Customer Reviews

Meatmen, Vol. 11

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1994's Meatmen vol. 11, despite being pulled together at the last minute when contributors failed deadlines, is one of the stronger entries in the series.
The retro, pulpy cover leads us into a classic Tom of Finland encounter followed by one of the psudonymous 'Stephen's' more edgy and disturbing contributions, "Kidnapped", the story of an abducted young businessman who learns to love his imprisonment and abuse.
Greg Garcia's "Pivot Point", about the stage in a relationship where the balance of power shifts, is a little flowery but intriguing, and "Sky-High and Hard" by 'Sean', features the usual cast of amiable cuddly boneheads getting 'em off and getting it on in an unusual setting, this time on a window-washer's platform.
The popularity of 'The Hun's' barely-legible "Big Sig" continues to elude me, as does the appeal of 'Mike's' curiously distorted artwork, but in general the standard of the 'serious' strips this time is quite high. Amongst the comedy, Jeff Krell's "Jayson" stands out with its superior bitchy wit, and Donelan's contributions are frothy fun. Sean Martin's cartoons are amiable domestic sitcom, and Kurt Erichsen's "Murphy's Manor" is sly and blatant all at once. A.Jay's "Harry Chess" occupies a unique niche all to itself; it's historically significant. Important, even. But it's sadly not actually very good, and has dated badly.
The remainder of the book is taken up by contributions by myself, under the name of Howard Stangroom, and my collaborator Stephen Lowther; "Can We Do It Till I Need Glasses?" is a true-life European odyssey, and "Midnight Confessions", the story of a man and wife who discover they have more tastes in common than they thought, remains one of the more popular shorts we've done - particularly among women who've read it, though what that states about their marriages I hesitate to guess!
Most of the Stangroom & Lowther material is now collected in full-colour, rather than Meatmen's black & white, in the "Prime Cuts" paperback from Germany's Bruno Gmunder (also available on Amazon!), but the rest of the book is a strong lineup, and a good sampler of the quality of the first half of the series.

Another fun collection. Highlights this time:

"HARRY CHESS VS. THE PYTHON" by "A.JAY" -- Another hilarious farce with spies and sex; I only wish the art was reproduced larger, there's too much detail here to appreciate in this format!

"SKY-HIGH AND HARD" by "SEAN" -- Window-washers get stuck outside a building-- then get it on, before finding they're not the only workers having fun that night. As always, "Sean"'s work deserves a collection all his own.

Other highlights include "MURPHY'S MANOR" by Kurt Erichsen, "JAYSON" by Jeffrey A. Krell, "KAKE" by "Tom of Finland", "KIDNAPPED" by "Stephen", 15 assorted pages from Howard Stangroom & Stephen Lowther, 11 cartoons by Gerald Donelan, and front & back covers by "Etienne".