More of the same, for better or worse! Highlights this Volume: "Hot Shot Seamen" by "Joe", whose art is more "pin-up" than "sequential storytelling" in nature; "Jack Masters Private Dick: Love" by Joven, in which the P.I. (P.D.?) is hired by a jealous wife, only to find it's not other women her hubby is cheating on her with; "The 23rd Century Lovers" by Farraday continues the "Cryogenics" story from Vol.15-- as usual, the story far outshines the amateurish art; "Coley: Riverboat Boy" by John Blackburn, in which the blonde voodoo boy loses at cards-- AND loves it; "Little Red Riding Crop" by Kurt Erichsen-- more fun, humorous work; "Gang Bangers" by Sean-- in which a lost biker runs into a wild bike gang; and 12 more cartoons by Gerald Donelan.

"What makes Meatmen so popular with gay readers, myself included? For starters, the men of Meatmen "live" in a homoerotic paradise where there is no disease or bigotry, and where every man is hot, hung and willing. Furthermore, comic characters "can" do things that real people cannot or dare not do, not even in adult videos. Everything goes in the world of Meatmen, just so long as the characters "are" over 18 (not even Meatmen can defy that taboo!) In other words, Meatmen act out most cherished, deepest fantasies." - text from Badpuppy

As usual, great & terribly amateurish art is presented side-by-side. Which is which may be a matter of personal taste, but I know what I like, and I keep wishing the excellent will one day outnumber the dreadful.

Highlights this volume: John Blackburn's Coley in "Body Heat", wherein the voodoo bi-boy helps a confused husband come to terms with who he really is; "Visitation Rites" by Sean, where leather-clad bikers meet (and "meat") campground guys; "The Sons Of Ramus" by Joe, a dive into Greek mythology with decent art if not very strong visual storytelling; "Link Up" by Kurt Erichsen, a fun story about a computer nerd with some nice cartoony art; and one-page cartoons by Gerard Donelan. Blackburn gets to shine IN COLOR on both front and back covers this time, and in fact the back is possibly my very favorite single illo of Coley I've seen to date. Can you say... "HHHHHOT"??

This book is a very well composed, and well written book o f the male homosexual in the twentieth century. It actually shows the real in's and and outs of homosexuality today. If your gay, or just curious. This i s a great book to get

10 artists contribute to the raunchy proceedings this time, with more highlights than usual. "Teasy Meat" by Zack (the cover story) is about a porn director who'll stop at nothing to get what-and who-he wants. "Going Long.... ....Going Deep" by Farraday is a comedy about a football players. Farraday's writing continues to far out-distance his still-amateurish art, but the drawing's come a long way, as I see a lot of improvement with background details, anatomy and use of perspective. "Stagecoach" by John Blackburn sees his Voodoo Love-God Coley Cochran in Western gear to entertain guests at a theme park. As usual, this gets my vote as the HOTTEST story in the book, and surprisingly features a brief cameo by Quincey Quartermain, Coley's movie-producer / father-figure who to date has only appeared in the limited-edition graphic novel BREATHLESS (1991). "The Longshot" by Joe features his usual well-muscled studs enjoying a 3-way in between beers. "Newcomer" by Stepan Zubinski is a post-apocalytic sci-fi tale involving robots, mutants, gladiators and she-male geishas, all eager for sex and more sex, and features some of the most STUNNING artwork in the collection! "Camilli-Cat And The Djinns" by Patrick Fillion is heavy on sex while short on plot, while the art is very slicky-rendered, the most "mainstream"-looking in style that would fit in well on many current DC or Marvel comics. "Before Time & Space" by Jack Jacklin is a sci-fi-fantasy speculating on the origins of the universe; the line-rendering on the anatomy is a bit on the rough side, but otherwise the sense of design & storytelling is wonderful. And finally, Gerald Donelan contributes 18 more of his delightful cartoons; his work has been so consistently among the best parts of every MEATMEN volume I've bought that I'm fully expecting to see a collection, in the manner of Charles Addams or Gary Larson, one of these days!

Though the gay erotic comic stories in Meatmen 25 run the gamut from so-so to excellent, my favorite strip is "Camili-Cat and the Djinns" by Canadian artist Patrick Fillion. Camili-Cat, a slim and muscular, humanoid feline, has all kinds of inter-species (but gay) sex with a variety of aliens, monsters and other intergalactic beings. Though the concept might be disgusting if done by an inferior artist, Fillion manages to make his Camili-Cat stories both visually appealing and highly erotic! This is the first Camili-Cat story to appear in English and in the United States, but hopefully it won't be the last. Please, Mr. Leyland, we want more Camili-Cat!

If you have read one of these books then you have read them all! Doing research for a forthcoming book on human sexuality, I had chosen to read some 2 books of this series.
It is a shame that publisher and editor decided to format the stories into trite verbal displays of sex, and sex, and actually more or less meaningless sex. You get the picture!
Occasionally one catches a glimpse of what had undoubtedly been, at some initial stage, a gist of originality and personal human encounter. Granted that some editing has to take place, in this case the shortcomings on parade are entirely those of the editing writer, not the individual experiences.
These are supposed to be true stories - no doubt the kernel of the stories are - but having to read for the umptiest time about 'Spaniel eyes' and other overused descriptive terms in most of the stories, one wonders how much has been invented and how much is true encounter.
On the whole the stories would have benefitted from being left more raw, closer to their original telling, less manipulated and manicured.
Peaking from underneath this overly heavy sexual gloss and veneer is at (rare) times a true human emotion of what it means to explore objects of desire and what it means to author and reader alike being part in that exploration of individuality, will and desire.

In this pioneering book, marines write in their own words, no-holds-barred, about their true sexual experiences. These are men who are (or were) serving in the military and who often, because of fear of persecution, have to use pen-names. Contains about 20 in-depth stories on what really goes on behind barracks walls and inside ships when the military brass isn't snooping.

I purchased this entry in the series because of Zach's stunningly erotic "Bike Boy," which I rate the hottest piece of erotica - written, drawn, or filmed - I've ever seen. Not simply because the story-line and action are a pell-mell erotic variation on the theme of innocence initiated, but because the artist is truly that: an artist. He knows, and has obviously studied, and mastered, anatomy and design; the action in his panels is never badly imagined or executed (or just suggested, as in so much mediocre erotica.) It's exciting, fresh, imaginative, and drawn with beauty and extraordinary concision. He isn't just drawing penises and rectums - he's depicting the way male bodies react to sex, fully and with complete abandon. Besides knowing where all the body parts go - at every moment and from whatever angle he draws and whatever position that body in - Zach knows how to make those bodies, angles, and positions the most arousing.

The rest of the stories, with the notable exceptions of a grease-monkey tale and John Blackburn's Coley story, are highly variable. But I tremble with anticipation every time I open "Bike Boy." More, Zach! And while we're at it, More Zach!

Winston Leyland's MEATMEN books each contain a widely varied mix of styles among their contributors. With 160 pages on good paper with slick covers, they're a sizeable package (to borrow a turn of phrase), although I question the choice of some of the material. Amateurish below-fanzine-level hackwork is presented side-by-side with stunning, exceptionally high-quality art, and this may turn off some potential paying customers.

Highlights of VOL.22 include: "Bike Boy" by Zack, very European-in-style art I only wish was printed in its original full color (as I discovered on a website); "Coley On The Lost Coast" by John Blackburn, one of the nicest and hottest Coley short stories to appear in MEATMEN (Blackburn has appeared in every collection from #13-up, often contributing the best work in each book); cartoons by Gerard Donelan (cute and funny, another "regular" in this series); and "Straight Man's Burden" by Kurt Erichsen (very entertaining with a cartoon style reminiscent of Phil Foglio's).

I've been buying the MEATMEN books mostly to have a complete run of "Coley" stories. While I've enjoyed quite a few of the other features, if I had my druthers I'd enjoy seeing somebody collect all of Blackburn's short stories in a single volume (color optional!). But until then, these are the only place to read them.

Gerald Donelan has 15 cartoons this Volume, including both color covers! Other highlights: "Coley: Bayou Boy" by John Blackburn, in which the blonde voodoo boy has fun with a guy he meets in a riverfront bar (at least, until they're interrupted); "Mythology Revisited" by The Hun, wherein he experiments with fully-rendered graytone art; "Big Lay Down The Highway" by Farraday, a fun tale about truckers shot from pencilled art (I just wish this guy would take some DRAWING classes!); "A Wedding In The Family" by Kurt Erichsen, a comedy involving a guy trying to deal with a possessive mother; and "Dune Buggers" by Sean, in which a guy celebrates his birthday outdoors in the wild-- with a wild pack of friends!

If only for the subject matter (more than the quality of the art, as usual) this was one of my favorite Volumes in this series. Most (if not quite all) the contributors did stories with a sci-fi angle-- robots, time-travel, space ships, you name it.

Highlights: In Stephen Lowthar's "Out Of The Blue", a suburbanite finds & falls for the pilot of a crashed UFO-- the art here is among the closest to "mainstream" comics I've ever seen in MEATMEN. "Cryogenics" by Farraday, a very good-natured tale about a man awoken in an all-gay future, which I enjoyed despite terribly amateurish art. "Dimension X" by John Blackburn finds his blonde hero Coley transported by scientists to another world whose royal ruler is in dire need; one of my favorite Coley short stories, and one of the HOTTEST! "The Nine Billion Names Of Penis" by Kurt Erichsen is an amusing encounter involving aliens on a quest for books of knowledge. "Rocket Riders: Planet Of The Blondes" by Greg Garcia & "Space Adventures Of Nick & Seth" by Joven provide more fun space antics with traditional (if not overly outstanding) art. Cartoonist Gerald Donelan, always a joy, provides 9 cartoons this time, including front & back color covers. Also in this volume are 3 chapters of Jeffrey A. Krell's "Jayson", a humorous TV sitcom-like strip. These are lots of fun-- they just seem very out-of-place in an otherwise "sci-fi" issue! (The rest I could do without-- but that's nothing new.)

Following up on Vol.22's "Bike Boy" is "Message To The Emperor" by Zack, a 30-page mini-epic which takes an innocent youth down a long road in ancient times toward a truly spectacular climax, with amazing art that really raises the book's standards a few notches. (I only wish I could see it all in color, like the cover illo!) As usual, the other highlights this time are Gerard Donelan's single-panel cartoons and the latest installment of John Blackburn's blue-eyed blonde bi-boy, Coley: "Voodoo Swamp Angel". Disturbing violence is portrayed side-by-side with incredibly erotic sequences-- standard stuff for Coley! Between Zack & Blackburn it's a toss-up as to which artist's work is "better" or "hotter", but who cares? I only wish ALL the work on display here was of this high quality! (As for the rest-- oh well...)

All the stories this volume focus on SM, which probably will turn on some more than usual while making it too disturbing for others. So it goes!

Highlights includes Zack's 3rd story in 3 issues, the 30-page "Slaves To Lust"; John Blackburn's Coley in "Baitbucket"; Stepan Zubinski's "In The Kingdom Of The Snake God", featuring some of the most stunning artwork in the book, wherein a downed biplane pilot in Africa confronts sexual and supernatural forces head-on (so to speak!); and more cartoons from Gerard Donelan. The rest I could do without, but that's about average for this series. 2 noticeable glitches found their way into this volume: Zubinski's story has pages 3 & 4 reversed, and Blackburn's story ends rather abruptly after only 12 pages. The reason, as I suspected-- it was supposed to be 20 pages (as most Coley episodes in MEATMEN have been) but the editor apparently objected to something, causing some changes. Geez, in a specifically "SM" issue, I wonder WHAT was considered as possibly "going too far"?

This volume opens with "The Adventures Of Harry Chess" by "A.Jay" (Al Shapiro), reprints from DRUM magazine from 1964-65. Fun, quirky, cartoony stuff! Other highlights: "Virgin", starring "Jack Masters Private Dick" by Joven; "Coley Meets Doctor Sade" by John Blackburn (one of his most bizarre episodes, this would have fit in an "S&M special"-- OUCH!); "Stud Stars" by Sean (a pair of travelling guitarists "play" at a surprising venue); "Murphy's Manor" by Kurt Erichsen; and 12 more fun cartoons by Gerald Donelan (who gets both color covers this time out).

This may be my least-favorite of the Volumes in this series I've seen. All the same, there are highlights:
"The Prisoners Of Lazareth" & "Penetrating Heaven" by Jon Macy are intriguing stories involving aliens from space and demons of hell-- I just wish the artwork lived up to the writing. "Heavy Loads" by Joe involves truckers; Joe's overly-muscled art is very "cleanly" rendered, though the drawing is far better than the visual storytelling. "Murphy's Manor" by Kurt Erichsen features cute, cartoony art & thoughtful, fun writing. "Johnny Shadow" by John Blackburn is, to date, the ONLY story I've seen him do with a hero other than his blonde character, Coley-- though the difference isn't that noticeable. "Friends" featured "Jack Masters Private Dick" by Joven in a case involving gay-bashing. "Rapid Shooters" by Sean has a group of guys wild-river rafting together (clothing optional). And "Jayson's Dream Man" is another installment in Jeffrey A. Krell's humorous sitcom-like series. Also worth a look is "Broc Of The Stone Age", a silent story all told in full-page panels by "Mike", whose rendering is far better than his actual drawing (the linework is very refined, but his human figures all have extremely distorted, exaggerated anatomy-- funny enough, his dinosaurs look fine!). Gerald Donelan contributes 12 of his light-hearted cartoons this time.
As usual, this series continues to feature a mix of good and really below-average work. As a forum for "up-and-coming" talent that's to be applauded; I just wish the format didn't make such a mixed product so pricey!