Heavy Liquid [Paperback]

Paul Pope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

Paul Pope brings a quiet, old-school sensibility to noisy, postmodern comics with Heavy Liquid. This graphic novel, set in the late 21st century, focuses on all the classic elements of detective and adventure stories: lost love, mysterious clients, a package everyone wants, and a tired, barely willing protagonist. The narrative details--such as the eponymous liquid, whichis part munition, part drug, and much stranger than any character imagines--are calculated to foil the reader's assumptions, and the expressionistic artwork blends simple colors with bold lines to draw the eyes onward. It seems safe to say that cyberpunk's not dead. --Rob Lightner

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Paul Pope brings a quiet, old-school sensibility to noisy, postmodern comics with Heavy Liquid. This graphic novel, set in the late 21st century, focuses on all the classic elements of detective and adventure stories: lost love, mysterious clients, a package everyone wants, and a tired, barely willing protagonist. The narrative details--such as the eponymous liquid, which is part munition, part drug, and much stranger than any character imagines--are calculated to foil the reader's assumptions, and the expressionistic artwork blends simple colors with bold lines to draw the eyes onward. It seems safe to say that cyberpunk's not dead. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

A singular figure on the comics scene, Pope (One Trick Rip-off) is the rare comics artist who can move between the opposing worlds of self-published, underground comix and mainstream, commercial comics, always producing personal works of imagination with extraordinary graphic skill. Set in a moodily rendered New York and Paris about the year 2075, Heavy Liquid is an urban love story transformed by science fiction into a bracing, futuristic international crime thriller. It's the story of "S," a former drug agent turned private investigator and petty criminal. He's addicted to heavy liquid, a mysterious hallucinatory substance sought after by different characters for its various properties. A mysterious and wealthy art collector wants it to be cast in a work of art; a gang of ruthless masked gunmen know that it can be used as an efficient, powerful explosive; and an equally hard-nosed government agency knows its shrouded origin and wants the stuff out of circulation. But S's use of heavy liquid (he cooks it up like heroin and puts drops in his ear) produces an effect far beyond its mind-bending high: it seems to produce a powerful, shadow life-form that inhabits his mind and body or is it just a delusional by-product of heavy liquid's potent high? Pope has embellished his stylish love story with heart-stopping action and adventure. But he has also produced a moody fictional essay of urban culture and its organic, pervasive amalgamation with technology. Pope's drawing and page design (the book is printed in three eerily manipulated colors) is both technically assured and wonderfully expressive.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563896354
• ISBN-13: 978-1563896354
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,767,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Pope is incredible!, July 3, 2001

By 

zinegrrl "xa" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heavy Liquid (Paperback)

The Heavy Liquid series(compiled in this book)makes up one of the most amazing graphic novels I've ever seen, and on so many levels: a fascinating and creative plot, interesting characters and great loose, luscious drawings. I highly reccommend this book as an introduction to the rest of Mr. Pope's fine work, such as his giant-sized THB comics, P City Parade and also "Escapo," another amazing graphic novel. All of his comics are grrl friendly (with fully-clothed and smart,strong female characters, no ridiculously-sized bosoms to be seen) and his drawing style is completely gorgeous. Do check this out -- you'll love it. Paul Pope is a total genius.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the best, June 20, 2003

By 

Nathan B. Hyatt "Psychonaut" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heavy Liquid (Paperback)

I wish I saw this novel on more Top 10 lists, but oh well. Nevertheless, I demand that you buy this book right now, and with the hefty discount Amazon is providing, you can't afford to pass this up! With a cover price of 30 beans, I can understand why some would balk initially at purchasing this, but now you have no excuse! Thirty percent off is the deal of the century for this book, and I paid full cover at my local shop! If you are a fan of modern fiction, fine graphical art, or just insane ideas, you owe it to yourself to pick this up at Amazon's great discount.

Set in the near future, the main question in Heavy Liquid is "what is Heavy Liquid?" I'm not going to tell you, but I will tell you that the characters in this story are all affected by this strange substance, part highly addictive drug, part... I don't want to spoil it, but suffice it to say that Pope's concepts are always first rate. As someone else mentioned, fans of PK Dick should take note of this work and read it.

The art is Paul's signature style, completely unmistakably his and no one else's. The lines themselves form beautiful abstract art, in addition to the concrete images they suggest, but his execution is so fluid that nothing is stale or static; these pages rip with dynamics.

All in all, among the very best graphic novels of all time, and considering that it is the work of one man, it qualifies as genius.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mysterious Package, January 11, 2009

By 

T. Hooper "thdizzy" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Heavy Liquid (Hardcover)

When the character Stooge and his partner double-cross the mob and abscond with a package of the mysterious element Heavy Liquid, thing get out of control. With his partner dead, Stooge must find a way to escape the mobster hitmen out to get him. While on the run, he is approached by the agent of a shadowy art collector who would like him to find an artist who has disappeared from the world. The mission: find the world's greatest sculptor to make a piece of work created from Heavy Liquid. The element however is also of great interest to the United States government. Stooge's work soon attracts the attention of one of the government's top agents. . .

Paul Pope's art work is a good as ever in this collection of his Heavy Liquid comic series. The lines are bold and even still shots have a great deal of energy and movement. I recommend this to all fans of comic art, and if you're a Paul Pope fan this is of course a must-have. Get it now while it's available. Paul Pope's work tends to go out of print quickly.