Sheez, that first panel is DAAAATED.

The first three panels show contest winners who did their part to promote FAANS to retailers and thereby earned an appearance within our pages. Panel 1: Will (no last name given) redesigned our logo. Panel 2: Jan J. Sanmiguel wrote us up, and sent us a picture of himself with two booth babes that we just had to use. Panel 3: Erik Bouchard told his friends (and did up a website of his own for us—I still run into him online now and again).

The last panel shows you how successful they were.

No, no, I don't mean YOUR retailer, HE'S okay, it's just all those OTHER guys who—bitter? Me?

Seriously, releasing a comic book in 1999 was as dicey an economic proposition as—um—releasing an advertising-supported website in 2000. I can't resent many retailers for being conservative in the face of an industry-wide depression. I've been happier since realizing that my original ideas are better suited to the Internet than the direct market. But, well—I did talk to this guy on the phone, once. It was not a pleasant talk.