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44-440: 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 plans to relaunch 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

88-582: A space opera ". Daniel Grodnik Daniel Grodnik (born May 30, 1952) is an American film producer living in Los Angeles , California. In 1989/1990, he and partner actor Tim Matheson took over National Lampoon , with Grodnik becoming the company's chairman and CEO. Mr. Grodnik is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Writers' Guild. Grodnik is also an adjunct professor at

132-464: 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 ( lit.   ' Howling Metal ' , though Kelly translated it as "Screaming Metal") and brought it to

176-620: 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. (In total, HM Communications published 137 issues in 15 volumes from April 1977 to March 1992.) Eastman's publishing entity Metal Mammoth, Inc. , published

220-463: A mixture of science fiction and fantasy in Startling Stories magazine. Critic Judith Murry considered science fantasy as works of fantasy in which magic has a natural scientific basis. Science fiction critic John Clute chose the narrower term "technological fantasy" from the broader concept of "science fiction". The label first came into wide use after many science fantasy stories were published in

264-410: A part of science fiction that was not plausible from the point of view of the science of the time (for example, the use of nuclear weapons in H.G. Wells' novel The World Set Free was a science fantasy from the point of view of Newtonian physics and a work of science fiction from the point of view of Einstein's theory). In 1948, writer Marion Zimmer (later known as Zimmer Bradley) called "science fantasy"

308-524: A podcast network featuring scripted and unscripted shows that focused on horror, fantasy, sci-fi, comedy, and pop culture. Science fantasy During the Golden Age of Science Fiction , science fantasy stories were seen in sharp contrast to the terse, scientifically plausible material that came to dominate mainstream science fiction, typified by the magazine Astounding Science Fiction . Although science fantasy stories at that time were often relegated to

352-524: A story previously published in the magazine, was produced by The Tripod Group and released in Malaysia in 2012. The series "Interceptor" is being adapted into a film. In March 2019, the Fincher project was released as a reimagining television series, titled Love, Death & Robots . In March 2021, Heavy Metal announced its first move into television with an adaptation of Blake Northcott's trilogy of novels,

396-541: 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). 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. In 2021, Heavy Metal launched

440-651: The Arena Mode Saga . The first book was in active development after optioning the rights to the sci-fi thriller. 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

484-496: The 1950s and 1960s. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction points out that as a genre, science fantasy "has never been clearly defined", and was most commonly used in the period between 1950 and 1966. The Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry is sometimes cited as an example of science fantasy. Writer James F. Broderick describes Star Trek as science fantasy because it includes semi-futuristic as well as supernatural/fantasy elements such as The Q . According to

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528-604: The American pulp magazines , such as Robert A. Heinlein 's Magic, Inc. , L. Ron Hubbard 's Slaves of Sleep , and Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp 's Harold Shea series. All were relatively rationalistic stories published in John W. Campbell Jr. 's Unknown magazine. These were a deliberate attempt to apply the techniques and attitudes of science fiction to traditional fantasy subjects. Distinguishing between pure science fiction and pure fantasy, Rod Serling argued that

572-547: 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

616-558: 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". Creators like George Lucas , Neil Gaiman , and Steven Lisberger have all discussed the influence of Heavy Metal on their later work. The magazine was taken to task, however, for its juvenile stories, violence, and misogynist portrayals of women. Entertainment Weekly described

660-489: The actual world does not supply', with the stuff of desires, dreams, and dread." Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore published novels in Startling Stories , alone and together, which were far more romantic . These were closely related to the work that they and others were doing for outlets like Weird Tales , such as Moore's Northwest Smith stories. Ace Books published a number of books as science fantasy during

704-503: 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 . ( 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.) Upon Mogel's return from Paris on 27 September, he reported that

748-433: 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 (1981), followed by The Best of Heavy Metal (1982), Even Heavier Metal (1983), Son of Heavy Metal (1984), Bride of Heavy Metal (1985), and The Best of Heavy Metal 2 (1986). Beginning with The Venus Interface (1989, v5 no. 4),

792-406: The company's board, and eventually took control of the company (by purchasing the ten-percent share — worth $ 760,000 — of Matty Simmons , who departed 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 ,

836-454: 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

880-481: 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

924-513: The film by August 2009 and no distributor or production company has shown interest in the second sequel, since. 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. 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

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968-416: The former was "the improbable made possible" while the latter was "the impossible made probable". As a combination of the two, science fantasy gives a scientific veneer of realism to things that simply could not happen in the real world under any circumstances. Where science fiction does not permit the existence of fantastical or supernatural elements, science fantasy explicitly relies upon them to complement

1012-422: The impact the magazine had on them as teenagers. 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,

1056-626: 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" (Summer 2008, v22 no. 2), 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" (2011). 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

1100-505: The indicia—it was announced that the publisher had decided to cancel the magazine and that #320 had been the final issue. 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. 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

1144-400: The late science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke , many purists argue that Star Trek is science fantasy rather than science fiction because of its scientifically improbable elements, which he partially agreed with. The status of Star Wars as a science fantasy franchise has been debated. In 2015, George Lucas stated that " Star Wars isn't a science-fiction film, it's a fantasy film and

1188-500: 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." Critic R. M. Rhodes pointed out "the abundance of breasts in the magazine [was] somewhat of a running joke over the years." Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Heavy Metal had "charm" but decried its "sadism." Writing about

1232-506: 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. Eastman continued to serve as publisher of the magazine (until early 2020) 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

1276-414: 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." In 1981, an animated feature film

1320-447: The magazine's editor-in-chief beginning with the April 2016 issue, serving through 2018. They later served as creative advisor. By issue #298 (2020), Tim Seeley had become editor-in-chief but was out by the end of that year. In 2021, Joseph Illidge took over as Executive Editor but left the company entirely by the end of 2022. Following the hiatus, all employees were let go and the company

1364-402: The magazine, the two editors with the longest tenures were Julie Simmons-Lynch (who was publisher Matty Simmons ' daughter) 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

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1408-515: 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). Since the color pages from Métal hurlant had already been shot in France, the budget to reproduce them in the US version

1452-524: 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

1496-492: The scientific elements. In explaining the intrigue of science fantasy, Carl D. Malmgren provides an intro regarding C. S. Lewis 's speculation on the emotional needs at work in the subgenre: "In the counternatural worlds of science fantasy, the imaginary and the actual, the magical and the prosaic, the mythical and the scientific, meet and interanimate. In so doing, these worlds inspire us with new sensations and experiences, with [quoting C. S. Lewis] 'such beauty, awe, or terror as

1540-478: The status of children's entertainment, their freedom of imagination and romance proved to be an early major influence on the "New Wave" writers of the 1960s, who became exasperated by the limitations of "Hard Science Fiction" . The term "science fantasy" was coined in 1935 by critic Forrest J. Ackerman as a synonym for science fiction. In the 1950s, the British journalist Walter Gillings considered science fantasy as

1584-453: The summer of 1987, forcing Heavy Metal to expand its reach for new content. 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 : In 1978–1979, HM Communications released a number of graphic novels of original content, also featuring "Heavy Metal Presents" on their covers: In 1981,

1628-407: 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 features animated segments from several different animation houses, with each contributing a single story segment. Another house animated the frame story which ties all the disparate stories together. Another animated feature film called Heavy Metal 2000

1672-471: Was dissolved. Heavy Metal International, LLC revived the brand in 2024 and subsequently announced new editors Dave Kelly, Frank Forte, and Chris Thompson would helm the magazine going forward. Heavy Metal was widely credited for exposing many Americans/English-speakers to European comics and the continent's top cartoonists. As cartoonist and publisher Kevin Eastman said of the magazine, " Heavy Metal published European art that had not been previously seen in

1716-610: 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 (winter, spring, summer, and fall) beginning in 1986, promising an increase in length and to feature only complete (rather than serialized) stories. Métal hurlant folded in

1760-524: Was hired to introduce non-fiction and prose fiction into the magazine. White was fired in August 1980, replaced as editor by magazine founder Leonard Mogel. Julie Simmons-Lynch took over from Mogel in late 1981, 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

1804-612: 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 (formerly of DC Entertainment ). 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

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1848-410: Was released in 2000. During 2008 and into 2009, 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

1892-485: 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. (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 1979 by Ted White , who

1936-722: 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

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