Okay, people, since you were nice enough to vote on the polls (an average of ten people per poll! A new record!) I’ll give you your weekly recap when I get home from work. If you want the next time to be on time, either give me money or continue to show an interest in the things we do here other than the weekly recaps. After all, the thing we care the very least about is the comic strip recaps. Everything else is about a hundred times more important to us. So give it a chance, please.

Well, this was a moderately competent week. I especially like the art in the 7-17 strip. It just looks a cut above the usual art. I do think the plot would have benefited from keeping its villain a secret until later on, but this is still pretty good. One thing I don’t really like is Mary Jane’s pink ensemble in the Sunday strip. It’s just so darn pink.

This was actually a pretty good fight scene. You could actually tell what was happening, which isn’t always a guarantee in Mandrake. It is sort of lame that fighting fair is giving Lothar some sort of advantage. I mean, yes, it could but fighting fair closes off all sorts of possibilities. I get the message, though, but it’s still sort of lame.

You have to admire Diana’s resourcefulness. Will she actually escape at this point? Spoiler alert: I checked on today’s strip, and no. They send some dogs after her or something. Still, though, stuff like this is probably one of the reasons the Phantom married her.

Even if she shoots Flash, Thun’s wounds will still need to be dressed. Unless she shoots Thun, too. I bet Aura is actually the shape-shifter guy.

That’s a call Morris just didn’t need.

Hey there, folks. Here’s your late commentary. A few side notes:
-Voting on this week’s March Meekrat Madness ends tonight around midnight. So vote, if you wish to do so and haven’t yet.
-I watched that SyFy “Phantom” thing they did a few weeks ago. To my surprise, it wasn’t that bad. I mean, yes, they did sort of mess with a few things. The costume swap-out was really dumb, but at least they tried to give a good reason for it. Still, though, it did have good bits. I think it could have used some sort of subtitle (Like “Son of the Phantom” or something, or “Return of the Ghost Who Walks”.) They actually got a good bit of the back-story right.
-Still doing that DVD Twitter thing at some point.

Why, you could almost say that Tony has gone stark raving mad. Or is being controlled by a creepy bald guy. Your choice. This week was pretty competently done, and wouldn’t feel out of place in a good Spider-Man (or even a good Iron Man) story. Except for the whole Peter wanting to take a nap thing… that one is sort of shoddy, but it has been established that newspaper Spider-Man loves naps and television above all else.

This week in Mandrake was also pretty decent. The art is sort of weird, but it always is. I’m still baffled by how fast this storyline seems to be moving compared to previous ones. Unless we get a plot twist out of left field, we may be done with this one by August.

Well, we know that Savarna lost loved ones to pirates way back when (per this set of strips) which initially threw me for a loop when she said she was going back to her family. We don’t know who she lost, after all, but considering how I don’t see a guy with a neat mustache, I’m guessing it was him. Of course, she could also have been lying to try and gain the Phantom’s favor, but I don’t think she’d actually stoop that low.

Well, Barin didn’t get shot. Just Thun, and I’m a little surprised at how gory it is. The whole sequence is pretty neat, especially with Flash’s rescue at the end there. Durok just can’t catch a break, can he?

Are the rope people people made of ropes? I’m afraid not. Anyway, yeah. This is what’s happening. I think the Rope People were mentioned in “The Phantom” movie, but I’m not sure. The one with Billy Zane.

So… sorry about the lack of content. We’re working on stuff, and considering how we all have day jobs, we can’t work on the stories as much as we’d like. You don’t care about that, though. Here’s your commentary, you jackals.

I have nothing that good or bad to say about this week of panels. It’s competently done super-hero type work, and I can easily see this sort of thing popping up in an actual Marvel comic (perhaps one from pre-1980, but still.) One thing I’m going to nit-pick though, is how the Puppet Master gained control of… oh, wait. Never mind. I was going to bring up how he wouldn’t have control of Tony Stark, but he was shown using a Tony Stark puppet before he put on the armor, and an Iron Man one after. So good job, Spider-Man comic strip. You’ve bested me this week.

Oh man, Ruffshod taking off his glasses is about the worst thing that could have happened. Not from a narrative standpoint, but from every other standpoint. He looks silly in what’s probably supposed to dramatic reveal, ultra-chubby in the next panel, and just weird in the subsequent panel. So basically, the art in these strips isn’t that good, which is something that’s been brought up many times before. The writing is sort of silly (especially the traffic jam thing) but all right, and I’d bet that Lothar’s sunglasses save him from Ruffshod’s hypnotism.

The Phantom hasn’t done much on-panel in the past two weeks, except for stand in the shadows or on rooftops watching his handiwork play out. I’m guessing his next caper will hit some snags, though, so that should be entertaining.

I bet King Barin got shot.

Hero’s either one fast horse, or the Phantom is driving awfully slowly.

Here’s the weekly recap.

I was actually sort of hoping that this entire storyline would take place on the plane, especially since Spider-Man and Iron Man both work better in less cramped quarters. I mean, you have someone like Wolverine or Batman (different company, I know, but shh) and they could theoretically work really well on a plane. Heck, I have an issue of “The Flash” where he’s on a plane and he does pretty well. Spider-Man needs room to jump around, though, and while Iron Man is good at the punching, he’s not at his best unless he can use his armor for stuff like flight and laser beams. This is the Spider-Man comic strip we’re talking about, though. I should never let my expectations for it get too high. Still, though, we haven’t seen a random powerless gangster in over a year at this point, so that’s good news for everyone.

So yeah, I was sort of right. If Mandrake had answered his phone, he might be at Club Dubious to help out against Ruffshod. Then again, there’s an equal chance that this two-mile back-up would have still stopped him. Not even a magician can overcome traffic jams, I guess. Also, is it just me or is this storyline going by really quick?

Is Durok just going to shoot Flash Gordon right then and there? That’s pretty hardcore.

What is he going to do with Hero? Is he going to have Hero ride in the car? I really hope he has Hero ride in the car.

EDIT: I forgot to do this. Well, here it is.

Well, this week, the Phantom beat the living daylights out of some guys and then standing on top a rooftop and watching things go down. Oh, and then the Phantom warns his father-in-law that he’s being watched. There’s the commentary. Not much to comment on, as this strip is for the most part competent.

Hey, you jackals, here’s the only thing you people come here for. Are you happy now? ARE YOU?

First things first. I believe that the last time we saw good old Iron Man his dual identity was still a secret. Apparently, either something happened between then and now and I’m pretty sure that something is the writer saying, “What? Everyone knows he’s Tony Stark in the movies? Well, we have to follow suit!” Not a bad thing, of course. I’d just like some attempt at continuity. Second, Mary Jane doesn’t seem to realize that Tony Stark has no super-powers. It’s pretty much all the suit. Yes, he built the suit, and super-intelligence could be considered a super-power, but I doubt Mary Jane is really putting that much thought into it. It looks like the Puppet Master is going to be causing some chaos on this flight, and I have to say, the Puppet Master is sort of well-suited to this comic strip. Yes, his appearance continues to make this less a Spider-Man strip and more a Marvel Team-Up strip, but I really have no problems with that. I also like the call-back to the Thing in the strips for 6-18 and 6-20. See? A token stab at some sort of continuity. You can do it, Spider-Man comic strip!

Meanwhile, over in Mandrake, Mandrake’s plans are unravelling and people are enamored of Doctor Hi-5 because they think he’s a joke. Ah, and Ricky Noble has escaped! Big stuff. However, the highlight of these two weeks are Ruffshod’s assistant Lorna. I was unaware that you could major in things in Reform School, and I really like her choice of reading material on 6-17. I can get why someone would publish a book about famous electrical accidents, but why would they also publish how they happened? That just seems like they’re asking for trouble, and Lorna plans to deliver! The trouble, I mean. I bet most of the future plot developments might be avoided if Mandrake had just checked his darn phone.

In the Phantom, we checked in with Diana (whose hair is growing back, though it’ll be a while until it’s as nice as it was before) and Chatu who receives the unsettling news that the Phantom is, indeed, coming for him eventually. I thought he knew that Diana wasn’t dead, though? At least Diana is gaining strength from the fact that her husband is off kicking some terrorist’s teeth in. Or, at least, fooling around with some kid and letting 9-1-1 know that there’s about to be two guys in need of medical attention pretty soon. He’s a conscientious fellow, the Phantom.

In Flash Gordon, we not only get the return of Triceratops Guy, but also some stuff about winged Brian Blessed and Ming the Merciless. The whole “announcing hero’s execution at a public assembly” thing is right out of Robin Hood, but the added benefit of no one trusting each other is pretty new. So good on you, Ming.

In the Sunday Phantom, the Phantom just totally kicks everyone’s teeth in and then makes them look foolish. That’s just how the Phantom rolls, I guess.