I went and ordered a copy of the Tripwire 30th Anniversary book, since it was published by Heavy Metal, and I found it for $12 on ebay (vs the $40 original price, which it's still being sold for) including shipping. HM advertised it in the mag right up to the final issue #320.
I'm not familiar with Tripwire, apparently it's a long-standing comic magazine from UK, and I'm not a comic book guy, but I decided to get it to see if there was anything about why Heavy Metal published it. No one reason was indicated, and besides a couple words in the Editor's introduction and the publishing notes, there's a several page article about Heavy Metal Magazine at 45, which is about the most HM made of a 45th anniversary.
(I'm stumped by the last image, apparently a woman's portrait. I know I've seen it, I thought it was in a gallery in a mag issue. I recall thinking it was very different in style from the rest of the images. I couldn't find it. I paged through the last fifty issues, twice, and tried some internet searching. I didn't see it. If anyone has a clue I'd love to hear it.)
The article is unfortunate. The handful of images are nice enough, mostly covers. The text starts with some good early history, including more detail with names about how National Lampoon brought in stuff from Metal Hurlant to start Heavy Metal Magazine. But then there's a very brief description of ownership transitions, so brief as to be misleading. Some talk about their big plans. There are a few paragraphs about the 1981 Heavy Metal movie, and the Magazine's influence on some creators. It ends with a dumb quote from Mr Coriale, including an amusingly censored "- Buckle the f--k up, Heavy Metal has arrived."
Reading this article, and considering the recent past as I flipped through pages looking for that portrait, made me think of how much has happened with my favorite mag over the years, and how poorly this article reflects what happened.
The best I can figure, this was an opportunity for Tripwire to get their book published, and an opportunity for Heavy Metal to promote their future plans. We all know how that turned out. Heavy Metal Magazine didn't last a year after this came out. (Medney and Erwin? Yeah, fuck those guys.)
The rest of the book is outside my range. There are a couple familiar names, Moebius, Corben, some Morrison and Bisley, but lots of superheroes on which I am clueless. More power to them to enjoy their long history.
The worst part of it, is the egregious HM logo treatment, on the spine and the barcode on the back:
Never have I seen anyone try to separate the Heavy from the Metal with the HM logo, and for good reason I think. It detracts terribly from the logo's visual impact, and it's an unfortunate commentary on the magazine falling apart immediately following this publication. I'd bet Peter Kleinman had nothing to do with this.
So I'm glad enough I got this, for its small bits of Heavy Metal-ness, how it fills in some gaps, and adds gaps of its own, to Heavy Metal Magazine's history, and that I could share it like this.
3 comments:
As best as I can tell, the Heavy Metal magazine website is continuing to sell back issues and graphic novels / art books, including the Tripwire volume which, as you pointed out, is priced at $40. So there must be some inventory of print media that remains on the shelves.......somewhere. No idea whether it's operated / managed by Medney and Erwin, or some receiver appointed by the courts. How long it will take to dispose of the inventory is anyone's guess.......but it's nice to know it's out there, for those times when someone needs to complete their collection of issues from 1998, etc.
I don't believe the HM website is any more than a automated zombie, and it's especially appalling it will let me sign up as a guest and get to a payment page, since the largest problem the mag at its end (besides the clowns running it) had was their inability to fulfill orders. Don't do it kids! With no signs of life across the internet, since the new CEO Marshall Lees' announcement of the new regime in January 2023, the surprise existence of issue #320 in April, and the final nail in the coffin when Massive (formerly Whatnot Publishing) flushed the rumored HM Vol 2 in July, it's my belief that Heavy Metal Magazine is long gone. Anyone who wants to bolster their collection would be better off looking at the various online sellers of old things.
Oh my. I got an email from the HM shopify zombie robot, telling me I left the item in my cart. (Tough toenails robot.) But it had an address for Heavy Metal Magazine. In Long Island. That appears to be an auto repair shop.
DON'T ORDER FROM THE HEAVY METAL ROBOT KIDS!! The robot is lying to you!
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