Name: Jim Kingman
Jim Kingman has been a faithful reader and collector of comic books for over thirty years. He currently publishes Comic Effect, a quarterly fanzine dedicated to emphasizing the fun in reading comics from all ages Golden, Silver, and Modern! For more on CE, check out its website at ComicEffect.Com.
An Offer You Shouldn’t Refuse!
By Jim Kingman
As was the case last week, I find myself in the process of meeting other deadlines besides my Silver Bullet Comics column. This time around, however, I’m going to meet my SBC deadline by revealing what those other deadlines are -- because it is indeed comics-related -- and to make the readers of CEW an offer they shouldn’t refuse.
As many of you know, I publish Comic Effect, a small press fanzine that emphasizes the fun in reading comic books. For over ten years, I have printed many articles from longtime comics readers who have written about their favorite comic books, comic book characters, comic book series, and comic book creators. Comic Effect is more a labor of love than anything else…and it isn’t advertised in Diamond or sold through comic book shops. I sell it through mail order. The latest issue, Comic Effect #41, should be out in a couple of months, and I’m also working on two theme issues of CE simultaneously, hence my limited time for other projects.
During CE’s first four years of publication, I had a high print run per issue to take advantage of a cost break. A lot of those remaining books are taking up space in the apartment: Closet space, storage box space, under-the-desk space. So here’s the deal, and the offer: I want to get rid of ‘em. I will mail two copies to anyone who is interested, and all I need is for you to e-mail me your address so I can send them to you. And if you’re a current reader of CE and would like to see what it was like in its early years (because it took a few years of hit and miss development to make it the more realized book it is today), just drop me a line and let me know! I’ll send a back issue out to you with the newest release.
And, hey, I’m not above a soft sell: If you enjoy your free issues of Comic Effect enough to consider subscribing or checking out some current issues, I’d be pleased. While it is indeed a labor of love, and I have a core group of terrific contributors who will help keep me publishing CE for years to come, it’s not cheap to produce. There are the usual costs for any publishing venture: paper costs, printing costs, postage costs, and advertising costs. A $24 subscription to CE goes a long way in helping cover its production, and you will be receiving six issues. It may not always be on the quarterly basis I strive for, but you will be guaranteed six issues!
But for now, forget the blatant soft sell, let’s just stick with the offer: If you’d like a free fanzine that’s all about comics, just let me know. There should also be a few cover scans sprinkled throughout this article as further enticement. You can reach me at jkcomeff@aol.com.
If nothing else, help ye column writer make some space! Now…if I could only find a way to keep up with these dang deadlines…
Discuss this column at the Special Effects forum.
© 2004-, Jim Kingman