indie box: Metalzoic

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comic books, DC Comics, graphic novel, indie box, Kevin O'Neill, metalzoic, Pat Mills, review, science fiction

This is the second time a book published by DC Comics has broken the rules and earned a place in my indie short box. This time, it’s Metalzoic by the legendary team of Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill, and there’s not much about it you can call “mainstream”. Metalzoic takes place in a future where the Earth is ruled by intelligent, mechanical beasts patterned after modern and prehistoric animals — and boy, do they love to fight!

Yes, you just witnessed a brutal showdown between a gorilla with a saw blade on his head, and a lion with a chainsaw for a tongue and metal skis for feet. Do I really need to say anything about the story’s plot, or is that cool enough for you? Two of my favorite pages show a shark attacking a caravan of wooly mammoths during a trek across the ice.

It’s like some sort of psychotic nature special! I can almost hear David Attenborough narrating it for a BBC documentary.

O’Neill always delivers wonderfully twisted artwork, but he pulls out all the stops to illustrate Metalzoic‘s endless mecha-menagerie.

The story is interesting, especially since the main character — the saw-blade gorilla — is a brutal, amoral hell-raiser whose brawn and ferocity might be the only thing standing between the Earth and total destruction.

And just look at him go!

When all this takes place and how it came to be are slowly revealed throughout the story. We don’t get a clear timeline until about 50 pages in. It might have been helpful to see a historic summary earlier in the story, so here it is.

If you’re like me, and you wish Godzilla movies would cut out most of the human-related nonsense and just show more monster fights, then this 64-page epic adventure is the book for you!

Collector’s Guide: Metalzoic; DC Comics Graphic Novel #6, 1986. Though it’s often out of stock at MyComicShop, you can usually find it on Amazon for between $15 and $30.

indie box: Nemesis

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2000AD, Eagle Comics, indie box, Kevin O'Neill, Nemesis, nemesis the warlock, Pat Mills

What’s inside the short-box of indie comic books this week? Nemesis, published by the UK-based Eagle Comics, and originating in the pages of 2000AD. Thanks to my high-school buddy Brian and his older brother Michael, the insanity of British comic books was percolating into my awareness by the mid-1980s, and by the time creators such as Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Warren Ellis (to name just a few) were working on mainstream franchises at Marvel and DC (or their subsidiaries), I was primed for a ‘British Invasion’ of American comics that rivaled that of blues-based rock music in the 1960s.

For me, it began with Nemesis. When Brian saw this creative team sparked my interest, he also shared with me Marshall Law and Metalzoic. Since then, I’ve dug O’Neill’s art on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Mills’ work on Flesh, which I only discovered decades after its original publication.

The following self-contained short story about Nemesis begins in a dungeon where alien species are imprisoned, along with humans suspected of harboring or assisting aliens. Though they suffer, their spirits are lifted by memories of the revolutionary alien warrior, Nemesis!

Nemesis the Warlock! His name strikes fear into the hearts of humans everywhere. Humans living in a religious monarchy that persecutes and exterminates all aliens. Just look at this glorious propaganda poster for Torquemada, the arch-nemesis of Nemesis and totally disgusting scumbag.

That’s right. This evil freak is everywhere, spearheading an inquisition across the galaxy to torture and murder peace-loving aliens! It’s almost like living in the United States in 2019!

But take heart, species of the universe. Nemesis the Warlock has an even freakier face than Torquemada, and his sword is way more huge! So huge that it has its own origin story — a violent, grotesque space epic of suffering and sacrifice for all the wrong reasons. Suck it, humans!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Nemesis the Warlock; Eagle Comics, 1984. By Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill.

Sleep is No Refuge for Impure Thoughts!

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2000AD, be pure be vigilant behave, Kevin O'Neill, Torquemada

Here is a piece of promotional art by Kevin O’Neill for Nemesis the Warlock. The evil visage of Torquemada appears to remind us that even when we sleep he monitors our every thought. So be pure – be vigilant – behave!

Collector’s Guide:
– From 2000 AD #318

Brief Lives by Kevin O’Neill and Alan Moore!

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Alan Moore, Brief Lives, Kevin O'Neill, Omega Men, Vega

Just when you thought you’d seen all the Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill collaborations, you find another! Here’s a cool four-page story featuring giant beings who run on a totally different time scale than the rest of us. Or maybe… maybe we ARE the giant beings! Dude!

Just click this big ugly alien face on the left to rock out to more Kevin O’Neill artwork.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Omega Men #26; DC, 1985.

Lobo Does Comicon: San Diego Reduced to Rubble.

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Alan Grant, Comicon, Keith Giffen, Kevin O'Neill, Lobo, Lobo Convention Special, San Diego

Another San Diego Comicon has come and gone. We chose to avoid the crowds, Twilight bullshit, Hollywood and TV hype, and jaywalking. Instead, we got all the Comicon we needed from the Lobo Convention Special.

Here, the Main Man laughs so hard at the once-hyped-but-now-worthless Death of Superman that he rips his damned comic book to shreds. Lobo hops on his bad motorscooter to find a fresh copy at the 1993 Comicon in San Diego. Mayhem, carnage, and hilarity ensue, brought to life by the inimitable artwork of Martian favorite Kevin O’Neill. Frag all the bastiches!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Lobo Convention Special #1; DC Comics, 1993.
Art by Kevin O’Neill; story by Alan Grant and Keith Giffen.

Nuke Me Slowly! It’s the First Issue of Marshal Law!

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Epic Comics, first issue, Kevin O'Neill, Marshal Law, Marshal Law Limited Series, Nuke Me Slowly, Pat Mills

1987 was an awesome year to be alive. The world wasn’t full of sensitive @$$ho1es talking about their “issues” and “managing their anger.” No!! When we wanted to work out some aggression, we would dress up in barbed wire and leather and go out killing super-heroes! That’s right! Why? Why? Because super-heroes are scum! The lowest form of life! Super-heroes are bacteria!

And to prove it, here’s the first issue of Marshal Law for you. Raging from the twisted minds of Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill, Marshal Law will nuke you slowly, shatter your dreams, and disturb you for a long, long time. You’ll love it!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Marshall Law #1; 1987, Epic.
– Reprinted in Marshal Law Fear and Loathing TPB.
– Reprinted in Marshal Law Omnibus.

Also recommended to deviants like you:
– Marshal Law Kingdom of the Blind
– Marshal Law Takes Manhattan
– Marshal Law Super Babylon
– Marshal Law Secret Tribunal
– Marshal Law The Hateful Dead

Now read the whole issue, or frag off, Starpo Pig!

Kevin O’Neill Does Mars, #2

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Kevin O'Neill, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vertigo Comics

Spend the afternoon on Mars with us. We’ve been Kevin O’Neill fans for years, but nothing really prepared us for the visual ecstasy of the second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series. If you missed it, check out Kevin O’Neill Does Mars Part 1!

Collector’s Guide:
– From League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2, #1.
– Cover from the “bumper compendium” reprint.
– Also available in a high-quality TPB format!

If you can’t read the dialogue, that’s because it is reproduced here in its original Martian!

Kevin O’Neill Does Mars, #1

Tags

Kevin O'Neill, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vertigo Comics

Spend the afternoon on Mars with us. We’ve been Kevin O’Neill fans for years but nothing really prepared us for the visual ecstasy of the second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series.
If you’d like to see more, visit Kevin O’Neill Does Mars #2.

Collector’s Guide:
– From League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2, #1.
– Reprinted in a “bumper compendium.”
– Also available in a high-quality TPB format!

If you can’t read the dialogue, that’s because it is reproduced here in its original Martian!

Insect Trust – Part 2!

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Green Lantern, Insect Trust, Kevin O'Neill, Todd Klein

Here’s part two of Insect Trust from Green Lantern #190. If you missed the first half, just Click Insect Trust Part One to render yourself an insectovorid!

You gotta love the freaky edge that artist Kevin O’Neill brings to the alien cast of characters in the Green Lantern Corps. O’Neill was responsible for the look of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law, an occasional Judge Dredd story, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and so on.

Insect Trust – Part 1!

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Green Lantern, Insect Trust, Kevin O'Neill, Todd Klein

Here’s part one of Insect Trust from Green Lantern #189. When you’re done, Click Insect Trust Part Two for the rest of this oblangata-obliterating sci-fi epic!

You gotta love the freaky edge that artist Kevin O’Neill brings to the alien cast of characters in the Green Lantern Corps. O’Neill was responsible for the look of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law, an occasional Judge Dredd story, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and so on.

Tygers: Alan Moore’s Legendary Empire Of Tears!

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Abin Sur, Across the Universe, Alan Moore, DC Stories by Alan Moore, Green Lantern, Kevin O'Neill, Legendary Empire of Tears, Tygers

It doesn’t take a power ring to figure out that if you have Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill teaming up to do a Green Lantern story that it’s going to be good!

Today we share Moore & O’Neill’s twelve-page medulla-mutilating story Tygers. In case you just woke up from a hundred year space mission in suspended animation and have no idea what’s happening, Tygers is the story of Abin Sur, the alien who came to earth and died before making Hal Jordan the Green Lantern of Earth!

This story has repercussions for Geoff Johns’ recent fan-favorite Blackest Night storyline in Green Lantern. For a thorough exploration of why this is true, click over to Alan Moore: The Architect of the Blackest Night at Write Club. This article also credits another Moore tale of the Green Lantern Corps for influencing Blackest Night. You can read that story on the Savage Tales site: Mogo Doesn’t Socialize!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2, DC Comics 1986.
– Reprinted in Across the Universe: DC Stories by Alan Moore; 2003.
– Reprinted in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore; 2006.