REVIEW: Heavy Metal #275

Hey Hurlers and Screamers:

Thank you so much for the Cyberpunk meets Magic Realism Special, Heavy Metal 275! That’s what I’m talkin’ about! This is a special that stands out from the regularly monthly fare in a way I don’t remember other specials.  275 had all the novelty and exoticism I came to love reading HM in the 1970’s (remember those?)

Bang up cover! Jose Quintero was an excellent choice for the Gallery! Both his style and content are fresh and intriguing.  The cover, while still showing the almost requisite semi-nude hot female, manages to avoid the piercings and tattoos that have become so cliché in almost every guest artist’s work.  Has Quintero worked up any Buba stories?  I would love to see his various textures and media applied to something with this character.  Keep on him, and bring him back.

Each interior story had something to add to my enjoyment of this ish. Calvo and Omar-Trucu-Estevez New Moon Rising showed some delightfully detailed architecture and design; I especially loved the geometric motion lines of the Aztec gods’ movements.  I enjoyed The Eyes of Itzam for its interesting extrapolation of social media. Taxi, while not one of the strongest stories, begs for tales of the driver and his new drivee.  I want to see what comes next. Munoz and Casares’ The Data Mule, Llarena and Bazals’ Itzel, and Rios and Velazquez’ The Outsider rounded out a great issue with solid stories and draftsmanship. 

I especially enjoyed Puig and Guivara’s Untopia. Guivara creates highly detailed and yet readable panels and the Xibalba mythos is ripe for the picking, but it doesn’t quite read.  Still, the story breaks down between the Hacker starting to hack and the ending.  Do we assume that somehow the group has called up cyberdemons and are now possessed? 

Finally, While the artwork and design of Trees Feel No Rage displays a competent and engaging quality, the story seems incomplete.  Why a tree?  I see reference to the trees in an earlier seen, but felt unconvinced; neither rage nor trees seemed enough to connect the two, and I am sure a panel was out of place. If not, then the time flow of the tale is not clear.  

Interesting how revolution and butterflies seem to dominate the thematic content.

Pull some of these guys in to work some regular issues! I don’t remember seeing anything remotely “Mexican” in HM before, and they used to publish La Rambla down there, so we know there is talent.

Thanks again for this fine special! Until next ish,…

Griffin Mauser