deal with this supposed problem; some of the support for his point of view came from the ‘expert’ testimony of an I1 year old boy who, when asked what he thought about comics, replied: “I don’t think they’re real good. I read this comic book, and after I threw up.” (Quite possibly the most epi- _ phanic moment in the movie.)

Confidential goes on to discuss the surg-: ing and receding trends in comics over the years, using numerous interviews with dif- ferent people connected to the industry. Though it may sound boring, I was kept alert and enthused by the interspersal of those interviews with comic-graphics foot- age and the artists’ own readings of sam-

ples of their comic work.

A minor flaw in Confidential is the fact that it assumes a basic knowledge of comic books by the viewer, but this shortcoming is more than made up for by the quality of trhe production values. The sound was clear, transitions were fairly smooth, and the picture quality was a visual treat

t that they died in battle for Earth so that they may enact geance against their many mies without sacrificing the ty of their friends and family. the X-Men seek to vindicate mselves, Madelyn uses the mputers in their underground to access television transmis- s from America, She acciden- y catches a news program bwing her husband, Scott, with n Grey. Madelyn lashes out at screen rendering herself un- scious by the resulting electric ck. As she sleeps, she dreams. Madelyn’s dreams show a Stical dimension called Limbo

ich is ruled by a powerful -

on named S’ym who uses his il lackeys to invade our dimen- in. But one of S’ym’s cohorts Kides to make plans of his.own. Astirh, a demon of vast magi-

Powers, promises Madelyn or incredible abilities for her use to find her son and gain Ngeance on Cyclops and Mar- | Girl, But at what price is this wer given? Phoenix, Jean, and adelyn are about to meet, and

* fate of the world hangs in the ance,

FIRE, N’Astirh requires ten lant babies of vast powers to Struct a portal between Earth Limbo. One of these infants Christopher Summers. As the ‘trminators battle in vain to vent N’Astirh from obtaining P Prize, the demon locates the ‘Wer source necessary to open

the portal: Hlyana Rasputin, Magik of The New Mutants. Illyana spent half of her life growing up in Limbo, a slave to the evil wizard Belasco and his pet demon S’ym, Illyana drove Belasco from the dark dimension but, in doing so, she had to give in to the dark magic within her soul. It is prophesied that this darkness will overcome her,

“transforming her into the Dark- childe, and bring destruction to Earth. The prophesy is about to be fulfilled. ;

INFERNO ! A horde of demons’ rains form a huge rift in the sky above Manhattan and Marvel Comics’ superheroes must protect the inhabitants of the city while the X-teams battle the instigators; N’Astirh and S’ym. Can they defeat the demon-lords in time? Or will they be too busy fighting each other? Inferno! All you need is a spark to ignite the fury. .

Inferno promises to tie up many loose plotlines in the X- Men series and, if Chris Claremont lives up to his reputa- tion, it could mean that some characters will meet their deaths and leave other characters ir- revocably changed . Until all this nastiness is cleared up, I advise you to be careful dialing the phone, don’t step into any grin- ning elevators, and leave the housecleaning for another week . I w iLl ... hE yy wh at’S ha pPeniN g to mY t yPe wriT

AAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!

(including the interviews, which appeared

to be shot on video). Overall, Confidential

was (and still is) worth the price of admis- , sion — if not to learn more about comic

history, then to marvel at the 30 year dif-

ference in the physical appearance of Bill

Gaines.