And so it begins....
The first issue with Grant Morrison credited as Editor-in-Chief. Kevin Eastman is still noted as Publisher. Frank Forte and R.G. Llarena, as well as Rantz Hoseley and Michael Moreci, are listed as Content Editors. So some names familar to me as a Heavy Metal reader, and some new.
Again I get the newstand cover. The cover image itself is eye-catching and colorful. Nubiles in worshipful positions around a baby diety, with a lot of teeth. Babe-i-tude is dialed down. Grant Morrison's name. The same "The World's Greatest Illustrated Magazine tagline. Rating? 7 - it looks cool.
Immediately noticable is a heavier stock cover, and a binding that solidifies an entire quarter inch on the edge. Which immediately causes a visible crease upon opening. Immediately showing that the issue has actually been read. I'm not sure how much I like this binding method. I imagine it would not be a good thing for two page spreads, which were already compromised (for dozens of years now...) when the mag went away from staples. I imagine there are good reasons for doing it this way now, and it does give a nice immediate feel. The inside paper seems of no less quality than before.
Inside an ad for another actual movie. A typical-looking table of contents. An then right into Mr Morrison's introductory editorial. A multi-page firefight of projectile logorrhea, it was sometimes so amusing I didn't even mind some of the contrived convolutions. Mixed in with metaphors of spring and rebirth applied to his new gig at HM, are only a couple hints of the future of the mag. There will be another one, and even more, and he's open to suggestions. I expect he actually has more structured plans than it may seem, but I'll be surprised if they include this level of wordgurgitation for every issue. For now I will be happy to see the mag's continued existence and seeing how it goes.
So some noticable changes and some less so and some things the same. To the stories.
Beachhead by Grant Morrison, Benjamin Marra, Tom Forget, and Alan Wollet - 6 - Invading Aliens find Earth inhabited by only bacteria, which don't put up much of a fight. The art has some pretty nice composition and some fun detail, like expressive cheek tendrils, but something about the style isn't for me, like it's too comicy for what I think this story was trying to tell. The writing (by you-know-who) likewise wants to have more fun with the invaders' thirst for conquest than dwell on the wasteland they encounter. But wait, there's more!
A Mind Bomb by Anna Laurine Kornum - 7 - An institutionalized young woman tells her story, only to be dismissed by the authorities. The art and telling of this story work well together to open a window to mental illness. Reality is tenuous.
Goddess by Ryan Ferrier and Hugo Petrus - 6 - The forest goddess comes for retribution. Overall I liked much about this one, like the line art and non-conventional page layouts, and the heavily accented dialogue. Sometimes the coloring overpowered the line art rather than enhanced it, and storytelling got jumpy a couple times.
The boring sequential story by Aladin Saad - 8 - Holy smokes! Did I ever have fun with this one! A seriously absurd tale told with such innocent fervor. Now, spelling and grammar errors are nothing new in HM (like "unblanced this realm..." in the previous story), indeed, with so much of the content of the mag over the years needing translation into English for me to read, it's part of the fun. And likewise, the art doesn't need to be good for it to be enjoyable. But this entry, it's hard to express the number and levels of ways I enjoyed it. Start with the title. Only there and one other spot in the story, is the word "sequential" not spelled "sequentail", and in these two places, it was edited in. Look at the shadow letters of the title. Even with the translation (or maybe the author was just learning English), it's clear the author was adding some self-deprecation to the storytelling, making it easier to laugh. It's Galileo gets his telescope, as a gift, from Santa. The art is bursting with repeated uses of various snips and samples, modified and arranged with wacky but still linear progression. And then, in his searching the heavens, he spies Heavy Metal Magazine, and Mr Eastman! Comic antics ensue. I found this so amusing, that it even got published, that it's in Mr Morrison's first issue, that it's so good and so bad at the same time, that it seemed to have such an attitude. I don't want to ask for more funky stuff like this, this might be enough, but it was fun.
Julia & Roem by Enki Bilal - 8 - Incredibly lovely as always, in this entry I found the in-story confusion with Shakespeare compelling. Some characters feel it, to varying degrees, some don't seem to. The odd instances of fantasy polar confusion of polar bears and penguins (as also in the finale of Animal'z, hard to believe that was well over a year ago) and a random guy finding a random fish in the last panel, added to the mystery for me.
The Artist's Studio with Mimi Scholz - 7 - I quite enjoyed the fantastical imagery and detailed execution. I would enjoy her work in a story, but that doesn't look like it's her thing. With a nice interview with Ms Scholz that provides insight to her process.
The Key by Massimiliano Frezzato - 7 - A lovely rendering of what appears to be two lovers holding each other in their hearts. The metaphor of sitting on animals shooting arrows across distances is sort of opaque, and the pairing of a grizzled middle-aged guy and a very young-looking girl is somewhat concerning, but it looks nice and I still liked it.
Time Served by Kyle Charles, Michael Moreci, David Croteau, Ryan Ferrier - 6 - Dystopian future prison break. There's some nice-looking comic fun in there, though the panels and details are so small it can be hard to make out.
The 49th Key Part Eight by Erika Lewis, J.K. Woodward - 6 - Bodi finds his home (apparently) in a polar volcano. So bad guys' guns can fall into lava it seems. I can only imagine all the actors on green screen sets and the enormous list of CGI credits this would take to be the movie it so wants to become. And it's not done yet.
An ad for a "Cold Waves V" music fest thing in Chicago in September? Why? I wondered, until I saw a "DJ Aeon Fox" noted for one of the shows. Who happens to be name checked in Mr Morrison's editorial as his "nearest and dearest". So, if you're the new editor of a mag, why not promote your darling's show?
Magic Words by Eric M. Esquivel, Scott Godlewski, Ryan Cody - 6 - a one page speculation on the nature of reality. I thought it was a thought-provoking idea, that I would have liked to see realized in more depth.
The Century Guild - A Curated Gallery by Thomas Negovan - 6 - an article about an art gallery in Los Angeles. Featured is Gail Potocki, whose name I thought I recognized from other work in HM, but all I found was that she did an alternate cover for this issue #280.
Fiendy by Gary T. Becks and David Paul - 7 - I like Fiendy, it's very silly and fun, and looks good. This is perhaps not my favorite one, but I still liked it fine.
Lepidopteran by Emilio Balcarce and Gaston Vivanco - 6 - A fighter jet encounters a foe it can't destroy. The drawing can be good, the dialog is especially badly translated, and I've seen the alien bug collector ending before. I wonder if the five blue planes are a Bermuda Triangle reference.
Salsa Invertebraxta by Mozchops - 6 - An insect story set in a jungle world. The art can be very nice, though it goes dark and murky for the second half. The dialog is some hipster poetry of some sort, telling some story about the impermanence of existence I think. It says part one of six, so I'll see if this goes anywhere I like.
An ad for the Century Guild Museum of Art, and then a couple pages of HM comics ads, a notice of the next issue on sale June 29, and then a back cover that's art and ad at the same time. So I had fun with this issue and I'll look forward to getting the next pretty soon.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
Heavy Metal # 279
Again, it takes weeks for me to write up a review. I've had the issue, read through it a couple times, and just now putting letters on a screen in front of me at a snail's pace. I think my lack of enthusiasm has more to do with my real life, such as it is, being more important to me than my interest in HM, than my lack of interest in the non-HM-mag items they're promoting. Things like Interceptor and The Doorman are just more comics I won't seek out. My interest is also dulled by the diffusion of HM info across their various social media platforms; I'm not too interested in combing through their twiddler, farcebook, tumblorg, etc, feeds for new tidbits, and the main website that I do check often, is probably the lightest in info. Oh well, that's part of what I get for being an old fart.
There's not too much on the non-HM part of my recent interests lately. Especially Kranburn, which ghosted itself. The webcomic just disappeared, even FEC Comics had nothing to tell me, though it was nice of them to actually reply when I asked. While there's no activity on Ben Michael Byrne's various other projects, Gutter and NSEW, for weeks, it looks like he's participating in a "100 panels in 100 days" Fbook thing. Tex Arcana is approaching a year since the last new pages, but I'm not complaining. Rod Kierkegaard Jr hasn't updated his blog for years, though sometimes his twitter is fun, and he's still writing and selling on Amazon, and that bit about Prince on the HM website was amusing. I did see that Jeremy Ray is restarting XTIN, XTIN Reincarrion, so that might be interesting, though he's going for color painting rather than the black and white of the first book.
As well, I can't be surprised by lack of traffic to my little blog here, if I don't put up anything new for weeks. But for the occasional spambot irruption, single digit view numbers are common. I don't even get spam emails anymore. Maybe I'll get a bit of an uptick from actually posting something. Here goes....
I got the bird cover from the bookstore, Bird King by Mike Mitchell and Aaron Horkey. I actually like it, fanciful and unique, call it a 7. Interesting to give the HM logo a treatment similar to the feather pattern. Mike Mitchell is also featured in the Artist's Gallery inside the mag, the style is quite different.
Julia and Roem by Enki Bilal - 8 - High marks for my enjoyment of the texturing of the art. I seem to like thinking about Enki Bilal actually putting pencils to paper or board or whatever, and I liked some of the really pretty highlights. The story has a bit of fun with translations ("just assume stay...") and brings on the drama and deaths, but then brings "End of Part Two". Turns out I didn't bother to notice the "End of Part One" at the third installment in #274, so I hope "Part Three" will resume shortly.
The 49th Key by Erika Lewis, J.K. Woodward, Deron Bennet - 5 - Maybe they should put this after some other less-beautiful feature than Julia and Roem, the art here is a real come-down. I haven't liked this story much, the whole seems to be less than the sum of its parts. Here the story seems to be building towards some resolution, taking Bodi "home". And then another car chase. I sure hope the movie this was written to be is more enjoyable.
Children of Russia by Ryan Ferrier and Hugo Petrus - 7 - A dying criminal confesses his sins to a priest, blaming his torment by demons in his youth in a Russian orphanage. Strong implications of abuse. Rather nicely put together and powerful storytelling.
Dream & Pills by Diego Agrimbau and Juan Manuel Tumburus - 7 - Street punks steal back the pills robbed from them, chased by the robbers, to deliver to an S&M madam. Except they're all robots. I thought the premise that robots don't feel pain, so they don't feel pleasure either, so they need some other ways to get themselves off, was pretty good. As was the idea that some wanted one thing (S&M) and some wanted another (to dream). The "gritty urban" setting was less inspiring to me for some reason.
Morf by Steve Mannion - 6 - with colors by Frank Forte it says. Another Fearless Dawn, with the HM-ish babe explorer riding her tortoise that says "morf". She finds a book again, and is accosted by giant skeletal demons, who are then vanquished by a giant warrior, who sets her and her tortoise on their way in a bubble. Fairly thin but I liked it.
The Artist's Gallery by Mark Mitchell - 6 - a handful of images in a pop-art style with a dark and gloomy feel. It appears he's got a thing with his Skully images, but I liked the last one "OK" the most, I think it had the most to offer.
Gene Kong by Pepe Moreno - 9 - The conclusion of the story of Gene the rogue biochemist, who transforms into a raging mutant beast when provoked, due to his genetic self-experimentation. I really enjoyed how this story takes a bunch of panels dated '85 with some apparently new ones, to craft this story of mid-80s New York squalor, part Subway Vigilante and part King Kong. Our hero fights crime, finds love, and is consumed by his uncontrollable mutant rage, until his dramatic end. The art is brightly colored and action packed, in my opinion better than Rebel, which Moreno did in the mid-80s for HM, and I liked how the story wove together a bunch of one-dimensional bits and characters into a tale of excitement and woe. In my opinion this is one of the finer additions to the Heavy Metal legacy in recent years.
Masters of Emptiness by Pahek - 6 - The agony of workbots tasked with rowing a topheavy ship of state. A dramatically told parable on unsustainable growth and stratification of society, with some fun sound effects ("yam yam", "guttl guttl", "bhomi"). I think I should like this more, but I thought the art was a bit cluttered.
The Antidote by Frank Forte, Fabio Nahon, Jethro Morales, Liezl Buenaventura - 5 - Diseased rouge soldiers find an "immune" and make a serum from her blood, with unplanned consequences. It looks like this was fun to do, but I didn't have as much fun reading it. I guess I need more than just another mutant encounter in a post-apoc urban wasteland to trip my trigger.
Die and Let Live by Inaki Aragon and Partricio Delpeche - 6 - A couple parents fight through zombies to retrieve their young son from school. But too late, he's already zombified. But for the mother's inability to smash her zombie son's skull to save her life, this would be another pointless zombie excursion. As it is, the slight exploration of human emotion makes me wonder more about why zombies are so popular, and when will it stop.
So an ok issue with a couple parts I really liked, and two full page Deadpool ads. I'll probably pick up #280 this weekend, let's see if I can get the review out before #281.
There's not too much on the non-HM part of my recent interests lately. Especially Kranburn, which ghosted itself. The webcomic just disappeared, even FEC Comics had nothing to tell me, though it was nice of them to actually reply when I asked. While there's no activity on Ben Michael Byrne's various other projects, Gutter and NSEW, for weeks, it looks like he's participating in a "100 panels in 100 days" Fbook thing. Tex Arcana is approaching a year since the last new pages, but I'm not complaining. Rod Kierkegaard Jr hasn't updated his blog for years, though sometimes his twitter is fun, and he's still writing and selling on Amazon, and that bit about Prince on the HM website was amusing. I did see that Jeremy Ray is restarting XTIN, XTIN Reincarrion, so that might be interesting, though he's going for color painting rather than the black and white of the first book.
As well, I can't be surprised by lack of traffic to my little blog here, if I don't put up anything new for weeks. But for the occasional spambot irruption, single digit view numbers are common. I don't even get spam emails anymore. Maybe I'll get a bit of an uptick from actually posting something. Here goes....
I got the bird cover from the bookstore, Bird King by Mike Mitchell and Aaron Horkey. I actually like it, fanciful and unique, call it a 7. Interesting to give the HM logo a treatment similar to the feather pattern. Mike Mitchell is also featured in the Artist's Gallery inside the mag, the style is quite different.
Julia and Roem by Enki Bilal - 8 - High marks for my enjoyment of the texturing of the art. I seem to like thinking about Enki Bilal actually putting pencils to paper or board or whatever, and I liked some of the really pretty highlights. The story has a bit of fun with translations ("just assume stay...") and brings on the drama and deaths, but then brings "End of Part Two". Turns out I didn't bother to notice the "End of Part One" at the third installment in #274, so I hope "Part Three" will resume shortly.
The 49th Key by Erika Lewis, J.K. Woodward, Deron Bennet - 5 - Maybe they should put this after some other less-beautiful feature than Julia and Roem, the art here is a real come-down. I haven't liked this story much, the whole seems to be less than the sum of its parts. Here the story seems to be building towards some resolution, taking Bodi "home". And then another car chase. I sure hope the movie this was written to be is more enjoyable.
Children of Russia by Ryan Ferrier and Hugo Petrus - 7 - A dying criminal confesses his sins to a priest, blaming his torment by demons in his youth in a Russian orphanage. Strong implications of abuse. Rather nicely put together and powerful storytelling.
Dream & Pills by Diego Agrimbau and Juan Manuel Tumburus - 7 - Street punks steal back the pills robbed from them, chased by the robbers, to deliver to an S&M madam. Except they're all robots. I thought the premise that robots don't feel pain, so they don't feel pleasure either, so they need some other ways to get themselves off, was pretty good. As was the idea that some wanted one thing (S&M) and some wanted another (to dream). The "gritty urban" setting was less inspiring to me for some reason.
Morf by Steve Mannion - 6 - with colors by Frank Forte it says. Another Fearless Dawn, with the HM-ish babe explorer riding her tortoise that says "morf". She finds a book again, and is accosted by giant skeletal demons, who are then vanquished by a giant warrior, who sets her and her tortoise on their way in a bubble. Fairly thin but I liked it.
The Artist's Gallery by Mark Mitchell - 6 - a handful of images in a pop-art style with a dark and gloomy feel. It appears he's got a thing with his Skully images, but I liked the last one "OK" the most, I think it had the most to offer.
Gene Kong by Pepe Moreno - 9 - The conclusion of the story of Gene the rogue biochemist, who transforms into a raging mutant beast when provoked, due to his genetic self-experimentation. I really enjoyed how this story takes a bunch of panels dated '85 with some apparently new ones, to craft this story of mid-80s New York squalor, part Subway Vigilante and part King Kong. Our hero fights crime, finds love, and is consumed by his uncontrollable mutant rage, until his dramatic end. The art is brightly colored and action packed, in my opinion better than Rebel, which Moreno did in the mid-80s for HM, and I liked how the story wove together a bunch of one-dimensional bits and characters into a tale of excitement and woe. In my opinion this is one of the finer additions to the Heavy Metal legacy in recent years.
Masters of Emptiness by Pahek - 6 - The agony of workbots tasked with rowing a topheavy ship of state. A dramatically told parable on unsustainable growth and stratification of society, with some fun sound effects ("yam yam", "guttl guttl", "bhomi"). I think I should like this more, but I thought the art was a bit cluttered.
The Antidote by Frank Forte, Fabio Nahon, Jethro Morales, Liezl Buenaventura - 5 - Diseased rouge soldiers find an "immune" and make a serum from her blood, with unplanned consequences. It looks like this was fun to do, but I didn't have as much fun reading it. I guess I need more than just another mutant encounter in a post-apoc urban wasteland to trip my trigger.
Die and Let Live by Inaki Aragon and Partricio Delpeche - 6 - A couple parents fight through zombies to retrieve their young son from school. But too late, he's already zombified. But for the mother's inability to smash her zombie son's skull to save her life, this would be another pointless zombie excursion. As it is, the slight exploration of human emotion makes me wonder more about why zombies are so popular, and when will it stop.
So an ok issue with a couple parts I really liked, and two full page Deadpool ads. I'll probably pick up #280 this weekend, let's see if I can get the review out before #281.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Prince
So HeavyMetal.com put up a feature to honor the departed Prince. It was nice of them to do, and it had a cool Metal Hurlant cover with him, and a couple comic references. It also had a link to the hideous "Bat Dance" music video that I had blocked from memory, until now. Ugh.
In any case, also included was an image by Rod Kierkegaard of Prince as a Frankenstein monster. It's very cool, but the image is from Mr Kierkegaard's "Shooting Stars" from 1987, I don't think it ever appeared in Heavy Metal. I kinda wonder how they came across this and decided to put in in this feature. There was also a "more on this later" and a link to the two Rolling Stone videos about Mr Kierkegaard and the Star Wars parody that was in Rock Opera in HM. So maybe there will be more on this story.
By the way, Shooting Stars was an anthology by Mr Kierkegaard of Rock Opera - like parodies of pop culture icons, like Boy George, Madonna, and Prince. For fun, here's another image snip from the Shooting Stars story "Prance":
While I'm at it, another recently departed rock star was seen in a Rock Opera, a snap from October 1980:
In any case, also included was an image by Rod Kierkegaard of Prince as a Frankenstein monster. It's very cool, but the image is from Mr Kierkegaard's "Shooting Stars" from 1987, I don't think it ever appeared in Heavy Metal. I kinda wonder how they came across this and decided to put in in this feature. There was also a "more on this later" and a link to the two Rolling Stone videos about Mr Kierkegaard and the Star Wars parody that was in Rock Opera in HM. So maybe there will be more on this story.
By the way, Shooting Stars was an anthology by Mr Kierkegaard of Rock Opera - like parodies of pop culture icons, like Boy George, Madonna, and Prince. For fun, here's another image snip from the Shooting Stars story "Prance":
While I'm at it, another recently departed rock star was seen in a Rock Opera, a snap from October 1980:
Thursday, February 11, 2016
HM tumblr
It took the HM website putting up a feature about heavymetalmagazine.tumblr.com for me to notice it, which indicates I should really get out more.
It's pretty neat that this guy is posting various page scans of Heavy Metal Magazine, apparently once a day for a few years now, from his complete collection, starting with the second issue. It seems he got his start with his father's collection, and he got into them at an early age, and it seems to have been influential.
Mr Rhodes appears to be a comic artist, and his (assuming it's He) comments show a critical but appreciative eye. I enjoy his perspective and how it differs from mine, his coming to HM later in its life, and mine while they mags came out (though he's up to 1991 now, he's already passed the point in time when I had lost interest and had stopped buying them). He's also pointed out a few articles he'd written about comics and HM's place in them. He has a better perspective than mine, of HM in the context of comics, than mine of remembering the times when HM was an actual cultural force.
The scans are a bit low-res and some show interference-pattern type texturing, but they get the point across. To be honest, there have been several images that I don't specifically recall, but I can't be surprised, given my advanced years, and that some issues I have only read once, when I completed my own collection just a few years ago.
I have not paged through them all, I may not ever get all the way through, but I'll look frequently. I envy this kind of dedication and time to spend, but that's not where I'm at. Someday I may make take the time to seek out some of my favorite images from the mag and put them up, but not today.
So thanks for the heads-up HM website guys, and thanks Mr Rhodes for sharing your interests.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Heavy Metal #278
Cover by Tom Jilesen and Fabian Schlaga - 7 - a nice and busy Joan of Arc - looking cover, related to the Court of the Dead entry in this issue as it's the same artists. This appears to be the "newsstand" cover, there are also some variant covers noted inside. One is called Mermaid Hunt by Tom Wood and is apparently for subscribers, and there's some exclusive / special edition wraparound cover by Ian MacDonald with another Court of the Dead treatment. The variants do look pretty nice, but since I get my copies at a bookstore, I will likely only ever see the variants on the internet. I'm not interested enough to seek out variants to add to my "collection", but apparently this is a thing in comics now. If it helps them sell more copies and keeps them printing the paper mag, then great, but I will keep looking for the new issues in the bookstore as long as I can get them there.
Inside, another "Metal for your Eyeholes" ad, with a few images that are actually on the website, and few that aren't.
The contents page also has an illustration that looks intended for a cover, by Simeon Aston, who is also in a story. Also noteworthy is Frank Forte and R.G. Llarena are credited as content editors.
Julia and Roem by Enki Bilal - 7 - Julia and Roem return, looking like an art film now. Brooding and introspective with a tiny cup of coffee. Unspeakable love. Self-referential as the characters get the Romeo and Juliet connection. Perhaps less mysterious now, though I wonder how this can play out, besides the obvious multiple emotive deaths.
Then Came the Squid by Abraham Martinez, Milton Sobreiro, Emmanuel Ordaz, and Jame - 6 - The story is almost as funny as the title. Maybe they could have gotten more out of the premise; the art left me wanting.
The 49th Key part 6 by Erika Lewis, J.K. Woodward, Deron Bennet - 4 - This entry starts with a boat chase to retrieve a kidnapped Bodi, apparently taken during the museum robbery? It's such a jump from where this left off that it's almost like they missed a chapter. Maybe it'll look better if this screenplay actually makes it into a movie. It's too bad I'm so turned off by how this translates to a comic. The printed "letters" from the 16th century really bug me. A fantastic twist involving Queen Elizabeth and an underground civilization might be interesting, but I'm not enjoying reading this one much.
Gene Kong by Pepe Moreno - 7 - Set in New York City in the mid 80s, this even starts with a disclaimer stating it's fiction and it's not meant to portray anyone in an undesirable light. Then it's on to the rough streets of the city. I like how there's a personal feel to this, like some of the artist's experiences seem to make it into the art and story. But there's plenty of fantasy, and the art is vividly colorful. Our hero is a janitor and rogue biochemist, conducting genetic experiments on the sly, but it all goes wrong..... As this is part one of two, I'll leave it at that. I will say that Pepe Moreno had a bunch of stuff in HM in the 80s, notably in Rebel, that had a good run in 1985, set in a future NYC. It's interesting that Gene Kong is set around the same time Rebel was produced.
Artist Gallery by beinArt Collective - 8 - Surreal art in quantity and quality, extra points for the page after page of thought-bending images. There are more on their web site, it's worth a look if you enjoy this kind of thing. I can enjoy the surreal, a lot of it is very imaginative, but sometimes it can be disturbing or pointless or both, so I gotta watch out for that.
I Win, We All Lose by R.G Llarena and Gil Agudin - 7 - With some well-executed art, a stylized gladiator setting, and a thoughtful Llarena story. It seemed to me this aspires to be a profound statement on ego and human nature. I would rate this one higher but I felt it was a bit short of its aspirations.
Metal Made Flesh by Simeon Astin and Jeremy Biggs - 7 - Subtitled Infection. Cool looking and imaginative, interesting color pallete for much of it, almost pastel. The story's another comment on isolation in urban decay, but it's well-stated. Gotta like a line like "fragile meat prisons".
Court of the Dead by Corinna Bechko, Landry Q Walker, Nat Jones, Fabian Schlaga, Tom Jilesen - 5 - This appears to be some franchise, by the look of the ads in the mag for sculpture and a quiz contest on their dotcom, and variant cover, and the title page with others credited, including Pat Brosseau and "story and characters by Tom Gilliland". The story here looks alright and does the job, but the art just doesn't thrill me, and the story starts as Joan of Arc vs more zombies. It picked up a bit with a "welcome to the land of the dead", but stopped there. If the story continues in the mag I may think more of it, but here it looks like another promo for something I won't see again.
Several nice bits in this issue, a couple I'm not thrilled with, but it's been nice to read over again over the weeks while concocting this review. Missing though, is part four of Aftermath-the Big Clean, which had ended part three in # 276 with a "continued in #278" which it is not. The internet told me there are five parts completed for this one, and since I enjoyed it so, I hope the next two parts make it to the mag.
Inside, another "Metal for your Eyeholes" ad, with a few images that are actually on the website, and few that aren't.
The contents page also has an illustration that looks intended for a cover, by Simeon Aston, who is also in a story. Also noteworthy is Frank Forte and R.G. Llarena are credited as content editors.
Julia and Roem by Enki Bilal - 7 - Julia and Roem return, looking like an art film now. Brooding and introspective with a tiny cup of coffee. Unspeakable love. Self-referential as the characters get the Romeo and Juliet connection. Perhaps less mysterious now, though I wonder how this can play out, besides the obvious multiple emotive deaths.
Then Came the Squid by Abraham Martinez, Milton Sobreiro, Emmanuel Ordaz, and Jame - 6 - The story is almost as funny as the title. Maybe they could have gotten more out of the premise; the art left me wanting.
The 49th Key part 6 by Erika Lewis, J.K. Woodward, Deron Bennet - 4 - This entry starts with a boat chase to retrieve a kidnapped Bodi, apparently taken during the museum robbery? It's such a jump from where this left off that it's almost like they missed a chapter. Maybe it'll look better if this screenplay actually makes it into a movie. It's too bad I'm so turned off by how this translates to a comic. The printed "letters" from the 16th century really bug me. A fantastic twist involving Queen Elizabeth and an underground civilization might be interesting, but I'm not enjoying reading this one much.
Gene Kong by Pepe Moreno - 7 - Set in New York City in the mid 80s, this even starts with a disclaimer stating it's fiction and it's not meant to portray anyone in an undesirable light. Then it's on to the rough streets of the city. I like how there's a personal feel to this, like some of the artist's experiences seem to make it into the art and story. But there's plenty of fantasy, and the art is vividly colorful. Our hero is a janitor and rogue biochemist, conducting genetic experiments on the sly, but it all goes wrong..... As this is part one of two, I'll leave it at that. I will say that Pepe Moreno had a bunch of stuff in HM in the 80s, notably in Rebel, that had a good run in 1985, set in a future NYC. It's interesting that Gene Kong is set around the same time Rebel was produced.
Artist Gallery by beinArt Collective - 8 - Surreal art in quantity and quality, extra points for the page after page of thought-bending images. There are more on their web site, it's worth a look if you enjoy this kind of thing. I can enjoy the surreal, a lot of it is very imaginative, but sometimes it can be disturbing or pointless or both, so I gotta watch out for that.
I Win, We All Lose by R.G Llarena and Gil Agudin - 7 - With some well-executed art, a stylized gladiator setting, and a thoughtful Llarena story. It seemed to me this aspires to be a profound statement on ego and human nature. I would rate this one higher but I felt it was a bit short of its aspirations.
Metal Made Flesh by Simeon Astin and Jeremy Biggs - 7 - Subtitled Infection. Cool looking and imaginative, interesting color pallete for much of it, almost pastel. The story's another comment on isolation in urban decay, but it's well-stated. Gotta like a line like "fragile meat prisons".
Court of the Dead by Corinna Bechko, Landry Q Walker, Nat Jones, Fabian Schlaga, Tom Jilesen - 5 - This appears to be some franchise, by the look of the ads in the mag for sculpture and a quiz contest on their dotcom, and variant cover, and the title page with others credited, including Pat Brosseau and "story and characters by Tom Gilliland". The story here looks alright and does the job, but the art just doesn't thrill me, and the story starts as Joan of Arc vs more zombies. It picked up a bit with a "welcome to the land of the dead", but stopped there. If the story continues in the mag I may think more of it, but here it looks like another promo for something I won't see again.
Several nice bits in this issue, a couple I'm not thrilled with, but it's been nice to read over again over the weeks while concocting this review. Missing though, is part four of Aftermath-the Big Clean, which had ended part three in # 276 with a "continued in #278" which it is not. The internet told me there are five parts completed for this one, and since I enjoyed it so, I hope the next two parts make it to the mag.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
whither Kranburn
Kranburn has vaporized. The webcomic site is gone, it's been a couple weeks now. No clues I've seen on Twiddler or Farcebook, though there may be something in the secret friend zone I don't see. They appear to still be sold at FEC comics, through #10, which the webcomic was a few pages into, but otherwise that site hasn't had an update in months.
How sad. #11 had been promised, and there was potentially much more. I know Mr Byrne had mentioned that drawing was now a chore, and he has also been working on a couple other projects publicly, NSEW and Gutter now, but I haven't found any mention of what might happen to Kranburn.
Mr Byrne can do whatever he likes, and I wish him the best on his other projects and his actual life, but Kranburn is what interested me from the start, when he shared some of it on the departed HM website message boards, and that's why I mention it on my puny blog here. I still think Kranburn would make a great HM serial.
If this is the end, so be it, and thanks for everything, but I'll continue to wish for more.
How sad. #11 had been promised, and there was potentially much more. I know Mr Byrne had mentioned that drawing was now a chore, and he has also been working on a couple other projects publicly, NSEW and Gutter now, but I haven't found any mention of what might happen to Kranburn.
Mr Byrne can do whatever he likes, and I wish him the best on his other projects and his actual life, but Kranburn is what interested me from the start, when he shared some of it on the departed HM website message boards, and that's why I mention it on my puny blog here. I still think Kranburn would make a great HM serial.
If this is the end, so be it, and thanks for everything, but I'll continue to wish for more.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Rock Opera news
The Heavy Metal website has a feature about a Rock Opera episode by Rod Kierkegaard Jr in the March 1985 issue. It's a Star Wars and Beatles parody. This was the kind of wit and humor, insightful and timely and weird, that interested me about Mr Kierkegaard's Rock Opera and helped keep me buying the mag at the time. There's been nothing like it since.
The feature not only has some text and scans of the story (and tries to sell back issues they still have of this one!), there are also videos, from Rolling Stone's youtube, of the story, and a brief interview with Rod Kierkegaard Jr himself! (at least I think so, never heard him speak before.)
This is so neat. I was a big fan of Rock Opera back in the day, one of the few, judging by the Chain Mail letters that were printed at the time, that were pretty negative. I'm also a fan of Mr Kierkegaard and his other more recent writing. I enjoyed a brief period of correspondence with him a few years ago, one of the pinnacles of my meager fanboyhood.
I hope this means Mr Kierkegaard gets a bit of recognition from HM fans who may not be so familiar with him, and some further interest in his more current work. (buy his stuff on Amazon.)
So go look at the HM website in the news/features section to see this feature and watch the videos. They are on Rolling Stone's youtube too, but I didn't see anything on their main website. I'd love to hear the rest of the interview with Mr Kierkegaard.
This was so fun, it almost puts me in the Xmas spirit. So happy holidays everyone, every damn one of them.
The feature not only has some text and scans of the story (and tries to sell back issues they still have of this one!), there are also videos, from Rolling Stone's youtube, of the story, and a brief interview with Rod Kierkegaard Jr himself! (at least I think so, never heard him speak before.)
This is so neat. I was a big fan of Rock Opera back in the day, one of the few, judging by the Chain Mail letters that were printed at the time, that were pretty negative. I'm also a fan of Mr Kierkegaard and his other more recent writing. I enjoyed a brief period of correspondence with him a few years ago, one of the pinnacles of my meager fanboyhood.
I hope this means Mr Kierkegaard gets a bit of recognition from HM fans who may not be so familiar with him, and some further interest in his more current work. (buy his stuff on Amazon.)
So go look at the HM website in the news/features section to see this feature and watch the videos. They are on Rolling Stone's youtube too, but I didn't see anything on their main website. I'd love to hear the rest of the interview with Mr Kierkegaard.
This was so fun, it almost puts me in the Xmas spirit. So happy holidays everyone, every damn one of them.
Friday, December 18, 2015
Heavy Metal #277
Billed as a "Horror Special" this issue is guest edited by Frank Forte. In the credits, in addition to the co-CEOs and Dan Berger as Managing Editor listed, there are a President and a VP Marketing as well. Here's hoping there is increased success to support the added overhead of these executive positions.
Cover by Luis Royo - 7 - If you're going to have a pinup cover, it might as well be a Royo. While his depictions are second to none in ridiculous getups, they can always be counted on for a pretty girl and fantastic execution. The hair, the beads, the frayed fabric details, always fun to look at. There was even a news feature on the HM website featuring Royo covers through the years. There is also a special edition cover available somewhere by Skinner, whose work is otherwise featured in this issue.
Inside, an ad for a Court of the Dead statue collection. Someone must buy this stuff, but I wouldn't. I don't get it.
There's also a cover spread painting of a witch by Aly Fell at the contents page, looks nice.
Next, an ad for Frank Forte Fine Art limited edition silk screen and giclee prints. I guess if you're the guest editor you get to have an ad.
The Transaction by Frank Forte and Silvester Song - 6 - A slightly interesting premise of an intergalactic con, and cool graphic style (it's a bit Giger-ish) are muddied by some overly busy scenes that obscure rather than enhance the action. I also wonder why this was credited as translated by Chris Song, did Mr Forte originally write it in something other than English?
Dirt by Steve Mannion and Liezl Buenaventura - 7 - Space dirt prospectors with an old-school HM look, not too much for a story but I liked looking at it. The stubby spaceships made me think of Sunpot by Vaughn Bode from the first editions of HM in the 70s. Credited as a Fearless Dawn story, Mr Mannion also had an entry in HM#271, though oddly his name is misspelled in the HM website cover gallery for that one so it was hard to find.
A Halloween Wedding by Ben Olson - 6 - a knob crashes a mutant wedding. The artwork is quite nice, and there's funny writing, that made me wish I liked it more. The creator shows some good ability and technique. As it is, the busy layout and word balloons and *sword sounds* were kind of distracting.
Ship of Ghouls by Dwayne Harris - 7 - While this one also has a busy layout and word balloons all over, and the art is perhaps less refined than the previous story, though really good, I liked this one a bit more. A more interesting premise to the story, even if it is another zombies in space yarn. The unlikely spacesuit undergarment was fun, but I really thought the headset was cool. It looked like a design that could actually work. I won't be too surprised if I see something like that in a number of years.
The 49th Key Part 5 by Erika Lewis, J.K. Woodward, Deron Bennett - 5 - I still have a hard time enjoying reading this screenplay, and the art has just a couple glints of excitement in its otherwise bland execution, but at least there's something developing in the story. A museum heist with disguises and inside help? What could go wrong?
Thirst by Katrina Kuntsmann - 5 - A one-pager with a walk in the desert. Maybe it doesn't have a lot to say, but it says what it says, dammit.
Artist's Gallery by Skinner - 8 - Skinner also did an alternate cover for this issue, which I will likely only seen on the internet. I like the meticulous execution and striking coloration in most of this stuff. The "Wretched Whole" has Boschian hints, and there are some thought-provoking posters.
DTOX by Frank Forte and Nenad Gucunja - 7 - Fighting mutant perverts in a toxic wasteland, the title character picks up a fellow traveler. The story's pretty simple, but with some fun, and it's nice to look at and read. I recalled an entry of DTOX in the mag, so I looked it up, December 2009, same creators. I was very interested to see that the story here in #277 appears to precede the entry in 2009! (inasmuch as there's any storyline anyway). Six years, eight if you count that the 2009 entry is dated 2007! I'm quite amused by this, even though any kind of creative license by Mr Forte and Mr Gucunja, or me completely missing the point, could easily explain it. Likewise the panel of a view of DTOX in the DTank in #277 here on the 4th page of the story, is identical to the second panel of the 2009 story (unless it's one of those "find the difference" comics). So I didn't add any points to my rating, but looking this up and finding this out was the most fun I had with this whole issue.
Mary Lou by Craig Wilson - 5 - It says from 2012. A couple thugs assault a farmstead, but get more than they expected from the farm girls. The art looked ok, and there's some pretty good action. I didn't care for the storytelling so much, its look at sexual assault and family secrets gave me the creeps.
Caveat Emptor by Kevin Colden - 5 - A girl makes a deal with the devil, no idea why. Here the art is less precise but expressive, but in this one the way the story depicts extreme abuse is so extreme, that it's easier to see it artistically. But I really didn't get the ending....
Beware of Dog by Rebnor - 6 - a two pager of a girl and her dog. Another girl threatened by mutants in a urban wasteland. The best part is the contrast in styles of the two pages, first busy and wordy, second a single image.
Monkey Business by R.S. Rhine and David Hartman - 3 - A carnival monkey grinder is an excuse for more gore-filled victimization, and little else.
Zombie Chef by Jason Paulos - 5 - ok looking black and white art, the story has humans in a cooking contest to please a zombie chief, for their lives. A couple bits of wit, like a cooking contest to please a zombie chief, who has slave girls by the way, enhance my interest. Slightly.
Brutalitie' by Daniel Bradford and Owen Mackinder - 6 - Nicely composed and executed, this looks good. A man's tortured dreams drive him to action. The story is insightful in its depiction of madness, though it uses it for shock value rather than edification.
Artist's Studio by Christopher Ulrich - 7 - Well executed portraits and scenes in a classical style. Some western mythology, and a sprinkle of eastern, add to the artist's imaginative depictions. Indeed there looks like more Bosch inspiration here than even in Mr Skinner's entries in this issue.
Ascension of the Black Death by David Zuzelo and William Broad - 7 - The story of a seeker revealing her true, monstrous form, gaining her muse's faith and an army of the undead, is satisfying enough to enhance the otherwise serviceable art. Otherwise it would be just another zombie story.
A final ad for Lord of Light posters is followed by a back cover by Steve Seeley titled Krampus. A three eyed goat with a satyr-ette is cool enough, but one of the goat's horns is wonked up with the shadows and earring, and my annoyance diminishes my appreciation.
So another Forte entry is again an ok issue, though there's a touch more depth and substance overall here. I'm looking forward to the next issue, pretty soon here, since I again took weeks to put this review together.
Cover by Luis Royo - 7 - If you're going to have a pinup cover, it might as well be a Royo. While his depictions are second to none in ridiculous getups, they can always be counted on for a pretty girl and fantastic execution. The hair, the beads, the frayed fabric details, always fun to look at. There was even a news feature on the HM website featuring Royo covers through the years. There is also a special edition cover available somewhere by Skinner, whose work is otherwise featured in this issue.
Inside, an ad for a Court of the Dead statue collection. Someone must buy this stuff, but I wouldn't. I don't get it.
There's also a cover spread painting of a witch by Aly Fell at the contents page, looks nice.
Next, an ad for Frank Forte Fine Art limited edition silk screen and giclee prints. I guess if you're the guest editor you get to have an ad.
The Transaction by Frank Forte and Silvester Song - 6 - A slightly interesting premise of an intergalactic con, and cool graphic style (it's a bit Giger-ish) are muddied by some overly busy scenes that obscure rather than enhance the action. I also wonder why this was credited as translated by Chris Song, did Mr Forte originally write it in something other than English?
Dirt by Steve Mannion and Liezl Buenaventura - 7 - Space dirt prospectors with an old-school HM look, not too much for a story but I liked looking at it. The stubby spaceships made me think of Sunpot by Vaughn Bode from the first editions of HM in the 70s. Credited as a Fearless Dawn story, Mr Mannion also had an entry in HM#271, though oddly his name is misspelled in the HM website cover gallery for that one so it was hard to find.
A Halloween Wedding by Ben Olson - 6 - a knob crashes a mutant wedding. The artwork is quite nice, and there's funny writing, that made me wish I liked it more. The creator shows some good ability and technique. As it is, the busy layout and word balloons and *sword sounds* were kind of distracting.
Ship of Ghouls by Dwayne Harris - 7 - While this one also has a busy layout and word balloons all over, and the art is perhaps less refined than the previous story, though really good, I liked this one a bit more. A more interesting premise to the story, even if it is another zombies in space yarn. The unlikely spacesuit undergarment was fun, but I really thought the headset was cool. It looked like a design that could actually work. I won't be too surprised if I see something like that in a number of years.
The 49th Key Part 5 by Erika Lewis, J.K. Woodward, Deron Bennett - 5 - I still have a hard time enjoying reading this screenplay, and the art has just a couple glints of excitement in its otherwise bland execution, but at least there's something developing in the story. A museum heist with disguises and inside help? What could go wrong?
Thirst by Katrina Kuntsmann - 5 - A one-pager with a walk in the desert. Maybe it doesn't have a lot to say, but it says what it says, dammit.
Artist's Gallery by Skinner - 8 - Skinner also did an alternate cover for this issue, which I will likely only seen on the internet. I like the meticulous execution and striking coloration in most of this stuff. The "Wretched Whole" has Boschian hints, and there are some thought-provoking posters.
DTOX by Frank Forte and Nenad Gucunja - 7 - Fighting mutant perverts in a toxic wasteland, the title character picks up a fellow traveler. The story's pretty simple, but with some fun, and it's nice to look at and read. I recalled an entry of DTOX in the mag, so I looked it up, December 2009, same creators. I was very interested to see that the story here in #277 appears to precede the entry in 2009! (inasmuch as there's any storyline anyway). Six years, eight if you count that the 2009 entry is dated 2007! I'm quite amused by this, even though any kind of creative license by Mr Forte and Mr Gucunja, or me completely missing the point, could easily explain it. Likewise the panel of a view of DTOX in the DTank in #277 here on the 4th page of the story, is identical to the second panel of the 2009 story (unless it's one of those "find the difference" comics). So I didn't add any points to my rating, but looking this up and finding this out was the most fun I had with this whole issue.
Mary Lou by Craig Wilson - 5 - It says from 2012. A couple thugs assault a farmstead, but get more than they expected from the farm girls. The art looked ok, and there's some pretty good action. I didn't care for the storytelling so much, its look at sexual assault and family secrets gave me the creeps.
Caveat Emptor by Kevin Colden - 5 - A girl makes a deal with the devil, no idea why. Here the art is less precise but expressive, but in this one the way the story depicts extreme abuse is so extreme, that it's easier to see it artistically. But I really didn't get the ending....
Beware of Dog by Rebnor - 6 - a two pager of a girl and her dog. Another girl threatened by mutants in a urban wasteland. The best part is the contrast in styles of the two pages, first busy and wordy, second a single image.
Monkey Business by R.S. Rhine and David Hartman - 3 - A carnival monkey grinder is an excuse for more gore-filled victimization, and little else.
Zombie Chef by Jason Paulos - 5 - ok looking black and white art, the story has humans in a cooking contest to please a zombie chief, for their lives. A couple bits of wit, like a cooking contest to please a zombie chief, who has slave girls by the way, enhance my interest. Slightly.
Brutalitie' by Daniel Bradford and Owen Mackinder - 6 - Nicely composed and executed, this looks good. A man's tortured dreams drive him to action. The story is insightful in its depiction of madness, though it uses it for shock value rather than edification.
Artist's Studio by Christopher Ulrich - 7 - Well executed portraits and scenes in a classical style. Some western mythology, and a sprinkle of eastern, add to the artist's imaginative depictions. Indeed there looks like more Bosch inspiration here than even in Mr Skinner's entries in this issue.
Ascension of the Black Death by David Zuzelo and William Broad - 7 - The story of a seeker revealing her true, monstrous form, gaining her muse's faith and an army of the undead, is satisfying enough to enhance the otherwise serviceable art. Otherwise it would be just another zombie story.
A final ad for Lord of Light posters is followed by a back cover by Steve Seeley titled Krampus. A three eyed goat with a satyr-ette is cool enough, but one of the goat's horns is wonked up with the shadows and earring, and my annoyance diminishes my appreciation.
So another Forte entry is again an ok issue, though there's a touch more depth and substance overall here. I'm looking forward to the next issue, pretty soon here, since I again took weeks to put this review together.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Kranburn
Ben Michael Byrne put up some new Kranburn, 6 pages this time, first update in almost two months, see the link on my Links page. They're not for the squeamish.
On the last page, he adds a comment explaining his delays. It seems he's a forgetful chap, he's busy, and it appears old injuries and medications are making drawing not fun anymore for him. This partly makes sense, since he keeps busy with other stuff as well (Job Dun, NSEW), but there's also dozens of pages done and printed already (I bought the books) beyond what has been posted on the webcomic, so there's plenty of material for the near term. I'm not complaining about a free webcomic (unlike some of the knuckleheads commenting on the webcomic) but I'll admit I wish someone could help him keep the Kranburn webcomic moving.
As it is, he mentions that FEC comics has suggested another artist could pick up his stories. I dunno, they're no better at updating their web presence, and it wouldn't be the same, but Mr Byrne's writing and storytelling is good, so continuing to get that part would be better than none at all.
So here's wishing Mr Byrne all the best life has to offer, and some thanks for what he has freely given us, and my hope that Kranburn can be continued (on its long, torturous path) to completion.
On the last page, he adds a comment explaining his delays. It seems he's a forgetful chap, he's busy, and it appears old injuries and medications are making drawing not fun anymore for him. This partly makes sense, since he keeps busy with other stuff as well (Job Dun, NSEW), but there's also dozens of pages done and printed already (I bought the books) beyond what has been posted on the webcomic, so there's plenty of material for the near term. I'm not complaining about a free webcomic (unlike some of the knuckleheads commenting on the webcomic) but I'll admit I wish someone could help him keep the Kranburn webcomic moving.
As it is, he mentions that FEC comics has suggested another artist could pick up his stories. I dunno, they're no better at updating their web presence, and it wouldn't be the same, but Mr Byrne's writing and storytelling is good, so continuing to get that part would be better than none at all.
So here's wishing Mr Byrne all the best life has to offer, and some thanks for what he has freely given us, and my hope that Kranburn can be continued (on its long, torturous path) to completion.
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