Heavy Metal would spawn several spin-off books (including the Alien graphic novel), a 1981 animated movie (and its lesser known sequel) and assorted imitations such as Marvel’s blatant and inferior knock-off Epic Illustrated. Licensing the magazine for America and renaming it Heavy Metal ( Métal Hurlant roughly translates as “howling metal”), he began by reprinting translated strips from the French magazine before branching out into original material. Heavy Metal is the legendary adult science fiction comic magazine, founded in 1977 by National Lampoon publisher Leonard Mogel, who started the magazine after discovering the French publication Métal Hurlant on a trip to Paris.
