Written by Mike W. Barr
Art by Rob Phipps; Al Vey; Barb Kaalberg; Moose Baumann; Family Fugue; & Tim Eldred
Cover Art by Terry Dodson & ‘Kesel’
SUMMARY:
Entitled “The Animated Series,” this November 1993 issue was released by Malibu Comics. Mantra & Warstrike leave a forceful message with mystic pawnbroker Strauss. Returning home, Mantra again fakes her way through Eden Blake’s family life as a divorced mother of two young kids before Eden’s mother confronts her. An unexpected job offer may help protect her Mantra identity before Eden is summoned to comfort a devastated friend. At the morgue, two innocent men connected to Eden are now dead.
One of Boneyard’s dim-witted, demonic minions assumes the animated form of ‘Wiley Wolf’ (who resembles the red-nosed Ralph Wolf from Looney Tunes’ Sheepdog cartoons) and forces a schoolyard showdown vs. Mantra. Confronting a sleazy photographer exploiting her image, Mantra enters a Looney Tunes-style dimension for a rematch with ‘Wiley Wolf.’
Note: Mantra is an immortal, 1500-year old male warrior Lukasz presently trapped inside modern-day woman Eden Blake’s host body.
REVIEW:
Squandering an amusing premise, the resulting story is only marginally better than its tawdry cover image. Lampooning Looney Tunes (as redundant as that sounds), writer Mike W. Barr conjures up a weak Ralph Wolf look-alike and spins off a few decent Roger Rabbit-style gags. Barr’s sub-plots re: Lukasz’s desire to regain a man’s body and contending with Eden Blake’s hectic home life (as a single parent) are noticeably better, but the dismal end result is still the same. Further sabotaged by the art team’s lackadaisical visuals, Mantra # 5 is a quickly forgettable read.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
There is a single-page “Mantra’s Mail” letters-and-answers column. The two-page “UltraFiles” column includes six cover reveals: Sludge # 2; Freex #5; The Strangers # 6; Solitaire # 1; Prime # 6; and Prototype # 4.
BRIAN’S 10-STAR RATING: 3½ Stars
