'Armies' by Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Picaret, and Jean-Claude Gal

The inaugural issue of the French magazine Metal Hurlant (‘Screaming Metal’) in January, 1975, contained a brilliantly illustrated, black and white comic titled ‘Armées du conquérant’ (‘Conquering Armies’), drawn by Jean-Claude Gal (1942 – 1994) and written by Jean Pierre Dionnet. Further installments of ‘Armies’ appeared in ensuing issues of Metal Hurlant.

When Leonard Mogel, the owner and publisher of The National Lampoon, decided to acquire the US license to produce an American version of Metal Hurlant, titled Heavy Metal, the April, 1977 inaugural issue featured ‘Conquering Armies’. Additional installments appeared throughout 1977 and 1978.

 

Later in 1978, Heavy Metal’s book-publishing arm released an oversize trade paperback compilation of all the episodes, titled Heavy Metal Presents: Conquering Armies.

In January, 1981, Dionnet and Gal succeeded ‘Armies’ with another collaborative effort, this one titled ‘La vengeance d’Arn’ (‘The Vengeance of Arn’), for Metal Hurlant. Set in more or less the same mythical / historical environment as ‘Armies’, the ‘Arn’ series appeared intermittently in Metal Hurlant until 1988. Gal's artwork took on an even more 'epic' sensibility.

[Unfortunately, only one of the ‘Arn’ stories was ever republished in Heavy Metal in the 80s.]

Now (April 2013), Humanoids, the modern-day business incarnation of Les Humanoïdes Associés, the co-op of French artists who created Metal Hurlant, has released all the ‘Armies’ and ‘Arn’ stories in a 184-page hardbound book, titled simply ‘Armies’, that, at 12 ½ x 9 ½ inches, reproduces the size of the original artwork.

This edition of ‘Armies’ is colored (by Dan Brown); fans of the original series may not embrace this decision, but in his Preface, Dionnet remarks that Gal had originally attempted to color his artwork, but abandoned the approach due to the fact that the color reproduction technology of the mid-70s ended up obscuring his ink lines.

At $35 US, ‘Armies’ is expensive compared to most graphic novels, but the book is of very high quality, with a finely printed hardbound cover, and paper stock that reproduces Gal’s delicate pen-and-ink artwork with great fidelity.

So, if you’re not at all familiar with ‘Conquering Armies’ and ‘Arn’, what do you get ?

‘Armies’ relies less on violent action and battle scenes, choosing instead to imbue the wanderings of the eponymous force across deserts and seaside landscapes with a sere, existential atmosphere. The purpose of the Army is unclear, its efforts ultimately futile, as the conquered cities and redoubts soon are swallowed up by the desert sands or the encroaching jungles, and its officers and troops led astray by greed and careless malevolence. 

‘Arn’ was a much more character-driven series, and in that regard closer in spirit to the American sword-and-sorcery heroes from the 1970s, such as Conan, Kull, and Mike Grell’s ‘Warlord’ series for DC. But ‘Arn’ is also very ‘European’ in nature, adopting a tone of moral ambiguity and anomie that usually was absent in the American approaches to the genre.

In his preface, Dionnet states that his artist partner worked very slowly, and looking at Gal’s draftsmanship, it’s understandable why this was so. Some of the panels in ‘Armies’ look like they took days of intricate penmanship to complete. Gal takes care to shade, stipple, and striate the bricks making up the exteriors and interiors of his Mayan temples; the folds of cloth making up the robes of his Tuareg – inspired desert tribesmen; the intagliated metal fashioning of the helmets and breastplates of his army troops; the wind-etched surfaces of the massive pinnacles of rocks that occupy his landscapes;  and the spider webs from the 'wizard' episode posted below

Some of the full-page illustrations the Gal composed for ‘Armies’ are equivalent to studio paintings in their craftsmanship, and you may find yourself spending ten or fifteen minutes of careful study to fully grasp the entirety of what you are seeing.

In short, whether you’re a fan of the early years of Metal Hurlant / Heavy Metal, a fan of exceptional graphic art and storytelling, or just someone who likes a well-told adventure tale, ‘Armies’ is well worth the price.

Below is one of the stories (unfortunately, Dionnet and Gal never gave names to their episodes) from 'Armies', showing the coloration of the artwork to good effect. And Dionnet's script provides a memorable ending..........

 

Heavy Metal magazine, June 1983

'Heavy Metal' magazine, June 1983

June, 1983, and on MTV, Rod Stewart's song 'Baby Jane' is in heavy rotation ( a woman in a neon pink bodysuit, heavy mascara, platform soles, and playing a saxophone, was very 'eighties'). 

The latest issue of Heavy Metal is on the stands, with a front cover illustration by Barclay Shaw, and a back cover by Angelwine.

The Dossier opens up with Merle Greenberg's fevered coverage of someone named..... Robert Ashley ? (No, not Rick Astley). Then there is fawning coverage of one of the 80's most over-rated film directors, Wim Wenders.

Byron Gysin (1916 - 1986), a British artist and poet, whose greatest claim to fame was palling around with William Burroughs, gets an interview.
 

  

 A 'Zippy the Pinhead' comic collection gets an approving review.

The comic content sees more 'Tex Arcana', 'Starstruck', 'The Man from Harlem', 'The City that Didn't Exist', and 'The Odyssey'.

Among the better strips in this issue are Corben's 'Doomscult' (which I'll post later), and a 'sneak preview' of the film 'Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone', with artwork by Jerry Bingham, and a script by Heavy Metal's editor, Julie Simmons-Lynch.

The film, a low-budget B-movie that starred Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald, quickly slid into oblivion after its release, but is something of a cult favorite nowadays.

Unfortunately, a Spacehunter graphic novel never materialized. Too bad, because this little sneak preview is a decent comic......How you can go wrong with with a gang of well-proportioned, feral girls who lurk in the sewers, and spout dialogue like: "Look girls ! A good breeding man !"

 

Book Review: Tengu

Book Review: 'Tengu' by Graham Masterton

3 / 5 Stars

‘Tengu’ (380 pp) was published by Tor Books in April, 1983. The cover artist is uncredited.

Appropriately enough for a horror novel, ‘Tengu’ opens with an act of gruesome violence, as Sherry Cantor, a starlet living in an LA apartment, is murdered by a mysterious assailant possessed of superhuman strength.

Sergeant Skrolnik, the Hollywood PD detective assigned to investigate the murder, questions Cantor’s friends and acquaintances, but cannot link any of these individuals to her bloodspattered demise.

Things quickly get complicated when some LA beat cops stop a speeding van, and die in violent combat with a man of superhuman strength – possibly the same individual responsible for the death of Sherry Cantor. Onlookers report the man was wearing an Oriental mask of unique design.

Jerry Sennett, Sherry’s neighbor and a WWII Pacific Theatre veteran, and Mack Holt, Sherry’s former boyfriend, begin their own investigation of the murders. Jerry becomes alarmed when learning of the mask worn by the assailant. For it signals that there are occult forces associated with the murders; occult forces involving Japanese / Shinto mythologies, and the presence of demons from the netherworld.

Foremost among these demons, in terms of malevolence, are the long-nosed Tengu. Legend has it that, under the right circumstances, a willing acolyte of the dark arts can allow himself to be possessed by the spirit of a Tengu, and in return, assume a strength and vitality well beyond those of mortal men.

Who has decided to loose the Tengu among the inhabitants of Southern California ? As Jerry Sennett and his friends seek an answer to that question, they find themselves drawn into a dangerous web of black magic and violence, and a confrontation with a villain who plans to wreak a terrible vengeance on the United States….

‘Tengu’ is a quick and engaging read, and one of the better Graham Masterton horror novels.

(For in-depth analysis of Masterton’s output, readers are directed to the ‘Too Much Horror Fiction’ blog.)

Although the book features a large cast of supporting characters, and switches among a number of subplots, Masterton doesn’t allow too much in the way of distractions or contrivances to dilute the essential mission of ‘Tengu’ : provide pulp horror in an easily digestible package.

By keeping his narrative liberally spiced with splatterpunk sequences and softcore porn, Masterton holds the reader’s attention, in contrast to other early 80s horror novels – and here Ramsey Campbell’s ‘The Parasite’ comes too quickly to mind – that were more ‘artistic’, but utter duds.

Masterton also inserts quite a bit of satiric humor, aimed at the early 80s Southern California lifestyle, into the plot.

As well, the intense interest in Japan and things Japanese that dominated early 80s pop culture are channeled here as well; think of Trevanian’s ‘Shibumi’ (1979), Eric Van Lustbader’s ‘The Ninja’ (1980), the Chuck Norris film ‘The Octagon’ (1980), and tee-shirts and bandanas, imprinted with Kanji, sold at Spencer Gifts in the nearest mall.

If you like Masterton’s fiction, and by extension the works of James Herbert, Clive Barker, Shaun Hutson, and the other 80s splatterpunks, then ‘Tengu’ is worth picking up.

'Hunter II: Goblin' from Eerie magazine issue No. 68 (September 1975)

Oops....my Hunter posting for Eerie issue 70, 'Hunter II: Goblin Thrust' was out of order, as the first installment in that miniseries is actually 'Hunter II: Goblin', from issue 68, posted here and now. 

And of course, both precede my other posting for 'Hunter II: Time in Expansion' from issue 71.... !

Anyways, here's 'Hunter II: Goblin', in which Exterminator, who knew the first Hunter, meets up with Hunter II...

Punk: The Whole Story

 

‘Punk: The Whole Story’ (American edition) was published in trade paperback in 2006 by Dorling Kindersly. (The trade paperback version is considerably smaller in size that the hardcover version).

The book’s introduction indicates that its entries draw on archived material from the UK music magazines ‘MOJO’, ‘Q’, and ‘Sounds’, but it’s unclear to what extent or degree the entries in P:TWS adapt previously published stories.

The majority of the entries are four- to eight-page overviews of various punk groups or solo artists. Interspersed with these entries are smaller overviews of punk fashion, memorable venues, punk magazines and newsletters, punk art, and top singles and albums of the punk era.

There are numerous portfolios, mostly in black and white, taken in the heydey of the Punk Era, i.e.,. 1976 – 1979.

 

 Somewhat inevitably in a volume such as this, the inclusion of some groups or singers as being ‘Punk’ will generate argument. For example, I personally consider Patty Smith to be the utlimate ‘punk poseur’, someone who fed on the aura and energy of the movement for the purposes of enhancing her own marginal talent, but she gets quite a bit of coverage in P:TWS.

As well, the inclusion of groups such as Generation X, The Stranglers, and Green Day stretches the boundaries of the definition of punk. The absence of any coverage of The Police, while more ephemeral groups such as The Buzzcocks and The Damned are given dedicated entries, indicates some snobbery on the part of the editors.

 In the mid- to late- 70s I was aware of punk more as an interesting, if annoying sidelight to Rock Music proper. Indeed, that was the attitude of just about everyone under 25 in those days. Radio airplay was reserved for what is now labeled ‘classic rock’ : The Eagles, Elton John, Wings, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynrd, etc.

 In 1976, The Ramones were regarded as a novelty act, on par with groups like Sha Na na, who re-did 50s songs as part of the nostalgia craze. The Sex Pistols were seen as gimmicky, relying on contrived ‘shock value’ to cover up their lack of musical talent. The full impact of punk on the US music scene really didn’t come until 1979, when record company execs began churning out albums from the emerging genre of ‘New Wave’.

But as a easy-to-read overview of the punk era at its peak, and the second-generation groups that sprang up in its wake, P:TWS does a good job.

Seeing photographs of the Ramones, Blondie, and The Clash circa 1976 will bring on some nostalgia in anyone who remembers those days when having a crewcut meant you were either a 'skinhead', a Marine, or someone with leukemia.....

Book Review: Set of Wheels

Book Review: 'Set of Wheels' by Robert Thurston

1 / 5 Stars

‘Set of Wheels’ (281 pp) was published by Berkley Books in February, 1983. The cover illustration is by Alan Daniels.

Robert Thurston (1936 - 2021) began his authorial career as an attendee of the 1968 Clarion Science Fiction Writers’ Workshop, with his first story ('Stop Me Before I Tell More') seeing publication in the anthology 'Orbit 9' (1971). Thurston's short stories saw print in magazines and anthologies all during the New Wave era. Along with his own short and long fiction, Thurston wrote novels for the wargame-derived 'Battletech' franchise, and the TV show-derived 'Battlestar Galactica' franchise.

'Wheels' is an expansion of a short story, titled simply 'Wheels', that Thurston published in 1971 in an anthology devoted to pieces produced at the Clarion science fiction writers' workshop. A review of 'Wheels', and other Thurston tales, is available at the MPorcius Fiction Blog.

‘Set of Wheels’ is not a very good book. In fact, it was a struggle to finish..........

The novel is set in the early 21st century, after some poorly defined economic and / or social collapse has transformed the nation into a loose collection of city-states. Outside the cities the landscape is slowly being depopulated, the highways are abandoned, and drifters, outcasts, criminals, the destitute, and religious fanatics control the dwindling numbers of small towns, road stops, and villages.

Within the cities, car ownership is heavily regulated (drivers must obtain a ‘safdry’ license). Vehicles are prohibited from travelling at high speeds, drivers are subject to random police checkpoints, and even minor moving violations can result in the permanent loss of a license.

Teenager Lee Kestner is bored, sullen, and rebellious. Not only is living with his alcoholic father depressing, but Lee has been turned down for a learner’s permit 17 times. Desperate to get his own set of wheels, and to experience the freedom of independent travel, Lee hands $500 over to his onetime friend Lincoln Rockwell X. In return, Lee gets a barely-running, beat-up, antique, 1967 Ford Mustang.

Despite the questionable mechanical status of his newly acquired car, Lee promptly takes off for the unregulated countryside outside the city limits. There he joins up with a loose coalition of outlaw drivers, gets his Mustang fixed up, and enters into a tumultuous romance with a girl named Cora.

Before long, Lee finds himself heading out across the under-populated landscape of the USA, unsure of his destination, but convinced that somewhere out on the open road, he will find purpose for a life otherwise marked by aimlessness and spiritual anomie.

‘Wheels’ is not much of an sf novel. Indeed, the sf elements are very muted, and serve as a sort of vague backdrop to the central goal of the narrative, which is to allow author Thurston to write lengthy, tedious passages of dialogue in which his characters expound on their existential despair.

Thurston’s efforts to impart a wistful, melancholy atmosphere to the activities of his modern-day nomads seems contrived and unconvincing. Let’s face it, whether made in 1967, 1975, 1982, 1996, or even today, the Ford Mustang always has been a piece of shit car, relying on its ‘cool’ appearance, and industry myth-making, to screen the fact that it has always been shoddily designed, shoddily manufactured, and overly prone to mechanical breakdowns.

(Although, to be fair, the same thing can be said about practically every vehicle made by Ford….)

To make things worse, Thurston adopts the affectation of eschewing quotation marks to set off dialogue. Readers will need to supply the patience to decipher these sorts of exchanges:

Get us out of here.
Her smile vanishes. Logical, perhaps, it’s been a ghost-smile.
Not a chance, honey.
But you and me, we-
I know what we done, but that’s just ice in the Amazon, far as I’m concerned. 

If you’re hoping for something that resembles George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ and ‘The Road Warrior’, or John Jake’s ‘On Wheels’, then you’re very much out of luck. The few episodes of action that take place in ‘Set of Wheels’ seem forced and tangential. 

My recommendation ? ‘Set of Wheels’ is best avoided, unless you are adamant about reading any and all sf novels with a 'car' theme.

'Shipwreck' by Caza
from Heavy Metal magazine, June 1980

June, 1980, and on the radio, in heavy rotation, a song that soon will become a soul / R & B classic: 'Stomp', by The Brothers Johnson.

The latest issue of Heavy Metal magazine features a great little strip titled 'Shipwreck', by Caza.