Killraven Amazing Adventures No. 39

Killraven: 'Amazing Adventures' No. 39

(November 1976)

This is it ! 

It’s early Fall 1976 and the final issue of the 22-issue ‘War of the Worlds’ series, starring Killraven, is out and in the pages of ‘Amazing Adventures’ (November 1976).

The cover tells us it’s ‘The Final Glory’….is this the final battle, the ultimate showdown with the Martians ? Will Killraven and his crew engage in one last desperate struggle to overthrow Earth’s conquerors and make the planet free again ?

Nope…! 

In fact, this last installment of the original Killraven saga is one of the lamest conclusions in the history of modern comics !

‘Mourning Prey’ has nothing to do with the Martian at all. Not only are there no Martians in this issue, but it’s pretty plain that Stan Lee and Archie Goodwin had no intention of commissioning a special concluding story arc. Killraven’s sales were bad, the series was being canceled, so they simply ran whatever story writer Don McGregor had in the queue.

‘Mourning Prey’ is McGregor’s writing at its worst: clumsy flashbacks, poetic, purple language, empty phrases designed to communicate Something Profound. Toss in the fact that the main adversary is a Butterfly Woman (?!) who’s mad at Killraven for slaughtering some purple caterpillars (?!), and you have the makings of a real underwhelming story………

As always, artist Craig Russell’s work is of good quality and struggles to express itself under McGregor’s verbiage.

So here it is in its entirety, the last issue of the ‘Killraven / War of the Worlds’ series from the mid-70s:

'The Origin of Vampirella' 

from the UK first issue of Vampirella magazine, February 1975

While the first issue of Vampirella appeared in 1969 and featured an 'origin' story, for the premiere UK iteration of the magazine, a newer, slightly modified origin story was printed (below). 

The plot by J. R. Cochman remains barely coherent, but the artwork by Jose Gonzalez is distinctive, and possesses great 70s flavor.

'Vampirella' was the brainchild of 'Famous Monsters of Filmland' creator Forest J. Ackerman. 

A little-known, but thoroughly creepy, segment of Ackerman's life revolved around a pubescent girl named Heidi Saha, who came to 70s geek conventions in a Vampirella costume....(!) 

Book Review: Unisave

Book Review: 'Unisave' by Axel Madsen

1 / 5  Stars

‘Unisave’ (264 pp.) was published in February 1980 by Ace Books; the cover illustration is by Davis Meltzer.

‘Unisave’ is one of the worst SF book’s I’ve ever read.

I gave up on it at page 116, and getting that far was a real struggle.......

The premise is interesting, if not particularly novel: in the year 2188, the extension of the human lifespan to ages of 125, or even 150, has led to the growth of Earth’s population to unsustainable numbers. 

People live in enormous domed cities, while all land outside the domes is devoted to agriculture. Space colonies provide some degree of extra room, but the choice facing mankind is stark: the population must be reduced before catastrophic famine overwhelms the planet.

Unisave is a UN agency devoted to addressing the issue of overpopulation. Comprised of a multicultural team of sociologists, agronomists, demographers, and politicians, it will be up to Unisave to determine what, if any, measures can be used to avert a crisis. The number one contingency plan: forced euthanasia of randomly selected adults, based on a mass lottery, with no exemptions or exceptions.

The moral and philosophical dilemmas raised by employing such a measure in a humanistic society would seem to be suitable for some kind of dramatic narrative, but author Madsen simply isn’t up to the task. 

The reader is subjected to a remarkably dull and plodding narrative consisting of conversational exchanges between various UN bureaucrats. These passages of dialogue are eye-glazingly boring. 

There are SF terms and themes regularly popping up into the text, but so many other aspects of the book go awry that these themes simply are window-dressing. 

Madsen can’t even get the names of his characters right; every character sports a first name and surname of no more than two syllables, like in postwar-era, juvenile sci-fi novels: Sal Belem. Viv Bord. Nilo Dor. Flo Hoo. 

One unfortunate woman even bears the appellation Ter Ki ……

Even readers with a fetish for overpopulation novels will find ‘Unisave’ hard going. This novel is best left forgotten.

'Whoodoo the Voodoo ?' by Caza

from the July 1981 issue of Heavy Metal magazine

Quirky humor, and great artwork, by Caza. 

 

Shatter: Issue One

Shatter: Issue One

(First Comics, December 1985)

This marks the first issue of the 'dedicated' Shatter comic book from First Comics.

In the editorial page on the inside front cover, First Comics editor Mike Gold tells us that the  special introductory issue of Shatter from February 1985 sold out, as did the second printing. While there is always an element of hyperbole in these statements, it does appear that the comic-buying public was intrigued with the idea of a title with its artwork composed on a computer.

By the time Shatter No. 1 was ready for preparation, the First Comics team of artist Mike Saenz and writer Gold had an updated piece of software at their disposal: MacDraw, which allowed them to create 'layers' and place them atop one another. As well, a higher-res font was used to create the comic's text. 

And most impressive of all, Apple / Steve Jobs provided First Comics with a FREE newfangled LaserWriter - in 1985 such devices cost $7,000 ! 

The ability of the LaserWriter to generate prints at 300 dpi meant a visible improvement in the artwork of the comic.

The initial pages of this first issue are confusing in terms of plot, mainly because no effort is made to update the reader on events taking place during Shatter's run as a backup feature in the First Comics title 'Jon Sable'. 

But it seems that Jack Scratch has decided to throw his lot in with a team of malcontents known as the 'Artists Underground', which include some geeks, and (naturally) a playboy bunny:

The old tenement building housing the secret base of the Artists Underground happens to contain a swimming pool, and the attractive leader of the Underground, Cyan, likes to swim a lot, which in turn provides a convenient excuse for some Old School MacIntosh cheesecake (keep in mind this is 11 years before 'Tomb Raider' first appeared on the Sega Saturn).

Unfortunately for Jack Scratch, a potential romantic encounter is interrupted by the appearance of some high-tech ninjas:

Has Cyan sold out the Underground to Corporate Interests ?! We'll have to see in 'Shatter' issue 2.....

Book Review: Death Hunt on a Dying Planet

Book Review: 'Death Hunt On A Dying Planet' by Gary Alan Ruse

 

2 / 5 Stars

‘Death Hunt On A Dying Planet’ (Signet, 396 pp.) was released in October 1988; the cover illustration is signed by Rakeland.

Coreworld is not a pleasant planet. It has been ravaged by plague, its cities are crumbling beds of unrest and violence, and its politics are controlled by the Corporation, an immoral outfit that seeks to bring all economic and social activity under its purview. Orbiting Coreworld is the derelict starship Glory, from whence the planet’s colonists came 700 years ago.

Elsewhere in the solar system containing Coreworld, a group of intellectuals have fled Corporation hegemony to establish a city, called Avalon, on a moon of the planet Logres. 

Avalon shelters the University, a bastion of freedom, and the spiritual and technological center of resistance to the Corporation.

When a distress signal suddenly emanates from the Glory, the University sends Vandal, a cyborg soldier of fortune, and his robot assistant Roddi, to investigate. It turns out there is a secret chamber aboard the Glory, and within the chamber, deep in cryosleep, is a member of the ship’s original crew: a young woman named Marinda Donelson. Donelson is a gifted biologist, and someone who may be able to devise a cure for the plague ravaging Coreworld. 

The Corporation wants Doctor Donelson for its own reasons, and launches an intense effort to wrest her from Vandal and Roddi, who, along with Marinda, find themselves stranded in the desert regions of Coreworld. As Corporation forces close in on them, Vandal, Roddi, and Marinda must struggle to stay one step ahead of their pursuers as they flee across the dangerous landscape of Coreworld, a landscape occupied by lethal robots, crazed mutants, and bloodthirsty nomads. 

Can Vandal, Roddi, and Marinda succeed in finding away off Coreworld and to Avalon ? Or will the Corporation mercenaries and assassins find them first ?

‘Death Hunt’ is definitely not a major work of science fiction. The plot is not particularly original, sharing elements with any number of 80s low-budget sci-fi films, like Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, The Ice Pirates, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, and Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. 

Author Gary Alan Ruse is not a particularly accomplished prose stylist. Practically all of his verbs are accompanied by an adverb; characters don’t just speak words, they say them grimly, jokingly, drily, softly, playfully, wanly, weakly, and sometimes with….'inward sighs’. 

Cliched metaphors and similes pop up regularly (Brows are Knitted, etc.) and there are more than a few passages suffering from awkward syntax, or dialogue that is too cheesy for its own good.

But the narrative moves along at a good clip, fueled by goofy energy and plenty of plot contrivances, including the participation of a team of ‘Transformers’ – style robots.

‘Death Hunt’ will appeal to those readers comfortable with a story that sacrifices literary ambitions for B-movie thrills.

Heavy Metal July 1981

'Heavy Metal' magazine July 1981

 

The July 1981 issue of 'Heavy Metal' features a wraparound cover by Chris Moore titled 'Exhausted !'.

This is a pretty good issue, with the second installment of an interview with Richard Corben; the finale of Corben's 'Bloodstar'; another segment of Findlay's 'Texarcana'; an illustrated short story by Stephen King titled 'The Blue Air Compressor'; 'Whoodoo the Voodoo' by Caza; and the first installment of the 'Outland' graphic novel by Jim Steranko, which I've posted below: