Saturday, October 22, 2022

Kiss Psycho Circus issue 3

Kiss: Psycho Circus
Issue 3, October 1997
Let's go back in time to October, 1997, and issue three of the new Kiss: Psycho Circus comic book series, a series that ultimately would go for 31 issues, until June 2000.

Image founder Todd McFarlane was adamant that the series avoid the Kiss-as-superheroes motif of the Marvel comics featuring the band. Instead, Gene Simmons and McFarlane agreed to adopt a darker and more adult sensibility (the comic was devoid of a Comics Code rating). Writer Brian Holguin understood what McFarlane and Simmons wanted, and focused on plots that depicted the band's alter egos as mysterious figures with ambiguous motives and morals. 
What really made the series stand out was the artwork by the U.S. artist Angel Medina. Medina used the 'house style' of Image Comics in the 1990s: highly detailed, with lots of skritches and skratches and spidery, Todd McFarlane-inspired lines. But Medina gave his pencils an eccentric quality that fitted well with the outre nature of Psycho Circus. And Image's inkers, colorists, and letterers were excellent, as always.

I've scanned the entirety of issue three, a one-shot issue titled 'The Nature of the Beast', at 300 dpi per page. It may in turn take some time to load............but I think that at 300 dpi the artwork really shines. And......it's a great tale for Halloween !

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