Amazing Heroes Issue # 118 Table of Contents

Amazing Heroes Issue # 118 Table of Contents

Periodical
Comics Strips

The table of contents for Amazing Heroes’ 118th issue is housed in a rectangular box slightly smaller than the overall page, bordered to the edge by a pattern that resembles a large cluster of sprinkles. Headed by a black bar containing basic information about the fanzine’s basic information, “No. 118, Amazing Heroes, June 1,” the word “Contents” is printed in large text, stylistically presiding over the remainder of the page. The list of contents is separated into three columns, although there are only two types of article in the magazine. The first heading is “Features,” which reveals four articles that share a similar theme: “A New Wind from the East,” subtitled “Our specialist on manga previews the three Eclipse titles and puts everything in perspective, by Fred Patten” (page 30), “School for Manga,” subtitled, “The creator of Lone Wolf and Cub teaches a new generation of cartoonists, by J. Collier” (page 42), “Samurai Superstrip,” subtitled, “The history of, and appeal behind, Lone Wolf and Cub, by Vern Grant” (page 46), and “First look,” subtitled “Kamui the Ninja Previewed” (page 52).

Still in the first column, another heading reads “Depts.”, and begins with “Editorial” (page 7), then advances to the middle column with “Newsline” (page 11), “Coming Distractions” (page 17), “Doc’s Bookshelf” (page 63), “Comics in Review,” subtitled “Japanese imports, by Gerard Jones,” another advancement to the third and final column, “Amazing Readers” (page 77), and “Don Rosa’s Information Center” (page 87). Beneath the second and third columns is an illustration from one of the Japanese comics featured, Kamui the Ninja, along with a nearby set of text that tangentially refers to its series, “Our Cover: Kamui the Ninja as painted by Sanpei Shirato. Thanks to Viz Communications for providing the artwork which is ©1986 Sanpei Shirato and Shogakukan.” The illustration displays the same character from the cover, a young, haggard man from Edō period Japan with a patterned robe and wild hair, now being struck with a rudimentary weapon held by an unknown assailant. He is staring down with a sense of confusion and anger as the device, which looks like a hoe manufactured from a stick fastened to a sharper material, is swung at his chest, producing a stylized “THOK” sound effect. Notably, the English sound effect indicates that this comic has been localized for English-speaking audiences, allowing for the easy review and distribution that this fanzine needs.

The theme of this issue is focused heavily on manga, citing a few series published by Eclipse Comics, which, notably, was one of the first publishers to distribute to dedicated comic book shops. Their later deals with Viz Communications (now Viz Media) included the manga referenced in the table of contents, which are some of the first manga ever translated and distributed in the United States. However, the process was tedious, as the pages had to be painstakingly flipped, while sound effects had to be cut out and replaced by their English equivalents.

Editor: Kim Thompson
Art Director: Dale Crain, Doug Erb
With Some Help From: Michael Adams
News Correspondent: J. Collier
Production Assistant: Teresa Moore
Typesetting: L. M. Gorell & Ariene Easter
Circulation: Rachel Enger

MSU Special Collection Comic Art, PN6725.A47

Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

1987-06

Colin Corcoran

Rights Restrictions Apply

6 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.

English

Periodical

1981-1992

Comic book

6 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.