Heavy Metal #301

This issue #301 of Heavy Metal Magazine comes in with 152 pages and the new cover price of USD$13.99, as of the stated aim of going monthly, announced in September 2020.  I got this issue in November of 2020, from mycomicshop.com, where I also got the below cover image:

 

 

It has the Cover "A" by Issac Escorza.  It's cool and silly at the same time, in some ways perfect for our favorite magazine.  I'll give it a 7.

Again we get Editorials from Heavy Metal's "Big Three", I get a little bit more sincerity from these.  Mr Seeley comments on older HM stories not having the context of our pandemic times.  I see the converse, where I see the context of times past (especially mine) in my view of the present mag.  It's likely unfair of me to compare today's HM with the past, for much the same reasons.  I still do, it's my point of reference, but it helps to not take myself seriously.

The Contents page has a few more names, including Peter Kleinman credited for the logo again, and I am amused by the inclusion of Hannah Means-Shannon again, as a Contributing Editor, a year after her resignation.  My hope is that they are at least giving credit where it's due, and perhaps patched things up somewhat.

A couple photos:

 

And to those Contents:

"Lucy:  Hope - Chapter 2" by Patrick Norbert, Tanino Liberatore, Dan Berger. - 8 - With Frank Forte & David Erwin noted as Editors.  Continuing with Lucy, after her clan deserts her, with harrowing drama and dramatic violence.  I'm enjoying the brilliant artwork and exciting storytelling, which is good since we get over 20 pages of it.

"Dark Wing - Chapter 2" by Matthew Medney, German Ponce, Protobunker Studios, Bruce Edwards, Pete "Voodoo Bownz" Russo, Saida Temofonte - 6.5 - Continuing with many bright colorful images of blazing suns and energy surges and space 'splosions, and the made-for-the-screen storytelling, this picks up some speed, perhaps soon we'll see where it's headed.

Richard Corben Interview by Matthew Medney - 8.5 - Another fantastic score inteview by Heavy Metal of one of the Titans of Heavy Metal Magazine history, made even more precious by the tragic passing of the great creator, weeks after this publication.  There is more to say about Mr Corben and his work in HM, than I can put into words.  This interview is entertaining and informative, with moments of coy humor.  It made me remember an earlier Corben interview in Heavy Metal.  I looked it up, it's by Brad Balfour, credited as a Contributing Editor then, and it's in three parts over the June, July, and August 1981 issues!  19 pages including pictures!  Even more, it's followed by a letter from Mr Corben to Mr Balfour, in the September 1981 issue, expressing some discontent with the interview, and his inability to see them until after they were published.  A Classic Heavy Metal Magazine Moment.  He may have a point.  Most of these interview parts are informative and insightful, but there are parts where Mr Corben's statements can seem off-putting, which seems to come easily to him (I can relate).  Several would be viewed negatively these days.  I won't put up all the interview pages, since the good folk at MuutaNet have already done so (richard-corben-interview-part-1/, richard-corben-interview-part-2/, richard-corben-interview-part-3/, and the bonus letter), but I'll include a photo of his letter in my copy here:

Likewise in this interview in this issue #301, Mr Corben seems amiable but perhaps a bit prickly, very sure of his opinions, as much as he shares them.  Clearly Mr Corben was still eagerly creative, he states "I have many projects I'd love to do.  Retirement is not one of them." which makes his untimely passing an even greater loss for us.

"Murky World" by Richard Corben - 8 - Tugat's travails only continue, in this last installment of this lovely gift of Corben in today's Heavy Metal Magazine.  A trite denouement ("It was me all along!") doesn't detract from the delight of this HM adventure.  Corben's abilities of coloring and perspective and framing shine through the changes in technical tools and societal viewpoints over the 40 years since Corben's contributions to the first HMs, and this realization of the passage of time, puts a brighter light on my views.

"One Sole Love" by Diego Agrimbau, Pietro - 6 - A man, charged with preparing a new paradise for his brethren returning from war, laments his failures to complete his tasks, save one, the creation of android women for their companionship.  Fortunately, the android Ingrids prove capable of righting his wrongs, save one.  Some clever storytelling and comicing, but the mannish dumbness that's critical to the premise overshadows the otherwise well-told tale.

"Bigfoot Attraction" by Dwayne Harris - 7 - A Bigfoot Attaction operator tries a publicity stunt, and it goes predictably wrong.  While the jokes are pretty obvious, I had a good time enjoying them, as well as enjoying the art, cartoony but energetic and descriptive.  Dwayne Harris has been in HM at least a half dozen times, going back to 2014 it appears.

"Fear & Loafing in the U.K."  An Interview with Dan Fogler" by Joshua Sky - 6 - I'm only familiar with Dan Fogler's name from his comic work being promoted by HM.  He contributed to a story in #295, "The Ghoul Screamer", which I liked at the time, but nothing else in the mag I have seen since.  But if it's not in the magazine I'm not likely to see his comics.  Most interesting to me is that he is asked about celebrities getting comic work because of their celebrity, as he is one.  That and the use of "turned onto" rather than "turned-on to", which is how I think of it, from the times of "turn on, tune in, drop out".  Times change.

"Thirteen Deathless" by Charles Fetherolf - 6 - An assassin from The Nine trails his assignment, whose mistake does the assassin's work for him.  This looked nice and was interesting to read, it works well.  I could have used a bit more of the details and reasons the story hints at.

"Sun Eater" Chapter One by Dylan Sprouse - 5 - A continuation of the preview from the previous issue #300.  I feel the same way about this installment as I did the last.

"Savage Circus" Chapter Two by Brendan Columbus, Al Barrionuevo, Candice Han, Dave Sharpe, Joseph Illidge - 6.5 - Well, the hoodlums manage to crash into the Savage Circus train while making their escape, loosing murderous circus animals on the town.  Despite the story's efforts to personify characters, I'm not getting excited by what it's telling, but there's sure lots of action to be had.

"Invisible Touch" by Jok, Mey-Jok - 7 - An invisible guardian visits the Temple of Heaven, to protect order in the invisible world.  Effective art with better writing.  Cool story.

"Sunpot - Part Two" by Vaughn Bodē, Mark Bodē - 8 - With a brief editorial and a briefer letter from Harlan Ellison from 1995 to start, this is the finish of the "story" of Vaughn Bodē's Sunpot as resurrected by Mark Bodē.  It's confusingly nonsensical, like shouldn't it be "Nectar Nipples"? but in a good way, and lots of fun.  

"The Ancient" by Marko Stojanović, Milorad Vicanović Maza, Aljoša Tomić - 6 - An old warrior battles the ogres of an old enemy who narrates the scene.  Pretty good art, and the story tries for profundity.  It works, but I could have used more showing than telling.

Malcolm McDowell Interview by Geoff Boucher - 6 - This is described in a note at the end with "This article is comprised of commentary that Malcolm shared with Geoff for his new interview podcast MINDSPACE."  It's mostly Geoff Boucher writing with bits of quotes from Malcolm McDowell, mostly about "A Clockwork Orange", and why not?  It's a nice read for the mag, but I'm not likely to podcast much.

"Tuonela" by Hannu Kesola, Alex Medellin, Tatto Caballero, Jame - 6.5 - A Finnish warrior begs Tuoni the Ruler of the Underworld to let him return to battle against the blaspheming Christian crusaders.  A nice little story with suitable art and writing.

Heavy Metal #300

Heavy Metal #300 is noted as the All Star Special.  It has 160 pages and a cover price of USD$9.99.  I got it in Sept 2020 from someone on ebay, I didn't see it where I usually look.  This was the third issue I got in 2020.  Right around the time I got it, HM announced they were going to monthly issues again.  A bold move with the rest of the other stuff they were pushing, and as we saw, the pandemic hit the fan again late 2020, and made a bad year even worse.  And while the issues are still not coming out every month, I did manage to get six issues that year, which was better than only getting five a year for the past couple years.  Here's hoping they can pick up the pace, and that 2021 is a better year for everyone.

I got the Cover A "Taarna" by Claudia Ianniciello of Magnus Arts, it's a pretty nice rendition of the brand's primary character.  Image lifted from the HM shop):

The Contents pages start out with editorials, "Insights from Heavy Metal's Big Three", Matthew Medney, Tim Seeley, and David Erwin.  This appears to be descriptive of the new direction of the mag.  At this point I will say they provide varying perspectives on the approach, with varying combinations of sincerity and pomposity.  With these editorials, and the continued developments in the staff listings, we have some interesting prospects coming for the mag, which I hope remains the focus of the operation.

Some informational photos:

 

"Lucy:  Hope - Chapter One", by Patrick Norbert, Tanino Liberatore, J.S. Berger, Dan Berger. - 7.5 - With Frank Forte & David Erwin noted as Editors.  A story of pre-humans in the struggle to survive.  I found Liberatore's art terrrific, with excellent use of his ability to render detail and action.  I liked the story just fine, and the storytelling is done quite well.  I was mostly able to suspend my disbelief of the characters having very human emotions and perceptions, expressed with narrated complex sentences.  The better for our "developed" human brains to apprehend, I suppose.  Looking forward to more.

Jean-Pierre Dionnet Interview - 8.5 - Interview by Joshua Sky.  A fantastic score for Heavy Metal to get this interview with a seminal character of the mag's origins, for issue #300.  Not overlong, 4 pages including 2 of mostly photos, but with a bit of history and a story or two.  Seeing that Mr Dionnet is around 75, he's looking great, and getting his insight at this time is a real plus for the operation.  One point I had, is that Mr Dionnet refers to the relatively short lifespans of Metal Hurlant, and other HM  knockoffs like Epic or 1984, but states that since HM changed over the years, it could continue, but this glosses over the major reason HM continued to exist.  That is Kevin Eastman's ownership.  Without Mr Eastman, and his making the mag his own plaything, HM would likely have faded away by the early 90s.  I think it's important to remember that.

"Savage Circus" by Brendan Columbus, Al Barrionuevo, Candice Han, Dave Sharpe - 6.5 - The story starts with a flashback of monster hunting in Southeast Asia, leading to the "Savage Circus", then lands in a small town at Xmas time, where hoodlums steal the fundraiser pig.  The setup is complex but formulaic, and we'll see where the story goes.  Some pretty good execution going on here, and at over 20 pages we get a lot of it, but it's not grabbing me at the start.

"Mœbius:  The Last Interview" by Geoff Boucher - 9.5 - A stunning opportunity for Heavy Metal, to be able to publish this interview from 2010 by Geoff Boucher, on this issue #300, in addition to the previous interview with Jean-Pierre Dionnet.  Rather than a simple question-and-answer format, the interviewer gets to write a paean to the great creator, who was at the center of the creation of Heavy Metal magazine, seasoned with lengthy quotes by the subject.  Lovely pictures of words are told.

"Memories" by Mœbius, Albert Patin De La Fizeliére - 9 - With translations by Michael Du Plessis and Josh Robertson and with edits and letters by Frank Forte noted.  Noted as unpublished in Mr Erwin's editorial, this is certainly a delight to see.  Apparently from '95, this has lovely Mœbius drawing, diverse and evocative, and delightfully unhinged and lewd dialog, making this something I quite enjoyed, not the least of which for old times' sake.  A blessing to us to be able to have this late work from an acknowledged master of Heavy Metal magazine history.

"cradle" by Kent Williams and John Ney Rieber - 7 - A perhaps metaphorical look at life and relationship.  I liked the art style and how much was shown on two pages, and I liked the obtuse but clearly stated text, and I liked what I thought it was saying, even with the slight whiff of a guy pouting about not getting enough attention.  Figure it out.

"The Dawn of The Rise" by George C. Romero - 7 - Mr Romero gets to geek out about being in HM, and briefly discuss growing up as the son of George A. Romero, famous for the "Night of the Living Dead" movies.  While I don't recall just what or when "The Rise" will be from what little I have heard, I did enjoy this essay from Mr Romero, for the enthusiasm he has for having a famous father, and how he saw the opportunities it brought him, while making his claim to being his own creator.  

"Cold Dead War" by Justin Jordan, Kelley Jones, Brennan Wagner, Jaime Martínez - 5 - Zombies on a Pacific island in WWII.  I wasn't excited by how this one looked or read.

"Mad Moby" by Tater7 - 6.5 - With Frank Forte on the Letters and Edits.  A Moby Dick telling in a Mad-Max-looking desert wasteland.  An interesting approach with some payoff, and it's "Not the End..." so maybe there's more even better fun coming.

"Taarna" by David Erwin, Matthew Medney, Butch Guice, Chris Sotomayor, Marshall Dillon - 6 - Taarna again responds to the call.  A few bright spots, like a rendition of the temple from the first movie, and a guy with sun and planets for a head, but I found myself wanting more engagement with the art and story than I got.  Hoping I find more in the "to be continued".

"Taarna:  A Woman" by Stephanie Phillips, Jim Terry - 6 - Credit where it's due for a prose piece to develop the brand, by a woman (apparently, with the man doing the couple artworks).  Like the previous story, I wish I got more out of it.  And maybe like the previous story, there may be more.

"Dark Wing - Chapter One" by Matthew Medney, German Ponce, Protobunker Studios, Bruce Edwards, Pete "Voodoo Bownz" Russo - 6 - A space story of a nomadic space people, seeking the perfect planet home, and surviving for the hundred generations it's taken so far in their quest.  Fast paced and colorful, this starts out looking like a screenplay treatment to me, with witty banter and explosions with life in the balance.  And with a dumb sexist joke to start.  There is more coming so we'll see if it expands its appeal.

"Murky World" by Richard Corben - 8.5 - I'm enjoying this greatly.  The story (!), the humor, the dynamic perspectives, sequences, shading, the weird fish-eye view when he meets Old Mag again, the Corben-itude.  What fun.  Tugat continues to a familiar place.  Such good fortune for this to be here for us.  And next, "the Thrilling Conclusion!"

"Not Today" by Mark McCann, Paul Fry, Adam Brown - 8 - With edits and letters by Frank Forte.  A black shadow dragon overruns the countryside, threatening the city.  A crew of comic stereotypes band together to thwart the scourge, futilely, until the 5th wall shatters.  Ok premise and execution, extra points for an apparently sincere metaphor for depression.

"Prism Pastures" by David Erwin - 7 - Part of the WonderWerk podcast series.  This struck me as a nice inclusion into the prose work that has been in HM over the years.  An android servant contemplates the passing of his aged master.  Android existentialism may not be a completely original idea, but I thought this was well expressed.

"Synapse" by Blake Northcott, Giuseppe Cafaro, Bryan Alvarez, Northworld - 6 - With edits by Matt Medney and Frank Forte.  In a dystopic future Toronto, ravaged by chemical pollution, the finish of a story of revenge and closure, with small hints of the story's beginning.  A timely quarantine analogy, with some bright spots in the art.

"Sun Eater" by Dylan Sprouse and Diego Yapur - 5 - Apparently a prose story preview for a comic series.  There have been social media mentions about it.  This was not interesting to me.  I didn't engage the story, and there were little things about the presentation that bugged me, incongruous use of language that didn't evoke a different time or place for me, and the ragged-paper edges with the modern fonts.

"Sunpot" by Mark Bodē - 8 - With an introductory page lauding the contributions of Vaughn Bodē to comic art and Heavy Metal, and a reminiscence by his son Mark, who extends the legacy with his own contribution (which he has apparently been doing since 1980 with "Zooks" in some early 80s Heavy Metals).  Sunpot was a feature in the very first issues of Heavy Metal Magazine, and this Sunpot reprise, subtitled " Dr. Electric Meets the Repo Man", is as close to generating the feel of reading the mag at the earliest days, as I've experienced.  

Comparison samples:

April 1977:                                                                

 

 #300:

The art and hand lettering have the look, and the story and writing have the gleeful sexism and creative insults, that so titillated me and countless other het-male barely-adults back in the day.  What fun, and it's "continued next issue."

"At the End of the Day..." by Duke Mighten - 7.5 - with edits by Frank Forte and Josh Robertson.  A Godling of the Sentinels of the New World Order, cracks up trying to reconcile the consequences of his actions.  The terrific art paints a finely detailed futuristic picture, and comes with a fantastic shocker panel.  The story itself is small but imaginative, with much more hinted at.  Though this ends with a "Fin", there could easily be more to this story, if the creator wanted.

So I found that most of what I really liked in this issue had strong links to the magazine's past, and I was a bit less excited by the newer stuff.  But it's starting to seem like the mag is picking a direction and building on it, and it'll be up to me to decide what I like about it.  If they really pick up the pace to publish monthly, I'll need to pick up my review game to keep up.  If you're still there, thanks for reading.

That time I was in Heavy Metal Magazine

I was thinking about this recently, thinking I should dig up the issue and post a photo of it.  But quite conveniently, R.M. Rhodes just put up the page on his heavymetalmagazine.wordpress.com/ site, saving me some digging.  Thanks man, for the info and the image I lifted from it:

Yup, that's me as "Fred", in the Septemer 2009 issue.  HM had letters sections going way back, and by this time they were just pulling posts from the (now long departed) HM website forum for them.  This was from a forum thread someone started that got some traffic, though I don't recall if Mr Eastman actually commented in the thread.  He did sometimes.  

Interesting to me, is Intone Flux prominently featured.  He's my old internet buddy from the HM forums, and the numerical rating reviews I do was originally his idea.  Intone Flux has contributed to my fandom and this blog, and has also produced some comics of his own.

I also believe the "BMB" is Ben Michael Bryne, who started posting his Kranburn on the HM forums back then (which is great by the way), but has unfortunately disappeared from the internet, as far as I can tell.

So thanks for the timely excavation of this issue, R.M. Rhodes.

fred

 

RIP Julie Strain

Julie Strain, go in peace.  

https://www.heavymetal.com/news/julie-strain-heavy-metal-obituary/

I gotta admit, it wouldn't have been Heavy Metal without you.  I may not have been the biggest fan, but her babe-i-tude, and the impact she had on the mag in the Eastman years, is undeniable.

thanks

Heavy Metal #299

 Heavy Metal #299 is called "Mythical Worlds Special".  I got the Cover C version, and the below image, from mycomicshop.com again, in July of 2020.

This cover is called "Fiddler Crab on the Roof" by Sean Andrew Murray, and I liked the scene, reminding me somewhat of "Sacred Geometry" by Michael E. Bennett, which was subtitled "The Re-Education of Baron Edwin G. Krambiss", with the Baron on his tortoise-mounted villa, in #298, as well as the attention to detail, and the translucent treatment of the logo.

Peter Kleinman is again credited for the logo, this time in the contents.  There's a bit more churn in the chain of command:  No Chris Chiang, a Joseph Illidge noted as a Managing Editor, R.G. Llarena now a Managing Editor too, Hannah Means-Shannon now a Contributing Editor (hmm), and it's now Joshua Sky for the Digital Editor.  Are they ever going to stabilize to coalesce into something?

There's something at the bottom of the contents page, in white on a gray background, written backwards and fading to nothingness.  Hard to see but I've decided to think it says "welcome to the roaring void."  Odd.  Opposite the contents page is a nice illustration of someone on a tall ladder peering from an open portal, looking like it's for a book, called "Lumen 6" by Michael Whelan.

 A couple photos are in order here:

"A Faerie Tale Wedding" by Robert Randle, Enrique Alcatena, Arthur Hesli, Jame, R.G. Llarena - 6.5 - A bride on her wedding day, as she prepares to enter the church, is approached by a mysterious intruder into her chamber.  Spirited away into a world of the fae, she tarries too long, returning far too late for her wedding.  Pretty and engaging, also ponderous and nonsensical, in a fun way.

"Les Fleurs de Mort" by Steve Mannion, Jose Ladrönn, Frank Forte - 7 - Our pretty young woman superheroine-outfitted protagonist, communes with nature, and vanquishes the fascist-lookin' demon, with a flower.  Lovely.  I like how Mr Mannion's drawing looks like it could be from HM from years back.

"Wedding" by Philippe Caza - 7 - with translation by Michael Du Plessis and letters by Frank Forte.  The guy certainly has reason to remember his wedding day.  Not dated, but this looks somewhat recent to me, can't really say just why, yet it appears clearly as Caza's work.  Which is certainly a good thing.  Besides a somewhat recent appearance in #294 in 2019, Caza had last been in HM in #281 in 2016, with something from 1983.  Before that was in the 80s, so it was very nice HM could have more Caza here now.  Too bad his name is misspelled in the Contents, in a way I have done so more than once.

Gallery with Sean Andrew Murray - 7.5 - with an other insightful interview by Hannah Means-Shannon.  It's good, (it's really too bad HM failed to keep Ms Means-Shannon, their and our loss), and many of the images are so small that the delightful details are less apparent, helping the text stand out even more.  The art had imagination that I enjoyed.

"Confess" by Peach Momoko, Frank Forte - 7 - A tattoo artist offers absolution for the remorseful, though it is not limitless.  Beautifully stylized, arcane, simply written.

"Dogma Resistance" by Herø Projects, Matthew Medney, Morgan Rosenblum, Santa Fung, Bryan Valenza, Voodoo Bownz, RIOT (DJ Group) - 5 - An evil ancient mecha-demon is awakened, somehow.  Not liking this, the premise (?), art, storytelling, they're just not coming together for me.  Will it redeem itself as it's "to be continued"?  I hate to guess.

"The Highwayman" by Cliff Dorfman, David Arquette, Armitano, John Rauch, Adam Wollet - 6 - An armed robbery at a diner goes wrong.  There's a lot to like here, the art, story, and writing, all have bright moments of energy and insight, but I ended up disappointed that the whole seemed lesser than the sum of its parts.

Gallery with Michael Whelan - 7 - with another fine interview by Hannah Means-Shannon.  There's much good in the art, apparent skill and imagination, though not all of it excited me.  Frankly I enjoyed the interview even more, Mr Whelan tells some good stories.

"Murky World" by Richard Corben - 8 - In this, the 13th chapter of this lovely gift of Corben to our modern brains, our hapless hero Tugat is once again relieved of his horse Frix, as he is seduced by promises of wealth, demonstrating again that he's really not all that sharp.  He is then trapped in a cyclopian beast's lair, and I don't even care that I don't know why.  A wonderful story that can go anywhere it wants, and it does, as long as I get to follow along.

"Vices Lead:  Lust" by John Bivens - 6 - This appears to be a continuation of "Where Vices Lead" from #288 (2 years ago now), where Lust is the topic this time, but I struggled to make any sense out of this.  It took a few looks to figure out the pages that were set up as two page spreads, which are rare in the mag these days, and that helped me follow along better, a little bit anyway, and the more I looked the more I wanted to like it.  But the storytelling isn't very cohesive, and the art is sketchy to the point of distraction.  Maybe if we saw more of these "Vices Lead" stories, it would help.  My opinion is that reviewing some early Druillet would have helped with some of the background sex action.  (from "Urm" March 1978):

"Redemption and the Cicatrix" by Conor Boyle, David Baillie - 6 - With Hannah Means-Shannon getting an editing credit.  I feel I'm barely scratching the surface of what this story is trying to tell, going from comics to news to defeating and dethroning god.  The art and framing are more impressive, but on repeated readings I hardly improved my opinion, compared to how the previous story affected me.  And it's really too bad about the misspelling on the contents page.

"See What Thou Wilt" by Kyle Strahm, Matthew Mitchell, Jake Smith, Crank! - 6 - A disaffected punk kid seeks arcane tattoos to give him the power he lacks, but he only too late sees the price he pays, and that satisfaction eludes him.  I wasn't too excited by this, it's a little funny sometimes, but at least some dick appears.  I usually think some equal time cheap sexual exploitation is appropriate.

"Americon Dreamin'" by Scott Duvall, Ralf Singh, Cristian Docolomansky, Ilaria Fella - 6 - With Hannah Means-Shannon getting an "Edits" credit, and some thanks to Taylor Esposito.  With a reference to a more contemporary tyrant, and some nice T-Rex drawing, and lots of 'splosions, the end of civilization as we know it.  Did Einstein really say that World War IV would be fought with sticks and stones?

"Familiaris" by John Reppion, David Hitchcock, Matt Soffe, Simon Bowland - 7 - The King's Witchfinder General in mid 17th Century England, gets found by the witches.  Some pretty good storytelling and art tell a harrowing tale with horrifying imagery, showing glimpses of what it implies in the mind.

RIP Richard Corben

Richard Corben, pax vobiscum.  It wouldn't have been Heavy Metal without you.

https://www.heavymetal.com/articles/richard-corben-heavy-metal-artist/

Corben was responsible for so much of what Heavy Metal became.  From "Den" in the beginning, to the recent blessing of "Murky World".

My post about his early "Neverwhere":

https://fredshmfanblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/richard-corbens-neverwhere.html 

thanks

 

Heavy Metal #298

 Heavy Metal #298 is called the "Furthest Reaches Special".  I got the Cover B by Gabriel Ippoliti, "Recalculating":

 

Image lifted from Lonestar Comics ( mycomicshop.com where I got it from, back in April ).

While the contents page still credits Peter Kleinman for the logo, this is the first issue without Kevin Eastman listed as the Publisher, since the 90s?  There are several other changes, better shown than told:

 #297:

 

#298:

That Hannah Means-Shannon is still noted as Managing Editor, almost a year after her resignation, is one thing.  Another is, Llexi Leon, who was apparently a party to that incident, who is not.  The Editorial staff seems pretty intact.  Lea White is back, last seen in #293.  There's a David Erwin and a Chris Chiang.  

And no Kevin Eastman.

I recall reading about Mr Eastman learning from someone else that he was no longer the publisher a while ago, but nothing more pops up since then:

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/kevin-eastman-no-longer-publisher-heavy-metal-magazine/ 

Frankly this smells of the kind of corporate executive pissing match I have so little respect for.  It's stained my perspective of what's going on in the mag.  Where is this all coming from, with the ancillary comics they're pumping out, and the announced shift to monthly issues, and where the hell is it going?  I'm too pessimistic, mostly my forlorn attitude.  Hope this shit doesn't fuck it up for the rest of us.  Trying to shake off my frowny face and stumble ahead.  Onward.

"I'm Sorry" by Alberto Rayo, Dary Huari, Isai Munake, Diego Revelo - 5 - Intrepid travelers, who don't need helmets for their space cycle, run low on fuel and stop at a planet to look for more.  They meet some creatively designed residents, whose arguing rends the fabric of space and time.  The travelers escape with their fuel, just in time to save themselves.  There's some creative arting and authoring going on here, but I found it too cluttered with pointless details and formulaic progression for my taste.

"Body Jack" by Alex Smith, James Firkins, Jame - 6 - Future-cop in a "meat grinder" city tenement where he grew up, is 'jacked' for a bust, where his body is occupied by that of a special operations officer, above his "pay grade", and witnesses the resulting carnage, unable to respond.  Raw-er art worked well for me, but there were no surprises.

"Philip K. Dick's Head is Missing" by Michael David Nelsen, Dwayne Harris, Frank Forte, Dale Carothers - 7 - "This story contains paraphrased passages from PKD's Exegesis".  I am mostly ignorant of Mr Dick's work, I did try to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep but it didn't register with me.  I enjoyed this story for its telling and its imagination.  I amused myself inferring knowledge from bits in the story, knowing that I was learning little, and I found some of the humor in it.  It was pretty wordy but I did fine with it.  I found the art and panel work nice, Mr Nelsen did the "past" parts and Mr Harris did the "present/future" parts.

"Sacred Geometry" by Michael E. Bennett - 6 - Subtitled " The Re-Education of Baron Edwin G. Krambiss", the Baron travels in his tortoise-mounted villa, accompanied by his robot drone assistant Baxter, seeking enlightenment.  Yet he fails to grasp what is offered.  A somewhat simplistic art style that I enjoyed, with similarly uncomplicated but descriptive writing, this one would have been ok in the mag 30 years ago.

Gallery with Carlos Huante - 7 - With a great interview by Hannah Means-Shannon, whose insightful questions elicit extensive answers from Mr Huante, on his career, techniques, influences.  Also with cool monsters.

"Bug House" by David Hine and Mark Stafford - 7 - Pest Management arrives at old Miss Wynde's house to address the infestation problem.  It takes a week of increasingly extreme extermination to complete the task, but the job gets done.  With a supplementary charge for "specialist disposal costs."  I mostly enjoyed the gleefully over-the-top escalation of the storytelling.

"A New Life" by Emilio Balcarce and Marcelo Pérez - 6 - An embattled space empire's ruler, in his immortal synthetic body, is nonetheless threatened by allied invaders.  Aided by his trusted wise friend and synthetic body provider, he attempts escape.  But, spoiler, the blast of his consciousness to a distant synthetic body goes awry, and his spirit travels across space and time, to lodge itself in the infant form of a more contemporary tyrant.  I thought this mostly looked good, and some enjoyable writing and storytelling was present, but I found the landing not stuck.

"Project Z" by Matthew Medney, Morgan Rosenblum, Voodoo Bownz, Jonny Handler, Vincenzo Riccardi, Verónica R. López - 6 - With a pile of "Creators" also noted:  Bassrush, Basscon, Herø Projects, & Project Z Festival Team.  Several post apocalyptic societies vie for control of a fusion energy source, The Triarc, amazingly discovering it, after almost a hundred years, almost simultaneously.  Similarly contrived storytelling and Mad-Max-Beyond-Thunderdome costuming have me less excited than I might wish about the To Be Continued...

"Incubator" by Matt Emmons - 6 - A robot in a wasteland, witnesses a craft crashing, and from hibernation pods inside, rescues, a baby?  And defends it from predators on its way to a subterranean hideout, complete with more hibernation pods?  Much as I did for Mr Emmons' earlier HM entry in #294, I like the art style and wordless storytelling, and I got some of the story out of it, but I got bogged down in confusion over details.  Not suspending disbelief enough I guess.

"Totemic" by FG Dr. Stain Ortiz Rivero, Omar Trucu Estévez, Felipe Sobreiro - 6 - A mercenary-looking couple, bring an apparently simpleminded captive, in their hopes he will lead them to their good fortune.  They encounter wealth, but of information rather than material.  The art does pretty well examining the effects of accessing this information, good and bad.  The story has some potential, but I got lost in the rote pontificating and typical comic pacing.

"Dowser" by Dwayne Harris - 7 - With Frank Forte getting an "Edited by" credit.  Wasteland thugs threaten a dowser's dog, unless he helps them find water.  He does, but it doesn't work out "well" for them.  This tells its predictable story well, and I liked the art style, detailed and descriptive, especially the goggles' reflections, even though they wouldn't really be a mirror.

"Tall Tales on Cyborg-9" by Frank Forte, Moramike, Dinei Ribeiro - 6 - Three slightly-humanoid pals take turns boasting of sexual conquests.  The art is ok with some nice bits, and the writing doesn't have much of a story to tell, but it has fun doing it.  The made-up names for various sex acts can be amusing, but I don't relate at all to that kind of braggadocio.  I recall back in a Mad Magazine in the 60s, reading the joke "the ones that talk about it the most, do it the least".

"Murky World" by Richard Corben - 8 - Our intrepid and woeful hero Tugat, continues his quest in pursuit of his horse and friend Frix.  In finding Frix, he also encounters amazons, a necromancer, and his deadlings.  With more delightful Corben mayhem, and compelling Corben art, this continues to be a bright spot in my recent HM fandom.  thanks

Gallery with Josan Gonzalez - 7 - Titled "In the Shadow of the Citadel:  The Sequential Narrative of Josan Gonzalez" and with an article/story description by Hannah Means-Shannon.  The story of a robot/machine dominated new world order, and how people immersing themselves in their own virtual depictions of the world enabled it, reminds me in part of Rod Kierkegaard Jr's "Obama Jones and the Logic Bomb" book (as noted on my Links page and sometimes available on Amazon etc, I like it a lot and recommend it highly).  The art has lots of descriptive and ancillary detail, the kind I like, that is both silly and cool, somewhat reminding me of some of Ben Michael Byrne's Kranburn and other work (also noted on this blog's Links page).  I enjoyed how the storytelling came together with the illustrations, apparently woven from interviews, and this could be a pretty cool book if they wanted it to be.

This issue ends with "A Special Preview of Ranx:  The Complete Collection", touted earlier as all the Ranxerox stories by Stefano Tamburini and Gaetano "Tanino" Liberatore from HM in 1983 and 1984, one of the highlight's of the mag's last years of monthly publication (if you liked the over-the-top senseless graphic novel violence and body horror and degrading sexuality, like I did), as well as some from elsewhere.  Advertised as shipping in June 2020, that didn't happen, though the HM Shop is saying it'll be in December.  This was something I thought I might actually get, if it ever materializes.

A couple things I liked, a few things I found mediocre, and a few ads for HM crap.  A lot has happened since this issue came out.  We'll see where things go.

Going to Pieces

Over on The Bristol Board, there is a lovely scan of Schuiten's delightful Going to Pieces.  From the May 1978 issue of Heavy Metal, the cover and contents pages are included.

This is the kind of thing I really enjoyed back in the day.  Whimsical, mysterious, pretty.

Thanks to "earsplittingtrumpet" for putting this up, their link is on the post.

fred

Rant of the Forlorn

Motivation is hard to come by these days.  More change is coming to my life, I'm biding time again.  It'll be good, but the pain and suffering, the greed and stupidity, the ignorance and hate, roiling the world around me, even more than usual, is dismaying and infuriating, at a time I would rather be basking in my good fortune.

And I am fortunate.  In physical and material comfort and relative security, I have what I need and more.  The constraints of living in pandemic times impact me relatively little.  I can still get Heavy Metal Magazine, though I haven't been to a bookstore in months.  (I go to mycomicshop.com)

So why the sad face?  Mostly the dismay and fury.  But I am also realizing that my HM fanboyhood is stale.  My blog is riddled with gaps and links to nowhere.  I've procured and read #298 and #299, and #300 is out now, but I haven't even started my #298 review.  My curiosity has waned.  The mag is less exciting to me.  Less arresting or compelling art, less intrigue or mystery or awe in the stories, more action comic pacing and wordy exposition.  I'm not excited one bit by all the HM media empire machinations.  In fact it's distasteful to me.  It makes sense that they are leaning on Taarna for a brand property, since it's one of the few things HM actually owns, but it's amusing that Taarna's only a thing because they couldn't make the original movie character Arzak.  Action figures, swag, pinball machines (really?  are fantasy painted conversion vans coming back too?), spinoff comics and novels (doesn't anyone remember the Heavy Metal Pulp novels?) don't do it for me.   The current incarnation of the website is a slurry of incongruous bits of nostalgia and inane catergories like The Forge and Carousel.  And it hates my aging computer.

It's not all hopeless to me, like the links to the Arzak Rhapsody short videos are nice, and I still find some things to like in the mag, but I think after 40 years the HM world is finally passing me by, not that I was ever actually keeping up.  But, rummaging around in the pile of crap that surrounds me, for something to look forward to, I figure I'll keep buying the paper mag as long as it exists, and hope for the occasional morsels of fun, and it won't be too long before I decide to get to work on some reviews, and touching up my little blog.

Until next time, stay safe out there.

Heavy Metal #297

Welp, I got this issue # 297 in the beginning of February, and it's ridiculous that I'm just getting to this review now.  But many things are ridiculous in these ludicrous times, so I won't feel too bad about it.  I still try to be grateful for what I have, knowing I have plenty, and less to worry about than many.


Including being grateful for having Heavy Metal Magazine, that the paper mag is still being published, that I have means to get them.  It's a small pleasure to have, and I'm doing ok with the actual state of the mag.  It's a long time since the late 70s, and the current incarnation is only related to the transformative early years by the name and the logo and the tenuous thread of continuity of publication.  And I'm often not impressed by the content or the editorial machinations.  But there's plenty to like, and I won't burden this review with my whining, I'll save that for another post someday.


So this is labeled the Winter Special.  I got the cover A at the bookstore (remember going to bookstores?), with "Once Upon a Quiet Kingdom" by Brandi Milne.  Snowman constables playing in a candy and ice cream wonderland may not look like an HM cover, but it works for me, in an unnerving way, especially when I see the Gallery the artist has in this issue.


The contents page is just the list of stories and creators, with little snaps from the stories as the art.  The list of big shots continues to credit Peter Kleinman for the logo, and shows no changes but the absence of Ron English, last issue's Guest Editor.  This issue is 144 pages long, and the cover price is still $9.99.


"A Knight So True" by Cullen Bunn, Baldemar Rivas, Micah Myers - 7 - A Space Knight fights a Space Dragon in Space.  But it's not just as hokey as that sounds, the art is good and the Space Fight scenes are fantastic, in a literal as well as an early-Heavy Metal Magazine-type way.  And the Knight wakes up in Paradise, so his Fight didn't have a Happy Ending, which is another thing that could have been in the early years of the Mag.


"Sol Invictus" by Abraham Martinez, R.G. Llarena, Marco Perugini, Addison Duke. Jame - 5 - Roman Legionaries ending a battle with "filthy barbarians" encounter a particularly strong combatant.  The art is alright and has its moments, the story has some good questions, and I noticed the seasonal solstice reference, but it suffered with the jump from the pregnant captive about to be fed to the barbarian diety "Skoll", to the birth of Sol Invictus.  It made a bit more sense once I looked it up, but it didn't do much for how I felt about it.


"Black Metal Messiah" by Justin Jordan, Chris Anderson, Adam Wollet - 5 - Puritan ubermensch battles witchcraft, fighting fire with fire so to speak.  The art and story each show some quality of work, but I had a hard time going with how it went together.


"A Midnight Clear" by Ron Marz, Bart Sears, Andrew Dalhouse, Micah Myers - 6 - Extremely buff Santa is ambushed by trolls, who give him a gift in thanks for a long-ago kindness.  I like the art.  The sincerity of sentiment comes through even though I have to assume some background story.  Maybe it's a series that I just don't know about, there's lots of those.


Gallery with Andrew Shaffer - 7 - Andrew Shaffer delivers a rollicking interview with Hannah Means-Shannon, to accompany a good number of images about his holiday greeting cards of vintage images captioned ironically.  Some of it's too hip for an old fuddy-duddy like me, but it's good time holiday fun for when you're despairing for humanity.


"Chris Never - The Ghost of Christmas Never" by Jeffery Burandt, Jason Goungor, Omar Estévez, Micah Myers - 7 - Subtitled as "Sinder Klaus is Coming to Infinity Town, with Hannah Means-Shannon credited for editing.  This is presented as a comic style team of personalities/skill sets including representations of the ghosts of Christmas past, present, future, and never, plus the adorable angel-baby/weapons maker.  The team is sent to disrupt the bad guy killing Santa and destroying Christmas.  Serviceable art and snappy writing make this an engaging read, but not being a big comics fan it doesn't flip my switch the way I really like.


"The Spirit of Giving" by Tim Seeley, Pato Delpeche, Martín Túnica, Rodrigo Cardama - 5 - Compulsory gifting in the after-times authoritarian wasteland.  I found the story and art each to be both blunt and opaque.  And too on-the-nose for the time I am writing this.


"Black Smoke" by Hector Lima, Dalton Cara, Felipe Sobreiro, Charo Solis - 6 - A candidate for the new pope has a final interview (spoiler yeah) with a very old counselor, before being announced to the world, and it's actually the Christ revealed as the son of an alien species, imprisoned for two thousand years.  When the new pope promises to free Him, his fate is sealed.  An interesting premise that tickles my amusing-conspiracy-theory bone.

Gallery with Brandi Milne - 7 - More creepy cuteness from the celebrated creator of the cover A for this issue.  Hannah Means-Shannon's interview brings out Ms Milne's engagement with her art, of which is shown many fine examples.

"Bethlehem" by Andy Eschenbach, Gavin Smith, Chas! Pangborn - 5 - A (non-human) father lectures his son on the significance of the most sacred day in their solar cycle.  Obvious seasonal holiday references, but the thought behind the story did not penetrate my aging brain.

"Blizzard" by John Crowther, Oscar Pinto, Hector Negrete - 6 - Nice art technique and Wisconsin references (Milwaukee, "Uff-dah") and an Algonquin mythical monster (Wendigo) slightly elevate an otherwise obtuse story of a mass murderer in a Blizzard.

"Urban Developments" by Adam P. Knave, D.J. Kirkbride, Nick Brokenshire, Frank Cvetkovic - 7.5 - Holiday times with the family you love, when the crumbling world is a demon's plaything.  I liked the art, and the story put together some unlikely action with some holiday tropes, and I succeeded in getting some real emotion out of it.

"Murky World" by Richard Corben - 8 - It may not have any seasonal holiday references, but every issue of HM with Corben in it is a holiday issue if you ask me.  It's a gift to get this fun to read adventure of poor Tugat, falling from one peril to the next, ignored by former allies, offended by sorcerers, now with more dangling nads!  Best wishes for better times ahead to him, and to you!

Christmas Card Gallery by various artists - 6 - Santa and Krampus and Angels - oh my!  A handful of HM-ish Xmas card spoofs, I liked the hot-rod Krampus, and the Cthulhu the Snowman, which made me think of Calvin and Hobbes comics.

Overall an ok issue, and it's silly of me to reviewing this Winter Special as summer approaches, but it's not the first time I've dragged on my reviews, and it won't be the last.  I've got #298 waiting as #299 approaches release.