And Then I Read: DARK HORSE PRESENTS 2 & 3

Images © Dark Horse Comics and the respective copyright holders.

At 80 pages and 104 pages for these issues, DHP is THE major anthology book in comics right now. What makes them even more fun to read are appearances by long-time Dark Horse (and other) characters that haven't been published in a while.

Issue 2 wraps ups a "Concrete" story full of humanity and charm. I'd but the book just for this if it were in every month. If only Paul Chadwick could put them out that fast…

A new series, "Number 13″  by Robert Love and David Walker runs in both issues, a post-apocalypse story with oddly morphed characters (by radiation, one would think), one of which seems to be a cyborg of some kind who doesn't seem to know much about himself. He comes to the rescue of a young girl, and things develop from there. Worth reading.

Neal Adams' "Blood" leaves mine cold, I'm afraid. Yes, the art is cool in places, but there's lots of violence and gore, not my thing. And I'm not finding the story easy to follow or particularly well written.

The "Finder" serial by Carla Speed McNeil in both issues is another futuristic tale about a package/message delivery guy who seems to need the skills of an acrobat and the mind of an escape artist just to do his job. Like it.

"Marked Man" by Howard Chaykin is okay, but as he often does, Chaykin chooses a rather unlikeable anti-hero as his main character, and sets his story in a sordid underworld of con-men, so while some of the storyline is entertaining for its sarcastic humor and earthy wisdom, it's hard to like any of the characters.

Michael T. Gilbert's "Mister Monster" serial continues in these issues. It's fun and funny, though visually very frenetic, and I found it somewhat tiring to read. The jokes are pretty broad, and the characters cardboardish, but this is still fun. Best taken in small doses, though.

"Rotten Apple" by Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene is a new serial with some attractive art that reminded me of Sean Murphy, but I found the story a little hard to follow. Mercenaries of two camps trying to find a treasure in the desert is the starting point, after that it confused me.

"Snow Angel" by David Chelsea is light-hearted fun, the sort of thing that should appeal to kids, even younger than those likely to see this anthology. I enjoyed it.

"The Wraith," a one-shot in issue 2 is also kid-friendly, looking much like an animated TV show. Not a lot of story to it.

"Murky World" by Richard Corben is typically weird and mind-bending, and while I couldn't follow the story that well, I loved it all the same. These chapters seem like bits of a larger story, and they may well be. Another treasure in the desert, but a quite different one.

"The Treatment" by Dave Gibbons is the cover feature in #3, and lead story there. It's a special forces cop story in a futuristic setting, and while it's visually effective, not really my kind of thing. But certainly well written and drawn.

Issue 3 also has an interview with Jim Steranko and an excerpt from his remastered "Red Tide," originally published in 1976. I missed it then, and I'm impressed with this excerpt. The art is excellent, two large panels per page in a painted style, very film noir with wonderful lighting effects. The text runs below in standard type. While it's great, I don't really feel it's quite comics. More of an illustrated novel in my opinion.

Lots of fine work here, no real klunkers. Recommended!