Is Toxic worth it?

[Grant Goggans]

You can chart the decline of some of these anthology books by the sudden reliance on lots of one-off stories, can't you?  Toxic, Warrior, Crisis... about six issues before the end, you're left with one-shots and the suspicious absence of the flagship characters (Accident Man/Marshal Law, Marvelman/Pressbutton, Third World War).

I can't say I object at all to the very nice "Sex Warrior" covers, but nobody seems to be mentioning that strip.  Not one of Pat's best efforts, I take it?

[ukdane]

Sex Warriors was later finished, and recollected by Dark Horse. It wasn't that good in the end.

Brats Bizare, finished by Epic was similarly poor IMO. IIRC Accident Man also was redone by Dark Horse (?) and wasn't up to scratch.

[Art]

You can chart the decline of some of these anthology books by the sudden reliance on lots of one-off stories, can't you?

An increasing reliance on reprint material seems to be the primary marker. Especially if it's a reprint of someones incomprehensible self-published efforts (see Deadline, etc).

A sudden increase in the number of puff-peice text articles is never a good sign either.

[ukdane]

Anyboy else see the Megazine's bottom lip just quiver?

[Grant Goggans]

Warrior certainly had the puff-piece articles, that's true.  There's a great one around issue # 15 where Pedro Henry "interviews" Steve Moore.  I think some kid got fired from the New York Times for pulling that stunt...

[Art]

To be fair If I added "prose stories based on comics characters" to the list then the Megazine has been successful for years* while meeting all or most of those criterea.

* pretty much most of it's existance.