Read Heavy Metal Magazine #272 last night (#273 just came out as well, but haven't gotten to it yet).
112 pages of content for a $7.95 price point (but was only $5 as an add on to my subscription that I ordered). 


Love the cover by Ron Leary, it does a fantasy female warrior in a believable and practical fashion.



First story is an installment of a serial by Enki Bilal, a post apocalyptic sci-fi tale that was very good. Next a standalone story by Sacha Bryning, kind of speculative sci-fi dealing with human evolution, extra-dimensional godlike beings and the Lemuria myths. First time I have seen her? art, but very dynamic and stylistic. Liked the art more than the execution of the story, but still an interesting story.

Next up a 2 page silent story by Tayar Ozkan, nice twist but other than that didn't do much for me, followed by a one pager by Christian Krank which I liked the potential of the character in it, but there wasn't enough here for me to really decide if I liked the strip or not. I am unsure if this was part of a series or a standalone, as this was the first issue of HMM I have gotten in a loooong time. 

Next up was an interesting approach, it was a prose short story that had spot illustrations done in sequential storytelling style with no dialogue or captions that depicted key scenes, but not the whole story. The prose was by Matthew Farrell and was an interesting but predictable story, and the art was by MAria O.M.G. Gully and was decent but not spectacular. 

Next was a Gallery article, showcasing the art of Dan Chudzinski which is a mix of sculpture, taxidermy and prop making. Interesting stuff though not exactly in my wheelhouse. The accompanying article/interview was an interesting look at his background, approach and technique though.

Next up was an open ended standalone story by Jim Webb that deals with aging super-heroes in a retirement home and a zombie plague-the result was a very sharp and interesting little horror twist story, which may have been my favorite piece in the issue. One I would definitely like to see followed up on.   

Next up a standalone story by Homero Rios, Jose Garcia and Renato Guerra entitled The Giver-a sci-fi morality tale with gorgeous artwork. Not to be outdone artwise, the next story by Zelko Pahek is a twist on the Romeo and Juliet story called Robeo and Ruliette featuring a post human robot society. Solid read but magnificent art. 

Another standalone sci fi tale by Vittorio Astone was solid, but it's visual impact was diminished by following the two previous stories. The art was good, but paled in comparison to the previous two stories. 

A second artist gallery followed, spotlighting Rebecca Yanovskaya's work. Gorgeous stuff, especially the piece spotlighted on the back cover of the issue. I was surprised to learn she works in ball point pen and gold foil leaf as her primary medium. I would never have guessed that form the finished pieces. 

Enzo Rizzi and Nathan Ramirez collaborated on the only black and white story in the book, and the only one that had Heavy Metal music and lyrics front and center as its subject matter, with cameos by Frank Zappa and the Mothers, and Deep Purple both at Montreux and the secret origin of Smoke on the Water...

The penultimate piece was another gorgeous standalone sci-fi tale by Wren, that was perhaps my second favorite overall story in the issue. Great premise, good characters, and a nice twist to the resolution. 

The final offering was a one pager that looks to be a part of a series called MI:9 Secret Agents Abroad by JD and JMB that didn't seem to be much more than an excuse for T&A art, and was the least enjoyable of the issue's offerings. 

Overall a very good selection of stories and articles with a couple of standouts and only one disappointment. Overall I would say a very good start to my new Heavy Metal journey. 

-M

This month's reminder of WHY I cannot do current comics. Or at least if I DO do current comics, I'm extremely picky on what I'll read:
www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=26279

I know.  And I get so mad at Marvel everytime they do some stupid junk like in that preview, but see if I won't be ALLLLL OVER that A-Force book due out in May (especially if Meggan Braddock ever appears in it).

*sigh*
It's all a huge trap.

Need to read these new horror mags to see if they're any good.

I did see a preview a year or so ago where Namor appeared to be betraying earth to make an alliance with Thanos or one of his underlings, all to get the upper hand over Wakanda or something - only it was more of a vassal-lord relationship than an alliance, with Namor going down on his knees to swear fealty or whatever.

Now, no matter how much you like or dislike the Sub-Mariner - I'm somewhere in the middle, myself - there's no way he's getting on his knees to anyone, for any reason whatsoever, without being physically forced to do so. Pride in both himself and in his royal status - pride even to the point of stupidity - was one of his defining characteristics, so this is another instance of lazy writing, IMO - changing the character to fit your plot, rather than being creative enough to adapt your plot to the character.

And people actually LOVE this stuff.
It's, like, continuing to encourage Marvel and DC to be stupid.
"Go ahead, keep on being stupid. WE LOVE IT."

yeah, I think a lot of readers like the idea of their superhero comics feeling closer to real life. In the real world, nation states often go to war, so that's what Atlantis and Wakanda might do if we come up with a convincing plot reason.

The problem I have with that is that in the real world stuff like the leader of the offending nation having his mind taken over by an evil alien intelligence hardly ever happens - honest, I can only think of one or two instances! - so you can't really extrapolate from our world to what might happen in the superhero world in such a simple-minded fashion.

I think it much more likely that, since in the superhero world stuff like that does happen - all the bloody time, in fact - T'Challa would forego the temptation to retaliate, particularly against a colleague and former team-mate. But that would put a stop to that sub-plot, the writer can't have that.

Besides, it seems to me that if they wanted to be realistic, Atlantis and Wakanda would both be at loggerheads not with each other but with the most powerful surface nation-states, the USA first and foremost, for obvious reasons. So the writing isn't even honest or competent by its own lights.

In the end, if you really want to be honest and follow through on the possible implications of the superhero premise, you're going to have to head into the territory of something like Ennis's "The Boys", and I very much doubt that many Marvel or DC fans would enjoy seeing their favourite heroes written that way - which is why that kind of story is better done as an original creation with your own characters.