Cold Cut Distribution's Feature Spotlight #34 - May 1998


Threshold

Publisher:Sleeping Giant Comics
Writers:David Yurkovich
Artists:David Yurkovich
Cover Price:$2.50
Frequency:Quarterly
Issues Available:5

Storyline:

In a world where superheroes are under contract to protect their cities (or other municipalities), the best group Philadelphia can afford in their ongoing battle with New York City is a team of... unusual... heroes calling themselves "Threshold". The New York Super Syndicate has dozens of powerful heroes all registered with the Establishment (the superhero registry). Threshhold has four heroes who barely seem able to toast a Pop-Tart.

But Threshold take themselves seriously, and as they take on villains both terrifying and bizarre, they wrestle with moral dilemmas, jurisdictional disputes, membership problems, and troubles both mundane and esoteric. And while Threshold squabble and wrestle and attempt to replace a resigning member, some second-rate villains leave New York en route to Philly, figuring they may have a chance against a team like Threshold.

A recipe for disaster? More like a formula for fun!

Writing Review:

Tight and realistic stories (if any superhero story can be called "realistic") as heroes deal with rent, meals, contracts, high expectations, success and failure, truth and consequences, pride and commercialism.

David has a real flair for mixing the absurd with the everyday, and for writing characters who are just under that line of excellence. Every story comes chock full of action and adventure, from the overwhelming and mysterious villain in "The Stamp Collector" to the sinister conspiracy of misinformation in "Nico-Teen". But what makes Threshold work is all the stuff that happens in between the fights - and it works wonderfully.
[ panel from Threshold ]
All art ©1998 by David Yurkovich

Art Review:

Threshold is a series of series David has been working on for years (the first issue was in 1996), and the time he's taken between the series shows. His art has begun to solidify into a quirky, thick blend of angular faces and wrinkled shirts, heading towards a sort of Ted McKeever look and feel. With straightforward layouts and static backgrounds, the story pulls the reader along here through the competent but still unexceptional art.

Audience:

Threshold reads as though Keith Giffen is scripting from Grant Morrison plots on "Doom Patrol Meets Justice League Europe", with art by Ted McKeever. The touches of "reality" will resonate with readers of Astro City and even the old Ultraverse books, while the odd heroes and villains will attract readers of Odd Adventure-Zine, Trouble With Girls, Zot!, and maybe even The Tick and X-Files. The darker tone may appeal to fans of the "Heroes Noir" tales of late, such as U.S. and Kingdom Come, and the constant real-world-style dilemmas and problems which the team encounters will tickle readers of Peter David's work. Threshold also crosses over with Death By Chocolate (see next page) and may likewise appeal to readers of X-Files.

If you like Threshold, take a look at:


Death By Chocolate

Publisher:Sleeping Giant Comics
Writer:David Yurkovich
Artist:David Yurkovich
Cover Price:$2.50
Frequency:Occasional
Issues Available:3

Storyline:

A happy single chocolate maker receives an invitation to tour a secret Swiss chocolate-making plant, and discovers the terrifying secret to their fabulous chocolate: they've captured an alien being who crashed on Earth, and are using it in their chocolate vats. In his attempt to escape the plant, he falls into the burning chocolate - but instead of dying he is somehow "melded" with the alien consciousness, turning him into a man of living chocolate, with the power to turn anything else into solid chocolate.

His return to his hometown takes a turn for the worse as he loses control of his power in a fit of anger, killing everyone in the town as he transforms them into chocolate (the unliving kind). As he attempts to commit suicide shortly thereafter, the FBI finds him, and recruits him.

Teamed with Agent Anderson, he begins to investigate chocolate-related incidents for the Bureau -- and there are more of those than you might think!

Writing Review:

David seems particularly skilled at taking one absurd notion (the origin of the chocolate man) and weaving an entire story around his origin and his subsequent life which is no longer absurd.

In the third issue of DBC, he's managed to write a story that combines a chocolate car, a talking dog from a parallel dimension, time travel, and Ernest Hemingway - and it all makes a twisted sort of sense. The second issue, The Metabolators, is a story about the agents used by the feds to erase the evidence of what happened in the chocolate man's hometown. A chilling, mysterious tale - well told, and frightening. Like good X-Files stories, Death By Chocolate takes one absurd notion and spins out a plausible tale around the notion of "what if it were true"?
[ panel from DBC ]
All art ©1998 by David Yurkovich

Art Review:

As with Threshold, David's art is thick and blocky. But where he seems to be going intentionally quirky with Threshold, in DBC he seems to go out of his way to seem more realistic. The panel layouts and such are still repetitive, but the artwork is always interesting, and solid by the third issue (produced more than a year after the first issue). My only complaint is that the "look" of the chocolate man is unimpressive, and doesn't make him look particularly like chocolate. It must be a difficult thing to attempt to render, but the result is difficult to discern.

Audience:

Try Death By Chocolate out with readers of X-Files (and fans of the show) who wouldn't mind a somewhat more unbelievable story (more unbelievable than a guy who is a living cancer?), fans of offbeat adventure (like David's own Threshold, or Doom Patrol), and of course, fans of chocolate! DBC is an ideal crossover book for the casual reader: its title catches the eye and grabs their interest, yet its subject matter is just intriguing enough to get them to come back for more. Be ready with all of the chapters available for those repeat customers!

If you like Death By Chocolate, take a look at:


Sky Ape

Publisher:Slave Labor Graphics
Writers:Tim McCarney & Philip Amara
Artist:Richard Jenkins
Cover Price:$2.95
Frequency:Bi-monthly
Issues Available:3

Storyline:

Kirk Madge, millionaire inventor, adventurer, and all-around wise-guy, is enlisted by a mysterious fellow millionaire who is searching for the "Suspense Jacket", a mystical garment which enables its wearer to see the future... or the past. What makes Madge interested in the mission, beyond his unquenchable desire for adventure, is the fact that he's a giant talking ape - and he can't remember his past.

As Kirk and his off-the-wall troupe of assistants begin the search for the jacket, mysterious goings-on begin to mount. Strange violin-headed men sneak into Madge's bedroom at night and give him an unexpected haircut, while Kirk begins to have flashbacks of a past as a professional baseball player. What do time travel, baseball, and flapjacks have in common? They're all intimately tied into the weird adventures of Sky Ape!

Writing Review:

Bizarre, yet insanely logical plotlines and characters reminiscent of Grant Morrison's glory days on Doom Patrol (and not unlike Threshold, reviewed elsewhere in this issue), or Douglas Adams' science fiction novels. In fact, given the overall style of the story (millionaire playboy with live-in assistants goes off on bizarre adventures), Sky Ape reads like Grant Morrison writing Doc Savage on acid. Seemingly unrelated elements are thrown into a tasty mulligan stew of a book which comes up with a surprisingly cohesive whole. Vastly entertaining, Sky Ape is that wonderful rarity in books: a story that goes in exciting and unpredictable directions yet still seems strangely logical when viewed in retrospect.
[ panel from Sky Ape ]
All art ©1998 by Richard Jenkins

Art Review:

The art by Richard Jenkins suits the bizarre storyline perfectly, chock full of odd angles, thick blacks, spiraling panels and healthy variety. A sort of "Rob Walton and Scott McCloud ink Winsor McCay" look lends a whimsical air to the generally dark panels as dark events unfold. Overall, a good job that's as fun to look at as to read.

Audience:

Fans of Grant Morrison's early Doom Patrols will absolutely adore Sky Ape, and readers who are following his current hit run on JLA (or who liked his Animal Man) should also give Sky Ape a go. Readers of Threshold and Art Adams' Monkeyman & O'Brien should check it out, too - you'll be glad you did! Try Sky Ape out with fans of Doc Savage who would enjoy an affectionate pastiche, and of course with all fans of big talking gorillas! (Monkeyman, Grodd, Congorilla, etc). Fans of Douglas Adams' wacky novels and the TV shows "Eerie, Indiana", "Legend", and "Brisco County" will also get a kick out of the Ape. With only one issue to go on this miniseries, many folks will enjoy a complete-in-4-issues funny, suspenseful tale.

If you like Sky Ape, take a look at:


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