When Mogel licensed the American version, he chose to rename it, and Heavy
Metal began in the U.S. with the April
1977 issue as a glossy, full-color monthly. Initially, it displayed translations
of graphic stories originally published in Métal Hurlant, including work
by Enki Bilal, Jean Giraud (also known as Moebius), Philippe Druillet, Milo
Manara and Philippe Caza. The magazine later ran Stefano Tamburini and Tanino
Liberatore's ultra-violent RanXerox. Since the color pages had already been
shot in France, the budget to reproduce them in the U.S. version was greatly
reduced.
Films
In 1981, an animated feature film was adapted from several of the magazine's
serials. Made on a budget of USD$9,300,000, under production for three years,
Heavy Metal featured animated segments from several different animation houses
with each doing a single story segment. Another house animated the frame story
which tied all the disparate stories together. Like the magazine, the movie
featured a great deal of nudity and graphic violence, though not to the degree
seen in the magazine. For example, in its Den segment, it did not display the
blatant male genitalia of its print counterpart. The film featured such SCTV
talents as John Candy, Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman. It did reasonably
well in its theatrical release and later gained something of a cult status,
partially because a problem with music rights resulted in a delay of many years
before the film became available on video.
Another animated feature film alternatively called Heavy Metal 2000 and Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.², with a budget of $15,000,000, was released in 2000. This direct-to-video release was not based on stories from the magazine, but instead was based on The Melting Pot, a graphic novel written by Kevin Eastman and drawn by artist Simon Bisley, who based the appearance of the female protagonist after nude model and B-movie actress Julie Strain, the wife of Kevin Eastman. Strain later lent her vocal talents to the movie, portraying the character modelled after her likeness. It spawned a video game in 2000, Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.². An independent video game was also spawned in 2001, Heavy Metal: Geomatrix.