'Heavy Metal' magazine, December 1979

 

It’s December 1979 and the decade of the 70s is drawing to a disillusioned, exhausted close. The economy is still recovering from the effects the past Summer’s crude oil / gasoline shortage, and now some fanatical Iranians have imprisoned US embassy staffers. It seems as if the US is in the grip of a downward spiral politically and economically.

On the radio, Dionne Warwick is getting heavy airplay for her single ‘Déjà vu’, as is a timely new holiday song, ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’ by Paul McCartney and Wings.

The December 1979 issue of Heavy Metal features a suitably sci-fi themed cover illustration, ‘He’s Comin’ to Town’, by Richard Cohen and John Townley; the back cover art is ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Thomas Warkentin.

Inside, we find part two of Corben’s ‘Rowlf’, and excerpts from two gift books released in time for the holidays: ‘Giants’, and ‘Gnomes’. Harland Ellison provides a reprint, with an updated Introduction, of his 1969 short story ‘Santa Claus Vs Spider’.

Among the other comics in this issue are ‘Suburban Scenes’ by Caza; ‘Formalhaut’ by Algora; ‘A Tale of Christmas’ from Moebius; and ‘Slim Kentucky’ by Cornillon.

But the best piece in the issue is yet another demented gem of a story from Arthur Suydam: ‘Christmas Carol’, which I post here. Brilliant pen-and-ink artwork, a creepily memorable plot, and some twisted scenes unlike anything you'll see in a conventional horror comic….enjoy !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Heavy Metal' magazine September 1979

For the September 1979 issue of Heavy Metal Jim Cherry provided the front cover, ‘Love Hurts’, while the back cover is an untitled painting by Val Mayerik.

This issue has several illustrated short prose pieces; ‘The Grail War’ by Richard Monaco, ‘A World Between’ by Norman Spinrad, and ‘Elric’ by Moorcock. There is a humorous Buck Rogers strip by Jim Lawrence and Grey Morrow and some b & w comics from Chantal Montellier and ‘Alias’ (Moebius). But the best comic in the issue is ‘The Doll’, by J. K. Potter, which I’ve posted below.

‘The Doll’ is one of the trippiest pieces to appear in the magazine. I have no idea how long it took Potter to assemble and photograph the composite images, as well as applying the various ‘warp’ effects to the photographs; this was done back in 1979, when Photoshop didn’t really exist. But the overall effect is creepy and memorable.

'Heavy Metal' magazine August 1979

The August 1979 issue of ‘Heavy Metal’ featured a cover by Mantxo Algora titled ‘Tan, Don’t Burn’ and a back cover by Martin Springett titled ‘Buz’.

This issue had several good stories within its pages. ‘Free Ways’ by Lee Marks, ‘New Ark City’ by Caza, and ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, a visual accompaniment to the Rolling Stones song, drawn by James Waley, were a cut above the usual material. But the best piece in the issue was ‘Mama’s Place’ by Arthur Suydam, which I’ve posted here.

Suydam was arguably the most impressive of the artists and writers featured in the pages of Heavy Metal during the late 70s. Each of his stories was meticulously drawn, colored, and lettered, and featured an original (and genuinely creepy) approach to SF and horror topics.

Suydam is best known to contemporary readers for his covers for Dark Horse comic’s ‘Alien’ titles, and Marvel’s ‘Zombies’ series.

'Heavy Metal' magazine July 1979

The July 1979 issue of ‘Heavy Metal’ magazine featured Richard Corben and Rick Courtney’s ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ as the front cover and Caza’s ‘A Boy Named Sue’ on the back cover.

This was another so-so issue. The final episode of Corben’s ‘New Tales of the Arabian Nights’ finally saw print. Some interesting b & w pieces- ‘Attila the Frog’ by Don Lomax and ‘The Great Trap’ by Sire – appeared, as did a full color tale from Gray Morrow: ‘Stingaree: Eight Belles’. But other entries, ‘Citizens Beware’ by Mark Fisher, or ‘Zooks’ by Vaughn Bode, were underwhelming.

Probably the best entry in the issue was ‘…Rears Its Ugly Green Head’ by Michael Hinge and Neal Adams. With its psychedelic art style, ‘Rears’ calls to mind Peter Max and the 60s Pop Art scene. The complex rainbow coloring displayed in the panels must have taken several months to complete, since this was well before the advent of computer graphics. Enjoy !

'Heavy Metal' magazine June 1979

The June 1979 issue of ‘Heavy metal’ featured a cover painting by Angus McKie titled ‘The Performer’, and a back cover painting titled ‘What Happened to Betty (Page)’ by Marcus Boas.

This was a rather unimpressive issue of the magazine. Yet another installment of Corben’s seemingly never-ending ‘The New Tales of the Arabian Nights, Sinbad in the Land of the Jinn’, as well as another installation of McKie’s ‘So Beautiful and So Dangerous’. In a rarity for Heavy Metal, Serge Clerc’s ‘Captain Future’ b & w comic appears in its entirety, although scattered in chunks throughout the magazine in an effort to force the reader to view intervening material. By this time I was beginning to tire of reading stories in drips and driblets, and I had begun to give serious thought to discontinuing purchasing the magazine.

The June issue featured another ‘Pyloon’ tale by Rae Rue and LeoGiraux, and I’ve posted it here. Like the other Pyloon stories appearing in Heavy Metal, it features drawings cribbed from the pop culture archives, in a deliberately cheesy sort of tribute to the originals.