Chris Smillie has just made the latest issue of his comics news and reviews fanzine Comicscape available to download, and it won't cost you a penny.The 48 page full colour issue is full of up-to-date news snippets on comics and related media and short articles and reviews of American and British comics. There's a passionate item by Chris asking why comic shops don't stock mainstream UK comics, although to be fair some do. (Nostalgia & Comics in Birmingham for example, have been stocking The Dandy for months.)
The layout of Comicscape is basic and I felt it might help if the central gutter was a bit wider. It's unfair to nitpick though as Chris is doing this for free and for our benefit. It reminds me of the fanzines of old, and I mean that in a complimentary way. Doing blogs is one thing (and very easy thanks to the Blogger templates) but it's good to see an actual comic fanzine again so full marks to Chris for producing it. There's even a brand new UK comic hero, Kid Tiger, making his debut exclusively in this issue.
Here's the rundown for the issue from Chris himself:Reviews, news, and views for May 2012. Top news stories include big successes for Marvel in their comic arc AvX and spectacular box-office smash, Avengers Assemble. 2000AD announces a partnership with IDW, whilst bringing back the Dark Judges to the weekly. Meanwhile, DC re-introduces Earth-2, as Image reveal the demise of Jack Staff.
• In Tales That Astonished, we go back to the epic Legion of Superheroes: The Great Darkness Saga.
• This Day In Comics sees resurrection central from May 1982
• In Versus, it’s Wolverine against your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man
• The Old and The New pits Defenders #4 from 1973 against Defenders #4 from 2012
• Post-apocalyptic BBC drama Threads is the Flick That Time Forgot
• New comic strip, Kid Tiger, begins.
You can read Comicscape No.3 online at:
http://issuu.com/starscape/docs/comicscape3
http://www.myebook.com/index.php?option=ebook&id=126914
Or download the PDF from:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/chris-smillie/comicscape-may-2012/ebook/product-20111260.html
http://free.yudu.com/item/details/520943/ComicScape-May-2012
http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product/102110/ComicScape-%233
(The Lulu link worked best for me as a download. The others seemed a bit slow to load when I tried.)
You can visit Chris' website at:
http://StarscapeOnline.com
and his Facebook page is:
http://www.facebook.com/starscapecomic
2 comments:
Hi lew,
I see no comments on comicscape, or maybe all the comments were negative... Well, i downloaded the pdf, and... I was disappointed. Your write-up was better than the actual thing. Its like the trailer being more exciting than the movie.
Maybe there just were too many articles... It skipped from one aricle to another. I did not read every one, but the ones you highlighted i found superficial, of no real depth... Just a collection of "sound bites" on the page...
Anyway, it was free, all i lost was time... No big deal
Regards
I'd have published the comments even if they had been negative but you're the first to comment. Yes, it is a breezy read but it's free and fairly up to date so I felt I couldn't complain.
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