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![]() Jean-Michel Nicollet's cover for the first issue. | |
Editor in Chief | Tim Seeley |
---|---|
Former editors |
|
Frequency | Monthly (1977–1985) |
Circulation | 250,000 (2016) [1] |
Publisher | Matty Simmons (1977–1990) Kevin Eastman (1992–c. 2020) |
Founder | Leonard Mogel |
First issue | April 1977 |
Final issue | April 2023 |
Company |
|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Website | HeavyMetal.com |
ISSN | 0885-7822 |
Heavy Metal was an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, published between 1977 and 2023. The magazine was known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction, erotica, and steampunk comics.
Unlike the traditional American comic books of that time bound by the restrictive Comics Code Authority, the magazine-format Heavy Metal featured explicit nudity, sexual situations, and graphic violence. The magazine started out primarily as a licensed translation of the French science-fantasy magazine Métal hurlant , marking for many Americans their first introduction to the work of European cartoonists like Enki Bilal, Philippe Caza, Guido Crepax, Philippe Druillet, Jean-Claude Forest, Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Moebius), Chantal Montellier, and Milo Manara.
After a 1975 European trip by National Lampoon (NL) contributor Tony Hendra expressing interest in European comics, the magazine's New York offices attracted significant European comic material. On 2 September 1976, NL editor Sean Kelly singled out the relatively new French comics anthology Métal hurlant ( lit. 'Howling Metal', though Kelly translated it as "Screaming Metal") [2] and brought it to the attention of company president Leonard Mogel on 3 September, as Mogel was departing for Germany and France to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon. [3] (Métal hurlant had debuted in early 1975 from Les Humanoïdes Associés (lit. 'United Humanoids'), an association of Philippe Druillet, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Jean Giraud (Mœbius), and financial director Bernard Farkas formed on 19 December 1974.) [4] Upon Mogel's return from Paris on 27 September, he reported that the French publishers had agreed to an English language version, and he suggested the title Heavy Metal for an April issue to be released in March 1977. [5]
Heavy Metal debuted in the US as a glossy, full-color monthly published by HM Communications, Inc., a subsidiary of Matty Simmons' Twenty First Century Communications, Inc. [6] [lower-alpha 1] The cover of the initial April 1977 issue declared itself to be "From the people who bring you the National Lampoon", and the issue primarily featured reprints from Métal hurlant, as well as material from National Lampoon, a colorized portion of Vaughn Bodē's Sunpot (1971), and an excerpt from Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara (1977). [8] Since the color pages from Métal hurlant had already been shot in France, the budget to reproduce them in the US version was greatly reduced.[ citation needed ]
In the late spring of 1980, Métal hurlant went bankrupt [9] and Heavy Metal severed its ties with its content partner. [10] Métal hurlant managed to keep publishing, however, and the two magazines reconciled in the summer of 1981. [11]
After running as a monthly for its first nine years up to the December 1985 issue, the magazine dropped to a quarterly schedule (winter, spring, summer, and fall) beginning in 1986, promising an increase in length and to feature only complete (rather than serialized) stories. [12] [13]
Métal hurlant folded in the summer of 1987, [14] [15] forcing Heavy Metal to expand its reach for new content.
In 1977–1978, HM Communications published a number of trade paperback collections of translated material it had previously serialized in the pages of Heavy Metal:
In 1979, HM Communications released a number of graphic novels of original content:
In 1981, the company launched a new series, Heavy Metal Special Editions, which published 50 seasonal Heavy Metal specials until 2008.
In late 1988/early 1989, film producer Daniel Grodnik and actor/producer Tim Matheson acquired voting control of 21.3 percent of National Lampoon Inc. stock, [19] were named to the company's board, and eventually took control of the company (by purchasing the ten-percent share — worth $760,000 [20] — of Matty Simmons, who departed the company). [21] [22]
During this period, publication of Heavy Metal increased from a quarterly to a bi-monthly schedule, citing a thirty-percent increase in circulation. [23]
A year later, [24] Grodnik/Matheson Co. sold the properties to J2 Communications, a home video producer and distributor founded by James P. Jimirro, with Grodnik and Matheson staying on for a period to run the new division. [25] [26] [27]
Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , who had grown up reading Heavy Metal, bought the magazine for $500,000 [28] [20] in May 1992. [29] (In total, HM Communications published 137 issues in 15 volumes from April 1977 to March 1992.) Eastman's publishing entity Metal Mammoth, Inc. published the magazine from 1992 to 2014. Eastman also served as Heavy Metal's editor-in-chief for the bulk of this time (even into 2016, after he was no longer the owner).
In January 2014, Eastman sold the magazine to digital and music veteran David Boxenbaum and film producer Jeff Krelitz. [30] Eastman continued to serve as publisher of the magazine (until early 2020) [31] and was a minority investor in the new Heavy Metal, [30] which became at that point published by Heavy Metal Media, LLC.
In late 2019, Krelitz was no longer with the magazine, which was undergoing leadership churn. [32] In early 2020, Heavy Metal saw a regime change to CEO Matthew Medney and "Creative Overlord" David Erwin (formerly of DC Entertainment). [33] Medney and Erwin announced two new comics publishing ventures, Virus [34] and Magma Comix, [35] though neither line produced much material.
Heavy Metal's 300th issue, published in 2021, featured work by Tanino Liberatore, Mark Bodé, and Kent Williams, among others; and posthumous work by Richard Corben, Moebius, and Vaughn Bodē. It had interviews and testimonials from writers discussing the impact the magazine had on them as teenagers. [36]
Joseph Illidge (who served as the magazine's Executive Editor) looked back with some pride on what the editorial team accomplished in the period 2019 to 2022:
"What I'm proud of is being part of a team that over the last three years, quite frankly, took the magazine out of its spiral into invisibility and irrelevance and reinvigorated it with some of the best artists and writers in comics, returned Heavy Metal to a monthly publication schedule, and revitalized the staff with new voices, vibrant energy, and new ideas. We opened the doors to women, queer creators, and American creators of color. We followed the lead of the seminal 1981 animated film and made the character of Taarna the flagship character of the company in publishing, treating her like our Batman and elevating her with creative minds...." [37]
In the fall of 2022, the magazine entered into an agreement with online marketplace Whatnot to publish the following 12 issues of the magazine. [38] Soon afterward, the magazine announced it was "ceasing publication of what they described as the first volume of the magazine, which had been published continuously since 1977. The last issue of the first volume, number 320, was scheduled for publication in late October of 2022 and the successor, Volume 2, would be published by WhatNot Publishing starting with issue 1 in February of 2023." [39]
Amid cash flow problems, however, Heavy Metal shut down in December 2022. Initially intended to be a temporary suspension, the magazine worked to rectify subscription non-fulfillments and non-payments to artists and vendors. Medney stepped down as CEO, replaced by Marshall Lees and Jamie Penrose. [40]
In July 2023, with Whatnot's publishing division, Massive Publishing, only having produced one issue of Heavy Metal — #320, released in April of that year — it was announced that the publisher had decided to cancel the magazine and that #320 had been the final issue. [41] [42]
Writer R. M. Rhodes had this to say about the long-running magazine's ignominious end:
It is entirely possible that Heavy Metal could surprise observers by releasing another issue, but they have no staff, no publisher, no partners, no credibility, no money, and an alienated audience. It certainly feels like the end. It would be very easy for Heavy Metal to prove me wrong, but ... I feel confident in stating that the magazine has ceased publication. I just wish that the company would bother to say something to that effect. [39]
Heavy Metal's high-quality artwork was notable. Work by international fine artists such as H. R. Giger, Frank Frazetta, and Esteban Maroto were featured on the covers of various issues. Stefano Tamburini and Tanino Liberatore's RanXerox series debuted in the States. Terrance Lindall's illustrated version of Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost appeared in the magazine in 1980. [43] Many stories were presented as long-running serials, such as those by Richard Corben, Pepe Moreno and Matt Howarth. Illustrators like Luis Royo and Alex Ebel contributed artwork over the course of their careers. An adaptation of the film Alien named Alien: The Illustrated Story , written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Walter Simonson, was published in the magazine in 1979.
Here is a starting list of contributing artists featured in Heavy Metal:
The founding editors of the American edition of Heavy Metal were Sean Kelly and Valerie Marchant. Over the life of the magazine, the two editors with the longest tenures were Julie Simmons-Lynch (who was publisher Matty Simmons' daughter) [44] and Kevin Eastman, who was also the magazine's owner/publisher for more than 20 years.
The founding design director was Peter Kleinman (who served in the same capacity for National Lampoon). He created the original Heavy Metal logo design, at the request of Mogel, and was responsible for the launch and art direction of the first issue. Kleinman later hired designer and letterer John Workman, who brought to the magazine a background of experience at DC Comics and other publishers. Workman served as the magazine's art director from 1977 to 1984. [45] (His comics art, writing, lettering, coloring, and design work are evident throughout issues from that period.)
Founding editors Kelly and Marchant were replaced in August of 1979 [46] by Ted White, [47] who was hired to introduce non-fiction and prose fiction into the magazine. [48] [49] White was fired [50] in August 1980, [51] replaced as editor by magazine founder Leonard Mogel. [52]
Julie Simmons-Lynch took over from Mogel in late 1981, [53] serving as Heavy Metal's editor-in-chief for more than eleven years, stepping down when Kevin Eastman bought the magazine.
With a few breaks, Eastman was chief editor for Heavy Metal from early 1993 until mid-2016. Comics writer Grant Morrison became the magazine's editor-in-chief beginning with the April 2016 issue, [54] [1] serving through 2018. They later served as creative advisor.
By issue #298 (2020), Tim Seeley had become editor-in-chief. [55] In 2021, Joseph Illidge took over as Executive Editor (leaving in late 2022). [37]
Heavy Metal was widely credited for exposing many Americans/English-speakers to European comics [56] and the continent's top cartoonists. [57] As cartoonist and publisher Kevin Eastman said of the magazine, "Heavy Metal published European art that had not been previously seen in the United States, as well as demonstrating an underground comix sensibility that nonetheless wasn't as harsh or extreme as some of the underground comix – but ... definitely intended for an older readership". [58]
Creators like George Lucas, [59] Neil Gaiman, [60] and Steven Lisberger [61] have all discussed the influence of Heavy Metal on their later work.
The magazine was taken to task, however, for its juvenile stories, [62] violence, and misogynist portrayals of women. Entertainment Weekly described the magazine as, "a legendary sci-fi and fantasy comic magazine for adults... and perhaps precocious teens interested in more daring material, or who consider Wonder Woman a tad underdressed." [63] Critic R. M. Rhodes pointed out "the abundance of breasts in the magazine [was] somewhat of a running joke over the years." [64]
Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Heavy Metal had "charm" but decried its "sadism." [65] Writing about the magazine's early years, Rhodes discussed the voluminous number of pieces in which "the amount of rape (and stories where attempted rape drives the action).... I really didn’t keep track of how often it happens, but any number more than 'none' is usually a bad sign. Tragically, it’s mostly used as just another plot point, with no mention or indication of the consequences." [64]
Upon the magazine's demise, however, Rhodes wrote that it "was vital at a time and place when comics readers needed to be reminded that comics were more than just four-color corporate American superhero comics published on a monthly basis. Ultimately, the revolution in French comics that led to Metal Hurlant had a bigger cultural impact than anyone would have thought possible." [39]
In 1981, an animated feature film was adapted from several of the magazine's serials. Made on a budget of U.S. $9.3 million and under production for three years, Heavy Metal featured animated segments from several different animation houses with each doing a single story segment. Another house animated the frame story which tied all the disparate stories together. Another animated feature film called Heavy Metal 2000 was released in 2000.
During 2008 [66] [67] and into 2009, [68] reports circulated that David Fincher and James Cameron would executive produce and, each, direct two of the eight to nine segments of a new animated Heavy Metal feature. Kevin Eastman was to also direct a segment, as well as animator Tim Miller, Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski and Guillermo del Toro. Paramount Pictures decided to stop funding the film by August 2009 [69] and no distributor or production company has shown interest in the second sequel, since. [70] In 2011, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez purchased the film rights to Heavy Metal and planned to develop a new animated film at the new Quick Draw Studios. [71]
An animated 3D film entitled War of the Worlds: Goliath , created as a sequel to H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and based on a story previously published in the magazine, was produced by The Tripod Group and released in Malaysia in 2012. [72] [73]
The series "Interceptor" is being adapted into a film. [74]
In March 2019, the Fincher project was released as a reimagining television series, titled Love, Death & Robots . [75]
In March 2021, Heavy Metal announced its first move into television with an adaptation of Blake Northcott's trilogy of novels, the Arena Mode Saga. The first book was in active development after optioning the rights to the sci-fi thriller. [76]
Heavy Metal 2000 inspired a video game sequel released in 2000, the PC action-adventure Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.² . It was developed by Ritual Entertainment.
In 2001, Capcom released Heavy Metal: Geomatrix , an arcade fighting game that later made its way to Sega's Dreamcast console. Though not based on any specific material from Heavy Metal, it featured character designs by frequent contributor Simon Bisley and a style generally inspired by the magazine.
In 2020, Stern Pinball and the production company Incendium released a pinball machine commemorating the 300th issue of Heavy Metal, featuring Taarna and Cold Dead War (2021). [77] [78] The made to order machine, with a playfield based on the Stern Star Wars release, sold for eight-thousand dollars and shipped in late 2020 along with an exclusive variant cover edition of Heavy Metal issue #300. [79] [80]
In 2021, Heavy Metal launched a podcast network featuring scripted and unscripted shows that focused on horror, fantasy, sci-fi, comedy, and pop culture. [81]
National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that ran from 1970 to 1998. The magazine started out as a spinoff from The Harvard Lampoon.
Richard Corben was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine, especially the Den series which was featured in the magazine's first film adaptation in 1981. He was the winner of the 2009 Spectrum Grand Master Award and the 2018 Grand Prix at Angoulême. In 2012 he was elected to the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud was a French artist, cartoonist and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius for his fantasy/science-fiction work, and to a slightly lesser extent as Gir, which he used for the Blueberry series and his other Western themed work. Esteemed by Federico Fellini, Stan Lee, and Hayao Miyazaki, among others, he has been described as the most influential bande dessinée artist after Hergé.
Métal hurlant is a French comics anthology of science fiction and horror comics stories. Originally created in 1974, the anthology ceased publication in 1987, but was revived between 2002 and 2004 in multilingual editions, and then again in 2020.
Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work. For Warren he was chief writer and editor of landmark horror anthology titles Creepy and Eerie between 1964 and 1967. At Marvel, he served as the company's editor-in-chief from 1976 to the end of 1977. In the 1980s, he edited the publisher's anthology magazine Epic Illustrated and its Epic Comics imprint. He is also known for his work on Star Wars in both comic books and newspaper strips. He is regularly cited as the "best-loved comic book editor, ever."
Theodore Edwin White is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, as well as a music critic. He writes and edits as Ted White. In addition to books and stories written under his own name, he has also co-authored novels with Dave van Arnam as Ron Archer, and with Terry Carr as Norman Edwards. He won a Hugo Award in 1968.
Kevin Brooks Eastman is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine Heavy Metal.
The Incal is a French graphic novel series written by Alejandro Jodorowsky and originally illustrated by Jean Giraud. The Incal, with first pages originally released as Une aventure de John Difool in Métal hurlant and published by Les Humanoïdes Associés, introduced Jodorowsky's "Jodoverse", a fictional universe in which his science fiction comics take place. It is an epic space opera blending fantastical intergalactic voyage, science, technology, political intrigues, conspiracies, messianism, mysticism, poetry, debauchery, love stories, and satire. The Incal includes and expands the concepts and artwork from the abandoned film project Dune directed by Jodorowsky and designed by Giraud from the early 1970s.
The Airtight Garage is a lengthy comic strip work by the artist and writer Moebius. It first appeared in discrete two-to-four-page episodes, in issues 6 through 41 of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Métal Hurlant from 1976 to 1979, and later in the American version of the same magazine, Heavy Metal, starting in 1977. It was subsequently collected as a graphic novel in various editions.
Pilote was a French comics magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as Astérix, Barbe-Rouge, Blueberry, Achille Talon, and Valérian et Laureline. Major comics writers like René Goscinny, Jean-Michel Charlier, Greg, Pierre Christin and Jacques Lob were featured in the magazine, as were artists such as Jijé, Morris, Albert Uderzo, Jean (Mœbius) Giraud, Enki Bilal, Jean-Claude Mézières, Jacques Tardi, Philippe Druillet, Marcel Gotlib, Alexis, and Annie Goetzinger.
Les Humanoïdes Associés is a French-American publishing house specializing in comics and graphic novels, founded in December 1974 by comic artists Mœbius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philippe Druillet, and financial director Bernard Farkas.
Arzach is a comic book collection of four wordless short stories by artist/author Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, which were originally published in the French sci-fi/fantasy comics magazine Métal Hurlant. The stories follow Arzach, a silent warrior who rides a pterodactyl-like creature through a strange, desolate landscape. The imagery and situations in Arzach are often compared to dreams or the subconscious. These stories had an enormous impact on the French comics industry, and the Arzach character is still among Moebius' most famous creations. It can be defined as a pantomime comic, fantasy comics or an experimental comic.
Martin Gerald "Matty" Simmons was an American film and television producer, newspaper reporter for the New York World-Telegram and Sun, and Executive Vice President of Diners Club, the first credit card company. Simmons gained his greatest fame while serving as the chief executive officer of Twenty First Century Communications.
"The Long Tomorrow" is the title of a science fiction comics short story serialized in two segments in the French magazine Metal Hurlant in 1976. It was written by Dan O'Bannon, and illustrated by Moebius. It is noted for its influential visual design, which inspired the designs of feature films including Blade Runner, Tron, Alien, and The Abyss. The story was reprinted in Moebius Book Four.
Notable events of 1977 in comics.
John Workman is an American editor, writer, artist, designer, colorist and letterer in the comic book industry. He is known for his frequent partnerships with writer/artist Walter Simonson and also for lettering the entire run of Grant Morrison/Rachel Pollack's Doom Patrol.
Yacine Elghorri, also referred to as Elgo, is a French illustrator, storyboard artist, conceptual designer and comic book artist. He worked in the United States on films and cartoons such as Matt Groening's Futurama, Titan AE, Evolution directed by Ivan Reitman, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline and Thru the Moebius Strip. He has also contributed to the science fiction comics magazine Heavy Metal.
National Lampoon Presents French Comics (The Kind Men Like) is an American humor book first published in 1977 in hardcover. It was a spin-off of National Lampoon magazine. The book is a collection of translated comics by French comic book artists and cartoonists of the 1970s, including Gérard Lauzier, Moebius (Jean Giraud), Guido Buzzelli, Nikita Mandryka, Sole, Lozo, Jean-Claude Forest, Alexis, and Gotlib. The words were translated by Sophie Balcoff, Valerie Marchant, and Sean Kelly. Peter Kaminsky was the editor.
J2 Communications was a media production and distribution company that operated from 1986 to 2002. The company is best known for its unsteady stewardship of National Lampoon magazine and all its related properties through the 1990s.
Jean-Pierre Dionnet is a French comics writer and TV presenter. He has also worked as an editor-in-chief, journalist, editor, film producer/distributor, and blogger.
Heavy Metal is on the upswing with both the movie's release and a refocused outlook — the magazine examined with editor Julie Simmons-Lynch.