Fox #9,10 & 12

Posted: Tuesday, April 2, 2002
By: Darren Schroeder

Editor: David Vodicka
Publisher: Self Published
Address: Australia (1980's)
Price: .95 (AU) 50p (UK)

Dating from the mid 1980's, Fox has something of a reputation in small press circles. Originating from Australia, the anthology was distributed in England as well as the US, and featured contributors from a range of countries. Looking at these issues it is hard to define the reason behind its relative success. Don't get me wrong, the work on show isn't to be scoffed at. The regular contributors seem to have been Michael Graham, with his weird Kleenx the Bear stories, Greg Gates, who lent his drawing skills to various writers efforts, and the editorship of David. We also get several appearances of Roscoe, the hard boiled detective dawg .

The variety of material might have been the winning factor. The anthology is all over the place, with the only common thread being a left field perspective on things. Creators appear to have been experimenting with the comic form, trying out different approaches to narrative and artwork. Having an Anglo-Australian mix can only have helped sell the book to readers wanting to see what creators were up to down/up there, bridging two markets and giving a forum for an international small press community before the internet made things easy. The tradition of such international comics still exists in anthologies such as Sunburn (Bad example, it's no longer running. Ed.) and the distribution networks are a lot more organized. Perhaps we have the Fox team to thank for that.

In a word: Reputed.

---

Got a comment or question about Small Press?
Leave at message at the Independent/Small Press Forum.

---