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.
As 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
