Heavy Metal (magazine)

Heavy Metal

Jean-Michel Nicollet's cover for the first issue.
Current Editors	Dave Kelly (Executive Editor) Frank Forte (Editor-in-Chief) Chris Thompson (Editorial Manager, Brand and Licenses)
Former editors	Sean Kelly Valerie Marchant Ted White Leonard Mogel Julie Simmons-Lynch Kevin Eastman Dave Elliott Grant Morrison Tim Seeley Joseph Illidge
Frequency	Monthly (1977–1985) Quarterly (1986–1989) Bi-Monthly (1989–2016) Quarterly (2017–2019)
Circulation	250,000 (2016)[1]
Publisher	Matty Simmons (1977–1990) Kevin Eastman (1992–2020) David Erwin (2020–2022) Mathew Medney (2022–2023)
Founder	Leonard Mogel
First issue	April 1977; 47 years ago (1977-04)
Final issue	April 2023; 1 year ago (2023-04)
Company	National Lampoon, Inc. (1977–1990) J2 Communications (1990–1992) Metal Mammoth, Inc. (1992–2014) Heavy Metal Media, LLC (2014–2021) Heavy Metal Entertainment, LLC (2021–2022) Massive Publishing (2023) Heavy Metal International, LLC (2024-present)
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	HeavyMetal.com
ISSN	0885-7822

Heavy Metal is an American science fantasy comics magazine, first published in 1977. The magazine is known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy, science fiction, erotica, and steampunk comics. Following a brief hiatus in 2023, it plans to relaunch in 2024 with new owners and a new editorial team consisting of Dave Kelly, Frank Forte, and Chris Thompson.^[2]

Unlike the traditional American comic books of that time bound by the restrictive Comics Code Authority, the magazine-format Heavy Metal featured explicit nudity, sexual situations, and graphic violence. The magazine started out primarily as a licensed translation of the French science-fantasy magazine Métal hurlant, marking for many Americans their first introduction to the work of European cartoonists like Enki Bilal, Philippe Caza, Guido Crepax, Philippe Druillet, Jean-Claude Forest, Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Moebius), Chantal Montellier, and Milo Manara.