Pope, Paul - Heavy Liquid, issue 5, cover (Feb 1999)

This is the cover to issue #5 of Heavy Liquid, Paul Pope’s five-issue series released from October 1999 to February 2000. The series was collected as a trade paperback in 2001, a hardcover in 2008, and a 20th-anniversary TPB released by Image Comics in 2019. TIME magazine listed Heavy Liquid among the 100 most influential science fiction graphic novels of the decade when it originally debuted in the 2000s.

Like many Paul Pope tales, Heavy Liquid is set at the intersection of science fiction, hardboiled crime stories, manga, and cyberpunk. We’re quickly introduced to the character S (short for ‘Stooge’) and his connection to the metallic street compound/drug called ‘heavy liquid.’ S ‘had a real life’ before heavy liquid – military school and a career as a policeman (narcotics, of course). It’s an accidental encounter with heated heavy liquid that changes the trajectory of his life. It becomes all he cares about, and his addiction costs him his career and the love of his life (the renowned artist, Rodan Esperella).

Long story short, S gets recruited by a wealthy collector to make an art deal happen. The collector knows of S’ knowledge of the underworld of heavy liquid…and S’ former relationship with Rodan. The collector wants ‘to own a sculpture by the world’s greatest living artist, cast in the world’s rarest metal’—and he knows S can make it happen. So, S goes on the hunt, first looking for Rodan in NYC and eventually finding her in Paris.

The problem? It’s not clear which thing in her life Rodan wants less – heavy liquid or S. They were a couple, but she does not wish S in her life because of his heavy liquid usage. To her, it’s a drug, and it's killing him (and it’s revealed she had a traumatic one-and-only experience with the drug herself). She loves S – and does not want to see him kill himself. So, she cuts a deal to work with one (heavy liquid) to shed the other (S).

At this point, the story seems simple – as S says at one point, ‘find the girl, lose the girl, get paid, disappear.’ But then we find out what heavy liquid really is and where it comes from. Which is incredibly cool…but I would not want to ruin the story. But, most interestingly, the truth of heavy liquid is represented in the hands at the bottom of this beautiful cover featuring Rodan.

Thanks to Simon for allowing me to be its next owner!