From the folks at Wild Eye DVD & MVD Visual comes The Story of Rock 'n' Roll Comics, 'unauthorized and proud of it, all true and all shocking'. For those who don't remember, the Rock 'n' Roll Comics line was part of Revolutionary Comics, and owned by the controversial Todd Loren. He and his crew of writers & artists came up with adult oriented comic books centered on unauthorized biographies of many top rock 'n' roll and heavy metal bands of the day, but the problem was that not all of the bands took too kindly to it, which led to many lawsuits and court appearances. Much of this DVD takes a look at Loren himself, who was liked by some of those close to him but it seems disliked and considered shady, ruthless, and unethical by many who did business with the publisher. Out of all the acts that Revolutionary Comics covered in this series, it seems that only KISS, Alice Cooper, and Motorhead really approved of the issues dedicated to them, while others, like Guns 'n' Roses, Skid Row, and New Kids on the Block, threatened the publisher with cease and desist orders. Throughout the history of the comic, which started in the mid '80s and lasted until 1994, over 300 issues were released, including volumes dedicated to Metallica, Sex Pistols, The Beatles, Elvis, The Grateful Dead, and many more. Loren was found murdered in 1992 in his condo , and to this day his killer was never found, though reports are Loren, who was gay, could have been part of a series ofslayings by a noted homosexual serial killer. Revolutionary Comics tried to soldier on for a few years after his death with Loren's father at the helm, but they eventually folded.
Many of the writers and artists who worked on these comics are interviewed in the documentary, as are other people who had dealings with Loren. You get the feeling that Todd was something of an oddball yet had a vision that was catching on with the public before he was brutally murdered. Many of these comics are still sought after by collectors today, and no doubt influenced a host of upstart publishers who came about in the wake of Rock 'n' Roll Comics. The DVD is just under 90 minutes long, and an interesting watch if you are a fan of the underground comic industry, and those into rock & metal will like the tie in here, which includes brief interview clips with Alice Cooper, Mojo Mixon, and a vintage audio clip of Gene Simmons of KISS. Plenty of bonus features as well, including additional interviews, videos, and assorted clips.
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