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Metal Hurlant: Old Dreams, Young Visions
The Original Graphic Anthology that rocked the world of science fiction and comics is reborn—probing deep into the past, examining the present, and blazing into the future!
50 years after the debut of Metal Hurlant in France, the iconic and genre-defining publication is finally coming to the English language, and in bigger and bolder form than ever before: as a quarterly anthology published by Humanoids.
Each volume of Metal Hurlant will feature 272+ pages of a one-of-a-kind, otherworldly, literary experience, expertly curated from archival material from the original '70s and '80s run, along with top A-list and up-and-coming creators from around the globe.
“AS A KID IT REALLY WAS AN ELECTROSHOCK. I DON’T KNOW IF MY BRAIN MELTED OR EXPLODED... BUT I’M STILL HAUNTED BY THE POWER OF CREATIVITY THAT WAS IN THOSE BOXES.” —DENIS VILLENEUVE, speaking with NPR about his intro to sci-fi via boxes of Metal Hurlant
50 years after the debut of Metal Hurlant in France, the iconic and genre-defining publication is finally coming to the English language, and in bigger and bolder form than ever before: as a quarterly anthology published by Humanoids.
Each volume of Metal Hurlant will feature 272+ pages of a one-of-a-kind, otherworldly, literary experience, expertly curated from archival material from the original '70s and '80s run, along with top A-list and up-and-coming creators from around the globe.
“AS A KID IT REALLY WAS AN ELECTROSHOCK. I DON’T KNOW IF MY BRAIN MELTED OR EXPLODED... BUT I’M STILL HAUNTED BY THE POWER OF CREATIVITY THAT WAS IN THOSE BOXES.” —DENIS VILLENEUVE, speaking with NPR about his intro to sci-fi via boxes of Metal Hurlant
272 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2025
7 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,413 books2,576 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 10, 2025
A huge collection of comics, 270 pages. Lots of old classics combined with new work. I really like the juxtaposition - they put the new comics alongside the classics to show how things have changed. I felt like the new work does get the flavour the original Metal Hurlant strips were going for.
I'll always love seeing new comics by James Stokoe and Frederik Peeters. Derf Backderf has a comic here too. Anohter cool one was by Killoffer.
Most of the classic strips I've seen numerous times at this point. They're not different than the versions we saw in Heavy Metal. Druillet, Jean-Claude Gal, Moebius, Francois Schuiten, Nicole Claveloux, Caza.
Jodorowsky also has a new strip - he's 96 years old these days and still putting out new work. There's also an interview with him where he talks about not seeing the new Dune movies. Apparently he had never even read Dune when he suggested he wanted to direct it.
I'm very interested to see what Metal Hurlant does next.
I feel bad for Heavy Metal that just relaunched recently too. I'm curious to check out the first issue of that. It'll be hard to top this, plus Hurlant is a much cooler word than Heavy (also better for SEO).
I'll always love seeing new comics by James Stokoe and Frederik Peeters. Derf Backderf has a comic here too. Anohter cool one was by Killoffer.
Most of the classic strips I've seen numerous times at this point. They're not different than the versions we saw in Heavy Metal. Druillet, Jean-Claude Gal, Moebius, Francois Schuiten, Nicole Claveloux, Caza.
Jodorowsky also has a new strip - he's 96 years old these days and still putting out new work. There's also an interview with him where he talks about not seeing the new Dune movies. Apparently he had never even read Dune when he suggested he wanted to direct it.
I'm very interested to see what Metal Hurlant does next.
I feel bad for Heavy Metal that just relaunched recently too. I'm curious to check out the first issue of that. It'll be hard to top this, plus Hurlant is a much cooler word than Heavy (also better for SEO).
October 3, 2025
I was trepidatious about this latest re-launch of the legendary Metal Hurlant, since an earlier attempt by the same outfit (Humanoids Publishing) in 2002 was pretty underwhelming. But the buzz about this most recent re-launch was good, so I had to give it a try, if for no other reason than to honor the incredible legacy of the original magazine run (1974-1987).
And boy am I glad I did: this time around, the editors have paired new contributions with re-prints from the original publication, and have made an attempt to thematically group the content to create resonances between "old dreams" and "young visions". There are so many great artists at work in these pages that it's hard to highlight any one of them, but suffice to say that there is a lot of truly creative expression at work, and if not all of the narratives are fully coherent, the boldly experimental nature of many of these short comics is reward enough for making the effort to read them.
Interestingly, Heavy Metal, which is the English version of Metal Hurlant, has also re-launched this year, so it's going to be very interesting to see how these two related titles compete with each other. If both magazines are able to make it over the long term, it will at the minimum create additional markets for talented comics creators, so I can't immediately see any downside!
And boy am I glad I did: this time around, the editors have paired new contributions with re-prints from the original publication, and have made an attempt to thematically group the content to create resonances between "old dreams" and "young visions". There are so many great artists at work in these pages that it's hard to highlight any one of them, but suffice to say that there is a lot of truly creative expression at work, and if not all of the narratives are fully coherent, the boldly experimental nature of many of these short comics is reward enough for making the effort to read them.
Interestingly, Heavy Metal, which is the English version of Metal Hurlant, has also re-launched this year, so it's going to be very interesting to see how these two related titles compete with each other. If both magazines are able to make it over the long term, it will at the minimum create additional markets for talented comics creators, so I can't immediately see any downside!
September 26, 2025
Metal Hurlant is back! In English this time. (A separate French version relaunched not too long ago as well. See https://www.goodreads.com/series/3485... ) I wish them both luck. The original was groundbreaking and influential. But comics anthologies have always had a hard time in the US, and aren't doing so well in France anymore, either.
As this is the first issue in English, they spend a lot of pages on reprints of classics from 50 years ago. Fine. But I hope to see mostly new stuff in future issues.
I do wish they'd picked a different name. As it is, I'll have to specify whether I'm discussing Metal Hurlant (Enblish) or Métal Hurlant (French) since the contents are different. Also I want to scream when I hear a typical American trying to pronounce Hurlant: ("H" and "t" are silent, and of the other letters, only the "l" is pronounced the same as in English.)
As this is the first issue in English, they spend a lot of pages on reprints of classics from 50 years ago. Fine. But I hope to see mostly new stuff in future issues.
I do wish they'd picked a different name. As it is, I'll have to specify whether I'm discussing Metal Hurlant (Enblish) or Métal Hurlant (French) since the contents are different. Also I want to scream when I hear a typical American trying to pronounce Hurlant: ("H" and "t" are silent, and of the other letters, only the "l" is pronounced the same as in English.)
August 15, 2025
First of all: wonderfully edited! The magazine flows pretty well and everything is patched together with good and enlightening articles. Is it self-indulgent? A lot! But it brings a lot of good ideas to the table. Another good thing, 2025's Metal Hurlant doesn't pretend to be counterculture. They understand their legacy and place in this new world.
June 1, 2025
Recent Reads: Metal Hurlant - Old Dreams, Young Visions. The kickstarted rebirth of the classic Franco-Belgian comics anthology series, now more global and at book length: art and interviews. An intriguing selection of dangerous visions, very much in the Ellison vein. A welcome return to the stage.
October 27, 2025
It's nice to see something from the Heavy Metal era that isn't Heavy Metal. The French were really doing it right. An excellent collection of SciFi
February 8, 2026
Fabrice Giger blurbs the book best in his editor introduction:
The Humanoids were a creative collective that included Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Moebius, Phillipe Druillet, HR Giger: names that I've only heard in relation to Jodorowsky's The Incal, his Best Dune Movie Never Made, and Ridley Scott's Alien. What I didn't realise is that this collective and the punk science fiction comic movement they shepherded gave rise to some of the most influential science fiction movies and aesthetics of the past century.
Villanueva's Blade Runner & Dune? The original Blade Runner & Dune adaptations? Star Wars? Mad Max? Akira? All directly influenced by the works of the magazine and these creators. Many of them explicitly including these minds as creative directors on-set.
I didn't expect Akira, but the link that really blew my mind was Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the wind drew much of the dynamics and feel for the lone rider on the glider from Arzach's pterodactyl by Moebius. Just look at the stance of both riders, I can't believe I never noticed this before:
And this wasn't a one-off, according to this volume it started a long-lasting collaboration.
From page 98, Tom Lennon's history of the publication:
This volume showcases original work from the 40+ year history of Metal Hurlant as well as its offshoots. There are reprints of classic works as well as more modern pieces that include some meta-commentary on the original publication.
Interspersed, every 2-3 pieces, are short essays focusing on aspects of the history or putting the new pieces into context. I found that most of these were unnecessarily long and would have been better at the back of the book or trimmed down. I hope in future editions the editors allow the audience to draw their own conclusions.
The longer form articles are more successful. In "The French Comic that changed the World", Tom Lennon recounts the tumultuous founding of Metal Hurlant and its periodic revolutions, as well as its influence on pop culture.
In "The Invisible Thread linking Dune, Jodorowsky, Moebius, Villeneuve, Zimmer, and the Humanoids", Fabrice Giger dwells even longer on the creative influences of the collective and includes some (woefully small - why not full page??) posters for Jodorowsky's movies.
My favourite article of the bunch was from good old Alan Moore on 'the state of the art', republished from his original interview in 2020 (I wish they'd updated it). The interview questions are red-pill coded and provocative which, being Moore, he sees right through and cements his reputation as a anarchist, anti-fascist, working-class, socialist.
Moore tackles so many things from censorship vs criticism (although avoids the subtlties of social currency that are alluded to) to the ripples of the pandemic.
Maybe buy this just for that interview.
In "Listening for the Scream", Jake Thomas wonders about the punk origins of the magazine and the dissolution of a homogenous "culture" that there can be a counter-culture to riff off of. He proffers the idea that there is no homogeneous culture anymore, rather a miasma of neoliberalism, and that the alt-right has become the counter culture by another name. This is in contrast to its predecessors 60 years ago since it seeks to limit the definitions of what is acceptable and confine rather than liberate. I've not heard the alt-right referred to in that way before and had a bit of a gut rejection of it: counter-culture to me will always tend to liberalism and less constraints, not more.
What about the comics themselves?
Well, because this is a tribute issue a lot of the old stuff is included and it is golden. I was reminded, however, of how much of the material from this time period is about women breasting boobily away from savage monsters into the waiting arms of hunks. Now we all love a good boob, but it is boring after a while to keep having all the women be nubile, perky, seals. And there's so much sex, also a bit boring after a while. Some of the entries, e.g. The Green Hand by Zha & Claveloux and the Nightmare Hotel by Usdin buck the trend a bit which is welcome.
The Moebius included is great. LOVED his inking on the Detour. Likewise the detailed inkwork on Dionnet and Gal's "Armies" was sensational.
Also a moment of silence for the color work in Druillet's War.
(I've put snippets of all of these at the end of the review so you can see for yourself.)
Of the modern material that's published here, again because this is a tribute issue, there was less originality than I would have liked. The art styles showcased were a little too clean and disney-eyed too. I'm hoping that future issues push the boundary a bit more: more hand-drawn work, less traditional structure, more provacative topics. There's no shortage of artists and writers in this space, let's see if the editors have an eye for them.
I've ended up subscribing to one year of issues, so let's see if they can pull this off now that they've held a successful memorial for the magazine of the past.
Overall though I had a great time reading this and would recommend it as a standalone to science-fiction newcomers and movie bufs.
Dionnet's Armies
Druillet's War
Moebius's The Detour
Zha's The Green Hand
Usdin's The Nightmare Hotel
If this edition feels a lot like an anniversary issue - or a bit self-referential, some might say - that's because it is. We felt the need to set the stage.
The Humanoids were a creative collective that included Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Moebius, Phillipe Druillet, HR Giger: names that I've only heard in relation to Jodorowsky's The Incal, his Best Dune Movie Never Made, and Ridley Scott's Alien. What I didn't realise is that this collective and the punk science fiction comic movement they shepherded gave rise to some of the most influential science fiction movies and aesthetics of the past century.
Villanueva's Blade Runner & Dune? The original Blade Runner & Dune adaptations? Star Wars? Mad Max? Akira? All directly influenced by the works of the magazine and these creators. Many of them explicitly including these minds as creative directors on-set.
I didn't expect Akira, but the link that really blew my mind was Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the wind drew much of the dynamics and feel for the lone rider on the glider from Arzach's pterodactyl by Moebius. Just look at the stance of both riders, I can't believe I never noticed this before:
And this wasn't a one-off, according to this volume it started a long-lasting collaboration.
From page 98, Tom Lennon's history of the publication:
Moebius and Miyazaki became close friends and mutual influences: Moebius named his daughter Nausicaa and in 2005 the artists' work appeared together in a joint exhibition in France.
This volume showcases original work from the 40+ year history of Metal Hurlant as well as its offshoots. There are reprints of classic works as well as more modern pieces that include some meta-commentary on the original publication.
Interspersed, every 2-3 pieces, are short essays focusing on aspects of the history or putting the new pieces into context. I found that most of these were unnecessarily long and would have been better at the back of the book or trimmed down. I hope in future editions the editors allow the audience to draw their own conclusions.
The longer form articles are more successful. In "The French Comic that changed the World", Tom Lennon recounts the tumultuous founding of Metal Hurlant and its periodic revolutions, as well as its influence on pop culture.
In "The Invisible Thread linking Dune, Jodorowsky, Moebius, Villeneuve, Zimmer, and the Humanoids", Fabrice Giger dwells even longer on the creative influences of the collective and includes some (woefully small - why not full page??) posters for Jodorowsky's movies.
My favourite article of the bunch was from good old Alan Moore on 'the state of the art', republished from his original interview in 2020 (I wish they'd updated it). The interview questions are red-pill coded and provocative which, being Moore, he sees right through and cements his reputation as a anarchist, anti-fascist, working-class, socialist.
Moore tackles so many things from censorship vs criticism (although avoids the subtlties of social currency that are alluded to) to the ripples of the pandemic.
Maybe buy this just for that interview.
In "Listening for the Scream", Jake Thomas wonders about the punk origins of the magazine and the dissolution of a homogenous "culture" that there can be a counter-culture to riff off of. He proffers the idea that there is no homogeneous culture anymore, rather a miasma of neoliberalism, and that the alt-right has become the counter culture by another name. This is in contrast to its predecessors 60 years ago since it seeks to limit the definitions of what is acceptable and confine rather than liberate. I've not heard the alt-right referred to in that way before and had a bit of a gut rejection of it: counter-culture to me will always tend to liberalism and less constraints, not more.
What about the comics themselves?
Well, because this is a tribute issue a lot of the old stuff is included and it is golden. I was reminded, however, of how much of the material from this time period is about women breasting boobily away from savage monsters into the waiting arms of hunks. Now we all love a good boob, but it is boring after a while to keep having all the women be nubile, perky, seals. And there's so much sex, also a bit boring after a while. Some of the entries, e.g. The Green Hand by Zha & Claveloux and the Nightmare Hotel by Usdin buck the trend a bit which is welcome.
The Moebius included is great. LOVED his inking on the Detour. Likewise the detailed inkwork on Dionnet and Gal's "Armies" was sensational.
Also a moment of silence for the color work in Druillet's War.
(I've put snippets of all of these at the end of the review so you can see for yourself.)
Of the modern material that's published here, again because this is a tribute issue, there was less originality than I would have liked. The art styles showcased were a little too clean and disney-eyed too. I'm hoping that future issues push the boundary a bit more: more hand-drawn work, less traditional structure, more provacative topics. There's no shortage of artists and writers in this space, let's see if the editors have an eye for them.
I've ended up subscribing to one year of issues, so let's see if they can pull this off now that they've held a successful memorial for the magazine of the past.
Overall though I had a great time reading this and would recommend it as a standalone to science-fiction newcomers and movie bufs.
Dionnet's Armies
Druillet's War
Moebius's The Detour
Zha's The Green Hand
Usdin's The Nightmare Hotel
August 20, 2025
Alongside an attempt to resurrect Heavy Metal Magazine comes a revival of Metal Hurlant, with this thick volume of comics and art subtitled as "Old Dreams, Young Visions". Indeed, this new volume of comics is celebratory of works from Metal Hurlant classic contributors like Philippe Druillet, Jean-Claude Gal, Moebius, Nicole Claveloux, and Caza, most of whom were providing work in the earliest issues of the magazine. Contemporary names like Killoffer, James Stokoe, Frederik Peeters, etc. fill out some of the newer works, which leads to this having one of the most stacked line-ups in comics I've seen in a long time. The emphasis on the Franco-Belgian comics scene is very apparent, which provides the appropriate nostalgic sentiment for this collection. A great new start for the Metal Hurlant relaunch, here's hoping they can continue to deliver in subsequent volumes.
July 29, 2025
“You can’t step into the same river twice.”
This is one of the new new magazines leveraging a legacy magazine's reputation and supporting themselves and competing in the age of screens. They rely on an Evergreen consumption model, where readers will go back to read the magazine a few times.
Its very Euro, unlike the legacy Heavy Metal.
There were not as many new stories as I expected. However, if they resurrect some of Vaughn Bodē's old work I'll shut-up and stop complaining.
This is one of the new new magazines leveraging a legacy magazine's reputation and supporting themselves and competing in the age of screens. They rely on an Evergreen consumption model, where readers will go back to read the magazine a few times.
Its very Euro, unlike the legacy Heavy Metal.
There were not as many new stories as I expected. However, if they resurrect some of Vaughn Bodē's old work I'll shut-up and stop complaining.
July 17, 2025
An interesting anthology and a good start, if not perfect, for this collection series about the most
renowned sci-fi comics magazine in the world: Metal Hurlant/Heavy Metal. The quality varies, some tales are more about their graphic and/or stylistic impact than their actual meaning, but there are some gems, and the articles and interviews here contained are top notch. I commend the decision of mixing classic stories and new ones, in order to give a broad perspective of the magazine.
renowned sci-fi comics magazine in the world: Metal Hurlant/Heavy Metal. The quality varies, some tales are more about their graphic and/or stylistic impact than their actual meaning, but there are some gems, and the articles and interviews here contained are top notch. I commend the decision of mixing classic stories and new ones, in order to give a broad perspective of the magazine.
August 15, 2025
a disappointing reboot. this giant debut issue is mostly filler. the best stuff is obviously the reprinted classics. other than a james stokoe strip, most of the new artists and writers are not up to the task. the matthew allison strip was kinda cool to see. derf’s was weak, even though i’m usually a fan. and an embarrassing, yet somehow still eloquent, alan moore interview about SJWs and incels.
i’m still rooting for the series but this just didn’t work for me.
i’m still rooting for the series but this just didn’t work for me.
August 31, 2025
Substantial, with a good mix of new material and old, and showing all the imagination, transgression, and intelligence the original Metal Hurlant was famed for. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
July 27, 2025
I loved every page of this, can't wait for issue 2. A strong reminder that I should be keeping comics in my regular reading rotation.
October 4, 2025
Absolutely loved this from start to finish, just a perfect return for Metal Hurlant. The only problem is the wait between volumes, I'm already craving more Hurlant weirdness!
October 11, 2025
Absolutely legendary!
October 29, 2025
Both nostalgic and visionary, bringing back history and setting path for the future. Loved every single page of it. Looking forward for more.
December 23, 2025
I couldn't have imagined a better return from the greatest comic book magazine of all time.
September 24, 2025
Out of 30 stories 1 stands out and that is ‘Lacuna’ by Yuri Campos, it’s a 5✨ Read
Next by a bit of a margin, would be ‘You will remember me’ by Kevin Sullivan at about 3.5✨
The other 28 are anywhere from 1/2✨To 2.8✨
The art was pretty amazing all around.
3.3 ✨
Next by a bit of a margin, would be ‘You will remember me’ by Kevin Sullivan at about 3.5✨
The other 28 are anywhere from 1/2✨To 2.8✨
The art was pretty amazing all around.
3.3 ✨
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews