{"id":17754,"date":"2012-01-27T07:14:28","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T12:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=17754"},"modified":"2012-09-10T22:12:39","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T02:12:39","slug":"history-of-the-comic-book-film-lets-get-metal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2012\/01\/27\/history-of-the-comic-book-film-lets-get-metal\/","title":{"rendered":"HISTORY OF THE COMIC BOOK FILM: Let’s Get Metal."},"content":{"rendered":"

In a multi-part series, Comic Book Film Editor William Gatevackes will be tracing the history of comic book movies from the earliest days of the film serials to today\u2019s big blockbusters and beyond. Along with the history lesson, Bill will be covering some of the most prominent comic book films over the years and why they were so special. This time, we discuss the strange journey of Heavy Metal <\/strong>from Europe to America to the Silver Screen.<\/em><\/p>\n

National Lampoon <\/strong>has given us a lot over the years. It has given us writers such as Doug Kenney, Michael O\u2019Donaghue, P.J. O\u2019Rourke and John Hughes. It gave exposure to comic actors like John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Christopher Guest, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. It has even \u201cPresented\u201d films like Animal House<\/strong>, Vacation<\/strong>, and Van Wilder<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It has also, in a roundabout way, given us the film Heavy Metal,<\/strong> too. Well, at least the magazine the movie was based on.<\/p>\n

Heavy Metal <\/strong>magazine began as the French magazine M\u00e9tal Hurlant, <\/strong>an anthology graphic magazine started in 1974 by legendary French artists Jean Giraud A.K.A. M\u0153bius and Philippe Druillet. It presented comics drawn and written from a distinctly European point of view, along with text articles on all areas of popular culture.<\/p>\n

National Lampoon <\/strong>publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to try and get Lampoon <\/strong>published in France when he stumbled across M\u00e9tal Hurlant <\/strong>(which stands for \u201cHowling Metal\u201d) and saw it as something that might work in the United States. He licensed the magazine, renamed it Heavy Metal <\/strong>to have it resonate with American audiences more and started publishing it on high-stock glossy paper as a monthly magazine.<\/p>\n

The mag gave European artists such as Giraud, Milo Manara and Esteban Maroto exposure in the U.S. as their work in M\u00e9tal Hurlant <\/strong>was translated and reprinted in Heavy Metal<\/strong>. It featured work from such luminaries as H.R. Giger, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison and William S. Burroughs in its pages. And it published serials by artists like Arthur Suydam, Bernie Wrightson \u00a0and Howard Cruse, among others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s these serials that got adapted into the 1981 film, Heavy Metal<\/strong>, which like the magazine was an anthology of stories inspired and written by creators that worked for the periodical.<\/p>\n