4 out of 5

I’m not quite clear what volume this actually is, as Metal Hurlant relaunched – after their dual-language volume 2 escapade – in a French quarterly edition in 2021, and this English quarterly seems to reuse some covers and at least (as far as I can tell) a few stories, so is it truly a next volume or a reprint, etc., but whatever the case: this is the best round of Hurlant I have had the chance to experience.

We wouldn’t be here without the original, of course, and with that being in French, my English-only self is mostly unlikely to experience it, but: thanks to shared content with Heavy Metal, and the ever-giving internet, and other European imprints that sprung up post-Humanoids, and other mags like later Hurlant volumes and A1 and etc. bringing either the original work or other work by the creators to my native tongue, I feel like I have a sense of what Hurlant vol. 1 read like. I’m not here to review that, of course, and again: acknowledging I wouldn’t have a 2024 edition to review without a 70s edition. In short, though, volume 2 should have been “my” Metal Hurlant, as I was most actively buying comics during the time of its release, and though I appreciated it, there was always a certain element to it – that I believe was shared with the original – that was rather distancing. That’s vaguely here in this US edition, but it’s massively trumped by a greater sense of self-awareness, of the work itself and the comic market, and let’s give props to our cross-generational editors for that: Jerry Frissen, Fabrice Giger, Amanda Lucido, and Jake Thomas.

This first issue of the series is weighted a bit too heavily on nostalgia, and repetitive strips that tell us how impactful the Hurlant is. This falls into the distancing: the book is purposefully a mix of classic reprints and new stuff, and even then there was apparently a need to have more than one strip extolling the awesomeness of classic Hurlant. Like, we get it – we’re here, alongside editorials that go over the publication’s history. I’m calling it out, but I also appreciate the reprints as a way to get a feel for the book, and how it’s evolved; the balance is just a little off. There’s so much promise in the 200+ pages, though, that this 2024 edition still gets to make a case for its own identity.

The structure of the volume finds thematically linked shorts (new and old) grouped by intros from Thomas – which, small detail, are not called out in the table of contents, and I kind of love that; it suggests these intros are part of the stories, and not extraneous blabber – and occasional text pieces about 2-4 pages in length. It reads wonderfully quickly, which is a sign of great curation and sequencing. The printing itself is perfect: squarebound and weighty, with wonderful colors, but also light and flexible enough to make for comfortable lap reading, with good page stock that’s solid while being easily flippable. The page layouts, cover / title design, inclusion of page numbers, and color-coded table of contents – Frissen and Caroline Melamed are credited with design – are all ideal. The books looks cool, and looks unique to MH. And the editorial’s “voice” is in sync with that of the creators’.

The contents, as mentioned, have a bit of old school Hurlant, which is surely thanks to a lot of reprints: other planets are always Mars, and there tends to be a kind of highfalutin “point” to the stories, which can be a bit cringey. Some of that perhaps is due to translation, but old school Hurlant favored some very wordy creators, making some stuff read like high school poetry or manifestos on occasion. I’m sure it read better when it was breaking ground in the 70s, but it’s unfortunately not timeless. And even when visual only, a lot of the old school stuff likes to have a kind of Twilight Zone twist, which was just the style. Sometimes that works; sometimes it’s forced. I do prefer the modern works that are often moreso just explorations of a vibe – and that’s the promise I mention, and also what makes this the best Hurlant I’ve read so far. It reads in a more all-encompassing fashion that I think will still work a decade or more down the road. (Though note that” all-encompassing” is not all ages.)

I realize this review is favored towards criticism, which may confuse the rating, but I’m truly that floored by the overall presentation, and my confidence in the direction going forward. And there’s totally some wiggle room here: I’ve known / suspected old school Hurlant is interesting but not always my favorite stuff, while recognizing its importance – even without the strips telling me about its importance. So it’s totally fair for this first issue to try and celebrate that by giving so much room to reprints.

On to the second issue!