we see the world ​​in ben-day dots
  • HOME
  • About
  • Comic Reviews
  • Movie Reviews
  • Competitions
  • Contributors
  • Contact us

dragon's Claws retrospective: #2- 'Dead reckoning.'

6/11/2016

0 Comments

 
by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey
Picture

Cover date- August 1988
Price- 55p
​

Writer- Simon Furman
Artist- Geoff Senior
Letterer- Zed
Colourist- Steve White
Editor- Richard Starkings
Managing Editor- Jenny O’Connor
Publisher- Marvel Comics LTD
Picture
"Who wields me--wields the world!"

​synopsis

Dragon's Claws are brought back to go into conflict with their old nemesis 'The Evil Dead.'  (D)


​Dave

Issue 2’s cover pretty much is straight to the point in terms of what this issue is about; a battle of old enemies.


Kev
The word balloon is a sticking point for me though.  I'm not a huge fan of word balloons on covers.  It kind of ages the comic a little.  It feels very eighties.  The issue itself wastes absolutely no time in re-establishing and fully revealing The Evil Dead.


Dave
Sort of does the old traditional showing you who each character is and what their specialty way of killing is.


Kev
Totally.  It's a fantastic introduction.  Furman once again being efficient and economic with his storytelling.  


Dave
Yes.  In fact, like the cover, the whole battle scene between Claws and Evil Dead is told with too much dialogue giving us this type of "we're old enemies," "we know each other so well.”  Too much exposition throughout the battle.

Kev
I hadn't really noticed that myself.  But you're right, it is.  Furman has a habit of being a bit chatty in his fight scenes.  Maybe he's channelling Spider-Man.  I really do like the line in the opening scene though, the armoury raid, when the one, poor guy they leave alive to tell the tale asks why they're doing this and Slaughterhouse replies, "You don't know?  Because, my friend…we like it."  That's The Evil Dead explained in a nutshell, right there.


Dave
Yeah it's symbolic of chaos that they represent.  Like you said about last issue, it was very 80's and very American.  In fact, this entire issue is quite heavy with dialogue.  It fills out quick backstories for each character, almost like he was trying to get all of this stuff out the way to bring the reader up to the present, right now.


Kev
Yes.  The next scene with the Claws is very much a quick update on what they've been doing since the Game was shut down.  It does the job of illustrating how none of them could cut it in civilian/everyday life though.  I've always wondered what Scavenger and Steel were in jail for.


Dave
Yeah, good point.  They didn’t go into any detail and did not mention what Digit was actually doing.

Picture
That's a lot of teeth. Pearly white. And pointy too.
Kev
Yeh, and considering how Digit is so conniving, that probably should be worrying.  I like Stenson's line to Dragon too, "You threw up a shield of normality around yourself so transparent, a blind man could see through it."  Dragon's face is a picture as well.  Good work by Senior.


Dave
I notice they have went for pure colour, or white in many of the frames.  It must have been done to not draw attention from the focal point of the frame.


Kev
The backdrops in this scene are pretty much flat colours, aren't they?  Often white, yep.  I wonder if that was a deliberate choice to show the bright lights and clinical nature of a corporate office setting.  It's certainly a more pastel colour pallet when contrasted with the scene preceding and succeeding it.


Dave
The Evil Dead are certainly a colourful looking bunch.  Again, a good showcase for the talents of Geoff Senior.


Kev
Like you said about the Claws in issue one, the character design in this series really is excellent.  I mean, even Feral works.  And he's a  werewolf.


Dave
Interesting that Hex and Feral are killed off as well.  So quickly too.


Kev
I think that's a bit of a waste myself, to be honest.  I love Hex.  He looks creepy as all hell and I love his hypnosis schtick.  Like Kaa in ‘The Jungle Book.’  Do you reckon he was supposed to have been a magician before he joined the Evil Dead in the Game?


Dave
Quite possibly.  The opening of the story and the third act dominate this story.  The middle is very much a short interlude to a lengthy battle.  And of course it shows that Dragon has other problems, in the form of a rivalry with a jealous, bitter Deller.


Kev
Deller does get a nice bit of character development here.  I love that he runs Dragon down for being old, yet shows himself to be reckless and impulsive and ultimately tactically unsound.


PictureIn at the deep end of 'The Pool.'
Dave
I like the line Steel says about Slaughterhouse.  It’s quite sinister.  "There used to be a rumour....that he wasn’t even human."


Kev
I love that line.  Combined with the panel of him just scaling that structure like a panther climbing a tree.  Fantastic stuff.  The design of The Pool is great in general, but that establishing panel of the structure Dragon and Slaughterhouse do battle on is deliciously grungy.


Dave
I like The Pool design too.  Very apocalyptic.  A big playground for killers to hunt their prey in.


Kev
Like one, big Venus flytrap.


Dave
The tower Slaughterhouse and Dragon is very much the main spot in there, I think.


​
Kev
Totally.  It's like their ring to do battle in.  I like that there are very strong indications of a previous, even intimate relationship between Nell and Steel.  She even refers to him as "lover" at one point.  That’s a very nice little hint at their backstory.


Dave
Stenson looks like the typical manipulator from behind the scenes.  Playing everyone into his game and a real driving force behind the plot and the underlying scheming that is going on.  He also looks like a typical 80s' character from a sci-fi film.  Like the corporate figures in 'Blade Runner.'


Kev
He certainly does.  The 'Blade Runner' influence is definitely apparent in characters like Stenson.  I like the little corporate weasel.


Dave
He’s necessary to this story.  Such a smug looking character.  Taking pleasure in all that’s going on.


Kev
He is a great antagonist.  And I love how Furman plays upon that typical conspiracy theorist fear that there's always another level to a conspiracy.  Something that Chris Carter made a lot of use of in The X-Files a few years later and David Icke does in his work as well.


Dave
True.  The X-Files was totally conspiracy and behind the scenes agendas.


Kev
I love how Slaughterhouse has the utmost respect for the Claws (and Dragon in particular) as players of The Game and is therefore disgusted with them that they've "sold out" and become "government lackeys."  It's also telling that even as he says this, Mercy is bowing her head in apparent shame.

Picture
Deller, a moment before sustaining shoulder injury No.1.

​Dave
I still like that scene in the first act when “Mister Examiner” swipes the heads off two soldiers, with those well written lines, very cooly delivered by Slaughterhouse, "Off with their heads...as Alice once said...or was it the Queen of Hearts?  Whatever."


Kev
It's really funny, isn't it?  For all his psychopathic, serial killing tendencies, Slaughterhouse is one charming gentleman.  It's not difficult to see why people would follow Slaughterhouse into his little, cultish band of mass murderers.


Dave
Essentially though, having a battle this quickly and killing off two members of The Evil Dead allows us to get a real taste of them and gives the writer a chance to bring them back in later on in the story.


Kev
Yeh.  It's performing a lot of storytelling.  It provides a showcase for Nell and Slaughterhouse as the main members of The Evil Dead, it demonstrates exactly how the Claws were and apparently still are "ever their superiors" and it allows Furman to set up that ‘Evil Dead 2’ pun.


Dave
I quite liked the whole Fastfax frame just 5 photos and a simple statement.


Kev
I think the Fastfax is good too.  It's simple and straight to the point.  I find it funny how this issue establishes what almost becomes a running joke with Deller constantly having his shoulder injured.


Dave
Deller is very much portrayed as an incompetent wetbag in this issue.  Just furthermore fueling his rage and jealousy.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yeh, totally.  I love the juxtaposition between the almost begrudging admiration Slaughterhouse has for Dragon and the sheer disdain he has for Deller.  "And where's Dragon?  Surely you haven't replaced him with this imbecile."  That line totally cracks me up.


Dave
The battle in this issue shows how well Claws and Evil Dead are matched in certain areas though.  Steel even punches-out Nell, but it doesn’t put her out for long.


Kev
Nell is definitely shown to be a formidable adversary alright and the fact that her body and Slaughterhouse’s body are nowhere to be found at the end of the issue sets up their return later in the series very nicely.

Picture
Geoff Senior, ladies and gentlemen, at his dynamic, kinetic best.

​
​Dave

And they will make a grand entrance again, like the opening frame of this issue.


Kev
Indeed they will.  Upon rereading this I have to say that I found Scavenger to be a far more fascinating character.  Not only does he escape the Evil Dead's trap and The Pool itself, but he turns Hex into a human pin cushion then eats Feral.  Whole.  No wonder Mercy is more scared of him than she is of the Evil Dead themselves.


Dave
Scavenger’s definitely a no-holds-barred character.  Sort of the one that does all the dirty work that needs done and enjoys it too.


Kev
Yes.  And that's what makes him so scary and intriguing, is the fact that he actually seems to enjoy it.


Dave
Probably would have made a worthy addition to The Evil Dead.  ‘Cause he can match their level of brutality and has a wicked dark sense of humour too.


Kev
That's a great point, man.  I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're absolutely right.  There're spaces on the team now.  I'm surprised Slaughterhouse didn't try to recruit him.


Dave
He’s also intensely loyal to Dragon, which is why he stayed behind to back him up.


Kev
Yeh.  I'm pretty sure it says in his character profile that Dragon saved him.  Maybe that's the reason for the loyalty.  Do you have any specific memories of reading this issue at the time?


Dave
Yeah, the whole issue i remember pretty well as it was the showdown between these two formidable teams and again i see a big WWF influence in those designs and characters.  They’re larger than life people.  I can’t remember what month it came out though.  Do you?  And what're your memories of this issue?
PictureThe free mini-poster in question.

Kev
I do get quite a strong sense of time from it.  That summer of '88.  I can't remember what month it was that it came out exactly though, but if it's dated August, it probably came out in July, I reckon.  I remember reading it over and over again.  The fact that my copy is held together by Sellotape testifies to that.  Plus, it's got the remains of my tea or something ingrained into the pages.  I couldn't agree more about the larger than life characters being very reminiscent of the WWF at the time.  Do you remember the fee mini-poster you got with it?


Dave
No, I can’t remember what the poster was.


Kev
It was a lovely painted image, by Geoff Senior, of Dragon in his Claws uniform circa the Game.  My original has long since vanished, but I managed to get a new copy of this issue off ebay with the poster intact.  Do you have any other points you want to discuss?  Any casting suggestions or the like?


Dave
No actually, I think we have covered it well.  Casting, now that’s actually a tricky one.  I can’t think of any actors off hand to play these parts. Any ideas?

​

Kev
The only one I have really, and this totally ties back into your WWF point is Dwayne Johnson as Steel.


Dave
Slaughterhouse is hard to pin an age on.  He looks old, but with all that make-up, it's hard to tell really.


Kev
I know.  I think he might be a bit older, he refers to the guard at the start as "son,” so I reckon he's at least Dragon's age.  So late thirties.  That’s younger than us at this point.  Which in itself, is thoroughly depressing.


Dave
Yeah, I know.  I think they would have to go for an unusual looking actor, with a powerful presence to portray that part.  And he’s tall.  Also adding more to the menace of him.


Kev
For his angular face, maybe somebody like Adrian Brody would work.


Dave
I’m still thinking either Ben McKenzie from ‘Gotham,’ or even Jon Bernthal as Deller.  Good point.  Adrien Brody is a good call.  Plus he’s a cracking actor.


Kev
Bernthal's a good call too.  In a lot of ways, he's actually quite facially similar to how Senior draws Deller.


Dave
Yeah, he does too.  Plus, Bernthal is good at playing angry characters.


Kev
That, he certainly is.


Dave
Dwayne Johnson for Steel I think.  Tom Hardy as Dragon.  Casting Slaughterhouse is key.  Casting an actor that can be quite scary, menacing and sinister just in appearance and presence.


Kev
Definitely.  They would certainly have to project a certain aura.


Dave
I’m thinking maybe Joel Kinnaman as Slaughterhouse.


Kev
Kinneman is a cracking idea.  You got any final thoughts on the issue as a whole?


Dave
Issue 2 is a good follow up issue and was definitely a memorable one.  What’s your thoughts?

Kev
I agree.  It moves the story along a nudge, it gives us three great action sequences and provides a nice set-up for what’s to come.  I loved the fight scenes in it when I read it originally.  I think in a lot of ways this was probably my favourite issue back then.  The artwork is top notch, although I don't think it's until next issue that Senior really gets into his groove with the series.  But as we said with last issue, it's the energy of it all.  It just crackles with it.  And I still get that from it, even now.


Dave
Yeah, issue 2 is slam, bang full of action and doesn’t disappoint.  It also makes way for the rest of the story, in future issues, to unfold.


Kev
If issue one was the prologue, or pilot, issue two is the one that probably really hooked me and made me buy-in for the rest of the run.

(D) & (K)

​Next: 'Heroes' Welcome.'
Picture
Deller desires to walk in a dead man's shoes.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Back issues

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • HOME
  • About
  • Comic Reviews
  • Movie Reviews
  • Competitions
  • Contributors
  • Contact us