Métal Hurlant & Heavy Metal | How magazines whose influence transcended comics were created

[@CMDR_Verm]

Back in my teens, late 70's, I could visit the closest big city (Nottingham UK at the time) and know that several stores sold large, inexpensive but high quality copies of some of the most famous British SF artists of the day. My scope was limited to what was in print and my own appreciation of it. I can see now, through the likes of your site, that my tastes were very limited. Heavy Metal was available but only in one small store, off the beaten track and more known for its ''subversive'' slants i.e. ''Legalise Cannabis'', joss-sticks, anarchist literature etc. I can hear you say I must have led a sheltered life but, according to my working class parents who were not ex-hippies, I was definitely on the fringe. Having grown into a 61 year old strongly anarchist-leaning, Tory hating grumpy sod I can only dream of having that store at the end of my street and hoping the price of this adult comic art would drop in price. I'm sure there are more than just me who wonder if these artists imagined at the time that their works would be sold for such high prices that they have been hijacked by greedy publishers who have put their work out of reach. I'm angry at my own ignorance certainly, but I have begun to understand why it continues even now.

[@jasonsantos3037]

Heavy Metal magazine do had a lot of good kick ass art. 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@philip2010]

It seems to me all the magazines mentioned are awesome

[@leejones5026]

Love Heavy Metal, both the magazines and the films

[@gregmcevoy1]

It's great to see this.

[@FromTheRoomOfLittleEase]

Excellent.

[@BrunoCunha67]

The mother of all magazines

[@nicolasmassoulier6116]

I haven't seen the series Métal hurlant on French TV but I know one thing: never believe, never listen to French critics when it comes to the fantastic, the imaginary. They are completely abandoned, trained in Proust and Flaubert, everything else escapes them completely. Métal hurlant the magazine worked only because of its readers, first and foremost, the base, and because people like Ridley Scott, Giger, O'Bannon or Georges Lucas said all the good things they thought about it and helped to change the way we look at sf. These French critics have no culture of sf, magic, horror or fantasy, they are macerated in their annealed Cartesianism. Harry Potter could never have seen the light of day in France. From the extraordinary Cyrano de Bergerac, one of the very first science fiction writers (17th century!) having predicted the cassette microphone, the audio headset and the rocket with the first law of thermodynamics, they only remember the reinvented hero of 'a talkative piece from the 19th century. Fortunately, the image escapes them and there is a long tradition in France of fantastic cartoonists like Gustave Doré or Granville. Previously there were the "grotesques", the drawings of witches on the Sabbath, in short, a tradition which legitimizes the subject "image" in the eyes of imbeciles who are terrified at the idea of ​​having to rely on their own abscence of taste. Happy England where a young girl can follow a rabbit and become an absolute classic, wholesome country where a splendor like The Lord of the Rings can now become part of the national cultural treasure. I remember my joy in France when The Prisoner arrived (which was a little too much even for England from what I learned. I loved it, even the ending!). Or the avengers. I owe my rare bursts of imagination on French TV to dear old England. But the memories make me overflow my keyboard...in any case, one very last thing: believe me, if Métal Hurlant had this scent of liberation, of rejection of norms, it's because it was exactly that! we lived in a cultural desert touching on fantasy and imagination. Métal was the rebellion of young French people crazy about sci-fi and fantasy and who wanted to touch their brothers and sisters in the world.

[@ArtShutter]

This really is an amazing comment, thank you very much for commenting and sharing your opinion and vision on the subject

[@vincepreston9304]

Dude you gotta do Simon Bisley, John Buscema, Joe Jusko 🙏

[@ArtShutter]

I would love to, I take note of the suggestions, thank you very much

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

Excellent job 👏 👍

[@ArtShutter]

Thank you!

[@claykline2830]

I feel like you'd like Sergio toppi, he's one of my biggest influences

[@ArtShutter]

I honestly didn't know him, I've been taking a quick look at his work on the internet and he seems like a more than interesting artist, thanks for mentioning him

[@eduardoaquinno2896]

💯💯

[@josevinicius6908]

🤘🏿🤘🏾🤘🏻🤘🤘🏼🤘🏽🇧🇷

[@DrunkenKnuckle]

I'm not sure if you're mistaking Jean-Pierre Dionnet for jean pierre Jeunet? Dionnet is the Comic book writer.

[@davidmontgomery5047]

get better music more ambient less metal bs

[@TheloniousCube]

This seemed pretty basic and not especially interesting