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PIPELINE COMMENTARY AND REVIEW #45
12 April 1998
by Augie De Blieck Jr.
http://www.nic.com/~augie/pipeline
My Perfect Magazine
It wasn't too long ago that I asked why the perfect comic book
magazine hasn't been made yet. I described it as something of a cross
between WIZARD and THE COMICS JOURNAL.
Well, this week the new TCJ came out, complete with a Kevin Eastman
interview running close to 60 pages. This thing has it all. Eastman is
uncensored not only in the material he's allowed himself to talk about,
but also in his rough verbiage. (The 'F' word runs rampant, so keep the
kiddies away.)
I'm only twenty pages into it so far and the thing is brilliant. I'm
just getting to the discussion about the failed Tundra. This seems to be
the bulk of the interview, but the TMNT stuff leading up to it itself is
really interesting.
The highlight, meanwhile, of WIZARD this month is a 4 page interview
with Adam Kubert, in which we learn that he likes White Castle hamburgers.
WHO GIVES A FLYING LEAP?!? Yeah, it's fun to read about the hidden
interests of comics creators, but c'mon! Surely they talked about more
than the crazy lady outside the window and the number of burgers they can
eat! Surely there's more to a comic book interview than the standard
glossy crap Wizard spews forth here at Kubert. I know he used to
letter comics and I know he works in the Kubert School basement...(And,
ironically enough, the interview was dated the minute the issue hit the
stands, as Kubert has since left HULK. That can't be helped, but it is
kinda funny.)
The Alan Davis interview was interesting, in that it was covering new
ground. Maybe I've just never read another Davis interview, or maybe he's
always been quiet. I don't know. But this was new. However, it also was
just covering the surface of the matter. There are no details here. There
is no juicy gossip. No names are named. =)
Maybe it's the difference between alternative comics and mainstream
comics that makes these two magazines so different. Alternative comics
creators tend to work for themselves or smaller independent companies and
so can open their mouth more without fear of retribution. And maybe the
Marvel and DC guys are afraid for their careers. If they tell the truth on
any given matter, in full and explicit detail, they could be blackballed
from a company.
So maybe the biggest difference between the magazines isn't a choice,
but a necessity.
However, this doesn't mean there isn't a happy medium. And so I
present to you:
AUGIE'S GUIDE TO A GOOD COMICS MAGAZINE
1. Interview fewer people, and give them more space. I don't want to have
to go to your website to read a full interview. Give it to me in the
magazine, otherwise your magazine is useless and not worth reading, anyway.
TCJ has it right here -- do one or two featured interviews per issue and
give them plenty of space. Do a long interview. Cover everything. But
keep it moving in a focused direction. Keep on the topic of comics and
comics lifestyles. Don't talk about silly and stupid things like favorite
cereals or hamburgers. Or if you do, make it a sidebar.
1a. Interview everyone. Interview Dave Sim. And Todd McFarlane. And Erik
Larsen. And Peter David. (I'm sure by now, you could cover 60 plus pages
with a PAD interview.)
1b. Ask anything. I don't care if it makes the interviewer uncomfortable
to ask a person what their page rate was on a certain assignment. Go
ahead. Worst case: The interviewee refuses to answer. (Well, OK, maybe we
don't have to go into one's personal life, and family life. I don't need
that, but that's not comics-related for the most part, anyway.)
2. Make your comics magazine about comics. This sounds revolutionary,
doesn't it? I don't want to read about video games that don't have some
sort of comics connection. If I wanted that, I'll read a video game
magazine.
3. Include HOW TO articles. They're always fun and relevant and
interesting for the ones who still dream of working in this failing
industry. But try to keep the same columnist for a while, eh? If you
don't know the columnist's approach to a matter, his opinions are useless
to me. And the only way for me to become familiar with his style is by
reading more than one column out of him. And let's have regular columns
each month for writers and artists! (And then throw in a third for
colorists, letterers, editors, etc. You can switch that around a little.)
4. The same goes for reviewers. We need to know their tastes. Those are
more relevant than a grading system.
5. PLEASE don't try to be so damned hip. I read DEAD-POOL for my hip
quotient. I want a comic book magazine which is serious about its comics.
I want to read reviews which don't attempt to insult the book with silly
quips or which insults my intelligence.
6. At the same rate, recognize there is fun in comics and that not
everything mainstream is slop and not everything alternative is art. (Are
you reading this, Gary Groth?)
7. Color is not a necessity. It's nice, but if that's the price I have to
pay for a quality magazine, I'll pay it.
8. Price guides are not a necessity. I realize if this magazine I'm
creating were to be Wizard's replacement, it would need a price guide,
since many retailers rely on it, and since many kids still believe in the
stupid things. So I sacrifice idealism for economic realities.
9. Have a letters column with intelligent letter-writers making actual
points. And then run the full letters, and not just snippets for the
purposes of your hip retarts.
10. Do investigative articles. Wizard and CBG will both mention that, say,
the HEAVY METAL CD-ROM was cancelled. Only TCJ does a 4 page article on
why, referring back to the court documents and interviews with the creators
involved. Ditto the Carl Barks situation.
11. I like TCJ's SWIPE FILE. I'd swipe it, in one form or another. Maybe
I'd just sponsor Genesis Comics' SWIPE OF THE MONTH web site. I don't
know.
12. I think a lot of the articles Wizard does on the news and by way of
reviewing products which are coming out is just plain redundant to PREVIEWS
magazine. Wizard's "Stuff" column is easily supplanted by picking up
PREVIEWS. But I realize not everyone can afford both, or has access to the
web to read the news that way. So maybe we'll stick with that.
13. We don't need Top 10 lists. Uh-uh.
In the end, the above ideal is probably untenable. I doubt it would last
in the market place. And isn't that a shame?
-Augie
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