Trade Marks: Marvel - 1985

I picked this up knowing nothing about it, but have since learned that it was surrounded by a decent amount of hype. I do like Mark Millar's work, but I feel as though he can sometimes get tripped up by his own cleverness. We are deep in high concept, meta textual land here, as some sort of portal opens between the 'real' world and the Marvel Universe. The good news is that when it works, it is splendid. The brutality of the villains is on full display, and the sense of impending danger is really well portrayed. What does not work, however, are the characterizations of the 'real' people. The father and son protagonists are poorly fleshed out and the relationships are only dealt with at a superficial level. The artwork is strong at times, but the storytelling gets quite muddles in certain sequences. All in all, it is a gimmick book that falls far short of its intended target. Trade Mark: C

Gil Kane Cover of the Month: Island of Doctor Moreau

I love the fact that Marvel saw fit to use Kane as the go-to cover guy during the 1970s. This particular cover has all of the elements necessary to get a fanboy's attention. The floating heads of the Beast Men look terrific, and his character design for the creatures is spot on. Of course, Michael York looks a bit more buff, and Lancaster's Moreau even more menacing but I'll chalk that up to artistic license. It's a very powerful cover and, although I like Larry Hama's artwork, I really wish Gil Kane had be tasked with the interior pencils. If you want to hear me chat about the movie, check out my guest appearance on the Gentleman's Guide to Midnite Cinema: http://ggtmc.libsyn.com/episode-148-beasts-and-guns