Tweet
Henry & Glenn Forever + Ever: The Completely Ridiculous Edition
Released by: Microcosm Publishing
Released on: September 12th, 2017.
Written and illustrated by: Tom Neely and a lot of other people
Purchase From Amazon
What began as a gag between Tom Neely and his friends/associates at Igloo Tornado soon turned into a comic book that never really should have achieved the popularity that it did, given the concept behind it. Yet here we are, with the four issues of Henry & Glenn Forever + Ever now collected in one definitive hardcover 'Completely Ridiculous Edition' complete with some nice bonus material (including a short forward by none other than Rob Halford!).
So what is this all about? The idea is pretty simple. The series, which is more a series of short stories and one page gags than it is anything with actual continuity behind it, posits Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig as gay lovers, living a rather mundane suburban life next door to their neighbors Daryl Hall and John Oates (who are played as Satanists for reasons never really explained). And really that's it. Sure, there are recurring jokes about Glenn's issues with his mother, who he kept imprisoned under an alter he constructed in the front yard until Henry grew tired of looking at that mess, cleaned it up and freed her, but mostly it's a bunch of short jokes poking playful fun at two alpha male types.
Of course, there are scores of humorous references here to the respective careers of Rollins and Danzig, some more obvious than others. Danzig gets punched out a few times by someone who looks suspiciously like the guy from the Northside Kings, he seems to be in a constant need for kitty litter, more than once he tries to involve his Verotik Comics creation Satanika in his life, and there are a lot of lyrical references worked into the dialogue. Rollins is reprimanded for not wearing shoes, for going on lengthy spoken word tours and for taking his record collecting way too seriously for example. There are also some playful digs at associates like Ian MacKaye and a few others like Rick Rubin, a black metal guy, Iron Maiden's Eddie, and of course, Rollins' personal hero Lemmy. Lots of little bits tossed in here for the fans, but material like this clearly shows that Neely and his associates know their stuff and have spent their fair share of time listening to Henry and Glenn's collective output over the years.
There are just as many comic book gags inserted in here as well, however. Lots of Kirby-esque panels and a great 'Free People' cover knock off stand out, as do gags involving Little Lulu, The Walking Dead, Verotik Comics, Hellboy and plenty more.
Some of the gags in the book work better than others and it's actually the more recent material that's more interesting than that which was contained in the now fairly infamous first issue. The later stuff sees the book get more unusual and experimental, elaborating on the ideas and situations laid down in the first book and really running with it. Neely still had a hand in it clearly but others got involved like Andrew Cox, Mark Rudolph, Josh Bayer, Scott Nobles, Ed Luce, Champoy, Justin Hall and Aaron Conley and Matthew Allison (who contribute a great five page strip that pokes fun not just at Henry and Glenn but superhero culture as well). The more varied and weird the material in here gets, the better it is.
If collecting the four complete issues of the comic run weren't enough, this hardcover also includes all of the different cover pieces done (in color), and sixteen new, never before published pages of Henry & Glenn related insanity. It's a beautifully made book, the binding is really solid and Microcosm has used nice paper stock for the printing. It has a good weight to it and the glossy color pages are a nice touch.
It's also worth noting that in November, Microcosm is releasing the The Henry & Glenn Adult Activity & Coloring Book. If you've ever wanted to bust out your crayons or colored pencils and get down with Henry and/or Glenn, this is your chance. This softcover book contains black and white versions of the comic series' covers as well as some pinup pages and a few other fun bonus bits like a 'how to draw Glenn' instructional page, a similar 'how to draw Henry' page, some pretty hilarious cut out paper doll versions of our two heroes, a maze activity, the option to 'fill in the titles' on Glenn's book case, a word search, a connect the dots and more. On top of that there's new artwork in here from Kristina Collantes, Ed Luce, Mark Rudolph, Scott Nobles and a few others.
All in all, there's a whole lot of fun to be had with these two releases from Microcosm. The humor is pretty innocent in its own way, but definitely funny, particularly if you're familiar with the collective works of Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig (both as solo artists and with Black Flag/The Misfits respectively).
Want more? Check out some promo videos below.
