Longbox Junk - The Terminator #1

 Welcome to Longbox Junk, the blog absolutely stuffed with comic reviews nobody asked me to write!

Terminators.

Relentless killing machines created by the all-powerful computer, Skynet.  Their only purpose to infiltrate and destroy the last remaining vestiges of human resistance in one of the bleakest futures ever to be put on the silver screen or the comic page.

I LOVE The Terminator franchise! Within the framework of a dark future ruled by machines, there's potential to tell both hopeful AND hopeless tales of resistance and desperate battle against inhuman monsters created by mankind's own technological hubris.  

There's been a lot of Terminator comic stories.  Probably the best known coming from Dark Horse, who held the Terminator license for about twenty years!  But what we have here is the FIRST Terminator comic book.  The opening issue for a 1988 series by NOW Comics that lasted just 17 issues before handing things over to Dark Horse.

It seems a bit strange to me that the first comic to expand on such a popular franchise is worth about. . .well. . .pretty much nothing when it comes to "key" value of comic books.  MAYBE ten bucks for a absolutely perfect copy. . .in theory, anyway.  This is a series that you can find every single issue of (including this first issue) in the bargain bin.

But, like everything else with over thirty years' worth of material behind it, there's good Terminator stories and there's bad Terminator stories.  Which one is this?  Let's find out!

THE TERMINATOR #1

NOW Comics (1988)

COVER: Mitch O'Connell

THE COVER:

Now THERE'S the good stuff!  I've got a lot of Terminator comics in my collection, but this is my all-time favorite Terminator cover!  It's just. . .perfect. It's a great, creepy piece of highly-detailed artwork that can stand toe to toe with some of the best comic covers out there, period.

So the cover is one of my favorites in my collection.  What about the story?  

Let's get inside this thing!  

THE STORY:

THE TERMINATOR

SCRIPT:  Fred Schiller

PENCILS: Tony Akins

INKS: Jim Brozman

The time: December 22, 2031. The Place: Just North of what's left of Miami, Florida.

We begin our tale with a woman, carrying a baby and being pursued through the ruins of Miami by a relentless killing machine. . .a Terminator. She trips and falls.  The Terminator moves in for the kill!

The woman is saved by the timely arrival of a team of human soldiers.  The Terminator is destroyed and she tells them that she's looking for an underground group called "Sarah's Slammers".  Her baby is sick and she needs a doctor.  

She's in luck.  The soldiers belong to the Slammers and offer to take her and her baby back to their hidden base for medical treatment.  But then, one of the soldiers gets a bad feeling about the situation and blasts the woman!  She's actually a Terminator!  IT'S A TRAP!

As the patrol tries to make sense of the ambush, they move to rescue the child, only to discover that it's ALSO a Terminator!  A tiny baby Terminator!  THE HORROR!  

SHIFTING SCENES. . .

We find ourselves aboard a high-tech aircraft, hovering over the ocean nearby.  The crew of the ship is led by a woman named Berwanger.  They are scientists, gathering plankton samples to take back to their base.  There's a problem!  An accident and the ship's systems begin to fail!

Their stealth cloaking device and thrusters go offline. The ship begins to drift toward the mainland, where their sensors indicate an intense firefight is occurring!

  

RETURNING TO SARAH'S SLAMMERS. . .

More Terminators have arrived at the scene of the trap!  The Slammers are pinned down by heavy fire.  As they desperately fight for their lives, we see the mysterious aircraft drifting closer as the crew tries to reactivate their cloaking device, thrusters, and shields.  It's too late!  The cloak completely fails and the ship is exposed to those fighting below.

Mistaking the disabled aircraft as a new kind of Terminator ship, Sarah's Slammers turn all their firepower onto it, causing the vessel to crash nearby.  The Slammer Commander, Leahy, orders her men to retreat before they take any more losses.  

Nearby, the surviving crew of the crashed aircraft have abandoned ship.  As they make their way along the shoreline, they run into the retreating soldiers.  There's a standoff between the two groups.  Leahy is informed that there's another Terminator transport on the way.  They need to figure things out and get moving before they're overwhelmed!

The crew of the downed aircraft use a high-tech homing missile to easily take down the approaching transport.  But Leahy learns another FOUR transports are on their way!  

Impressed with the newcomer's weapons, Leahy quickly makes the decision to invite them to the Slammer's hidden base.  They all leave together before Terminator reinforcements arrive.

SHIFTING SCENES AGAIN. . .

We find ourselves following Martin Reedfoot, one of Sarah's Slammers on a mission to infiltrate a Skynet "Flesh Farm" to gain intel on the facility.  

The Flesh Farms are a recent Skynet project, breeding and cultivating docile human servants. . .and also providing a ready supply of human skin for their Terminators. 

As he makes his way through the eerie town of Bedford Falls, gathering information on the docile human population, Reedfoot is discovered by one of the Terminator guards!

MEANWHILE, AT THE HIDDEN INSURGENT BASE. . .

Sarah's Slammers are based in an old Minuteman missile silo that they imaginatively call "Homebase".  We learn that the crew of the mysterious aircraft are actually from. . .The Moon!

They are the children of inhabitants of a moon colony called "Little Houston", who could only watch in horror as Skynet took over the world 33 years ago.  There was strife in the colony about what to do, but it was decided that there wasn't much they COULD do, and so they remained on the moon.  

They have to occasionally return to Earth for secret resource-gathering missions in their cloaked ships.  It was during one of these missions that their ship was shot down, and how they ended up with a bunch of rag-tag insurgents hiding out in an old missile silo.

BACK AT THE FLESH FARM. . .

Reedfoot desperately tries to make his escape from the Terminators at Bedford Falls, but he is surrounded.  He sends a burst transmission to Homebase with the information he's gathered.  After that, his fate is uncertain. . .

AND THEN, BACK AT THE INSURGENT BASE. . .

Berwanger and Leahy have a bit of conflict over the moon base's inaction while humans bleed and suffer on Earth, but they eventually come to an agreement once Reedfoot's information is received.

Berwanger agrees to supply Sarah's Slammers with weapons and medical supplies in exchange for equipment and parts needed to fix their ship.  Unfortunately, the high-tech gear needed will only be available at a Skynet facility. . .like the Flesh Farm Reedfoot was scouting.    

Leahy agrees to help Sarah's Slammers assault the facility.

BUT THEN. . .

While Leahy and Berwanger discuss their agreement, there's a commotion elsewhere in the base!  The Slammer's viral scanners have detected a non-human! There's a Terminator among them!  It's one of the Moon Crew!  

BUT WAIT! THEY CAN EXPLAIN!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Okay, there it is.  Let's break it on down!

I review a lot of first issues here at Longbox Junk.  I have just TWO simple expectations from the first issue of a series.  And in MY humble opinion, neither one is too much to ask. . .

1.  Does it introduce the characters and their situation in a new reader-friendly way?

2.  Does it make me want to read more?

Is that too much to ask?  You'd think not, but there are a lot of first issues I've read that can't even hurdle those two pretty low bars.  But hey, I don't write 'em. . .I just read 'em. 

 I guess comic publishers know what they're doing when they decide that a good introduction and a hook to buy the next issue aren't necessary.  Who am I to tell them THEIR business, right?

ANYWAY. . . 

Question number one. . .is this a good introduction?  Well, the whole issue is basically introduction, so I'll say yes on this one.  Actually, I really liked the story in this issue. 

Even though it was almost completely introduction to the characters and the setting, the writer moves it along at a pretty brisk pace and we get all the information we need organically as the story unfolds instead of it looking like an obvious info-dump, which is ALMOST as bad as not getting enough information in a first issue.

It's a gritty, hard military science fiction story.  Very straightforward in laying out the brutal nature of what the world has become.  I like the addition of the Moon Colonists as a sort of "privileged" storytelling foil to the hardcore Sarah's Slammers.  The colonists make it so the writer is able to give more than one perspective on the same events (more so in later issues, but that foundation is nicely set up here).

Question number two. . .Do I want to read more?  Yes I do.  I'm a fan of gritty military science fiction, which is what draws me to the Terminator franchise in the first place.  

Even though what we have here is almost completely introduction and setup, it's solid introduction and setup.  I want to see how these two different groups come together to achieve their separate, but intertwined goals as the story unfolds.  

BUT. . .

Then there's the art.  Let's talk about the art.

It's bad.

Garish colors, practically nonexistent backgrounds, sketchy, and in places looking almost unfinished.  This comic has an AWESOME cover, but inside? No Bueno. 

It's an issue that a lot of NOW comics suffered.  Great, eye-catching covers with good stories, but art that slaps and insults you. . .and not in the fun way.  What I'm trying to say is that the art in this comic is crap.  There's no tiptoeing around it.  The cover is premium, the inside is amateurish.  

CONCLUSION

So, a solid military science fiction story that delivers a good introduction and makes me want to read more, backed up by art that looks like the logical progression of Napoleon Dynamite's high school sketches.

Is the art bad enough to make me not want to recommend this?  I guess not.  The story is good and the art DOES get a little better as the series goes on.  Not by much, mind you, and the garish colors never go away, but there's improvement at least.

This isn't the best Terminator comic out there.  Not even close.  But it's a cool little time capsule of the time before Terminator WAS a franchise.  There was the first movie, and there was this.  That was it.

NOW took the Terminator idea and ran with it. . .giving us a thirty year time jump into what was one of the best parts of the original movie, the short scenes showing future humanity fighting the terrifying robots of Skynet.

For just the sheer non-canon, "Where do we go from here?" aspect of this series jumping off of the very narrow starting point of the original Terminator movie, I'll recommend this series.  Just understand the art is generally awful from start to finish, even though it does show some improvement in later issues.

The series has never been collected, as far as I can tell, but like I said in the introduction, it's not hard to find every issue (including this first issue) in the bargain bins.  Pick 'em up and check 'em out if you happen to spot some.  

That's it for this edition of Longbox Junk.  Thanks for stopping by to spend a little time, and I hope you come to visit again.  Until next time, remember that comics are worth more than money!

Longbox Junk - Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #1

Welcome to Longbox Junk,  where the comics are cheap and the reviews are FREE!

This day, we stand in the presence of Longbox Junk royalty! 

Before us is a comic that (in MY humble opinion) may be the PERFECT representation of the very concept of "Longbox Junk", which are generally comics that are worth practically zero to those who are concerned with the "value" of comic books.  

There is no FOMO for Longbox Junk.  There are no Youtube videos of Longbox Junk.  Longbox Junk isn't being graded.  There aren't heated debates over Longbox Junk.  Longbox Junk just sort of sits quietly in the bargain bin, waiting for the right person to find it.

The comic at hand has become a bit of a meme.  A joke about comics that are "worth" nothing when it comes to collecting for money value. A punchline. Maybe THE most recognizable insider joke in comic collecting. EVERYBODY has seen this comic. I'll make a safe bet that YOU. . .yes, YOU. . .either have one of these comics in your collection right now, or have had one at some point.

I probably should have reviewed this comic long before now.  Given the theme of this blog, I'm not really sure why I haven't yet. . .but that changes today!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present a review of possibly THE most ubiquitous example of Longbox Junk that can be found.  It's. . .TUROK, DINOSAUR HUNTER!

*Insert Trumpet Fanfare Here*

TUROK, DINOSAUR HUNTER #1

Acclaim/Valiant (1993) 

COVER: Bart Sears

THE COVER:

There it is, folks. . .the 90s. 

The embossed, enhanced, shiny foil spectacle and wonder that was 90s comics.  It's all right here in this one cover.  This is one of the most recognizable covers in comic collecting, but setting the meme value aside, it's actually a pretty cool piece of comic art!

The art in the center chromium section (This is one of those sort of weird early chromium covers where the entire cover isn't chromium, but there's a cardstock chromium part glued onto the regular cover) is really well done!  

The main character is there front and center, in your face, and highly-detailed.  The logo is really cool. The yellow background sets off the red foil title very nicely, making it pop and catch the eye.  

The surrounding border is colored a little strange.  I'd prefer something a little more green and a little less pink for dinosaurs, but other than THAT, this cover is a winner!

Off topic a bit, but I'm pretty proud of myself that I'm FINALLY getting decent pictures of the shiny covers down quite a bit better these days.  Took me long enough to figure it out.  ANYWAY. . .

Let's get inside this thing.

THE STORY:

Cold Blood Blazing

SCRIPT: David Micheline

PENCILS: Bart Sears

INKS: Randy Elliot

The scene: The jungles of Columbia, South America.  The year: 1987.  We begin our tale with a Native American warrior engaging in a focusing ritual before battle.  He sees visions of the past. 

In other words. . .We're starting right off with a lengthy FLASHBACK EXPOSITION DUMP!

The warrior's name is Turok, and it's been a long strange journey to this time and place.  Beginning in the 1800s, with Turok and his younger companion, Andor, on a hunting trip.  They discover the entrance to a cavern and decide to explore.  They get lost in the twisting tunnels, leading ever deeper into the Earth. . .losing all track of time and direction.

Eventually, they find themselves in a vast open area populated by fierce creatures from the past.  A lost world where time has no meaning!  DUN-DUN-DUNNNN!!

Unable to find their way back to their own home, Turok and Andor made a life among the people of the lost land.  But their peace was shattered by invaders from yet another time and place!  

The strange metallic beings plundered the lost land to build a mighty city.  Turok rallied the people of the lost land against the ruthless invaders, but their weapons were no match and they were brutally defeated!

Turok and the people of the lost land were saved when a mighty champion called Magnus arrived and joined them against the invaders. . .who, along with Magnus were revealed to come from the far future, where they were mortal enemies.  

But peace would not last for long.  Soon after driving the invaders from the future out of the lost land, another visitor arrived.  A woman who called herself "Mother-God", dwelling in a shining tower.  She demonstrated vast powers and spoke of bringing peace and unity to all existence.

Andar and Turok swore allegiance to her, truly believing that she was a Goddess.

But soon, Turok and Andor discovered that they had made the wrong choice.  After listening to a pair of warriors called Archer and Armstrong that Mother-God had set Turok against, he realized that they were actually serving an evil being!

Turok and Andor joined with an alliance of powerful beings assembled from different times and places and fought against Mother-God (In Valiant's first line-wide crossover event, called "Unity").  After a brutal series of battles, victory was theirs, but at what cost?

Andor was lost, his fate unknown.  And when Turok returned to the village of his adopted people, he discovered that Mother-God's technologically-enhanced dinosaur minions had destroyed it, slaughtering every man, woman, and child!

Turok learned the leader of the assassin dinosaur pack was called Mon-Ark, and he swore an oath of bloody vengeance!  Tracking Mon-Ark and his pack relentlessly across the lost land, Turok found his revenge at hand, but as he struck, Turok found himself being torn from the lost land by unknown forces!

Finding himself in yet another strange land and unknown time, Turok accepted that Andor was lost to him forever and set out on the hunt once again. . .for he discovered traces of Mon-Ark nearby and knew that his greatest enemy had also come to the same time and place!

Flashback over!  The story continues in the present. . .

Waking from his visions of the past, Turok senses danger!  He has no need to hunt his enemy, Mon-Ark has come to him!  The technologically-enhanced dinosaur attacks!  

Desperately, Turok tries to fight his way out of the ambush while Mon-Ark taunts him, but the evil creature's mate joins the battle, leaving Turok outnumbered and in danger of losing his life!

Mon-Ark and his mate force Turok over the edge of a cliff, where the wounded warrior falls. . .seemingly to his death.  Triumphant, Mon-Ark declares victory and begins making plans with his mate to bring death to any humans they find in "their" new land.

But Turok is not dead (There's still 46 more issues to go!)  He washes up on the shore of the river below, miles away from the battle.  Weakened and close to death, Turok is prepared to meet his fate, but instead, he is found by a native woman.

INTERLUDE!

In the mansion of Columbian drug lord Carlos Comacho, he receives news that one of his cocaine shipments has come under attack by an unknown enemy.  Over the radio, he hears the desperate cries of his men, yelling about being attacked by some kind of monsters!  DUN-DUN-DUNNNN!

INTERLUDE OVER.  BACK TO TUROK!

The native woman who rescued Turok from the river is called Serita.  She takes Turok to her peaceful farming village, where he recovers from his severe wounds as the days pass. 

 His time among the farmers passes quickly, and he grows closer to Serita.  He knows that this time of peace won't last.  Mon-Ark and his pack are still somewhere out there.  Turok is determined to protect his newfound friends from the evil dinosaur.

At last, the day Turok fears has come!  The bodies of two villagers are discovered ripped apart.  Turok instantly knows that Mon-Ark is near.  Vowing to protect the village and avenge their lost, Turok sets out once more upon the trail of the killer dinosaur.

But as he tracks Mon-Ark, Turok senses that perhaps the trail is a bit TOO easy to follow.  He's being led into a trap!  Mon-Ark attacks!  As he desperately tries to fight his way out of the ambush, Turok realizes WHY Mon-Ark was leading him on. . .The Village!

Turok wounds Mon-Ark and rushes back to the village, only to find yet ANOTHER group of friends being slaughtered by Mon-Ark's pack, led by the evil dinosaur's mate!  

Turok leaps into battle, desperate to save his new friends!  After a brutal fight, he finally forces the dinosaur pack to retreat.  The few remaining villagers come out of hiding.  

Serita sadly tells Turok that these enemies are not their enemies, and knowing that they will return as long as Turok is among them, he must leave.

Turok knows Serita speaks the truth, and so he turns his back on the peaceful village he brought death to and heads back into the jungle.  He knows he must continue to hunt Mon-Ark. . .alone.

The End.  To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

There it is.  Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #1.  Let's break it on down!

As the first issue of a series, I ask of this comic the same two simple things I ask of EVERY first issue:

1.  Does it introduce the characters and their setting in a new reader-friendly way?

2.  Does it make me want to read more?

TWO things.  That's all I ask.  They may SEEM simple, but you'd be surprised how many times comic publishers fail at one or both of these things in a first issue.  You'd THINK they would be the bare minimum effort to be made for new readers.  But that's what you get for thinking, right?

So. . .FIRST QUESTION

Does this first issue introduce Turok and what's going on in a new reader-friendly way?  Well. . .not really.  Most of the first half of the comic is spent on trying to condense a sprawling Valiant line-wide event into a few pages of introduction.  

There's only really one page of Turok's ACTUAL origin. . .1800's Native American getting lost and finding the entrance to a hidden lost world.  I mean, it's there, but it's glossed over in favor of the Valiant crossover stuff, which really doesn't make much sense in such condensed form unless you're already familiar with Valiant characters like Archer & Armstrong, Magnus, X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, etc. . .

So I'm going to say no.  This isn't a great introduction for Turok to a new reader.  To be fair, once the six full pages of rushed exposition are done with, Turok and his situation as concerns THIS story are pretty straightforward.  It's just that heavy dose of convoluted continuity at the start that isn't new reader-friendly.

SECOND QUESTION! 

Does it make me want to read more?  I'll give this one a yes.  Once the exposition is done with and we're into the actual story, it's a tight revenge tale, with Turok tragically falling for a trap resulting in giving him even MORE reason to go on the hunt for Mon-Ark.

It's a well-worn story path to be sure.  Violent hero finds friendship and peace, then ends up dragging his baggage into the middle of it, forcing him to become a loner once again.  But there's a reason stories like this endure the test of time. . .they work.  It's a simple hook, and I've seen it MANY times before, but it still makes me want to see what happens next.  I like a good "Forced on a dark path of violent revenge" tale.  I think a lot of people do.

So the story is well-worn, but still pretty solid.  Let's talk about the art.

It's a little hit and miss, but leans a bit more toward the "hit" side of things.  This comic is a fine time capsule of everything good AND bad about 90s comic art.  

On the one hand, it's dynamic, with a great sense of detail and motion.  Very cinematic in places, especially during fight scenes.  There's plenty of really cool moments and panels to be found through the issue.  This is what good 90s art was all about!

On the OTHER hand, when things slow down, the art style doesn't quite cut it.  Sears is obviously an artist better at illustrating action scenes.  Panels where characters are just talking look strange. 

The "Interlude" page I scanned above is a good example.  The page I scanned directly below it, with an improbably giant Turok with muscles on top of muscles talking to his weirdly-faced new friend is another good example.  Failing to nail non-action sequences is what bad 90s art was all about.

Fortunately, Sears leans into his strengths for the most part and the majority of the art here is more good than bad.

CONCLUSION

Clunky exposition starting things off doesn't distract too much from a tight (but well-worn) "Forced on a dark path of revenge" story, backed up by some solid 90s art that stumbles a little bit here and there when things slow down.  It's not the best introduction for new readers, but in the end, I do want to find out what happens next.

This comic sold over a million copies.  It was one of the best selling comics on the market when it was released.  The ONLY comics that outsold it were the first five issues of DC's "Reign of the Supermen", introducing the five "replacements" for Superman following his "death".  This explains WHY there are so many issues of Turok #1 floating around out there.  At the time, this comic was HUGE.

In other words. . .This isn't a hard comic to find.  Like I said in the introduction, most collectors probably already have one of these, or have had one in the past.  If you don't have one and haven't read this, then I'll give it a Longbox Junk thumbs-up.  Go ahead and spend a buck or two and find out what the 90s were all about!  

Oddly enough, it seems that this volume of Turok (Arguably the best-known comic version) hasn't been collected.  There are collections of the original Golden/Silver Age "Turok: Son of Stone" Gold Key comics from Dark Horse, and the Dynamite Comics version of the character has trades for the whole series, but if you want to read more Valiant Turok (A respectable 47 issues total in this run), you'll have to buy the individual issues.  

Memes and jokes aside, this is overall a pretty good comic book. Go check it out!

And that's it for this bit of Longbox Junk.  Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoyed yourself. Until next time, always remember that comics are worth more than money!

Longbox Junk - Kyra #1

 Welcome to Longbox Junk, where I write comic reviews even though nobody asked me to!

FAIR WARNING:  I'll keep it "PG-13", but this review discusses some "adult" subjects.  You have been warned!  Okay. . .everyone in that's staying in?  Let's go.

If you've been around on the internet for a while, you may have seen the term, "The Writer's Barely-Disguised Fetish".  It refers to a situation where a creator's personal interests (often of the sexy kind) are reflected in their work.  Sometimes intentional, but in many cases, seemingly unintentional.

"What the HELL are you going on about, Atom?"  You say.  "I'm here for a comic review I never even asked you to write, not a meme lesson!"

What I'm going on about is that the comic at hand today is a PERFECT illustration of the concept of "The Writer's Barely-Disguised Fetish".   You'll see what I mean.  Enough introduction. . .LET'S DO IT!

KYRA #1

Elsewhere Productions (1985)

COVER: Robin Ator

THE COVER:

Yep.  And there it is.  The entire concept behind this comic in one image.  It's one of those covers that reflects EXACTLY what you're going to get inside. It's actually not a bad cover for an 80s black and white Indie comic.  I like the colors and the big, bold title.  They really catch the eye.  Overall, I like this cover, but there's absolutely no way I'll be putting it into my rotating comic cover display on my office wall. 

MOVING ALONG!

THE STORIES:

There's two full stories in here. Let's give each one their own fair turn, shall we?  WE SHALL!

A Rustle Of Feathers

SCRIPT: Robin Ator
PENCILS: Robin Ator
INKS: Robin Ator

We begin our tale in the Jungle.  As our hero explores, she is attracted by strange sounds.  Investigating, Kyra discovers a strange situation. . .a man, being ritualistically tortured by natives and a few out of place foreigners.  They are led by a mysterious, cloaked woman. 

Kyra leaps into the clearing and disrupts the torture!  The mysterious leader commands her minions to destroy the interloper.  The attacking minions are no match for Kyra's jungle fury!  They fall easily, but their leader joins the battle, surprising Kyra by blasting orbs of flame from her hands!  

Kyra has no defense against the magical attacks, so she decides to grab the man being tortured and flees for both of their lives!

As Kyra flees through the jungle, she discovers that the woman was trying to find the location of a sacred hill. . .the very hill where Kyra makes her home!  As she moves toward home with the wounded man, she reflects on the past and we get a FLASHBACK MONTAGE! 

Kyra remembers her life in the jungle as a child, the daughter of another Jungle Queen named Kageena.  She fondly remembers her father's visits, when he taught her lessons of books and writing, while her mother taught her of the jungle and combat.  She wonders how Kageena would have handled a witch. . .

MEANWHILE, IN BANGKOK. . .

The mysterious hooded woman, revealed as Johanna Starling, is NOT happy.  She flies into a rage at her underlings for failing to find the sacred location, which contains some sort of rare mystical metal she desires.  She is determined to get what she wants and will not let some little jungle girl stand in her way!

BACK IN THE JUNGLE. . .

Kyra visits a local village to help them with a water pump.  She doesn't realize that Starling has dispatched mercenaries to the same village to watch for Kyra and take her down if she shows up. 

Kyra senses the trap and spots the mercenaries, allowing them to follow her out of the village before she springs her trap and turns on them!  As she thrashes the thugs, they desperately call for help and Starling herself joins the battle!

Starling takes Kyra by surprise, using mental illusions to attack!  Kyra's strength of mind is able to break through the illusions, so Starling attacks using the same balls of fire as before.  Kyra is able to dodge the sorcerous flames.  Starling begins to weaken, but still has enough power left to be able to summon a zombie to attack Kyra!  

Kyra desperately tries to destroy the dead thing attacking her, but nothing is working!  It seems that Starling has gained the upper hand. . .until Kyra remembers a story about zombies her father taught her.  She grabs some salt and finally destroys the foul creature! 

Severely weakened and knowing she's lost THIS round, Starling mocks Kyra and vanishes back to her home.  Kyra considers her victory a failure.  She brought danger to the villagers she was supposed to protect.  The only answer is for her to leave, and so she does.

 The End. . .To Be Continued.

THE REVIEW:

It's a simple story, fairly long, and mostly action.  As an introduction to Kyra, it's not terrible, but it's also not very good.  The story itself seems more of an afterthought to the art.  It's pretty clear where most of Ator's effort was put.  The story is basically a flimsy framework to hang some jungle girl art on.  Pretty much exactly what was advertised on the cover.  

Unfortunately, even the art isn't THAT great.  It's got some good moments, but it's generally sort of rough and sketchy.  I'd say it's barely on the good side of "pretty good".

I have quite a few Golden Age jungle comics in my collection and this is definitely a throwback to the days of flimsy stories propping up an excuse to draw scantily-clad women in a way that could legally be sold in public.  So for THAT, I can appreciate what Ator is trying to do here.  Even so, there's not enough meat on the bone to really grab me and make me want to see what happens next.  

But I ain't a quitter, son! NEXT STORY!

Jungle Justice

SCRIPT: Robin Ator
PENCILS: Robin Ator
INKS: Robin Ator

The creator gives us a note that this short story is actually an earlier appearance of Kyra that was originally in an (unnamed) "obscure" underground publication, along with a bit of story setup. . . .

We begin with Kyra swinging through the jungle, just thinking happy jungle thoughts before we get a quick look at her hidden home within the ruins of an ancient lost civilization. . .

HEY-OH!

Kyra gets bored with just sitting around and decides she hasn't been getting enough exercise, so she starts swinging through the jungle again, looking for some action.  She spots a crocodile and decides that a bit of wrasslin' is JUST what she needs!

Kyra is Queen of the Jungle, so of COURSE she easily defeats the crocodile,  but it's all just in a good day's fun and she lets the wounded croc go free to heal so they can wrestle another day. . .

BUT THEN. . .

As Kyra surfaces, she's surprised by a stranger in the jungle!  And he's got a gun!  The stranger demands Kyra tell him how to get out of the jungle.  She tells him nobody forces her to do anything.  He shoots! They start to fight!

Kyra quickly overpowers the stranger, but he's got a few tricks up his sleeve.  He kicks her in a sensitive "area", and punches her unconscious.  The stranger leaves Kyra there and continues trying to escape from the jungle.

Kyra recovers and quickly tracks the fleeing thug.  She plans her attack. . .the timing MUST be perfect!  Swinging on a vine, she captures the unsuspecting stranger's face between her mighty thighs!

Helpless in Kyra's mighty grip, the stranger struggles as she swings over a rocky chasm, releasing him to fall to his death! She decides she's had enough and heads home.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

This earlier story leans quite a bit harder into the "fetish" nature of this comic, with a bare-bones story told in giant panels and one page splash scenes featuring Kyra in various revealing positions. With a bit of bondage and violence thrown in for good measure.

That said, I actually liked the art much more on this one.  Ator's style was a lot less sketchy, with bolder lines and a more fluid sense of motion than the first story, which was done later and has a more sketchy inking style to it.  

But at the end of the day, this is the sort of thing that makes me feel a bit weird for reading it.  Because I know it was done for a very specific sliver of the comic fandom at the time.  I'm not really part of that group.  I'm just here reviewing comics I find in the dollar bins.  

That said. . .nice art.  Don't judge me.  

Okay, I guess you can judge me, if you really want to.

CONCLUSION

At the beginning of this issue, on the inside cover, there's a short essay from the publisher giving the reader a bit of an introduction.  It talks about the increasing acceptance of muscular women and the roots of Kyra being based on an EXTREMELY obscure Golden Age comic book Jungle Queen, Kageena.

Now I'm going to make myself sound a bit old here, but if anyone reading this was around in the 1980s and watched any "adult" videos, then you might remember that at the beginning of those videos, there was always a guy sitting at a desk who would give a little short spiel going over the benefits to society that "adult" videos provided.  I think it was a legal thing to dodge obscenity laws.

Yes, yes. . .I was young once and watched a few dirty movies in my day.  

ANYWAY. . .

That's EXACTLY what this little opening essay reminds me of.  It's like, "What you're going to read is an exploration of the beauty and power of the muscular woman, and it's perfectly healthy to do so".

So what I'm saying is what we have here is basically a fetish comic for people who love muscular women.  Remember that this was the 1980s.  There was no internet for people to find and share their various "interests" on.  There were magazines, video tapes, and comic books.   More accurately, most of these kinds of comics were called "Comix" and sold at head shops.

"What the hell is a Head Shop, old man?"  You ask.

It's where you used to go to buy your "tobacco smoking" paraphernalia.  You know, for people who like to smoke "tobacco" out of a fluorescent purple skull bong?  

These establishments also sidelined as "adult" video and magazine stores, and sometimes as underground Comix shops.  You could find stuff by R.Crumb, Milo Manara, Art Spiegleman, and many others.  And they would have lesser-known indie comics like the one at hand.

Like I said above, it feels a bit weird to actually be reviewing the contents of a fetish comic, but they ARE a part of comic history and this one is actually quite a bit tamer than some I've seen.  There isn't anything really offensive or explicit in it. . .it's just a guy's expression of love for the muscle mommies.  And obviously, Robin Ator has  MIGHTY love for the muscle mommies.

Objectively, this isn't a very good comic.  It was written for a specific sort of person.  If you aren't that sort of person, there's not going to be much here for you to like.  

The stories are extremely weak, you can definitely tell Ator was more about the art.  But even the art isn't THAT great.  It's decent, even pretty good in places (especially in the second story), but it never goes beyond "pretty good".  If you aren't into the specific thing this comic is celebrating. . .muscular women. . .then there's absolutely no reason to bother with it.

I was actually surprised to see that Kyra has more than one issue.  There were five published, with two more in production before the series was cancelled.  Normally, when I see comics like this. . .and truthfully, a LOT of 80s black and white indie comics no matter WHAT the subject. . .they will say "To be continued" but the one issue is all there ever was.  I guess there were enough people with the specific interest this comic was targeting to keep it going for a little while.

Even MORE surprising was discovering this series was actually collected in trade with the material from the 6th and 7th issues included, which is REALLY unusual for a black and white 80s indie comic.

But the REAL plot twist was  learning what happened with Robin Ator after Kyra. . .

He did a bit more work in comics, including a couple of issues of NOW's Terminator (Issues #7 & 17), but left in the 90s to teach art and to go into the entertainment industry doing storyboards and character designs for animation.  

But his MOST recognizable work is in advertising, where he created a group of beloved characters that I'm quite sure almost everyone reading this are VERY familiar with. I'm talking about these guys:  

Yeah.  Those guys.  The M&Ms

ANYWAY. . .

Kyra.  Crap story, okay art, a bit uncomfortable.  The creator's story is actually more interesting.

That's it for this bit of Longbox Junk.  Thanks for coming by and I hope you'll come back again for more.  Until then, remember that comics are worth more than money!