BEN TINSLEY: Let's talk about magic.

I've been a sucker for good comic book magic stories for a long time.

I loved DC's old House of Mystery, the Phantom Stranger, Deadman and Swamp Thing series. I adored Marvel's Werewolf By Night, Dracula, Son of Satan, and Dr. Strange.

There's also my beloved Vamprella -- copies of whose mag I could only seemed to find on the magazine rack at the local grocery store. Vampi was tuff in that rubber band swimsuit she always wore.

When Hellblazer first deputed in the late 1980s I was the hugest fan ever. Sandman, then Lucifer, now Fables just keep the fictional momentum going for me.

You name the magic comic and I love it. I love magic stories because, if they are worth their salt, they are VERRRY mysterious. The characters seem more real to me for some reason (probably because everyone's motives are usually so dark and therefore believable).

A good magic story redefines and reinvents exactly magic IS, and how it can and can't be used. Like its own independent universe. In my opinion, if the rules of one good magic story don't contradict with another, then the writer hasn't done his job.

That's why I love Pmanuel Alvear's JOHN DOE, the adventures of an urban magician, which debut in our upcoming Two-Fisted Adventures #1. John Doe is mysterious, the rules of magic are again reinvented, and we're told how magic can and can't be used.

Pmanuel and I have spent many college evenings in Stephenville, Texas discussing the implications of magic. We did this while reading and comparing issues of Hellblazer and arguing about which writer was the best. Garth Ennis tends to win the day when we do this, but I'm also a huge Jamie Delano fan.

Pmanuel has long wanted to write a good magic story and I have long wanted to read it.

So, here it is. Soon. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

Watch for JOHN DOE. Coming soon to you in a comic book store. We hope.

Sincerely,

BEN TINSLEY
Publisher,
Wham Bang Comics