Heavy Metal #307 came to me in the end of June of this year, with the usual 144 pages and $13.99 cover price. The issue has the pretty cool wraparound Cover A by Thumbs, which unfortunately can only be viewed in its entirety digitally (without wrecking the binding completely) so I lifted the image from HM's shop site:
This image lacks the issue number and other info usually printed on the bound edge, and also the little box with the UPC and a reference to"Beyond Kuiper" which appears to be a sci-fi novel, which perhaps this image relates to. I am not seeking that out and don't plan to, but the image is alright and gets a 6 from me.
Welp, now it's editorials by the two big shots. Tim Seeley is still listed as Senior Contrbuting Editor, and there's a Tommy Coriale noted as President & Head of Studio, and no more Frank Forte. As usual, we have no idea what they're doing. The editorials are dumb stuff about sci-fi and UFOs.
"Black Beacon - Chapter 2" by Ryan K Lindsay, Sebastian Piriz, Jame, R.G. Llarena - 7 - Niko the protagonist continues exploring, trying to gather info for a story. I like this, it's pretty and thoughtful, though there's a confusing sequence where Niko is bound to an examination table, that I can't tell where where it is in a timeline.
"Maiden - Neoma: The Bride - Chapter Five: The Reckoning" by Michelle Sears, Bart Sears, Ilaria Fella - 5 - y'know, the art is pretty good, fierce action and demons haunted by demons, but it's mostly piles of body parts and puddles of blood, told with a rote progression of vengeance.
"The Adventures of Adrienne James" by Matthew Medney, Bruce Edwards, Geraldo Borges, Felipe Sobreiro, Saida Temofonte, R.G. Llarena - 6 - A 24 page first chapter, with lots of colorful comic action with plenty of comic sound effects. Where a funeral on an obscure planetoid turns out to be a setup by the rebels. Or something like that. Best of luck with this one.
"Bertold's Bubble" by Diego Agrimbau, Gabriel Ippoliti - 8 - In a society where transgressions can be penalized with amputation, a man who's lost all his limbs is taken in by a man who writes plays and has amputees play the parts, in marionettatronic harnesses. Moodily dark, I found this a fascinating premise well executed by the art and even more by the writing. It's long, 45 pages in two parts, good thing I liked it.
"Vasator and Crunch" by David Erwin, Raymund Bermudez, DC Alonso, David Sharpe, Morgan Rosenblum - 5 - Continuing adventures of the erstwhile pair seen in HM #305, different artist this time. There's plenty of talent on display in the art, but the writing doesn't excite me.
"Outer Demons" by Camille Willaford - 7 - City dwelling adventurers that need to fend off contagious demons. A rough art style complements the sparse dialog of this two-pager that I found quite amusing.
"Beyond Kuiper Prose" by Matthew Medney - 4 - Well, I didn't need to seek out Beyond Kuiper, it came to me, as an entry in this issue. Presumably an excerpt from a book, I found this to be terrible. Lines like "...felt as if his sanity had reached the event horizon of a black hole." abound, with the subtlety of a portrait painted with a broom. With any luck this is just a promo and it won't cross my path again.
"The Eye Collector" by Jonathan Ball, GMB Chomichuk, Lyndon Radchenka - 6 - Subtitled at the end as "the crow and the traveler in the desert". A parable told as a child's bedtime story. I found the art cool and interesting, like a monochrome digital collage, and the story is obtuse enough to be thought-provoking.
"An Interview with John Connelly" by Joshua Sky - 5 - Subtitled "It's Been a Privilege" Welp, I was wrong, more "Beyond Kuiper" came and found me. Mr Connelly is an AeroSpace Engineer, a sci-fi writer, and apparently Mr Medney's buddy. I knew a John Connelly in the 80s, but it's probably not the same guy. He describes their lofty goals for the franchise. Good luck with that. I will say that the formatting on this entry, with upside-down Vs being used for As on the title page, and the text reaching down into the crease of the binding, is really annoying.
"Swamp God - Chapter 3" by Ron Marz, Armitano, Werner Sanchez, ALW Studios'
Troy Peteri - 6 - And with Tim Seeley and Joseph Illidge getting their respective
Editor and Co-Editor credits. The rebels encounter the Union soldiers, as they flee the witch. But they then encounter the Swamp God, so they're all gonna die. Well, maybe not all right away, there might be some more story before the end.
