Heavy Metal signs artists German Ponce and Diego Yapur to exclusive deals

(Image credit: Diego Yapur (Heavy Metal Media))

German Ponce and Diego Yapur have both signed two-year 'exclusive' contracts with Heavy Metal Entertainment. The two artists will be working on the company's flagship anthology Heavy Metal, as well as standalone comic book series.

"I'm very pleased to have these two amazing talents join the Heavy Metal family," the company's publisher/chief creative officer David Erwin says. "It will be exciting to see their contributions to Heavy Metal legacy."

Ponce is currently drawing the Heavy Metal serial 'Dark Wing,' as well as the limited series Cold Dead War (written by George C. Romero).

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"Heavy Metal is legendary, and hands-down the best sci-fi comic magazine in the world," Ponce tells Newsarama. "I have the honor to be drawing spaceships and monsters for Heavy Metal...how cool is that? Top of the world for me! I'm here to help make fantasy and sci-fi comics as I always dreamt, the Heavy Metal way!"

Yapur is drawing Dylan Sprouse's Sun Eater series for Heavy Metal, and is also scheduled to work with Romero on The Rise, a comic book prologue to the film Night of the Living Dead.

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"German and Diego are masters of this medium," Heavy Metal CEO Matthew Medney says. "Their styles are bold and striking in their own distinct ways, and both are emblematic of the quality we are striving for at the new Heavy Metal."

Following the acquisition of Heavy Metal Entertainment in late 2019 by new owners, several changes occurred at the company internally, as well as externally. With this month's Heavy Metal #300, the anthology is resuming a monthly schedule with a print run of approximately 25,000 per issue. Additionally, the company has been developing several standalone comic book series, as well as revamps of company-owned characters such as Taarna.

All of Heavy Metal's comics are available digitally as well as in print - but which reader is the best for reading digital comics? Check out our rundown of the 10 best comic readers for Android and iOS devices.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)