Development of a BANG
issue is a long process. The basic central adventure is thought out months in advance. The stories and submissions are
then picked out over that time: some that were submitted months ago and were just waiting for a slot, some that I run
across online and like enough to beg the author for permission, and some I receive by submission that very day. Once I
know what I want, the logistics of fitting it all into 32 pages neatly is calculated. The final month before the due
date is spent running around Portland and failing to get advertising support. When the main story in this issue was
originally conceived, it was just supposed to be a string of short vignettes about the holiday season. It was going to
be calm and more subdued than the outrageous plots of the first two issues. And then it came time to write it, which to
give you a better idea of the lead time was right before Superstorm Sandy, and....it turned into this.
Ideally, I'd like more of an even mix between stories and cartoons. The majority of content in BANG so far has been
comic-based mostly because 90% of the useable material I get sent is in comic form.
"Did You Want Spies With That," by Becky Hopkins, is the result of a long, long search and is the first pictureless
fiction story in BANG history. It's followed up by "A Duel At Dawn," a whirlwind of impressively crafted elongated prose
that happens to be about cats fighting.
Al Vigil submitted some of the funniest material that I've gotten
lately and he was awarded space in at least two BANG issues. There is a longer story of his in the wings based around
Slenderman; hopefully that meme won't be dead by the time it prints.
Teen Goddess Kassandra was originally meant for BANG #1, believe it
or not. You also may or may not believe the paper was originally intended to be 48 pages long. Back when I picked up
Kassandra, in the pre-production stage, clearing twelve pages of space for it was no problem. Not so much now. So yes,
those last four pages that look suspiciously condensed WERE in fact recut and repasted to fit. Schedule snafus like this
are also the reason why Forever 16 is running a Halloween story in the Christmas issue.
You know who drew this? Alex Dudley. You know what Alex Dudley also makes? Toons These Days, a side-splitting series of
animated shorts on YouTube. I mentioned the Johnny Test one in the paper, but without the video right in front of them,
most people likely didn't look it up. Now you have no
excuse.
Elmo got in trouble
before this issue's deadline, but I kept this mention anyway because I couldn't think of a better New York celebrity to
put there. By the way, if you live in a cave and still don't know why Elmo got in trouble, it was because of
this:
Vess MacMeal is back
and this time she's talking about the Wii U. I wasn't kidding about that update...if you're going to buy one, be aware
you won't get to play it right away. And yes, cheap one-dimensional tablet games are a "button" for me. I think they're
hellspawn for a number of reasons, but one of the worst is that I have heard of children who have been so corrupted by
these things that not only are they baffled by a game controller, they can't even work a TV remote. OVER MY DEAD BODY am
I going to deal with a generation gap that huge.
Finally, you may have noticed BANG was intended to be a monthly paper, but instead has been sort of coming out
bimonthly. This is because, currently, aside from a scant few supporters (THANK YOU, Dark Horse) I am the only one who's
willing to pay for it. This also affects the distribution size, so if you can't find BANG, it means I couldn't afford to have it shipped this month to where you always get it! If you know how to change this current state of misfortune, or you know somebody who knows how,
don't hesistate to get in touch. Networking may help the situation and I currently don't know that many people.
If you'd like to contribute a little to BANG's future but you're broke, there is one thing you CAN do that will help me:
use the coupons in the issue. To let you in on a trade secret, business owners use coupons to find out if their
advertising gets any response and is therefore worthwhile. In BANG #3, there's one for an art supply store and one for
Future Dreams on Burnside (which is actually located in the basement of a warehouse, just so you aren't scared off by
not knowing that previously). You don't have to ruin your issue with scizzors either. Bring the paper in to either of
those places, and they may be convinced to spend money on future issues of BANG.
You can also buy hair loopies or digital copies of the paper, neither of which cost very much. Ahem.
--Mulberry Sharona
Development of a BANG
issue is a long process. The basic central adventure is thought out months in advance. The stories and submissions are
then picked out over that time: some that were submitted months ago and were just waiting for a slot, some that I run
across online and like enough to beg the author for permission, and some I receive by submission that very day. Once I
know what I want, the logistics of fitting it all into 32 pages neatly is calculated. The final month before the due
date is spent running around Portland and failing to get advertising support. When the main story in this issue was
originally conceived, it was just supposed to be a string of short vignettes about the holiday season. It was going to
be calm and more subdued than the outrageous plots of the first two issues. And then it came time to write it, which to
give you a better idea of the lead time was right before Superstorm Sandy, and....it turned into this.
Teen Goddess Kassandra was originally meant for BANG #1, believe it
or not. You also may or may not believe the paper was originally intended to be 48 pages long. Back when I picked up
Kassandra, in the pre-production stage, clearing twelve pages of space for it was no problem. Not so much now. So yes,
those last four pages that look suspiciously condensed WERE in fact recut and repasted to fit. Schedule snafus like this
are also the reason why Forever 16 is running a Halloween story in the Christmas issue.
Vess MacMeal is back
and this time she's talking about the Wii U. I wasn't kidding about that update...if you're going to buy one, be aware
you won't get to play it right away. And yes, cheap one-dimensional tablet games are a "button" for me. I think they're
hellspawn for a number of reasons, but one of the worst is that I have heard of children who have been so corrupted by
these things that not only are they baffled by a game controller, they can't even work a TV remote. OVER MY DEAD BODY am
I going to deal with a generation gap that huge.