Heavy Metal Pulp books

Heavy Metal Pulp was a series of books HM put out around 2010.  An apparent attempt to branch out from the magazine format, there are three books of the Netherworld series.  

 

They are written by Christopher Rowley, a well-known writer then and now, with a number of published books over the decades.  (Mr Rowley even has a website, looking untouched since these came out.)

The back covers have some info about the creators and the books:

 

The cover artist Gregory Manchess had an Artist Studio piece in the March 2010 issue.  Interior artist Justin Norman had an Artist Studio in the July 2010 issue.  No mention of them illustrating these books though. 

I did see a couple ads for the books in later 2010 issues, and this one for all three of the series in March 2011:

 

I recall when these were appearing, with some hype on the Heavy Metal website of the time.  And a youtube that's still up.  My guess is that more was planned for these books, since much of the video is not part of these books.  But it's still cool that it's still up to see.

I found a copy of #3 in a used bookstore just a couple years after they came out.  At the time I wasn't too impressed, I suppose I wished there was more to it.  I only a couple years ago procured the other two in the series online, and then just finished reading them in sequence over the past few months.

I found them more enjoyable to read all together.  It's a Heavy Metal story, and I wasn't looking for thoughtful introspection, but I had fun reading them and enjoyed how they were crafted.  The sci-fi militaristic police state and its war machines were implausible and prescient.  Bullet ripping violence abounds and there's a healthy dose of unhealthy - or at least not-for-everyone - sexuality.  The characters and their stories grew (a little) and the action was ever-coming.  There's even some character redemption and maybe even love.

A couple samples:

 

 

 

Big print on small pages can make for a quick read.  The idea of incorporating bits of art in a novel is good, and much of it here is very nice, but I'd prefer a bit more emphasis on the art than what we get.  And the avoidance of nipples is odd for a Heavy Metal product.

So, after these many years, I think these Netherworld books are a fun Heavy Metal digression that actually happened, and I'm glad I finally actually read them.  And if you like this kind of thing too, then I'll recommend it.