Heavy Metal # 293

Noted as the "Beyond the Darkness Special", I got this first issue of 2019 in the 5th month of the year.  While I would be happy to be wrong, I think there is no way there will be six issues this year.  I'll be surprised if we even get five like the last couple years.  I try to be grateful for what we get, a printed magazine still being published for over 40 years, but it's pretty annoying.  At least I don't have a subscription, I'd be pretty disappointed if I did.


The big changes in staffing previously announced are noted.  Tim Seeley as Managing Editor, Hannah Means-Shannon and Justin Mohlman join as Contributing Editors, and Grant Morrison is now listed as Advisor.  I'll take this opportunity to thank Mr Morrison for his time as Editor-In-Chief (and Kristan Morrison as Contributing Editor) as I have enjoyed the mag over the last several years.  I felt his time stabilized the magazine's form and content, and my hope is that these editorial changes have laid the foundation for its continued existence for years to come.  I also enjoyed Mr Morrison's fanciful editorials.  Best of luck to whatever projects you'll be working on, that I will never see.


The editorial page illustration is by Denis Zhbankov.  It looks like a gryphon-demon with their young picking at a bloodied corpse.  The Cover "A" which I got from the bookstore, is "Family Dreams" by Flavio Greco Paglia, and is noted as for "Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre" which is apparently a sci-fi etc film fest.  Each artist has a Gallery in this issue.


"S.O.L.U.S." by Timothy E. Bacon - 7 - The creator gives special thanks to Antfarm, SolCommand, Parris & Stonemason.  A lone space traveller near the dead earth seeks memories.  The art is nice looking, though the excursion suit looks pretty ungainly, and the storytelling turned out well, using first-person narration and the computer giving unheeded warnings.  The "of course it's a girl robot with metal boobs" moment hardly detracted from its impact on me.


"DoppleDämons" by Emilia Pedrazzoli, Emiliano Pinto, Facundo Percio, Omar Estévez - 5 - From suicide to sacrifice to flesh-eating demons to a roiling hellscape, I couldn't keep up.


"The Door" Chapter 5 by Michael Moreci, Esau Escorza, & Adam Wollet - 7 - Well, in this final chapter our protagonist persists and resists the constraints of the constructs of the artificial world holding her captive, and successfully finds her way back to herself.  The art is again lovely, and contains a scene of bodily disintegration so arresting as to rival my favorite shocker in my favorite story from the October 1978 issue, "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin".  I'm a bit dismayed by the returning pervy smell, with more of the art toying with upskirting the poor girl, and I'm either annoyed or amused by, when she emerges naked from her own immersion tank, they get coy about nipples.  Eeesh.  C'mon, it doesn't need to be like that.  Yeah, HM has a long history of crappy-ass sexism and objectification, and sexy is part of the fun, but nowadays shit like that gets called out.  There's still a lot to recommend this story as a Heavy Metal delight.


Gallery with John Kenn Mortensen - 7 - with an interview by Hannah Means-Shannon.  Line drawings of horrors that surround us.  Apparently Mr Mortensen came to fantasy art from another life, and the art seems to have such an untrained skill, as to make me fantasize it's something I could do (but I couldn't, it's much better than I would do), which seems part of its charm.  And such a visceral charm, certainly willies-inducing.


"Mother Death" by Homero Rios, Nephtali Leal, and Jame - 7 - Mother Death gives the damned their rest.  Almost a throwback to HM's early days, with art with expression that exceeds the execution, and the translation giving the story a different perspective from what its original language may have had, telling a supernatural tale of shit and death.  I think I missed a few things.  The unfortunate mirrored background images and the extremely long hands in the last panel confused me, but the skull-headed cherubs were eye-catching and had some good lines.


"Little Green God of Agony" by Stephen King and Dennis Calero - 7 - A wealthy man, crippled in an accident, enlists an exorcist in a desparate bid to end his pain.  Primarily told from the perspective of his very skeptical nurse.  I have read little Stephen King, but I'm not surprised that this is a well-written, engaging read.  Which is good, since it's pretty long, 15 pages, and it has lots of torsos surrounded by word and thought balloons.  The art seems deliberately subdued, a darkened room with mostly stark shadows and muted hues.  It ends abruptly, but happily, for the wealthy guy at least.


Gallery with Flavio Greco Paglia - 7 - With an interview by Hannah Means-Shannon.  Some nice imagery from a successful fantasy/commercial artist.  While I found some of it on the dark and murky side, the artist comments about working with contrast and learning to use light to tell a narrative, and I managed to see that.


"The Guest" by Manuel D. Montesinos - 7 - A lone survivor of a disastrous mission from Mars recalls the anniversary of the incident.  It makes a pointed statement about humans destroying their worlds, and ends with a not-too-shocking surprise.


"Holy Wars ... The Punishment Due" by Tim Seeley, Ignacio Calero, Carlos Cabrera, Micah Myers - 7 - An excerpt from the Megadeth: Death by Design graphic novel.  A lone techno-vigilante wages bloody vengeance against the corporatist machine.  I'm not especially excited about the HM mag collaborations with heavy metal bands, my loss I'm sure.  It does make sense in some ways, with HM's many music references over the years, and obvious marketing potential.  And I did enjoy much about # 287.  And if it works, good for 'em.  This entry benefits from energetic art and some pretty good storytelling.


Gallery with Denis Zhbankov - 7 - With an interview by Hannah Means-Shannon.  Some nice personal art from a professional artist.  Some was pretty dark and murky, but I did like a couple a good deal, the smoke break and the night catcher, they were imaginative.


"Murky World" by Richard Corben - 8 - Chapters 6 and 7 back to back. Lots of furious action and escape, and recapture, and ... is the old storyteller coming on to Tugat..??  Whoa.  Maybe we'll get to see what's up with that abdomen.  Or ... Could be yikes either way.


"Green Grower from Rigbadal" by Z. Pahek - 7 - A marooned space captain tries to survive with his robot companion, landing on wild Rigbadal looking for something to eat.  A little mix of Star Wars and Little Shop of Horrors.  It's colored well and looks nice but I think I like Pahek's work in black and white just a bit more.


"White Death" by Diego Agrimbau, Eduardo Risso, Alberto Calvo - 7 - Rebelling slaves in a failed revolution in the Andes.  Told by one of the rebels, as he remembers his late father and the voodoo he taught him, this story appears to be placed in certain historical time (I started looking and General San Martin is known as a hero for his role in South American independence from Spain, there's a lot I could learn about that) which lends weight to the tale.  I thought the art was dynamic and engaging, fitting the storytelling.


So I liked this issue fine, and I'll look forward to the next, which is already being promoted for pre-sale, so when I saw that I got working on this post.