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.