Hellfire (Comics zine)

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Zine
Title: Hellfire
Publisher: Lakeside Graphics
Editor(s): Ian Jenkins, David Roach
Type: reviews and interviews
Date(s): 1984-1986
Medium: print
Size: 28 pages
Fandom: Comics
Language: English
External Links: Hellfire in the Classic Comics U.K. Zines database.
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Hellfire is a gen zine focusing on European and American comics, published in Cardiff by Ian Jenkins and David Roach (aka Lakeside Graphics). A total of four issues were produced between 1984 and 1986. The zine contained articles on comics and comics producers, art, comic strips and interviews.

It was a real shame that there were only 4 issues of this zine. In the short time it was published, it became very well respected. It's also a shame that this is the only issue I have (Kindly supplied by David himself), but I'll keep searching for the others. I remember that Sean Roberts and I were very jealous of the high quality dot matrix printer the guys were using, while we struggled on with a typewriter. It was lovely to get a shout-out in the editorial though.

 [1]

Issue 1

Issue #1 front cover by John Ridgway

Issue 1 was published in 1984 and contained 28 pages. The staff were Ian Jenkins and David Roach (editors); Paul Roach (co-editor and typesetting); David Roach (art editor); Greg Hill (calligrapher and transcriber); Nick Setchfield (moral support) and Andrew "Ducky" Jones (immoral support). The cover art was by John Ridgway. Contributors were Pete Martin, Pete Campbell, Dale Coe, Graeme Bassett, Simon Jowett.

Contents

Reviews and Responses Issue 1

A taste of things to come here, with lovely artwork from Dave, well researched and erudite articles, and informative interviews. This first issue features an interview with Gary Leach and Alan Moore (one of his first, I think), conducted at the 1983 CYMRUCON Comic Convention, held in Cardiff.

[2]

I thought HELLFIRE was a jolly good read. The articles were of a generally high standard and seemed to be part of a reaction in British fanzines against the superhero mode. The article on Starslayer by Dale Coe was the closest to a superhero-related article and it was, unfortunately, the least interesting of the lot. Not that it was badly written or that it was dealing with a comic book that I don't like, but it didn't seem to actually say anything. .. French for Beginners was a surprising read. I was a typically xenophobic British comics reader, until I read Dave's article. Damn interesting. So now I'm trying to pluck up the courage to buy a copy of Heavy Metal and be looked upon as some kind of sexist.

 [3]

Issue 2

Issue #2, cover by Garry Leach

Issue 2 was published sometime around December 1984 (based on the publication dates of the reviewed fanzines) and contained 28 pages. The staff were David Roach and Paul Roach as editors; Ian Jenkins as editor-in-absentia; cover art by Garry Leach and "sideburns and long hair" by Andrew Jones.

Contents:

Responses and Reviews Issue 2

The David Lloyd interview was nothing short of excellent. A professional, well conducted discussion that illuminated the artist and his work. I demand that you keep the interviews (preferably with British artists and writers, editors, comic dealers, etc) a regular part of Hellfire. For my part, I shall plug Hellfire in the next issues of the SSI newsletter. Fair enough?

 [4]

The editorial on censorship was very good indeed for both the U.S. and the U.K. are in a backlash against liberalism in general and the freedom of the arts in particular. Video censorship is very strict; viz the frequent Evil Dead seizures by police. It's interesting to note that books, newspapers and plays have virtually no censorship whatsoever... ...However, comics are an exception to this reading principle, as society uniquely and unfairly sees comics as a children's medium. After all, television is not seen as a children's medium just because of Blue Peter, but still the attitude remains with John Menzies banning Warrior and customs seizing copies of Heavy Metal and Bizarre Sex while allowing the true pornography such as Penthouse and The Sun and The Star to be sold.

 [5]

Issue 3

Issue #3 front cover by David Roach

Issue 3 was published in 1985 and contained 28 pages. The staff were David Roach (edits and art), Paul Roach edits and typography; Ian "Whirling Dervish" Jenkins as intermittent editor; Andrew V. Jones as itinerant editor; cover art by David A. Roach and "Blackhawk impressions" by Nick Setchfield.

Contents:

Reviews and Responses Issue 3

One of the strong points about Hellfire is their total disregard for the dodgy spot illo in favour of carefully selected comic panels pertinent to the points addressed in the article they accompany. All the articles (with the debatable exception of Simon Jowett's Camelot 3000 piece avoid current mainstream comics, but I do wonder whether those reading Hellfire haven't picked up the zine because they're already aware of the comics and people covered.

 [6]

Funny, three articles all touched on feminism. Well of the nine names names (sic) in the lettercoleight sound suspiciously masculine; and a look round the recent UK Con bore similar statistics. Unfortunately comics seems to be a male-orientated business; no-one writes retrospectives of girl comics, Alan Moore writes stories on menstrual cycles and Tatjana Wood colours them in. Perhaps that's why comics are predominantly so ludicrously sexist. If so, the more we keep an eye out the better. [Since the majority of comics are still the male power fantasy-superhero type it's hardly surprising that there are few female comics fans, though hopefully the likes of Love and Rockets and Moonshadow should put that right. But here's a puzzle - why are female comic creators by and large so average? Why aren't they producing Love and Rockets quality material? - D.A.R. One thing to Simon Jowett, it's not so much releasing women from the marriage hearse as the economic/ideological factors that make those tasks seem lowly... As far as I'm concerned, bringing up a child is a bloody hard job by anybody's yardstick, it calls for total commitment and dedication. If a woman does that job well she gets nothing from me but respect.

 [7]

Issue 4

Issue #4 front cover by David Roach

Issue 3 was published in 1986 and contained 32 pages. The staff were David Roach (edits and art); Paul Roach (edits and typography); Ian Jenkins (Lord Lucan impressions); Simon Jowett (Help Above and Beyond); Andrew V. Jones (Foreign Correspondent). The front cover was by David Roach.

Contents

  • "Edits... Fear and Loathing with the F.C.S." by David or Paul Roach - editorial/criticism of the Federation of Conservative Students plus a number of "ITEMS" (aka notes/corrections/thanks):
    • Awards: Thanks for those who voted for Hellfire in the FA ballot, with the zine featuring in five categories and winning "best new zine". Also congrats to regular contributors who did well: Martin Crookall, Graeme Bassett, Pete Campbell, Pete Scott and Pete Martin.
    • Correction: an explanation of the "ETC" feature introduced in the previous issue.
    • Music: an assessment of Hellfire's music preferences over the past year (includes Roy Harper & Jimmy Page, Marillion, The Cult, Kate Bush and Hawkwind).
    • Conventions: acknowledgments to the 1986 UKCAC organisers, plus hints that 1987's guests may include Jack Kirby, Gil Kane and Jamie Hernandez.
    • Thanks and Hello To: Martin Crookall, Pete Scott, Steve Bissette, John Totleben, Alan Moore, John Harvey, Martin Skidmore, David Lloyd, Mike Collins and Fraggle, Greg, Pete, Dave, Sean, Simon and "all the crowd at Pete and Dave's".
  • "Jim Holdaway" by Martin Crookall - article on the late Modesty Blaise (Hall Syndicate, Los Angeles Times Syndicate) artist, Jim Holdaway. With reprints of art from the Modesty Blaise comic strip by Jim Holdaway.
  • "Barry Smith" by David A Roach - article on artist Barry Smith (now better known as Barry Windsor-Smith). Includes reprints of his art from "The Frost Giant's Daughter" (Savage Tales #1, Marvel Comics); Western Gunfighters #4 (DC); Conan #3; "The Song of Red Sonja" (Conan #24, Marvel); Uncanny X-Men #198 (Marvel); plus a "Barry Smith Checklist" for his comics, books, portfolios and miscellaneous.
...Clearly the texts are of little interest, (though they are not quite as sanitized as one might suspect), but the artists, assembled by Golden Age funny animal artist Vince Fago were the cream of the Phillipino (sic) comics scene; Nestor Redondo, Alex Nino, Rudy Nebres and others who produced some of their best material. As the example from Rendondo's Dracula shows, the crisp black and white art was superbly printed and only marred by intrusive machine lettering.

David A. Roach

  • "The Hellfire Interview: Steve Bissette & John Totleben" by Simon Jowett, David Roach and Paul Roach. Transcribed by Simon Jowett and copy edited by David Roach and Steve Bissette. "The interview took place in an Indian restaurant which our party (then consisting of Steve Bissette, John Totleben, Alan Moore, Dave Sim, Bill Sienkiewicz and Carl Potts and the Hellfire crew), took what seemed like an eternity to find and in the process of doing so managed to lose several people. The following should best be read to the smell of curry and the sound of sitars... D.A.R.[8]". Includes reprints of comic strips and art by Steve Bissette from RBCC #150, Marvel Preview #18 (Marvel), Epic Illustrated #6 (Marvel); art by John Totelben from Heavy Metal #22 (HM Communications, Inc.) and Swamp Thing #2 (DC); joint art by Bissette and Totelben from Bizarre Adventures #33, Swamp Thing #16, #23, #24, #30, #34, #36 and #40.
  • "Creation 2: Dreamers" by Simon Jowett (writer) and David Roach (artist) - comic strip
  • "An Entertaining Comic" by Pete Scott - article on EC which was originally written in May 1985 to be published in Marvel UK's Starburst magazine. Includes reprinted art from EC Comics by George Evans, Jack Davis, Al Feldstein and Graham Ingles.
  • "Sent to Hell" edited by David Roach - Letters of Comment
  • "Dumb Comics" by Paul Roach - article on the worst dialogue of older comics. Includes a panel reprinted from Teen Titans #15 by Bob Haney (writer) and Nick Cardy (art).
  • "Dicky Ducky Book Reviews" by Paul Roach and David Roach - comic strip with comic book reviews.
  • Advertisement - The Cardiff Comic Shop.

References

  1. ^ "Re: Fanzine Archive Launched" comment by David Hathaway-Price, Comics UK forum, Nov 16/15 (Wayback Mar 12/24)
  2. ^ Classic UK Comics Zines blog update by David Hathaway-Price
  3. ^ LOC by Simon Jowlett, "Sent to Hell" Hellfire Issue #2
  4. ^ LOC by John Gatehouse, "Sent to Hell", Hellfire Issue #3
  5. ^ LOC by Andrew Jones, "Sent to Hell" Hellfire Issue #3.
  6. ^ "Back Scratching" by Frank Plowright, Chain Reaction#7
  7. ^ LOC by Captain Courageous, "Sent to Hell" Hellfire Issue #4
  8. ^ "The Hellfire Interview: Steve Bissette and John Totleben", introduction by David Roach, Hellfire #4.
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