Monday, October 26, 2015

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR OCTOBER 27TH


Happy (almost) Halloween!

I was pulled from my mother’s birthing bits feet first early one Halloween morning eons ago, clearly difficult even from the very start. This week I hope you’ll allow this Halloween baby an extra indulgence as I go all-horror with one of my favourite comics stories ever – the classic “Love and Death” from Saga of The Swamp Thing, present a webcomic displaying the ultimate in culinary nastiness, include the first ever episode of the Tales From The Crypt TV show and, for this week only, skip ahead in the Heavy Metal recaps to October 1979 for a self-contained, all-H.P. Lovecraft issue of HM.

So stock up on comics instead of candies this Halloween and feel free to share the seasonal joy and let me know some of your favourite ever horror comics!

                                                     
                              

COMIC OF THE WEEK : SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING BOOK TWO 

By Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, Alfredo Alcala & Friends
Published By DC Comics


Saga of The Swamp Thing #21, “The Anatomy Lesson,” was Alan Moore’s total re-writing of Swamp Thing’s origin and may be the most famous story in the decades-long Swamp Thing mythos, but for my money, “Love and Death” is the best. Technically, the story, spanning Saga of The Swamp Thing #29-31 and Annual #2, along with its beautiful coda, issue 34 (“Rites of Spring,”) has no real title but collected and recollected across a variety of formats and editions over the years (Saga of The Swamp Thing Book 2 being the most recent), “Love and Death” is the most appropriate.

We open to find that Swamp Thing is now just Swamp Thing. Having learned that he never was Alec Holland, our sentient plant man ironically finds himself more in touch with nature than ever before, but stripped of all personal identity. Abby Cable, the great unrequited love of his life, is repairing her marriage and Swamp Thing’s buried the bones of the man he long thought he was. Abby’s disturbed, alcoholic husband, Matt, has a new job and has bought them a beautiful home, but Abby’s suspicious rather than relieved by this turn of good fortune and frequent flashes of insects and corpses and horrors from beyond greatly unsettle her.

Abby has good reason to be unsettled – her husband has been possessed by the spirit of her deceased, evil uncle Anton Arcane, Swamp Thing’s greatest enemy. Arcane orchestrated a jailbreak from hell for both himself and a number of murderers and evildoers and has taken up residency inside Matt Cable to orchestrate his horrific revenge. When Swamp Thing arrives at the Cable home to find Arcane/Cable in full horrific glory, vomiting out a torrent of flies, Swamp Thing also finds that Abby is dead and that Arcane has consigned her soul to hell.

So begins Swamp Thing’s journey to the underworld, releasing his consciousness from its elemental, plant-based cocoon and travelling “beyond life itself” to hell in order to free his love’s soul and return her to life. Along the way, he encounters dead enemies, old allies and new acquaintances drawn from the rich pantheon of DC’s supernatural stable, punches demons, has one more showdown with Arcane and rages against the judgement of God (via The Spectre) in order to bring Abby back to life.

It’s the most romantic thing ever.

December 1984’s Issue #31 was my very first issue of the series, given to me in 1987 by a school friend who found it at a local fete, and it changed my comics reading permanently and profoundly, acting as something of a gateway drug to the wider world of comics lying outside what I could find on the racks of the suburban newsagent. Little wonder it proved so formative – the world slowly going mad under the strain of Arcane’s release from hell and his corruptive powers, Swamp Thing cradling a dead Abby as he removes her from the tainted, demonic atmosphere of the Cables’ gothic New Orleans home, the look on Swamp Thing’s face as he is given a flicker of vain hope at Abby’s survival only to have it snatched away, Arcane-Matt’s grotesqueness, Matt’s final attempt at redemption and all those disgusting insects, it is – to my mind – a modern classic; creeping in its horror, crushing in its climax and pretty epic when you consider just how expertly all of that and more was pulled off in just twenty-four pages.

Frequent guest Rick Veitch (who would eventually helm the boom full-time, even succeeding Moore as scripter) fills in for regular penciller Stephen Bissette for this issue, with Bissette chafing against deadlines and getting a head start on the double-sized conclusion in Annual #2. It’s Totleben who proves to be the artistic glue of the team, however, inking both Bissette and Veitch with such cohesion and detail you’d likely never know two different pencillers worked on the overall story. The same cannot be said for Alfredo Alcala – a wonderful artist in his own right – whose heavy inks similarly dominate Bissette’s pencils in Issue #30 when Totleben needed a breather, making that particular issue his own. The work of both Totleben and Alcala over the course of this story are as sure a reminder as any of the power and influence a good inker has over the pencils they work on top of. Anyone cramming in some final Inktober lessons should study these comics well.

Featured in Annual #2, Bissette and Totleben’s hell is a filthy, disgusting landscape, a wasteland ripped from the Golden Age of Weird Fiction with insectoid horrors and hybrid demon creatures coloured in a fittingly nauseating palate of browns, purples and blues by Tatjana Wood. It’s a place of such unending horror that when a desperate, fraying Arcane asks Swamp Thing, “Huh-how many years have I buh-been here?” and is answered with “Since yesterday,” you may actually feel a stab of sympathy for Abby’s disgustingly vile uncle as he lets loose a shriek of total despair.

Bissette and Totleben draw with such confidence that they even give Jack Kirby’s Etrigan The Demon a cosmetic makeover. Their limber, feline Etrigan stands in stark contrast to the brick shithouse version envisioned by his creator, but he’s far scarier, squatting and drooling in the darkness before loosing a burst of flame from his mouth to incinerate some hell spawn far less powerful than he.

These are classic comics, filled with evil portends, undead villains, good men corrupted, monsters, demons and, of course, love and psychedelics. This is no mere “comic book death” stunt, it’s an organic result of the stories Moore was telling. This storyline shattered the final remnants of the “old” Swamp Thing, moving the character and his lover into ever denser, more sophisticated territory. If you’ve never read “Love and Death,” I urge you to and if you have them on your shelf already, give them a re-read as, like me, you might find them to be one of the absolute highlights of not only Moore, Bissette, Totleben and friends’ legendary run with this character, but also of ‘80s comics as a whole.


                                                      


WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : FINAL MEAL

By Christopher Sebela and Zack Soto


Once again we raid the Study Group vault for webcomics excellence – this week with Christopher (High Crimes) Sebela and Zack Soto’s ingenious little short, Final Meal.

The tale of a man whose palate craves not the varieties of the flavour spectrum, but the spice of cruelty itself, Final Meal builds with the inevitability that the title implies. However, with writing as strong as Sebela’s and art as moody and crisp as Soto’s, the almost anti-climactic nature of the story’s conclusion should not affect your overall reading pleasure.

Taken to a mysterious, exclusive restaurant to experience the ultimate in his cruelty “food fetish,” out narrator relates his strange journey all over the globe to find the food that has suffered the most in its preparation. Soto’s moody, lively cartooning brings to life the insanity and desperation of this character’s quest and his flesh-based meals are rendered with appropriate grotesqueness.

Liable to nudge guilty meat-eaters (like me) or lapsed vegetarians (again like me) further towards plant-based diets, Final Meal packs an EC-esque irony that’s just perfect for the season.





COUNTDOWN TO MOZ METAL: HEAVY METAL OCTOBER 1979

Yes, thanks to the magic of living in the present, we are fast-forwarding a year and a half this week to a special Halloween issue of Heavy Metal, the Lovecraft-inspired stand-alone issue published in October 1979. Normal service will resume next issue, as (among other things) Philippe Druillet’s “Urm The Mad” concludes, and if you think I’m done drooling over Druillet, you couldn’t be more wrong.

As usual, the October 1979 issue is beautiful to look at, playing host to a number of incredible European creators. Sadly, however, the substance just isn’t there overall, with most of the material ending up as either narrative throwaways or curios, Lovecraftian only in name rather than execution. The editorial notes the diversity of the stories within and wisely tries to offer some cohesion to the issue by suggesting the focus is on “two of HPL’s most characteristic obsessions…the fear of something huge and powerful that is outside but wants to get in and the awful attraction effected by dark and smelly holes. You witness, Dr. Freud.”

The absolute star of the show is Alberto Breccia, who skilfully and beautifully adapts HPL’s “The Dunwich Horror” with his none-more-black, charcoal-smeared art and heavy use of captioning. It’s a perfectly moody and evocative fit for HPL’s lengthy 1928 classic which, like last week’s Rat God by Richard Corben, moves the cosmic terror to a slightly more rural setting.

“Good day, Lovecraft, I am the President and I wish to hunt the Ktulu!” And with that goes any hopes that the mighty Moebius might take this assignment – to which he seems indelibly suited – with any seriousness. Instead, the artist delivers “Ktulu,” a story still stunning in its visuals even if it falters as an examination of the work of Lovecraft. This story of a group of politicians entering a “gigantic cavern,” interdimensional in nature, to hunt “Ktulu” like big game still carries that trademark Moebius dreaminess and gorgeousness, yet unfortunately it has not the space nor the seriousness of intent to follow up on just how cool that premise actually sounds. An Elder God safari hunt. I’d write the shit out of that. I suspect most of you would too.

Terrance Lindall’s “Xeno Meets Doctor Fear And Is Consumed” continues the surreal dreaminess established by Moebius, but similarly offers little and I’m actually beginning to wonder if it’s a page count restraint rather than an imaginative laxness that’s the issue here, for like “Ktulu,” “Xeno…” feels as though twenty-odd pages have been somehow hacked from it.

Alain Voss’ “The Thing,” is striking in its Rick Geary-goes-Pointillist inkiness. It captures the overwrought verbosity of much of Lovecraft, but pastiches it in this tale of an interdimensional portal accessed via catacomb…and telephone. It’s a pretty and enthusiastic piece though and ending with the madness that afflicts so many a Lovecraft protagonist who plunges into the unknown it gets the thumbs up for both being an attractive comic and actually meeting the brief somewhat.

All hail Druillet (again)! His “Excerpts From The Necronomicon” proves a highlight from the issue and thankfully at that, as HPL is one of Druillet’s most profound influences. Presented as though torn from the Necronomicon itself, Druillet’s inky, scratchy pages have the look of deliberate, spontaneous haste about them, the look of the work of a man detailing indescribable horror and sketching the creatures that lay beyond the realms of our perception. Perfect in their rushed, scrawled appeal, their indecipherable cursive script, they have the vague look of pages from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis; the book of the dead featured in the Evil Dead. Many more pages would’ve been appreciated, particularly as they were actually drawn but not included, such as:



While this issue is pretty hit and miss and as such will be a bit of disappointment for any serious Lovecraft fan, any doubts over whether or not it’s worth even the most cursory of flip-throughs should be dispelled with this, a Walt Simonson drawing of Cthulhu. Truly, I am your Halloween fairy:





COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : TALES FROM THE CRYPT: THE MAN WHO WAS DEATH

Rounding us out this week is the first ever episode from the ‘90s HBO Tales From The Crypt series, inspired (of course) by the notorious EC comics of the same name. Still one of the most highly-regarded instalments of the series, “The Man Who Was Death” finds Bill Sadler playing Niles Talbot, an executioner forced into unemployment when the death penalty is repealed. Instead of finding a 9 to 5 like a regular Joe, the justice-dispensing Talbot hits the streets, arranging electrocutions for those who escape the courts justice. In true EC style, the results of his actions are deliciously ironic.

Directed and co-written by The Warriors’ Walter Hill and acted with total relish by Sadler, “The Man Who Was Death” is a fine way to spend a lazy 25 Halloween minutes as you await potential trick or treaters.




See you next week. Love your comics.


Cameron Ashley spends a lot of time writing comics and other things you’ll likely never read. He’s the chief editor and co-publisher of Crime Factory (www.thecrimefactory.com). You can reach him @cjamesashley on Twitter.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

New Comics For Wednesday 28th of October


It looks like it's going to be another week of great reads but before we even get a peek at the list let's address this weekend's event! This Saturday, the 31st of October from 11am-5pm it's our HALLOWEEN COMICFEST FREE COMICS AND MONSTER BACK ISSUE SALE! Yep, FREE COMICS AND a Back Issue Sale! We'll have a great selection of FREE Halloween comics to pick from, while you'll get the chance to look through multiple collections of back issues to find some hidden jems. Add to that we'll have local creators Fil Barlow and Helen Maier with us showcasing their latest release from Image, Yorris. How about some face painting to help get into the spirit. Oh and of course there will be candy on hand too! 


After all that the team from the The Melbourne LGBT Comic Book Group will be hosting their October Meet Up that will also double as the The Melbourne LGBT Comic Book Group Halloween Party! The group is always keen for new members and it will no doubt be another great social event. 

Plenty to get excited about this week and that's all before we see what Wednesday will bring!

A few more added to Marvel's new ranks of first issues with ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #1, HOWLING COMMANDOS OF SHIELD #1 and UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #1. Whoever thought it was a good move to start something with DC's big bad? Find out in the first of the limited series of one shots, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR BATMAN #1. In the running for best cover of the year, SINESTRO #16 MONSTERS VAR ED has got to be pretty high up there. Sometime art can be so good, it seems to have a life of it's own. Mike Allred pop art shows us a world where art actually jumps off the pages and how the people there police this in ART OPS #1. Another early adventure for HB in HELLBOY & BPRD 1953 PHANTOM HAND & KELPIE one shot. BLACK MAGICK #1 from Rucka and Sydney sider great, Nicola Scott sees the start of their coven cop series. Check out the limited Magazine Edition #1 release too! Matt Fraction and Fabio Moon's next chapter of their multiverse hopping super criminal/super spy series is collected in CASANOVA ACEDIA TP VOL 01. Enjoyed playing the Telltale computer game of Fables? Following it up with the first trade of FABLES THE WOLF AMONG US TP VOL 01. More video game ties with the INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE HC VOL 01 and INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR TWO TP VOL 02 seeing release. 
FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS HC is just what the doctor ordered...unless your doctor is also your lawyer, in which case you might what to wait until we are out of bat country before reading this! Childhood flashback to the 80's HE-MAN & MASTERS OF UNIVERSE HC MINICOMIC collection and see the comic adventures of our favourite plastic barbarian that inspired our imaginations! For those a little younger, your childhood is taken care of with the next BATMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 03 plus another Animated action figure release! Tomine's reads normally leave a mark on the reader, with a title like KILLING & DYING HC it's hard to imagine this one won't do the same. The hero humour comes thick and fast in the latest ONE PUNCH MAN GN VOL 03. And just in time for your Halloween celebrations, the DEATHSTROKE BOOK AND MASK SET for a costume and MARVEL HEROES ROCKET RACCOON and VENOM CANDY BOWL HOLDERS

Also a new Previews catalogue too, which means keep an eye out for our November Previews Album or just head in and have a look through our store copy. 


MARVEL
ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #1
CAPTAIN AMERICA SAM WILSON #2
CHEWBACCA #2 (OF 5)
DEADPOOL VS THANOS #4 (OF 4)
GUIDEBOOK MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIV MARVELS IRON MAN
HOUSE OF M #4 SWA
HOWLING COMMANDOS OF SHIELD #1
KANAN #7
NEW AVENGERS #2
SECRET WARS OFFICIAL GUIDE OF MARVEL MULTIVERSE #1 SWA
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #2
UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #1
WHAT IF INFINITY DARK REIGN #1
WHERE MONSTERS DWELL #5 (OF 5) SWA

DC COMICS
ALL STAR SECTION 8 #5 (OF 6)
AQUAMAN #45 MONSTERS VAR ED
BATGIRL #45
BATMAN 66 #28
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #4
CONSTANTINE THE HELLBLAZER #5
CYBORG #4 MONSTERS VAR ED
DEATHSTROKE #11 MONSTERS VAR ED
FLASH #45 MONSTERS VAR ED
GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #10
GRAYSON #13 MONSTERS VAR ED
HE MAN THE ETERNITY WAR #11
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #5
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR BATMAN #1
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #13 MONSTERS VAR ED
PREZ #5 (OF 6)
ROBIN SON OF BATMAN #5 MONSTERS VAR ED
SINESTRO #16 MONSTERS VAR ED
SUPERMAN #45 MONSTERS VAR ED
WE ARE ROBIN #5

VERTIGO
ART OPS #1
SANDMAN OVERTURE #6 SPECIAL EDITION
VERTIGO QUARTERLY SFX #3

BOOM
ADVENTURE TIME #45
ADVENTURE TIME FIONNA & CAKE CARD WARS #4 (OF 6)
ARCADIA #6
DAY MEN #8
LUMBERJANES BEYOND BAYLEAF #1
MUNCHKIN #10
POWER UP #4 (OF 6)
SPIRE #4 (OF 8)
WILDS END ENEMY WITHIN #2 (OF 4)

DARK HORSE
COLDER TOSS THE BONES #2 (OF 5)
CONAN THE AVENGER #19
DEATH HEAD #4 (OF 6)
FIGHT CLUB 2 #6
HALO ESCALATION #23
HELLBOY & BPRD 1953 PHANTOM HAND & KELPIE
PASTAWAYS #7
PLANTS VS ZOMBIES ONGOING #5 GROWN SWEET HOME
TOMORROWS #4 (OF 6)

DYNAMITE
ALICE COOPER VS CHAOS #2 (OF 6)

IDW
SHRINKING MAN #4 (OF 4)
SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS #1
TMNT ONGOING #51
TRANSFORMERS REDEMPTION
WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES #724
WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES 75TH ANN SPECIAL

IMAGE
BLACK MAGICK #1
BLACK MAGICK #1 MAGAZINE SIZE VAR
CHEW #51
FROM UNDER MOUNTAINS #2
ISLAND #4
IXTH GENERATION #6
MANIFEST DESTINY #18
ODYC #8
REVIVAL #34
RUMBLE #8
SAVAGE DRAGON #208
SPAWN #257
SPREAD #11
THEYRE NOT LIKE US #9

ONI
HELLBREAK #7
INVADER ZIM #4
STRINGERS #3 (OF 5)
STUMPTOWN V3 #8

VALIANT
BOOK OF DEATH #4 (OF 4)

MISC
BLACK HOOD #6
LADY MECHANIKA TABLET OF DESTINIES #6 (OF 6)
MERCURY HEAT #5
ONIBA SWORDS OF THE DEMON #0
SIMPSONS COMICS EXPLOSION #2
SIP (STRANGERS IN PARADISE) KIDS #4
WES CRAVEN COMING OF RAGE #1 (OF 5)

MAGAZINES
MARVEL PREVIEWS NOVEMBER 2015 EXTRAS
PREVIEWS #326 NOVEMBER 2015

TRADES
ADVENTURE TIME TP VOL 07
AVENGERS TIME RUNS OUT TP VOL 02
AVENGERS ULTRON FOREVER TP
BATMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 03
BATMAN WAR GAMES TP VOL 01
CASANOVA ACEDIA TP VOL 01
COMPLETE LOVE HURTS TP
CONVERGENCE INFINITE CRISIS TP BOOK 01
CONVERGENCE INFINITE CRISIS TP BOOK 02
DRAGONLANCE CLASSICS TP VOL 02
EMPIRE TP UPRISING
FABLES DELUXE EDITION HC VOL 11
FABLES THE WOLF AMONG US TP VOL 01
FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS HC
GARFIELD TP VOL 07
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY BY JIM VALENTINO TP VOL 03
GUARDIANS TEAM-UP TP VOL 01 GUARDIANS ASSEMBLE
HE-MAN & MASTERS OF UNIVERSE HC MINICOMIC
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE HC VOL 01
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR TWO TP VOL 02
KILLING & DYING HC
MANTLE TP VOL 01
MONSTER TP VOL 06 PERFECT ED URASAWA
NOVA TP VOL 06 HOMECOMING
OH BROTHER BRAT ATTACK TP
ONE PUNCH MAN GN VOL 03
PRIEST & BRIGHTS QUANTUM & WOODY TP VOL 03 AND SO
PRINCELESS TP VOL 04 BE YOURSELF
PURGATORI TP VOL 01 HELL AND BACK
RED SHOES AND OTHER TALES HC
SHAFT COMPLICATED MAN TP
SILK TP VOL 00 LIFE AND TIMES OF CINDY MOON
STEAMPUNK BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 1880 TP

MERCH
BATMAN ANIMATED NBA ROBIN AF
DEATHSTROKE BOOK AND MASK SET
MARVEL HEROES ROCKET RACCOON CANDY BOWL HOLDER
MARVEL HEROES VENOM CANDY BOWL HOLDER
MOTU HE-MAN SWORD OF POWER INFLATABLE REPLICA

BACK IN STOCK
ALIENS SALVATION HC
CHEWBACCA #1 (OF 5)
DOCTOR STRANGE #1
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1
JUGHEAD #1
SPIDER-GWEN #1
TOKYO GHOST #1

WE STAND ON GUARD #3

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR OCTOBER 20TH



If you don’t like Richard Corben, you might as well go do something else with your time this week, as you’re about to get so Corbenated you’ll close your eyes and see nothing but phantasmagorical horrors, beefy heroes, buxom heroines, psychedelic oil-slick skies, rat monsters and rocky, sentient castles for days on end if you continue onward.


Oddly, considering he is a creator I revere so much, I cannot actually remember my first Corben comic, although I do recall being slightly startled by his pneumatic, depilated ladies at some point in my early teens, which would likely make it “Den.” I cannot imagine what it must’ve been like to open the first issue of Heavy Metal up in 1977 and see “Den” with its saturated colours and hyper-physical characters rendered with such depth and definition. “Den” still feels ahead of its time to me, perhaps partly because its stoner ‘70s garishness is an aesthetic that particularly appeals but also because it’s so unlike any other comics art of that or any other period. 



Much like the character of Den, transported from our world to the realm of NeverWhere, a place of endless battles and babes filled with inky indigo and orange skies, Corben is able to take his readers elsewhere, and not just elsewhere but anywhere. From the gothic weirdness of one of the decades best miniseries’, Ragemoor, to the urban crime-ridden environment of Cage, to the cosmic horror of Lovecraft, to Mexico with Hellboy, to the Gothic creepiness of Poe, to the depths of space, Corben’s able to do it all and at seventy-five years of age shows no signs of slowing down. 



This week, we say goodbye to “Den” in the Heavy Metal recap, say hello to Corben’s latest collected work, the Lovecraft-goes-Deliverance Rat God, feature an incredible video of his adaptation of Poe’s “The Raven” and unearth a classic Lovecraft adaptation a young Corben drew in 1971.



But here’s something to think about before we move on: Richard Corben’s art has possibly been viewed more than any other comics artist ever – his artwork for Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell sits somewhere in an estimated 42 million homes across the world.



With the Moebius Library coming next year, hopefully we can soon get something along the lines of a Complete Corben -- he certainly deserves the format.



COMIC OF THE WEEK : RAT GOD
By Richard Corben
Published by Dark Horse Comics

“Around that unforgettable rodent army a whole separate cycle of myths revolves, for it scattered among the village homes and brought curses and horrors in its train.” 

--The Rats In The Walls, H.P. Lovecraft.


Lovecraft goes backwoods horror in the legendary Richard Corben’s latest work, Rat God, collected in hardcover and released last week by Dark Horse Comics. Corben’s reputation is the approximate size of Cthulhu himself at this point and it is both fascinating and heartening to see this comics master create a rural annex to Lovecraft’s fictitious city of Arkham, building on not only HPL’s books but Corben’s—and others’ – own adaptations of the material. With Alan Moore’s Neonomicon and currently underway Providence strip-mining HPL’s Cthulhu mythos, INJ Culbard’s wonderful adaptations of HPL’s work, Humanoids 2015 release of Sanctum: Redux (a rather bloated, if frequently pretty, reworking of 2014’s Sanctum which is a reworking of Lovecraft’s The Tomb), and artists as culturally diverse as Japan’s Gou Tanabe splashing around in HPL’s Elder God-infested waters with his The Hound and Other Stories (stay tuned, I’ll get to this), Lovecraft’s influence looms perhaps larger than ever. Hell, my spellchecker even just caught me misspelling “Cthulhu”!



From memory, the last time Richard Corben played in Lovecraft’s world was 2008’s three-issue mini series Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft for Marvel’s MAX imprint, but his affinity for Lovecraft’s writing goes back at least as far as the very early ‘70s, with his adaptation of several of HPL’s short stories including “The Rats In The Walls”(see this week’s Webcomic of the Week). And it’s with “The Rats In The Walls” that Corben comes full circle with Rat King as, title aside, it’s clear that the latter is built from the narrative bones of the former, even if the two tales would seem to have little in common on the surface. I can’t really ruin one without ruining the other, however, so if you’re unfamiliar with “The Rats In The Walls” I’ll let you figure most of this out for yourselves.



Clark Elwood is a repressed, racist student of art history who with his long face and “delicate and nervous” disposition actually resembles HPL somewhat. When Clark bumps into the exotic Kito Hontz at Miskatonic University (site of many a Lovecraft tale, including “Herbert West: Re-Animator”), he’s instantly smitten and strikes up a friendship. Kito is from the backwater town of Lame Dog (the least Lovecraftian name of any town ever), a place long ago ravaged and abandoned by goldminers and built on the back of an obscure, sinister Native American mythology harnessed and perpetuated by a white settler named Zedon Peck. 



Upon discovering that Kito nude models for an anatomy class, the aristocratic Elwood becomes outraged and spurns her love. Soon realising his mistake, he packs up and takes off to Lame Dog to find Kito and win her back and on the way becomes embroiled in a murder plot, battles local rat-faced yokels in fist fights, uncovers the existence of a sinister cult sacrificing the young to an ancient, subterranean rat-monster with ties to local mythology and discovers a truth about his own origins which directly mimics the reveal in Lovecraft’s 1930 short story.



Elwood’s an odd duck, repressed but willing to throw fists as needed and fond of using Lovecraft’s Elder Gods as curses (“Sent by Yog Sothoth with his ultimate curse,” “By the loathsome Elder Gods!”), this stuffy academic is seemingly a parody of the occasionally racist, arrogant, wealthy Lovecraftian protagonist with a dash of the equally old school pulp action hero about him. Driven ever forward through the nightmarish atmosphere and sinister plots of Lame Dog, Elwood proves to have the mental as physical fortitude that many a Lovecraftian character lacks, driven mad in their quest for forbidden knowledge. 



Corben remains as sharp as ever with his grotesque characters, dollops of bad trip psychedelia, and surreal and uneasy atmospherics still very much at play. His inclusion of his very own Tales From The Crypt/Creepy-style narrator (last seen employed as an expositional device in his most recent collection of Poe adaptions, Spirts of the Dead) speeds exposition along and lends a sense of throwback horror comics fun to proceedings as well as further removing any Lovecraftian stuffiness to his story. His rat creature is hideous, his climactic costume party sequence harrowing, the maze-like gutters of his panels likely a deliberate, playful choice to signal both his rodents and his protagonist’s confused journey into unknown.



Rat King is another wonderful work by the somehow still-prolific Richard Corben that will make a fine Halloween pick-up for the reader looking for some unique, atmospheric and classic chills.



WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : THE RATS IN THE WALLS
By Richard Corben 
(from the story by H.P. Lovecraft)

Fans of the source material may take issue with Richard Corben’s decision to give grotesque, bloody life to this story’s original suggested horror, but me? I’m down with Corb. Created in 1972 under the pseudonym of “Gore,” this 10-page adaptation packs in all the history of HPL’s de la Poer clan a reader could ask for and makes the name of its protagonist’s cat just slightly less offensive for the modern sensibility. The bloody, insane revelation on the last page is rendered with glee by the younger Corben, clearly more concerned with realism here than he has been for decades but already showing the artistic chops that he would hone over the next forty plus years. Open each page image in a new tab for maximum biggedness and enjoy.





COUNTDOWN TO MOZ METAL: APRIL 1978

Goodbye, Den! According to this epilogue, you have four years to rest and fornicate with Kath until the Queen’s power grows so vast she’ll control the land of NeverWhere so utterly, she’ll have the power to come after you! Why you would actually wait for this to happen, I’m not sure I understand but hey, it’s your life. Still, the garden of Eden Den and Cath find themselves in at the start of “Den’s Farewell” is given such utopian appeal by Richard Corben, I’d likely return there and wait as well. Removing all backgrounds, Den and Kath bask in the glow of their lovemaking upon a lush blanket of flowers and vines, made all the more striking by the absence of any background. Turning the tables, it’s Kath who saves Den for once, swooping down on their winged lizard to pluck Den from the clutches and unwanted advances of the land’s evil queen. We all get a Corben break next issue, as May’s HM is Corbless. He does return in full force the issue after, however, bringing writer Jan Strnad with him for “New Tales of The Arabian Nights.”

*rubs hands together gleefully*

Two more beautiful Airtight Garage pages by Moebius follows, with its stellar creator still seemingly making things up on the spot to satisfy his artistic whims and heighten the spontaneous dreaminess of the strip. This is, seriously, the recap for this particular chapter: “Story to date: Grubert, in his flashy major’s uniform, turns left, then follows a corridor, and finally walks through a sort of door…”

Nobody but Moebius could get away with that.

Den may be gone, but Urm yet remains! Part three of Druillet’s bad trip Grimdark sees our misshapen antihero facing down the Dead Warriors, the head of his own Siamese twin brother filling his mind with doubt – “You dreamed of glory and strength, now the rats will gnaw your bones.” Urm refuses to listen to this very literal voice of negativity and battles on through his dread opposition, as his creator continues to get playful with his layouts and mind-bendingly ornate and freaky with his double page spreads. Such as this: 


“Urm” should be in a single volume that dwarfs an IDW Artist’s Edition so we can all get lost in its truly beautiful grotesqueness. It’s so inspiring I actually want to pick up a pen and start carving out my own mandala-panelled, Kirby goes nihilist, sword and sorcery epic. Don’t worry. I won’t.

Bring on next issue’s conclusion please!

Philippe Druillett’s not yet done with this issue, however, as he provides the script for “City of Flowers,” a truly classic little short sumptuously illustrated by Picotto whose ornate line work somewhat recalls Druillett by way of Scalped’s R.M. Guerra. Set in a city built in and on a gigantic tree, a traveller named Firaz arrives in the fantastical, slightly Middle Eastern-looking City of Flowers just in time for carnival. Quickly becoming drunk and festive, Firaz is given a crown and deemed the new King. The mood shifts quickly and an army rises up from the streets, storms the castle and murders the King. Placed on the throne, Firaz quickly finds out that his reign is to be a short one -- the next carnival, and thus the next bloody revolution, is just three months away…

Gray Morrow’s gorgeous “Orion” continues, in which our hero and his companion, Mamba, have a falling out and then possibly the most elegantly drawn knock-down-drag-out brawl in comics. It’s fascinating to see Morrow, with his “classic” style – not too far away from other great SF artists like Al Williamson – embrace the creativity and strangeness of the period. Orion himself looks like something from Sean Connery’s Zardoz gone slightly Arabic; Mamba with his closely cropped Afro, golden vest and monocle (!) is this issue’s most ornately dapper character. The pages are beautiful and, thankfully, there’s a lot more “Orion” to come.

There’s more wonderful Barbarella this issue too, but of special note is “Paradise 9,” a series of interconnected, wildly divergent comics about a planet that only “welcomes 325 visitors” a year and every single visitor seems to recall a different place. Featuring contributions from Heavy Metal creators such as Moebius, Dionett, Gal, Montpellier and many more, “Paradise 9” helps put this particular issue into the all-time best of HM list.




COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : E.A.POE’S THE RAVEN

Richard Corben’s adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s legendary “The Raven” has been given some pretty decent animated effects and The Allan Parson’s Project prog rock classic “The Raven” as a soundtrack. Originally published way back in Creepy #67 and currently found in the massive, simply MUST OWN Creepy Presents: Richard Corben from Dark Horse, “The Raven” sees Corben at both his best and most colourful. The word balloons are cleverly clipped from the artwork, leaving nothing but Corben’s lush, ominous interpretation in all its phantasmagorical glory. This is a cleverly edited piece, with the leering raven repeatedly shown during the climax of the story, some great dissolves and some clever motion work that highlights rather than distracts from the piece.

Crank up the volume for this impressive, respectful motion treatment of a classic piece of comics adaptation. This is easily one of the best videos I’ve included in this column so far and I can’t help but wonder if the man himself has seen it?




See you next week. Love your comics.


Cameron Ashley spends a lot of time writing comics and other things you’ll likely never read. He’s the chief editor and co-publisher of Crime Factory (www.thecrimefactory.com). You can reach him @cjamesashley on Twitter.

Monday, October 19, 2015

SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE DOUBLE PASS GIVEAWAY!



Three scouts and lifelong friends join forces with one badass cocktail waitress to become the world’s most unlikely team of heroes. When their peaceful town is ravaged by a zombie invasion, they’ll fight for the badge of a lifetime and put their scouting skills to the test to save mankind from the undead.


To celebrate the release of SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, only at the movies NOVEMBER 5, we have 5 double in-season passes to give away!

To go into the draw for your chance to win all you need to do is tell us, "A classic Scout motto is always be prepared. Given the chance to update this motto, what life rule should the modern Scout live by"?

Terms and Conditions:

-Only entries made via the comments on the Facebook post will be included in the draw.
-All entries will go into the All Star Barrel and winners will be drawn at random.
-Entries close 6pm Monday the 2nd of November and winners will be announced Tuesday the 3rd.
-Tickets will only be available to pick up from the store and winners must produce photo ID upon pick up.
-Tickets MUST be picked up no later than a week after the draw. Any remaining tickets after this date will be given away at our discretion to make sure they don't go to waste.

SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE is only at the movies NOVEMBER 5 

For more info head to:
• Facebook - facebook.com/ParamountPicturesAU
• Website – www.ScoutsZombies.com.au
• Twitter – @ParamountAU
• Instagram- @ParamountAU
• #ScoutsVsZombies #GetYourFirstTaste
©2015 Par. Pics.

New Comics For Wednesday 21st of October




We hope that anyone that made it along to the AMC EXPO over the weekend had a great time and we look forward to hearing stories of who you met and seeing the awesome photos with the guests all this week. But if you want a positive way to ward off those post-con blues, there is always the new comics shipping list plus the All Star Women's Comic Book Club OCTOBER Meet Up (being held in the store Sunday, October 25 from 5:00pm - 6:30pm) to help pick up your spirits!


We've got another round of All Different Marvel #1 with some highlights in ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1, Warren Ellis on the Inhuman KARNAK #1 and UNCANNY INHUMANS #1. Local lad, Tom Taylor has a swing at Golden Age Gorilla spy game with SECRET WARS AGENTS OF ATLAS #1. Another local creator, Gary Chaloner has a crack at art duties on the latest, ASTRO CITY #28. CLEAN ROOM #1 is the next new Vertigo series from Gail Simone about the mystery conspiracy behind a self help empire. Makes sense that BACK TO THE FUTURE #1 is out just in time for Back To The Future Day 21st October 2015, couple with the BACK TO THE FUTURE ULTIMATE VISUAL HISTORY HC, it's the perfect celebration of all things McFly! Garth Ennis returns to his horror baby in CROSSED DEAD OR ALIVE #1 and #2. The next installment of Paul Pope's all ages awesome adventure series is here with BATTLING BOY FALL OF HOUSE OF WEST GN. More culinary action with the Vertigo graphic novel series, GET JIRO BLOOD AND SUSHI HC. Enjoy a funny meme? You might think twice about them after reading one causing the end of the world in MEMETIC TP. Follow that up with a little more fable like end of the world tale with the War of the Worlds meet Wind In The Willows WILDS END TP VOL 01 FIRST LIGHT. Sit down and immerse yourself in Morrison's DC Opus MULTIVERSITY DLX ED HC in one hit and try not to have your mind melted. You've waited long enough for this follow up, now find out what happens when YOU ARE A KITTEN PICK-A-PLOT SC VOL 03! Also this : BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES BATMOBILE! HOMYGAWD!!!

So much wonderful stuff! Anything else you need just let us know!

MARVEL
1872 #4 SWA
AGE OF APOCALYPSE #5 SWA
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2
ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1
DARTH VADER #11
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #2
JOURNEY STAR WARS FASE #4 (OF 4)
KARNAK #1
MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS #12
SECRET WARS AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 SWA
SHIELD #11
UNCANNY INHUMANS #1
WEIRDWORLD #5 SWA
WHAT IF INFINITY GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #1

DC COMICS
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #3
BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT GENESIS #3 (OF 6)
BIZARRO #5 (OF 6)
BLACK CANARY #5 MONSTERS VAR ED
DOCTOR FATE #5
DOOMED #5
GOTHAM ACADEMY #11
GREEN LANTERN THE LOST ARMY #5
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FOUR #12
JUSTICE LEAGUE #45 MONSTERS VAR ED
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #5
SECRET SIX #7
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #22 MONSTERS VAR ED
TEEN TITANS #12 GREEN LANTERN 75 VAR ED
TEEN TITANS GO #12
TITANS HUNT #1 (OF 12)
WONDER WOMAN #45 MONSTERS VAR ED

VERTIGO
ASTRO CITY #28
CLEAN ROOM #1

BOOM
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #17
COGNETIC #1 
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK #11
GIANT DAYS #7 (OF 12)
HACKTIVIST VOL 2 #4 (OF 6)
LUMBERJANES #19
REGULAR SHOW #28

DARK HORSE
BPRD HELL ON EARTH #136
BTVS SEASON 10 #20
DARK HORSE PRESENTS 2014 #15
GROO FRIENDS AND FOES #10
MIDNIGHT SOCIETY THE BLACK LAKE #4 (OF 4)
PAYBACKS #2
POWER CUBED #2 (OF 4)
ROOK #1
STEAM MAN #1 (OF 5)
USAGI YOJIMBO #149

DYNAMITE
BOBS BURGERS ONGOING #4
VOLTRON FROM THE ASHES #2 (OF 6)
WILL EISNER SPIRIT #4

IDW
BACK TO THE FUTURE #1 (OF 5)
DANGER GIRL RENEGADE #2 (OF 4)
DONALD DUCK #6
FISTFUL OF BLOOD #1 (OF 4)
GODZILLA IN HELL #4 (OF 5)
MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #35
STAR TREK ONGOING #50
TMNT AMAZING ADVENTURES #3
TRANSFORMERS #46

IMAGE
BEAUTY #3
EMPTY ZONE #5
FADE OUT #10
INVINCIBLE #124
REYN #9
SHUTTER #16
TITHE #6
TOKYO GHOST #2
WOLF #4

VALIANT
BOOK OF DEATH FALL OF X-O MANOWAR #1
IVAR TIMEWALKER #10
RAI #11

MISC
BLACKLIST #4
CROSSED DEAD OR ALIVE #1 (OF 2)
CROSSED DEAD OR ALIVE #2 (OF 2)
DOCTOR WHO 10TH YEAR TWO #2
DOCTOR WHO 12TH #13
DOCTOR WHO 9TH #4 (OF 5)
GRANT MORRISONS 18 DAYS #4
HIP HOP FAMILY TREE #3
PRINCELESS RAVEN PIRATE PRINCESS #4
SHIELD (DARK CIRCLE) #1
SIMPSONS COMICS #224

TRADES
BACK TO THE FUTURE ULTIMATE VISUAL HISTORY HC
BAD MACHINERY VOL 04 CASE OF THE LONELY ONE
BATTLING BOY FALL OF HOUSE OF WEST GN
BUCKY BARNES WINTER SOLDIER TP VOL 02
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND MIGHTY AVENGERS TP LAST DAYS VOL 02
CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT TP VOL 06 MARKED DEATH REIGN ARCHON
CAPTAIN STONE VOL 1 HC
CONVERGENCE FLASHPOINT TP BOOK 01
CONVERGENCE FLASHPOINT TP BOOK 02
GET JIRO BLOOD AND SUSHI HC
HAWKEYE BY MATT FRACTION AND DAVID AJA OMNIBUS HC
HELHEIM TP VOL 02 BRIDES OF HELHEIM
HUMAN BODY THEATER GN
JESSICA JONES TP VOL 02 ALIAS
JUSTICE LEAGUE A LEAGUE OF ONE TP
LAST MAN GN VOL 03 CHASE
MEMETIC TP
MOON KNIGHT EPIC COLLECTION TP SHADOWS OF MOON
MULTIVERSITY DLX ED HC
ODDLY NORMAL TP VOL 02
OMAHA BEACH ON D-DAY JUNE 6 1944 HC
PEANUTS TP VOL 06
PROMETHEUS HC COMPLETE FIRE & STONE
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN TP VOL 20
SLEEPY HOLLOW TP VOL 01
SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 LANTERN TP
SNOOPY CONTACT TP
STAR WARS LEGENDS EPIC COLLECTION TP VOL 02 EMPIRE
TEEN TITANS EARTH ONE TP
TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE TP VOL 08
WALTER DEAN MYERS MONSTER GN
WILDS END TP VOL 01 FIRST LIGHT
WOLF MOON TP
WORLD OF PROFESSOR LAYTON SC
X-FILES CLASSICS GN GROUND ZERO
YOU ARE A KITTEN PICK-A-PLOT SC VOL 03

MERCH
BATMAN BLACK & WHITE HARLEY QUINN 2ND ED STATUE
BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES BATMOBILE
DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS CATWOMAN STATUE

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR OCTOBER 13TH


No time for greetings, did you hear the news?

Save your pennies, prepare to sell your bodies, souls, lifeblood, life…uh…seed, anything you can for next year because Marvel, Dark Horse and Fantagraphics are together conspiring to take all your money and mine, collectively wiping us out with a plan so fiendish and diabolical it would be shocking if it wasn’t just so perfect.

Marvel has finally worked out some copyright mojo and have announced that the near mythical Shang Chi: Master of Kung-Fu series from the ‘70s-‘80s will finally be collected in a series of four omnibus editions. This really is the holy grail of Marvel collections (Rom aside) and for decades the series has sat uncollected due to the inclusion of Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu character as the book’s antagonist. No word as yet as to how the rights were untangled, but give me a name, Marvel, and a bouquet of roses shall be express delivered to this particular legal wizard.

Dark Horse has worked out some similar copyright wizardry, announcing the arrival of The Moebius Library next year, meaning that all those strips I talk about every week in the Heavy Metal recaps and many, many more will be bound together in a collection of premium hardcovers. No word yet as to how the copyright was cleared up here either, but again thank you oh wondrous comic book legal people!

Finally, Fantagraphics has The Guido Crepax Library on the way. The first of ten hardcovers actually arrives the first week of November and is sure to give this Italian pioneer of erotic comics and sorcerer of comic book page layout the translation and treatment he rightly deserves. If you aren’t familiar with Crepax’s work, there are over 100 page images included at the above link. At his best, he captured not only the hazy, askew sexiness of an erotic dream but was more densely cinematic with his pages than possibly any other comic artist ever.

2016: A fine time to be financially poor, for we shall be rich in comics excellence.


COMIC OF THE WEEK : CHICAGO
By Glenn Head
Published Fantagraphics

Glenn Head’s magnificent “comix memoir,” Chicago, opens with the following quote from George Orwell: “Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something distasteful.” It’s a message Head seems to have taken to heart, depicting himself utterly warts and all and has created a riveting memoir that should be on every single art student’s Must Read list.

Beginning in June 1977, we find teenaged Glenn Head living in the lap of suburban luxury in Maddison, New Jersey. His father works on Wall Street and has given Glenn everything he ever wanted or needed, but Glenn chafes against this upper Middle Class lifestyle and the boredom of suburban life and wants out to pursue his artistic dreams. Enamoured of the underground comix scene and packing both a modicum of talent and an ego the size of a Robert Crumb girl, Glenn’s off to a Cleveland art school, paid for by his concerned father who may not understand Zap Comics but wants his son to be not only happy but to have the best education possible to achieve his dream of becoming a successful comics artist.

Once at art school Head quickly alienates everybody, teachers and fellow students alike. His attendance and lifestyle become so strange and erratic that he’s suspected of having mental health issues. Finally deciding that school can’t teach him anything worth learning and harbouring a dream to cartoon for Playboy, a deluded, arrogant Head, without telling anyone, packs up yet again and hitchhikes to Chicago with literally no money in his pocket and no place to stay, determined to make it in the comics biz.

Head depicts his young self with absolute ruthlessness, presenting all his teenaged self’s arrogance, ignorance, ingratitude and foolishness. Young Head is constantly oblivious to the dangers he regularly puts himself in and is so clueless about Chicago he actually seems surprised when a chilly wind hits. Chicago very quickly becomes something almost akin to a survivalist tale as Head scrambles to keep himself fed, rested and safe.

The late ‘70s are beautifully realised, from its fashions to its food choices to its automobiles and buildings. With his authentic underground comix style, Head re-creates a kind of comics verisimilitude in that Chicago could easily sit next to other comics created during the period and on a casual flip-through, you’d swear the book itself was a product of the ‘70s. Highlights include visits to the Playboy offices, dinner with Robert Crumb and a chance encounter with Muhammad Ali that has to be seen to be believed.

Chicago is almost impossible to put down. I read it in a single intense session, grimacing the whole way through, stomach in knots, half of me wanting Glenn’s hubris-born comeuppance to be swift and harsh, half of me wanting him to just return home, embrace his long-suffering father and get his shit together. It’s a ballsy book with a scary ring of truth about it, a hideous warning about the traps awaiting the artistic ego, a rollicking trip through the late ‘70s and a brilliant recreation of a very different publishing and creative climate. Marred only by a jarring time-jump, Chicago is still yet another contender for your bulging annual Best Of list.



WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : ACHE
By Mike Walton

More dental-based horror this week, a week I learned I have to have a tooth pulled – weird that I just featured Sloane Leong’s Clutch in this very space…I wonder if subconsciously I suspected some bad dental news.  Anyway, Ache comes from False Positive, a site filled with webcomics by the very talented Mike Walton. I wish Mike’s site had less ads flashing at me and a more user-friendly layout (scrolling pages rather than clicking through), but his comics are easy on the eye even if his site is not.

The story of a man who attempts to extract a sore tooth himself but gets way more than he bargained for, Ache is a perfect little pre-Halloween warm up for you.




COUNTDOWN TO MOZ METAL: HEAVY METAL MARCH 1978

I  feel as though I’ve been writing about Richard Corben’s “Den” forever, so it’s somewhat bittersweet that this serial ends in this March ’78 issue (barring an epilogue next issue), with an explosion and the kind of nonchalance from its protagonist worthy of a Robert E. Howard character. “We are alive and well,” Den says, “That is all I care about now.” It’s astonishing that Corben remains as prolific as he does almost forty years later, and his art hasn’t skipped a beat. So much of “Den” (for me anyway) has been about Corben’s intricate and psychedelic skies, so it’s fitting that out hero flies off on his ginormous winged lizard into a sunset all the colours of a swirling, retro Batik dress. We’ll say our proper goodbyes with the epilogue next week, but “Den” is still an astonishing achievement.

Mora and Garcia’s “The Winter of the Last Combat” has its second and final chapter, with Mora’s elegant black and white art recalling the photo realism of Arthur Ranson and bringing to wonderfully gloomy life this story of a crusader now “disgusted by men and the God in whose name they pillage and murder.” Gloriously existential, our fever-plagued hero makes his way through landscapes both hallucinated and real, muttering that “there is nothing except man, man battling against others, against the world…man questioning himself eternally about what it all means.” This is, naturally, excellent and brooding Euro comics.

Onto the letters column, where it’s heartening to see that it wasn’t just your humble reviewer, writing from the next century, that found December 1977’s issue to be rather lack lustre. Reader R. Gomez, clearly angling for my job, offers, “…the flow of ingenuity seems to have been shut down to the merest trickle.”

But not so fast, Gomez! Philippe Druillet’s “Urm” has its second part here and remains a roaring return to form for its creator. Druillet’s splash pages are worthy of wall-hanging, his layouts symmetrical, his panels beautifully balanced in their use of comic’s space. Not much plot this issue, but with art this sinister yet gorgeous, who cares?

The legendary Gray Morrow’s fantastical “Orion” debuts in full colour, having originally appeared in black and white in Wally Wood’s Image-before-Image anthology comic, Witzend. There’s also more “Barbarella,”“1996,”“Airtight Garage,” the beautifully dreamy, “Underground Comic” by Stuart Nezin and even a self-portrait by Charles Vess to round out this issue’s substantial highlights.



COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : TRAILER DEATHCO

The French, once again proving themselves number one, have released Atsushi Kaneko’s Deathco in their native language. Publisher Casterman has also put together this trailer, giving the inky, over-the-top violence of Kaneko’s latest work the kind of motion comics treatment I usually roll my snooty eyeballs at. It’s Kaneko though, okay? Look at how crazy his latest work is!

I picked up the first two volumes of Deathco in Japan and once again it makes me terrifically sad that nobody seems to want him in English. I don’t understand. An assassin’s guild, a teen girl killer protagonist with a pet bat who floats around by hanging onto a bunch of black balloons, and more casual mayhem than I can recall seeing in the first hundred-odd pages of anything, it’s an utter mystery why his work is continually ignored by US publishers.

*sigh*

Please take a look at this festival punk de violence et d'hemoglobine and just see if you don’t agree.



See you next week. Love your comics.


Cameron Ashley spends a lot of time writing comics and other things you’ll likely never read. He’s the chief editor and co-publisher of Crime Factory (www.thecrimefactory.com). You can reach him @cjamesashley on Twitter.