It took me a while to find out, since I'm bad at the internet, but Ben Michael Byrne has rejuvenated Kranburn:
https://twitter.com/BenMichaelByrne
http://kranburn.smackjeeves.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/279062036268017/
Terrific news for those of us who were saddened by its disappearance years ago.
https://fredshmfanblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/whither-kranburn.html
Thanks to Mr Bryne from me, and all the others who really liked this, for making this available again.
I haven't seen anything about new work, but I'll hope the alarmingly prolific Mr Byrne will find the time to do the work, and that somehow Brand survives the leap off the burning building at the end of #10. There was so much going on in this story that could be explored, and I hope we get to see some of it.
I also hope he finds a way to sell those reprints, and with luck some new ones, in a way that I can find and get sent halfway across this modern world. When you find out how, go buy his stuff.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018
The Heart
The Heart is a story by Attila Kiss, and Marie Philippova, and Greg Woronchak (with "German Assistance" by The4thPip), published by Scattered Comics in Movie Massacre #2. Link: http://scatteredcomics.com/?page_id=5184
As I've mentioned, I knew Attila Kiss as Intone Flux from the old HM website forum, and I have reviewed his Blues Ratz #1, Blues Ratz #2, and Blue Ratz #3 previously.
I saved The Heart for a review until now. Not only because it takes me forever to do anything, but also because it was the one that felt more like a Heavy Metal magazine story, with compelling, sometimes gruesome art, and a dark and murky fantastical story, more on the adult side of the comic spectrum.
The Heart is a story of two stories, one of medieval-times bandits and one of twentieth century nazi occultism. They are tied together loosely by the narrative, and they also use two different artists, so there is contrast as well as continuity. A cave serves as hideout for murderous highwaymen in the first part, and later as the site of Moloch-worshipping ritual sacrifice, which (spoiler) is undone by the frail strength of its victims' humanity.
Greg Woronchak, who also did the art for Blues Ratz, shows a different style for the first portion of The Heart, and it suits the story well, straightforward but dynamic. The "vignette" page layout (I think that's the right word) frames the images and adds to the storytelling. Marie Philippova did colors for this first part, and also does the second part, in a different but complementary style, likewise engaging and enhancing the storytelling, showing the terrible attraction of arcane ritual in the service of evil. The art is the most enjoyable part of this work to me.
Followed closely by the story. Attila Kiss' style comes through, rich and descriptive, sometimes florid, sometimes clever, keeping the reader on their toes by making them work to keep up. The leap between the parts is broad, with little apparent to connect them, but enough to make this a whole story. The story of evil across generations and a brief triumph of compassion, finds disparate points in humans' broad capacity for experience.
If you're like me, with a fondness for exploration of humanity's extremes, with exciting and stomach-turning (and sexy! even) graphic art depictions, The Heart is for you. Go do yourself and Attila Kiss and his cronies a favor and check this out.
As I've mentioned, I knew Attila Kiss as Intone Flux from the old HM website forum, and I have reviewed his Blues Ratz #1, Blues Ratz #2, and Blue Ratz #3 previously.
I saved The Heart for a review until now. Not only because it takes me forever to do anything, but also because it was the one that felt more like a Heavy Metal magazine story, with compelling, sometimes gruesome art, and a dark and murky fantastical story, more on the adult side of the comic spectrum.
The Heart is a story of two stories, one of medieval-times bandits and one of twentieth century nazi occultism. They are tied together loosely by the narrative, and they also use two different artists, so there is contrast as well as continuity. A cave serves as hideout for murderous highwaymen in the first part, and later as the site of Moloch-worshipping ritual sacrifice, which (spoiler) is undone by the frail strength of its victims' humanity.
Greg Woronchak, who also did the art for Blues Ratz, shows a different style for the first portion of The Heart, and it suits the story well, straightforward but dynamic. The "vignette" page layout (I think that's the right word) frames the images and adds to the storytelling. Marie Philippova did colors for this first part, and also does the second part, in a different but complementary style, likewise engaging and enhancing the storytelling, showing the terrible attraction of arcane ritual in the service of evil. The art is the most enjoyable part of this work to me.
Followed closely by the story. Attila Kiss' style comes through, rich and descriptive, sometimes florid, sometimes clever, keeping the reader on their toes by making them work to keep up. The leap between the parts is broad, with little apparent to connect them, but enough to make this a whole story. The story of evil across generations and a brief triumph of compassion, finds disparate points in humans' broad capacity for experience.
If you're like me, with a fondness for exploration of humanity's extremes, with exciting and stomach-turning (and sexy! even) graphic art depictions, The Heart is for you. Go do yourself and Attila Kiss and his cronies a favor and check this out.
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Nash the Slash
Nash the Slash was a musician in the late 70s & 80s, who played electronically enhanced violin or mandolin or maybe something else, with lots of effects and synthy things, solo or with others. He played wrapped with bandages and in dark shades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_the_Slash
He passed away a few years ago. But his music lives on:
http://nashtheslash.com/
I first learned of Nash the Slash, in Heavy Metal Magazine. In the February 1980 issue, which had what is certainly one of the coolest HM magazine covers of all time:
Just a few years into its existence, the mag was trying to elbow its way into a place in the popular culture, and was just starting to put out a group of articles about music and movies and books and art etc. It wasn't Dossier yet, that was about a year later, but Ted White started his time as editor in January and the articles are something he brought on. Lou Stathis and Jay Kinney and Bhob Stewart are some of the names that would become familiar to readers in the coming issues.
Ted White wrote this about Nash the Slash:
It caught my eye, enough so that about a year later, I saw this in the record store (where one had to go to buy music back in those days):
It must have meant something to me to spend $2.75 on a single, at a time I'd spend just a few bucks on a record from the cutout box, and even HM magazine was $2 (it went from the original $1.50 cover price just by then). I kept it all this time, I've even played it a couple times within the past decade. I liked it a lot, the funny and rippin' cover of Dead Man's Curve, and the driving noises of Reactor No. 2. I got a bit of influence on my musical tastes from the music reviews in HM, but Nash the Slash was the one time I actually bought some music directly because of reading about it in the mag. It was cool and obscure, but I didn't seek out any more, and I didn't hear anything else about Nash the Slash after then.
But more recently, I came across a slew of Nash the Slash CDs in a resale shop. I gleefully snapped them up:
It was a lot of fun finding one, then the others, on that bottom shelf. There's lots of cool stuff on them. "Children" has Dead Man's Curve and Reactor No. 2 on it, yay I can play it in my car. There's a soundtrack for Nosferatu, the silent horror movie, and I enjoyed that. I liked a lot of the other stuff, some more than others of course. I'm good with metallic fuzzy noises and Mr Slash showed some ability and creativity in this pile of work. There a few tracks that are replayed at different speeds for different effect, kinda neat. I won't play music critic, but it's been great to find some tunes that are right up my alley, as well as great to chance upon this from a Heavy Metal Personal History perspective.
So I really enjoyed finding these CDs, and finding the article in my old mag, and putting together this post. So much fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_the_Slash
He passed away a few years ago. But his music lives on:
http://nashtheslash.com/
I first learned of Nash the Slash, in Heavy Metal Magazine. In the February 1980 issue, which had what is certainly one of the coolest HM magazine covers of all time:
Just a few years into its existence, the mag was trying to elbow its way into a place in the popular culture, and was just starting to put out a group of articles about music and movies and books and art etc. It wasn't Dossier yet, that was about a year later, but Ted White started his time as editor in January and the articles are something he brought on. Lou Stathis and Jay Kinney and Bhob Stewart are some of the names that would become familiar to readers in the coming issues.
Ted White wrote this about Nash the Slash:
It caught my eye, enough so that about a year later, I saw this in the record store (where one had to go to buy music back in those days):
It must have meant something to me to spend $2.75 on a single, at a time I'd spend just a few bucks on a record from the cutout box, and even HM magazine was $2 (it went from the original $1.50 cover price just by then). I kept it all this time, I've even played it a couple times within the past decade. I liked it a lot, the funny and rippin' cover of Dead Man's Curve, and the driving noises of Reactor No. 2. I got a bit of influence on my musical tastes from the music reviews in HM, but Nash the Slash was the one time I actually bought some music directly because of reading about it in the mag. It was cool and obscure, but I didn't seek out any more, and I didn't hear anything else about Nash the Slash after then.
But more recently, I came across a slew of Nash the Slash CDs in a resale shop. I gleefully snapped them up:
It was a lot of fun finding one, then the others, on that bottom shelf. There's lots of cool stuff on them. "Children" has Dead Man's Curve and Reactor No. 2 on it, yay I can play it in my car. There's a soundtrack for Nosferatu, the silent horror movie, and I enjoyed that. I liked a lot of the other stuff, some more than others of course. I'm good with metallic fuzzy noises and Mr Slash showed some ability and creativity in this pile of work. There a few tracks that are replayed at different speeds for different effect, kinda neat. I won't play music critic, but it's been great to find some tunes that are right up my alley, as well as great to chance upon this from a Heavy Metal Personal History perspective.
So I really enjoyed finding these CDs, and finding the article in my old mag, and putting together this post. So much fun.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Interwebs
So, being about a bazillion years old, of course I'm bad at the internet. I got to do computer work in school in the mid and late 70s (meaning carrying around paper rolls and cards with holes punched in them, and printouts of results), played Amiga video games in the 80s (DeathSword!) and had home computers from the late 90s (dial up internet anyone?), and have been doing this blog for almost 10 years. But none of that ever helps me keep up with where the cool kids hang out.
Actually getting up off my lazy butt and looking, helped me find that Heavy Metal still has an active internet prescence, on Igram, and is also more active on Tmblr. That's a bit more encouraging than the dormant state of the HM website and the relatively low activity at their Fbook or Twiddler. By the way, the youtube linked on the HM website exists, though nothing new has been added since the Eastman era, but the older one with the Eyebrow Tuna videos is still up too (that I noted here). I bet there's other stuff out there I don't know about.
All this takes me back to the early days of Heavy Metal on the internet, and the forum that led to my little blog, full of Eastman promises and early troll dumbfuckery, as well as adding depth and breadth to my HM worldviews.
So it's nice to know someone is still trying to keep HM on the internet, and I hope they get some help soon.
Actually getting up off my lazy butt and looking, helped me find that Heavy Metal still has an active internet prescence, on Igram, and is also more active on Tmblr. That's a bit more encouraging than the dormant state of the HM website and the relatively low activity at their Fbook or Twiddler. By the way, the youtube linked on the HM website exists, though nothing new has been added since the Eastman era, but the older one with the Eyebrow Tuna videos is still up too (that I noted here). I bet there's other stuff out there I don't know about.
All this takes me back to the early days of Heavy Metal on the internet, and the forum that led to my little blog, full of Eastman promises and early troll dumbfuckery, as well as adding depth and breadth to my HM worldviews.
So it's nice to know someone is still trying to keep HM on the internet, and I hope they get some help soon.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Blues Ratz #3
Blues Ratz #3 written by Attila Kiss and with art by Greg Woronchak, and the cover coloring credited to Matheus Bronca, is the ending installment of the story of the Gekimo brothers, and their struggles with the Blues. I previously reviewed the preceding stories, Blues Ratz #1 and Blues Ratz #2.
#2 ended with the brothers and their cousin pledging war against the mob. #3 starts with Bob the elder waking from the dream of his life, alone aboard a landed plane, which he promptly falls out of. His brothers and cousin meanwhile, proceed with their plans, first in a flashback with their partners in the botched drug deal, where the cousin uses his Canadian-ness to win a bet. Then the other brothers execute the other parts of the plan, taking on mob bosses in London and Italy, almost single-handedly I might add. Then follows Bob's wedding to the madam, and they could all live happily ever after, but instead they get back to their band, rocketing to the charts and playing Wembley, with help from their cousin, who brings in relatives from the old country to bring scandal and publicity. Finally the cousin is shipped back to Canada, less than willingly, for a humorous conclusion.
Like #s 1 and 2, Blues Ratz #3 is quite fanciful, taking leaps in logic and storytelling, flying through without stopping to catch your breath, dropping clever bits here and there. The art continues to hold up its end of the bargain, even picking up the pace with action and some rather gruesome scenes during the mob battles. If I had to choose, I might say I enjoyed #2 the most, as far as its cohesiveness seemed a bit stronger, but they are all comparable and work well to tell their tales in a similar manner, making up a story with plenty to offer and lots of fun in the telling.
Again, while I would not have sought this out on my own, thanks to Attila Kiss for bringing these to me and for the opportunity to look at something new and click out some words about it. Best of luck to Attila Kiss and Greg Woronchak on success with this and their future endeavours. Soon I'll review The Heart by Mr Kiss and others, something that was a bit closer to my HM interests, and at least as fun as reading about The Blues Ratz. Be sure to look these up and by all means spend a few bucks on them to support independent comics.
Here's Attila Kiss's store:
https://www.comixcentral.com/vendors/a-kiss-store/
And here's Scattered Comics':
http://scatteredcomics.com/?page_id=6470
#2 ended with the brothers and their cousin pledging war against the mob. #3 starts with Bob the elder waking from the dream of his life, alone aboard a landed plane, which he promptly falls out of. His brothers and cousin meanwhile, proceed with their plans, first in a flashback with their partners in the botched drug deal, where the cousin uses his Canadian-ness to win a bet. Then the other brothers execute the other parts of the plan, taking on mob bosses in London and Italy, almost single-handedly I might add. Then follows Bob's wedding to the madam, and they could all live happily ever after, but instead they get back to their band, rocketing to the charts and playing Wembley, with help from their cousin, who brings in relatives from the old country to bring scandal and publicity. Finally the cousin is shipped back to Canada, less than willingly, for a humorous conclusion.
Like #s 1 and 2, Blues Ratz #3 is quite fanciful, taking leaps in logic and storytelling, flying through without stopping to catch your breath, dropping clever bits here and there. The art continues to hold up its end of the bargain, even picking up the pace with action and some rather gruesome scenes during the mob battles. If I had to choose, I might say I enjoyed #2 the most, as far as its cohesiveness seemed a bit stronger, but they are all comparable and work well to tell their tales in a similar manner, making up a story with plenty to offer and lots of fun in the telling.
Again, while I would not have sought this out on my own, thanks to Attila Kiss for bringing these to me and for the opportunity to look at something new and click out some words about it. Best of luck to Attila Kiss and Greg Woronchak on success with this and their future endeavours. Soon I'll review The Heart by Mr Kiss and others, something that was a bit closer to my HM interests, and at least as fun as reading about The Blues Ratz. Be sure to look these up and by all means spend a few bucks on them to support independent comics.
Here's Attila Kiss's store:
https://www.comixcentral.com/vendors/a-kiss-store/
And here's Scattered Comics':
http://scatteredcomics.com/?page_id=6470
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Blues Ratz #2
After a couple other things I wrote about (and my usual slackitude, sorry) it's back to Attila Kiss' Blues Ratz. I described how I know Attila Kiss from the old HM website forums and how he alerted me to his recent work in this post, and I reviewed the first installment of Blues Ratz here. Now I'll review the second installment Blues Ratz #2, and he's already sent Blues Ratz #3 to me, so that will follow.
To recap, in Blues Ratz #1, the three Gekimo brothers are seeking help for their oldest brother who has the "Blues", a debilitating obsession, with the help of their Canadian cousin. After multiple mishaps and incarcerations, and the other brothers catching their versions of the Blues, they are offered help by the thug who killed their father.
Here in #2, we find the "help" involves running contraband across Europe for the thug. Given a car and its contents and instructions, they immediately proceed to screw it all up. Ditching their Canadian cousin, the obsessed brothers careen from lewd behavior to drug deals gone bad to bribery, with their cousin trying desparately to follow, to end up at a brothel. During which they address their Blues, and get back to "normal", which involves declaring war on the mob...
Blues Ratz #2 plows along the same path blazed by Blues Ratz #1. The storytelling takes a convoluted but direct line, running, juking, stumbling sometimes, but always moving ahead. Some jokes work better than others, and some are really funny, but it never stops. The art is energetic and demonstrative, informative and often entertaining. There are some interesting effects, like the yellow voice balloons with the not-so-pale blue shading for most of it, that can be dark but lets unshaded parts contrast, and the weird metallic shading on the last panel. It's not what I usually seek out, but thanks to Mr Kiss for helping me look out from beneath the rock I live under.
I like it. There's more enjoyment of a neat expression, or panel execution, or clever phrase, than annoyment or perplexed head-scratching. It's a fun read, made more fun for me by my acquaintance with one of the creators.
He has Blue Ratz #2, and the other Blues Ratz stories right here:
https://www.comixcentral.com/vendors/a-kiss-store/
Blue Ratz #3 is out as well, and my review is coming right up (umm, when I get around to it, like usual). Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!
To recap, in Blues Ratz #1, the three Gekimo brothers are seeking help for their oldest brother who has the "Blues", a debilitating obsession, with the help of their Canadian cousin. After multiple mishaps and incarcerations, and the other brothers catching their versions of the Blues, they are offered help by the thug who killed their father.
Here in #2, we find the "help" involves running contraband across Europe for the thug. Given a car and its contents and instructions, they immediately proceed to screw it all up. Ditching their Canadian cousin, the obsessed brothers careen from lewd behavior to drug deals gone bad to bribery, with their cousin trying desparately to follow, to end up at a brothel. During which they address their Blues, and get back to "normal", which involves declaring war on the mob...
Blues Ratz #2 plows along the same path blazed by Blues Ratz #1. The storytelling takes a convoluted but direct line, running, juking, stumbling sometimes, but always moving ahead. Some jokes work better than others, and some are really funny, but it never stops. The art is energetic and demonstrative, informative and often entertaining. There are some interesting effects, like the yellow voice balloons with the not-so-pale blue shading for most of it, that can be dark but lets unshaded parts contrast, and the weird metallic shading on the last panel. It's not what I usually seek out, but thanks to Mr Kiss for helping me look out from beneath the rock I live under.
I like it. There's more enjoyment of a neat expression, or panel execution, or clever phrase, than annoyment or perplexed head-scratching. It's a fun read, made more fun for me by my acquaintance with one of the creators.
He has Blue Ratz #2, and the other Blues Ratz stories right here:
https://www.comixcentral.com/vendors/a-kiss-store/
Blue Ratz #3 is out as well, and my review is coming right up (umm, when I get around to it, like usual). Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Heavy Metal # 290
This is the Deadly Special. I got the cover "A" at the bookstore, with "Hydra" by Dan Quintana, which I liked, with the three faces similar but unique, and the wrinkled gold look of the logo, so I'll give it a 7.
The other covers are noted on the contents page, but not shown, so I would have had to see them on one of their media feeds, but I don't remember that. I looked at the HM shopping page, (where I got the image for "A") and saw the covers "B" and "C", but not the "D". I'm not much of a fan of the multiple covers thing anyway.
I'll pause here for a moment to moan about the HM website. I've had snarky complaint about it before, but it existed and made improvements and helped me out over time, even through the transition across the Eastman to Morrison eras. But it's been months since it's been touched, anywhere I could see, and I lament the stagnation of the Cover Gallery for the last couple years. The Cover Gallery is especially missed. For me it complemented Lostboy's Heavy Metal Magazine Fanpage and its Magazine List as a reference, and it picked up the slack for a while when Lostboy stopped doing updates (and thanks Lostboy for keeping your site up still), to help me enjoy my little HM thing of reading all of them and the growing endless chances of connections of stories and creators.
But it's been a while. I know the media landscape is dynamic, and nothing lasts forever in this world, and stuff happens. For me it's worrisome to think how much this reflects on the status of the operation, along with the paltry nature of their media feeds, and this being only the second issue this year. It makes me think "what's going on?" Fortunately it's not about me (except for this blog, this is about me) and maybe things are just cruising merrily along as one does in these times, producing a mag that I have quite enjoyed for the most part for the past few years.
So, done with whining for now, on to the mag. Inside the front cover is an ad for the Taarna books, which may be interesting if I ever come across them. They should really have more of this in the mag to promote it. The contents page has a novel bit of art, with a collage of scenes from inside the mag in a skull motif, that seems uncredited. There's a Justin Mohlman listed as a Contributing Editor, and that Jett Lucas guy is still there as Creative Executive. Mr Morrison's editorial finds the humorous path meandering among the stories in no particular order, describing their miserable and/or fanciful deaths.
"Queen of the Crawlers" by Vincent Kings - 6 - prefaced as "an atomic fairy tale". Starting "In the end, there was no one but the woman..." she is shown burying a skeleton with a bashed-in skull. We are left to speculate the cause of her solitude with only few clues, but she soon takes to training the Crawlers, insects that resemble giant hissing cockroaches, building their short-lived generations into powerful civilizations in their own right, until her own end. While I thought the concept could possibly been told as a more engaging story, there are several aspects that impress. Painting the pages must have been time-consuming, and left me with less detail than I may have liked, but it had some really nice effects, like mottled shadows through her tattered shawl, and the radiant glow fitting the sentiment when "She felt a parent's pride in beng surpassed by her children." Overall much to like.
"The Savage Sword of Jesus Christ" Part 2 by Grant Morrison & the Molen Brothers - 6 - There's some sophomoric sarcastic fun to be had, and I am curious how the Jesus Christ - Superhero movie concept by and for Hitler, will turn out, since it is "to be continued."
"Murky World" Part 3 by Richard Corben - 7 - Our dimwitted hero Tugat stumbles from saving an escaped slave to mourning his master's death to being enslaved himself. The story seems to imply nefarious doings beneath the surface, and the strangely morphing proportions in the art, make me even more confused than usual. But I am still enjoying the lovely Corben-ness of the thing, and the mere fact of having more of his stuff in the mag at this time in its history.
"The Door" Chapter 2 by Esau Escorza & Michael Moreci - 7 - Our young protagonist keeps up her search for herself in the confusing world not of her making. Some introspective dialog and nice looking and perhaps a bit less pervy, this may go somewhere, or may just go in more circles.
"Edbook" by Irvine Welsh & Dan McDaid - 7 - A killer reminisces. The story is mostly about how his childhood survival of an attempted murder-suicide made him the man he is today. A big feature that is maybe even noir, the art is stark but not detailed, and the story considers human nature and mental illness, in a similar fashion. Are they not the same?
"Near Death Experience" by John Bivens - 6 - An addict wakes up in what must be a seedy drug den, since there's a poster peeling off the wall that says "Heavy Metal" on it. She flees a hallucination, only to see more, little green anthropods, that seem attracted to death. Death that surrounds her.
Dotty's Inferno "The Ex" by Bob Fingerman - 7 - Love and romance and fascism in the 2nd Circle of Hell. Actually pretty fun, and maybe part of a series. And I'll admit I like seeing some dicks hanging around with the tits and butts, a whiff of the old days of the mag, and a bit more equal opportunity exploitation. Though erections are still hard to come by...
Artist Spotlight: Matt Bailey - 7 - with an interview by Rantz Hoseley. Some nice looking woodcut-like art, with skulls.
"The Color of Air" Part 7 by Enki Bilal - 8 - The characters come together, confused and disoriented. I feel the same way, I'm hardly making a bit of sense of it, and I'm so enjoying it. Compelling use of light and dark and color.
"Murder House" by James Harvey - 7 - After a murder is done in her house, woman builds an empire selling tours. Told briskly with lots of exposition, I enjoyed all the words and fine lines.
"Tohko" by Peach MoMoKo - 7 - Gruesome death, fantastic rebirth, ironic death. Pretty. Arty.
Gallery with Dan Quintana - 6 - With a brief interview by Rantz Hoseley. Some obviously nice work that doesn't excite me much.
"Lead Feet" by Tómas Wortley and Rodrigo Lujan - 7 - A guy jumps off cliffs, for fun. To try to fly. He's the last one that didn't fly away during "The Ascension". The art and storytelling are ok, and work well together, though I have misgivings about logical gaps and the somewhat gratuitous upskirt. Despite that there's enough emotional weight to be satisfying.
Gallery with Rob Prior - 6.5 - With an interview by the busy Rantz Hoseley. More obviously nice work that is maybe a little more exciting for me, with all the blood and/or fire. Though sometimes splattery or drippy paint seems to add the effect of literal gravity, when maybe it's trying be more kinetic? Hmmm. But it was amusing to see the first image titled "Jeff Krelitz's Dream". Hmmm again.
Inside the back cover is an ad for The 49th Key in a trade paperback, which I didn't enjoy when it was in the mag. The back cover is an ad for the Iron Maiden Legacy of the Beast games, which I will likely never see.
The other covers are noted on the contents page, but not shown, so I would have had to see them on one of their media feeds, but I don't remember that. I looked at the HM shopping page, (where I got the image for "A") and saw the covers "B" and "C", but not the "D". I'm not much of a fan of the multiple covers thing anyway.
I'll pause here for a moment to moan about the HM website. I've had snarky complaint about it before, but it existed and made improvements and helped me out over time, even through the transition across the Eastman to Morrison eras. But it's been months since it's been touched, anywhere I could see, and I lament the stagnation of the Cover Gallery for the last couple years. The Cover Gallery is especially missed. For me it complemented Lostboy's Heavy Metal Magazine Fanpage and its Magazine List as a reference, and it picked up the slack for a while when Lostboy stopped doing updates (and thanks Lostboy for keeping your site up still), to help me enjoy my little HM thing of reading all of them and the growing endless chances of connections of stories and creators.
But it's been a while. I know the media landscape is dynamic, and nothing lasts forever in this world, and stuff happens. For me it's worrisome to think how much this reflects on the status of the operation, along with the paltry nature of their media feeds, and this being only the second issue this year. It makes me think "what's going on?" Fortunately it's not about me (except for this blog, this is about me) and maybe things are just cruising merrily along as one does in these times, producing a mag that I have quite enjoyed for the most part for the past few years.
So, done with whining for now, on to the mag. Inside the front cover is an ad for the Taarna books, which may be interesting if I ever come across them. They should really have more of this in the mag to promote it. The contents page has a novel bit of art, with a collage of scenes from inside the mag in a skull motif, that seems uncredited. There's a Justin Mohlman listed as a Contributing Editor, and that Jett Lucas guy is still there as Creative Executive. Mr Morrison's editorial finds the humorous path meandering among the stories in no particular order, describing their miserable and/or fanciful deaths.
"Queen of the Crawlers" by Vincent Kings - 6 - prefaced as "an atomic fairy tale". Starting "In the end, there was no one but the woman..." she is shown burying a skeleton with a bashed-in skull. We are left to speculate the cause of her solitude with only few clues, but she soon takes to training the Crawlers, insects that resemble giant hissing cockroaches, building their short-lived generations into powerful civilizations in their own right, until her own end. While I thought the concept could possibly been told as a more engaging story, there are several aspects that impress. Painting the pages must have been time-consuming, and left me with less detail than I may have liked, but it had some really nice effects, like mottled shadows through her tattered shawl, and the radiant glow fitting the sentiment when "She felt a parent's pride in beng surpassed by her children." Overall much to like.
"The Savage Sword of Jesus Christ" Part 2 by Grant Morrison & the Molen Brothers - 6 - There's some sophomoric sarcastic fun to be had, and I am curious how the Jesus Christ - Superhero movie concept by and for Hitler, will turn out, since it is "to be continued."
"Murky World" Part 3 by Richard Corben - 7 - Our dimwitted hero Tugat stumbles from saving an escaped slave to mourning his master's death to being enslaved himself. The story seems to imply nefarious doings beneath the surface, and the strangely morphing proportions in the art, make me even more confused than usual. But I am still enjoying the lovely Corben-ness of the thing, and the mere fact of having more of his stuff in the mag at this time in its history.
"The Door" Chapter 2 by Esau Escorza & Michael Moreci - 7 - Our young protagonist keeps up her search for herself in the confusing world not of her making. Some introspective dialog and nice looking and perhaps a bit less pervy, this may go somewhere, or may just go in more circles.
"Edbook" by Irvine Welsh & Dan McDaid - 7 - A killer reminisces. The story is mostly about how his childhood survival of an attempted murder-suicide made him the man he is today. A big feature that is maybe even noir, the art is stark but not detailed, and the story considers human nature and mental illness, in a similar fashion. Are they not the same?
"Near Death Experience" by John Bivens - 6 - An addict wakes up in what must be a seedy drug den, since there's a poster peeling off the wall that says "Heavy Metal" on it. She flees a hallucination, only to see more, little green anthropods, that seem attracted to death. Death that surrounds her.
Dotty's Inferno "The Ex" by Bob Fingerman - 7 - Love and romance and fascism in the 2nd Circle of Hell. Actually pretty fun, and maybe part of a series. And I'll admit I like seeing some dicks hanging around with the tits and butts, a whiff of the old days of the mag, and a bit more equal opportunity exploitation. Though erections are still hard to come by...
Artist Spotlight: Matt Bailey - 7 - with an interview by Rantz Hoseley. Some nice looking woodcut-like art, with skulls.
"The Color of Air" Part 7 by Enki Bilal - 8 - The characters come together, confused and disoriented. I feel the same way, I'm hardly making a bit of sense of it, and I'm so enjoying it. Compelling use of light and dark and color.
"Murder House" by James Harvey - 7 - After a murder is done in her house, woman builds an empire selling tours. Told briskly with lots of exposition, I enjoyed all the words and fine lines.
"Tohko" by Peach MoMoKo - 7 - Gruesome death, fantastic rebirth, ironic death. Pretty. Arty.
Gallery with Dan Quintana - 6 - With a brief interview by Rantz Hoseley. Some obviously nice work that doesn't excite me much.
"Lead Feet" by Tómas Wortley and Rodrigo Lujan - 7 - A guy jumps off cliffs, for fun. To try to fly. He's the last one that didn't fly away during "The Ascension". The art and storytelling are ok, and work well together, though I have misgivings about logical gaps and the somewhat gratuitous upskirt. Despite that there's enough emotional weight to be satisfying.
Gallery with Rob Prior - 6.5 - With an interview by the busy Rantz Hoseley. More obviously nice work that is maybe a little more exciting for me, with all the blood and/or fire. Though sometimes splattery or drippy paint seems to add the effect of literal gravity, when maybe it's trying be more kinetic? Hmmm. But it was amusing to see the first image titled "Jeff Krelitz's Dream". Hmmm again.
Inside the back cover is an ad for The 49th Key in a trade paperback, which I didn't enjoy when it was in the mag. The back cover is an ad for the Iron Maiden Legacy of the Beast games, which I will likely never see.
Saturday, July 21, 2018
One Such Partner
One Such Partner is a story by Stoya and Dean Haspiel that was in #281, the Sex Issue. It fit the theme and I liked it mostly, but a little thing annoyed me about it. My review is here.
I found out that a guy says it's based on a true story about him. I have no reason to not believe it. He's known as Rev. Mitcz and the story is in two parts, https://revmitcz.com/story/stoya-part-1/ and https://revmitcz.com/story/stoya-part-2/. They're pretty fun reads.
Now before you start clicking on things, get to a safe place since they're pretty NSFW. I admit that's part of the fun, in a prurient way, but they descibe life in a world I'll never be, in a place that I mostly avoid. Kinda like HM, sometimes I like to pretend, but it ain't me. Seems to be him though, and her, and more power to them. Rev. Mitcz appears to be a comedian with an attitude I would have called punk in the 80s, and his writing evokes actual feelings in the midst of the mayhem. Similarly Stoya writes and speaks, as well as performs and acts, with what seems awareness and purpose. In fact they collaborate, https://zerospaces.com/. I can find things to admire in both of them.
While the stories themselves have much to find interesting, the bigger picture for me is finding stories about a story in Heavy Metal, and how it informs and even improves my view of the one in HM. That was fun.
I found out that a guy says it's based on a true story about him. I have no reason to not believe it. He's known as Rev. Mitcz and the story is in two parts, https://revmitcz.com/story/stoya-part-1/ and https://revmitcz.com/story/stoya-part-2/. They're pretty fun reads.
Now before you start clicking on things, get to a safe place since they're pretty NSFW. I admit that's part of the fun, in a prurient way, but they descibe life in a world I'll never be, in a place that I mostly avoid. Kinda like HM, sometimes I like to pretend, but it ain't me. Seems to be him though, and her, and more power to them. Rev. Mitcz appears to be a comedian with an attitude I would have called punk in the 80s, and his writing evokes actual feelings in the midst of the mayhem. Similarly Stoya writes and speaks, as well as performs and acts, with what seems awareness and purpose. In fact they collaborate, https://zerospaces.com/. I can find things to admire in both of them.
While the stories themselves have much to find interesting, the bigger picture for me is finding stories about a story in Heavy Metal, and how it informs and even improves my view of the one in HM. That was fun.
Monday, July 16, 2018
Blues Ratz #1
Blues Ratz #1 is a story about three brothers in a punk rock band, who live with their mom. It's by Attila Kiss and Greg Woronchak, and published by Scattered Comics. The band, the Punk Bratz, is struggling, as their drummer has "lost his rhythm", and the story gets complicated fast. The mom has recruited their Canadian cousin to manage the band, and bringing him up to speed is used to tell some backstory. She explains that her two older sons have the same name since their father was so drunk he forgot he used the second's name on the first. The oldest son, the rhythm-less drummer, has the "Hungarian Blues", an obsession that consumes the mind until it's satisfied. Their father had the "blues" too, his obsession was to see the Hungary soccer team beat England. And when it happened, he was killed for celebrating by his banned hooligan neighbor. And then it gets complicated....
Now, like I said, I'm not a big comics fan, and this isn't something I would normally review. But Attila Kiss, known to me as Intone Flux from the old HM forums, asked me to, and he sent me something else I'll get to later that I liked a bit more, so I agreed. While I found this work uneven, with some parts not very interesting to me, there were some things that I did like.
The characters are anthromorphic rats, and there's a reference to cats in their world, but otherwise it doesn't seem to have much relevance in the story. The art is nicely appropriate for a comic, and there are some flashback parts where the images are grayer and softer focus, which is effective but can be kind of murky and hinder the storytelling. The story itself has several interesting aspects, like past experiences defining characters' present actions, and some funky names, and it has an energetic pace that can be at once engaging and dizzying. The setting of a London punk band living with their mom, and the subtitle "Never mind the puberty, here's mid life crisis" is both a bit clever and sadly ironic. The gang tries several ways to cure "the blues" which don't work as intended, and require getting bailed out of jail more than once. This story ends with a surprise offer of help from someone in their past, and it's to be continued in #s 2 and 3.
So it was fun to read this, and nice of Attila Kiss to think of me and send it. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would enjoy it, and that may include some who come by here. So here's where to get it:
Now, like I said, I'm not a big comics fan, and this isn't something I would normally review. But Attila Kiss, known to me as Intone Flux from the old HM forums, asked me to, and he sent me something else I'll get to later that I liked a bit more, so I agreed. While I found this work uneven, with some parts not very interesting to me, there were some things that I did like.
The characters are anthromorphic rats, and there's a reference to cats in their world, but otherwise it doesn't seem to have much relevance in the story. The art is nicely appropriate for a comic, and there are some flashback parts where the images are grayer and softer focus, which is effective but can be kind of murky and hinder the storytelling. The story itself has several interesting aspects, like past experiences defining characters' present actions, and some funky names, and it has an energetic pace that can be at once engaging and dizzying. The setting of a London punk band living with their mom, and the subtitle "Never mind the puberty, here's mid life crisis" is both a bit clever and sadly ironic. The gang tries several ways to cure "the blues" which don't work as intended, and require getting bailed out of jail more than once. This story ends with a surprise offer of help from someone in their past, and it's to be continued in #s 2 and 3.
So it was fun to read this, and nice of Attila Kiss to think of me and send it. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would enjoy it, and that may include some who come by here. So here's where to get it:
Here is the publishers link to Blues Ratz:
Issue #1 available at:
DriveThruComics: http://www.
IndyPlanet: http://www.
Blues Ratz #2 Trailer:
Issue #2 available (for now only) at:
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Attila Kiss
Back in the late 00's when the Heavy Metal magazine web site had a forum, there was a participant who went by Intone Flux, who was active and prone to frequent comments and long posts on HM, and other topics that could be somewhat related (some were impressively long and supplemented with images and research), and who also started the idea of rating issues and their stories on a 1-10 scale. I joined in with some regularity, and some others also added to the mix. When they shut down the forums in 2011 (They suffered from inadequate moderation and multiple spam attacks, and pulled the plug instead of trying to save it.) I was so saddened and annoyed I started this little blog.
I liked IF's forum comments for the insights that were displayed, and despite the use of language that made me think English was not learned first, the fearless enthusiasm for the topics, related to HM or not. I enjoyed participating in a public opinion forum, and IF's reviews were a chance to join a conversation. Being a part of something like that, and missing it when it was gone, is why I do this now, so in some part I owe it to Intone Flux.
Since then, Intone Flux has commented here a few times, and contacted me about some other things, including work on actual comics. Indeed, he's outed himself as Attila Kiss, a contributor to a handful of published comic works. He's even asked me to review some of them, and I have once, it was in You Are Not Alone in January 2014. At the time, I hesitated to include a review of YANA, since it wasn't really HM related at all, but because it was such an important topic of resisting and surviving abuse, I agreed, and the post got a good deal of traffic for being on my puny and insignificant blog. I declined another time ("It's All in the Moon" in Grayhaven Comics "The Gathering"), but, undaunted, he's contacted me again, and this time I agreed to review a couple stories, since I quite liked one, and since I'm impressed enough with his determination and success of actually being published, to show him the respect of an honest review of the work.
So shortly I will put up reviews of The Heart, and Blues Ratz #1, from Scattered Comics, for your interpreting pleasure, and thank IF for thinking of me from those early days of the new millenium, so long ago. Until then, Attila Kiss exists elsewhere in cyberspace and beyond:
Attila Kiss Fbk
Attila Kiss Twtr
Scattered Comics Profile
I liked IF's forum comments for the insights that were displayed, and despite the use of language that made me think English was not learned first, the fearless enthusiasm for the topics, related to HM or not. I enjoyed participating in a public opinion forum, and IF's reviews were a chance to join a conversation. Being a part of something like that, and missing it when it was gone, is why I do this now, so in some part I owe it to Intone Flux.
Since then, Intone Flux has commented here a few times, and contacted me about some other things, including work on actual comics. Indeed, he's outed himself as Attila Kiss, a contributor to a handful of published comic works. He's even asked me to review some of them, and I have once, it was in You Are Not Alone in January 2014. At the time, I hesitated to include a review of YANA, since it wasn't really HM related at all, but because it was such an important topic of resisting and surviving abuse, I agreed, and the post got a good deal of traffic for being on my puny and insignificant blog. I declined another time ("It's All in the Moon" in Grayhaven Comics "The Gathering"), but, undaunted, he's contacted me again, and this time I agreed to review a couple stories, since I quite liked one, and since I'm impressed enough with his determination and success of actually being published, to show him the respect of an honest review of the work.
So shortly I will put up reviews of The Heart, and Blues Ratz #1, from Scattered Comics, for your interpreting pleasure, and thank IF for thinking of me from those early days of the new millenium, so long ago. Until then, Attila Kiss exists elsewhere in cyberspace and beyond:
Attila Kiss Fbk
Attila Kiss Twtr
Scattered Comics Profile
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)