Heavy Metal (magazine)

Heavy Metal is an American science fantasy comics magazine, first published in 1977. The magazine is known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy, science fiction, erotica, and steampunk comics. Following a brief hiatus in 2023, it relaunched in 2024 with new owners and a new editorial team consisting of Dave Kelly, Frank Forte, and Chris Thompson.
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, Chantal Montellier, and Milo Manara.

Publication history

National Lampoon

After a 1975 European trip by National Lampoon contributor Tony Hendra expressing interest in European comics, the magazine's New York offices attracted significant European comic material. On 2 September 1976, editor Sean Kelly singled out the relatively new French comics anthology Métal hurlant 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., an association of Philippe Druillet, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Jean Giraud 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.
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. 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, and an excerpt from Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara. 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.
In the late spring of 1980, Métal hurlant went bankrupt and Heavy Metal severed its ties with its content partner. Métal hurlant managed to keep publishing, however, and the two magazines reconciled in the summer of 1981.
After running as a monthly for its first nine years up to the December 1985 issue, the magazine dropped to a quarterly schedule beginning in 1986, promising an increase in length and to feature only complete stories.
Métal hurlant folded in the summer of 1987, forcing Heavy Metal to expand its reach for new content.

Other HM Communications publications

In 1977–1978, HM Communications published a number of trade paperbacks featuring "Heavy Metal Presents" on their covers, collecting translated material it had previously serialized in the pages of Heavy Metal:

Arzach — by Jean Giraud; originally published in Métal hurlant
Candice at Sea — by Jacques Lob and Georges Pichard ; originally published in Blanche Épiphanie #3 - La Croisière infernale by Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1977
Psychorock — by Sergio Macedo ; originally published by Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1976
Barbarella: The Moon Child — by Jean-Claude Forest ; originally published in Barbarella #3 - Le Semble-Lune, published by Pierre Horay in 1977
Ulysses — adaptation of Homer's Odyssey by Jacques Lob and Georges Pichard; originally published by Dargaud in 1974–1975
Is Man Good? – by Jean Giraud ; originally published in Pilote and Métal hurlant
Conquering Armies – by Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Jean-Claude Gal ; originally published in Métal hurlant

In 1978–1979, HM Communications released a number of trade paperbacks of original content that had been serialized in the pages of Heavy Metal. These projects also featured "Heavy Metal Presents" on their covers:

More Than Human – adaptation of the Theodore Sturgeon novel of the same name, by Doug Moench and Alex Niño; packaged by Byron Preiss Visual Publications
1941: The Illustrated Story — loose adaptation of the Steven Spielberg film of the same name, by Allen Asherman, Stephen R. Bissette, and Rick Veitch, with in introduction by Spielberg; varies wildly and humorously from the film.
Alien: The Illustrated Story — adaptation of the Ridley Scott film of the same name, by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson
Michael Moorcock's The Swords of Heaven, The Flowers of Hell — by Michael Moorcock and Howard Chaykin
So Beautiful and So Dangerous — by Angus McKie
New Tales of the Arabian Nights — by Richard Corben and Jan Strnad, introduction by Harlan Ellison

In 1981, the company launched a new series, Heavy Metal Special Editions, which consisted of fifty seasonal Heavy Metal specials published until 2008. These began with Heavy Metal Presents Moebius, followed by The Best of Heavy Metal, Even Heavier Metal, Son of Heavy Metal, Bride of Heavy Metal, and The Best of Heavy Metal 2. Beginning with The Venus Interface, the indicia began to feature volume and issue numbers, as well as the phrase "a series of special editions published four times a year by Heavy Metal magazine." After the fiftieth issue, "Overload Special", the numbering of the seasonal specials was merged into the main series, and continued for another nine issues until the "War of the Worlds Special".

Grodnik/Matheson, J2 Communications

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, were named to the company's board, and eventually took control of the company.
During this period, publication of Heavy Metal increased from a quarterly to a bi-monthly schedule, citing a thirty-percent increase in circulation.
A year later, 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.

Kevin Eastman

, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who had grown up reading Heavy Metal, bought the magazine for $500,000 in May 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.

Later developments

In January 2014, Eastman sold the magazine to digital and music veteran David Boxenbaum and film producer Jeff Krelitz. Eastman continued to serve as publisher of the magazine and was a minority investor in the new Heavy Metal, 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. In early 2020, Heavy Metal saw a regime change to CEO Matthew Medney and "Creative Overlord" David Erwin. Medney and Erwin announced two new comics publishing ventures, Virus and Magma Comix, 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.

Cancellation

In the fall of 2022, the magazine entered into an agreement with online marketplace Whatnot to publish the following 12 issues of the magazine. 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 2022 and the successor, Volume 2, would be published by WhatNot Publishing starting with issue 1 in February 2023."
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.
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 and still listing Heavy Metal Entertainment LLC in the indicia—it was announced that the publisher had decided to cancel the magazine and that #320 had been the final issue.

Relaunch

On October 15, 2024, Heavy Metal International, LLC announced that they would be relaunching the magazine in 2025, and began a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the first issue on November 25, 2024.

Artists and features

Heavy Metals 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. 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: