CLiNT: New newsstand comic from Mark Millar/Titan!

[fústar]

Not too keen either on the "Hot mums" type article (but teenage boys and all that so "fair do's")

It's pandering. Someone with a real vision for a boldly different teen-boy comic magazine might have shown the audience a bit more respect. The mix of violence and boobs just seems to throw up its hands and say "This is all young fellas are capable of enjoying". I take issue with the automatic assumption of (and surrender to) laddish idiocy.

[philcom55]

Like Steve Holland, I also wonder how long it'll be before the 'L' and the 'I' on the cover are strategically obscured to give the magazine's title an extra measure of puerile smuttiness!

- Phil Rushton

[Lew Stringer]

Not too keen either on the "Hot mums" type article (but teenage boys and all that so "fair do's")

It's pandering. Someone with a real vision for a boldly different teen-boy comic magazine might have shown the audience a bit more respect. The mix of violence and boobs just seems to throw up its hands and say "This is all young fellas are capable of enjoying". I take issue with the automatic assumption of (and surrender to) laddish idiocy.

It's not really a "violence and boobs" comic though is it? The "Hot Mums" feature, though puerile, was quite restrained compared to Nuts or Zoo.

I thought the levels of violence in Turf were quite mild, certainly no worse than that which appeared in Vampire Tales, Creepy, etc 40 years ago.

Nemesis was more excessive, but so OTT it became cartoon violence imho.

Anyway, it matters not what we think of it. It's the opinions of the teens that count. I think I'd have really enjoyed CLiNT back when I was 14 (I liked Marvel's horror mags then, and this is in a similar vein). Although whether or not the easily-distracted teen target audience comes back for issue two is another matter.

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2010/09 ... k-ass.html

[fústar]

Not too keen either on the "Hot mums" type article (but teenage boys and all that so "fair do's")

It's pandering. Someone with a real vision for a boldly different teen-boy comic magazine might have shown the audience a bit more respect. The mix of violence and boobs just seems to throw up its hands and say "This is all young fellas are capable of enjoying". I take issue with the automatic assumption of (and surrender to) laddish idiocy.

It's not really a "violence and boobs" comic though is it? The "Hot Mums" feature, though puerile, was quite restrained compared to Nuts or Zoo.

I thought the levels of violence in Turf were quite mild, certainly no worse than that which appeared in Vampire Tales, Creepy, etc 40 years ago.

Nemesis was more excessive, but so OTT it became cartoon violence imho.

Anyway, it matters not what we think of it. It's the opinions of the teens that count. I think I'd have really enjoyed CLiNT back when I was 14 (I liked Marvel's horror mags then, and this is in a similar vein). Although whether or not the easily-distracted teen target audience comes back for issue two is another matter.

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2010/09 ... k-ass.html

I was struck by what a female 2000AD reader said on the 2000AD forum:

I knew it wasn't going to be aimed at girls/women but then there aren't that many comics that are. However, comics like 2000AD don't make me feel degraded after reading it.

and...

I applaud Millar's intentions to bring comics back into the mainstream in the UK but if that involves playing to the lowest common denominator then I feel it's not worth it. I'm tired of women getting a verbal and visual kicking and I'm tired of characters with very little to them except malice

I think these points are key. I can't remember a comic that so explicitly told a female readership to f**k off, right from the get-go. Sure, 2000 AD et al have always been aimed predominantly at boys/young men, but they left the door ajar for female readers to step in and enjoy the stories. CLiNT seems predicated on the notion that males and females are utterly and inevitably separated by vast chasms of taste and interests. This is an idea that Lads Mags have been perpetuating since the mid-90s. An idea that has now become utterly entrenched in the mainstream - to the point where the likes of CLiNT reduce everything to a "Lads like X", "Girls like Y" situation. It wasn't always this way! And it doesn't have to inevitably be this way.

The more I look at it, the angrier and more depressed I feel.

[chrissmillie]

Lads mags are the big success story of the last 15 years or so - can't stand them either but there's no denying their success. In the past, Deadline tried to catch the zeitgeist with a mag featuring indie music and comics. Did pretty well (even though I didn't like it), lasting a few years (unlike Starlord, Captain Britain, Scorcher etc - yes, weeklies and monthlies, but the point's still the same). It makes sense to try to latch on to that steamroller.

If not that, what? Mags like SFX/Dark Zone already have their comic equivalent in 2000AD and the Meg that has film reviews, book reviews, deep sci-fi/horror stories, so no need for another one. For this all-encompassing, intelligent mag, the only one I can think of in the High Street is New Scientist - and I'm not too sure a comic version of that will happen. No-one's going to be throwing money at a target audience that no other mag can find.

Perhaps fustar, you could identify what mags CLiNT (or another new comic) should be targeting as an audience? I mean that sincerely - always looking for a gap in the market

[Lew Stringer]

I was struck by what a female 2000AD reader said on the 2000AD forum:

I knew it wasn't going to be aimed at girls/women but then there aren't that many comics that are. However, comics like 2000AD don't make me feel degraded after reading it.

The same could be said of the attitudes of numerous women's mags towards men. It's all in the perception.

I don't see what made her feel degraded about CLiNT, unless it's a reference to the title of the comic. As for the strips, Turf features an intelligent female reporter as the lead character for a start, and she's not drawn in a sexual or suggestive manner. Nemesis is over-the-top macho bs but no women are degraded in the story. Kick Ass 2 features a confident (if not particularly nice) girl who, well, kicks ass.

The "Hot Mums" feature was obviously intended to be silly. It features a cartoon character as one of the Mums! The feature isn't as witty as it thinks it is, but it's hardly degrading.

[STARBOY]

Yeah I can't see why she would feel degraded either Lew (ok could be the title) I just thought the "Hot Mums" article was a piece of fluff (and pointless) and overall the comic was "so so". I think from all the hype I was expecting something that was going ot be as fresh as Warrior was when it originally came out - for me Clint seems to have the "Heavy Metal Magazine syndrome" ie thinking its "way out there on the edge" when in fact errr it's not. However I will reiterate, I do think it will do well it's not aimed at my age band (ie vold git) and I will buy the next few issues to see if , for me it improves and its great to see a new "boys" magazine/comic on the racks.

[Raven]

Maybe, rather than meaning it was degrading in a directly sexist way, she meant she felt degraded by the ultra-violence, etc., the way some people might say they feel degraded coming out of a Hostel or Saw type film, and she's seeing this present obsession with constant extreme violence in 'mature' (har!) comics a male/macho kind of thing that doesn't really interest - or, indeed, alienates - women; this is also hinted at by "I'm tired of characters with very little to them except malice," the dictionary definition of malice being 'a desire to harm others or to see others suffer.'

[Terry]

Which shops/stores have Clint in stock? I've not been able to find it yet.

[STARBOY]

CLiNT seems to be well stocked (in Glasgow/ Lanarkshire areas at least) I've seen lots in W H Smiths, Forbidden Planet and most local newsagents here.

[Terry]

CLiNT seems to be well stocked (in Glasgow/ Lanarkshire areas at least) I've seen lots in W H Smiths, Forbidden Planet and most local newsagents here.

I'am in Perth, not seen it in WH Smiths, and we don't have a Forbbiden Planet.

[Digifiend]

Try Asda, saw it there yesterday.

[PaulTwist]

It's not perfect, but I did enjoy CLiNT.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first... the "features" are, on the whole, appalling sub-lads' mag drivel. Irony isn't an excuse; if they're supposed to be ironic they're not funny enough. And if they're not ironic... bloody hell. The one exception is the interview with Jimmy Carr - not a favourite of mine, but both interviewer and interviewee are clearly passionate about the art of stand-up, making it a much better read than many interviews with comedians.

As for the comics... the short instalment of Kick Ass was fine, and I always enjoy JRJR's art, but 8 pages wasn't enough, especially when it's the lead strip on the cover! I expect it's so short for contractual reasons - I'm sure Marvel wouldn't be too impressed with the series making a full debut overseas.

Rex Royd... not sure. Not brilliant, but I don't want to write it off yet.

Superior is basically an action movie in comics form, and it's enjoyable for what it is. I've already read the first 2 issues of this though.

The Space Oddities strip looked nice, but was a very poor story - like the worst ever Future Shock.

And finally, Turf - brilliant stuff. Ross is a huge fan of comics, and it really shows. Definitely the highlight of the comic - though perhaps a little bit out of place, with its lack of gratuitous violence and verbose script.

A mixed bag, then, but still one to be cautiously welcomed. There's enough right with CLiNT for it to deserve its place on the newsagents' shelves (preferably next to 2000AD and the Megazine) and, for less than the price of 2 current US comics, it offers pretty good value.

[STARBOY]

Have you looked in the right section of WH Smiths in Perth? CLint was in among the Mags (films, PCs, Sci Fi etc) in WH Smiths in Glasgow and Hamilton (not even near the Marvel mags etc)?

[Terry]

Have you looked in the right section of WH Smiths in Perth? CLint was in among the Mags (films, PCs, Sci Fi etc) in WH Smiths in Glasgow and Hamilton (not even near the Marvel mags etc)?

Yep, didn't see it at all in WH Smith, but found it yesterday in my local Co-op store.