Heavy Metal #306 is 144 pages with the $13.99 cover price. I got mine from mycomicshop.com in May 2021, with the cover A by Lurk. Colorful and roughly imaginative, a being with a shaman-ish appearance. I give it a 7 since I like the color and room for interpretation. Photo of my copy:
The three big shots take their shots at editorials again. Some of what they say, about their discovery of HM, and its place in their culture, has a familiar sound to it, but I'm getting the feeling that the mag is less and less for oldsters from the times when HM was new, like me. These guys' experiences are not like mine, and I can't expect them to view things like me, or have the same memories of the mag. Likewise I can't expect the mag to have the same impact on me now as it did then. I won't get the same mind-blowing sense of discovery, seeing a door open to a new world I was just becoming able to comprehend, as I did 40+ years ago, or even as 15+ years ago when I started gathering and reading them all, getting a whiff of that memory in the process. That memory of memories is what keeps me reading the mag, and I'm still having some fun with it. But the Heavy Metal media empire juggernaut is rumbling along, becoming more obscure to me in the noise and dust of their machinations. I hope it remains visible as I cling to my faint impressions of what it should be.
And that's enough wallowing. I'll save some whining for the stories in this issue of the mag.
"Black Beacon - Chapter 1" by Ryan K Lindsay, Sebastian Piriz, Jame, R.G. Llarena - 7 - The story begins with a refugee arriving, unwelcome, to a crowded outpost. Art with bright colors and imaginative characterizations, complements writing that gives incidental exposition. Some worn bits, the jaded cop figure, the not-yet-jaded youth, fortuitous titular object appearance, etc, but this starts with some promise.
"Euclid" by Omar Spahi, Dillon Gemmill, Peejay Catacutan - 7 - Interstellar explorer crashes into an (almost) infinite staircase, needing to decide if he goes up or down. Well-done exploration of life and reality, that I enjoyed even though none of it was surprising. Except for the letterer spelling it "letterrer".
"Star 69" by Michael J. Ruiz-Unger, Maxi Dall'O, Steve Canon, Micah Myers - 6 - Some guy finds someone's phone. But it's an alien phone. Misdialed hijinks ensue. Pretty humorous space tourist loses their phone story.
"Swamp God - Chapter 2" by Ron Marz, Armitano, Werner Sanchez, ALW Studios' Troy Peteri - 6 - With Tim Seeley and Joseph Illidge getting their respective Editor and Co-Editor credits. Well, the swamp witch gets her piece, but the Reb boys ain't much for cuddling after. But she manages to birth her creature, which bears a remarkable resemblence to the wendigo in "Blizzard" in HM #297.
"Nuclear Romance" by Stefano Cardoselli, Panta Rea, Andrea Lorenzo Molinari, Bram Meehan - 7 - A lonely orphan robot searches the wasteland, for hope? It's been since 2014 that we've seen Cardoselli in Heavy Metal's pages, and I'm glad to see his ability to display actual emotion comes through in this one. His ability to depict raw ultraviolence is not present here. But there is some violence implied.
"Barracuda - (chapter one) by Keith Champagne, A. Christopher Smith, Rich Stahnke, Steve Dutro, Tim Seeley - 5 - A cop wants to find her vanished crooked cop father. The art isn't terrible but the story starts that way. So far this is most noticable for a flashback including obvious gay sex, which is not unheard of in HM, but pretty rare.
"Dark Wing - Chapter Six" by Matthew Medney, German Ponce, Protobunker Studios, Saida Temofonte, R.G. Llarena, Bruce Edwards, Pete "Voodoo Bownz" Russo - 5 -This gets an extra point from me by avoiding two-page spreads, so the art can better speak for itself. Story not as much, alliances are formed etc, but it's trying to go somewhere.
"Au Naturale" by Perry Crowe, Chris Anderson - 7.5 - Mother Earth has her revenge, with some help. Some pretty fun art with some neat writing, and the last chapter of humanity on her Earth.
Interview with Kevin Smith, by Joshua Sky - 6 - So Mr Smith has played his pop culture success into an influential media career, so he gets to be listened to. Good for him. It's disconcerting to see this go towards promoting NFTokens in Heavy Metal Magazine, and not just because it stinks to high heaven. But because of how, like Mr Medney's big shot editorial in this issue, they both refer to Beeple's 69 bajillions for a bunch of (digital) art, and the issue HM #293 Mr Beeple did the cover B for, as a measure of HM's NonFT cred, when Mr Beeple was actually featured in an Artist Spotlight in the HM #289 issue, which does actually discuss the art project he eventually sold. This barely superficial awareness of HM's past, even so recent, for such a cause, is causing me concern.
"Savage Circus" Chapter Six by Brendan Columbus, Al Barrionuevo, Candice Han, Dave Sharpe, Joseph Illidge - 3 - Goodness gracious me I don't like this.
"The Dream of the Human God" by Homero Rios, Mark Lorenzana, Juan F. Contreras, Jame - 7 - In a MegaBabylon space station, The Human God Nebucchadnezzar decides between prosperity for his people, or for his name to live forever. The decision is not surprising for one that calls themselves the Human God. I really liked the premise and the art, though I wished the storytelling had a clearer finish.
"Starward: Chapter Two" by Steve Orlando, Ivan Shavrin, Saida Temofonte - 6 - With Tim Seeley and Joseph Illidge credited as Editors. The main character is perplexed by her sudden transformation into a superheroine. The art is showing some pretty cool promise, though the story's just-out-of-high-school setting doesn't resonate with me.
