They say it’s just a coincidence, but both Metal Hurlant and its American offshoot Heavy Metal are now back in the anthology on Kickstarter. Both were huge successes.
The Metal Hurlant campaign, published by Humanoids, ended in a few hours and has raised $581,432 from 3,847 backers. Contributors include:
- Writer’s “Clean and Neat” Brian Michael Bendis and artist Jacob Edgar
- “Every Dream Home Has a Heartache” by Writer matt score and artist Afif Khalid
- Cartoonist’s “Peppermint Wendy” peace gold
- Writer’s “Retrograde” Carla Pacheco and artist sagar
- “Warrior of Light” by Cartoonist Simon Roy
- Cartoonist’s “Laws of Physics” Matthew Sheehan
- Cartoonist’s “hot spot” Chaufera “I understand”& Chambeau Coke
- Cartoonist’s “Red Planet Tomatoes” James Stokoe
- Cartoonist’s “Ritual” Eli Hult
- “A New Dawn” by the author Jack Thomas and artist Jorg de Vos
- Cartoonist’s “Nightmare Motel” Elena Ustin
- Writer’s “The Naked King” Fabian Wellman and artist Lionel “Alfred” Parrot
- The writer’s “change” Mark Wade and artist Jean-Michel Ponzio
and archival information from Mobius, Philippe Drouyer, Jean-Pierre Dionne, Robert Crumb, hunt, Nicole Clavelou, Kuneidorf, Angus McKee, Jean-Claude Meziere, Chantal Montellierand Trina Robbins.
The anthology is planned to be published on an ongoing basis, with each issue of 272 pages.
Meanwhile, heavy metal is making a comeback after going dark in controversial ways. The magazine is under new management and has pledged to repay the debts of previous contributors. Heavy Metal crowdfunding campaign has 18 days left and funds have been raised $433,996 from 5,005 backers – so it looks like it might beat the original.
Contributors to this anthology include
- Greg Hildebrandt
- Frank Frazetta
- Enki Bilal
- Vicente Segreres
- Michael Conrad
- Dan Brereton
- Brian Viveros
- Dan Quintana
- Nichos
- Skinner
- Karen Grant
- Leah Moore and John Rapien
- Anna Morozova
- Joe Linsner
- Antonio Segura
- Jose Oriz
- Yanevsky
- Tim Vigil
- David Quinn
- Luca Strati
- John Workman
- Paul Kirchner
- Craig Wilson
The event mentioned Heavy Metal Issue #1, but it’s believed that will be an ongoing project.
Backstory: The original Metal Hurlant was launched as a comic magazine in France in 1974, founded by Moebius, Philippe Drouyer and Jean-Pierre Dionnet. Featuring psychedelic science fiction and fantasy novels by Möbius, Enki Bilard, and many other masters, it quickly became a French staple.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Heavy Metal was launched in 1977 as a magazine under the umbrella of National Lampoon. Richard Colburn. However, common things appear in both titles.
Both magazines were very much in keeping with the style of the era, featuring muscular heroes, topless heroines, and comics as mind-altering substances.
Metal Hurlant ceased publication in France in 1987, but resumed publication in 2002 Fabrice Giger, Humanoids was acquired in 1988. It’s been through a lot of stops, starts, and reboots, but has basically been churning out comics and graphic novels in one form or another fairly steadily.
Heavy metals have a more complicated history, including being sold to Kevin Eastman In 1992, Eastman exited for $500,000 (approximately $1.1 million in 2024 dollars). Once again I recommend Heavy Metal Scholar’s The Uncertain Death of Heavy Metal magazine RM Rhodes For a concise account.
As for the current version, I asked Heavy Metal’s spokesperson but got no response. Maybe discuss this topic another day.
What is the current relationship between the two brands? That’s another mystery. In 2016, Giger was interviewed by Futurism and was asked this question:
Front group: We met the new owners who seemed nice, but we didn’t really know them. To a certain extent, I still believe that the true spirit of heavy metal is the spirit of Metal Hurant. Most of them lived during the wave that started in the 1970s. Those content licensing deals and creative deals happened before me. At the time, they decided, probably because it was cheaper, not to release humanoid content, but to use material that wasn’t on the same level of quality. Clearly, there were differences between the two brands at the time, in a spiritual sense. They’ve gone in different directions, like big boobs and stuff, and Humanoids has been investing heavily in creating new content and building a strong IP catalog.
However, I’m sure a lot has happened in eight years, so maybe it’s time for an update.
Regardless, no matter which version you prefer, MH/HM’s best weird, poignant stories are among the pinnacle comics of their time and will continue to be read. What 2024 looks like will likely be decided by editors more dedicated than me. But based on the success of these two Kickstarters, readers are also eager to find answers!
