DC DOLLAR COMICS - SWAMP THING #1...

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DC COMICS seem to be following MARVEL's lead these days, first with their own brand of Facsimile Editions and now with the equivalent of their rival's TRUE BELIEVERS series - DC DOLLAR COMICS.  I'll probably buy a few of them, but my first is the above reprinting of SWAMP THING #1 by LEN WEIN and BERNIE WRIGHTSON.

So what's good about it and what isn't?  I'm glad I asked on your behalf.  Well, first of all, it's Swamp Thing, so that's a plus right from the start.  Also, I like the fact that the bar code box isn't as prominent as on Marvel's mags and doesn't obscure too much of the cover art.  The interior reproduction is good, but unfortunately, the corner page numbers have been omitted - I'd have preferred them to have been left in place.  The indicia has been positioned on the last (non story) page instead of the splash, which is consequently left with too much of a blank space under the art.  And, in case it matters to you, it has glossy pages instead of the matt ones used in the facsimiles.

Overall, however, it's a great little package and good value at whatever the UK equivalent of a dollar is these days.  It's even worth the more expensive price it costs on eBay as it comes bagged and boarded, so I don't mind the extra cost.  Definitely one to have - even if you've already got the original.

DC'S SGT. ROCK SPECIAL - SIX ISH COVER GALLERY...

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Turns out that I didn't have as many issues of SGT. ROCK SPECIAL as I thought, but with the recent arrival of #s 4 & 6, I now have the first half-dozen.  Apparently the series ran for 21 issues, but I think I'll just regard the ones I have as a 6-issue mini-series and leave it at that.  I never read the four issues I bought back in the '80s, not particularly being a fan of war stories (just bought 'em 'cos it was a new reprint mag), but I read the two 'new' arrivals and fairly enjoyed them so plan on reading my original four, 30 years after first purchasing them.  Like I said before somewhere - I eventually get around to finishing what I started (or should've started) - even if it takes me a few decades.

It has to be said that some of the art and lettering reproduction is a little murky in places, leaving me unsure as to where the pages have been sourced from, and some panels have huge gutters between them.  Perhaps that's how they were originally published, but I rather got the impression that some tiers of panels had been shrunk to reduce the page height, which would necessitate them being repositioned with wider than normal spaces between them.  Normally when this happens, the panels have the art 'extended' by other hands, but maybe the budget wouldn't allow for that, or perhaps it was considered unnecessary.  Anyone know? 

Issue 6 has a tale illustrated by MORT DRUCKER, and if you only know of him through his MAD movie parodies, you'll perhaps be surprised to learn (if you didn't already know) that he's a pretty good (now that's what I call understatement) action-adventure artist as well.  I probably wouldn't have recognised it as his work if not for him being named in the credits.  Well-worth seeking out.  Right, enjoy the covers - I'm off to read the contents.