One thing to note about the Heavy Metal editorial board: at least they printed critical letters. I must have missed the dismissive response mentioned in the first letter. The response provided here hedges on “we didn’t invent this.”

The next two letters complaining about the quality of the writing are right on target. The final letter in the column contains the quote “Heavy Metal is better than being stoned.” The magazine used that as their tag line quite early on.

Given the art-based stories and random (often gratuitous) nudity, there is something to be said for the conclusion that Heavy Metal was produced by stoners for stoners. There is ample evidence that the brand is focused on guys who want to sit in their van and look at some cool art.

(Heavy Metal issue #11, February 1978 – Page 1 & 68 Chain Mail)