Echo of Future Past

Ambitious if flawed attempt to create a Heavy Metal-style comic. Starting with the artistic line-up of Mike Golden, Neal Adams and Arthur Suydam on “Bucky O’Hare” (#31–6), “Frankenstein” (#1–5) and “Mudwogs” (#1–5) respectively, the title seemed likely to attract a following even if Jean Teule’s “Virus” (#1, 3, 4, 6, 7) and Farley and Mitchell’s “Tippie Toe Jones” (#1, 5–9) were less inspiring. “AE-35” (#6–9) by the little-known Tim Ryan and William Jungkuntz, a science-fiction thriller, showed promise. The real bravery of the title was in including non-US material, but deciding to color it, presumably for commercial reasons, now seems a mistake. Though creditable, the colors hide too much of the subtlety of Toth and Bernet’s work on “Torpedo” (#8, 9) and Giminez’ work on “The Damned City” (#7–9). Apart from “Torpedo,” the real strength of the title is in its artists, and the mix of science fiction, fantasy and thrillers should have provided the variety that keeps as many readers as possible coming back for more. However, it ceased publication with #9, leaving all the stories unfinished.