The Savage Kick Literary Magazine - The Early Years: Issue #1, #2, #3, #4 (Murder Slim Press XXX)

I was late to the Murder Slim Press party, and only managed to get hold of The Savage Kick #3 and #4 a decade ago. Drawn in by Jim Goad (Answer ME!), I found out the first two issues were long gone, and #3 and #4 didn't last long either. It's fascinating to look back at the early stuff, enhanced by an interview with its editor. From #1 and #2 - Mark SaFranko ended up on Harper Collins with "Hating Olivia", Dan Fante's star rose again with "Fante", Tony O'Neill became a bestseller with "Digging The Vein" and further superb novels, and Doug Stanhope become DOUG STANHOPE! Crazy to think they knew about Stanhope in 2005.There are only one or two slightly lesser stories - "Dance of the Seven Dwarfs" in SK#2 and "The Parks" in SK#1 - but otherwise the writing and interviews are fan-*******-tastic. At over 300 pages (with beautiful art too!), this is a massive achievement in every sense of the world. I'm proud to own a slice of a history that predicted the future.