Blackguard #4: the Fear Issue

Blackguard PO Box 35 Marrickville NSW 2204 Australia $5 or TRADE sstratu@gmail.com Thank the highest peaks of Valhalla or lowest pools of Hades for Blackguard. This zine, “The Fear Issue” fears nothing. Reading this zine in 2012 I was reminded of the first time that I thumbed through a copy of ‘Heavy Metal’ back in 1984. What a great feeling that was; being all of 12 years old and not quite knowing how to draw any conclusions about a comic book full of comics without superheroes, and whose characters were often having sex with one another. It wasn’t a red pill moment, but it was definitely headed in that direction. Blackguard, like Heavy Metal, has the aesthetics of walking into a seedy underground comic/adult bookstore in a very bad part of town on a Blade Runner kind of night. The man behind the zine is Stuart Stratu. He sent a great hand written letter along with his zines for review, which I really appreciated, and which also harkened back to a time gone by. The theme is fear and a wide variety of artists contribute to this cause, digging deep and letting loose with a barrage of often disturbing, yet sometimes hilarious, comics, stories, and drawings. There are also reviews, and a great letters section. Blackguard has it all.