| "Skeeter" is a tall tale resembling old tales by Chris Jones, Joshua's older brother. "Comics" is a complete and unimaginative rip-off of the Wizard's "Salt Instances". "My Life" is somewhat of a rip-off of CJ's "My Life in Brief", but is mildly funny. |
Here, Jones shows an immediately visible improvement. The Return of Mr. Al is a spin-off of his older brother's Born Decomposed, but half the time it works well. "Al's Section" is the apparent centerpiece, but is mediocre filler. The real treat is "Fish Comics"; an excellent interpretation of Jones' brothers' "Salt Instances". "Comic #12 and 35" is also in this vain but not quite as good. "My Life" is Jones' best story by far. Even though it occassionally leans to the mediocre side, it usually comes through. All in all The Return of Mr. Al is worth the price of admission for its ambition alone. It could be said that the Wizard's younger brother is in the Demented Era, but it is apparent from this work that a being at this age cannot possibly indulge the concept. CJ |