13 graphic tales from beyond midnight

Josef Rother’s
NIGHTMARES
ON THE TOWN
13 GRAPHIC TALES FROM BEYOND MIDNIGHT
Featuring the Art of
David Lloyd
Donna Barr
Toni Greis
Eckart Breitschuh
Guido Neukamm
Michael Vogt
Paul Peart-Smith
Lee O’Connor
Klaus Scherwinski
Luca Erbetta
Dominic Regan
Robert Wenzl
FOREWORD BY ARVID NELSON
Josef Rother's NIGHTMARES ON THE TOWN v1.01
DIGITAL
Front Cover:
FANDANGO Y FRANCACHELA DE TODAS LAS CALAVERAS
by José Guadalupe Posada
Back Cover:
LA CALAVERA CATRINA
by José Guadalupe Posada
CITY OF GHOSTS © 2012 by Josef Rother & David Lloyd
WOLF TRAP © 2012 by Josef Rother & Toni Greis
ARGSTEIN: FORBIDDEN PARTY © 2012 by Josef Rother & Eckart Breitschuh
TRICKS OF AN OLD DOG © 2012 by Josef Rother, Guido Neukamm & Michael Vogt
THE BLOOD OF THE HIVE © 2012 by Josef Rother & Paul Peart-Smith
THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH © 2012 by Josef Rother & Lee O'Connor
A MOTHER'S LOVE © 2012 by Josef Rother & Eckart Breitschuh
FATHER DRACULA: A TRUE CONFESSION © 2012 by Josef Rother & Donna Barr
A NIGHTMARE ON THE TOWN © 2012 by Josef Rother & Klaus Scherwinski
HORSING AROUND © 2012 by Josef Rother & Dominic Regan
RERUNS © 2012 by Josef Rother & Luca Erbetta
THE VAMPIRE DREAMS © 2012 by Josef Rother & Robert Wenzl
THE MURDERER'S MOTHER © 2012 by Josef Rother & Toni Greis
All rights reserved.
The stories, characters and incidents portrayed in this publication are entirely fictional.
No actual persons, living or dead, are intended to be depicted or are inferred.
Any similarity to real people and places in fiction and semi-fiction is purely coincidental.
HEAVY METAL is a trademark of Metal Mammoth, Inc. © 2012.
116 Pleasant Street, Easthampton, MA 01027 PHONE (413) 527-7481 FAX (413) 527-7483.
All rights reserved. Nothing may be reprinted in part without permission from the publisher.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Arvid Nelson – Page 4
Introductions aren't necessary – Page 6
Introduction to City of Ghosts – Page 7
City of Ghosts – Page 8
Introduction to Wolf Trap – Page 16
Wolf Trap – Page 17
Introduction to Argstein: Forbidden Parts – Page 27
Argstein: Forbidden Parts – Page 29
Introduction to Tricks of an Old Dog – Page 41
Tricks of an Old Dog – Page 42
Introduction to The Blood of the Hive – Page 51
The Blood of the Hive – Page 52
Introduction to The Spirit and the Flesh – Page 62
The Spirit and the Flesh – Page 63
Introduction to A Mother's Love – Page 75
A Mother's Love – Page 76
Introduction to Father Dracula: A True Confession – Page 86
Father Dracula: A True Confession – Page 87
Introduction to A Nightmare on the Town – Page 95
A Nightmare on the Town – Page 96
Introduction to Horsing Around – Page 102
Horsing Around – Page 105
Introduction to Reruns – Page 111
Reruns – Page 113
Introduction to The Vampire Dreams – Page 121
The Vampire Dreams – Page 122
Introduction to The Murderer's Mother – Page 129
The Murder's Mother – Page 130
Last Words – Page 138
The Creators – Page 139
FOREWORD BY ARVID NELSON
If you want to know what your country is really like, ask a foreigner. I could
get all fancy-schmancy and talk about Alexis de Tocqueville, but fuck it – I’ll
drop the name, check Wikipedia to make sure I spelled "de Tocqueville"
correctly, and let you read the Wikipedia article yourself. If you care.
I’m really thinking of an Italian movie called "Violent City"*, starring Charles
Bronson. Sergio Sollima, the director, an Italian dude, captured something
profoundly true about the United States, something I never could have,
because I’m drowning in my own culture. Parts of the movie border on
documentary. A scene at a racetrack, in particular. If you want to see things
about America you never knew before, check out "Violent City".
Or just keep reading. Josef Rother achieves exactly the feat of all the Italian
directors named Sergio with Nightmares on the Town. Josef, bless his
German heart, understands my homeland in a way I never will. America is a
strange, scary, weird and wonderful place for Josef, because he doesn’t have
to go to the dentist or buy groceries there.
His passion for All Things American comes through brilliantly in Nightmares
on the Town. "Argstein", which seems so goddam German at first, is the most
American of all the stories in the collection. The Förster might have two
funny little dots above the "o" in his name, but he’s as red-blooded and fistpumping as they come, Bruce Willis in lederhosen.
Other stories plumb the depths of United States history, from colonial
Puritanism to the Old West to the sun-bleached streets of present-day Los
Angeles. But Nightmares on the Town never feels like a history lesson – Josef
doesn’t want to teach you anything, he just wants you to have fun,
goddamit. And oh, the fun you’ll have! What, after all, could be more fun, or
more American, than Heavy Metal?
I don’t just mean the magazine, where many of the stories of Nightmares on
the Town debuted, I mean the music, man. I’ve never inquired about Josef’s
musical tastes, but I have a feeling we probably like the same shit. Above all,
* You’re not supposed to put movies in quotes. I know. But putting movies in
ALL CAPS looks ridiculous, let’s face it. The English-language version of
Violent City was called "The Family"**.
** I did it again.
Nightmares on the Town feels like a great Metal album, something like
"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath, or "Age of Winters" by The Sword. Every track,
every story is bursting with ferocious creativity. Whether it’s invisible
strippers or a commodities market for werewolf pelts, Josef thinks through
the tired, boring old conventions of Horror and makes them new, makes
them his own. There’s no filler in Nightmares on the Town. Josef poured his
heart and soul into every single story.
There are soft ballads, stories like "The Vampire Dreams". There are furious
anthems, like "A Nightmare on the Town". There are vast epics, like "The
Blood of the Hive" – one of my favorites in the collection, but how can you
choose favorites among so many greats? And yet, somehow, Nightmares on
the Town forms a cohesive whole, despite the diversity of the individual
stories.
Just like a great Metal album.
So congratulations to you, Dear Reader, for buying this collection. You’ve
probably got really good taste in music, in addition to comics. There’s
nothing left but to strap yourself in for the Haunted Hay Ride of Terror Tour
of the United States. Josef Rother will be your Lewis and Clark, and you’re
in great hands.
Arvid Nelson
Northampton, Massachusetts
December 2011
AND THEN
WE're going
to BE RiCH,
RiGHT?
Are you SURE
THiS iS THE
RiGHT WAY,
HANS?
HERE
we
are.
DiDN'T
YOU SAY SO?
WE're going to
be RiCH?
RiCHER
THAN THE
BARON.
WE
JUST
HAVE
TO GET
THROUGH
ANOTHER
PATCH OF
THESE
WRETCHED
BRAMBLES.
THiS iS
THE SPOT MY
GRANDMOTHER
SPOKE ABOUT.
FORBIDDEN PARTS
Are
YOU
SURE?
DOesN'T LOOK
any DiFFERENT
FROM THE REST
OF THE bloody
FOREST.
A TALE OF
ARGSTEIN
by Josef Rother (Scenario)
and Eckart Breitschuh (Artwork)
BUT THAT'S
THE POiNT,
KARL!
WHY WOULD
THE DWARVES
HAVE CHOSEN
A SPOT tHAT
STOOD OUT?
YOU'RE Going to
BE RiCH, KARL!
SEE -THERE'S THE
head of
STONE!
THiS iS THE
RiGHT PLACE.
WE'RE Going to
BE RiCH!
Yes.
YEs.
WHY
AREN'T
YOU
JOiNiNG
ME,
HANS?
LET'S
GET
DOWN
TO iT!
YES, HANS FAHRENHORST, WHY
AREN'T YOU JOiNiNG YOUR
companion iN DiGGiNG FOR THE
LOST TREASURE THE DWARVES BURiED
BENEATH THE head of stone?
iS iT
BECAUSE
THERE iS
ANOTHER
REASON
THAT YOU
LED YOUR
BEST
FRiEND,
KARL
SCHMiED,
TO THiS
PLACE?
iS iT BECAUSE THERE iS
NO TREASURE AT ALL?
THE DEED iS DONE,
HANS FAHRENHORST.
KARL GOT
WHAT HE
DESERVED.
NOW ONLY A
LiTTLE WORK
REMAINS...
AS YOU BURY
KARL'S HEAD
iN THE HOLE
HE HiMSELF
HAS DUG, YOU
THiNK OF
MARGARETE...
NOW SHE
iS ALL
YOURS
AGAIN.
you will take
her in your
arms, your head
swimming with
the rich scent
rising up from
her breasts as
you nestle with
her dirndl, tear
the dress in
your impatience
and take--
YOU'RE
TRYiNG
TO MAKE iT
LOOK LiKE
THE WORK
OF THE
SCHäDLER,
RiGHT?
OR iS iT MEANT TO BE
A ZAHNBART'S KiLL?
YOU KNOW
ZAHNBARTS TAKE
THEiR ViCTiMS'
HEADS AS WELL.
I'M NOT
QUiTE SURE,
FAHRENHORST.
MAYBE YOU'D
CARE TO
ENLiGHTEN ME?
MiND YOU, DO YOU
SERiOUSLY THiNK YOU
COULD HAVE FOOLED ME?
FöRSTER...
NEiTHER THE SCHäDLER
NOR THE ZAHNBART MAKE
SUCH A clean CUT.
PLEASE...
i-iT'S
NOT
WHAT iT
LOOKS
LiKE...
THAT waS
SLOPPY
OF YOU,
FAHRENHORST,
REALLY
CARELESS.
YEAH,
YEAH,
I GET
THE iDEA.
iT DOESN'T
LOOK
LIKE YOU
DID him in.
AVAI LAB L E N O W!
Trappers hunt for werewolf pelts. Count Dracula drinks
the communion wine and finds the Blood of Christ very
nourishing. Invisible strippers peel off their bandages
for you. And insect aliens search for love and romance.
Welcome to the twisted mind of Josef Rother,
intrepid explorer of the Weird and the Uncanny,
who has brought back 13 tales from
his journeys beyond Midnight.
Featuring the Art of
David Lloyd
Donna Barr
Lee O'Connor
Luca Erbetta
Toni Greis
Eckart Breitschuh
Klaus Scherwinski
Paul Peart-Smith
Guido Neukamm
Michael Vogt
Dominic Regan
Robert Wenzl
Foreword by Arvid Nelson