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100% agreed on the comics magazine article, Heidi. A print mag (or any print endeavour) is going to live and die on its contents and ability to connect with the specific audience it is attempting to reach. You can’t try and be all things to all people – it’d be like an anthology series of single issues having wildly different tones within the pages. Most readers don’t seem to appreciate that, at least in the serialized anthology format, as it seems you’re only enjoying a fraction of the comic for the full price. Makes the decision to drop really easy.

Well, retailers didn’t even give ACE a chance, frankly. We had Diamond send along a gratis copy of #1 to every account in North America (some 3,500, I believe) and our order numbers subsequently rose by 15 copies. As editor, I wasn’t trying to be “all things to all people,” but I can’t disagree with Johanna and Heidi on the notion that ACE tried to be inclusive with readers and collectors alike. The raison d’être (and the reason I was paid for helming this laudable effort) was the belief that the marketplace could use a monthly price guide — a WIZARD with content, if you will… It was the best job I ever had, and there’s a slim chance it might be picked up on a less frequent schedule by another publisher, but who knows. Print is tough but the thought was, if it was comic-book size, appeared on the stands the same week every month, and contained fun content well presented, maybe readers devoted to print might give it a whirl. Frankly, I never heard one negative comment about the mag and the devoted readership — small, yes, but they seemed to love it — appears to lament its passage.

Important point: Rob Yeremian of The Time Capsule, Cranston, RI, was the publisher of ACE, a terrific retailer and friend. I was the mere editor/designer.

Thanks, Heidi.

“I know Bleeding Cool magazine is still going on, but I have never read a copy and only sighted it infrequently”.

Heidi, may I suggest you order it from your local comic retailer? I’m sure they would be happy to take your order. Interestingly, you’ve written about its contents before, I just presumed you’d read it before doing so.

The magazine’s editor-in-chief is Hannah Means-Shannon, who used to be a leading writer on The Beat, I seem to recall. She’s rather good, you might recall.

Anyway, Bleeding Cool Magazine still exists, it still sells, indeed, it has expanded its size recently, by over a quarter. I’m writing for its 19th issue right now, add a zero issue and two FCBD editions (do you not get press copies of all the FCBD books? You should.) and that’s the 22nd edition. Might be worth tracking down, even for anthropological reasons.

Don’t wait till May.

It is a shame about ACE. It’s always sad when a print magazine ends. We found that we3 couldn’t make print work which is why we switched to the web…

First time I’ve ever heard of ACE, even though I buy lots of comic mags (both US and french), love Mr. Cooke’s other magazines Comic Book Artist and Creator and check Previews every month.

If I hadn’t heard of it, the average reader had even less chances to do so, sadly.

Of course, the presence of a price guide would probably make me NOT to buy it, sorry to say.