It's Official!

Daddy D., yours truly, has been announced as Azurek Studios' new English Supervisor. I will be editing scripts for English translations and occasionally collaborating with stories, such as the up-coming Strawberry Gun. I was recently very sick so this just made my day! Much thanks to Rita and Stefano. I look forward to all the work.

May 09 - Perfect 10?

I've boarded the plane back to the states after my visit with Stefano Cardoselli and his beautiful wife Rita Gorgoni. You may know them better as Azurek Studios, who (along with the rest of their staff) are multiple contributors to Heavy Metal. Although I've learned a great deal about the couple and their work, my visit was not business. As a vacation this was not so bad. Stefano and Rita are not only partners in business but in music as well. I'll be reporting later about their band, for which Stefano is the drummer and Rita sings. As a drummer myself it thrilled me to no end and I had a great visit.

On the extensive flight I seem to be alone. My Italian is no good. I appreciate and have a great respect and love for the culture, but my language skills are not the best. So on the trip back home it's a good thing I've plenty to keep me busy.



One very important bit of business for me is the launch of the website for the magazine ROCKnROLL GraphiX, which I've promoted like crazy and people are probably sick of hearing about. The work was left to the site's designer, R. Douglas Ezell and after some delays it was uploaded to the web on April 1st. Truth is there are still a few kinks to work out here and there but overall reception has been positive.

I don't want to work right now. Isn't a flight considered part of a vacation? Good thing I happen to have a copy of the May 2009 HM issue to help me escape the lure of work.

Let me say this right now: I sincerely hope this issue will be in the running for the ranking of a perfect 10 at the end of the year. May 2009 is quite possibly one of the best issues I've read in a long time. It's as close to perfect as an adult fantasy magazine can get. Starting with the cover by Michael Calandra we know this is classic Metal for the new century. For the second time this year I am reminded of Wolf Mother - Rumina, the mother of Romulus and Remus. Yet this image evokes the power of a witch with a strong wolf as her familiar. And these thoughts are what the cover of a copy of Heavy Metal are all about. Fantasy to fuel the imagination.



Did I mention perfect art? Turning the cover and entering the hefty mag I'm struck with a fantastic gallery from Ural Ukyuz, an artist who reminds me just a bit of Dave Stevens. I'm sure some won't see it. But I do. Right off the bat, from the turn of the cover, I know this issue is going to feature some of the best and most imaginative art HM has published in its long history. And Ukyuz is a good start.



I'm a fan of Dossier by S.C. Ringgenberg and I hope to write about him here. I'd like to bring you an exclusive someday. Dossier was close to my heart this issue. Ringgenberg was the man who reminded me that the above mentioned Dave Stevens gave us back Bettie Page. Here he brings to our attention an important book on the artist's life and works. Brush With Passion: The Life and Art of Dave Stevens. But it's his commentary on Bettie Page and her own admiration for Stevens that got to me most. Page said of Stevens, "My best friend, bar none." High praise from the Queen of Hearts.



False Gods by Santiago Casares and Miguel Mora is something you might have seen in the original Heavy Metal movie. An adventurer lands on an alien world and claims himself a god before the insectoid lifeforms. His claim is a boastful invitation to dinner.



But it's Requiem, the big graphic novel by the creative team of Pat Mills, Olivier Ledroit, Jacques Collin and Anne Drano that is the star of this issue. If you've never seen Requiem you may not get its humor or even what it's all about. I assure you this is not your run of the mill indie comic that you would see here in the states. This is graphic violence, sexual situations, irony and sarcasm. Requiem, the Vampire Knight, is searching for his beloved and nothing will get in his way. Not even death! Just when you think the story is complete you turn the page and the story itself takes a turn. Excellent story-telling from Pat Mills. And Ledroit's art once again spills off the pages and threatens to sink into your soul and demand a confession. Just the way I like my heresy.



A perfect edition of Heavy Metal would not be complete without a contribution from Stefano Cardoselli. Killer Ball is an intergalactic game of death. Imagine Death Race as football and you may get the idea. Killer Ball is the Superbowl of comic book violence. Something only Maestro Cardoselli and the staff at Azurek Studios could bring us.




There is so much more that makes May 2009 a near perfect issue. I'm talking "classic" Metal. I don't want to ruin it for you. If you have not picked up a copy in a long time, claiming you've lost faith in Kevin Eastman; if you've never read HM before; if you've only glanced at previous issues; if you don't have a subscription but would like to - I'm telling you, THIS is the issue to renew your love and restore your faith. This is the issue to start your life long obsession with. And this is certainly the issue to justify buying a subscription. No excuses!

ROCKnROLL GraphiX Delay!

Okay, this is the part where I go into an apology for the site's delay in launching. It won't be long, that much I know for certain. But let me explain.

As many of you know we've been promoting the site's launch (tonight) Midnight, March 21st. Obviously that did not happen. The fault is primarily my own. Last week our computer was infected with a virus and had to be wiped, etc. As a result a great deal of loss occurred, including the entire Summer 09 issue. 158 pages, gone. For those of you who have made contributions for the Summer issue I will be sure to get in touch with you shortly. You're probably wondering why materials were not backed up on a flash drive (at least). The answer to that is two-fold. One, the materials were backed up. Two, the virus was such a detailed go getter (nasty little bugger) that it was somehow able to likewise infect the flash drive. Yeah. Be on the look out for any threats to your own computers. And if I haven't mentioned it I hate hackers. They go on my naughty list. And not the good naughty list.

Fortunately, the entire first issue itself was already in the safe haven of our site's designer, R. Douglas Ezell. And we love him for it. However, at this time our delays are now site design related. I want to assure you that Doug is doing everything in his talents to insure our site's safety and we're working together to make this site the best it can possibly be. Point is, we want it to be right and do not want to rush it for the sake of a promoted deadline. With that said, we know that in just a few short days, possibly by the end of the coming week, when the site is launched there may be a number of little tweaks here and there - but the overall design will be there.

Once again, I aplogize for this delay and I appreciate your understanding.

Daddy D. Teams up with Azurek Studios

Azurek Studios and your Daddy have now begun a collaboration for submission to Heavy Metal. The un-revealed title will be everything you love from Stefano Cardoselli, with the script written by long-time Azurek scribe Rita Gorgoni and letters by David Paul. The story comes from an idea by David and Rita and features guns, girls, cars, a crazy motorcycle and some seriously fucked up zombies. This news is exclusive to METAL MADNESS and I'll keep you updated on the developments.

What is ROCKnROLL GraphiX?

Well, with a heavy heart, and after much consideration, I've decided to move this column out of Project Fanboy and into its own home. On the one hand I feel somewhat down by the decision to do so because I had made some good friends there. On the other hand, this is the right thing to do. Writing for Project Fanboy was a lot of fun, but the atmosphere there is family-friendly and, as we all know, Heavy Metal is an adult magazine. In other words, it just didn't fit. I wish the fanboys well and hope the best for the site.

I'm going to be having a lot coming up pretty soon, including another big exclusive with Azurek Studios and their lastest for HM. I'll be keeping you posted about the latest news for everything Heavy Metal, including the new film helmed by David Fincher and animated by Blur Studios. Until then I'd like to share with you my dream of a kick ass ezine called ROCKnROLL GraphiX, launching midnight, March 21st.

Imagine if you had one magazine that included all the material that only you cared about. It might include titles like...

Heavy Metal: lots of really cool adult comix. Now, just like HM that doesn't mean porn. It just means stuff outside the mainstream, written by adults for adults. We're very excited to be bringing you an exclusive with Azurek Studios and Stefano Cardoselli (with Rita Gorgoni) our very first issue. Wait til you see his cover art. Nothing like it!

Rolling Stone: Okay, now some of you may be too young to know this but way back in the day Rolling Stone used to be the kind of magazine that was concerned about the content it published. Nowadays all you get is so much fluff. The kind of articles RnRX will be bring you doesn't give a shit about fluff. AC/DC is back and for our launch issue we're telling you how it all happened, starting from the band's very beginning. We've also got articles on the controversy of legalizing pot, the history of The Devil and the origins of Rock n' Roll (music, that is).

Hot-Rod: First we're going to be giving you a brief look back at hot-rods and why they're so damn hot, still today. Then we're gonna take you on a fast paced, balls to the wall joyride, as we honor the grandfather of ALL muscle cars - the GTO!

Maxim and Playboy: Girls, Girls, Girls! Oh my damn! Guys (and all you ladies out there who love looking at girls), we know it's not about eye candy. Oh wait. Yes it is! But we also know it's about variety. And that's what we are dedicated to bringing you. And they're all smokin' hot.

But this is just a taste of what ROCKnROLL GraphiX is all about. I can't wait to share it with everyone and I can't wait to unveil our Official Pinup Girl of 2009 this SUMMER!