Thoughts

I've had Thoughts over the past several months, during the reboot of Heavy Metal Magazine.  It's been interesting to consider how the process seemed to me, and where it, and I, have ended up to this point.

First, is the realization that it's not my Heavy Metal Magazine any more.  It never really was "mine" but I felt like I was fairly tuned in, with following it through the years and through its demise.  When I rediscovered Heavy Metal around 2005, and I found first Lostboy's still-excellent heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com (by searching for the interview with Timothy Leary in the October 1983 issue), and then the Heavy Metal Magazine website at the time, I became an active participant in the discussion forums on each, which led directly to me creating this teensy blog in 2011 when first Lostboy's then Heavy Metal's forums closed, mostly unable to stem the spam overwhelming them.  

Since then, even with online discussion moved to social media without me, I felt buying the mag regularly and making my review posts, and reading about some stuff on the internet, (and missing the 'oh god, Taarna is wearing clothes!!!' whining completely until after, thankfully) I still felt I was somewhat in touch.

Now, my ignorance and intransigence have been laid bare, witnessing the mayhem of the Discords.  It's a blistering pace that I can't keep up with.  I simply don't fit in with the meme-slingin' manga-referencin' comics-knowin' con-goin' general Heavy Metal fan base.  I'm too old and too of-my-time to keep up with the modern internet landscape.  And there seems to be nobody else on the Discord who was around at the beginning, and before the 1981 movie, who can relate to what the magazine started as.

But I can still hold a paper magazine in my hands and read it (with glasses) and operate an old-fashioned laptop keyboard, and write my little blog posts to cast adrift to the cosmos.  And I think at this point I get to have a unique perspective that I value enough to rant about online, and I figure I can do it for a while more (probably not another 20 years though).   So I will.

With the first issue received and reviewed, I was pretty pleased I liked it as much as I did.  Knowing I am not in their target audience has adjusted my viewpoints somewhat, but my impression is that the efforts are pretty sincere, even when there's something I think is so dumb as to be incomprehensible (like the Rock Opera segment claiming it was the letters section way back when).  I really wasn't sure what to expect, and I was concerned there would be much less inventive and creative work from a wide range of creators, my favorite part of the anthology format, and much more routine lifeless overcommercialized crap in the pages.  But that didn't quite happen.  So I look forward to upcoming issues.

Another thought on my mind is about the commodification of Taarna, and other characters from the 1981 Heavy Metal Movie.  I still am amused by how Taarna would not exist if HM and Moebius could have agreed on how to bring Arzak into the movie, and how derivative Taarna is of Harzakc.  

And how it is not.  Creating Taarna as an ass-kickin' woman warrior worked great in the movie, and I think it's a great foundation to build on, Heavy Metal as a place filled with badass chicks (etc).  While Taarna was mostly forgotten as a HM character until recently, there was the (late) great Julie Strain (wiki, imdb), who certainly made her mark in the annals of Heavy Metal female badassery, as Mr Eastman's muse, and other contributing artists', in the pages of Heavy Metal Magazine, and even into the Heavy Metal 2000 FAKK2 movie and game as the main character Julie.  (It'd be fantastic for Heavy Metal to acknowledge Julie Strain's position in Heavy Metal Magazine history, though I imagine the chances of that are slim to none)

(BTW, see https://www.taarna.net/ for a cool Taarna fan site from way back. )

But I can hope that HM will continue to bring bodacious warrior babes like Gladiatrix and Evil Sex Bitch to us in the mag, and more like them.  Still, I'm not excited about making Taarna HM's Mouse, with ever-more desperate and unengaging pieces with images of Taarna their only redeeming feature.  (Same goes for Nelson and Grimaldi.)

Legacy #322 (the new #2) should be appearing soon.  Relating to the whiney folks who backed the Kickstarter and were peeved that the new Issue #1 appeared in stores before theirs were shipped, the HM response was to label the backers as the Angry Mob, and a promise of a free #2 (just pay shipping!) and other baubles.  A whole other social media network for me to not keep up with, was generated for the Angry Mob, ensuring a steady stream of breathless announcements and promotional considerations clogging my email.  A custom #2 cover was generated and promised to go only to the mobbites.  After the new issue #2 emerged publicly at the San Diego comicon, before shipping on orders, more whining ensued.  It's tough to withstand the whining, I'm sure, but I sure hope HM stops overpromising and needing to backtrack and make more promises.  It looks terrible.  And personally I think the whole Angry Mob thing is kinda dumb and almost insulting, to label the all backers such for the whining of the few loudest.  I only kept up to be able to order the "free" issue, and that finally happened, so I can quit paying attention to that noise soon.

Besides that, bot traffic on my little blog has exploded the last few months, hundreds of random post hits a day.  "Ordinarily" there would be a dozen or so.  I've only got a couple hundred posts total.  Blog stats say it's mostly from Brazil, Vietnam and Netherlands following.  It hit a peak a few weeks ago, dropped to almost normal traffic for a number of days, then shot up again.  I have no idea what damage they may be causing, and I hope none to any of the few legitimate visitors.

Well, glad to belch those thoughts into the internet.  While I'm becoming an even crankier old man, and even more willing to spout my Opinions, I am grateful for Heavy Metal Magazine's return, for what it has returned as, and for my ability to enjoy it as I do.  And I remain hopeful it will keep going for a good while longer.  

Heavy Metal #1 (Legacy #321)

Behold, the return of Heavy Metal Magazine!

Phfmeh welcomes my new issue to the gang.

Defying all doubt, including my own.  Heavy Metal Magazine really did die and come back from the dead.  Somehow I'm still really old and still reading Heavy Metal Magazine.  I'm grateful to all at HM who made this happen, and I hope they keep making it happen.  Much more to think and say about the whole thing, but I've been waiting to review this new issue for a long while, so I'll just get to it.

And it's a lot.  It's huge, almost twice as thick as usual, though it's the same size, and has fine glossy pages at least as nice as I recall.  At 232 pages, it's the biggest Heavy Metal Magazine issue ever.  With essentially zero ads.  A few for HM swag and subscriptions, a couple fake ones, but it's otherwise nothin' but "content" as they say.

It's wild that this is Issue #001 again:

(The "real" Issue Number 1:)

I selected the #1A cover by Greg Hildebrandt.  I'd seen it and was impressed before, so I didn't even look too hard at other options.  Very sad Mr Hildebrandt passed away before this was published.  We're fortunate to have this.

Immediately, Frank Forte provides an Editorial.  It seems he's cranking the hype machine up to 11*, but somehow I'm still optimistic that his intentions are fairly sincere.  I'm still grateful someone was willing to put their name on the effort to resurrect Heavy Metal Magazine, and that it actually worked.

The Contents pages are extensive, listing all the many items in the issue, plus a list of cover artists, and an illustration by Erwin Papa, a handle I recognize from the HM Discord.

Then there's Dossier.  Heavy Metal Magazine's Dossier was part of the magazine from the early 80's, through the Monthly Era's end with December 1985.  It was resurrected in the 90s for a number of years through the 00s.  It was usually several articles on music or art or technology or books or movies, etc.  And it was often fun and sometimes informative.  It's where I heard of Nash the Slash.  It's where Lou Stathis sang praise to Eno.  It's where Kevin Eastman was mentioned regarding the Ninja Turtles success, with Peter Laird, in the February 1985 issue:

Funny how that success enabled Mr Eastman to buy Heavy Metal Magazine, less than 10 years later.

This edition of Dossier begins with a review of the future, by Frank Forte, as described in popular culture sci-fi and Heavy Metal, which hits lots of good familiar notes.  Like Star Trek communicators, and "The Long Tomorrow" to "Blade Runner", the Jetsons and Star Wars, and then it glances at "AI" as it gazes into itself for the future.  I think this does a fair job on a topic that could be worth several more than two pages.  The other two pages of this Dossier follow the template of years ago with a few articles of a few paragraphs each on a handful of topics.  This won't get a rating from me, but I do hope Dossier will continue.

"Alien Disclosure" - 6 - These appear to be one page bits on the topic of aliens among us, with different creators getting a stab at it.  This first instance in not credited, a cyborg discovering CDs in space perhaps.

"Bug" by Enki Bilal - 7 - More terrific work from Enki Bilal, an early stalwart of Heavy Metal Magazine.  The story is about all digital data disappearing across the globe.  The world doesn't immediately descend into apocalyptic chaos, somehow.  Maybe it's all the high cheekbones and thousand yard stares.  Maybe this will capture my imagination like "The Color of Air", "Animal'z", and "Julia and Roem" did, the three "newer" Bilal entries in Heavy Metal Magazine in the 2010s.

"Alien Disclosure" by Ladrönn - 6 - I'll quote it:  "It was in the morning news.  Thousands of UFOs from outer space arrived earth causing havoc all around the world.  Humanity was sure only in one thing, they do not come in peace".

There's a fake ad on pg 30 for The Ultimate Doomsday Bunker by heavymetalendtimes.com, which sadly is not a real web site.  Pretty funny, but it's not credited that I could see, so no rating.

"Heavy History" by Joshua Sky - 6 - "A Crash Chronicle of Heavy Metal Illustrated"  I hesitated to give this a rating, since it's not really a creative work.  Joshua Sky has taken the task of writing a history of Heavy Metal Magazine, for this first issue of the re-incarnated magazine.  An impossible and thankless task, that will be necessarily incomplete, it needed some creative work to at least cover the span of time and history in a mere few pages.  So it gets a rating.  I mostly liked it, the hype was only turned up to 10-1/2, and it covered much.  But with some gaps and conflations, and what must be the necessary elevating of Taarna to "Heavy Metal's flagship character", it diverges greatly from what Heavy Metal Magazine means to me.  (fyi, Taarna was almost forgotten as a character until recent years.  And Heavy Metal Magazine less "evolved" from Metal Hurlant, than was derived from it, initially.)  But since I'm just a cranky old guy, and not their target audience, big effin' deal.

"The Mercenary" by Vincente Segrelles - 8 - An armoured mercenary flying on a winged dragon, lands on a mysterious island.  He escapes with his life, for the moment.  The Mercenary appeared occasionally in Heavy Metal Magazine in the 80s mostly, and Vincente Segrelles seems to have produced many of them over the many years, and it's great to have an example here. I have read that these stories are completely painted in oils.  I'd like seeing more of this.

"Alien Disclosure" by ELGO - 7 - The Presidential candidate is revealed as a parasitic alien.  Cool contemperaneousity.  Except there aren't enough people videoing on their phones.

"Cold Dead War - The Aftermath" by Craig Wilson, Frank Forte, Adam Wollet - 7 - This is another installment of Cold Dead War, which is a story created from a character Nelson in the Heavy Metal Movie, one of the zombies on the plane in the B-17 segment.  Another more recent attempt to mine characters that HM actually owns, along with Taarna, and the Loc-Nar, to build their little universe.  I enjoyed this one more than the previous entries.  I thought the art was good and the storytelling was better.  The "Ploog" name tag was an amusing reference to Mike Ploog who worked on the B-17 segment.  I almost expect to hear more from the Loc-Nar characterization like this one.

"June 2050" by John Workman - 8 - An amazing blast from the past.  Not only was June 2050 a feature in Heavy Metal Magazine in the early 80s, John Workman was the Magazine's Art Director for much of its early history.  Nice to have a fun little one-pager like this now.

"Burton & Cyb" by José Ortiz and Antonio Segura - 5 - A couple space traffickers end up in a haunted castle with their passengers.  Burton and Cyb were a popular entry in Heavy Metal Magazine in the late 80s through the 90s.  They have their charms, but I wasn't the biggest fan, and this one doesn't change my mind.

"Tribute to Greg Hildebrandt" by Ian Spelling - An affectionate reminiscence of Greg Hildebrandt.  Six pages with a handful of images by Mr Hildebrandt.

"Alien Disclosure" by Axel Medellin and Carlos Cabrera - 7 - A pretty cool image, of androids (or people?) assaulted/assimilated? by flying discs.  From which the uncredited image of the initial Alien Disclosure page was taken.

"Evil Sex Bitch" by Steve Mannion - 6 - The titular character searches the wasteland for victims.  And looks great doing it.  I'd probably enjoy this more, if this was a bit more than an introduction, and but for some maddening inconsistencies (tube top or no tube top, hood scoop or no hood scoop, that kind of thing).  But that's just me.

"Taarna - Rebirth" by Leah Moore, John Reppion, Anna Morozova, Ellie Wright, Tom Napolitano, Chris Thompson, Dave Kelly - 5 - Taarna, apparently reborn, battles some pretty brown-looking bad guys, and lives to fight again.  The art is pretty good, but I struggled engaging a story line with the images.  The action and "dialog" didn't usually seem to progress or follow continuously.  It was just one scene then the other.  As this is probably the continuation of the commodification of Taarna (etc), and more can be expected, I really hope I can enjoy future efforts more than this one.

There's a "Look Back at the Madness" page featuring Den  by Richard Corben.  Very nice, and they make a point of including Den's dick.

"Ffloydd the Giant Killer" by Michael L Peters - 7 - Let it be said "... Ffloydd was very brave ..."  A fun and nice looking one-pager.  I dig that.

"Lester - That Old Feeling"" by Fernando Dagnino, Andrew Scott, Chris Thompson - 7 - A companion robot becomes a famous musician.  It looks fine, it tells its tale well, it's evocative and dramatic.  Too bad its emotional impact is dulled by a typo in a defining moment ("... for the firts time ...")

"They Dug Too Deep" by Dwayne Harris - 6 - Dwarves defend their subterranean home.  Great looking art, fun little story, though it's barely more than a joke.

"Austin Grimaldi by Keron Grant, Josh Sky, Frank Forte, Adam Wollet - 7 - Austin Grimaldi returns home from his business trip.  Almost immediately he's in an action movie car chase.  Riffing on the Grimaldi sequence in the Heavy Metal 1981 Movie, it appears the commodification will continue until morale improves.  The art is expertly crafted and moves briskly, as the story tries to keep up with a zillion little speech balloons.

An ad for Heavy Metal Rumble, a dating site that appears to be merely a parody fake.  A pity.  Cool drawing, initialed "JM25" for a credit.

"Alien Disclosure" by Katie Houghton-Ward - 7 - Aliens won't always come from the skies.

"Gladiatrix" by John Stanisci, Dave Baron, Tom Napolitano, Dave Kelly - 7 - With a "The Trials of Ta-Neen Part 1" side bar, and Special Thanks to Vlas and Charley Parlapanides.  The Gladiatrix enters the arena.  Much bloodletting ensues.  Energetic art and a small story told with many word balloons.  A two page action scene wisely avoids trying an actual two-page spread, but cleverly fills the open magazine.

"Millstone" by Michael W Conrad, Ilias Kyriazis, Simon Bowland, Chris Thompson - 8 - The greatest warrior survives his sacrifice to the elder gods, and he wants to know why.  An all-knowing ghost child, a cloistered wizard, manacled genitalia, I find myself wanting to know more as well.  Good thing it's "to be continued".

"Alien Disclosure" by Luis Guaragna and Felipe Sobreiro - 6 - The "Outer Powers" set in motion the brutal fate of the human race.

"The Devil's Teeth" by Lia Bozonelis - 6 - With an illustration by Agustin Alessia.  A well done very short story describing the historical perils of the Farallon Islands.  The illustration is good, though it suffers greatly by being subjected to a foolhardy attempt at a two page spread.  It looks spooky.  The well known wildlife refuge must be on the other side of the islands.

On page 150, something made me think "what the ever-lovin' fuck is this?"  A page full of clips from "Scorchin' Peppers Burned My Hard Love Gland", which was an entry in the long-running Rock Opera, from the January 1985 issue.  NOT the letters section, as indicated on these pages, that was Chain Mail.  Perhaps a joke, I was not amused.  Think of the poor children, not really knowing this was supposed to be funny.  Surely it's more old guy cranky talkin', but I really liked Rock Opera back in the day, and in one of my earliest reviews, I'd said: "The evolution of this story from a couple panels to a humongous blob, belching satire and invective, leaving behind a slimy trail, kept me buying the magazine for a while." and I got annoyed at this attempt to be humorous.

A shot at the page that hurt my feelings:

And for my own benefit, here is "Scorchin" Peppers Burned My Hard Love Gland" from January 1985 in its entirety:

Yes, it was really like that.  Yes, my photographs are lame.

And a shot of Chain Mail from that January 1985 issue while I'm at it:

There, now I feel better.

"Legends of Taarna" by Matt & Shawn Fillbach, JML, Joseph Michael Linsner - 5 - The commodification will continue until morale improves.  A new Taarna tale.  With technically good art and a story twist.

"Sixella - The Last Roots" by Janevsky, Dave Kelly - 6 - Fourteen pages of someone doing something, perhaps about recovering ancient life forms.  This appears to be a part of a Euro BD series, from a few years ago, that we came into the middle of.  Looking about it, I saw some images with just black and white line art, and I feel I may have enjoyed this one more if the pretty coloring did less obscuring of the nice line art.  Perhaps more will come, it ends with "Sixella will return".

"Kecksburg UFO" by Jim Rugg - 7 - A documentation style story about UFO reports from Kecksburg PA from 1965.  A fun retelling for a comic story, reminding me of the first War of the Worlds movie in its look and pacing, and it leans in to the conspiracy and coverup side of its story.  I used to enjoy a good conspiracy theory, because it was fun to consider alternatives, though I never gave government enough credit to actually pull something off.  Now not so much.  Lots of the stuff out there is too stupid and dangerous to be funny, and unbelievably, believed by too many.

"Cobot" by Jonathan Washak - 7 - A convict, lashed and bound and sentenced to walk the badlands until death, appears to be tracked by a hacker over a satellite uplink.  Who attempts to animate an infantry robot to aid the convict.  It appears it didn't work.  With essentially no dialog, I had some trouble following, but there's some good storytelling going on.  I enjoyed the line art, how the details can really focus on what's being conveyed in the story.  

"Transcendensity" by David Quinn, Tim Vigil, Omar Estévez, Frank Forte - 6 - Colorfully, a being emerges, spawned from the earth, submerges, and rises to the stars.  Thankfully, he gets a dick.

"Valentina" by Sergio Gerasi, Vik Deluca, Tom Williams, Chris Thompson - 7 - With an "Inspired by the Work of Guido Crepax", referring to the Valentina creator who appeared in Heavy Metal Magazine in the 80s.  Valentina laments a lost lover, and gains an admirer, and dreams the same nightmare again and again.  Noted as Part One and ending with a "To Be Continued".  It's pretty good, with emotional depth and I enjoy good black and white drawing.  It may not be the same as Crepax's Valentina, but this has its own value.

For fun, a shot from this Valentina:

And a shot of the beginning of Crepax's Valentina the Pirate, from November 1983:

"All American" by Jason Pell, Jok - 7 - The cold war fought with giant robot fighters.  An amusing joke in the fight, and the story takes a turn to a more personal view with the USA pilot.  Jok was part of a handful of HM entries in the early 2020's.  

"Alien Disclosure" by Agustin Alessio - 7 - A poster of  a buff lizard guy, holding a mostly naked woman, selling "New" Atlas 5.0, whatever that is.  The accompanying text described how "they" stopped hiding and came open about their aims, hinting about their demise.  Agustin Alessio also did the illustration for "The Devil's Teeth" in this issue.

I enjoyed the fake ad for Heavy Metal ass wipe, and I enjoyed the "Look Back at the Madness Mayhem" page, including some Xalabarder and the climactic (!) scene from The Long Tomorrow from August 1977.

"Metal Strips" - 7 - Four half-page stories.  I like this idea, similar to the "Strip Tease" features in some of the mid-90s.  The Bus by Paul Kirchner, which may be a reprint but maybe not.  Gunk by Curt Merlo, which is two pieces with a circular framing.  Harry Canyon and Zeke & Edsel by Frank Forte with Josh Sky are two more little stories extrapolating from their bits in the Heavy Metal 1981 Movie, and I may enjoy these bits of commodification the most so far.

Then, there are pages of different cover variants for this issue #321.  Sixteen of them, and that's not all of them, somehow.  Then another fanciful reminiscence of what the magazine wasn't.

Phew, that's all of it.  A big issue.  I'm glad it exists and I have one.  I'm glad Heavy Metal Magazine returned from the dead, and I hope it stays not-dead for years to come.  And I'm glad the mag is as good as it is.  It may even get better, and it could be a lot worse.  Thanks again for making it happen HM gang.  I hope to get Legacy #322 soon.

*Since over 20 years ago I had to tell some kids what "turn it up to 11" was about, and what Spinal Tap was, I think I'll explain it again.  The ageless classic movie "This is Spinal Tap" depicts an 80s rock band trying to regain their past glories, and the guitarist Nigel explains that the volume on his custom amp goes up to 11, since it's one louder than 10 on most normal amps.  It's as nonsensical as it sounds, and lots of fun.  Nowadays I believe it's a bit more widely known.  But also, a while back I was playing the Heavy Metal 1981 movie soundtrack in my car, and a friend, on entering the passenger door, asked "is this Spinal Tap?", and it fits.  I laughed so very hard.

Got Mine

My issue arrived.  I backed the Kickstarter and selected the Hildebrandt cover.  

Phfmeh says FRICKIN FINALLY, and I agree.

Weeks after they showed up in stores.  Two years after Issue #320 appeared, going on three years after Heavy Metal Magazine crumbled, and I feared it was dead forever.

I am amazed.  I thought it would never happen, but it did, and I am happy to be wrong here.  Thanks to all who worked to make it happen, and make them keep happening, ok?

At 232 pages it's the biggest issue ever.  I've just started reading it, and I'll take my time, and put together a review, hopefully before #2 (Legacy #322 I suppose) appears.  Supposed to be quarterly I hear.  Get 'em while you can.

Updates?

Well, apparently it's happened.  Heavy Metal #1 (again) has hit comic stores, so I hear.  I didn't get mine yet.  I joined the Kickstarter, and those are shipping separately.

This makes some people cranky.  There is much ranting on the HM Discord by those who felt entitled to see the magazine before it was generally available.  More elsewhere in the social media maelstrom I imagine.

Such ranting that the HM Kickstarter is posting apologies and has even promised free #2 variant issues and super secret perks to disgruntled KS backers. 

My summary misses the whinery and scrambling that's happened the last few days.  It's somewhat comical.  The HM KS responses went for edgy mea culpas and big promises, and requests for understanding how big and challenging the Kickstarter got.  The KS comments go on and on.  People can sound pretty selfish on the internet, though I can imagine quite a few backers ordered lots of stuff and really want something for all that money already.  Not everyone is cranky and some are suggesting we should be understanding and patient.

Myself, I wasn't too broken up about it, though I've been annoyed that a tracking number appeared in my USPS informed delivery, showing a label created waiting for item status, that I expect is it, a week and a half ago, and it's just sitting there.  

My opinion is that they did it to themselves, with all the variants and add-ons available, creating a serious logistical nightmare fulfilling all the various ordered combinations.  When the Kickstarter beat its goal in minutes, and exceeded it by well over 100X by the end, should have been the first clues that asses needed to be getting in gear.  And I was interested to see recently Mr Marshall Lees, who penned the bilious blather in early 2023 as the new CEO and I have not come across since, had signed one of the recent apology updates.  (I would really like to know more about the story of how and who and why Heavy Metal Magazine was brought back into existence this time, and I'd sure like to feel more confident that they can keep it going long term.)

And I just ordered the one issue, the Hildebrandt cover, since I wanted to support the Kickstarter effort, a little bit anyway, and I figured it was the surest way to get my copy.  Fooled me again.  I really hope they don't make a habit of failing to achieve self-imposed commitments.  It would be too similar to the odious Medney era.  RM Rhodes has said this whole mess is very on-brand, and I would tend to agree considering recent history.  But I'd much rather feel confident that Heavy Metal is back and on solid footing, and I've got a ways to go for that.  More to come I'm sure.

April Fools!

Having April 1st as "April Fool's Day" is a silly mostly American custom, but it can be amusing.  Like how my little adventure here amused me.

There isn't very much Heavy Metal Magazine stuff I still want to get, my Collection is pretty full.  I've got my eyes open for some HM Movie Music bits, like more of the 45s and cassette and 8-track recordings.  Maybe a shirt in a resale shop, or a laserdisc of the 1981 Movie.

And the Heavy Metal belt buckle:

Advertised in the mag from late 1981 into 1991, it's remarkably nonexistent on the internet.  I believe the only picture of one on the internet is from the fine heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com site, www.heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com/clothesbelt.jpg.  I recall around the late 2000's when Lostboy's fan page had a forum, and it was remarked how much people asked about them, and how, when once one appeared for sale on ebay or something, strangely it didn't sell quickly.  Having done searches on various shopping and other sites, I have not ever seen one offered since.

Until now:

I could tell it wasn't original, but it would still be cool even if it was a knockoff (like my HM hoodie is).  I'd never heard of the site, but I was so tempted I almost ordered one on a card I could quarantine just to see it.  I overlooked many warning signs, like the single photo with odd focus issues, the low price, the perhaps sketchy online shop, and almost did it.  But finally admitting to myself the image was not authentic, and seeing how the quantity available changed every time the page was refreshed, brought me back to earth.  The site is still up but this listing isn't there anymore, so it'll remain a mystery.  

Oh well, custom buckle fabrication exists, and maybe I'll decide to spend that much to have my own knockoff, someday.

Til then, hoping the return of Heavy Metal Magazine isn't a cruel April Fool's joke!

 

Collection

I finally took a photo of my collection put together:

 

That's a lot.  It's been over 20 years since I got back into Heavy Metal Magazine and started collecting them again.  And it's over 10 years running my favorite blog here about my favorite magazine.  Much time and money has been expended in my pursuits.  (Though maybe it's not really so much.)  I kinda wonder what it'll be like when the next issues of the rebirthed Magazine start arriving.

And this isn't even all of it.  There's the score and soundtracks:

 

Plus a hoodie and a handful of other trinkets.

Yes I'm showing off a bit.  It's not like an actual accomplishment, but it's neat to have all this.  There's always more, but I'm not looking hard for all the little bits and variations that I might not have.

And more's to come.  The "Legacy #321" issue is still slated for April, 232 pages!  The largest issue ever by quite a bit.  And #2 and #3 are planned to follow.  When a new issue is in my hands I'll really believe it.

Nice ...

A Nice screenshot of a recent day's traffic on fred's old blog here.

 

That's pretty high for a day's traffic around these parts.  There's been a little increase lately, more interest growing from the magazine relaunching I suppose.  And it's nice that it's not just the Singapore and Hong Kong bots, they've been around but less assertive, it's mostly north America and some Europe.  Presumably some of them were real persons.

 

And there is news and progress.  I got order confirmation and even a survey (I actually completed it).  The new magazine #1 (or "Legacy #321", sheesh, as if the issue numbering isn't messed up enough already.) is to be shipped in April and is to be available at comic shops too.  

 

Lostboy has a couple news links on the excellent heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com site.  The Discord is still pretty active, more chatter and more people sharing their art.  Supposedly Heavy Metal is showing up as available from comic distributors to shops.

 

So far so good.  I'm hoping they get the new first issue shipped and more coming.  I never thought it would happen, and I'll be happy to be wrong here, when it does. 

 

Waiting ...

When the Heavy Metal Magazine re-launch Kickstarter made its initial goal by over 100X when it completed the end of December, the first issue of the new mag was said to be sent out end of April.  Supposedly over 200 pages.  My card got charged so I sure hope it actually happens and I get my actual paper magazine.

But it's been pretty quiet since then.  The only HM email I got since the campaign was promoting some other Coffin Comics offering.  A few mentions on the HM Iggram or Fbook and Discord, but not much besides.  I'm ok with a lack of breathless previews and sneak peeks or other hype, but I hope there are a couple status updates to keep us hoping.  Even the Discord is pretty quiet of speculation, it's mostly people sharing their fantasy art, some pro some amateur, some ok some good.  (they run a "Drink and Draw" for arty types to get online and do art live while drinking etc, which seems popular).  With the occasional burst of conversation.  Which is cool.  

But mostly I hope that the time until April is filled with lots of planning and forethought, and execution, by the current owners and management, to ensure the mag actually happens, and they take that first big step towards making Heavy Metal Magazine real, again.  While they keep working to address the people that got screwed by the old bunch of clowns.  That's what I really hope is happening.  Maybe we can hear about progress every so often too.  Thanks

Den by RM Rhodes

RM Rhodes of heavymetalmagazine.wordpress.com/ fame, has written an article on Heavy Metal Magazine's website, about Richard Corben's Den.

Seeing that it's a rollickin' reminiscence on Den's dick in Heavy Metal Magazine, it's a fun read.  While I may not be quite so enthusiastic on the topic, and I might want more evidence for the assertion that Mr Corben was influenced by Tom of Finland before I really believed it, I do agree that the dick of Mr Corben's Den was a ... prominent ... feature of Heavy Metal's early days.  Den wasn't the only one lettin' it all hang out, but he was probably ... the biggest ....  

In fact, beyond the soaring fantasy and sci-fi and ridiculous violence and excitement in Heavy Metal, the presence of drawn dicks to go along with the bountiful bosoms and assertive asses, was really appealing to barely-an-adult me in 1977 when I first saw Heavy Metal Magazine.  I like sexy, and I also enjoyed the more open and peripheral nature of the nudity of the boys and girls in the mag, and how it wasn't always just about sex appeal.  Moebius, Drulliet, Caza, and others, often slipped in a dick or two in their work here and there, while busily serving up plenty of other nude bits besides.

But Corben was really good at it, and somehow we are still talking about it, almost fifty years later.  Thanks to RM Rhodes for the informative and amusing article, and congrats on getting your writing on Heavy Metal out there for the rest of us.