The top page is from the last chapter of Polonius. To this point, we have seen slavery, executions, pedophilia, sexual coercion and now torture by castration. This was a very brutal story. (Very nicely illustrated by a man who is just now starting to get his due in the American market, btw.)

The bottom page is from a throwaway story about a beautiful woman who is brought (at great peril) to this throne room. The ruler’s concubine is so distraught at being replaced that she kills herself. And now we are given the first punchline about the fact that radiation has made her intersex. The man kills himself while reciting high school poetry about how there is no way to breed in these awful end times and the second punchline is that the chick-with-a-dick is still alive – “Oh brother.”

Yeah. This pretty much illustrates the range of material that I’ve found in Heavy Metal. The art is very good. Sometimes, the story is readable. Occasionally, it’s compelling. Most of the time, the art just carries the eye along, which speaks to the level of visual storytelling ability and the dearth of plot.

In this kind of context, where art is paramount, it is easy to understand why naked women have shown up with such frequency. People who enjoy nudity tend to find it beautiful and fun to draw. In an environment where things can happen for no good reason, random nudity makes about as much sense as anything else.

(Heavy Metal issue #8, November 1977 – Page 76 Polonius by Picaret and Tardi & 89 Master by Nicollet)