Magazine Watch

Issue 17 of Paperback Fanatic is out now and on the way to subscribers. I must admit I wasn't overly pleased when the magazine moved to A5, but the new size suits the magazine and is definitely growing on me. Of course it helps that the page count has been increased and the inclusion of colour into the magazine really helps the images stand out.

The current issue is packed cover to cover with great articles - I found Andrew Decker's piece on the Nick Carter series to be particularly interesting, but then back in the day I was a sucker for the Nick Carter series.


There's also a great article looking the the blaxploitation novels of Joseph Nazel. And that's not all - the mag is well worth checking out by anyone interested in the twilight world of paperback. Check it out HERE

Clint issue 5 finally goes on sale and should be popping up everywhere over the next few days - the lead article this time out is an interview with Samuel L. Jackson, billed as the coolest geek on the planet in which the actor talks about his role as Nick Fury in the forthcoming Avengers movie. The mag's done away with the Sezy Chavs page this time out which was at least entertaining, and for some bizarre reason they have replaced the page with a bizarre section called Sexy Pets - I kid you not.

Of the strips there is at least some development in Kick Arse 2 and Nemesis comes to a blistering conclusion. Jonathon Woss's strip, Turf has become boring. Thankfully Rex Royd has been rested and is replaced by Pro which is a massive improvement. American Jesus is shaping up nicely and is easily my favourite strip in the entire magazine.

Clint needs to solve its distribution problems and get future issues out on time or it is going to lose readers.

The Archive is saddened to report that Book and Magazine Collector is no more - the mag ceased publication last month after more than twenty years. The magazine was not making a loss but had failed to move with the times and as such was failing to pick up new readers.

On a more positive report next month will see another British comic magazine aimed at mature readers hitting shops - Look out for Strip which looks enticing with its mixture of all new and reprint material.

Lancaster-based Print Media Productions has agreed a deal with UK publisher Egmont to feature Hookjaw in the Magazine, re-publishing the strip in colour – and also has an option to publish Dredger, the hard-nosed secret agent who also featured in Action. I was a huge fan of the Dredger stories as a kid so I am especially looking forward to this one and Hook Jaw in colour too - WOW!

HookJaw, inspired by the classic blockbuster movie Jaws, was created by comics legend Pat Mills, scripted by Ken Armstrong and drawn initially by Ramon Sola, followed by Felix Carrion and Eric Bradbury. Consistently topping reader polls, it was Mills who decided to make the shark the star of the strip which tackled environmental issues and corporate greed with equal relish.

The strip also caused controversy on publication, one of the stories that rapidly saw Action become a target of campaigners outraged by its violent content — and its social commentary. The controversy Action created saw the comic ‘banned’ after just 37 issues, returning to the news stands only after its characters had been toned down and effectively emasculated by management demands on the editorial team.

The entire controversy was documented in Martin Barker’s book, Action – The Story of a Violent Comic, published in 1990 by Titan Books.