ALL PULP PAGES

Monday, August 1, 2011

Reviews from the 86th Floor: Barry Reese looks at The Good, The Bad and The Unknown


The Good, The Bad and The Unknown
Written by Mike Frigon
Art by Verne Anderson
Wild Cat Books
ISBN 0982311680
276 pages, $13.50

This one's an odd mix: a novel length tale of the Moon Man followed by short stories of Doctor Satan and then Secret Agent X. The Moon Man tale is an epic one and very exciting -- it is definitely the standout tale of the bunch. It does lag a bit in the middle and I think the whole thing could have been trimmed a little to make it punchier but there are some great action sequences and the Moon Man and his cast are handled very well.

The Doctor Satan story is fun -- it's hard to get Satan wrong -- and I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took.

The Secret Agent X story... eh. I've never cared for X so I'm a hard sell here. It's well written and the notion of an "evil" Secret Agent X is a fun one. I think I honestly enjoyed this story more than any of the old Secret Agent X tales.

The art by Verne Anderson is interesting. It's very different from traditional pulp artwork but it works here. There are 26 (!) pieces of art and some work far better than others but overall I really liked it. It's cartoony in places but I don't think that's a bad thing at all. It's fun to see a different take on Moon Man and Doctor Satan in particular.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.