Tag Archives: Joe Harris

Rockstars: Issue #01

rockstars_01

When I first heard about this new graphic series, I was immediately intrigued. A series about rock and roll excess, occult, and urban legend drawing inspiration from bands in the 1970’s seemed right up my alley. I added it to my pull list at my local comic store and patiently waited. This week, I finally got the first issue and it is everything I expected.

The tale is basically about two young people—a rock conspiracy theorist and a music journalist—who meet while looking into the mysterious deaths of young women, which they believe to be connected to black magic rites orchestrated by a mysterious rock guitarist.  The opening lines sucked me right in to the story.

Rock ‘n’ roll has always had its secrets. From backwards messages on classic albums, woven references to drugs and madness, or homages to fallen legends and lost friends. Hidden declarations of sympathy for the devil are as stock and trade as anthem calls to both the faithful and the damned.

Author Joe Harris credits the book Hammer of the Gods as an inspiration. I remember reading this book in my younger days and the glimpse it provided into the dark and mysterious world of rock and roll. I would never listen to a Led Zeppelin song the same way afterwards.

Already, this series makes references to some of the great rock myths: the infamous mudshark, the synching of “Dark Side of the Moon” to “The Wizard of Oz,” Jimmy Page’s obsession with all things Crowley, just to name a few. If you were a rock music fan in the late 70’s and early 80’s, you will undoubtedly catch and appreciate these references and how they are masterfully strung together with artwork that evokes the essence of that era.

I highly recommend this and eagerly await the next installment.

Comments Off on Rockstars: Issue #01

Filed under Literature

New Alice Cooper Comic Coming Soon

AliceCooperComic

It is not news to most of you who know me that I am a HUGE Alice Cooper fan. I have seen the Coop in concert more times than I can remember and I have tickets to see him again this fall. I had heard that a new Alice Cooper comic was in the works, but now I have some official info.

Issue number 1 will be hitting the shelves in September of this year, just in time for Halloween (also, shortly before I see him again). The comic will be written by Joe Harris and illustrated by Eman Casallos. According to the article I read:

In the new series Cooper is portrayed as a rocker by day and “Lord of Nightmares” at night. He watched over us as we slept and delivered horrors to those who deserved it. But someone took that away from him, pushed him out of his realm and locked him away… but now he’s going to take it all back.

Click here to read the article in full, which also includes a few pages from the upcoming comic.

Alice is no stranger to the comic-book world. Neil Gaiman did a short comic series featuring Alice, which was inspired by Cooper’s The Last Temptation album (check out my reviews of those).

I can’t wait for this. I will be putting my order in at the local comic store to ensure I get my hands on the first issue as soon as it come out.

Comments Off on New Alice Cooper Comic Coming Soon

Filed under Literature