'Heavy Metal' magazine
April 1977
Issue One
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April, 1977, and on the radio, Glen Campbell's Southern Nights is playing.
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Leonard Mogel, the owner of the very successful American humor magazine National Lampoon, launches a new magazine called Heavy Metal, inspired by the issues of Metal Hurlant he saw on a previous visit to France.
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April 1977
Issue One
April, 1977, and on the radio, Glen Campbell's Southern Nights is playing.
Leonard Mogel, the owner of the very successful American humor magazine National Lampoon, launches a new magazine called Heavy Metal, inspired by the issues of Metal Hurlant he saw on a previous visit to France.
There is limited information on Leonard Mogel available online; his birthdate is listed as October 23, 1922, he evidently is alive and well as of 2017. He is listed as the author of a large number of books on magazine and book publishing at amazon.com. I found a black-and-white photograph of Mogel taken in 1968, when he was the publisher of Weight Watchers (!) magazine:
Leonard Mogel, 1968
Heavy Metal features a striking cover illustration byJean-Michel Nicollet and a back cover by Philippe Druillet. It's printed on 'slick' paper and features comics and illustrations in color, with quality separations and high resolution - things never before seen in the world of American comic books.
And, of course, the inaugural issue has plenty of tits, and ass, and frank nudity - 'European' stuff, rarely seen in American periodicals. Stoners are intrigued.
I was only 16 when the inaugural issue of Heavy Metal hit the stands. I remember seeing it, but buying a copy was out of the question; I preferred to save my thin dollars for DAW books and other sci-fi paperbacks. It wasn't until November, 1978, when I had my first job and a significant access to spending money, that I bought my first Heavy Metal.
(Sadly, used copies of issue one in good condition fetch exorbitant prices. Maybe the current publishers of the magazine will re-release the inaugural issue as a special publication....otherwise, getting hold of a copy is best done by searching for the .cbr file on the internet)
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(Sadly, used copies of issue one in good condition fetch exorbitant prices. Maybe the current publishers of the magazine will re-release the inaugural issue as a special publication....otherwise, getting hold of a copy is best done by searching for the .cbr file on the internet)
Needless to say, the content of those early issues holds up very well 40 years later. The inaugural issue had some really great stuff: an installment of 'Conquering Armies' by Dionnet and Gal; a dialogue-free but memorable 'Arzach' tale from Moebius; 'Selenia' by Macedo; and the offbeat 'Space Punks', by the illustrator of the well-known (in Europe, at least) illustrator of 'Valerian', Jean-Claude Mezieres.
'Space Punks' is posted below.
'Space Punks' is posted below.
