Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 12:00:41 -0500 From: [g--l--n] at [falcon.bgsu.edu] (Metroplex) Subject: FTP 518 ==== FIT TO PRINT by cathrine yronwode for the week of January 23, 1995 THIS IS FIT TO PRINT NUMBER 518: Reviews and rainy days. RETRO 50's COMIX is a brand new production from Edge Publishing ("Humor on the Cutting Edge") with contributions by Russ Miller, Nicola Cuti, Mike Manley, Bill Pearson, Bret Blevins and others. Since these folks can (and do) get work elsewhere, they are putting their efforts into a small, specialized, b&w comic for a reason - and i suspect the reason is that there hasn't been a good EC-type comic published since Bruce Jones last edited Twisted Tales and Alien Worlds back in the 80s. Replete with semi-obligatory visual homages to the wok of the EC crew and Will Eisner, plus twistending scripts featuring several varieties of just deserts and even a happy outcome, this title is exactly what it says it is: "retro." While not all the art is up to the level of a Ghastly Ingels or even a Johnny Craig, it is new, nostalgic, and fun. If you are the type who likes to hear modern covers of vintage rock'n'roll, this comic will be right up your alley. My guess is that few retailers have stocked it and fewer distributors will reorder it once they sell out of their small initial orders, so here's the publisher's address: 15301 Bitner Place, Moorpark, California 93021. The price is $2.95. (Semi-obligatory gardening homage: Moorpark is where one of the most popular varieties of apricot was developed, years ago. I have a young Moorpark tree in my orchard.) W. I. C. C. A. (WOMEN IN COMICS CREATING ANARCHY) is an apa open to all women in the comics industry (writers, artists, editors, colourists, letterers, business staff, retailers, and distributors - but "you don't have to be an anarchist") and the first mailing has just gone out. The central mailer is Trina Robbins and she asks those who join to send $5.00-10.00 in dues-for-postage and to contribute (next deadline is the second week in January; the copy count is 25). The first issue contains material by Trina, Katherine Collins (formerly Arn Saba), Donna Barr, Nina Paley, and others. To join, send contributions and dues to Trina Robbins at 1982 15th Street, San Francisco, California 94114. WOLFF & BYRD, COUNSELORS OF THE MACABRE, well known to CBG fans, have their own b& w comic book series, which has reached issue #3. Written and drawn by Batton Lash, this strange little humour comic couples two inherently funny concepts: lawyers and horror. (Well, maybe they don't seem inherently funny to you, but Batton Lash makes them play that way.) I enjoyed both #2"s full length "Curse of the Werehouse" and #3's series of interlinked short stories, especially the final segment concerning a man who "broke the laws of gravity." The cover price is $2.50, national distribution is spotty at best, and the address of the publisher is Exhibit A Press, 4657 Cajon Way, San Diego, California 92115. THE FORT MUDGE MOST continues to amuse and thrill Pogophiles and Walt Kelly fans and issue #42 is especially amusing and thrilling because it reproduces a series of promotional photos of Kelly used by his syndicate in 1955 - accompanied by Kelly's own previously unpublished silly captions. Sample: a photo of Kelly and his long-time helper George Ward was captioned, "Kindly old Bisht Frummage shows his young assistant, Goot Loggus, how to spell POGO. Goot is asleep. Frummage is ever willing to help the younger men, finding that a slap on the back is worth a lot more than a fifteen dollar raise. Goot adores Frummage, as can be seen by the sullen look of idolatry in Goot's pocket. Frummage is explaining something to Loggus here. 'Watch what the heck you're doing,' explains Old Bisht, kindly like." Other reprints this issue center around the theme of Christmas and include the delightful "Three Blind Mice and a Christ-mas Deed" from Four Color #172 (1947). To subscribe to this fine bi-monthly specialty-zine - and become a member of the Pogo Fan Club - send $20.00 to Spring Hollow Books, 6908 Wentworth Avenue South, Richfield, Minnesota 55423. ==== Fit to Print appears in print each week in Comics Buyers Guide and is available via e-mail. Tell your friends! To subscribe to Fit to Print via e-mail send a request with the words "Subscribe FtP" in the subject header and your address in the body of the message to [g--l--n] at [bgnet.bgsu.edu.] You will be added to the list and receive the next available issue. Backissues are available. FTP to cerebus.acusd.edu and look in the Comics/About Comics/Comics News/Fit to Print directory. Responses are welcome and should be directed to [g--l--n] at [bgnet.bgsu.edu.] Fit to Print is Copyright 1994 Cathrine Yronwode. All rights reserved.