Longtime Editor in Chief Michael Eury has retired, and while I have seen some copy editing errors pop up in this mag and in Back Issue (the other publication Eury helmed), the direction of RetroFan is steady as she goes, and I haven't noticed any changes in direction. There are a few new contributors lately, and that's probably unrelated, but I enjoy the new writers being added to the mix.
There are two BOTNS-era TV subjects on the cover of issue 38, which devotes space to a variety of topics rather than spotlighting one. My favorite contributor may be Andy Mangels, and he delivers another epic animation history here, this one a look at Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Many articles in the magazine rely on past interviews and previously published material, but Mangels conducted a handful of new interviews with animators like Larry Houston, and he synthesizes that material well with other sources. It's a tremendous look at the series, a piece that I wish were around when Mike and I discussed it on the podcast.
Will Murray's story on The Mod Squad, a series we have not covered on BOTNS, is another winner. This series doesn't get a lot of attention today, so it's nice to see an in-depth treatment of it. Murray doesn't discuss a lot of individual episodes in detail--he mentions some notable ones but doesn't focus much on that--but he covers the entire production history, ratings rising and falling, and reunion/revival attempts. It certainly makes me more curious about exploring a series I haven't seen much. Aspire TV showed reruns a while ago, and it is on DVD, so at least it's out there.
One other cartoon we love around here is The Flintstones, and Scott Shaw! looks at the various animators and writers who worked on the original series. I enjoyed the array of capsule biographies, but it may be more than many need. It's well done, just surprisingly lengthy.
One hidden gem of the Sixties is Julie Newmar's sitcom My Living Doll, and Lee Weinsten tells us about it in this June issue. I was glad to snap up the DVD set that came out in 2012. It was called, with optimism, "Volume 1," but it appears half of the series is still lost. Anything with Newmar is welcome in this or any other magazine!
I laughed out loud reading Scott Saadevra's history of Mr. Potato Head, and Mark Voger's offbeat profile of Jesus Christ Superstar is another compelling piece. Issue 38 is a well-rounded, entertaining effort as usual, but the highlight by far is Spidey.
