REVIEW: End of Month Reviews #53 - May 2008 [spoilers]

[Tom Russell]

On Jun 8, 10:24 pm, Saxon Brenton <saxonbren... at hotmail.com> wrote:

> [REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #53 - May 2008 [spoilers]

>      Jolt City #13  [8Fold]

>      I find myself with an embarrassment of riches of opening lines that
> could be used to express my frustration with Martin Rock's handling of
> his private life (although the Betty and Veronica games that Dani Handler
> and Pam Bierce, decide to subject him to were immensely amusing).

I think they'll get slightly less amusing as the series presses on,
and the ramnifications of a three-way romantic relationship gets
explored in a bit more depth.

> On the positive side, the little story that Martin tells
> Derek about the brouhaha that erupted after the murder of High Roller by
> Blue Max shows that as far as four-colour he's a very good teacher.  (In
> fact, that anecdote - with all of the complexities about superhero
> responsibilities that it highlights - would have made a wonderful piece
> if Marvel Comics had actually bothered to explore the issues surrounding
> their Civil War Event rather than using it as merely a springboard for
> superhero puncheminnaface.)

Well, thank you; I consider that very high praise indeed.

>      However, I've expressed my disquiet over Martin's handling of his
> private life before.  Let's look at something else.  Not at the story,
> but at the story telling.  Out of all the craft in this issue, there is
> one item that brings me up short and makes me go WTF!?, and that was
> Darkhorse and his wife Daphne inviting Green Knight and Derek over for
> dinner and not properly explaining that 'costumes optional' translates
> as the option for casual nudity.

Hmm, you're probably right about that one-- I might not have been as
on my game with that as I should have been.  The idea, which was funny
and inspired by some real life misadventures, should have been
regarded with more scrutiny than I gave it.

>      More generally this returns me to the observation about how the
> various comedy series have more leeway than the serious ones to show
> somewhat (or even extremely) implausible situations.  Most comedy series
> could get away with having nudists inviting people over for dinner and
> not bothering to tell the guests in advance, and pass it off as general
> silliness being used as a setup for comedy.  In some ways that gives
> comedy an unfair advantage in how lenient a critique might be.

Maybe, but at the same time there are things a dramatic series can get
away with that no comedy should come within ten feet of.  As you shall
discover in the very next issue of Jolt City, coming at you in five...
four... three...