Heavy Metal magazine July 1984

'Heavy Metal' magazine July 1984

July, 1984, and as I am driving from upstate New York down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to go to graduate school at LSU. On the car radio, the single 'Boys Do Fall in Love' from Robin Gibb's new album 'Secret Agent', is in rotation.  

'Boys' wound up being a modest hit that Summer, but it remains a great song, and epitomizes the synth-heavy, eletronic drum sound of mid-80s pop. 

After the BeeGee's 1981 album 'Living Eyes' tanked, signalling the end of the disco era with crushing finality, it was Robin Gibb, as a solo artist (with some help from brother Maurice), who let the world know there was more to the band than the one-two disco beats and over-exposed Barry-Gibb-falsetto that had come to be associated with the band's music. 

So 'Boys Do Fall in Love' is on the radio, and the latest issue of 'Heavy Metal' magazine is on the magazine racks, featuring a front cover by Dave Dorman, and a back cover by  Ron Lightburn.

The Dossier section is one of the more ludicrous to appear in the magazine, focusing on - likely enough - Heavy Metal music, and showcasing an up-and-coming singer named.....Thor. 

Other bands in the spotlight include 'Manowar' and 'Slayer'. It's hard to tell if the HM staff ('Rok' critic Lou Stathis, along with Tim Sommer, Josh Ribakove, and  Jess Schalles) who wrote the Dossier intended that their coverage be facetious, or if they were playing it straight, but only those who grew up in the 80s can truly treasure the wonderful awfulness of these bands and their clothing/ costumes.

Other sections of the Dossier review sf books, and there is an interview with aging comedian Jerry Lewis (!) about his genuinely awful movie, 'Slapstick of Another Kind.'

The graphic content of the July issue sees a new series from Jeronaton, titled 'The Great Passage'; ongoing episodes of Thorne's 'Lann', Druillet's 'Salammbo II', 'The Hunting Party' by Cristin and Bilal; 'The Railways' by Renard and Schuiten; and 'TexArcana' by FIndley.

Among the better of the singleton strips is Alfonso Azpiri's 'Daymares / Nightdreams'. I've posted it below.

Book Review: Legend

Book Review: 'Legend' by David Gemmell

4 / 5 Stars

This Del Rey Books edition (345 pp) of ‘Legend’ was published in November, 1994. The cover artwork is by Mark Harrison.

The British writer David Gemmell (1948 – 2006) was a prolific writer of fantasy literature, with 31 books to his credit. ‘Legend’ (1984) was his first book; it became the first volume in what would come to be known as the ‘Drenai’ series, which grew to 11 books.

The story’s premise is simple and straightforward: a half-million strong horde of Mongol-type barbarians called the Nadir are intent on invading the peaceful lands of the Drenai Empire. The sole obstacle to their advance is the fortress of Dos Delnoch, a ‘Helms Deep’ -style construction designed to withstand a lengthy siege, built with multiple walls, gates, and redoubts.

Abalayn, the inept ruler of the Drenai, has neglected his armies, and as a result, only 10,000 men are available to hold the fortress. As the novel opens, Rek, a kind of less-heroic analogue to Strider / Aragorn, is debating whether to join the defenders and face certain death in a hopeless cause, or to simply light out for foreign territories and a safer existence.

In the course of making a decision to join the defense, he is influenced by the knowledge that Druss (the ‘Legend’ of the book’s title) has himself decided to come out of retirement to fight at Dos Delnoch.

Despite being in his 60s, Druss remains the match of any fighter half his age. Not only is Druss possessed of herculean strength and stamina, but when equipped with his axe ‘Snaga’ (unashamedly modeled on Elric of Melnibone’s magic sword ‘Stormbringer’), Druss is the combat equivalent of a score of fighting men. 

As the opening chapters unfold....and continue unfolding.....the cast of characters, heroes and villains, is assembled and set on their paths to Dos Delnoch.

Will Rek, Druss, and other heroes (including several lady warriors) succeed in holding off the Nadir masses long enough for the Drenai to field an army to come to their rescue ? Or will they fall to the last man and woman, and leave their homeland exposed to destruction ?

While it is virtually impossible to look at any store’s shelving of new or used sf and fantasy paperbacks and not see at least one entry from Gemmell, up until now I have not read any of Gemmell’s works; ‘Legend’ was my first introduction to his writing.

‘Legend’ is not perfect, but it’s decent heroic fantasy, and capable first novel. 

Needless to say the narrative takes its time arriving at the siege around which the plot is centered – it’s not until page 218 (!) that the fighting is joined between Nadir and Drenai, by which time my patience was starting to be tried.

The siege narrative itself is layered with frequent expository passages, in which the various characters ponder their fates and reasons for facing death (or dishonor), deep emotional interludes between lovers, morale-boosting speeches by Druss, superficial jests and jokes that cover up the deep-seated fear gripping each and every combatant, etc.

But the novel avoids a contrived ending, and left me willing to try the additional entries in the ‘Drenai’ saga.

Tony Carey: First Day of Summer

Tony Carey: 'First Day of Summer'
July, 1984

As July, 1984 gets under way, MTV is airing a new video from California musician - and former keyboardist for the band 'Rainbow' - Tony Carey. The video, for the song 'First Day of Summer', is a great one, with plenty of 80s culture on display, as well as being a great song in its own right. 

'First Day of Summer' was one of the tracks on Carey's 1984 album Some Tough City, which contains a number of other noteworthy tracks, too, such as 'A Fine Fine Day'.

Even today, some Midwest radio stations will put the song into rotation as Summer gets underway......

Well, the kid and me
Were the team to beat
We could stand with the big boys
Generate some heat

And we never thought nothing
'Bout living on the street back then

Yes, and we lied a little
And we maybe stole some
Saying, Southern California
Here we come

And we took off
Down the highway saying
Never going back again

It was on the
First day of summer
We were the number one
Out front runner

On the first day of summer
Nothing feels the same
And it feels so good

It was on the first day of summer
On the first day of summer
On the first day of summer
The whole world knows your name
And it feels so good

Now the kid was driving
And I rode shotgun
We were splitting up the money
From our number ones

Beating time to the radio
Yes, I'm gonna be someone

Camping by the road
Out in Santa Fe
The kid stole the keys
And then he drove away

And I wound up washing dishes
In a Holiday Inn
Sometime I wonder
What became of him

It was on the
First day of summer
We were the number one
Out front runner

On the first day of summer
Nothing feels the same
And it feels so good

It was on the first day of summer
It was on the first day of summer
On the first day of summer
The whole world knows your name
Don't it feel good

It was on the first day of summer
On the first day of summer
On the first day of summer
The whole world knows your name

New York: Year Zero issue 3

New York: Year Zero
by Ricardo Barreiro (script) and Juan Zanotto (art)
Eclipse Comics
Issue 3, September 1988

Issue One is here.

Issue Two is here.

In this third issue, our hero, Brian Chester, finds himself the bodyguard - with added benefits  - to the beautiful daughter of one of New York City's corporate kingpins.

However, he soon discovers that corporate 'warfare' in NYC means much more than lawsuits and nasty memos....

The Madness Season

Book Review: 'The Madness Season' by C. S. Friedman

1 / 5 Stars

‘The Madness Season’ (495 pp) was published by DAW Books in October, 1990. The cover painting is by Michael Whelan.

I got to page 236 of the book’s 495 total pages before boredom overcame me, and I abandoned ‘The Madness Season’.

‘Season’ certainly has an interesting premise: for three hundred years, Earth has been in subjugation to the Tyr, a race of reptilian aliens who communicate telepathically and adhere to a caste-based social structure.

The Tyr ensure Earth’s continued vassalage by rapidly identifying anyone who could be a potential rebel or troublemaker, and either summarily executing them, or exiling them to colony planets in deep space.

Daetrin, the hero of the story, is a vampire, with vamparism here defined as a metabolic disorder that requires the acquisition of vital nutrients from human or animal blood. The mutation has the benefit of bestowing immortality, superhuman strength, and superhuman sensory awareness to those who carry it.

Since the advent of the Tyr victory over Earth, Daetrin has entered into a kind of waking sleep, deliberately forgetting his past, forgoing ambition, and shielding any and all hopes for the future, with the goal of cloaking his true nature from the Tyr.

As the novel opens, however, Daetrin is discovered and sentenced by the Tyr to exile on a colony planet. Once aboard the Tyrran starship, deprived of nutrients, under surveillance, and aware that any misstep on his part will result in death, Daetrin struggles to survive. For despite his exile, he has one overwhelming goal: discover the Tyrran’s carefully-hidden weakness, and use it to defeat their empire……

‘Season’ starts off promisingly with its 'one-vampire-against-the Evil-Empire' motif, but unfortunately, once Daetrin finds himself aboard the Tyrran starship, author C[elia] S. Friedman diverts from the major plot thread in order to use overwrought, heavily descriptive text to belabor the psychological and emotional traumas through which Daetrin will come to terms with his true nature.

As these psychodramas – usually manifested in the form of lengthy internal monologues, and flashbacks using a different font to signal to the reader how profound and important they are to Understanding Our Character – accumulate in length, the main narrative – how to overthrow the aliens ? – recedes into the background.

It doesn’t help matters when the author starts to insert several subplots into the storyline; one of these, involving a female representative of a shape-shifting alien race called the Marra, is designed to lend a note of romance to the narrative. But these subplots really do nothing more than pad the novel.....and at 495 pp.,  ‘Season’ is simply too long, and could have benefited from being edited down to half its length.

I can’t recommend ‘The Madness Season’ to anyone except those who yearn for a character-driven story that puts forth the well-worn trope that defeating the aliens requires that our heroes first come to terms with Understanding Their Humanity before the fight can be taken to the enemy.

A Matter of Time by Juan Gimenez

'A Matter of Time' by Juan Gimenez
from the June, 1984 issue of Heavy Metal magazine

Book Review: Image of the Beast and Blown

Book Review: 'Image of the Beast' and 'Blown' by Philip Jose Farmer

3 / 5 Stars

In 1968, Philip Jose Farmer contracted with Essex House, a California-based publisher of pornographic novels, to write three books: Image of the Beast (1968); its sequel, Blown (1969); and a satire / homage to Doc Savage and Tarzan, titled A Feast Unknown (1969). This decision drew much attention and admiration in sci-fi circles, because while traditionally many sf authors (Robert Silverberg most notably) had written for the porno fiction market, this usually was done using pseudonyms.

Farmer’s decision to write under his own name instantly bestowed upon him the maverick, ‘rebel’ aura that engendered considerable envy from other writers jostling for the cutting-edge, avant-garde hipster status that so defined coolness in sf’s New Wave Era. Indeed, a number of other sf authors wrote for Essex House, including Samuel R. Delaney.

Essex House titles were distributed by ‘Parliament News, Inc.’, the company set up by 1960s smut tycoon Milton Luros to supply magazines and sleaze novels to retailers. Too highbrow for the traditional porn readership of the era, and unable to gain shelf space in reputable bookstores, Essex failed to earn much market share, and it closed up shop in 1969. 

Playboy Press issued this omnibus edition (336 pp.) of Image of the Beast and Blown in October, 1979; the cover illustration is by Enric.

The book does not demarcate between the two novels, with Blown appearing unannounced, as chapter 21 (out of 45 total); however, because Blown is a sequel to Image, this is only a minor drawback to the two novels’ continuity.

Image is set in Los Angeles, ca. the late 1960s. The city is in the grip of an eco-disaster, due to the advent of a massive smog storm that has triggered a mass exodus from the city. Anyone hoping to negotiate the greenish pall of smog must wear a gas mask, and drive with their headlights on, even in mid-day.

As Image opens the hero, private eye Herald Childe, joins his former LAPD squadmates in the department’s film room, there to view a ‘snuff’ film sent to the police. The film purportedly has something to do with the recent disappearance of Matthew Colben, Childe’s partner in their detective agency.

As Childe and the police watch, the film pans to show a nude, drugged Colben strapped to a table in an unidentified room. An exotic-looking women is avidly performing certain erotic activities on the panting and gasping Colben.

As the film proceeds, the woman steps away from the table and carefully inserts a pair of false teeth into her mouth. Teeth that are shiny and sharp, and made from metal. Then she turns once again to the bound and helpless Colben…..

As the police and Childe recover from witnessing an atrocity on film, they struggle to understand why Colben has been kidnapped and singled out as a victim. Determined to find out who mutilated and murdered his partner, Herald Childe finds himself obliged to consort with a crew of Southern California eccentrics, including a mysterious European ‘Count’ living in a gated mansion in Beverly Hills.

As Childe pursues his investigation, he becomes entangled with a cult devoted to perversion, depravity, and death….and not all of its members are truly human…….

As with A Feast Unknown, which I reviewed here, Image and Blown are written with a tongue-in-cheek style (probably not what the Essex House editorial staff were necessarily expecting) that pays homage to Farmer’s habit of working all manner of sci-fi tropes and personalities into his narrative. 

For example, in Blown a major supporting character is none other than Forrest J Ackerman (pictured above), the ‘Forry’ of Famous Monsters of Filmland. Farmer depicts him as a fussy neurotic who falls asleep after staying up late to edit the latest issue of Vampirella. 

The scenes of sex and violence that appear in both novels are written with a deadpan, even droll attitude which makes these two novels more of sci-fi 'insider' comedies than genuine porn. The novels’ comedic aspects are reinforced by Farmer’s decision to include some plot developments that are so over-the-top and so contrived (I won’t disclose any spoilers, but I will say that the snakelike creature clinging to the leg of the woman depicted on Blown's covers lives in a Very Special Place) that it’s quite clear he was treating these two Essex House assignments as an exercise in facetiousness. 

Are Image and Blown for everyone ? Not really, particularly if you're not inclined towards splatterpunk. I found the books entertaining, although not as fun as A Feast Unknown. Hence, a 3 of 5 Stars rating.