FA the Comiczine

This will be old news to some of you, but for those of you who didn't already know, Britain's most enduring comics fanzine has a new life online these days. FA the Comiczine can be found here: 
http://comiczine-fa.com/ 

FA started out as the fanzine Fantasy Advertiser way back in 1965, created by Frank Dobson as a way to sell his comics via mail order. When Frank emigrated to Australia in 1970 the editorial reins were passed on to Dez Skinn and Paul McCartney (not the Beatle). You can read Dez' fascinating anecdotes about it on his website here:
http://dezskinn.com/quality-comms/

Although still heavy on the sales ads, Dez did include some great features too, such as in Fantasy Advertiser No.55 (April 1975) which carried an interview with Stan Lee by Charles Murray.

Cover art by Bryan Talbot.

By the time I first discovered the 'zine, in 1977, it was being edited by Colin Campbell and had a pretty even balance of features, strips, and ads. 

Cover by Trev Goring.

Cover by Jeff Anderson.

Martin Lock became the next editor/publisher in the early 1980s, giving the 'zine a good comics news section, and continuing the features and a lively letters column. 

Cover by Eddie Campbell.

Martin Skidmore took over in the mid-1980s, and abbreviated the title to FA because he felt 'Fantasy Advertiser' sounded a bit like a sex contact mag. It also allowed FA to cover material beyond the fantasy genre. 

Cover by George Perez.

FA was taken over by Trident Comics in 1988, retaining Martin Skidmore as editor, but unfortunately the mag closed when the company went bankrupt in 1991. However in 2010, Martin revived the title as an online 'zine with new material. 

Sadly, Martin Skidmore passed away a few years ago but his colleagues and friends have continued to keep FA the Comiczine going. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Fantasy Advertiser so hopefully there'll be something significant to mark the milestone on the website. It's the fanzine that seems indestructible. Check it out. There's some great articles by Nevs Coleman, Andrew Moreton and others, plus Martin Hand's bizarre strip World of Flimsy. 
http://comiczine-fa.com/

New comic pages in today's Guardian

Today's edition of The Guardian highlights something special within its Guardian Weekend magazine. There are six all-new exclusive comic stories featuring some of the top names in the comics industry teamed with literary authors. There are 26 pages of comic strip in total, plus additional features on some of the creators.

The strips are:
Masks by Gillian Flynn and Dave Gibbons
Having Renewed my Fire by Dave Eggers (who also drew the cover)
Thursdays, Six to Eight p.m. by Audrey Niffenegger and Eddie Campbell
Art and Anarchy by Michel Faber and Roger Langridge
Freefall by Margaret Atwood and Christian Ward
Do You Hear What I Hear? by A.M.Homes, adapted by Frazer Irving

If you're hoping to see strips in the style of traditional children's comics you won't find them here as these are stories of a more intellectual style. Not that it should put anyone off if course, as these are fine examples of the rich diversity of mature comics. 

It's a shame The Guardian chose 'Cartoon Special' as a header on their front page. Why is Britain so embarrassed by the word 'comics'? Yes, the public does sometimes call comics 'cartoons', but why feed that misnomer? Anyway, that's just a minor niggle. The important thing is this is an interesting collection of new UK comic material, so buy a copy today. 
The Guardian is £2.50 for the Saturday edition.