I'm wondering what other folks think of comics in magazine format - you know, old titles like 'Rampaging Hulk', 'Vampirella', 'Eerie', stuff like that.

With accent on the word 'old'. I've been wondering why magazine-sized comics died out, and why no attempt has been made to bring them back. Or at least no attempt that I've seen (please, if there are any, just let me know).

Sure there is 'Heavy Metal' (still waitin' to hear if they have accepted my story...), but I never see new ones.

Also, having never read the Hulk ones, were there many that weren't anthologies? More or less, 'Vampirella', 'Savage Sword of Conan' and the rest were really anthologies with ongoing stories, but I don't know of any that just had the one story and no others (was that the format of the Rampaging Hulk?).

Most importantly, does anyone think there is any market for this sort of thing? I always kinda liked the idea that the comic stories in the magazines were a little more 'adult' than in regular comics (if for no other reason that there were nipples in SSOC but not in Conan the Barbarian)(and not just on the guys, either ), and would imagine that there would still be a place for that sort of thing today.

Or maybe not. Maybe the trend to have more 'mature' content (storywise if not nipplewise) in regular comics makes magazines irrelevant. Still, I liked the larger format, the larger canvas to play with if you will.

I was gonna say you can never have enough 'nipples', but I think 2 would be enough for most folks!

I miss Epic Magazine. That was probably my favorite 'comic' ever.

I suspect the cost of keeping an 'Epic' going was disproportionaly high versus the cost of the regular monthly books. Especially for Marvel who was drawing from its regular editorial pool (and artist and writers.) You've only got so much talent at your disposal. Probably the monthly books had a higher profit margin and certainly a better turn around time on investment.

And... ummmm... none of that really addresses your question.

I'll go ramble somewhere else now.


(Elfquest was originally magazine size also.)

As a kid I didn't buy many of the magazine-sized books. I got MAD and Cracked and a couple of the Marvel B&W mags, but that's about it.

In the late 80s, I did start gathering back issues of Warrior magazine. My main interest in that was for the Alan Moore written stories. I liked the format and much of the other content as well.

'Heavy Metal' is on several newsstands in the St. Louis area. Along with '2000AD', 'Shonen Jump' and 'Raijin'(I think that's the name). Also, the digest format for various 'Archie' comics and 'Disney Adventures'. People like magazine comics. For some reason, American comic companies don't.

Marvel tried a Magazine-style full-color format for reprint material from their Ultimate line, aimed at trying to get comics in places like Wal-Mart and such. I actually saw copies at a local Walgreens and a couple of grocery stores.

I don't think it was a huge success, but I don't think this one effort should be the litmus test either. Look at Shonen Jump ... I see copies of it everywhere. From what I hear, it sells well.

I think the mature content from the magazines of the late 70's / early 80's stemmed from the fact that many of the magazines didn't carry the all-important Comics Code Authority seal. ( I have to admit,I was a little surprised in my early teens to see Beverly topless after just doing something naughty with a duck in the B&W Howard the Duck, although I expected to see stuff like this in the Warren mags at the time. )

We've since evolved into a situation where the publishers just don't bother with the seal at all, allowing free rein to the creators for content.

What I liked about the magazine format was the completeness of the stories and the quantity of strories. Bizarre Adventures often had several complete stories ... sometimes as few as two ... so I guess I liked the anthology aspect of the mags more than the content.

While I don't think Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu is the type of mag you're referring to, I liked reading those. In addition to a few stories with Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Sons of the Tiger, White Tiger, ...etc. you'd often get an interview with someone like Chuck Norris or they'd do a behind-the-scenes look at a martial arts tournament, or a review of Bruce Lee's movie career or something.

I personally miss the old mags, but I don't think that we'll see anything like them again. ( Although I was really excited a while back when I heard Marvel was going to revive their Epic line, only to be heavily disappointed at what they were going to publish... )

Jim

I think the major problem publishers have is that these mags are returnable..so they juts stick to the direct market and play it "safe".

I liked Savage Sword of Conan...I still have issues 190-207 where Roy Thomas and John Buschema reunited for a second run on Conan...great stuff...its covered the period where Conan sailed across the world as a pirate!!

I guess you people mean NORMAL-sized comics rather than those puny things you americans push out

That's an interesting point, Charles. Have UK comics always been larger-sized and anthologies?

Jim

I'm a huge fan of B&W comic magazines. I love 'em.

yes indeed they have.Marvel do a line of reprint comics thata re the same size as their US counterparts, but most comics are still mag size

+ 1. Although I didn't know they even existed during their heyday, I have a few boxes of them now. Pretty much all Warren publications. I do remember buying Epic pretty regularly though.


The only semi-recent attempt at the format I can think of was IDW's Doom magazine.

Another I can think of, Freaky Tales. Reprints of public domain horror comics published by the former publisher (and complete scumbag) of Famous Monsters. No desire to put money in that guys pocket, so I never bought an issue.

Bizarre Adventures was a good one, as I recall. And Marvel Premiere. The best Marvel one, IMO, was Rampaging Hulk.

In the '90s,DC put out at least one magazine featuring Batman,Superman,and other DC characters rendered in the style of the TV cartoon shows of the time.I think Mike Parobeck did some of the art;it looked great.Don't know why there can't be more superhero 'zines---printed on the right type of paper,it wouldn't be that much more expensive than a regular-sized comic book nowadays.

I think I have a copy of Bizarre Adventures I've kept since high school in a box somewhere...that issue had a new character called Paradox in it if I recall correctly...

They're still trying out the format;saw superhero magazines from DC and Marvel sitting side by side at a grocery store newsstand a few days ago.The DC mag had a preview of the Beware The Batman cartoon,a story done in the style of the upcoming show.