1984 (magazine)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1984 was a black and white science-fiction comics magazine published by Warren Publishing from 1978 to 1983. 1984 was edited by Bill Dubay. The title of the magazine was changed to 1994 starting with issue 11 in February, 1980 to keep the futuristic flavor of its title. The magazine ceased publication with issue 29 in February, 1983 due to the bankruptcy of Warren Publishing.

Artists who contributed stories to 1984/1994 included Alex Nino, Richard Corben, Jose Gonzalez, Jose Ortiz, Frank Thorne, Esteban Maroto, Rudy Nebres, Abel Laxamana, Wally Wood, Luis Bermejo, Alfredo Alcala and Vic Catan. Cover artists included Nino, Corben, Patrick Woodroffe, Jim Laurier, Manuel Sanjulian, Jordi Penalva, H.R. Giger, Steve Fastner, Rich Larsen, Lloyd Garrison, Terry Oates and John Berkey.

Similar to its sister publications Eerie and Vampirella, 1984 featured numerous recurring series and characters. This included the following:

  • Mutant World (Artist: Richard Corben; Writer; Jan Strnad)
  • Ghita of Alizarr (Drawn and written by Frank Thorne)
  • Idi Amin (Artist: Esteban Maroto; Writer: Bill Dubay)
  • Rex Havoc (Artist: Abel Laxamana; Writer: Jim Stenstrum)
  • The Starfire Saga (Artist: Rudy Nebres; Writer: Bill Dubay)
  • Young Sigmond Pavlov (Artist: Alex Nino; Writer: Bill Dubay)

One notable incident that occurred regarding the magazine was an unauthorized adaption of Harlan Ellison's story, "A Boy and His Dog", which has been rumored as one of the major factors in the bankruptcy of Warren Publishing. As discussed in the book 'The Warren Companion', editor Bill Dubay approached writers Gerry Boudreau and Jim Stenstrum about adapting science fiction stories for the magazine. Boudreau requested he adapt Ellison's story, and Dubay gave the go ahead, before getting permission. When permission was not granted by Ellison, Dubay had artist Alex Nino draw the story anyway and provided the art to Stenstrum to rewrite the story. The story would be published in issue 4, under the title 'Mondo Megillah'. Despite Stenstrum's revisions to the script, the story was still obvious plagiarism and Ellison filed a lawsuit, which he eventually won. [1]

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ (2001) The Warren Companion (in English). Two Morrows Publishing, 156-7.