Date: Mon, 6 Feb 1995 10:51:49 -0500 From: [g--l--n] at [falcon.bgsu.edu] (Metroplex) Subject: FTP 520 Administrivia: We've had quite a few new people subscribe this past week, so I'd like to take this opportunity to first welcome them (WELCOME!) and fill them in on the in's and out's here. There's not much to it really. Cat send me the same FtP's she sends to CBG, I format them so they look nice on the infobahn, and send them out to you on Mondays. We've been running for about 5 months or so, and you can get back issues if you need to. Check at the bottom of this post. Currently, I'm working on a process that will send out FtP's automatically, but until I can ge the bugs worked out of it, this is how I send 'em out. Questions? Please feel free to e-mail me! ==== FIT TO PRINT by cathrine yronwode for the week of February 6, 1995 THIS IS FIT TO PRINT NUMBER 520: There are more changes afoot in the comic book business these days than a reasonably efficient reporter can hope to catalogue and, as usual, at any given time about half of them are only circulating in rumour form and can't be substantiated. Still, as with an algebraic equation, the combination of known and unknown factors presents us with a sort of formula from which we can, with some accuracy, plot the parabolic curve of the industry. First, from the realm of official press releases, comes word that Jim Shooter, who has had more horses shot out from under him than a career cavalry officer, has found another mount. His new backer is Broadway Video and the name of their new imprint is, not surprisingly, Broadway Comics. Jim can inspire strong loyalty in many who work with him, so it is also not surprising to read that as the editor-in-chief of the new line, he has surrounded himself with what the press release calls a "seasoned group of comics veterans who will run both the editorial and creative side of Broadway Comics." Familiar former associates of Jim among this team include J. Winston Fowlkes (president and chief operating officer) and Janet Jackson (executive editor). The press release states that Jim is currently developing two super hero projects for Broadway Powers that Be, a science fiction based "universe," and Electropolis, which features a team called the Technomancers, that he is planning a creator-owned imprint under the corporate umbrella, and that he will "also produce films, television, and multi-media video" based on Broadway's new line, but the talk on the street is all about Broadway's motion picture connection to Lassie and The Lone Ranger. "Hey, didja hear that Shooter is gonna be coming out with Lassie Comics and Lone Ranger Comics?" is the way this translates into industry gossip. And who knows? Maybe he will. Having dealt with the more-or-less known, let us now venture gingerly into the scary world of outright deep throat enigmas. No names please (for one thing, the deal or deals are still in the works, and for another, the entire situation could come unglued before this issue of CBG hits your mailbox), but here is the story the way i heard it from a guy who heard it from two different guys who heard it from someone close to the action: The way the story starts, it seems that a Large Comic Book Publisher is now in serious negotiation to buy an old-line, very reputable Smallish Comic Book Distribution Company. If and when the deal goes through, the Comic Book Company will then expand the Distribution Company into new territory, taking it national and opening up a chain of retail stores. The prospect of this occurring has reportedly set into motion a two-pronged reaction on the part of Another Large Comic Book Publisher. Plan A is said to consist of a threat to withdraw product from the Smallish Comic Book Distribution Company. Plan B comprises a rumoured bid to purchase and operate a Large Comic Book Distribution Company in retaliation. Of course, Plan B would only make sense if there were a Large Comic Book Distribution Company for sale at this time. Not surprisingly, those who tell this tale assert that, indeed, it is a little known fact that a certain Large Comic Book Distribution Company is for sale now, if the price is right. Truth or Dare? Only time will tell. Finally, to tie our parabola down to reality once more, it seems that Marvel is concluding both its digestion of Malibu and its recent spate of reassessing job descriptions, work assignments, series line-ups, and new title announcements. A lot of folks were on tenterhooks there for a while, but as they say, no news is good news, and perhaps that is the best way to enter the New Year, safe and secure from all alarms. Until the rumour mill starts up again. ==== 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.