SAVANT:: Action

ACTION:
WINNING CHANNEL ZERO
BY MATT FRACTION

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I am going to give away a comic.

Keller's a smart cookie, and a good egg. He's got himself a spare copy of the second Barry Ween trade, and he's giving it away. He posted to our forum, the WEF, and the Bendis forum. Simple announcement: I've got a comic I'll give away, just post to the SAVANT forum and tell me why you deserve it more than anyone else.

Aside from the perk of driving traffic to our place, it's got people coming out, telling stories, being heard, and talking about comics. Some of the stories are engaging. Some are stupid. Some are funny. Some are sad.

They are especially sad because it is the holidays. Times are tough, money's tight, nothing's really changed there... we've all got books we want to try, but never do. Sometimes it's because we are attached, insanely, to old-school bloated corpsebooks. Others, it's strictly a matter of finances. Of being unsure. Who knows? People make weird decisions all the time.

The importantist part, though, of what Keller's done is to get off his ass and put a book he believes in into virginal hands. It cost him, what, fifteen bucks or so? But people have come out of the ether-woodwork to be heard, to take a chance, to spin the wheel, Vanna. It is simple, bare-knuckles activism.

What a great idea. How simple! How easy!

We've done little shit like this before, but not since we've been where we're at, popularity-speaking. Lots of eyes hitting the site nowadays. Hello! Lots of people wanting to Make Comics Better. What up? And, lately, there have been questions about SAVANT's focus and drive towards as a tool of activism. Feh!

So here it is:

I have just purchased an extra copy of Brian Wood's superlative book Channel Zero. It is very, very good. You can read what I thought about it at http://www.savantmag.com/20/essential.html. If that's not good enough for you, you can read what Wired thought of it at here, but be warned, there are spoilers in that one.

When I first read the collection, I found it to be a startling and powerful Comic, genre-bending and medium-spanning at the same time. Recent events in American History have made it resonate even more so. It is a fine piece of work, quite unlike anything published in recent memory. It is a book that you should read.

But not all of you have read it.

Sigh.

There is no shame in this. It is unfortunate-but fixable.

So here now: I have it. A spare copy of Channel Zero. Just sitting here. Wasting away, unloved and unread. A duplicate. A stray. It needs a home. It needs your home.

FREE TO A GOOD HOME:

One Copy of Brian Wood's Channel Zero, with introduction by Warren Ellis, published by AiT/PlanetLar.

WHY ARE YOU GIVING SOMETHING AWAY? ARE YOU INSANE?

Because I am Making Comics Better with my bare hands. I am not insane.

WHAT'S THE CATCH, JACKASS?:

The catch is this: You must tell me-and, by proxy, The Whole Goddamned World-- a story about one of the first times you got into a fistfight as a child. You must do it, at whatever length you feel the tale requires, at our forum right here: http://www.delphi.com/savantmag/messages/?msg=632.1

We reserve the right to reprint the story in the pages of SAVANT if we so chose. We retain no rights to the story itself.

I will decide, on a completely metaphysical and arbitrary whim, who "wins" because they have the "best" story. I will then send you, through the miracle of the Post Office, your prize. You will not be mocked, ridiculed, or made fun of for neither having your ass kicked nor for not having read Channel Zero yet. Just tell me a story, and then I'll let Brian Wood tell you one.

But please: keep it light.

I don't want anyone to unearth deep, horrifying scars from an Oprah-worthy childhood none of us would wish on our worst enemies. If this is applicable to you, I am Deeply Sorry. Sad is okay; In-Need-of-Therapy isn't. This is supposed to be fun. Well, maybe not fun. Funny, sure. Melancholy, perhaps. But not Garth-Ennis-terrible or anything.

What I'm looking for are stories about little kids beating each other up. Putting rocks in your fist and throwing down for the first time. Dirtclod fights leading to inevitable bloody noses. Bruised and skinned knees and that torn Spider-Man T-shirt. Wet, cold washcloths and panicked moms and crying on the toilet while the disinfectant stings across you. The slow, sinking feeling that The Playground was Not Always Safe, and would never be Safe again.

This is kinda how Channel Zero made me feel when I read it.

What's that, you say?

Talking about getting your ass kicked/kicking ass is too embarrassing, even for a free and brilliant Comic?

Okay-here. I will sweeten the pot for you.

Brian Wood himself has agreed to not only SIGN the copy of Channel Zero that you will be winning, but to draw you a doodle, based upon your Winning Story inside of it.

What did I just say? Read it again.

I said, "Brian Wood himself has agreed to not only SIGN the copy of Channel Zero that you will be winning, but to draw you a doodle, based upon your Winning Story inside of it."

Do you believe it? I do not believe it. I have just talked to Brian Wood about this and I still do not believe it. I wish I could enter my own contest.

It is too late for me, but not for you.

DEADLINE

Post your story to the SAVANT forum sometime before... um... January 10th? And a winner will be announced via the forum and SAVANT itself.

That's it. That's all. My say is final, completely arbitrary, and probably not all that fair. I am drunk with power.

If you've read and enjoyed Channel Zero, feel free to spread the word of our little contest, with a link to both this article (www.savantmag.com/action.html) and the forum thread (http://www.delphi.com/savantmag/messages/?msg=632.1). Help me. Help us. Let's get the word out.

So... who among you have had their asses kicked before, and now wants a free, brilliant, personalized comic for sharing the experience with us?