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TALES OF FANTASY #20
($2.50 ppd from Larry Johnson / 9 St. Peter St. #4 / Jamaica Plain, MA / 02130-497 USA. Web:
groups.msn.com/LarryJohnsonartist)
Larry Johnson's
Tales of Fantasy has seen 20 issues in 15 years, but originally began as a one-of-a-kind homemade comic in 1964, when Larry was only 10 years old. This issue celebrates the title's history and includes articles and stories featuring his most prominent characters: Madame Boogala, Zooy and Lew Brown. In this issue, Madame Boogala experiements with powerful magicks using a television as a conduit and Lew Brown recounts how he nearly had his youth stolen. Both stories have a fun
Twilight Zone/
Outer Limits feel to them and the Lew Brown one is novel in that he's visiting a psychiatrist (a necessary move, maybe, due to all of his peculiar supernatural experiences). In the remaining story (from 1991; reprinted here in full-color), Zooy meets a race of trolls that inhabits the nation's landfills. Also, on the back cover is a cover gallery of all 20 issues (in color). It's pretty remarkable in the zine/mini-comics world for a title to last this long and I think a retrospective/showcase sort of issue is a great idea.
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