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Another US TV series with a "cult" appeal, and another chance for Titan to earn a few bucks from an official magazine...

Having been somewhat critical of - and ultimately tired with - Titan's BUFFY magazine, I approached the first issue of their ALIAS magazine with some preconceived notions.

A longterm reader of Marvel's DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE, I like my official magazine to be long on hard facts, short on stupid fillers, unafraid to criticise the series where necessary and don't pad out space with photos. You know, the exact opposite of Titan's usual format.

ALIAS provides a good opportunity for a strong official magazine. It might have some vaguely SF/fantasy elements, but it doesn't really fit into either category. Of course, the pulchritudinous Jennifer Garner will always ensure it gets some coverage in the general SF press, but there's still room for more in-depth coverage.

As someone who heavily criticised the early editions of the BUFFY magazine for their poor news coverage, it's good to see that there's no shortage of space devoted to it here. Of course, it's subject to the usual Titan approach - basically heavy on the photos - but there's still enough news to bring most readers - especially those who aren't online - up to date. Nice picture of Melissa George too!

Being an official magazine you'd expect plenty of access to the cast and crew, and there are interviews with both Jennifer Garner and J.J. Abrams in this first issue, as well as the show's costume designer, hairstylist and make-up artist.

Unfortunately, not everything is that good. I've not problem at all with episode summaries and accompanying facts, However, did we really need both the "Deep Intel" and "The Vault" features. The former in particular struck me as a typical piece of Titan filler.

Elsewhere, it's also typical Titan, with the obligatory "free" poster (although at least it is a "proper" pull-out one and not just the centrepages of the magazine and it does feature Jennifer Garner) and too much space to devoted to "minor" features (i.e. the four page letters section).

Judging a magazine by its first issue is a little unfair as there's always going to be some degree of bringing more casual fans up to speed. Titan's track record shows what sort of things we'll be getting in future months, but hopefully the subject matter will outweigh the usual drawbacks of a Titan magazine. BACK TO THE TOP

ALIAS: THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

#1 - NOV/DEC 2003

TITAN MAGAZINES

£3.50


7/10


NEXT ISSUE:
#2 - JAN/FEB 2004