Heavy Metal #312

Heavy Metal #312 has the $13.99 cover price and 144 pages.  It's the Sorayama issue, or at least the issue where they got Mr Sorayama to do the two covers and a feature in the issue.  I got the cover "A":

The art for both covers is shown in the feature, more on that later.

I'm amused that Mr Sorayama is so associated with Heavy Metal Magazine for the November 1980 cover, "Warmth", which is certainly excellent:

(Image from heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com)

But besides that, Mr Sorayama's work in HM, until now, was the back cover from August 1981 "Ready Set Go":

An illustration in a feature "Gallery: The Art Of Mickey Mouse" in the May 1992 issue (photo from my copy):

And in an excerpt from "Six Foot One and Worth the Climb", one of the Julie Strain features Mr Eastman was so fond of during their time together in the HM Multiverse (for which Mr Sorayama isn't even credited in the mag, I'm relying on Lostboy's assessment, presumably from the book itself), promoted in the September 1997 issue:

(I think it's the one in the middle on the right.)

Some of my amusement is from learning more recently, that the Sorayama cover "Warmth" inspired a bit in an episode of the cartoon Venture Brothers.  From http://www.heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com/about.html, copied directly from the middle of this page:

So that likely added to the popularity of this image and its association with HM.  Which seems to have its own little niche in a niche of popular culture.  I even saw a brief image of a sculpture that was much like "Warmth" in the first episode of the new Freak Brothers cartoon on Tubi:

Still, the November 1980 cover is certainly Iconic Heavy Metal Magazine, linking directly into the HM's long history of sexy robots, beginning with the first cover:

Hey, 18 year old me in the late 70s thought it was hot to see a girl robot beating the crap out of some poor slob boy robot.  And it didn't stop there.  "Miss Heavy Metal 1978:  Roberta" from January 1978 got my attention:

In "Heilman" in August 1978, our randy and reckless protagonist finds himself coupling with a component of his hallucinatory spaceship:

(Heilman by Alain Voss ran in HM from June through September 1978.  I really liked it, the fantastic art and wild story was full of freaky shit like this.)

The July 1981 cover was not a Sorayama, but it was cool, "Exhausted" by Chris Moore:

By this time, 40 years ago, my young adult brain is pretty warped for sexy robots fitting in to it, with the rest of what HM had to offer, and I'm sure I've missed other examples that helped it along.  For me it's certainly a big component of my Heavy Metal Attraction.

That was fun.  This is a good time to re-state, that just because I like something, doesn't make it good.  And that goes for you too.  On to the magazine.

The big shots prattle on about their shit.  I need to be less annoyed by these guys, but it bugs me as they apply their self-centeredness to the mag as if they'd been there the whole time.  And it's odd that Mr Erwin mentions three covers by Sorayama for this issue, where it appears there were two released.

"Jack Vance's Avenging Demon Princes - Part One:  The Star Prince" by Jo Morvan, Paolo Traisci, Fabio Marinacci, Carol Burell, JAME, Fabrice Sapolsky - 7 - This appears to be a space pirate story, it starts with a man saving a child from alien attack, to charge the boy with vengeance.  He gets a good start on that quest in this first installment, as a grown man burying his mentor in space and getting entangled in space real estate intrigue.  I thought this was pretty good, in a translated french story in HM kind of way (this is noted as from 2020, pretty recent, and based on an original novel by Jack Vance).  It takes up 58 of the mag's 144 pages, in two parts, and I think it was space well invested, except that it appears there's a page mixup.  I think the story's 15th and 16th pages (pgs 19 and 20 in the mag), should have come after the 17th and 18th (the mag's 21st and 22nd).  It's not the first page mixup in HM, but it's pretty rare.

"Swamp God - Chapter 8" by Ron Marz, Armitano, Werner Sanchez, ALW Studios' Troy Peteri - 6.5 - And with Joseph Illidge getting an Editor credit.  A pair of the currently allied enemies are sent back to the witch's cabin for lamp oil, apparently part of the plan to destroy the Swamp God.  And apparently the Swamp God was lying in wait.  But what is reality, what is hallucination?  Who can say?

"The Adventures of Adrienne James - Chapter 1" by Matthew Medney, Bruce Edwards, Santa Fung, Lucas Gattoni, Morgan Rosenblum - 5 - So this one started in #307, with what looked like the beginning of a story, had another installment in #309, then reappeared in #311 with a "Preview" with different artists, and now this installment is an expansion on the Preview.  The one in #307 had an amulet retrieved by the protagonist, which is featured in the Preview and in the story in this issue, which ends with it being stolen.  It's almost like they're trying the Loc-Nar story linking device from the 1981 HM movie.  It's even glowing green.  But not much follows from one installment to the other.  (hey that happens in the movie too!)  Part of my confusion may be conflicting titles.  In #307, where the contents page indicates it as Chapter One, but not in the story itself, the #309 contents pages says Chapter Two, but the story says "Prologue Part II".  Then of course there's the artist changeover from the first two installments to the next two, and the different editors.  I choose to believe it's because R.G. Llarena left.

"Basic Time Travel" by PeeJay Catacutan - 7 - A recent history on human time travel.  An amusing premise, that time travelers often don't account for earth's change in location in space over time.  Pretty well executed too, especially how it's written.

"Starward:  Chapter Seven" by Steve Orlando, Ivan Shavrin, Saida Temofonte - 6 - With Joseph Illidge credited as Editor.  The Sisters join their fight against Kaos.  Which may mean fighting amongst themselves.  

"Invasion of the Sexy Robots" with Hajime Sorayama - 8.5 - The contents page calls this "Article - a Profile of Hajime Sorayama by David Erwin".  I found the images wonderful (the text not so much).  I alluded above to Mr Sorayama's relatively low amount of work in HM, compared to the outsized association his cover "Warmth" on the November 1980 issue has with the legacy of Heavy Metal Magazine.  I think this little gallery, and the four images it contains, goes far to cement Mr Sorayama's place in HM iconography.  Not just the very sexy robots, but the care and feeling that are obvious parts of the compositions.  I'm happy to be able to see this in Heavy Metal at this time in its, and my, existence.  The "A" cover image is a portion of the larger work that's shown in this gallery, but oddly it's mirrored here, judging by the "RIP" that's prominently on a shoulder for the cover image.  Regardless, the full image in the gallery is much more impressive, there are details that really add to the expression.  For example, the below snapshot shows that the two robots are bound at the waist by a large bolt, as well as the strings that look like they are stitched through their skins.  Also there's a turnbuckle, and an interesting double overhand knot that's also in another of the images.  These details enhance the impact of the stitching being symbolic of how tightly they hold together:

Also the strings tautly pulling the metallic skin, as if it were flesh, impressed me.  It looks to me that the same airbrush technique is used on this artwork as the November 1981 cover.  (I am also aware that Mr Sorayama is accomplished in other art and design work that is not necessarily sexy robots, but in Heavy Metal Magazine, we get the sexy robots.)

The other images in the gallery may be less evocative, but they're more titillating.  Indeed, they're so much more explicit than most of what's been in the mag for years, that I'll decline to show them here.  I guess for the mag, they're just robots.  Sexy robots, but robots, so it's ok.

"Dafina" by Mikael Lopez, David Aguado - 7 - In a decrepit wasteland the color of dust, an explorer encounters an ancient library, and its ancient librarian, and comes away with a book.  A fine mix of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and inner-space musings.  The spare art is a welcome contrast to some of the overactive comic art we see more often in the mag these days, and I found the storytelling compelling.

"Black Beacon - Chapter 5" by Ryan K Lindsay, Sebastian Piriz, JAME - 6.5 - with Joseph Illidge getting an "Edited By" credit.  This is still very pretty, and the vaporous storytelling has its attraction, but I don't really feel connected as this creeps towards its inevitable conclusion.

This issue concludes with the second part of "Jack Vance's Avenging Demon Princes - Part One:  The Star Prince", which I think is pretty good, despite it starting to look more like a storyboard.  Then a couple ads for HM publications, with a Dotty's Inferno book on the back cover, which might be fun if I ever run across it in a resale shop or something.  Next up is #313, and I already have #314.  I want to get #313 up a bit sooner.  If they actually get on an actual monthly release schedule, I'll have to keep up.  Don't hold your breath.

Heavy Metal #311

Heavy Metal #311 comes in at 136 pages for the $13.99 cover price.  I got the Cover A by Dan Quintana, via ebay.  The art is effective and over the translucent logo is splashed "The Boulet Brothers Halloween Takeover" in oozing letters, it's cool and I'll give it a 6.  Photo of my copy:

 

The Boulet Brothers are apparently established and popular entertainers and creators, according to their apparently well-maintained wikipedia, and of course, clueless me, I have never heard of them before now.  I got a pretty good impression of their creative determination, and I thought this issue had a lot to offer; despite my relative lack of interest in dyna-gendered horny horror, it seems to be a pretty good HM fit.

Speeding past the the big shots' babbling, at least I noticed they gave credit to the Boulet Brothers and Special Guest Editor Steve Orlando for this Takeover issue.  On the masthead there's also Morgan Rosenblum as Special Edition Lead Editor.

"Happy Halloween, Uglies" by The Boulet Brothers, Anderson Cabral, Lucas Gattoni, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 6 - An introductory piece with the Brothers in their lair, that connects with a couple more features that come later in this issue.  The fabulous outfits and shirtless tattooed manservants appear to be part of their thing.

"Adventures In Babysitting" by Katya Zamolodchikova, Rui Wobeto, Danielle Caraman, Lucas Gattoni, Morgan Rosenblum - 6 - Naughty babysitter and escaped slasher tropes, together again in suburban "Joisy".  This one didn't excite me so much, but there was some humor and pretty explicit naughtiness to be had.

"Death Must Be So Beautiful" by The Boulet Brothers, Anderson Cabral, Lucas Gattoni, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 5 - A waitress's enchanted wig propels her to stardom, but at what cost?  I thought the premise had more promise than the execution delivered.

"The Vault of Saumagotha - Part One" by The Boulet Brothers, Anderson Cabral, Lucas Gattoni, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 6 - The Brothers depart their lair, on a mission to Save Halloween.  Bless their hearts, it looks like they have such fun doing so.

"The Rise - Part Five" by George C. Romero, Diego Yapur, DC Alonso, Saida Temofonte, Joseph Illidge - 6 - It appears the scientist commandeers a prison to expand his experiments.  I like how the art looks, and it's trying to tell a cool story, but I get bogged down with glitches in the telling, narratively and visually (The warden's meeting is more confusing than informative.  Flying fired rifle shells would have an indentation in the primer where the firing pin hit, no?  The agent pulling out a gun with her left hand then firing it with her right?).

"Good Moon and Good Night" by Danhausen, Steve Orlando, Federico Tardino, Niccolo Laporini, Micah Myers, Morgan Rosenblum - 4 - Has-been fails to resuscitate his career following scandal.  I didn't like this one, the beginning didn't set up the finish, and the art wasn't enough to improve my viewpoint.

"Mirror Mirror" by Axelle Carolyn, EgoDuo, Daniele Caraman, Robin Jones, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 7 - Young women having a Halloween sleepover, late-1800's style.  Polished prose and ambitious art that worked hard with shading and framing, helped elevate this one for me.  

"The Vault of Saumagotha - Part Two" by The Boulet Brothers, Anderson Cabral, Lucas Gattoni, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 6 - The Brothers gleefully dispatch the unstable beast.  Something I think I'm noticing in what's in HM these days, is when the the art has the foreground action so emphasized, that the background is left as a second thought, if that.  Part of the fun I get in HM reading is when the art has detail that rewards scrutiny, and there's not so much of that to be had here.  Perhaps an effect of modern digital graphic art tools, and how they're used.  Sometimes it seems that's all we get in the mag.  This may be a clue to what I feel can be missing from the mag in its present form, in my conception of what Heavy Metal Magazine should be.

"Starward:  Chapter Six" by Steve Orlando, Ivan Shavrin, Saida Temofonte - 6 - With Joseph Illidge credited as Editor.  The Starward Sisters are Seven again.  Their meeting with their doom awaits.  Again it's pretty formulaic, but this comes with great use of action and dynamic pacing and coloring, and the writing is keeping up, so I'm finding something to like.

"Boulet Brothers Pinup" by Luke Marsh - 5 - A poster style image, unfortunately diminished by being spread across two pages.  With a fantasy description of the Brothers' origins and powers.

"Popping Off" by Yvie Oddly, Arabson Assis, Letícia Pusti, Lucas Gattoni, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 7 - Party night at the club turns into wild hookup turns into unnatural horror.  Notable for its obvious gay sex, unusual perhaps for Heavy Metal, but not unheard of.  The most prominent earlier examples I recall are "The God's Brilliant Idea" by Monti from HM September 1999, and also a farcical stereotyped crossdresser in "Bodyssey" by Simon Revelstoke and Richard Corben in May 1985, but most other instances were more implied than explicit.  And the orange menace is pretty scary.

"Dark Wing - Chapter Seven" by Matthew Medney, German Ponce, Andrew Dalhouse, Saida Temofonte, Joseph Illidge, Bruce Edwards, Pete "Voodoo Bownz" Russo - 5 - Returning since its last appearance in HM #306.  The story is still not hitting the mark for me, but I'll give the art credit for its effort to show expansive perspectives and some enriching detail.  It's use of two-page spreads is pretty egregious though.

"She Makes Monsters" by Steve Foxe, Isaac Goodhart, Letícia Pusti, Robin Jones, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 5 - A nice premise, an aged actress dispenses career advice at a signing, but this misses opportunities to expand the storytelling; e.g. the poster behind the signing table appears to say "The Woman Behind the Mask", which would forward the narrative, but for its being obscured and minimized in the background.

Interview with the Boulet Brothers by George C. Romero - 6 - A lengthy interview with multiple questions and answers, and a multitude of photos of the Brothers in various costumes.  Even though I'm not really interested in the "content" they produce, it's clear they are motivated and driven to achieve their place and personas, and with all the effort they put into their looks and "content", I can't help but admire their achievements, such as I have learned about in this mag.

"The Adventures of Adrienne James" by Matthew Medney, Bruce Edwards, Geraldo Borges - 5 - Noted as a "Special Preview", the title character apparently rides dinosaurs to meet lizard people to trade for an amulet.  It's maybe not as cool as that sounds, and it was odd to me that this is a "Preview" when there was a fuller installment in #307.

"Savage Circus" Chapter Nine" by Brendan Columbus, Al Barrionuevo, Candice Han, Dave Sharpe, Joseph Illidge - 3 - Apologies to the creators, but I really don't like this.  I read once that "comics are not storyboards", so the corrolary may be "storyboards don't make good Heavy Metal Stories".  If anything I'm disliking this one more than I did "The 49th Key", which ran from issue #273 to #281, which was similarly afflicted with clumsy formulaic storytelling and less-inspiring art.

"What's Hers" by Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, Przemyslaw Klosin, Morgan Rosenblum, Steve Orlando - 7 - Sex worker is possessed by a bloodthirsty alien.  While I wonder where she got the sword, I thought the storytelling was terrific with the badass ending, and the art supported the story well.

Taglines

In recent issue reviews, I've had a problem with one of the big shots taking liberties with what I call the Tagline, the "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine" that appeared on the very first issue in April 1977.  While I don't care for the big shot perspective, I realized I was being whiny about it for no good reason.  A post over at the PorPor Books blog induced me to look at the January 1996 issue, and then further, to see that the tagline has varied much more than I recalled over the years of HM's existence.  I'm not helping by acting like some know-it-all, some unassailable authority, when there's always more to learn.  So sorry about that.  Yet another reminder for me to keep some humility in my fanboyhood, as in my personhood.

Flipping through my issues, I was interested by the variety and timing of the permutations of the tagline, so I made some notes and will list a chronology of how and when it's changed over time.  As all of my blog, it's for my own amusement, but join in if you wish:

April 1977 - the first issue that certainly set the tone, had what I consider the classic "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine".  It also had a little banner in the corner saying:  "From the People Who Bring You the National Lampoon".

The next two issues, May and June 1977, had "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine From the People Who Bring You the National Lampoon" for the tagline, all together.  After these, it was the classic tagline on every regular issue for years to come, through the monthly issues and into the period of quarterly publication that started in 1986.  

Most of the early Special issues had no such tagline, but a few had something.

"The Best of Heavy Metal" from 1982 had "From the World's Premier Illustrated Magazine".

The next early specials, "Even Heavier Metal" from 1983, "Son of Heavy Metal" from 1984, "Bride of Heavy Metal" from 1985, had no tagline, but "The Best of #2" from 1986, had the classic "The Adult Illustrated Magazine".  

In the Fall 1987 issue, the tagline became "The Illustrated Fantasy Magazine", and the regular issues carried that for several years.

The 1989 "Venus Interface" had no tagline, but the 1992 "15 Years Of" issue had "The World's Foremost Illustrated Fantasy Magazine".

The November 1992 issue had "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine" again, but it immediately went back to "The Illustrated Fantasy Magazine" on January 1993.  The regular issues had this for several years.

Most of the next early specials, "War Machine" and "Software" from 1993, "Pin-Up" and "Greatest Hits", "Overdrive" and "Havoc" from 1995, had no tagline, some had phrases that were more like promotional stickers.  "One Step Beyond" from 1996 had "Original Stories from the Film".  The Fall 1996 "Special Edition" had "Featuring the Multimedia Novel Sinkha".  

The 1997 "Horror Special" had no tagline.  The Fall 1997 "20 Years Special" had "All New Material".  "The Best of Richard Corben Special" from Fall 1998 had "Richard Corben from Creepy and Eerie" which is kind of funny since Mr Corben had been a fixture at Heavy Metal from the very first issue, 20 years earlier.

The Spring 1999 "Crossroads" special carried "The Illustrated Fantasy Magazine", and while the Summer 1999 "F.A.K.K.2 Movie Special" had no tagline, the regular mag tagline began varying a little more around this time.

The July 1999 issue and the Fall 1999 "Techno" special had "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine" again.  But the September 1999 issue went with "The Mature Illustrated Fantasy Magazine".

The January 2000 issue had no tagline, but March 2000 came right back with "The Mature Illustrated Fantasy Magazine".

The Summer 2001 "Taboo Special" had "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine", July 2001 had "The Mature Illustrated Fantasy Magazine", and Fall 2001 "Mind Melt Special" had "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine".

From then on, there was a period of several years with the regular issues and 3-a-year "themed" Specials all carrying the classic "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine".  Good Times.

The Fall 2006 "Halloween Special" had "World's Foremost Adult Illustrated Magazine".

The November 2006 issue had "The Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine", then January 2007 had "The World's Foremost Adult Illustrated Magazine" again.

That lasted until January and March 2007 said "The World's Formost Adult Illustrated Magazine", a typo for the HM ages.  But the Spring 2007 "Chaos Special" came back with "The World's Foremost Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine".  This stayed the tagline for a few years.

With the March 2011 issue, the tagline read "World's Foremost Adult Illustrated Magazine" for just over a year, through to the beginning of the numbered issue era, with #259.  

But for #260, it went with "The World's Greatest Illustrated Magazine".  This was the tagline for the succeeding issues, with some exceptions (the issue #298 in 2018 said "Sci-Fi Special", and the issue #292 also in 2018, had "Psychedelic Special", the singular "Soft Wood" issue in 2019 said "America's New Comedy and Parody Magazine", and also said "From The People That Bring You Heavy Metal Magazine" in a little note under the "Issue #1".  #300 in 2020 said "All Star Special" for some reason, but none of these otherwise had a version of the tagline).

Issue #301 from 2020, had "The World's Greatest Illustrated Magazine" again, but after #303 from 2021, there has not been anything resembling a tagline for the nine issues I've gotten since.  Perhaps it's finished.  

If so, I'll miss it, but I figure it's another one of those things that change, and it's up to me to decide how I feel about it.  At this point I feel amused with myself, that I noticed and thought about it, and went through my copies for this and put it together, and learned a couple things doing it.  And I'm glad I decided to ignore more subtle variations, like typefaces and placement and wordcounts and how obscured the text can be.  That would've been nuts.