Heavy Metal 2016
Written by Eliot Rahal & Daniel Kibblesmith
Illustrated by Kendall Goode
Colour Assists by David B. Cooper
The Publicist is out for blood, and the heroes must scramble to save the day. Armed with the Koalmanac and a guileless clone of Carlisle Moongale, Flower and Henry storm Carlisle's corporate castle to thwart his evil plan. The problem? It's too late.
Who knew i’d be a fan of a comic book from Heavy Metal but they’ve let these creators really tell an interesting story that has the right amount of action/adventure and intrigue to capture the reader’s imagination. The creativity on display here and the way this issue ends hopefully means that we’ll get further adventures of our daring duo in the not too distant future. The whole concept behind the Doormen and that this never centered around Earth has been brilliantly portrayed by Eliot and Daniel.
While this adventure has introduced us to Henry and Flower it doesn’t explain the real history behind the Doors or the Doormen and now after everything we’ve seen through these four issues their ranks are going to need to rebuilt and further adventures are sure to be had alongside the revelation of a certain mysterious character that’s been introduced.
Carlisle Moongale has been an excellent villain and his plans have been monitored and sometimes thwarted at every turn by our new dynamic duo. Still will it all be enough to oust him as the galaxy’s most notorious villain and will they be able to save the day? Even with Moongale’s clone and the enigmatic Koalmanac, which is incredibly cute and something I really want to see more of, will the good guys have enough time, gumption and ability to save the universe from the rule he plans on bringing? You’ll have to read the story to find out what ultimately happens to Moongale and his Publicist but suffice it to say there things that will happen that will surprise and thrill reader’s.
Kendall has done a wonderful job on the interiors here. I’ve enjoyed his imagination and creativity in bringing these alien species to life. His use of page layouts through angles, perspective and backgrounds to control the flow of the story have been strong and entertaining. The all-ages stylings keep this great for anyone to read and enjoy and contains plenty of attention to detail that really sets it apart from other similar styles.
The characterisation and story development have been great to watch grow and evolve here. Henry and Flower make an unlikely pairing but since the beginning they’ve been singled out by the mysterious robed figure to work together. We’ve seen their growth throughout the arc and honestly I couldn’t be more impressed with how the story progresses. This has been one of those unique concepts that you stumble across and are thankful for doing so.
This is another prime example of why it’s important to seek out comics from companies that you might not immediately recognise or think of. It’s smart, intelligent and extremely well executed in both it’s writing and illustration. Available through Diamond means your brick and mortar shoppe can order it or through your subscription service and if you’re a digital reader it’s on Comixology. There’s no excuse not to broaden your horizons and read stories like this that are well worth your time, attention and will surely engage your imagination.