Posted on: January 7, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Doctor Arcane #4 / $3.25 / 36M / http://www.heroicpub.com /

I must admit that I do not know the intricacies of all sorts of independent comic producers, but Heroic Publishing sent over this zine. The comic style blends together current DC comics (Superman) with the work of the Cartoon Network (Teen Titans, Legion of Super-Heroes). The story starts pretty cold, allowing individuals to pick up this issue without needing much in the way of information. The style of the comic is a little on the smoothed-out side, so individuals looking for more realistic styles might not want to pick up this comic. The comic is split into two halves, with the second half explaining more about the characters and including a snippet of what feels to be a twenty-year old comic unearthed from a dusty box in “Britannia”. If anything, I wish that the whole story would have been expanded in “Doctor Arcane”, rather than syncopating it to half of the comic. The additional “Britannia” story does not have muc going for it. The art style is dated, and aside from those fans of the emid eighties style, there is little momentum achieved by having the story during that section of the comic. For $3.25, I would personally rather get a different comic, but perhaps if Heroic expanded “Doctor Arcane” to the full run of the comic, the result is that they achieve for be much stronger. The art style is stronger than a number of really independent comics, but there is little that sets “Doctor Arcane” off in that department. Expand the comic, get a strong story, and individuals will pick up the comic.

Rating: 4.5/10

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