So if you've known me for any length of time, you'll have realized I like porn. Pr0n, erotica, smut, et cetera. This includes comic books of what is laughably termed an 'adult nature'. Don't get me wrong, these are quite often awesome, hilarious, titillating and stunning. But I was far more in to them long before I was legally termed an adult.
Probably my favorite artist is consistently Michael Manning and I've got most of the books of his from nbm Amerotica. The latest to fall in to my hands is In A Metal Web II. It appears to be part of a sequel to Hydrophidian, itself a sequel to The Spider Garden.
So, the question you want answered first is: is it hot? If you like black and white fetish sex of beings of ambiguous, fluid gender, yes. Yes, it is.
Less important questions:
- Does it make sense? Not really. But aside from Tranceptor, none of his works make much narrative sense.
- Can I enjoy this book without reading any of the others? Of course. You're not reading it for the story.
- Is there anything other than kinky inhuman sex in this book? Yes. There is some political intrigue, some involuntary drug use and some alien tek.
- Who is this book best for? Someone who likes sex and coloring books, though the paper stock is lousy for crayons. If the binding is similar to past Manning books from the Amerotica line, after four or five readings, pages will be coming out, suitable for marker coloring and putting up on the refrigerator of your mum's house.
- Is there anything to not like about this book? It's too short. It feels like the thinnest of his Amerotica work.
If you've read Spider Garden and Hydrophidian and [one presumes] In a Metal Web, you'll probably want this. If you're asking yourself, "Why have I never heard of this Michael Manning fellow?" you're better off picking up Tranceptor, first, or even Cathexis. The former is a co-created work of science fiction with pony girls and lethal psychic hot chicks which possesses the present flaw of being the only work of the story, and the latter is a collection of short stories which possesses the flaw that they make no sense, though they're awfully pretty to look at and usually a good litmus test for his stuff. If you find them hot, you'll enjoy much of the rest of his work.
posted at 10:34 PST (-0800) (comments disabled) permanent link
