But Rob has finally found a way to conquer those blahs. His name is Alan Moore.
Single handedly, Alan Moore has managed to resurrect what was once a dying company. His SUPREME has garnered raves from fans and critics alike. His brief work on YOUNGBLOOD revived Liefeld's vision in a new, unique way. His groundwork for the 'Awesome Universe' has become the cornerstone of what Liefeld and company are all about. Not to mention Moore's work on America's Best Comics, reviewed elsewhere this month.
Moore's latest Awesome work is AWESOME ADVENTURES. This first in what is supposed to be a series of ongoing anthology issues (remember, this is Awesome. Issue #2 may never appear, based on the company's track record) focuses on YOUNGBLOOD in a tale illustrated by Steve Skroce.
Our tale begins with Linda(our time displaced heroine) and Shaft(who, with Die Hard, is the only member remaining from the Image days of YOUNGBLOOD) being attacked by the Jackettes: an updated version of the Jack-A-Dandy mob from the 1960s. What follows leads to a meeting between Linda and jack-now an aged criminal in the Miskatonic home for the Homicidally Distressed. With the help of the rest of the team(and a small assist from Supreme's alter ego), the group searches to find their true enemy.
What happens is a perfect tied-up-in-knot-sort-of-cliffhanger which, if the series never continues, leaves the reader satisfied with a definite ending.
Bad points about this tale. It's length. The book is $2.50 cover price and you get, count 'em, a whopping 18 pages of story. Granted, it's a CRAMMED 18 pages, but that's it. The rest of the book is made up of a Rob editorial touting Alan Moore's greatness, five pages of in-house ads and ads for Dynamic Forces and Comicraft, plus eight pages of black and white pencil sketches from Dan Fraga's forthcoming BLACK SEED.
C'mon Rob! You've got one of the premiere writers of ALL TIME working for you and all you can muster up is 18 pages? Please! Either up the count or drop the price.
Good points? Well, it's Alan Moore. Need I say more? It's fun, filled with wit and adventure and all those little Moore 'inside joke' touches he throws across his work.
With luck, this WON'T be the only appearance of this title. As mentioned earlier, this was designed to be an anthology series. Imagine Moore writing EXCLUSIVELY for Awesome. What he could do with some of Rob's concepts would be amazing!
Here's hoping!