Geek Culture Reviews

The thrilling countdown has begun as Steve MacManus returns with Blazer! Issue #4… It’s been a couple of years since I last delved into the world of Blazer! with my last review being the publication's debut issue back in 2021. Since that opening issue the tie-in to creator Steve MacManus 's novel ‘ The Sheerglam Conspiracy ’ has grown into its own entity courtesy of those fine folks over at The77 Publications. While Mac is now joined by a range of creators, the storytelling remains the same, and if you read between the lines, there are plenty of easter eggs to the goings on of in-universe publisher, Goodenough Publications.  Diving into the issue and were first greeted by an editorial by Steve Mac as he pokes fun at The77 Publications EiC Ben Cullis for finding the funds to afford 4 extra pages and a big congratulations to Tornado Ted for winning his boxing match in Las Vegas. The rest of this intro is then made up of those time-honoured spots that you’d see in comics from ...

Rob Lake reviews The SheerGlam Conspiracy... Fresh off of the heels of reviewing Blazer! to then having the privilege of speaking to the man behind it all - Steve MacManus . It wasn't long before I dived into Steve's novel, The SheerGlam Conspiracy. This novel not only ties into the genesis (and revival) of the now physical Blazer! comic book, but also takes a satirical look into MacManus ' past working upon various comics. It's a hilarious look into office politics and one-upmanship with a surprisingly dark undertone.  The SheerGlam Conspiracy focuses on the goings-on of two comic book publishers and is set within the comic heyday of 1973. The staff of rival publishers, Goodenough Publications and Tartan Editions are at the height of a bitter circulation war with each company trying to get the upper hand on the other. The majority of the book focuses on the creation of a new weekly comic with the codename of GNP 13, and Tartan Editions endeavour of findi...

Rob Lake reviews BLAZER! #1... Blazer! the 32-page indie anthology comic by Steve MacManus has just dropped into my cluttered inbox. It's 11:54 on a damp Tuesday night and I'm sitting here in the dark furiously typing this introduction. Do I wait till the morning to read BLAZER! ? or do I gaze into its 1970's inspired roots tonight? You know what...Let's do it! But beforehand what exactly is BLAZER! ? "Blazer! began as the working title for a new comic being developed by Goodenough Publications in my novel The SheerGlam Conspiracy."  "The novel charts a circulation war between two rival comics publishing companies in 1970s London. To establish an outright dominance in the market, one of the companies hires two scriptwriters to create a new title, which is codenamed GNP 13." "Having introduced the notion of a new comic, I felt it my duty to the reader to describe what strips would be in this fictitious title, supposedly being readied...

Rob Lake chats to Steve MacManus about BLAZER!... After an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, Steve MacManus ' Blazer! smashed it's modest £1,974 target by raising a whopping £8,866 and was backed by 401 backers - myself included.  The 32-page publication is currently being billed as a one-shot that is a satirical homage to the golden age of comics.  Blazer! is currently set to be published on 1st April 1974...   So what exactly is  Blazer! ? Well anyone who's read  MacManus ' fictional tale -   The Sheerglam Conspiracy  would have heard the  Blazer!  name before.  Blazer!  was a fictional 1970's comic book that was set to be launched by one of the comic companies featured in  The Sheerglam Conspiracy . During the novel,  MacManus  fully described how this comic would look and even what strips would appear inside of it. Naturally, this leads to curiosity and with help from The77 publisher -...

Rob Lake previews Blazer!... Steve MacManus , a name synonymous with 2000AD is back with a new anthology project called Blazer!  *Edit* Since the publishing of this article, Blazer! has been fully funded in a staggering 40 minutes!  - get on backing this project before it really is too late!  During the 1980's MacManus was the Editor over at 2000AD and oversaw projects by both John Wagner and Pat Mills that went towards establishing what the long-running British serial comic is today. Under his tenure as Tharg, MacManus oversaw the creations of many characters and stories for 2000AD that many of us still talk about to this day. To a lot of us Steve MacManus is a legend, and quite rightly so! Thankfully MacManus is back and this time the veteran Editor has teamed up with The77's Ben Cullis to launch their vision of - Blazer!  So what exactly is Blazer! ? Well anyone who's read MacManus ' fictional tale -   The Sheerglam Conspiracy ...