Over a year after its unofficial demise, Heavy Metal Entertainment have announced their legendary, namesake magazine is returning with a brand new issue #1 in 2025. Cartoonist, filmmaker, and former content editor Frank Forte is returning to the magazine as its editor-in-chief, while Dave Kelly will serve as executive editor, and Chris Thompson will be its editorial manager. A pre-order campaign for the first issue will launch on Kickstarter sometime next month in November, offering fans limited edition covers and collectibles.
In 1977, four art-house visionaries decided to make science fiction, fantasy and horror the home of pop culture… It has taken over 45years, but while Heavy Metal has always been here, in the zeitgeist, other brands have attempted to claim our birthright. And now, we’ve come to reclaim our rightful throne of genre. Come dive into the worlds of Heavy Metal – past, present, and future – as we boldly chart a course for expanding the minds and pushing the boundaries of pop culture.
Launched in 1977 as an English-language edition of the French sci-fi magazine Métal hurlant, Heavy Metal ceased publication with its 320th issue in April 2023, after a deal to relaunch the magazine with Massive Publishing fell through following several delays. The hiatus occurred after current CEO Marshall Lees took over from Matthew Medney in January 2023. Madney left the company amid reports of failing to pay freelancers, and allegations of selling the publication rights to stories in other countries without their creators’ permission.
Lees, who is presumably hoping for a true fresh start, says in the press release, “The new team and I stepped in after quite a tumultuous period, so we’ve been working quietly behind the scenes to make things right and pave a way for the magazine’s return to its original boundary-pushing roots. Following that we have a host of exciting new plans for the brand that we hope fans will be really interested in.” He continues, “We wanted to assemble a team of passionate professionals who had complementary skills and shared our vision for the brand, [and] we believe we’ve found that in Frank, Dave, and Chris, as well as the other team members across all facets of the business.”
Since the announcement began circulating, there have already been rumblings on social media from freelancers with unpaid bills from the last editions of Heavy Metal. Hopefully, the team can begin to make things right.
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