Sword & Sorcery comics by Philippe Druillet (1944-) expanded the visual vocabulary of heroic fantasy. Not bound by the American market, Druillet gave us a wide panorama of dark worlds. Best known for his SF comic “Lone Sloane”, he explored the boundaries of S&S in the 1970s and 80s.
Heavy Metal began in April 1977 as the American version of Metal Hurlant, a European comic with plenty of nudity and hard rock style. Begun in December 1974, Hurlant was created by Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Bernard Farkas, Moebius along with Druillet. These European creators would be the midwives for illustrated adult fantasy in the US.
Druillet created the first S&S tales for Hurlant then reprinted them in Heavy Metal. Later his work went directly to HM. He wrote comics for other artists as often as he did for himself. These other creators, either by having a similar style or out of admiration, gained a little of Druillet’s style and approach. He sometimes drew comics others wrote.
“The Adventures of Yrris” (Metal Hurlant, July 1975/Heavy Metal, April -May 1978) was written by Philippe Druillet and drawn by Dominique “Alexis” Vallet.
“Agorn” (Metal Hurlant, January 1975/Heavy Metal, May 1977) was written and drawn by Philippe Druillet.
“The Golden Queen” (Metal Hulant, March 1976/Heavy Metal, July 1977) was written by Philippe Druillet and drawn by Serge Bihannic.
“The Black Queen” (Metal Hurlant, July 1975/Heavy Metal, August 1977) was written by Marcel Gottlieb and drawn by Phillipe Druillet. (Thanks, Luc.)
“Urm the Mad” (Heavy Metal, February-May 1978) was written with Michel Demuth and drawn by Druillet. This comic and “Yragael” (below) were originally conceived as an adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s Elric. They did not appear in Metal Hurlant but only in Heavy Metal.
“City of Flowers” (Heavy Metal, April 1978) was written by Phillipe Druillet and drawn by Picotto.
“The Story of the Acrylic Mage and His Vibratory Perturbations” (Metal Hurlant, December 1977/Heavy Metal, July 1978) was written by Phillipe Druillet and drawn by Serge Bihannac.
1980 saw Druillet tackle larger stories with series spread over multiple issues of Heavy Metal.
“Salaambo” (Heavy Metal, August 1980-March 1981) written and drawn by Druillet the story is an adaptation of Flaubert’s novel.
“Yragael” (Heavy Metal, April 1982-January 1983)
“Salaambo II (Heavy Metal, February-September 1984)
Heavy Metal as a magazine moved away from pure Sword & Sorcery after 1982, preferring a strange hybrid of Science Fiction, sex and punk. (Which would earn it the nickname “Semi-Mental”.) Philippe Druillet may have been part of that transition away from Howardian tales as his work always featured spaceships and other SF motifs. Whatever the case, Druillet, along with artist like Jean-Claude Gal, was an exciting renderer of vast, fantastic worlds in a way John Buscema and the Marvel crowd never captured. Not until Enrique Alcatena‘s work in the 1990s would Conan have that same power.
