BLACK KISS II (2012)

"story / art / cover HOWARD CHAYKIN Sex, death, and the movies - what else really matters? Nearly twenty five years ago, HOWARD CHAYKIN brought the 80s to a close, and comics to the brink, with his landmark erotic thriller, BLACK KISS. Now, after years of anticipation, he's back with issue one of BLACK KISS II, a six-part miniseries that tells the story behind that legendary story - like the original, in glorious black and white. And really, now - does it have to be so dirty?"

"story / art / cover HOWARD CHAYKIN In the second of six explorations of the dark side, filth piles on filth as the 20th Century revs into high gear - and the stroboscoping world of the movies conceals and reveals the degeneracy and debauchery hiding behind the winning smiles of matinee idols and America's sweethearts. "

"The black shadow of fascist darkness sprawls across France--shattered by the scarlet smears of sex and death And the south coast learns there's more to California than sunshine and surf, as twin offspring of different mothers find soulmates. "

"Our spiritual twins, united by a bridge of flesh, careen through Mardi Gras in 1962 And a mirrored ball is all the light Beverly needs as New York goes pitch black -with a smear of red - in 1977."

"Before the '60s became 'the '60s,' Mardi Gras was the only time and place when Americans could act out their innermost obsessions and when Beverly and Dagmar find themselves in the French Quarter, both girls find themselves caught up in the local maelstrom of profligate lust And a mere fifteen years later, the big blackout of 1977 dims the lights at Studio 54, casting lurid shadows over the end of a longstanding relationship and the beginning of another."

"MINISERIES CONCLUSION It's the early aughts, and the ascent of terrorism has created jitters of every variety not the least of which are sensual and sexual and in the new millennium, social media puts a new spin on the concept of social disease."