This issue of Heavy Metal, Vol. 1, No. 12, for March of 1978 brings us to the end of the magazine's first year. Now, previously, in the editorial columns they'd discussed including more domestic comics in the magazine. However, in more recent columns they'd started to change their mind on this, planning to focus more on European comics. My concern about this is that many of the comics they've run from France have lost something in translation by whether in the quality, or because they reference some cultural point that I'm unaware of. I don't know. Anyway, our cover this issue is by Jim Burns. Speaking of editorial columns, Heavy Metal is publishing a compilation of Gray Morrow's Orion comics, and is also serializing it, starting in this issue.
Self Portrait by Charles Vess
Den by Richard Corben
Right before Ard throws Kath to Uluhtc, Den comes in and saves Kath. The Queen and Ard struggle over the Loc Nar, but both fall in. Den grabs the LocbyNar and flees aboard a flyer with Kath. Uluhtc rises, but Den uses the LocbyNar to restore him to his prison. It seems that Den and Kath will live happily ever after, though apparently Kath saw the Queen board a flyer. The End(?).
The Ruse by Thomas Bridges
This is prose fiction, with an illustration by Charles Vess. A hunting party in a fantasy world encounters a frightening creature called a Ruse. It's called a Ruse because it can psychically take over a person's mind, apparently.
The Winter Of The Last Combat: Chapter Two by Victor Mora and Luis Garcia
The Crusader is now hallucinating due to plague. He discovers his wife is dead and ultimately ends up being killed by wolves. The End.
In the letters column for this issue, Bruce D. Patterson, who colored the SunPot stories, defends his choices in response to an earlier letters, from an reader upset with the change in the color. We also have a letter from a writer who is disappointed with the quality of all the Druillet we'd gotten several issues ago.
Diabolical Planet: Part 2 by Denis Sire
Morris White continues on his daring quest to rescue his fiance from imprisonment by the vile forces of darkness. He reaches the planet where his fiance is being held. Unfortunately his fiancee has been genetically modified by the villain, the evil Dr. Von Ricktus, to become a water breather. So, Morris steals a helmet and breathing apparatus from a fishman (killing him, but let's not worry about that), and gives that to his fiance (which in turn gives her the classic fishbowl helmet space opera look. They flee to White's rocket and escapes. To Be Continued.
Urm by Philippe Druillet
Urm is overwhelmed from the decidance of the royal court, and thus flees.
Hitchhike by Alain Voss
A leggy and big-boobed woman hitchhikes from a pickup truck, tries to seduce the driver, and discovers that the driver and the truck are all one combined robotic entity, which sucks all the fluids from the woman using it's phallic protuberance, killing her. The husk is then dumped along side the road, and we then cut to a similar woman who is hitchiking, and who notices the truck's approach. I could see this making an interesting scibyfi horror film with an aspect of body horror to it.
Galactic Geographic: Talus IV by Karl B. Kofoed
As you can guess from the title, this a brief semibydescription of a planet. This article might actually be pretty useable for someone running a sci-fi RPG campaign as material for a planet.
The Abracax Effect by Jean-Michel Nicollet
A man is teleported into a strange universe, and ends up on a strange island. He ends up being killed by a sorceress. This is all revealed to be a game of "Encephalito" being played between two scientists.
Orion by Gray Morrow
Orion is a rogue and a scoundrel in a fantasy world. He was going to travel to the mysterious land of Balimodra, which is controled by dark forces. An old man, who is traveling beyond Balimodra, asks to accompany him for safety. After Orion leaves the bar, he's set upon by mercinaries, though is warned by one of their number, a black man named Mamba, who knew of Orion's reputation and wanted to stay on his good side. It turns out the old man was a sorcerer who sought to steal Orion's magic sword. As Mamba himself is on the run, due to having cuckolded the commander of his unit in the military, and he fled when his commander found out. So, now Mamba and Orion head to Balimodra, with the Sorcerer and Mamba's old commander persuing them.
The Airtight Garage Of Jerry Cornelius: A New Episode by Jean "Mœbius" Giraud
Major Grubert arrives in the city where he's supposed to meet his spy, but his spy has not yet arrived.
1996 by Chantal Montellier
A guy shopping for a junker car finds a dead body in it. Sigh. I really, really am getting tired of this series.
Lost by Jean Louis Trip
A cartoonist is calling his editor while trying to explain why he's behind deadline. An small alien lands on his desk, and mistaking the cartoonist's hand as hostile creature, shoots it, and then leaves. The end by cute.
Underground Comic by Stuart Nezin
Satirical take on riding the subway.
Barbarella by Jean-Claude Forest
So, the guy whose head Barbarella is in wants to take over the universe by taking over the mass media with some gadget he's working on. This story is pretty much crap.
With the end of this issue, we have the end of Den, but a new somewhat promising fantasy comic to replace it in Orion. I also think Galactic Geographic wasn't too bad either. However, we've still got some lemons in 1996 and in Barbarella. As far as the one-shots go, I'd say that Hitchhike wasn't too bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.
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