Seminal Sci-Fi Classic ‘Metal Hurlant’ Comes Screaming Back To Life With New English Edition

If you’ve experienced any cutting edge science fiction/fantasy of the last 50 years, from Alien and Blade Runner to Love, Death and Robots, you probably know Metal Hurlant, the legendary illustrated magazine that came roaring out of France in the mid-70s, even if you’ve never heard its name. Now, following a successful crowdfunding campaign, the magazine’s original publisher Humanoids is reviving an English-language edition for the first time in decades, kicking off with a special 50^th anniversary issue hitting the streets June 17, 2025.

“Three guys – Jean-Pierre Dionnett, Philippe Druillet and Jean Giraud (aka Moebius) created this magazine to express themselves, to do things they couldn’t do anywhere else,” says Fabrice Giger, publisher of Humanoids, in a phone interview earlier this month. “It inspired many, many creators not only in comics and literature, but in movies, entertainment, media and technology.”

Each of MH’s founding creators was already a giant in the French comics industry, which was years ahead of its American counterpart both creatively and commercially, giving MH a running start in its efforts to blow minds and pry open wallets. The work produced in those early years became as instantly iconic and revered in the world of comics as that of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Stan Lee in Marvel’s 1960s Silver Age. Stories like Moebius and Dan O’Bannon’s “The Long Tomorrow” provided a template for Blade Runner. Ridley Scott’s original 1979’s Alien, with a screenplay co-written by O’Bannon, drew heavily from the magazine’s dark imagery. Cyberpunk and its offshoots, which became popular shortly afterwards, owes much of its visual and thematic style to work that appeared in the pages of MH.

Soon, MH attracted the attention of the American publication National Lampoon, which licensed, translated and packaged MH originals along with domestic MH-inspired work in Heavy Metal starting in 1977, where most English-speaking readers first encountered it. Heavy Metal remains its own freestanding brand, which also just relaunched for the umpteenth time, tapping to same vein of affection for the original material and its legacy.

“Both publications point to the same origins, but actually, we are the origin, we control the material” says Giger. “The market is large enough to provide more experiences for readers and more opportunities to express themselves. So we are compatible. They are successful in what they are doing and we are successful in what we are doing.”

Over its 50 year history, MH inspired a who’s-who of creators including Guillermo DelToro, George Lucas, Hayao Miyazaki, Ridley Scott, Jemaine Clement, and Nicolas Winding Refn, as well as musicians including Air, Daft Punk and Hans Zimmer. Visionary filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has gone so far as to claim, “I am a child of Metal Hurlant.”

Despite its storied legacy, MH has a spotty publication history, even in France. The periodical ceased publication in 1988 following changes in the market. Humanoids attempted to bring it back occasionally in an English periodical edition, but anthologies generally don’t do well in the comic book direct market. Finally, after several years of a successful revival in France, Humanoids opted to go the crowdfunding route to get a new, more deluxe periodical off the ground. The campaign attracted nearly 5,100 supporters who pledged over $759,000 to bring the project to life.

The fruit of that bounty is obvious in the resulting edition. The first issue combines the best of its classic era with work from international creators, including many Americans, that brings the same combination of edgy ideas and gorgeous artwork. The first issue features material by international contemporary figures like Matt Fraction, Afif Khaled, Derf Backderf, Peter Snejbjerg, Yang Weilin and Matthew Allison alongside classics from Druillet, Dionnett, Gal, Schuitten, Jodorowsky, Caza, and of course Moebius. It runs 272 pages, square bound in full color on quality paper, distributed to bookstores and comic book shops.

Giger says that relaunching with over 5000 committed subscribers is a huge boost at a time when uncertainties swirl around the comics distribution system.

“The market is difficult, and it is evolving,” says Giger. “That’s why I believe the most important thing we can do today as a publisher is give readers unique experiences.”

Unique is a strong word, because Metal Hurlant has so thoroughly marked its territory that fans of this kind of storytelling can find it everywhere: notably these days in the Love, Death and Robots, the thematically challenging, visually compelling Netflix animated anthology by David Fincher and Tim Miller.

But to paraphrase the oft-quoted quip about champagne, genuine Metal Hurlant only comes from the Humanoids region of France. Everything else is just sparkling dystopian illustrated sci-fi.