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With five having confined ALIAS to a late-night slot, and Sky One not picking up season three, it remains to be seen how long a magazine will be viable in the UK. However, for now, there is Titan's official publication to delve into.

Cast interviews form a major part of this second issue. Despite the cover, it's actually Michael Vartan, Victor Garber and Melissa George who get the main features.

As usual, they're heavy on the pictures, although to be fair to Titan, they aren't the only publishers who concentrate on the visual. Having a cast that offers plenty of eye candy always encourages the publisher to opt for a picture-laden approach, but I do find the relative brevity of the accompanying text a little disappointing. Compared with, say, DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE, ALIAS (like most Titan magazines) is heavy on the photos, and light on the text.

Of course, WHO is a completely different series to ALIAS, with a much longer history and a different fanbase, so it's unfair to make a direct comparison between the two magazines. And, to be honest, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to complain too much since I've been using one of the Melissa George pictures as part of my desktop ever since she joined the cast. However, when you can get pictures of the cast from other places, it would be nice to get to hear more of what they've got to say.

George also crops up - alongside Jennifer Garner - on one side of the obligatory pull-out poster (Vartan and Garber are on the other side).

The content lite approach is also reflected in other areas of the magazine that are somewhat padded, especially the contents and letters pages, errr, sections. Others, such as "Deep Intel" are little more than a waste of space.

Reviewing the early issues of the BUFFY magazine, I criticised Titan for not bothering/not thinking about a spoiler system. It's good to see that they've got one here, but why do they have to be so silly about it? A simple "season X spoiler" would have been fine, but not only does the "clearance level X" approach seem a little silly, it's also meaningless if you miss the explanation.

And, without sounding like a habitual moaner, they really should think a little more about it. Is the fact that Ricky Gervais has an unspecified role in season 3 actually a spoiler? Well, maybe if you're completely spoilerphobic, but we don't know who he'll be playing, then I'd actually suggest not (although if the article referred to a character returning to a show then I would say it's a spoiler). In any case, highlighting it as a spoiler is rather pointless after the whopping great picture of Gervais next to the "spoiler".

Okay, a minor point, but it sums up the Titan approach - it looks nice, there are plenty of pics, but it's a bit light on content and commonsense.

Despite that, this will probably be the last time I look at the ALIAS magazine on a regular basis. While it might put style before substance, at least it's not packed with out-of-date reprints and a comic strip like Titan's BUFFY magazine. BACK TO THE TOP

ALIAS: THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

#2 - JAN/FEB 2004

TITAN MAGAZINES

£3.50


7/10


PREVIOUS ISSUE:
#1: NOV/DEC 2003