I should state up front that the majority of the comics run in Heavy Metal are either too sadistic, too gory, or too sexy for my taste. I really like the pinup art more than I am comfortable with admitting. But, I draw the line on admiring fantasy cartoon chicks where torture, mutilation and execution come into play.

The great thing about Heavy Metal is that you get at least six comics an issue, so there are always two that I find worthwhile, and ANIMAL’Z by Enki Bilal is one of them. This is a polar adventure in which the main characters are Kim, a human-animal hybrid, and an intriguing mulatto duelist who rides a zebra.

ANIMAl’Z is set in the early 21st Century and shares some elements with V. J, Waks Tau series and H. G. Well’s The Island of Doctor Moreau. I have only read a few of the series, but it appears that the party traversing the arctic from the site of a marooned nuclear submarine and an iced in research vessel, are escaped genetic experiments, among them their creator, Kim’s father. The coolest wrinkle is that animals do not like these hybrids.

ANIMAL’Z is well worth following.