Massive walks away from plans to resurrect Heavy Metal with Volume two issue #1
Massive Publishing who recently was added to Diamond Comic Distributors’ Deluxe Publisher Tier, announced back in October 2022 a partnership with Heavy Metal Entertainment (HME) to reboot the longest running comic magazine, Heavy Metal. After 46 years of publication, the fantasy and sci fi brand that launched the careers of numerous writers and artists would end its first volume with December’s issue 320 and restart with a new volume and brand new issue one in March 2023. Instead, HME went through a corporate shake-up and in spite of huge retailer interest in the relaunch which included art contributions from the late legendary artist Kim Jung Gi, Peach Momoko, Ben Templesmith, Tehani Farr, Jim Mahfood and a mystery guest artist, the solicitations were pushed back to give HME’s new CEOMarshall Lees time to address the changes the company faced. For the Massive Publishing team, It was a priority to help Heavy Metal deliver closure to the first volume and the stories that were left unfinished back in 2022, by ensuring its final issue, #320 went to print. So in March 2023, Massive paid for the printing of Heavy Metal #320 and delivered on all outstanding retail orders to comic shops across North America and the UK as well as providing HME enough stock to fulfill newsstand and outstanding subscription orders. Massive also printed what was to be their exclusive variant for issue 320 marking the end of volume one before its “rebirth” with volume two, an homage to the iconic cover of The Death Of Superman. Here’s the Heavy Metal #320: Death Of Heavy Metal Volume One:
A signed edition of the “Death of Heavy Metal Vol.1” exclusive will be available on the showfloor of SDDC at booth #1529 (the original Heavy Metal location) as well as a limited to 1000 copy release on Massive Publishing’s website for Heavy Metal fans unable to make it to the event. Also being revealed as an SDCC drop is a limited high-end poster featuring the cover art of the debut issue of volume two, by the mystery artist who has been revealed to be none other than legendary Co-Creator of The Walking Dead, Tony Moore! This reimagining of the original Heavy Metal vol.1 issue 1 cover will also mark the end of Massive’s partnership with HME as the Deluxe Publisher is working with Diamond to cancel all of its solicitations related to the Heavy Metal brand.
“As you know we’ve had to push back the launch solicitations of volume two, several times now. We however cannot continue to kick the ball down the road, it is clear that given the circumstances we will not be able to deliver on the vision we had for the relaunch of this iconic magazine. We are proud we were able to make sure volume one came to a proper close and that we could contribute something to the legacy of such a historic brand that everyone here at Massive loves.”-Michael Calero, CEO / Co-Publisher, Massive Publishing
“It was our dream to bring a new direction to Heavy Metal that both new fans and old would enjoy. To be able to relaunch the magazine that helped inspire our team to make comics was an exciting prospect, but business partnerships are all about timing.”-Kevin Roditeli, President / Co-Publisher, Massive Publishing