Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica.

In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French science-fantasy magazine ‘Métal Hurlant’, which had debuted a few years earlier. Impressed by the magazine, Mogel was able to license and reuse the artwork from the popular French publication at an affordable cost, and reprint them in English for an American audience.

Thanks to Heavy Metal, Americans were introduced to some incredible artists for the first time, including Moebius, Juan Giminez, Enki Bilal, Serpieri, Milo Manara, H.R. Giger, Frezzato, Luis Royo, and many, many others! As Heavy Metal became more popular, it also became an early platform for a lot of groundbreaking American Artists, including Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Charles Burns, Richard Corben and so many more.

I am excited to share that Archive.Org has scanned and preserved a LOT of old Heavy Metal issues, in their entirety! These issues can be viewed right here:
https://archive.org/details/heavy-metal-magazine


So take some time out of your day and peruse the nearly 100 issues of Heavy Metal, which are chock full of incredible artwork which still holds up today, 40 years later!

For instance, check out this issue, which contains a beautiful and haunting story, painted entirely in watercolors by Scott Hampton:
https://archive.org/details/heavy-metal-magazine-1993-09/page/n19

Or this issue, which has an crazy, sci-fi epic from Jodorowsky and George Bess:
https://archive.org/details/heavy-metal-magazine-1994-08

Or this one, in which Serpieri demonstrates some of his absolutely incredible ink work:
https://archive.org/details/heavy-metal-magazine-1988-06

Or this unbelievable issue, which contains not only Adamov’s ‘The Waters of Dead Moon’…

… but also, ‘The Mercenary’, a comic by Vicente Segrelles, painted entirely in oil paints:
https://archive.org/details/heavy-metal-magazine-1992-09

Or how about this issue, which contains ‘Zora’, by Fernando Fernandez:
https://archive.org/details/heavy-metal-magazine-1983-08

Honestly, you can’t go wrong with Heavy Metal. You can pick any of these issues at random, and you’re pretty much guarenteed to see some incredible art within that you’ve never seen before. So give it a shot, and let yourself get inspired! Just be warned, most of the content in Heavy Metal is NOT safe for viewing at work.