When Alan Moore was crap (Deathblow: Byblows, Part 1)

[arbre_rieur.insanejournal.com]

In the previous entries, about works like Violator Vs. Badrock and Spawn: Blood Feud, a lot of people were saying, "Well yeah, it's bad, but look at the quality of character he was saddled with!" In this mini-series though, he doesn't have that excuse. There was a previous character named Deathblow, Michael Cray; he died in Wildstorm's "Fire Fom Heaven" event (also written by Moore and also quite awful).

Here, in this three-part mini-series, Moore was tasked with creating a brand new Deathblow from scratch. The sky was the limit... so how the heck did we end up with this?

A woman is "born" from a metal pod on an alien planet.





Wandering the area, she comes upon another pod.



She also runs into a cyborg.



After she manages to ditch him (but not before nabbing his gun), she meets another individual.






Do urinals with mirrors above them really exist? And if so, why?

That was her dream sequence, by the way, in case it isn't clear.





So who's already guessed what's going on here?

Comments

[interrobamf.insanejournal.com]

Do urinals with mirrors above them really exist?
Yes.

And if so, why?
It is a mystery lost to the sands of time.

[thosefew.insanejournal.com]

Given that you look at yourself in the mirror, I imagine to enforce the 'Eyes front, no talking' rule.

[parsimonia.insanejournal.com]

I will never be able to understand why urinals are such a popular format for men's washrooms. I mean, I get that it's probably faster, but yeesh.

[angelophile.insanejournal.com]

Yes, he certainly does blow.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

You're trying to kill me. I'm sure of it now.

Even more depressing is to see Jim Baikie reduced to this as well.

[une_croix.insanejournal.com]

This don't seem so bad. Looks like something out of Heavy Metal. Compared to many other Image books of the time, this is Art.

Read Brigade or Codename: Strykeforce if you don't believe how much worse comics can be.

[wizardru.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm with you on this one. This is weak by Moore's standards, but again, not actually bad, IMHO. It certainly has potential. Again, I think the art is a weakness here, but it's a damn site better than the Badrock/Violator thing.

[arbre_rieur.insanejournal.com]

Having two-thirds of the pages removed probably makes it seem better than it is. The full issue consists of page after page of characters aimlessly wandering around, with dialogue that's really nothing but variatons on, "What in the world is going on?"

[arilou_skiff.insanejournal.com]

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought of Heavy Metal.

[arbre_rieur.insanejournal.com]

This was released towards the end of 1999. It's contemporaries weren't Brigade and Cyberforce, they were Planetary, The Authority, and Ellis's StormWatch.

[une_croix.insanejournal.com]

You're right - I didn't realise it was so late in the 90s, at which point things were really starting to turn around, quality-wise.

Looking at the Diamond charts, it's strange that the same month this issue came out, so did issues of Moore's acclaimed Tomorrow Stories, Top Ten and Promethea through ABC.

Also, the then current issue of Authority (#7) just barely made it into the top 100 (at 97) - smashed by such oddities as Kiss: Psycho Circus at 89, a Bishop mini at 36, and Spawn at number 4.

[halloweenjack.insanejournal.com]

Do urinals with mirrors above them really exist? And if so, why?

He's not at the urinal in the panel where he's looking in the mirror, he's washing his hands.

[kaetepixie.insanejournal.com]

Does he really look like the kind of guy who would wash his hands?

[arbre_rieur.insanejournal.com]

It's possible, though in the panel where he's opening the door, you can see a mirror above the urinals in the back.

[menagerie.insanejournal.com]

I really don't have enough here to say this is "bad". Weird and disjointed certainly.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

I dunno - I really wouldn't call this all that bad. Far from his best, by all means, but it's interesting - it's compellingly weird, if nothing else.
And no, I haven't guessed what's going on here.