'Heavy Metal' magazine, June 1981

 

The June, 1981 issue of ‘Heavy Metal’ features ‘The Birdwoman of Zartacla’ by Marc Harrison on the front cover and ‘The Bionic Bunny’ by James Cherry on the back cover.

With this issue, Corben’s ‘Bloodstar’ has its next-to-last installment; ‘Tex Arcana’ by Findley continues; more ‘Valentina’ by Crepax; more ‘Cody Starbuck’ by Chaykin; a brief ‘Mudwogs’ comic by Suydam; and a preview of an ‘Outland’ illustrated novel, with illustrations by Jim Starlin.

Among the better pieces appearing in the June issue is ‘March Hair’ by Caza, featuring some nice artwork in the Peter Max / groovy sixties mode....

'Shatter' (special issue one)

'Shatter' debuted in February 1985 (although the cover date was June) from 80s indie publisher First Comics. The artwork was done by Mike Saenz and the writing chores were handled by Peter Gillis. This was, as the blurb on the cover indicates, the first comic book to be composed on a computer; in this case, the Apple MacIntosh, as the introduction on the inside cover page tells the reader:

 

Shatter carried on as a back page feature in the First Comics book 'John Sable: Freelance', until December 1985 when the first issue of the formal Shatter series was released. The title lasted 14 issues (until April 1988). 

By today's standards the art in 'Shatter' seems crude, but at the time its execution required more than a little masochism on the part of the artist. The MacIntosh  of January 1984 cost $2,500, and had a 9-inch black and white screen with a resolution of 512 x 342 pixels (for comparison, the iPad's resolution is 1024 x 768). The Mac contained 128 kb of RAM (the 512 kb model released in September 1984 cost $2800), and among the included software apps was MacPaint. 

After artist Saenze finished composing his art on the Mac, the pages were printed using a dot-matrix printer (which explains the decidedly low-res nature of the graphics) and colored by hand for final printing.

The comic as a whole is not so memorable as to warrant my scanning and posting its contents entirely, but I will post some of the more interesting pages.

Here's the opening pages from the special debut issue, including a rather graphic death scene...for a computer-drawn image....with a comical 'Borp !'

Later on in this issue our hero, Jack Scratch, visits a hipster club where the fashion is quintessential mid-80s 'Blade Runner' chic:

We'll see what happens in forthcoming issues of 'Shatter'....

Book Review: The Illustrated Roger Zelazny mass market paperback

Book Review: 'The Illustrated Roger Zelazny'

mass market edition

edited by Byron Preiss

 2 / 5 Stars

‘The Illustrated Roger Zelazny’ is a mass-market paperback from Ace Books, published in 1979; hardcover and trade paperback editions were issued in 1978, as a Selection of the SF Book Club. Excerpts of the contents were previewed in various issues of Heavy Metal magazine in the late 70s.

The book’s illustrations (mostly in half-tone or black and white) all are done by Gray Morrow. Needless to say, shrinking the dimensions of the original book from 8” x 11” to mass market size (4” x 7”) means that the font is going to be tiny and the illustrations rather cramped. All in all, however, the book’s design it comes off reasonably well, although those over 40 may find spectacles to be necessary.

The book opens with an introduction by editor Byron Preiss, who was a dedicated advocate for the illustrated SF and fantasy book throughout the 70s and 80s. During 1975 – 1977 he supervised the publication of the ‘Weird Heroes’ paperback series, which featured black and white and halftone illustrations throughout the body of the book. 

Preiss also teamed up with artist William Stout and writer William Service for 1981’s very successful book, ‘Dinosaurs: A Fantastic View of A Lost Era’, which exerted quite an influence on the image of the dinosaur in the popular imagination via the use of an art deco / Maxfield Parrish-style approach to depicting these animals.

‘The Illustrated Roger Zelazny’ focuses on the author’s major short stories from the mid 60s, although the lead tale is ‘Shadow Jack’, a prologue (written specially for this volume)  to Zelazny’s novel ‘Jack of Shadows’  (1971). 

This is the best story in the collection, an offbeat sword-and-sorcery tale with great ‘PorPor’ flavor: a witch who looks like Vampirella, and a offbeat hero who very much inspired the engrossing ‘Thief’ series of PC and video games.

Next up is a section devoted to color illustrations of Zelazny’s cast of characters from the ‘Amber’ novels; those familiar with the Amber series will find these depictions interesting.

‘A Rose for Ecclesiastes’ (1963) gets both color and b&w artwork; this tale deals with a linguist given an opportunity to study a dying humanoid race stranded on Mars. 

‘Rose’ is followed by a lengthy, heavily illustrated version of ‘The Furies’ (1965), about a team of psychics employed to bring a revolutionary to justice. 

The book closes with a truncated version of ‘The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth’ (1965), a tale of a fishing expedition on the waters of Venus that serves as the backdrop for a sci-fi iteration of the breezy Doris Day - Rock Hudson romance films of the early 60s. 

I doubt contemporary readers will find ‘The Illustrated Roger Zelazny’ to be all that appealing. 

Zelazny’s stories from the 60s suffer from a self-conscious prose style (the first few paragraphs of ‘Rose’ are cluttered with references to Shakespeare, Saint-Exupery, Sanskrit, Poe, etc.) that seems self-indulgent, even trite, compared to today’s more declarative SF writing. 

I suspect that only die-hard Zelazny fans will want to search out this book.

Epic Illustrated June 1981

Epic Illustrated: June 1981

The June, 1981 issue of 'Epic Illustrated' features a front cover by Neal Adams and an advertisement for the movie 'Outland' on the back cover.

I've scanned the story 'Flash Sport' written by Roy Kinnard and illustrated by Mike Saenz (who also illustrated the seminal 1985 Cyberpunk comic book series 'Shatter'). Back in 1981 virtual reality and its intersection with video games were among the hotter topics in SF culture. 

Although William Gibson's 'The Gernsback Continuum' and 'Johnny Mnemonic' were published this year (in Universe 11 and Omni magazine, respectively)  the Cyberpunk movement was still in its infancy (the term didn't debut until November 1983). 

Whether or not readers knew they were looking at a Cyberpunk piece, 'Flash Sport' features one of the more gruesome last panels ever provided in an SF strip....in this comic, when a  geek gets wasted, he gets wasted.

Book Review: The Entropy Effect

Book Review: 'The Entropy Effect' by Vonda N. McIntyre

 2 / 5 Stars

‘The Entropy Effect’ (1981, Pocket Books, 224 pp, cover art by Wayne Barlow) gives away most of its plot details on its back cover, so I’m not disclosing any spoilers by outlining the plot:

The Enterprise is studying a mysterious ‘singularity’, or black hole, when it receives an message to depart immediately for the planet Aleph Prime. 

On arrival, the crew are told their mission of utmost urgency is to escort a deranged scientist named George Mordreaux to a colony called ‘Rehab Seven’, where criminals are subjected to a type of mind-wiping called ‘rehabilitation’.

Spock is familiar with Mordreaux, having studied with the brilliant physicist in the past, and is puzzled by his former professor’s manic behavior. Even more puzzling is the secrecy underlying the reason for Mordreaux’s arrest, conviction, and delivery to the Enterprise for transport to Rehab Seven.

With Mordreaux aboard, the ship departs for its destination, with the prisoner secured within the brig. However, barely is the Enterprise underway when Mordreaux gains access to the bridge, kills Captain Kirk, and vanishes. Of has he ? For Mordreaux is still within his cell, under close guard, and he claims no involvement with the murder of Captain Kirk.

As the entire ship grieves for the loss of Kirk, Spock begins to delve deeper into the circumstances surrounding the Captain’s murder and the strange disappearance of George Mordreaux. What he finds out is disturbing: Mordreaux was arrested for experimenting with time travel technology, and Starfleet wants all information about the technology purged from public knowledge. But if Spock is to undo the death of his friend, he will have to use the outlawed science of Dr Mordreaux. 

Spock soon realizes that the choices before him are truly dangerous, for Mordreaux’s unsanctioned experiments have resulted in a warp in the space-time continuum…and it’s no longer a desperate measure to prevent the death of Captain Kirk, but the dissolution of the universe itself…

At the time ‘The Entropy Effect’ was written, McIntyre was a well-established SF author, and this particular Star Trek novel is not as bad as many of the others of the franchise published in the 1980s. However, I suspect even hard-core Trekkies will be disappointed by ‘Entropy’.

The initial third of the novel takes a while to arrive at the main plot, spending time instead on the ‘Let’s Get to Know a Supporting Character’ theme. In this particular Star Trek novel it’s Sulu’s turn. We learn his first name is Hikaru; he wants to advance his career, perhaps by leaving the Enterprise for an new assignment; and he is romancing a red-haired security officer named Mandala Flynn (!). 

Needless to say, anyone who has listened to recent appearances of George Takei on the ‘Howard Stern Show’ will find this sub-plot disconcerting, but in 1981 things were more.…naive (wink-wink).

Much of the remainder of the narrative is overly preoccupied with various internal psychodramas taking place among the crew. Too often, lengthy interludes dealing with angst and regret in one form or another sap momentum from the major plot. When the narrative finally does center on Spock’s efforts to deter ‘The Entropy Effect’, our hero’s actions seem passive and ineffectual, and the book’s denouement is more than a little contrived.

‘The Entropy Effect’ belongs in the lower-range score category for Star Trek novels.

'The Bus' by Paul Kirchner

Book Review: Armed Camps

Book Review: 'Armed Camps' by Kit Reed

1 / 5 Stars

By the late 1960s America’s  Intellectual Class, a group of people who are nowadays called ‘The Liberal Elite’, faced a dilemma regarding the increasing rise of violent behavior in society.

Some members of the elite embraced violence as an evil necessary for the Liberation of the Oppressed, and reveled (at a careful distance) in it under the guise of ‘Radical Chic’. This so-chic attitude toward violent revolution reached its bizarre apex in the case of Jewish American Princess Bernardine (Ohrnstein) Dohrn, who, with her husband (Friend of Barack) Bill Ayers, started the Revolutionary Youth Movement and later, the Weather Underground.

Other members of the elite believed that, while the tumult of the era had its justifiable roots in social and political oppression, the mass media had exploited violence for its own sake, and directly aided and abetted the release of something dangerous from the American psyche.

These liberals believed that unless the depiction of violence in the media and entertainment venues was ‘subdued’ by federal intervention (no liberal dared explicitly mention ‘censored’) the rate of rapes, murders, muggings, and other anti-social behaviors would continue to increase.

Kit Reed (the pseudonym of Lillian Craig Reed) was a New Wave-era SF author, still publishing today, who focused (as many New Wave writers did) on social issues, as opposed to traditional ‘hard’ SF.

Her short novel ‘Armed Camps’ (1969) extrapolates a fictional, near-future USA that has been generated by the new forms of violence spawned  in the 60s. 

Originally published in 1969, this Berkley paperback (158 pp.) edition was issued in November 1971; the cover artist is Richard Powers.

‘Camps’, which is set in the 1990s (or later), posits an America in which the nation is little more than a police state racked by anarchy and decay. The war in Vietnam has expanded into a global contest, and orbiting missiles threaten an instant Armageddon should tempers get out of hand. While the ruling class is sheltered to some extent from political and social violence, many young people have adopted a fatalistic approach to life, focusing on losing themselves in hedonism.

The story alternates  between two first-person narrators: one  is Danny March, a soldier who participates in staged, arena-like  combats against troops from opposing nations; flamethrowers are wielded by all contestants. This approach to settling international disputes presumably prevents nuclear war from breaking out. For reasons that are not disclosed until the last few pages of the novel, Danny has violated his term of service in the Army, and he is condemned to live chained to a pole on the grounds of a military base, filmed by television cameras, a constant reminder of the punishment dealt those who provoke the reigning order.

The other narrator is a young woman named Anne; as the novel opens she is suffering from severe emotional trauma from some undisclosed event. Anne finds refuge in Cambria, a rural commune devoted to life paced by peace, love, and understanding; its leader is a charismatic young man named Eamon.

As an anti-war, anti-violence novel, ‘Camps’ has a predictably downbeat tenor, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with this, author Reed doesn’t do much with her literary construction. The storylines of these two characters unfold in the form of overly lengthy monologues, often consisting of run-on sentences unmarred by the use of periods, a common affectation of New Wave artistes.

The  Danny March portion of the book is the weakest; Reed’s approach to framing his  monologues are clearly derived from Dalton Trumbo’s novel ‘Johnny Got His Gun’ (the antiwar novel of the 60s, although it was actually written in 1938). The introduction of a schizophrenic note to March’s inner musings is contrived, serving mainly to pad the narrative rather than imparting much in the way of momentum.

The alternate plot involving Anne and the fate of Cambria is a bit more engrossing; it does offer a more rewarding denouement, as well as providing a more original treatment of the ways in which good intentions collide with the reality of human nature.

Overall, I found ‘Camps’ to be too much of a slog to be very rewarding. Readers with a fondness for an antiwar novel with a quasi-SF component may find ‘Camps’ worthwhile, but everyone else is better passing on this book.

Heavy Metal magazine May 1981

'Heavy Metal' magazine May 1981

The May, 1981 issue of 'Heavy Metal' features Enrich's 'Enter Adam' on the front cover, and 'Cody Starbuck' by Howard Chaykin on the back cover.

This issue starts off with a two-page short story by William Burroughs titled 'Immortality'. It has something to do with cloning. It's not very good.

Also featured are ongoing installments of 'Bloodstar' by Corben, 'Tex Arcana' by Findley, 'Valentina' by Crepax, and (it just won't go away) 'Changes' by Howarth.

New pieces in this issue include the illustrated story 'Cody Starbuck' by Chaykin, 'The Immortal's Fete' by Bilal, and an interesting portfolio consisting of photographs of miniature sculptures fashioned by Dzintars Mezulis, a Latvian artist. These sculptures are very clever and date from a time before the whole SF and fantasy figurine (i.e., toys) market expanded into the juggernaut that it is today.

The best entry in the issue is one by Arthur Suydam, 'The Toll Bridge', which introduces his 'Mudwog' character. As always, great artwork and offbeat humor.

Killraven Amazing Adventures No. 37

Killraven: 'Amazing Adventures' No. 37

(July 1976)

‘Amazing Adventures featuring War of the Worlds’ issue No. 37 (July 1976) shows a franchise running out of steam. This episode, written by Don McGregor and illustrated by Craig Russell, is titled ‘Arena Kill’, and reveals the story of Killraven’s faithful companion Old Skull. Old Skull had a troubled childhood (needless to say) and wound up a gladiator in the Arena, fighting for the amusement of the Martian overlords. He and Killraven are teamed up to battle ‘Warr’, who employs a group of mutant spiders to aid him in his Arena contests.

Russell’s artwork is, as ever, quite capable in depicting the battle, but McGregor can’t resist overlaying too many panels with dialogue….and ending a life-or-death combat with a cutesy interlude involving a drunken raccoon....?! Even in the more innocent days of the mid-70s Marvel titles, the cheese is a little too much.

With only two more installments remaining, the Killraven franchise was on its way out the door; the only question was, how great of a sendoff it would receive……. 

Book Review: 'Protostars' edited by David Gerrold

2 / 5 Stars

‘Protostars’ (271 pp.) was published by Ballantine in 1971; the cover artwork is by Gene Szafran.

David Gerrold came on the SF scene in the early 70s and since that time has enjoyed considerable success as a writer and editor of both his own work, and work for licensed properties. [His 1973 book ‘The World of Star Trek’ was really the first 'Bible' for Trekkies.] 

‘Protostars’ is unapologetic New Wave sci fi, and about as representative an example of the genre as any other anthology of the era. 

Each of the stories – which are new and never previously published -  gets a rather pretentious introduction by editor Gerrold, who imparts various anecdotes and bits of wisdom about Being A Writer.

My review of the contents:

‘What Makes A Cage, Jamie Knows’ by Scott Bradfield: a short-short by teenager Bradfield; calls to mind a ‘Twilight Zone’ episode.

‘I’ll Be Waiting for You When the Swimming Pool is Empty’ by James Tiptree: in his intro to this story, editor Gerrold remarks that he can’t find any information about the mysterious James Tiptree, who communicates solely through a P.O. Box in MacLean, Virginia. Not until 1977 would the SF world know that  ‘Tiptree’ was the pseudonym of Alice Bradley Sheldon. ‘Swimming Pool’ is a satirical tale of a well-meaning hippie who arrives on a backwater planet with the most earnest of intentions.

‘In A Sky of Daemons’ by Larry Yep: a textbook example of the stylistic excesses of so many New Wave authors: characters identified by all caps (‘SHIVA’), italicized passages denoting Inner Musings, awkward switches in the narrative POV from first to third person, philosophical conversations with a sardonic AI that rules the world, etc., etc.

‘The Last Ghost’ by Stephen Goldin: in a formless Void, the spiritual essence of a recently deceased woman encounters that of a man in the grip of Angst and Anomie. Goldin also contributes the short-short story ‘The World Where Wishes Worked’, a fable with a trick ending.

‘Afternoon With A Dead Bus’ by David Gerrold: nature red in tooth and claw on the streets of the city. 

‘Eyes of Onyx’ by Edward Bryant: one of the better entries in the collection, a downbeat reworking of a Bible story set in a bleak, near-future LA.

‘Cold, the Fire of the Phoenix’ by Leo P. Kelley: things could get really embarrassing when a ‘mainstream’ SF author decided to embrace the New Wave movement, and did so via a story or novel that slavishly incorporated every artifice the Movement epitomized. This story is a great example. It’s the worst in the anthology.

‘Oasis’ by Pamela Sargent: a man with a unique ability – or curse - strives for solitude in the Sinai desert. While the underlying theme is not all that original to SF, author Sargent handles it well, and this is another of the better entries in the anthology.

‘Holdholtzer’s Box’ by David R. Bunch: a fable about human self-discovery; unremarkable.

‘The Five-Dimensional Sugar Cube’ by Roger Deeley: with the help of metaphysics, Boy Meets Girl. Lightweight, but not unrewarding, due to the presence of a red-haired swingin’ 70s chick.

‘And Watch the Smog Roll In’ by Barry Weissman: dark satire of a near-future California in the grip of toxic pollution, and a bureaucracy gone amok (rather uncomfortably close to the current reality).

‘Chances Are’ by Alice Laurence: editor Gerrold gives this slight tale (about a woman in a coma) five pages of introductory discussion. In the New Wave era, self-important, bloviating intros were part and parcel of many anthologies…..

‘The Naked and the Unashamed’ by Robert E. Margroff: satirical tale of near-future campus protests;  very early 70s in tenor.

‘My Country, Right or Wrong’ by andrew j. offutt: (no typos, spelling one’s name in lowercase was a ‘hip’ affectation for New Wave authors). This is a competent tale of a time traveler who goes from 1978 to 2078, and doesn’t like what he sees.

‘Side Effect’ by Pg Wyal: in this story’s introduction editor Gerrold assures us that author Wyal is indeed a real person, ‘a quiet-voiced…thoughtful individual’ who works in the offices of ‘Crawdaddy’ magazine (a smarmy 70s rock music mag), and someone who doesn’t much like to rewrite his stories (not a good sign). Nonetheless, according to Gerrold, ‘Side Effect’ is one of the best pieces in ‘Protostars’. 

In ‘Side Effect’ author Wyal does what so many New Wave writers did so frequently and so successfully: he blatantly copies William Burroughs’s prose style, an action calculated to turn New Wave editors like Gerrold into helpless, servile putty in one's hands……..