Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Art of Simon Bisley, Carcosa, & Groovy


Its summertime & some instinct in my monkey brain wants me to walk down to the comic store in my home town. Ironically there isn't one. Yet there's a part of my brain that remembers a summer many past that had an incredible comic book series that came out called Melting pot. Which spawned the movie Heavy Metal 2. While the comic Heavy Metal 2 was better then the movie by light years..
According to wiki:
"The Melting Pot is a graphic novel by Kevin EastmanSimon Bisley and Eric Talbot. Eastman and Talbot collaborated on the story, while Eastman and Bisley worked together on the painted artwork.
The comic was serialized in four issues released in 1993 and 1994 by Kitchen Sink Press. A 144-page paperback volume collecting the series followed in 1995.
In November 2007, Eastman published a new 170-page version of the story, filling an entire issue of Heavy Metal magazine. The 2007 version is substantially different from the original series, with an expanded, more coherent narrative and new artwork by Eastman, Bisley, and Rob Prior."
Think that these clearly illustrate the difference between gonzo & groovy. This is what I'm thinking when I'm reading Metamorphosis Alpha,Gamma World, Mutant Future, & Carcosa. Me I'd be satisfied with groovy 100% of the time. I don't really think of any of the above games as goofy at all. Yeah yeah yeah, I know about the bunnies that turn things to rubber etc. But Gamma World is a very deadly game actually as well as its progenitor. These aren't really futures that I would want to be a part of. Play sure, but live in? No thanks.. 





If the Heavy Metal 2 movie had stuck with this this then I would have been a happy nerd. The images clearly & concisely speak volumes of the world that they come from. 








Every time I'm quietly thinking about Carcosa this creeps in the back of my mind





THIS IS CARCOSA! If you haven't read the original comic series by Kitchen Sink Press. A 144-page paperback volume collecting the series followed in 1995. I enjoyed the hell out of the series. The movie Heavy Metal pissed me right off while the comic was interesting.






 You can see more images of  Melting pot right Here  & Fakk2 right Here
I'm not telling you how to play your games or buy this comic or whatever. Just a few random thoughts about Melting Pot & the art of Simon Bisely. Obviously this art work belongs to its respective copyright holders & this is not a challenge to those merely a blog post.

For some reason this is always playing in my head when I read this comic

4 comments:

  1. Very awesome post. I love Melting Pot, the art is awesome and has a lot of contributors (even Royo!) but the movie....However, as a setting to roleplay in, superb!

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  2. Thanks Ancient! The comic & Frakk2 are light years from the movie..I love the series.. Thanks for the comment man. Got more to come tomorrow.

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  3. I love this guys artwork, especially for Slaine.

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  4. Thanks Shorty Monster! So do I its so evocative & sharp. Very nice stuff. There's more coming up man with him!

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