92615_RAA_LooseCannon_Text_R1_PROOF

to them. Know which books they’re offering at a low cost to the retailers, to give away free to the influx of folks rushing to the heretofore unknown comic book shops in their hometowns? Spider-man . OK, well, I can’t blame Marvel; I’d do Spider-man , too, if I were them, what with it being their flagship character and star of the big summer film. OK; I gotta give ‘em that one. A no-brainer; nice work.

DC? Justice League. Me? I would have picked Superman , but at least I see where they’re going. Super Friends for the 21st Century. Fine.

But Image? Tomb Raider. I dunno, lads, how about a comic that’s not based on a video game?

Dark Horse? Star Wars. How about a comic that’s not based on a movie?

What’s wrong with producing a NEW comic, which showcases all that the form of comics can do, and not just giving out stuff that’s just sitting around? And why make retailers foot the bill? When we were still doing monthly chapters of our comics, AiT/Planet Lar did a freight-paid overship; that is, we overshipped by 50% on the orders we received for Astronauts in Trouble: Space 1959 #1, and we also paid the freight charges. That means every retailer who received those copies of books got them for FREE… they didn’t even have to pay to get them to their store. If they sold them, they got to keep three bucks; if they didn’t, they could throw them out, recycle ‘em, make papier-mâché moon rockets, whatever. It didn’t cost them any thing, because they were free. And I’m just a regular guy, who’s convinced a bunch of his talented friends to let me publish their books. I don’t have corporate resources. But I can ship out free comics to the retailers, and the brokered publishers can’t? What’s wrong with this picture?

If you’re gonna call it "Free Comics Day," make the comics free.

3... 2... 1... January 18, 2002

Many comic book publishers hold you in disdain.

It’s true.

Secretly (because, really, how would it look if this got out?), many of the

182