Heavy Liquid

Starred review from March 1, 2001
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.

August 1, 2019

This masterpiece from ingenious artist Pope (Escapo) returns to print 20 years after its initial release in an updated edition featuring revised colors, page design, and original illustrations. The Stooge, better known as S, is a former policeman who specializes in dealing Heavy Liquid, a mysterious and volatile substance that doubles as a powerful narcotic when specially prepared. Reeling from a deal gone awry, S agrees to help a fabulously wealthy art collector track down a reclusive artist he hopes to commission to create the world's first sculpture cast in Heavy Liquid. Before long, S is caught between a gang of murderous teenage girls and a trio of vicious masked criminals, face-to-face with a little girl who dresses like a pirate and controls an army of powerful robots, and on a collision course with more than one figure from his own shadowy past. VERDICT Drawing inspiration from noir films, cyberpunk, manga, and the world of high fashion, this work has a influenced an entire generation of cartoonists but remarkably still feels fresh today.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.