DiGiorno

[MFS62]

I never watched The A-Team. Was that Pepard's sig line? He does seem to have Pepard's jaw.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Wow, not a lot of love for page three. Something about a cartoon Jay Horowitz that just sticks in your craw?

Or maybe I just provided too much of my own intrusive commentary. Page four flies with no further cracks from my corner.[/quote:30a4tjhs]

Jay Horowitz-- JAY HOROWITZ!-- aside, Page 3 was what a Project Runway contestant might call a hot messssss.

Now Page 4's got intrigue... who is this man? Why does he quote the "A-Team?" How did he manage to install 4-5 flatscreen monitors in the crown of the Statue without anyone noticing... and before the advent of flatscreen monitors?

[Guest Edgy DC]

He was ahead of his time technologically.

I like to look at it like there's only the one flatscreen by his forearm and the other two robots are actually there in the room behind him, fucking things up because that's what they do, after having installed train tracks.

Notice how his throne is made out of the green oxidized copper of the SoL, even though it should have been it's original color after being cleaned in the eighties.

[Guest Edgy DC]

OK, now we're getting closer to some serious throwdown time.



OK, first of all, "power-suits from Piazza's friends in the Mighty Mets Organization"? What the hell. It's like "Mikey's got friends --- that's all you need to know." You've got to give me more than that. Are these "friends" from the Doubleday side of the family or the Wilpons? Do they develop this technology deep under Shea? In the chop shops of Flushing?

Second of all, all that armour, and only Ventura thinks to protect his head or eyes? Come on! And Franco and Alfonzo improvize by turning their caps around. Like that helps. Benitez expands his vulerability to his upper chest and collar bones area, clearly wanting to show a little something for the ladies.

And really, do we need numbers on the suits for those fans who like to keep score during mortal struggles between super-powered foes? Do we? I mean I realize their faces aren't recognizeable but the suits should be distinct enough without the numbers.

And who told Benitez this was a road game?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Weaponry obtained through backchannels for off-hours focused violence? And it's Piazza's friends in the Mets Organization getting credit for supplying said weaponry? RIIIIIIGHT. (I think I know why Franco's smirking.)

Also, comic-book Ventura strikes me as a bit of a dick.

[G-Fafif]

[list:3lizgrth][*:3lizgrth]Speaking of which, where's Franco's "C"? They give the guy Mike Tyson's torso and they can't find room on it for his signature insignia?[/*:m:3lizgrth][/list:u:3lizgrth][/quote:3lizgrth]

Franco didn't get the C until 2001, though it seems this comic should have had the power to have anticipated it.

Mets PR called. It's Horwitz. Not Horowitz. Jay's not that particular, but his minions are sticklers for accuracy in spelling.

[Fman99]

This comic is awesomely gay. Like Ellen Degeneres, if she was awesome.

[Frayed Knot]

Good thing they used captions to identify the players because if I had to do so just by the artwork ...

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, this is pretty bad inking. It is possible to tell good inking from bad inking. The easiest way is to compare works by the same penciler with different inkers. When I was first reading comics I couldn't understand how Rich Buckler's art could look so good one issue, and so terrible in another issue. Then it clicked: He looked good when inked by Joe Sinnott, and terrible when inked by Chic Stone. A guy like Sinnott didn't just trace over the pencils, he used his own artistic skills to enhance what the pencil artist put on the page. He was so good that a lot of pencilers took shortcuts when Sinnott was inking; they'd just do rough breakdowns knowing that Sinnott would be able to bring the breakdowns to life. (And if Sinnott had to bail on a particular issue for any reason, the job down by the fill-in guy was noticeably inferior. Joe Sinnott had a very high VORP.)

And if you look at anything inked by Tom Palmer, especially when he worked with Gene Colon, you can see what a master he was. His inks really lent mood to the artwork. What he did on Tomb of Dracula was incredible.

This Mets comic, by the way, is absolutely wretched. It seems like it was written by a ten-year-old for the entertainment of five-year-olds.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, but... Mark Johnson!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah, this is pretty bad inking. It is possible to tell good inking from bad inking. The easiest way is to compare works by the same penciler with different inkers. When I was first reading comics I couldn't understand how Rich Buckler's art could look so good one issue, and so terrible in another issue. Then it clicked: He looked good when inked by Joe Sinnott, and terrible when inked by Chic Stone. A guy like Sinnott didn't just trace over the pencils, he used his own artistic skills to enhance what the pencil artist put on the page. He was so good that a lot of pencilers took shortcuts when Sinnott was inking; they'd just do rough breakdowns knowing that Sinnott would be able to bring the breakdowns to life. (And if Sinnott had to bail on a particular issue for any reason, the job down by the fill-in guy was noticeably inferior. Joe Sinnott had a very high VORP.)

And if you look at anything inked by Tom Palmer, especially when he worked with Gene Colon, you can see what a master he was. His inks really lent mood to the artwork. What he did on Tomb of Dracula was incredible.

This Mets comic, by the way, is absolutely wretched. It seems like it was written by a ten-year-old for the entertainment of five-year-olds.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I get the idea though, that if Mets/DiGiorno turned this over to real pros at Marvel, it would be awful in a different way --- artistically excellent, but more corporate tie-ins (to pay for it), pandering, and writing by comittee.

I guess my expectations are lowered when I think that something like this sort of should suck. I mean, you don't want the Ramones doing opera.

(Does that last line make sense? What the hell am I talking about?)

[Frayed Knot]

I just think that this was some kind of give-away item and DiGorno's (and/or the Mets) didn't want to pay what it would take to get a real artist to do it.
Instead it was probably along the lines of someone saying; "hey I got a nephew who took a class once and ..."

[soupcan]

So true.

I used to want to be a comic book artist but ultimately was just not good enough. I'll tell you something though - I was leaps and bounds better than whover did this.

[Guest Edgy DC]

This shit is actually kind of making me angry cuz I know my dad would be furious to know anyone got paid for work like this, but he's not around to defend the profession anymore.[/quote:cnnff6ku]

Time to cue the real deal:

[Guest themetfairy]

This shit is actually kind of making me angry cuz I know my dad would be furious to know anyone got paid for work like this, but he's not around to defend the profession anymore.[/quote:1n79htmt]

Time to cue the real deal:

[/quote:1n79htmt]

Lovely!

[ashie62]

So true.

I used to want to be a comic book artist but ultimately was just not good enough. I'll tell you something though - I was leaps and bounds better than whover did this.[/quote:26gdamzf]

And I thought you were the star of "American Splendor"

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

What happens next, Edge-- do they fix the cable?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Sorry. Tough weekend. I'll catch up tonight.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Despite my mailbox being swamped with demands for the further adventures of our favorite frozen-pizza inspired heroes of 2000, I've had to hold off re-publication. As you might expect, Page Six of Amazin' Mets is not Delia Alfonzo's favorite page and she tried to stop the story from continuing.

And I think we can all appreciate her position. All that hero adrenaline pumping, and grateful Gotham gamine so flushed with thanks that her halfshirt is changing colors. Edgardo does what any redblooded Venezuelan would do --- he leers and moves in for some serious fondling. Those cheap horny Latins! Where's Bill Madden when you need him?

But your public love affair with Melissa Gilbert will have to wait, Edgardo! There's danger of a double 7 train collision! And that was apparently not only when the 7 had only two cars, but apparently wasn't equipped with brakes. They just let up on the throttle back in 2000 and rolled into the station.

[Fman99]

Engorgo Alfonso

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Melissa Gilbert?

Sandra Bullock, I'm thinking. (The timeframe and the mass-transit-related danger make it a cinch.)

Man, I remember when the trains didn't have brakes... I used to end up in Inwood a LOT.

[MFS62]

Melissa Gilbert?

Sandra Bullock, I'm thinking. (The timeframe and the mass-transit-related danger make it a cinch.)

Man, I remember when the trains didn't have brakes... I used to end up in Inwood a LOT.[/quote:yqsyhyeq]

HEY!
There was nothing wrong with that!
At least, not when I lived there.
207th and Broadway, Baybeeee!
Last stop on the A Train, for all you Duke Ellington fans.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Notice the sadistic glee with which the robot derails the 7.

Notice also how Ventura, Franco, and Benitez all strike the same poze as they approach the train, as if they are winding up to punch it.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Number of civilians on the two-car 7: around 20-30, it seems.
Number of civilians helped by the SuperMets: one.

The robot throws the train off the track. The SuperMets float around, watching it crash before Fonzie floats over to grab the babe trying to walk between cars. If the other passengers on the train are unharmed, it will only be because of luck. Why give the players superpowers but not give them any agency?

[Guest Edgy DC]

I guess the short answer is because none of the other civvies looked like a xexy 20-year-old Half Pint in a Half Shirt.

But just wait for the thrilling action on page seven, gentle readers.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

But just wait for the thrilling action on page seven, gentle readers.[/quote:2usq0t80]

I'm hoping it keeps going in the same direction. Maybe a timely rain shower will cause all the robots to malfunction and their purple-clad master can choke to death on a Pringle as Piazza and Benitez try to cock-block Fonzie forty feet up the tunnel from the Vernon-Jackson stop.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bionics is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.

I just thought I'd mention. I don't think I see anything bionic in the design of Ventura's bat. Cricketic, maybe. I just think if Ventura's going to take time out for an aside during a time-sensitive emergency situation, he should maybe get his terms down. It may turn out to be mission critical.



Note how small Benitez makes Piazza look. Hey, what are those characters on Franco's cap?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

In 2000-- comparatively-- Ventura hit like his bat had an elbow. Perhaps his diction WAS on.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

I have no idea what the space this scene is taking place in is supposed to look like. In panel 1, where do those tracks go? Through the wall? Why is Ventura shepherding these people towards what appears to be the lights of the oncoming train? I think the "WHOA! WE'RE BEING RESCUED BY THE METS!" guy in the first frame is the same as the "IT'S TOO HEAVY! THERE'S NO TIME! YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT!" negative nancy in the insert on the bottom. If so, he appears in front of the green wall pictured in the first panel, facing away from the lights in the darkened corridor and in the same direction as the tracks-from-nowhere, which means that the crashed train isn't really in the path of oncoming one. Also, isn't there supposed to be a robot in the tunnel?