The Bottom Line: Heavy Metal still has great artwork, but its leaning towards more X-rated material could very well cheapen the very medium it's trying to promote.
I picked up my first Heavy Metal in over five years the other month. Don't know why-- guess it was for old times sake. At any rate, I bought the bible of European graphic novel telling at a hefty price of 5 bucks and change. And quite frankly, I didn't know what to make of it.
I had expected some changes. After all-- I hadn't read the magazine since college, so I didn't expect it to continue the same format it had kept during that time. But what I also didn't expect was the, well-- sheer X-ratedness and smuttiness that dominated the magazine from cover to cover. And tons of it. And nearly all of it gratuitous. Even in stories where it wasn't warranted, there it was-- shots upon shots of naked women, over and over again, in compromising positions and situations being-- *ahem*-- serviced. As if this wasn't enough to appease the horny young male demographic that this magazine was now exclusively targeted toward, almost every ad in the mag was for erotic manga or X-rated comics. "We know what young men want," sexily breathed the title of one ad featuring nothing but X-rated comics of, once again, big breasted, naked, lusty, and hot women being banged by guys. (A title that was promoted in this ad-- and I'm not joking-- was called I'm Too Big). As I flipped through the magazine, I finally shook my head in disbelief and said, "What the hell is going on here?"
Lest you think that my shock and disbelief has to do with prudery, you are mistaken. I've seen it all, man. I mean, I have seen the worst of cheap, sex-laden comics, so it wasn't the nudity itself that bothered me in Heavy Metal. What bothered me was what the magazine had become. In its earlier days, Heavy Metal was a place to get your fix of the more sophisticated stylings of Europe's best comic book artists and writers. Sure, there would be some nudity in the magazine, but nudity wasn't the main focus of these comics, just a reflection of a more grown-up sensibility that the Europeans had about the comic medium.
But over the years, something started happening-- the magazine started focusing more and more on the T&A and sex. It became less about publishing the latest comics from the comic world's best and became more and more about naked women and the horny men who lust after them. As an example of what I mean, on a 1994 issue of Heavy Metal that I have, it is touted as the "Illustrated Fantasy Magazine." Now in 2002 it is touted as the "*Adult* Illustrated Fantasy Magazine," presumably less from stricter standards in publishing to ward off curious minors (hah!) than a reflection of how the magazine has changed. Make no mistake about it-- it's all about the T & A now. So in a nutshell, Heavy Metal has become a parody of itself, as if it had only been about smutty comics, naked teats, and sex, sex, sex when in fact it had always been about something more than that-- introducing American audiences to sophisticated comic book art and storytelling.
The sad thing about this recent change is that Heavy Metal may indeed be running at cross purposes with itself. I cannot presume to say why the magazine was created in the first place, but I can assume that one of the reasons was to perhaps elevate the average comic book reader's appreciation of graphic storytelling, not to mention veer the bible thumpers and elitist snobs away from their insistence that comics are either a bad moral influence or cultural trash. Comics have always had a bad reputation for one reason or other, and Heavy Metal was one of those places that could prove the naysayers wrong, not to mention show readers that comics could be more than about cheap sex situations, gratuitous violence, and corny characterizations. In now appealing to the lowest common denominator, the magazine has only succeeded in cheapening the very medium it is trying to elevate. Too bad.
So should you buy the magazine? That is a tough assessment to make, because it depends what you want out of the magazine. If you just want to check out the latest X-rated comic or monthly *fantasy* gallery of naked babes, sure-- why not check it out? It'll cost you a few hefty bucks, but erotica hardly ever disappoints, even when you have to pay a lot for it in comic form. But if you're an aspiring comic book artist or avid reader who wants to discover the latest of what the comic book world has to offer, you're better off just going to the local or online comic book store to check out the latest titles there. At least at these places, there will once again be the balance that was once Heavy Metal, but is no more.
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