I was 14 years old, and neck deep in a comic-book obsession, in the summer of 1984.� Free time was wasted in the mall video arcade, or just across the street at Earth Prime, our Burlington, Vermont comic shop.� I spent many of these days with my friend
Mike Barrett, and in a fit of summer-boredom / comics-enthusiasm, we started up a bi-weekly fanzine called
The Friendly Neighborhood Comic Paper.� Almost 20 years ago.� Don't hold it against us.
It was pre-computers, of course... we had an old typewriter, no design experience, some barely-there writing ability, and Mike's formative drawing skills.� I remember hours of sitting on my bedroom floor, going through comic publisher press releases, coming up with stories, pecking at typewriter keys, putting together each issue with scissors and rubber cement.� Our headlines were horribly handwritten (no font size on typewriters), our borders were crooked, our photocopies were spotty and misaligned. � But hey, we were 14 and having fun.� (well, until I tried to transcribe a tape-recorded panel discussion from the Albany-Con comic convention ... that nearly cost me a hand).
Looking back through these, after I stop laughing, I'm struck how much we learned as we went.� More content, better layout, bringing in friends to help, covering broader subjects (videogames included, of course).� I love the first time we got reader mail (two letters from our biggest fan, David Parker). I love how excited we were when we used a dot-matrix printer for the first time (asking our readers "So, what do you think?!"). I love that we traced comic illustrations but always made sure to put the copyright info next to 'em.� I love that we begged local business to buy ads that hardly anyone would ever see.� I love that we had 'competition' with Noel Lawrence's "Comicers Report" 'zine.� I love that our last issue had a huge 'preview' of a comic by our friends Greg Giordano and Mark Amidon, a comic that never even came out.� I love seeing the shift in my personal tastes from mainstream Marvel and DC books to stuff from "direct sales" publishers like Eclipse and Comico ("I have seen the light!" I shouted in one issue).� We're talking about the onset of hardcore early-stage geekery here, folks.
After nine issues, the FNCP became "The Comics Informer" (copies of which seem to have been lost to the ages), which only lasted a couple of issues.� I don't think we ever did finish transcribing those Albany-Con recordings, though.� I'm sure our readership was devastated.
So
here they are... 8 issues (issue #6 is MIA) of
The Friendly Neighborhood Comic Paper, digitized for your amusement.� Laugh with us, or laugh at us.� Either way, enjoy.�
(let me know if any of the links are messed up. oh, and, sorry about this, Mike)
