Neverwhere, Irredeemable, Witchblade, Panthers and Bees!

[kebechet]

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is thrilled to present a lone-awaited scent series inspired by Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere! Experience the scents of London Below! Original artwork created for this line by Enrique Alcatena.

 

 

MR. CROUP

'A fox and a wolf', thought Richard, involuntarily. The man in front, the fox, was a little shorter than Richard. He had lank, greasy hair, of an unlikely orange color, and a pallid complexion; as Richard opened the door, he smiled, widely, and just a fraction too late, with teeth that looked like an accident in a graveyard.

 

Pompous and predatory: tonka bean, black musk, bourbon geranium, and crushed porcelain.

 

 

MR. VANDEMAR

The second of the visitors, a tall man, the one he had thought of as a wolf, his gray and black hair cut bristle-short, stood a little behind his friend, holding a stack of photocopies to his chest. He had said nothing until this moment---just waited, huge and impassive. Now he laughed, once, low and dirtily. There was something unhealthy about that laugh.

 

Dark and gangly, with a glint of razor-sharp stainless steel behind it: opopponax, costus, black pepper, black sandalwood, and polished metal.

 

 

DOOR

She was dressed in a variety of clothes thrown over each other: odd clothes, dirty velvets, muddy lace, rips and holes through which other layers and styles could be seen. She looked, Richard thought, as if she's done a midnight raid on the History of Fashion section of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and was still wearing everything she had taken. Her short hair was filthy, but looked like it might have been a dark reddish color under the dirt.

 

Golden honey, nicotiana, blue chamomile, and cistus.

 

 

THE MARQUIS de CARABAS

He wore a huge dandyish black coat that was not quite a frock coat nor exactly a trench coat, and high black boots, and, beneath his coat, raggedy clothes. His eyes burned white in an extremely dark face. And he grinned whie teeth, momentarily, as if at a private joke of his own, and bowed to Richard, and said, "De Carabas, at your service, and you are…?

 

A splash of bay rum, leather, dusty black wool, massoia bark, and opium residue.

 

 

THE RAT SPEAKERS

For a moment, Richard was blinded by the sudden light. He was standing in a huge, vaulted room, and underground hall, filled with firelight and smoke. Small fires burned around the room. Shadowy people stood by the flames, roasting small animals on spits. People scurried from fire to fire. It reminded him of hell---or rather, the way that he had thought of Hell as a schoolboy. The smoke irritated his lungs, and he coughed. A hundred eyes turned, then, and stared at him; a hundred eyes, unblinking and unfriendly.

 

A snuffling, brown scent: earthy patchouli, sage, russet sandalwood, grimy leather, fig leaf, and lemongrass.

 

 

ANESTHESIA

'Ratty!' said the girl in something between a squeak and a horrified swallow. She had a large, water-stained red button pinned to her ragged clothes, the kind that comes attached to birthday cards. It said, in yellow letters, I AM 11.

 

A scent that slips through the cracks: peppermint, lavender, bergamot, and mandrake.

 

 

NIGHT'S BRIDGE

And then they turned a corner, and saw the bridge. It could have been one of the bridges over the Thames, five hundred years ago, thought Richard; a huge stone bridge spanning out over a vast black chasm, into the night. But there was no sky above it, no water below. It rose into darkness.

 

Stone and darkness.

 

 

HUNTER

He turned, and standing there was a tall woman, with long, tawny hair, and skin the color of burnt caramel. She wore dappled leather clothes, mottled in shades of gray and brown. She had a battered leather duffel bag over her shoulder. She was carrying a staff, and she had a knife at her belt and an electric flashlight strapped to her wrist. She was also, without question, the most beautiful woman that Richard had ever seen.

 

Leonine amber, tanned hides, clove, and clary sage.

 

 

THE FLOATING MARKET

It was loud, and brash, and insane, and it was, in many ways, quite wonderful. People argued, haggled, shouted, sang. They hawked and touted their wares, and loudly declaimed the superiority of their merchandise. Music was playing---a dozen different kinds of music, being played a dozen different ways on a score of different instruments, most of them improvised, improved, improbable. Richard could smell food. All kinds of food---the smells of curries and spices seemed to predominate, with, beneath them, the smells of grilling meats and mushrooms. Stalls had been set up all throughout the shop, next to or even on, counters that, during the day, had sold perfume, or watches, or amber, or silk scarves.

 

A cacophony of curious scents: copaiba balsam, petitgrain, citrus rind, sinicuichi accord, betel nut, wasabi root, coconut palm, and wattleseed layered atop innumerable strange herbs, spices, and woods.

 

 

THE VELVETS

Five almost identically dressed, pale young women walked past him. They wore long dresses made of velvet, each dress as dark as night, one each of dark green, dark chocolate, royal blue, dark blood, and pure black. Each woman had black hair and wore silver jewelry; each was perfectly coifed, perfectly made up. They moved silently: Richard was only aware of a swish of heavy velvet as they went past, a swish that sounded almost like a sigh.

 

Smooth inky musk, cathedral incense, ylang ylang, violet leaf, rose-infused amber, red sandalwood, and iris.

 

 

LAMIA

'And you said you'd pay me for being your guide. And it's what I want, as my payment. Warmth. Can I have some?' Anything she wanted. Anything. The honeysuckle and the lily of the valley wrapped around him, and his eyes saw nothing but her pale skin and her dark plum-bloom lips and her jet black hair.

 

Deadly elegance: pale orchid, lily of the valley, vanilla amber, black currant, white peach, champaca, coconut, honeysuckle, Arabian myrrh, Burmese vetiver, and oude.

 

 

 

This is a charitable, not-for-profit venture: proceeds from every single bottle from the Neverwhere series goes to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which works to preserve and protect the First Amendment rights of the comics community.

 

A million thanks to Neil for his friendship and support, and a million thanks to Enrique Alcatena for the fantastic illustrations that he created for the Neverwhere line!

 

We love you, Neil!

 

 

 

 

What if you go from, you know, Captain America to Doctor Doom? What if you go from Superman to Lex Luthor? How do you go from being the greatest hero in the world - someone that everybody knows, and everybody loves, and everyone recognizes - to the greatest villain in the world? What is that path? It's not a light switch, it's not an on-off switch, it's not something that you wake up one day and just become evil. - Mark Waid

 

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is also thrilled to present our first collaboration with the wonderful people at Boom! Studios: a series of scents inspired by Mark Waid's phenomenal comic book series -- Irredeemable!

 

Series writer and creator Mark Waid has written more than one thousand comics stories for every major publisher of the past two decades. Currently, he serves as Editor-In-Chief of BOOM! Studios.

 

Artist Pete Krause has worked for a number of publishers over a twenty-year career, and has illustrated stories starring Captain Marvel, Superman and the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

 

Mark's writing is mesmerizing, and Irredeemable is, in our opinion, one of the best comics currently in print. We are extremely grateful to the wonderful people at Boom! Studios - people that are a true joy to work with - for the opportunity to interpret Mark's characters, locations, and stories through scent.

 

 

PLUTONIAN

Once the world's greatest, most beloved superhero, he has now become its greatest villain--a capricious and vengeful god who haunts the skies and toys daily with six billion lives.

 

Soapy cleanliness sullied by blood and ashes.

 

 

MR. QUBIT

An eccentric genius and leader of the superhero team The Paradigm, Qubit can meld and shape technology with a gesture, allowing him to create whatever he can envision.

 

Gleaming metal, electrical discharge, and a whiff of tinny cologne.

 

 

BETTE NOIR

The Paradigm's martial artist and weapons master, Bette carries a grim secret--that she alone knows Plutonian's one true vulnerability.

 

Benzoin, wild plum, smoky amber, bergamot, orange blossom, myrrh, and dark berries.

 

 

KAIDAN

Youngest of The Paradigm, when Kaidan recites the ghost stories of Japanese legend, she brings their spectral warriors to life.

 

Rosehip, plum blossom, white sandalwood, jonquil, and amber-laden incense.

 

 

YÜREI

The most fearsome of Kaidan's conjured warriors, his sword can shear through anything--or anyone.

 

White tea, hibiscus, Arabian sandalwood, white amber, ho leaf, pale Japanese flowers, and vetiver.

 

 

ALANA PATEL

Plutonian's one true love, newswoman Alana Patel broke his heart--and, in doing so, helped set in motion the series of events that forever turned the hero into a villain.

 

Faded perfume, cigarette smoke, and gin.

 

 

 

 

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, in conjunction with Top Cow Productions and the Hero Initiative, is also debuting the first in a new line of scents inspired by Top Cow's Witchblade!

 

Proceeds from every bottle sold in the Witchblade line goes to the Hero Initiative, the first federally recognized not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping comic book creators, writers and artists in need. Founded in late 2000 by a consortium of comic book and trade publishers including Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Wizard Entertainment, CrossGen Comics and Dynamic Forces Inc., the 501©(3) charity aims to assist comic creators with health, medical, and quality-of-life assistance.

 

Top Cow Productions, Inc., a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, was founded in December of 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, who also co-founded Image Comics earlier that same year.

 

 

WITCHBLADE

Antediluvian, sacred metal, glowing red musk, blessed frankincense, and antiqued amber.

 

The Witchblade perfume was created to layer seamlessly with Sara Pezzini's scent, and is made to be worn with all of the future Black Phoenix scents inspired by Witchblade wielders.

 

 

SARA PEZZINI

A hint of leather and an understated vintage musk layered over the scent of lightly perspiring, honey-dusted skin.

 

 

DET. PATRICK GLEASON

A classic men's cologne splashed over a leather trenchcoat and a hint of gunshot residue.

 

 

THE CURATOR

Mysterious herbs and ancient resins. Dust settled on ancient relics, both holy and malevolent.

 

 

A special thanks to Kathy Flynn, Jim McLauchlin, Mark Waid, Ross Ritchie, Lori Matsumoto, Charles Brownstein, Cat Mihos, and Neil Gaimain for... well, everything. Without all of you, these scents would not have been possible. I love you guys.

 

 

Panther Moon is also live at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and Black Phoenix Trading Post!

 

 

PANTHER MOON

Sein Blick ist vomVorübergehn der Stäbe

so müd geworden, daß er nichts mehr hält.

Ihm ist, als ob es tausend Stäbe gäbe

und hinter tausend Stäben keine Welt.

 

Der weiche Gang geschmeidig starker Schritte,

der sich im allerkleinsten Kreise dreht,

ist wie ein Tanz von Kraft um eine Mitte,

in der betäubt ein großer Wille steht.

 

Nur manchmal schiebt der Vorhang der Pupille

sich lautlos auf - dann geht ein Bild hinein,

geht durch der Glieder angespannte Stille -

und hört im Herzen auf zu sein.

 

 

His gaze those bars keep passing is so misted

with tiredness, it can take in nothing more.

He feels as though a thousand bars existed,

and no more world beyond them before.

 

Those supply-powerful paddings, turning there

in the tiniest of circles, well might be

the dance of forces round a center where

some mighty will stands paralyticly.

 

Just now and then the pupil's noiseless shutter

is lifted - then an image will indart,

down through the limbs' intensive stillness flutter,

and end its being in the heart.

 

(Der Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke. Translation by Walter Arndt.)

 

Gleaming black musk, mandrake, labdanum, black ginger, benzoin, champaca, ambergris accord, myrrh, and star anise.

 

 

Artwork for the Panther Moon tee by the lovely Alicia Dabney!

 

A few Paduan Killer Bees have strayed into the Lab, harbingers of spring's new general catalogue series: Rappaccini's Apiary. To introduce the line, we are offering a small selection of toxin-infused honeys for a limited time. The general catalogue annex will feature honeys that have been created using somewhat unsavory nectar and pollen sources, including black hellebore, oleander, rosary pea, monkshood, wintersweet, and hemlock, some of which are debuting now, in April of 2010.

 

There are four infused honey scents in the Paduan Killer Bees limited edition line:

 

DURIAN FRUIT INFUSED HONEY WITH BRANDY

DOLL'S EYE INFUSED HONEY

JERUSALEM CHERRY INFUSED HONEY

YEW BERRY INFUSED HONEY

 

As well as…

 

PADUAN KILLER SWARM

A swarm of genetically modified, extremely aggressive European bees that were created by Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini. These bees are attracted to a peculiar set of pollens and nectars, and possess a particularly vicious temperament, a lethal apitoxin, and cruelly barbed stingers.

 

Tonka, black licorice, amber, golden sandalwood, ginger cream, bitter clove, stinging nettle, cinnamon bark, and coconut shell.

 

 

The following thrillingly toxic honeys are making their debut in Rappaccini's Apiary (located in the general catalogue):

 

DEADLY NIGHTSHADE HONEY

HEMLOCK HONEY

OLEANDER HONEY

YELLOW JESSAMINE HONEY

 

(It goes without saying that the Rappaccini's Garden and Apiary scents do not truly contain poisonous plant materials.)

 

 

Also new to the BPAL general catalogue…

 

++ SIN AND SALVATION

PARAMATMAN

Like two birds of golden plumage, inseparable companions, the individual self and the immortal Self are perched on the branches of the selfsame tree. The former tastes of the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree; the latter, tasting of neither, calmly observes.

 

Orange blossom, East Indian sandalwood, and champaca.

 

 

++ EXCOLO

EHECATL

The Aztec God of the Winds. He is one of the faces of the Feathered Serpent, and in this aspect he gave life to the sun and the moon, revives the dead, and breathes love into the hearts all of men.

 

Hibiscus, matcha, white musk, and lime.

 

 

++ BEWITCHING BREWS

THE FOREST REVERIE

'Tis said that when

The hands of men

Tamed this primeval wood,

And hoary trees with groans of woe,

Like warriors by an unknown foe,

Were in their strength subdued,

The virgin Earth Gave instant birth

To springs that ne'er did flow

That in the sun Did rivulets run,

And all around rare flowers did blow

The wild rose pale Perfumed the gale

And the queenly lily adown the dale

(Whom the sun and the dew

And the winds did woo),

With the gourd and the grape luxuriant grew.

 

So when in tears

The love of years

Is wasted like the snow,

And the fine fibrils of its life

By the rude wrong of instant strife

Are broken at a blow

Within the heart

Do springs upstart

Of which it doth now know,

And strange, sweet dreams,

Like silent streams

That from new fountains overflow,

With the earlier tide

Of rivers glide

Deep in the heart whose hope has died--

Quenching the fires its ashes hide,--

Its ashes, whence will spring and grow

Sweet flowers, ere long,

The rare and radiant flowers of song!

 

A sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke.

 

 

L'EXAMEN DE MINUIT

Enfin, nous avons, pour noyer

Le vertige clans le délire,

Nous, prêtre orgueilleux de la Lyre,

Dont la gloire est de déployer

L'ivresse des choses funèbres,

Bu sans soif et mangé sans faim!...

- Vite soufflons la lampe, afin

De nous cacher dans les ténèbres!

 

Finally, to cheat sadness, we

Have reveled at the board of Greed,

With neither thirst nor appetite -

We, of the old Pierian breed,

Whose pride was to win ecstasy

From sorrow, loneliness, and need.

- Hurry! Let us put out the light,

That we be hidden in the night.

 

The rapture of sorrowful things: frankincense, black plum, melancholy lilac, rose otto, and myrrh.

 

 

And at Black Phoenix Trading Post, the next duet in the Great Loves and Tragedies of Ancient Greece is live -

 

+ PYRAMUS & THISBE

Pyramus was the most handsomest youth, and Thisbe the loveliest maiden, of all the East lived in Babylon, where Semiramis reigned. Their parents occupied adjoining houses; and neighborhood brought the young people together, and acquaintance ripened into love. They longed to marry, but their parents forbade. One thing however they could not forbid - that love should glow with equal ardor in the bosoms of both. They conversed by signs and glances, and the fire burned more intensely for being covered up. In the wall that parted the two houses there was a crack, caused by some fault in the structure. No one had remarked it before, but the lovers discovered it. What will not love discover! It afforded a passage to the voice; and tender messages used to pass backward and forward through the gap. As they stood, Pyramus on this side, Thisbe on that, their breaths would mingle. "Cruel wall," they said, "why do you keep two lovers apart? But we will not be ungrateful. We owe you, we confess, the privilege of transmitting loving words to willing ears." Such words they uttered on different sides of the wall; and when night came and they must say farewell, they pressed their lips upon the wall, she on her side, he on his, as they could come no nearer.

 

Next morning, when Aurora had put out the stars, and the sun had melted the frost from the grass, they met at the accustomed spot. Then, after lamenting their hard fate, they agreed that next night, when all was still, they would slip away from watchful eyes, leave their dwellings and walk out into the fields; and to insure a meeting, repair to a well-known edifice, standing without the city's bounds, called the Tomb of Ninus, and that the one who came first should await the other at the foot of a certain tree. It was a white mulberry tree, and stood near a cool spring. All was agreed on, and they waited impatiently for the sun to go down beneath the waters and night to rise up from them. Then cautiously Thisbe stole forth, unobserved by the family, her head covered with a veil, made her way to the monument and sat down under the tree. As she sat alone in the dim light of the evening she descried a lioness, her jaws reeking with recent slaughter, approaching the fountain to slake her thirst. Thisbe fled at the sight, and sought refuge in the hollow of a rock. As she fled she dropped her veil. The lioness, after drinking at the spring, turned to retreat to the woods, and seeing the veil on the ground, tossed and rent it with her bloody mouth.

 

Pyramus, having been delayed, now approached the place of meeting. He saw in the sand the footsteps of the lion, and the color fled from his cheeks at the sight. Presently he found the veil all rent and bloody. "O, hapless girl," said he, "I have been the cause of thy death! Thou, more worthy of life than I, hast fallen the first victim. I will follow. I am the guilty cause, in tempting thee forth to a place of such peril, and not being myself on the spot to guard thee. Come forth, ye lions, from the rocks, and tear this guilty body with your teeth." He took up the veil, carried it with him to the appointed tree, and covered it with kisses and with tears. "My blood also shall stain your texture," said he, and drawing his sword plunged it into his chest. The blood spurted from the wound, and tinged the white mulberries of the tree all red; and sinking into the earth reached the roots, so that the red color mounted through the trunk to the fruit.

 

By this time, Thisbe, still trembling with fear, yet wishing not to disappoint her lover, stepped cautiously forth, looking anxiously for the youth, eager to tell him the danger she had escaped. When she came to the spot and saw the changed color of the mulberries she doubted whether it was the same place. While she hesitated she saw the form of one struggling in the agonies of death. She started back, a shudder ran through her frame as a ripple on the face of the still water when a sudden breeze sweeps over it. But as soon as she recognized her lover, she screamed and beat her breast; embracing the lifeless body, pouring tears into its wounds, and imprinting kisses on the cold lips. "O, Pyramus," she cried, "what has done this? Answer me, Pyramus; it is your own Thisbe that speaks. Hear me, dearest, and lift that drooping head!" At the name of Thisbe, Pyramus opened his eyes, then closed them again. She saw her veil stained with blood and the scabbard empty of its sword. "Thy own hand has slain thee, and for my sake," she said. "I too can be brave for once, and my love is as strong as thine. I will follow thee in death, for I have been the cause; and death, which alone could part us, shall not prevent my joining thee. And ye, unhappy parents of us both, deny us not our united request. As love and death have joined us, let one tomb contain us. And thou, tree, retain the marks of slaughter. Let thy berries still serve for memorials of our blood." So saying, she plunged the sword into her breast. Her parents ratified her wish, the gods also ratified it. The two bodies were buried in one sepulchre, and the tree ever after brought forth purple berries, as it does to this day.

 

(Translation of Ovid's Metamorphosis by Thomas Bulfinch.)

 

 

PYRAMUS

Dragon's blood resin, frankincense, amber, white tea, lavender, and golden musk.

 

THISBE

Diaphanous sandalwood, pink rose, lotus root, lemon orpur, and iris stained by mulberry juice.