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After crankiness comes guilt. To restore balance to the Force, I must talk about the good things in comics. I held up my fanboy nose at Bruce Jones' Warlord #1, but back in the day, he was the undisputed king of short stories. Jones wrote a number of memorable short stories for Warren's black and white horror magazines, such as Creepy and Eerie. He worked with a variety of notable artists, such as Richard Corben and Berni Wrightson. Jones' short stories always had an O-Henry twist at the end that gave you a kick. I'll never forget the story called "Jennifer" from Creepy that he did with Wrightson. Clarice, a girl born with a ghastly face, casts an uncanny Lolita-like spell on men. Jones' story works perfectly with Wrightson's black and white artwork. In tracking this down on the Internet, I discovered two things. One, there is a great recap of Jennifer over at Datajunkie's blog. Two, there is actually a filmed version of this on Showtime's Masters of Horror! Starring Steven Weber from Wings, who actually adapted it for Dario Argento to direct. I gotta see this ASAP.
After Warren fell apart, Jones went on to work for Marvel (Kazar) and Pacific Comics. At Pacific, Jones edited two anthologies: Alien Worlds (science fiction) and Twisted Tales (horror). He wrote all the short stories with A-list top talent on the art: Al Williamson, Val Mayerik, Scott Hampton, Dave Stevens, John Bolton, Mike Ploog, as well as his friends Corben and Wrightson.
Looking over my collection, I remembered that Jones even drew a few stories himself (see the panel above), and he's a very capable artist. In this particular story that he wrote and drew, Jones displays an ability to tell a story from a kid's perspective. His artwork really sells that feeling of innocence.
It's no secret that Mike Ploog is one of my favorite artists. He wasn't working much in comics after he left Marvel, but Jones coaxed him back for a short story. This one involved a man, completely downtrodden, who has an affair with a hooker. 
The hooker keeps demanding more and more material possessions. He keeps working and getting promoted to give her curtains, televisions, furniture, etc., until he can't take it any longer.
Jones moved on to Eclipse, where he edited more anthologies. He teamed with his Kazar artist, Brent Anderson, to produce a limited series called Somerset Holmes. Somerset was a unique series featuring a woman as the titular character, suffering from amnesia, on the run from people who want to kill her. In a way, it reminded me of the first few issues of the Hulk that Jones worked on with John Romita Jr. and Lee Weeks. Great characterization, fantastic feelings of suspense and mystery. I recalled Somerset having a pretty good ending, but the Hulk lost me half way through the big conspiracy.
I'm rambling on because I think Bruce Jones is a good writer. Too bad we can't have him do some anthologies. With decompressed storytelling all the rage, there's no popular outlet for short stories. God, I had better stop before I cry over my Gold Key digests. Nuff said.
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