Taarna

The loathsome animated movie adaptation of Heavy Metal (HM), the fantasy anthology magazine for arrested male adolescents, saved a major disappointment for its final segment: Taarna, a scantily clad, mute (naturally) composite of Conan the Barbarian, Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, and Joan of Arc, in a bizarre world where the future and the ancient past mingle. Taarna’s male creators didn’t realize whatever promise this clichéd premise had, but neither do acclaimed writer de Campi (Bad Girls, Smoke) and a cadre of illustrators who sabotage their slick artwork with relentless close perspectives, motion blur, and a dusky color palette. The plot places Taarna on one side and then the other of a civilization’s struggle against an alien being that...oh, who cares? Gory violence, nudity, and profanity—strictly for the most immature mature readers. Includes cover gallery.