The Goon

It all depends on how you feel about comics. If you're dismissive of the medium, if you think that it's all Super Guys in tights kicking each other's asses, you've been misinformed (Although I've got nothing against men in tights...at one point in life I wore tights myself. Looked pretty damn good in 'em too). Seriously, things have evolved quite a bit from the early days of Batman, although I'm still an unrepentant Batman fan...the place where great writing and great graphics meet is getting to be a pretty exciting hang.

There are some amazing people doing amazing work, and The Goon by Eric Powell is one of the best examples. Set in a weird noir universe in a 40s-like era, these stories are alternately hilarious, obscene, heartbreaking, suspenseful, offensive and exciting. Wikipedia says "The series has a distinctly paranormal slant, with the average story concerning ghosts, ghouls, skunk-apes with an unnatural hunger for pie, extra-dimensional aliens, and mad scientists." And yes, there is a good dose of ass-kicking as well. Did I mention that Powell is a fantastic artist? His art and content owe a good deal to Will Eisner's "The Spirit" Comics of the 40s, but he's ramped it WAY up both in terms of art and of story content. No, WAY up.

So, my advice is, don't you be dismissive or afraid of them there picture books. You can even call 'em Graphic Novels if it makes you feel better. But do go out and check on The Goon...if you're in my neck of the woods, hop over to Vault Of Midnight, a wonderful store, or go online (hey, you're already there!), or check your local Public Library...they may even have copies, mine did! The Goon and his psychotic pal Frankie, The Zombie Priest, Doctor Alloy and The Buzzard await you...

Stone Premonitions

A strange angel, with the head of a lizard, dances with a small orange furry alien and two beautiful nudes around a ring of power in some unnameable space. Sounds of music draw you into the circle, which reveals itself a spiral of eternal energy, spinning further and further into inner space, as your mind expands...

Then you're back on the street in your business suit wondering if it was all a dream. You're late for work! But before you rush off you look up, and there, high in the sky above you in a red balloon, you see the evil clown manipulating your marionette strings, laughing...

...It's just a taste of the vibe that many of the Stone Premonitions creations seem to inspire in me (and maybe in you too). Stone Premonitions is a Cooperative or Collective organization, officially started in 1994 but with its roots much earlier in 1974. Sometimes a record label, sometimes a radio station, always an incredible group of creative artists and musicians. The story's way too big for me to tell here, so check out their history on:
http://www.aural-innovations.com/stonepremonitions/history.html

...One of my favorite bands from the many (there's just an amazing output of music!) available is Census Of Hallucinations. Here's some unabashedly Psychedelic music with great hooks, crazy spaced-out moments, counter-cultural anarchist attitudes, fantastic musicianship, and lots of fun. But there's a LOT more besides COH. Check out the Stone Premonition discography and see:
http://www.aural-innovations.com/stonepremonitions/catalog.html

...Many of the SP recordings can be found at Stone Island Records (along with the CDs of some tosser called Beowulf Kingsley for some reason), which has a great web radio station that plays Stone Premonitions stuff all day long! Check it out here:
http://www.stoneislandrecords.com/

...Crazy cool. I'll leave you with a couple of teaser demos...have fun...

Gwar

Here's where my more intellectual, sensitive friends will flee from this blog in horror (what, Call Of Cthulu didn't do it for you already?)...my recommendation of Gwar, Insane Metal Band, Theatre Troupe, Scumdogs Of The Universe and Purveyor Of All Things Disgusting. Gwar will probably never be on NPR. Or on commercial radio. But they've been attracting and keeping (sometimes literally) rabid fans satisfied for more than 25 years! Gotta love 'em.

Gwar began in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, when Dave Brockie's band Death Piggy donned outer space monster costumes for a no-budget independent art film "Scumdogs Of The Universe" being made by Hunter Jackson and Chuck Varga. The costumes kept appearing onstage at Death Piggy shows and eventually Piggy was absorbed by the Gwar persona. Like Death Piggy, Gwar shows were both music and mini-plays, but Gwar went further and further into it, eventually creating movies and live performances that were like psychotic musicals written by very very disturbed adolescents (and I mean that in the very best possible way). After over 25 years and many personnel changes, Brockie is still in the band, in the character of Oderus Urungus, chief monster of Gwar. It's cool.

A rather complete history of the band is over on Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwar#1985.E2.80.931989
and is interesting reading, if you find this kind of thing interesting! Gwar are horrible, perverse, disgusting, offensive and appealing to the lowest common denominator in humankind. I highly recommend them! For elder geeks like me who don't want to go to the show and covered with fake body effluvia, a trip to the video store is in order. "Dawn Of The Day Of The Night Of The Penguins" is a pretty good representation of their live show, and features a delightful segment in which Marilyn Mansion is flayed alive! Or the hilarious "It's Sleazy" in which Gwar's amazingly pompadoured manager Sleazy P. Martini hosts his own daytime talk show...although there's some very disturbing violence that ensues. DON'T watch this stuff with your younger kids! At least watch it yourself first. I warned ya.

Edit: I just realized that Marilyn Manson is actually flayed alive in "It's Sleazy"! My mistake. Oh well.