November 1979. The FM rock stations are playing ‘Dirty White Boy’ by Foreigner and “Sara’ by Fleetwood Mac. The AM stations have ‘Babe’ by Styx, and ‘Escape’ (‘The Pina Colada Song’) by Rupert Holmes, in heavy rotation. And the latest issue of Heavy Metal magazine is on the stands at Gordon’s Cigar shop off Main Street. The wrap-around cover is 'Fetch' by Joe Jusko.
The proprietor, a paunchy, taciturn middle-aged man, never raises an eyebrow or smirks when I come in to pick up Heavy Metal or any of the PorPor paperbacks on his shelves (I didn’t know it at the time but he earned most of his revenue from selling smut books from under the counter !). In fact, one time when I was short the wretched New York State sales tax by a nickel or so for a purchase of a Doc Savage book, he simply waved it off.
The November Heavy Metal is a bit of a letdown after the fine October ’79 issue devoted to H. P. Lovecraft. Still, there is the opening part of Corben’s new serial ‘Rowlf’. There are some black and white strips from Chantal Montellier (‘Shelter’), Moebius (“Airtight Garage’), Voss (‘Moon Flight’), and Luc Cornillon (‘Jim’). There are illustrated text excerpts from books: Moorcock’s ‘Elric’, Bester’s ‘The Stars My Destination’, and Wayne Barlow’s interesting ‘Barlow’s Guide to Extraterrestrials’.
One of the better color comics in the issue is Phil Trumbo’s ‘Egg-Stained Wine’, which I’ve posted here. While ‘Wine’ is clearly derived from undergound funny-animal comix like Crumb’s ‘Fritz the Cat’ or Armstrong’s ‘Mickey Rat’, it works in a bit of Winsor McCay’s ‘Little Nemo’ imagery as well. Needless to say, ‘Wine’ was best read while stoned, and perhaps with ‘Tusk’ playing in the background on your stereo system…..
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