Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of  National Lampoon, he discovered the French science-fantasy magazine Metal Hurlant which had debuted January 1975. The French title translates literally as "Howling Metal".

When Mogel licensed the American version, he chose to rename it, and Heavy Metal began in the U.S. in April 1977 as a glossy, full-color monthly. Initially, it displayed translations of graphic stories originally published in Métal Hurlant, including work by Enki Bali,  Philippe Caza, Guido Crepax,  Philippe Druillet, Jean-Claude Forest, Jean Giraud (aka Moebius) and Milo Manara. The magazine later ran Stefano Tamburini and Tanino Liberatore's ultra-violent  RanXerox.