Heavy Metal #308 has 144 pages and a $13.99 cover price once more. I got the Cover A by Ken Kelly, from ebay again in late July, with a ridiculously glorious rendition of Taarna, with extra heavy face makeup and preposterously pendulous breasts.
Photo of my copy:
It's actually quite lovely. I'll call it a 7. And I glory in the opportunity to use "pendulous" in this circumstance, since one of my favorite lines in all of Heavy Metal does so. From "The Horny Goof" by Moebius in Heavy Metal February 1981:
A fine example of one of Heavy Metal's greatest artists, from the high times of HM's early existence. This issue also has one of my favorite covers, from back when you could actually open the mag all the way to see a two page image:
(this image from http://www.heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com/0281l.jpg)
Aahh, thems was the days.
Back to this issue, the now two bigshots write some crap. Really, this time the editorials are so dumb I need to call it out. Mr Medney tries to make a case for how art can be valued, badly. Mostly losing me by referring to classic HM artists like Corben, Moebius, and Druillet, as having gone from HM to fine art success, when they were very successful well before they came to HM, as well as after, in Metal Hurlant and Pilote for just examples that ignorant me even knows about. Likewise, Mr Erwin manages to piss me off by mentioning Heavy Metal referring to itself as the "World's Greatest Illustrated Magazine", when not only have they stopped adding this tag line to every issue, it completely ignores how HM had "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine" as the cover tagline, from its very first issue, until the Fall 2006, when for some reason Mr Eastman decided to go with "World's Foremost Adult Illustrated Magazine" (which went to World's Greatest Illustrated Magazine" with issue #260, with some variations at times). The sketchy grasp of Heavy Metal Magazine's history, even its legacy, while citing it to self-promote, seems at least ignorant, if not disingenuous. How very sad these guys are running things.
How very nice however, that the stories in this issue start with "Segments-Lexipolis" by Richard Malka, Juan Giménez, JAME, Carol Burrell, and with R.G. Llarena getting an "Editorial Coordinator" credit. With this long two-part feature, and an "interview" with Mr Giménez in the issue, there's plenty to like. I give this an 8. In a future space-system spanning society, where its youth are selected for a segment, a typecast life path, to be served on adulthood, a brilliant rebel runs afoul of the authorities. And there's a "To Be Continued..." at the end of the 2nd part, so goody, there's more to come.
"Sun Eater" by Dylan Sprouse - 5 - Another prose entry of this story, with a Norse king brutally uniting his people. This has a couple uncredited illustrations, including a shot of the terribly toothy wolf-lion thing, with a mechanical leg this time. Hm.
"The Living Mirror" by Diego Agrimbau and Pietro - 8 - Finding people who can change their appearance to that of their observer, as a mirror, a scientist puts two of them together. Horror ensues. A fantastic premise with great storytelling and terrific art.
"Black Beacon - Chapter 3" by Ryan K Lindsay, Sebastian Piriz, Jame, R.G. Llarena - 7 - Niko continues the quest for a story. It seems to be working. So much of this is very good, art and writing, and I'm only a little confused.
"Interview" with Juan Giménez by Joshua Sky - 7 - This is more of a memorial retrospective, as Sr Giménez sadly passed away in 2020, an early victim of the pandemic. Mr Sky was able to meet with Sr Giménez's widow Sylvia Zeballos, who provided stories and quotes. I enjoyed this a great deal, a good read with nice pictures, though it seems to end abruptly.
"Something For Your M.I.N.D." by Wyatt Kennedy, Luana Vecchio - 7 - This is pretty, lots of pink, but gruesome. A fairly complex setup, transhumanism in a strip club, so much so that the ending seems light.
"Starward: Chapter Three" by Steve Orlando, Ivan Shavrin, Saida Temofonte - 6 - With Tim Seeley and Joseph Illidge credited as Editors. The protagonist contiues to struggle with her new superheroine-dom, as Kaos closes in. Excitingly rendered art, I hope the story grows to meet it.
"Can It" by Brandon Graham - 8 - Loved it. Pretty and confusing, in a good way. Qualities that fed my interest in Heavy Metal Magazine from the outset. I don't know why the small person carries the cubical fruit into the giant babe-mecha. I can't read most of the wasteland graffiti. I can't tell why the food dispenser is labeled "Lynde-Box". But I am amused. Does "see you next meal" mean there will be more? I can only hope.
"Savage Circus" Chapter Seven by Brendan Columbus, Al Barrionuevo, Candice Han, Dave Sharpe, Joseph Illidge - 3 - This is still bad. Might be getting worse.
"The Bog" by Steven Rossa - 6 - A prose story about children of a forest hamlet and their spring ritual in the spooky swamp. There are a couple bright spots in the storytelling.
"Microscopic" by Keith Champagne, Raffaele Forte, Periya DCS, Taylor Esposito - 6 - With Tim Seeley getting an Edited By credit. The premise is kind of interesting: a pair of scientists, doing some microscopic research, are having relationship issues. She snaps and acts in revenge, during a demonstration, casting him into the microscopic world. Or something. It's told in flashback, and the art is a kinetic but sketchy comic style, which is getting pretty common in HM, which I'm getting pretty tired of.
"Swamp God - Chapter 4" by Ron Marz, Armitano, Werner Sanchez, ALW Studios' Troy Peteri - 6 - And with Tim Seeley and Joseph Illidge getting their respective Editor and Co-Editor credits. The Union and rebel soldiers find themselves on the "same" side, blasting away at the Swamp God, while more of their companions are slaughtered. Much as this chapter ends, I also ask myself: "What Now?"
