Zones #2

1990. Cover price £1.75.
68 pages. Colour & B&W.
London Editions Magazines / Egmont

Cover (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 Definitely Collectable - Superman Monthly • Batman Monthly • DC Action! • Zones in-house advertisement.

 3 Zones! Introductory text (uncredited). / Contents

 4 The Shadow text introduction (uncredited). a: Howard Chaykin.

r: interior page from The Shadow (DC Comics) #02 (Jun 1986).

 5 The Shadow Blood & Judgment, part two, w:/a: Howard Chaykin. lettering by Ken Bruzenak, colouring by Alex Wald.

r: The Shadow (DC Comics) #02 (Jun 1986).

33 Close to the Edge text feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

34 Dinosaurs Attack! text feature by Brian M. Clarke.

some information taken from the fall issue of Midnight Graffitti (Midnight Graffiti Publishing) article Dinosaurs Attack! by James Van Hise in #04 (Fall 1989).

36 Swamp Thing text introduction (uncredited); a: Bernie Wrightson.

r: interior panel from Swamp Thing (DC Comics) vol.1 #01 (Oct 1972-Nov 1972).

37 Swamp Thing Dark Genesis!, cont., w: Len Wein; a: Berni Wrightson, colouring by Tatjana Wood.

r: Swamp Thing (DC Comics) vol.1 #01 (Oct 1972-Nov 1972).

46 Sky the Colour of Static! text feature by Jay Taylor.

r: covers from Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling, Count Zero by William Gibson, Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling, mirrorshades ed. by Bruce Sterling, and Neuromancer by William Gibson.

48 Wasteland text introduction (uncredited); a: William Messner-Loebs.

r: interior panel from Wasteland (DC Comics) #08 (Jul 1988).

49 The Dead Detective w: John Ostrander; a: William Messner-Loebs, colouring by Lovern Kindzierski.

r: Wasteland (DC Comics) #08 (Jul 1988).

58 The St. Louis Electric Giraffe Caper! w: Del Close & John Ostrander; a: Donald Simpson, colouring by Lovern Kindzierski.

r: Wasteland (DC Comics) #07 (Jun 1988).

67 The Bizarre Detective Chimp text feature by Brian M. Clarke.

Close to the Edge attempts to reshape the traditional letters page, with mixed results. It is interesting to see Viz, Gas, and Brain Damage singled out (among many superficially similar titles) as being immature by one reader (Simon Alison), while praising a title which is in the midst o slowly reprinting the adventures of a walking, talking cabbage. Or is Swampy more like a lettuce? I've never been certain. Answers on a McGill postcard, and all that...

A double-page feature on Dinosaurs Attack! makes mention of both Mars Attacks and Dinosaurs Attack being option for cinematic outings, and (should the continued popularity of dinosaurs proves to be sustainable) a film which might yet appear. The second double-page article is, inexplicably, about the rise of cyberpunk. In an issue which features The Shadow and The Dead Detective it would have made more sense to cover Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, or Raymond Chandler, but that isn't the most obvious problem.

Once again I find myself faced with a title almost impossible to read thanks to poor colour combinations. It isn't difficult to come up with something stylish which doesn't make your readers go blind attempting to read what is written, and (although a minor niggle in the large scheme of things) it is a distracting and unnecessary problem to introduce.

With such a limited display of covers, one might assume that the feature is a slight and frivolous overview. Which this, thankfully, isn't. It would have been nice to see a greater range of covers reproduced, but at least there is a list of important titles, however brief:

RECOMMENDED READING

Iain Bans:            The Wasp Factory
                      Espedair Street
Bruce Sterling:       The Artificial Kid
                      Islands in the Net
                      Involution Ocean
                      Schismatrix
William Gibson:       Neuromancer
                      Count Zero
                      Mona Lisa Overdrive
Greg Bear:            Blood Music
                      Eon
Pat Cadigan:          The Pathosfinder
Bruce Sterling (Ed.): Mirrorshades
                      (The Cyberpunk Anthology)

As mentioned, The Dead Detective, which features a character as-described, isn't as odd or as offbeat as it was presumably hoped to be. It is difficult to determine the purpose of the strip, but the art is fine. The St. Louis Electric Giraffe Caper!, a title dripping with 1970s underground sensibilities, is a very funny strip which, finally, validates the inclusion of material from Wasteland.

Edwin and Angelina Haldern, an elderly couple living in St. Louis, have a giraffe in their garden. Edwin received it after the Parker Brothers Circus went bust, and his wife is thoroughly fed up of the chaos it brings. Despite being promised that the creature will only remain with them a couple of weeks, until Bill Parker can raise capital down South, Angelina decides to visit her sister in Boca Raton until it is gone.

A telegram arrives, stating that Parker has died (and presumably gone to Windy Van Hooten's), leaving Edwin in charge of the giraffe for the foreseeable future. Edwin covers the giraffe in cloths as the weather grows colder, but when it begins to snow he is forced to up his game - improvising with an electric blanket and extension cords, he accidentally electrocutes the animal.

Deciding to cut up the corpse with a chainsaw, and wearing the head of a rabbit costume, Edwin sets to his task - just as his wife returns home...

Brian M. Clarke's look at Detective Chimp doesn't cover much ground, nor compare and contrast the character with similar simians in law-enforcement. While looking at old strips which have an air of being purposefully strange, there really isn't enough development of how the character fits into a long and (even stranger) tradition of creature detectives.

An improvement, though drip-feeding Swamp Thing's story across so many issues means that it is difficult to care about events.

#01

Zone

#03

Zones #1

1990. Cover price £1.75.
68 pages. Colour & B&W.
London Editions Magazines / Egmont

Cover (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 Definitely Collectable - Superman Monthly • Batman Monthly • DC Action! • Zones in-house advertisement.

 3 Introduction text (uncredited). / Contents

 4 The Shadow text introduction (uncredited). a: Howard Chaykin.

r: cover detail from The Shadow (DC Comics) #01 (May 1986).

 5 The Shadow Blood & Judgment w:/a: Howard Chaykin, c: Alex Waid; lettering by Ken Bruzenak.

r: The Shadow (DC Comics) #01 (May 1986).

33 Close to the Edge text feature (uncredited)
34 The Bizarre text feature (uncredited).
35 In the Comics Zone Swamp Thing Big is Stirring... in-house advertisement.
36 Mars Attacks text feature (uncredited)

38 Swamp Thing text introduction (uncredited); a: Bernie Wrightson.

r: interior panel from Swamp Thing (DC Comics) vol.1 #01 (Oct 1972-Nov 1972).

39 Swamp Thing Dark Genesis! w: Len Wein; a: Berni Wrightson, colouring by Tatjana Wood.

r: Swamp Thing (DC Comics) vol.1 #01 (Oct 1972-Nov 1972).

54 Shades of the Shadow text feature by Anthony Tollin.

56 Wasteland text introduction (uncredited); a: Bill Wray.

r: interior panel from Wasteland (DC Comics) #13 (Dec 1988).

57 Wasteland Tipped Toes w: John Ostrander & Del Close; a: Bill Wray, lettering by John Workman, colouring by Lovern Kindzierski.

r: Wasteland (DC Comics) #13 (Dec 1988).

66 A Trip to the Far Side text feature (uncredited).

Under a remarkably uninspiring cover, made up mainly of the name of the title, there is a healthy range of intelligent material.

COMICS HAVE GROWN UP! Or so the media is constantly telling us. In ZONES we hope to present strips which truly deserve the 'mature' label: stories with sophisticated scripts, and artwork that breaks the frontiers of the comics medium. We'll also be setting them in context by giving you articles dealing with the past, present and future of the industry and areas of related interest; science fiction, music, films and such-like.

With an impressive mission statement - notwithstanding the lack of Oxford commas - it is immediately clear that this really was a serious title, but placing such aggressively clever concepts alongside an advert for Superman, Batman, and DC Action! - all aimed firmly at an audience which would not immediately appear to be the same as readers of Zones - undermines the intent.

Next to DC's own BATMAN, THE SHADOW has remained one of the world's best known Dark Avengers. With his slouch hat pulled low and his twin revolvers blazing death for evil's minions, he was born almost a decade prior to Gotham's Guardian, back in the troubled '30s of America. What if this ruthless, dominating mystery man were to suddenly appear in amongst today's hi-tech criminal fraternity? This was the angle writer / artist Howard Chaykin decided to take in his controversial "Blood and Judgement" series, breathing new life into the 60 year old character...

I've always liked The Shadow, and the Howard Chaykin incarnation reprinted here - even if it is firmly a mid-eighties story - retains a freshness. This is largely thanks to the larger pages, beautiful paper stock, and clean, bright printing, allowing the artwork to really shine. The revitalization of The Shadow's mythology is a perfect way to open a title presented for a more mature audience, and there's even a feature on the history of the character for those of us who have a fond spot for his pulp adventures.

Close to the Edge covers the developments in non-superhero comic strips which were appearing in the late eighties, and notes that even The Face and Cut had begun commissioning material. While displaying an awareness of the landscape into which the title was emerging, there isn't any indication that the safety net of DC Comics reprints is going to give way to more obscure material. A suspicion reinforced by the following piece on Rex the Wonder Dog.

Though it doesn't make up for the inclusion of creaky DC history, the feature on Mars Attacks trading cards is a welcome treat. It is difficult to sum up the entire history of the cards in two pages, but the attempt is appreciated nonetheless.

The 20th Century has seen a whole tribe of horrific monsters from the pages of popular fiction, lurching through the night. Comics' own contender, SWAMP THING, began in 1971. Today, as his own magazine approaches its 100th issue, ZONES takes you back to his origin at the hands of creators Wein and Wrightson...

I'm not so sold on the inclusion of Swamp Thing, whose early adventures have been reprinted enough that any casual reader might have seen them previously. That Titan had begun collecting the stories renders the decision even more remarkable, though the (relatively recent) video release of The Return of Swamp Thing, along with the US title hitting 100 issues, most likely tipped the scales in its favour.

My main concern with the inclusion of Swamp Thing is how it is handled. While there is a two-page scatter-shot history of The Shadow, no such feature is allocated to the single most intriguing behind-the-scenes story to touch the DC property - Rick Veitch's treatment at the hands of DC due to his story featuring Swamp Thing travelling back in time to meet Christ. The background to then-current DC continuity would have allowed for an open and honest criticism of the censorship of creators working for the publisher. It is a frustrating omission.

Wit this strange new "mature readers" comic market opening up in the States and even here in the U.K. attempts are still being made by creators to define the boundaries. DC's WASTELAND series presented a strange mixture of fantasy and horror, with a dash of black humour thrown in. With our mystery man in black shooting out people's spines and a muck monster terrorising the swamplands, ZONES presents the lighter seasoning to "adult entertainment" The best of WASTELAND...

Tipped Toes, which takes a ludicrous conceit and runs with it for maximum humor, shows just how far DC had moved from the traditional base of their publishing endeavors. It is wonderfully illustrated, and despite being rather brief manages to contain the best lines in the issue.

With over five years worth of seriously-considered mature material having been published (though mostly outside of DC and Marvel), the contents feel very thin when examining the state of the available material. Miracleman isn't mentioned, and both Trident and Savoy - actually pushing boundaries, rather than stating they were doing so - are ignored in favour of Penguin. If someone at LEM had the nerve to represent the true state of available material the tone of the title would have been significantly more satisfying.

A fine start, managing to justify its' presence alongside the more traditional Batman and Superman titles. A very impressive looking issue, though not one which was ever seriously going to challenge an audience which was beginning to move away from material presented in companion titles. If only it had tried a little harder with the material.