Release Date: October 8,
2025
Publisher: Heavy Metal International
Length:
232 pages
I preordered this issue from eBay from user hudscomicshop and
gosh, I have never ever received a package packed so perfectly. Just
look at this photo, it arrived in a box, wrapped in bubble wrap
and sleeved with a backplate. Super perfect quality. Opening it felt
like unwrapping a treasure. Just like last time, picking it up it
really has some weight to it.
This is Cover 3A by Louis Royo. Louis Royo’s artwork is amazing
and not really new to Heavy Metal. He has made some covers before so
this one was a clear pick for me.
We drop right into a rich editorial by Frank Forte, this one is
all about the origin of horror stories in publication, he talks about
Penny Dreadfuls, Tales from the Crypt,Mario Bava and more. Lovely
read.
Valentina - Part 3 - Sergio Gerasi
Valentina’s story comes last in the magazine, but for this
review, I’m pushing her to the front.
Valentina is a character created by Guido Crepax in 1965. She’s
a young photographer whose adventures take her all over the world
blending elegance, mystery and surreal dreamlike experiences. Her
stories often explore psychological depth and push boundaries
including themes of sexual freedom which was groundbreaking in
European comics at the time. The combination of personal exploration,
adventure and dreamlike imagery makes her stories immersive and
uniquely compelling.
For me, Valentina is especially special because I’m a
photographer myself, like in her life, adventures do happen to me to,
sometimes comic worthy. I’m fascinated by the world Crepax created
for her, the elegance of her character, the surreal quality of her
adventures and the black & white settings set a perfect tone.
Reading her stories feels like stepping into a mysterious dreamlike
world that draws me in and sparks my imagination.
Her influence goes beyond comics. The 1973 film Baba Yaga is based
on her adventures and the 1989 Italian TV series Valentina follows
her as a photographer solving mysteries around the globe.
Sergio Gerasi´s version of her still feels
very true to the original. We’re now at the third part and it takes a bit of a sci-fi turn but it works beautifully, the tone is right, the glamorous
artwork shines and the mood carries the original spirit while feeling
fresh. I sure hope we’ll see more of her in the future Heavy
Metal.
Flipping around in this issue the comics feels just great,
it’s filled with magic, fantasy, and erotic. Here are some
highlights.
Bug – Part 3 – Enki Bilal
We continue
this interesting story. I must say, reading this and looking at the
art feels like I am watching someone else’s dream. The artwork is
almost foggy and surreal, yet not.
Taarna – The Last Taarakian – Rebirth – Part
3
Taarna, lovely as ever. There is a chill fight in
this one as Taarna tries to save a child…
Man of Profit – Santullo / Jok
This
story felt like a Twilight Zone story. I got really pulled
into this well done.
Cave Man – Tayyar Ozkan
This was
wonderful. Wordless stories are nice; there are some words in the
last panel, but overall none. Nice coloring also.
Chicken – Luan Tie
Wow, this was a surreal
and perverted story with clear inspiration from Junji Ito. Love it.
Paid in Advance – Diego Agrimbau, Carina Altonaga
This
felt in part like 2001: A Space Odyssey somehow for me. I’m
not saying more than that…
Cold Dead War – The Aftermath – Craig Wilson
Even
more of this storyline. I’m a bit confused where this is set, or I
think it expands a bit on the original short segment from the movie
and the comic series that came after, but I’m missing some
structure in this one sadly. It worked like a one-shot in #1 as I
wrote then. Now it lost me. I will rewatch that segment and re-read
the comics, and if there is yet one more story along this line, I
will dig down into it more. I do respect the effort, and there are
some cool encounters with zombies for sure.
Heresy
– Katie Houghton Ward
This Van Helsing story went
from cozy to total chaos. I sure need to go check out what more
interesting stories have come out of Katie’s brain.
The Ugly Duckling – Matias De Vincenzo
This
one really captured my brain cells hard. It felt a bit like I was
reading a fantasy game intro. I was feeling like, I wanna play this
game. Like the title is telling right away, this is a story about
fitting in. We all know this story…but do we know THIS story…
Harry Canyon – Josh Sky, Frank Forte
I
could read a full hardcover comic book of this character. He is such
a chill character, then we have Frank Forte’s artwork here that is
very true to the original. Keep his story flowing.
Deconstructing Manga – Shintaro Kago
This
was unusual to see in HM. Not saying it never happened before, but I
cannot remember ever seeing any manga in HM. Not bad at all. I talked
about Junji Ito a bit earlier; Shintaro Kago is sure dealing in the
same style, pushing boundaries with his surreal style. This story
kinda messed a bit with my mind.
Beacon from Scorpius 4 – Frank Forte, Edu Menna
This
space thriller has traces of Alien and it also reminds me of
the story Frank had in the Angry Mob Zine 1# – The Transaction.
I have made a similar story also that will be released soon here in
Sweden, and maybe in the future in HM also.
Sixella – The Last Roots – Part 2 – Janevsky
This
is one of my favorite stories. This, Harry Canyon,
Valentina and the one-shot comics are my top best so far in
HM. This Sixella story just digs itself deeper and deeper
inside your bones and you feel like, “Yee, stay here, it is ok.” I will dig a bit more into this comic in next review I think.. Angry Mob Zine #3 just released, in it is a great interview with Janevsky.
These were some comics that stood out to me. There are many more
stories and articles in this one. They keep the momentum up. A solid
10/10!
No comments:
Post a Comment