Apr 1984
Dead Artists & Talking Dinosaurs
by Mark Wheatley, Marc Hempel, Kathryn Mayer, Mike Gold
20 pages
Fawn finds a confessional tree, interfaces with it, and comes out of the experience changed. She looks the same but her manner of speaking is different, closer to Morgana’s.
Morgana and Fawn meet a couple dead artists, Norman Rockwell and Vincent Van Gogh. The artists are naked but the fact that Morgana is clothed doesn’t seem to phase them. There are dinosaurs in the area and some artists willingly walk right up to large reptiles and allow themselves to be picked up and eaten by the dinosaurs.
It turns out that the artists and the dinosaurs are both guises worn by beings of “pure mental energy”. They thought that Morgana was like them. When they realize that they were wrong they depart leaving Morgana (and Fawn?) alone.
The title to this installment seems very on the nose and yet there is something that it doesn’t reveal but that comes out towards the end of this chapter.
I find myself reading these issues fairly quickly. The art lacks a complexity that grabs my eyes. I really have to force myself to slow down and try to find the depth in this story.
I’m still puzzled by this story. Morgana is on a journey to find her crew mates but that’s about all I can understand.
The Black Flame: Faces in the Abyss!
by Peter B. Gillis, Don Lomax, Bruce Patterson
Susie talks to Michael Robartes, the poet, while the Black aflame sleeps. Michael tells Susie about the Black Flame and Hellequin. Susie falls asleep. Michael puts her to bed. The Black Flame wakes up in time to see Michael putting her to bed.
Hellequin visits Cauchemard, the Nightmare Lord and tells him about what happened when she tried to capture Susie. Cauchemard sends another creature to capture Susie.
Thoughts
What makes Susie so important? Why were her parents killed? What is the nature of the Black Flame’s relationship with Hellequin? Who is Lord Cauchemard and what is he after? So many questions.
First Notes
Mike Gold writes about the first First Comics graphic novel, Beowulf by Jerry Bingham, which is also advertised on the back cover.
Read Letters
There were no letters on this month’s letters page, which was printed on the inside front cover of the comic book. A technical issue prevented any letters from being printed. Mike Gold instead takes the opportunity to thank several people who have helped create Mars. Marian Schooling, the inspiration for Morgana and former Miss Wheelchair USA, is among them.
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