Alternative Visions
Alternative Visions |
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Page 20 of 29  Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron The horror genre too had its place. The most outstanding title was Taboo (Spiderbaby Graphics, 1988), edited by Stephen Bissette, an anthology which promised to return horror comics to the 'forbidden' status they enjoyed in the 1950s. As such, its contents were gory and shocking, and in fact much closer to underground predecessors such as Skull. Contributors included a range of established alternative stars, such as Charles Burns and Eddie Campbell (whose 'Pyjama Girl' strip was a disturbing highlight), plus newer names on the alternative scene, such as Jeff Nicholson (whose 'Through the Habitrails', a Kafkaesque nightmare, became a reader favourite). These were complemented by work from old underground creators such as S Clay Wilson, Melinda Gebbie and the late Greg Irons, plus contributions from 'overground' names such as Clive Barker, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman (whose 'Sweeney Todd' was a direct reference to the nineteenth-century British penny dreadful). Put together, this mix of styles and influences made for a substantial, and sometimes genuinely scary read. Like the more conventional anthologies, Taboo spawned its own spin-off comics. The best was undoubtedly From Hell (Tundra, 1991), by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, which retold the story of the Jack the Ripper murders in London in the 1880s. Described by the author in its introduction as 'a post-mortem of an historical event, using fiction as a scalpel', it appeared as a series of graphic novels, and put the emphasis on characterization. 'Jack' himself is a mad medic obsessed with ancient ritual, who is wont to hold up handfuls of innards and say things like: 'Look! She's full of light!' More interestingly, the reader gets to know his victims -Mary Kelly, Liz Stride, et al. These are not just 'women in peril', but real people, with husbands, children and jobs to do. Which makes their ultimate fate all the more sickening. The horror market also had its 'transgressive' end. That is to say, there were comics which were produced partly in the belief that being as extreme as possible had an aesthetic and creative value. They tapped into the vogue for culture which 'transgressed a moral boundary'. One such title was the collected work of Taboo contributor Joe Coleman, entitled Cosmic Retribution (Fantagraphics, 1993), which came complete with a cover-recommendation from Charles Manson. In it, intense, obsessive drawings complemented biblical quotations and densely-wrought prose yarns about murder, torture and horrendous retribution - with every wound, every degradation, lovingly depicted. The book established Coleman as an S Clay Wilson for the 1990s. Other transgressive material ranged from splatter-influenced superhero tales (Faust, Northstar, 1988) to extremist satire (Lord Horror, Savoy, 1989) to the self-published comics of Mike Diana (Boiled Angel, 1991; Superfly, 1994), which included meditations on child abuse and satanic sacrifice.  Panel from 'Duplex Planet' (1989), with dialogue recorded at an old folks home: the question posed was 'What is the most important invention of the 20th century?'.  Page from 'Mechanix', Love and Rockets (Fantagraphics, 1982). Art/script: Jaime Hernandez. This early example from the hippest comic of the 1980s features a typical moment in the relationship between Maggie and Hopey, plus the appearance of a hover-bike at the end (the SF elements were soon dropped).  Cover to the first issue of Love and Rockets. Art: Jaime Hernandez. Jaime's stories tended to be heavily punk-influenced. |