Comics’ Greatest World: The Machine
(Dark Horse Comics – 1993)
Writers: Mike Richardson and Chris Warner
Art: Lee Weeks and Ted Naifeh
Letters: Clem Robins
Gems in the Bin is a weekly column where I select a comic book from the $.25 bin at Fanfare Sports and Entertainment in Kalamazoo, Michigan for review. Will I strike gold or will I pay too much for an awful comic that should have been shredded? I’ve decided to share a comic from the $.25 bin review I did for Erasing Clouds. This week I present to you the 1993 publication Comics’ Greatest World: The Machine.
When I picked this title out of the bin, I was immediately reeled in by Mike Mignola’s cover featuring the ominous character, The Machine, standing strong over a pile of rubble. A spin-off of the Barb Wire series, The Machine follows the life of one Avram Roman (a.k.a. The Machine) a tortured soul trapped in a mechanical existence. He is a resident of the crime ridden metropolis of Steel Harbor and ally to femme fatale, Barb Wire.
In this issue, our hero is witness to various gang battles between Barb Wire and the local goons. Ignition, a small but evil gangster, has attempted to take out the blonde bombshell, Barb Wire, but fails. From there, Barb Wire chases Ignition to his lair where he does battle with a group of urban thugs known as The Prime Movers.
The Machine was action packed, although the writing and art were more lackluster than blockbuster. Mike Richardson and Chris Warner had an interesting character with The Machine but it seems they tried to do too much in one issue. It is difficult to get into a title when the main character is featured for less than half of the comic book and numerous secondary characters are introduced.
RATING: SKIM IT!
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TonyDoug Wright is the owner and head writer at Champion City Comics, a webcomics and comic book community, and is the owner of The Lost Soul of Rock and Roll, a weekday rock music blog. He is also a proud father and is married to the coolest and most beautiful girl on the planet.
