Dark Angel

Dark Angel #1

cover by Hart D. Fisher

Boneyard Press – 1991

With it’s crudely painted cover art, Dark Angel may at first seem unremarkable.  I have read worse but it’s pretty bad. However, after a bit of superficial internet research, the history of this book (and it’s creator) took me to some unexpected  and fascinating places.

Boneyard Press is the creation of Hart D. Fisher. Dark Angel was his first book. Crusher magazine did a interview which covers most of his prolific career so far. It would seem that his hit book would come a year after Dark Angel in the form of a Jeffrey Dahmer unauthorized comic biography. This book landed Hart an appearance on the Sally Jesse Rafael talk show, Jerry Springer, Larry King and had his house raided by a SWAT team. Seriously… this happened, in America…. over a comic book. Creating a black and white comic book about a serial killer today would seem about as interesting as reading a blog about copper age horror comics but in 1992 it was news worthy. Have we really become so apathetic in twenty years or is this just me? After the “media circus” as Hart describes the incident, he found a job working with punk rock icon and mesh shirt enthusiast Glenn Danzig  as managing editor for Verotik. It was here that he wrote a short story about a father who pays some dudes to film the kidnapping, rape and murder his daughter so he can watch it and jerk off. This issue of Vertika #4 led two comic store owners in Oklahoma to be arrested on felonies charges for trafficking in obscenity and selling to consenting adults. Today he works in the film industry making black metal music videos (that are apparently too disturbing to be shown even on the internet) and satanic pornography.

His film, Club Satan: The Witches Sabbath was nominated for “Most Outrageous Sex Scene,” by the AVN but lost out to Ass Blasting Felching Anal Whores. If squirting simulated rainbow diarrhea all over women’s faces is your thing, click away. We have no judgements here.

Enough about the history of Mr. Hart. Let’s get to the book itself. As I said earlier, it’s pretty awful but it is not without its endearing moments. In the mid to late 80’s there was a huge boom in independent comics. This produced many classic works but also tons of unreadable garbage. As far as copper age indie comics go, I feel if the book has anything even slightly entertaining, it’s a win. I feel the Dark Angel series is a win but I may be alone on this. I will attempt a brief synapses and you can judge for yourself.

Jonathan Gabriel decides one day that he wants to kill everyone, everywhere. He begins his homicidal journey by killing his questionably heterosexual roommate who wears cut off t-shirts tucked into his daisy dukes. Most of the characters in this book look like Tom of Finland men drawn by a mentally handicapped child.

Before Jonathan stabs him in the neck, he does a very curious thing:

He “beeps” his nose.

From there, he begins killing his neighbors in all kinds of ways. One of my favorite killings is this panel

where he punches a guy so hard, fucking laser beams shoot out of his face.

In the midst of this killing spree, this guy has a premonition.

While jerking off, fucking this box or whatever is going on here, he receives a psychic message about Johnathan. He tells his boss that he needs his paycheck because he’s leaving (seemingly to do something) and then we never hear from this guy again. I believe Hart forgot about this dude.

This is the end of the main story in issue 1 but we also get a second short story. The tale is terrible but the main character is wonderful. His name is Bill the Bull and he has horns for no reason. No one else has horns and it isn’t mentioned why. He’s a 80’s badass and that’s all you need to know. He solves a mystery about a missing boy who was murdered by his father for insurance money and Bill buries the dad alive at the end.

Here’s Bill strutting – 80’s style.

and here he is holding his wang and whizzin’ on a dumpster but we’ll come back to him. I want to get to issue 2.

Dark Angel #2

cover by Kelley Jones

Boneyard Press – 1991

Yes, Kelley Jones of Batman fame. Not bad for a crappy indie book. I guess when Hart asked if he would like to paint a cover of a cultist fucking and eating a dead woman at the same time, Jones couldn’t refuse. This issue features a “publishing schedule,” and listed here is a book called Rectum Errectum. This became the first comic created by a Russian and published by an American in America. Not a bad first for a fledgling company. I’ll have to track that one down for later, but let’s get back to our story.

Jonathan is now running around the forest killing animals with his knife and his teeth when he comes across some evil cult dudes kidnapping two girls.

From this point in the story there is an unusually high amount of testicle violence.

We are treated to some good close ups.

After a while, even his characters begin to think it’s weird.

But Hart is not about to let up on the nut shots. Even Bill gets in on the action.

So Jonathan kills a bunch of cultists before they can rape the girl. Then, out of the sky, a giant eye appears. Our hero stabs it and receives some kind of power or something. It’s unclear.

The big red guy from Legend shows up and he’s pissed because the rape ceremony got all fucked up.

He starts making some idle threats and that’s where Hart leaves us at the end of issue #2 but don’t worry, I read #3 for you and here it is.

Dark Angel #3

cover by Vincent Locke

Boneyard Press – 1991

Vincent Locke, another impressive comic cover artist known for Dead World and A History of Violence.

Our boy Jonathan is in trouble because the Legend guy traveled all the way from hell to rape some poor girl in the middle of this forest and it’s all ruined. After they exchange some homosexually themed banter, can you guess what happens?

Yes, “I shot the cocky mother fucker point blank in the nuts.” Of course you did.

 Would a gun in the demon’s anus been overkill or was Johnathan running from his own personal demons?

So now the guy, who has been touching other men’s sacks all day long, asks the Legend demon “How are those balls feelin’ faggot?” If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black… Strangely enough Jonathan decides “I didn’t think shooting him in the nuts would work twice.” Seriously, why give up now?

Then they do a little chase scene and Jonathan ends up gutting the demon and pulling some of his intestines out. This is how you kill Legend guys. Then he explodes or something and two hunters find Jonathan unconscious but now he’s *spoiler alert* a Legend guy too! That’s it. There’s also a short story at the end but I think I have wrote enough about these books.

Mr. Hart D. Fisher’s humble beginnings have been a pleasure to explore. I am happy to have spent the $1.50 on the set.