Meatmen Volume 16

Rating:
Summary: Vol.16: Johnny Shadow, Dick Masters, etc.
Review: This may be my least-favorite of the Volumes in this series I've seen. All the same, there are highlights:
"The Prisoners Of Lazareth" & "Penetrating Heaven" by Jon Macy are intriguing stories involving aliens from space and demons of hell-- I just wish the artwork lived up to the writing. "Heavy Loads" by Joe involves truckers; Joe's overly-muscled art is very "cleanly" rendered, though the drawing is far better than the visual storytelling. "Murphy's Manor" by Kurt Erichsen features cute, cartoony art & thoughtful, fun writing. "Johnny Shadow" by John Blackburn is, to date, the ONLY story I've seen him do with a hero other than his blonde character, Coley-- though the difference isn't that noticeable. "Friends" featured "Jack Masters Private Dick" by Joven in a case involving gay-bashing. "Rapid Shooters" by Sean has a group of guys wild-river rafting together (clothing optional). And "Jayson's Dream Man" is another installment in Jeffrey A. Krell's humorous sitcom-like series. Also worth a look is "Broc Of The Stone Age", a silent story all told in full-page panels by "Mike", whose rendering is far better than his actual drawing (the linework is very refined, but his human figures all have extremely distorted, exaggerated anatomy-- funny enough, his dinosaurs look fine!). Gerald Donelan contributes 12 of his light-hearted cartoons this time.
As usual, this series continues to feature a mix of good and really below-average work. As a forum for "up-and-coming" talent that's to be applauded; I just wish the format didn't make such a mixed product so pricey!

Rating:
Summary: Vol.16: Johnny Shadow, Dick Masters, etc.
Review: This may be my least-favorite of the Volumes in this series I've seen. All the same, there are highlights:
"The Prisoners Of Lazareth" & "Penetrating Heaven" by Jon Macy are intriguing stories involving aliens from space and demons of hell-- I just wish the artwork lived up to the writing. "Heavy Loads" by Joe involves truckers; Joe's overly-muscled art is very "cleanly" rendered, though the drawing is far better than the visual storytelling. "Murphy's Manor" by Kurt Erichsen features cute, cartoony art & thoughtful, fun writing. "Johnny Shadow" by John Blackburn is, to date, the ONLY story I've seen him do with a hero other than his blonde character, Coley-- though the difference isn't that noticeable. "Friends" featured "Jack Masters Private Dick" by Joven in a case involving gay-bashing. "Rapid Shooters" by Sean has a group of guys wild-river rafting together (clothing optional). And "Jayson's Dream Man" is another installment in Jeffrey A. Krell's humorous sitcom-like series. Also worth a look is "Broc Of The Stone Age", a silent story all told in full-page panels by "Mike", whose rendering is far better than his actual drawing (the linework is very refined, but his human figures all have extremely distorted, exaggerated anatomy-- funny enough, his dinosaurs look fine!). Gerald Donelan contributes 12 of his light-hearted cartoons this time.
As usual, this series continues to feature a mix of good and really below-average work. As a forum for "up-and-coming" talent that's to be applauded; I just wish the format didn't make such a mixed product so pricey!