So, no, no internet access at home yet, so here I am, using the store computer after hours to keep in contact with you all. I suppose I can justify it by it by linking to the store auctions that I just put up today…lots of undergrounds and Starting Lineups, so bid early, bid often!
One of the auctions I listed today was Robert Crumb’s Big Ass Comics #2, which has this description in Jay Kennedy’s Underground Comix Price Guide:
“1st [printing]. […] Has a glossy cover.
“2nd. […] Has a less glossy (almost matt) cover.”
It ain’t easy telling the difference between the two unless you have both versions right in front of you, and the five copies of this particular printing I have in the store right now are all exactly the same…and my vague memory is that even the glossy cover isn’t as glossy as most normal comic covers, and the fourth printing I have of this comic is definitely a matt cover by comparison, so here I am, gently stroking Big Ass covers, trying to decide they’re glossy or more of a matty/glossy, and isn’t this the most fascinating thing you’ve read on a comics weblog all day? Sure it is. Anyway, I’m calling it “glossy” and a 1st print, and if the winning bidder doesn’t like it…well, I suppose I can offer their money back or something.
So, on Tuesdays, DC and Marvel Comics send out their retailer newsletters, and I get to see them as soon as they come in, but usually by the time I get home, they’ve already been discussed to death and I don’t really have anything to add. However, the Mad Magazine announcement (which you can also presumably see here, even though it’s not loading at the moment) struck kind of an odd note with me:
“This November, MAD launches MADKIDS, a new magazine for
6 – 11 years olds. […] MADKIDS […] will feature both age-
appropriate classic MAD MAGAZINE parodies as well as fresh, new content….”
It seems to me that 6 to 11 is the prime age for a kid to discover Mad Magazine…by which I mean your standard Mad, not some watered down “age-appropriate” version. Of course, in this day and age, where hypersensitive parents (who, ironically, probably read the unexpurgated Mad as young’uns themselves) don’t want their precious darlings exposed to anything unpleasant, a Madkids appears to be necessary. That strikes me as just a little sad. (Of course, that won’t stop some parents from being offended by it anyway…some people out there just aren’t happy unless they’re being outraged by something.)
Of course, there’s the more-specifically targeted advertising, which is probably the primary reason for Madkids‘ existence.
Good luck to them, anyway…and let’s hope actual kids don’t reject the mag the same way they’re rejecting Marvel’s kids line in favor of the original books.