Back in 1984 he co-created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (with buddy Peter Laird), was able to turn a self-published, black and white, funny animal book into a squazillion dollar empire, he married and divorced a Penthouse Pet of the Year, became totally badass (see picture) (he also has crazy tattoos along his forearms which grant him demon flight), and he became the publisher and editor of the world's most bitchin' dark fantasy/science-fiction/erotica magazine: Heavy Metal.
Worship with me at his altar, after the jump! (NSFW for barely-clothed, booby fantasy art).
Let me tell you about how I was first exposed to Heavy Metal magazine. It was the heady year of 1994 and I was all about comics. I was drawing comics (I even had a briefly published comics) and I wanted to be a rockstar just like Kevin Eastman. My whole life was comics. And I had one of those like-minded friends (like I'm sure we've all had) who was a better artist than me, had better taste than me, and exposed me to most of the comics I grew to love. (He also introduced me to punk!). And he made me feel like if I wasn't buying and reading Heavy Metal then I was not only missing out, but didn't know shit about comics.
And he was right, to an extent, because it certainly broadened my exposure to a whole heap of magnificent artists that I'd never even heard of in my very narrow comics world. And not just American artists, but a whole slew of European artists as well. I discovered Serpieri, Manara, Suydam, Royo, Altuna - I could go on forever. The writing wasn't always great, but the art was beautiful and the stories were unique. And there were a lot of boobs. Seriously. Like a billion boobs. Even the boobs had boobs. And they'd insert speech bubbles (containing moans) over the really filthy bits.
I only read it for a year or two, and then I kind of balked at the highish prices. But I should totally get back into it now. Because Heavy Metal (and, of course, Kevin Eastman), totally rock!
So to celebrate Metal Monday how about we take a quick look at some of the crazy covers over the years. These are all nabbed from the hard-working folks at the Heavy Metal Magazine Fan Page who have fastidiously collected a complete run of covers and contents for every single issue ever released. Check them out for more info on the world's best armoured-tits magazine. And check out Kevin Eastman Studios too because the legend himself is taking commissions! I am seriously considering shelling out (guffaw) for a kickass Rapheal!
Boobs? Check. Midgets? Check. Mechanical pterodactyl? Absolutely! This cover was Zack Synder before Zack Snyder was Zack Synder!
This cover showcases Serpieri's brilliantly detailed, sexy, hard-sci-fi series Druuna. It was partly serialised in Heavy Metal but the full works is about eight albums worth (and uncensored). I actually tracked it down and bought it a couple of years ago because it was by far the best thing I read in these pages. If you google image search "Druuna" you will probably explode!
This combines the best of both worlds! A brilliant idea. Unless you attack her right-side.
Padme Amidala has never looked better!
This is a travel brochure for Hell.
Somebody gets to panel-beat the nipples.
And this is the current issue, which sends the clear message that not much has changed since 1994 and I can probably jump back on board without missing a beat. Guffaw.
Wasn't Robert Rodriguez talking about gathering cult directors to make another multi-story Heavy Metal movie? Holy crap that would be cool!
Bless you Kevin Eastman!
I used to (and still do) hate comics that have gorgeously painted covers, and then traditional ink and digital colour interiors. Superhero comics sometime do this, as does most of the Vertigo range. It always felt like they were saying "the cover is what the book is supposed to look like, but we can't afford to produce it like that, so here's some crappy drawings and you can imagine the rest".
ReplyDeleteHeavy Metal always blew me away because the interiors were just as lush as the wrapping. And you know, the boobies and things.