who remembers "Heavy Metal" magazine?

[sheramil]

and all the wierd-ass illustrated series, uh, serieses, they imported from France?

the only thing that pissed me off more than the poor translations was the way they'd print half of a graphic novel and leave the reader hanging. it wasn't their fault, of course; they could only print what their European overlords sent them.

the one i have in mind, in particular, is The Jealous God, by Jodorowski and Cadelo. the series reached a high point and then they just stopped. talk about coitus interruptus. i know for a fact the series went on after that; i caught a couple of additional episodes in Metal Hurlant. anyway.

i just discovered you can order Bandes Dessins from a place in Quebec. woohoo!

http://fichtre.qc.ca/index.asp

of course, they're in French.. but hell, French isn't as difficult as Japanese.

[Tequila Zaire]

It's still in print last I checked...the U.S. Version is at least. While its focus has strayed from the tradition it had in the 80's it's still quite a great place to see European comic masters do their thing. I have a stack I look at when I need to remember why comics are not 'Storyboarded Movies" or "Books with more pictures" as some more cynical like to say.

[KilLAtomiK]

i could never find the mag since all comic book stores in my area have gone out of buisness i do remember the movie tho it kicked ass

[Amelia G]

I believe the mag is now owned and was kept alive by Kevin Eastman of Ninja Turtles fame and sweetie to Julie Strain. Although they sell it in my local 7/11 in Los Angeles, I have not read it in a while. I think the movie was really important to the formation of my sexuality and I still quote it somewhat at random to this day. Maybe I will go pick up a copy now that I think about it.

[Tequila Zaire]

Kevin Eastman is a cool guy by all accounts though it'd be nice if her pushed the magazine away from it's "titty mag" vibe...it use to be the premier place to see european comic artists and while the caliber is still high it seems that unless they draw women with exposed breasts they don't get pages. Their are exceptions of course but the mag is not as interesting as it once was.

[Amelia G]

Kevin Eastman is a cool guy by all accounts though it'd be nice if her pushed the magazine away from it's "titty mag" vibe...it use to be the premier place to see european comic artists and while the caliber is still high it seems that unless they draw women with exposed breasts they don't get pages. Their are exceptions of course but the mag is not as interesting as it once was.

I remember it always having boobage since before he owned it. Not saying the art has remained consistent, as I really have not read it regularly enough to make a remotely informed statement on that. But it was jerkoff material for boys I knew in boy high school and college. Too much **** by non-cute monsters for the mag to work for me as a teen, as I recall.

[One Eyed Cat]

I actually remember when Ninja Turtles was a semi-original comic (before movie, tv etc) The Crow comic was also far superior to the movie. Joy Division lyrics flowing from the mouths of comic book characters was pretty amazing.

OEC

[Damniel]

It's hard to get it here and quite expensive but for me it's worth the wait and the money, i love the stories and the movie was great, they are both a big influense to me scince i was kid too.

[sheramil]

I believe the mag is now owned and was kept alive by Kevin Eastman of Ninja Turtles fame and sweetie to Julie Strain.

After their connection to the French artists dried up, they started mining the huge amount of untapped talent from South America: Juan Jiminez, Julio Ribera, Daniel Torres and their ilk.

Harping about the good ole days of Corben, Bode and Druillet just displays my extreme old-fartism.

Actually, Druillet's stuff was kinda hard on the eyes.

(academic tone) so far, it's gone in three phases.

Phase One (1977 - 1982): Reprint Everything Possible from Metal Hurlant and throw in the occasional American artist like Richard Corben or Vaughn Bode.

Phase Two (1982 - 1986 approx): The Lou Stathis Years. They threw in everything, including several kitchen sinks. More American artists, like Matt Howarth. The magazine became a vital guide to the best of the alternative scene. For example, i got into William S Burroughs via a review Stathis wrote about Cities of the Red Night. This period ended when they made the first movie.

Phase Three: They didn't make any money appealing to the alternative market, so they aimed at the AD&D fanboys instead. No more serialised Bandes Dessins; instead, a large pair of breasts on every cover, single slabs of South American art with even worse translations than before and no Lou Stathis. occasional guest spots from odd people like Simon Bisley.

[Amelia G]

I actually remember when Ninja Turtles was a semi-original comic (before movie, tv etc) The Crow comic was also far superior to the movie. Joy Division lyrics flowing from the mouths of comic book characters was pretty amazing.

OEC

The Crow comic and the movie(s) bore almost no resemblance to one another. The only way I could enjoy the movie stuff at all was to think of it as a totally different story. I love The Crow comic and its creator did the artwork for one of the early Blue Blood T-shirt designs and was always really nice to us. Although he did once come up to Forrest at a convention, look at one of the shirts and say that he could do better and would like to do another design. Only he didn't mention who he was and Forrest was just like, WTF, that artwork is by James O'Barr, who are you that you think you could do better I should really take another stab at getting back in touch with him.

[Amelia G]

After their connection to the French artists dried up, they started mining the huge amount of untapped talent from South America: Juan Jiminez, Julio Ribera, Daniel Torres and their ilk.

Harping about the good ole days of Corben, Bode and Druillet just displays my extreme old-fartism.

Actually, Druillet's stuff was kinda hard on the eyes.

(academic tone) so far, it's gone in three phases.

Phase One (1977 - 1982): Reprint Everything Possible from Metal Hurlant and throw in the occasional American artist like Richard Corben or Vaughn Bode.

Phase Two (1982 - 1986 approx): The Lou Stathis Years. They threw in everything, including several kitchen sinks. More American artists, like Matt Howarth. The magazine became a vital guide to the best of the alternative scene. For example, i got into William S Burroughs via a review Stathis wrote about Cities of the Red Night. This period ended when they made the first movie.

Phase Three: They didn't make any money appealing to the alternative market, so they aimed at the AD&D fanboys instead. No more serialised Bandes Dessins; instead, a large pair of breasts on every cover, single slabs of South American art with even worse translations than before and no Lou Stathis. occasional guest spots from odd people like Simon Bisley.

The first movie came out in 1981.

That is interesting that they published Matt Howarth. Didn't know that.

[Tequila Zaire]

I remember it always having boobage since before he owned it. Not saying the art has remained consistent, as I really have not read it regularly enough to make a remotely informed statement on that. But it was jerkoff material for boys I knew in boy high school and college. Too much **** by non-cute monsters for the mag to work for me as a teen, as I recall.

That goes without saying really, it was THE place to see beautifully drawn women eposing anything nad everything...but it was usually backed with some amazing and cutting edge art. That's what I really miss and I know other fans do as well. It's still far better than most of its competition and does its best in a shrinking industry but that feeling of opening an issue and being blown away by it has dies away in recent years. So I guess to keep sales they added more nudity than ever. Some of it is really boarderline on just crude hardcore porn while some of it makes you think you picked up an all art issue of Hustler...fun every so often but not month after month. They use to have a dedicated erotica issue for all that which was GREAT...now those seem to be gone as well. The magazine needs a new direction and I know those involved now can do it...I just hope they don't wait till the magazine sinks too low to save it.

[One Eyed Cat]

The Crow comic and the movie(s) bore almost no resemblance to one another. The only way I could enjoy the movie stuff at all was to think of it as a totally different story. I love The Crow comic and its creator did the artwork for one of the early Blue Blood T-shirt designs and was always really nice to us. Although he did once come up to Forrest at a convention, look at one of the shirts and say that he could do better and would like to do another design. Only he didn't mention who he was and Forrest was just like, WTF, that artwork is by James O'Barr, who are you that you think you could do better I should really take another stab at getting back in touch with him.

That would be cool. He is an amazing artist

OEC

[Tequila Zaire]

occasional guest spots from odd people like Simon Bisley.

Some issues may as well be a Bisley comic with the amount of his work that dominated so many issues. No bother to me cause I'm a big fan of his work but it can seem a bit one sided.

Side note...the Heavy Metal DVD has an excellent section that reprints ALL the covers up the point the DVD was released. Not as cool as the CD-Roms that contained ALL the issues in their entirety but a highlight none the less.

[sheramil]

That is interesting that they published Matt Howarth. Didn't know that.

oh, hell yeah. they serialised Changes when Tundra refused to publish it, and Lou Stathis ran a lot of Howarth's Sonic Curiosity music review strips. in which he examined everything from Prince, to the Cocteau Twins, to Severed Heads. each in three panels.

[DharmaLion]

That would be cool. He is an amazing artist

OEC

/agree He's always been one of my favorites. I still have The Crow first prints in a box around here somewhere.

[nyar]

I loved TMNT when it was first released- that cartoon crap just ruined it-
however on a bright note- I believe John Woo is up to making a new version of the movie more true to the original comic-

[Tequila Zaire]

however on a bright note- I believe John Woo is up to making a new version of the movie more true to the original comic-

Oddly enough that could be quite cool...it better by hyper violent though.

[SindelChaos]

Yeah, I saw one at Borders the other day.

[sheramil]

update on my attempts to buy a copy of "The Jealous God" by Jodorowsky and Cadelo:

found a place that sells it, in Quebec. sent in an order and was told:

Nous sommes désolés, ce titre est tombé en rupture récemment et nous n'avions pu encore l'occasion de le réassortir. Malheureusement, il est maintenant épuisé chez notre fournisseur.

out of stock, in other words.

all i could do was reply and say " ça suce."

[hewhoisagod]

If you guys have Tower Records or Hastings, they usually keep a few copies. That's where I get my issues.

[hewhoisagod]

update on my attempts to buy a copy of "The Jealous God" by Jodorowsky and Cadelo:

found a place that sells it, in Quebec. sent in an order and was told:

Nous sommes désolés, ce titre est tombé en rupture récemment et nous n'avions pu encore l'occasion de le réassortir. Malheureusement, il est maintenant épuisé chez notre fournisseur.

out of stock, in other words.

all i could do was reply and say " ça suce."

Je prefere "putain merde"

[sheramil]

Je prefere "putain merde"

yeah, but i sort of wanted to keep on their good side.

Zombie guards: SEIZE HIM!
Tell me that's not fun to say.
- Mentok the Mind-Taker

[hewhoisagod]

good point