Like many, my formative introduction to the adult-oriented, science fiction fantasy landscape of Métal hurlant (otherwise known as Heavy Metal) was through its 1981 animated anthology film adaptation. Produced by Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), co-written by Dan O’Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead) and featuring the vocal talents of John Candy and Eugene Levy (not to mention a soundtrack that includes music by Blue Öyster Cult, Journey, Devo and Cheap Trick), Heavy Metal would become an instant cult classic within the pantheon of adult animation alongside films such as Fritz the Cat, Wizards and Watership Down. The film featured several cel-animated shorts all building up to its high-octane headliner featuring a scantily-clad, sword-swinging heroine atop a pterosaur. Her name: Taarna.
Unlike Den or Captain Sternn, Taarna was among the few characters from the 1981 feature film who did not originate in the magazine version of Heavy Metal (although her story did take several inspirational cues from Arzach, a comic oft featured within the magazine’s pages, by the late great French illustrator, Jean “Mœbius” Giraud). Despite her humble feature film debut however, Taarna has continued to endure long after her cinematic inception, making appearances in more recent issues of Heavy Metal Mag, proudly displayed on bedroom shelves as an action figure and now newly featured in her very own comic series, Taarna: The Last Taarakian.
As a planet lies on the brink of collapse, as its sun enters its death throes, Taarna soars into action. Utilizing her sword’s magic, she rekindles said sun and saves the planet, but can she save countless others just like it from Kako, a green spherical embodiment of chaos, his possessed horde, and his titan-like destroyers before it’s too late? Paired alongside Shaan (a refugee of the sacked city of Sumuulia), a celestial minder in human guise and Avis, her avian steed, Taarna is tasked with saving a universe incapable of saving itself.
The comic acts as something of a soft reboot of the Taarna segment in the ‘81 film, loosely repeating several key moments. Writer Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman: Evolution) adds specificity to much of the film’s more ambiguous elements. We learn more about Taarna and her temple-like headquarters at the edge of the cosmos. Characters who, in the film, went formally unnamed, such as the horn-helmeted leader of the possessed horde (Urcuss) and the winged Avis, now have names. Even Kako is a retitling of the feature film’s dreaded Loc-Nar. Phillips also allows Taarna to be far more verbose than her silent, spaghetti western inspired, cinematic counterpart. Artists Patrick Zircher, Christian Rosado and Al Barrionuevo (Cable & Deadpool, The Saints and Batman: Gotham Knights respectively) collectively add a layered, multicolored, psychedelic approach to the comic that lies somewhere between Walt Simonson’s run on Thor and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Silver Surfer: Parable also comes to mind).
Under the tutelage of Phillips and her fellow artists, depth has been brought to a character who might otherwise be considered exploitative all the while maintaining the more racy elements (violence, nudity) for which Heavy Metal Magazine has come to be known. To quote the esteemed Sammy Hagar, Taarna: The Last Taarakian is “your one way ticket to midnight; call it Heavy Metal.”
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