Unfortunately we have to report from the Chimera Arts Crypt that the latest issues described below are also the last! As John Gallagher explains in an editorial R.I.P. in both BEDLAM 7 and USHER 5, a combination of diverse factors has led to the sad demise of our enviable enterprise. Less enviable perhaps has been the lack of sufficiently reliable regular artist talent, poor mainstream distribution deal availability and that old hoary cliche, growing expense without return. Chimera's comics largely were a labour of love and we have put everything we had into getting out the issue a year we did manage; but consistency and loyalty are key to that ongoing success and there hasn't quite been enough to ensure survival. John extends his effusive thanks to all contributors and subscribers who helped make Chimera happen, and plans to bring more of his own work out under the Chimera imprint in the future. We hope you've enjoyed the comics as much as we have in bringing their vast nightmares to life!

BEDLAM 7 and USHER 5 are out! CHIMERA ARTS continues to experiment and build its fibrulating phantasmagoric horror firmament! What's coming up? Tremble; O Traveller in this particular corner of the cyberspatial night in which we babbling argumentative banshees and glandularly-challenged goblins glophulously and gormlessly lurk...

BEDLAM 7:

MOONCHILD: Written by Aleister Crowley, artwork by James Fletcher. A Graphic illustrated adaptation of the novel by the notorious occultist and warlock. Who else but CHIMERA ARTS would run a comic strip in which Crowley was the Good Guy?! But there are worse Evil Guys (and Gals and Ghouls and THINGS) out there like...

 

LADY SATAN: BERENICE: Written and Illustrated by John Gallagher. Evil Guys, Evil Gals, Evil Ghouls and Evil THINGS do BAD things to each other! There is less than no honour among the ghastly. All our cast of conspiring corrupt cantankerous 'clip their souls' creepy characters and devious devil worshipping deviant dededeconstructing Decadents converge on a midnight mass during notorious WALPURGISNACHT when The Really Evil Guy is abroad, singing in the rain and Ready For Love. Then it REALLY kicks off! Talk about the 'Rite of Red Giving'! Rite On, man (and demon and creature of the Great Abyss)! Tears before bedtime (if you even make it home) with this one...

 

THE HEAP: AN ABOMINABLE DILEMMA Written by John Gallagher and John Simpson ('The Diazepam Duo ') , Illustrated by John Simpson, Creative Consultant: Garth Marenghi. Our hapless, hipless, hairless hulking hero is now subdivided in two but no wiser - even subduality is beyond him. Continuing to discontinue continuity and discontinuity alike with total glum disregard for whatever is continuing to motivate his continuation, Heap x 2 continues to disrupt the continuum on his/its/their odyssey (idiocy!) through Time. His captor sends the other half to bug the Frankenstein Monster and Doctor Phibes. Better be Nice to Vincent Price; Heap(s)! To be continued...

 

BRAINSICK: THE MARK OF POCK Written by Edward St.Boniface, Illustrated by Antonio Aghura. Story 5 tells the tale of the well-meaning but completely insane Doctor Pock; a senior consultant at the City's oversubscribed and overlobed mental clinic. After sorting out an errant clone (with a 666-volt lobotomy treament) first thing in the morning, 'Doc Pock' sees a succession of patients; some of whom we have met before and some we will meet in the future. After a hard afternoon at the prescription roll he does a little 'outpatient' work on his out of hours impromptu rounds, generously donating his evening time to invading the rooms of the perplexed 'B' (on behalf of his mother and her cones- Story 6!), examining the Mechanism and cheerfully trying to 'Cure' our poor deranged hero by smashing it to subatomic debris. However, the good doctor overreaches himself and is nearly surreally electrocuted by the enigmatic device; recovering and vowing to return. And he will!

 

'GIANT MONSTERS! ' A roundup of Charlton Comics' memorable line of titles featuring big bugs, dyspeptic dinosaurs and less definable mutant beasties menacing a lot of badly-drawn cities and nonplussed New York cab drivers and screaming housewives!

 

USHER 5:

 

RAZOR BLADE SMILE: : Written by Paul Rogers, illustrated by John Gallagher. Lilith, disguised as a vampire with her usual sense of discreet originality, goes to the cinema for a break from crazed autoerotic-sadistic bloodfrenzy and suffers the pangs of a guilty conscience. Now you wouldn't have thought THAT, would you? Frankly, we don't believe it either, but she's 'persuasive' up close...

 

WHO IS FANTOMAS? An in-depth article giving you the lowdown on France's famous even more lowdown archfiend/antihero. Even the French don't like this Frog...

 

GREAT CHARACTERS FROM SKYWALD COMICS: 'THE VICTIMS!' A special new Josey and Anne pinup by James Fletcher.

 

SECRET VICES: The lives of the rich and shameless. All that bad, bad karma's gotta go somewhere!

 

TRASHOTICA! All you ever wanted to know (and a lot you'll probably wish you didn't) about lurid, depraving, degrading Eurotrash horror comics. Yummy, yummy, I've got bile in my tummy...

 

THE CRAWLSPACE: A classic Lovecraftian horror from Stephen Sennitt and James Fletcher.

 

THE HYDRANAUTS EPISODE FOUR: THE ARMADA EFFECT (or RUN SILENT, RUN DEAD) : Written by Edward St.Boniface, illustrated by Damien Duncan. The HYDRA sets off across the netherworld seas invisibly adjoining the Earthly ones to deliver its cargo to the unseen, unknown 'Masters'. But there are other mighty powers and malign forces that seek to prevent them reaching the destination of 'Thule' and The Man finds himself with the terrible responsibility of piloting his evil cohorts through even worse phantom hells than the one they currently inhabit...

 

 
HERE'S OUR LATEST ATTACK ON GOOD TASTE, PROPRIETY AND SEXUAL ETHICS!!

At long last, the third long-awaited edition of CHIMERA ART'S latest comicbook innovation-publication and an uproarious, megasexy and bodice-ripping (where clothes are involved at all) contribution to the 'BABES & BLOOD' genre! Shameless exploitation of adolescent fantasies to sell a few easy mags? Grotesque ripoff of fantasy cliches for a few cheap laughs involving maybe-lesbian battling babes? Improbable reinterpretation of historical and mythological events that put 'CLEOPATRA 2525' and 'XENA: Warrior Princess' to shame?!

Yep; and did we mention all the naked swordsgirls and ludicrously available inn-maidens? Enjoy such anti-feminist tales (all new material) as:

 

THE TALES OF THE OUTCASTS Story 3 written and illustrated by Jon Doe: Wildcat's Origin part 2: 'Get Some Clothes On; Woman!!' Faced with a broken marriage (he tried to sacrifice her; always a downer) and lapsed credit (and credibility), Wildcat goes on with her attempts to establish some kind of career path against the badly-glazed ceiling of male prejudice and incompetent sorcery.

 

THE FATAL FIVE: PINUP PAGE! The bad girl band in all their pornoholic's wet dream glory!

 

THE FATAL FIVE: 'THE UNDERSTUDY' Written and illustrated by John Simpson. Our five Lycra-clad (more or less clad) bunny boilers go on the rampage. This could all cost Lady Dragon an arm and a leg and a whole lot of spleen...

 

BARBARIENNE: 'PRISON BREAK-IN' written by Martin Lock, illustrated by Paul Naring: It had to happen! 'XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS ' meets 'ILSA THE WICKED WARDEN' and maybe a couple of other multiple film crossovers directed by Russ Meyer, Tinto Brass and John Waters! Gentler perverts beware...

 

THE LADY ENTROPIA: 'GHOULS AND DOLLS' written by Edward St.Boniface, illustrated by Jon Doe: Having joined the 'Damnation Army' to do a little charity work, Entropia comes up against her heart's desire (handsome musician 'Adonis Alto') and her hyper-holier-than-thou-and-thee nemesis ('Purity') on the same sin-spattered street corner. Purity works for the 'Salvation Operation' and is marking down Entropia's card; big-time. Can Entropia find a way to break the holiest halo in the district and snag the best trumpet that ever gave the horn?!

CHIMERA ARTS marches on though the wilderlands of the comics biz (publishing since 1999 and online since 2002) and we hope to have you along with us as we continue to lurch our hobbling harum-scarum haunted way down the labyrinthine lanes of self-absorbed psychosis and silly sinister scrapes! But that is not all! CHIMERA ARTS has published the first of its planned compilations and completions of classic comic fare:

Now being distributed in the United States & Canada by CBS&D Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, and separately in Australia (with grateful thanks to David Kerekes of HEADPRESS PUBLISHING ), no fan of SKYWALD COMICS will want to ignore or miss this one! At long, long last, in association with the late Al Hewletson himself, THE SAGA OF THE VICTIMS has been published fully in the complete graphic novel format which was originally intended by its creator. What has never before seen in any publication is the thought-lost final part in which The Victims finally learn the secret of their outrageous, perpetually ongoing persecution and the nature and intention of their tormentor is revealed...THE SAGA OF THE VICTIMS has been published in softback, featured on Page 21 of COMICS INTERNATIONAL No. 171 and is available from John Gallagher (contact him via the BUY THE COMICS Page by snailmail or email) for the ludicrous lowdownprice of £9.99 inclusive of postage. It features an all-new painted cover by John, an introduction to the story and a humorous story starring Al Hewletson, Suso Rego and John himself where the VICTIMS make THEM the victims! Until our next releases, shiver and shudder and laugh with our mad gallery of happy vamps and zonked-out zombies and clever cretins...