Heavy Metal Spring 1988

Heavy Metal

Spring 1988

Spring, 1988. Atop the Billboard 200 LP chart is the soundtrack to the film Dirty Dancing. To add insult to injury, a second collection - titled More Dirty Dancing - of tunes from the movie, sits at the number 5 spot - !

At the offices of the National Lampoon, Inc. (formerly Twenty-First Century Communications), the home of the National Lampoon and Heavy Metal magazines, there is uncertainty in the air. 

 

As he relates in his 1994 book 'If You Don't Buy this Book, We'll Kill this Dog,' circulation and advertising in the Lampoon had taken a steep dive in 1984, but Matty Simmons, the publisher, had implemented a hands-on decision making policy, dismissing staff and instituting what he called 'austerity.' Simmons brought the magazine back into the black by 1988. 

 

Simmons was less heartened to learnt that John Hughes, the writer and director of the  Vacation movies, was insisting on producing the latest installment of the franchise, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Simmons, who had produced the previous films in the franchise, was given the choice of letting Hughes have his way and being relegated to the role of 'executive producer,' or not having the film made at all. Simmons acquiesced, but remembers:

I have never quite been able to figure out the reason for Hughes's animosity to me. This was surely a slap in the face. I had brought him into the film business by the hand.....I had never been an executive producer before. Usually that title goes to the guy who puts the money together or the star's manager or the director's girlfriend......Now we were discussing my 'visiting' for the second sequel to a picture that I had nurtured from the beginning, brought to the studio, and produced in every conceivable way.

 

Twenty-First Century Communications co-founder Leonard Mogel had retired in 1986, but Heavy Metal, which had been his main assignment, continued, albeit as a quarterly, rather than monthly, publication. Simmons' daughter Julie remained as editor, but gone were the columns dedicated to reviewing books, comics, and 'rok' music.

 

The main entrant in this Spring issue is a complete presentation of Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri's comic 'Druuna: Morbus Gravis.' First issued in 1985 as a bande dessinee (Franco-Belgian comic book), Morbus Gravis was followed by 11 additional installments, many of these also published as English-language translations in Heavy Metal. 

 

The plots of the Druuna stories involve science fiction, and have a loose, contrived quality. They mainly are vehicles through which Druuna can be shown in various stages of undress, undergoing erotic activities, some involving use and abuse. Whatever happens to Druuna, she always bounces back up and goes on her jiggling way......you can argue that these comics are exploitative, but there is no arguing that Serpieri's artwork is impeccable.

 

 

Other pieces in this issue are less impressive. There is a black and white comic, titled 'Hector,' from Spanish artist Daniel Torres. 'Hector' is another entrant in the so-called 'Atom Style' of comic art that Heavy Metal was particularly fond of during the 80s. I never was that big a fan of Torres and the Atom Style.

Also underwhelming is 'The Bullfighter,' by Heriberto Muela, aka 'Herikberto,' another Spanish artist.

We do get some Moebius in this Spring issue, a four-pager called 'To See Naples.' It's a neat little comic.

Also among the better comics featured in this issue is another four-pager, by Argentinian artist Fernando Rubio, titled 'All Too Human.' I've posted it in its entirety below. 

 

 

 

If you can find a copy of this Spring 1988 issue for $10 or less, I recommend getting it. 

 

And that's how Heavy Metal was, 37 years ago...........