destructive gain. And the Phantom himself might have been exposed to the threat!

The Phantom’s struggle in this story is against his own convictions and moral compass when faced with an apparent Hobson’s choice. When Guran whips up a limited batch of a cure for the deadly virus, the Phantom administers it to Chatu — in order to uphold the principles of justice he stands for. The title of the story is apt. The Python now loathes his existence even more, for he now owes his life only to his most hated enemy’s strong conviction in truth and justice.

As an added bonus, the story presents the strong kinship between Guran and the Phantom. Though conflicted, Guran grudgingly acknowledges the Phantom’s reasons for administering the cure to Chatu. This tale proves beyond a shadow of doubt why the Phantom stands out among other costumed superheroes — “Justice for the Python” is a story with a soul, in the strong tradition of the comic strip which has endured for more than 70 years.

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The daily strip art of 27 December 2008 featured in this post is copyright King Features Syndicate, and is merely presented for informational purposes.

Comic-book Quicktake: Checkmate Pt 5 of 5

The fifth part of this story-arc from Moonstone is a busy issue! There’s a lot happening, and the story reaches its inexorable conclusion.

As usual, Silvestre Szilagyi’s artwork  provides no cause for complaint. Mike Bullock’s Phantom is back with his witty quips which are judiciously placed through the narrative.

This is a double issue, and features a painted cover by Doug Klauba that is a real eye-catcher.

Yet, the issue fails to rake in a perfect score. Which may be a good thing for Moonstone. Surely, if they reach their zenith with this issue, then the only way forward is down!

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