Epic Illustrated December 1985

Epic Illustrated
December, 1985 No. 33

Issue 33 of Epic Illustrated, released in December 1985, was the next-to-last issue of the magazine, which had debuted in the Spring of 1980. 

In his answers to letter-writers aggrieved over the cancellation, Editor Archie Goodwin was cryptic about the reason for the magazine's ending, but it was quite evident that Epic, which was birthed as an effort by Marvel to capture some of the readership of Heavy Metal, had never really succeeded as an alternative to that magazine. This was due to Goodwin's less than inspired editorship, and to the fact that Marvel's management was reluctant to run the explicit T & A and violent content that so engaged the stoner fans of Heavy Metal.

Indeed, looking at the contents of the December 1985 issue of Epic, one is struck by the presence of too much material that tries to achieve either a kind of offbeat, kooky humor ( 'Dr. Watchstop','Snicker's - That's Entertainment'), or instead a faux-profound Sense of Artistry ('Ein Heldenstraum') that, either way, comes across as insipid and trite.

There are, however, some good stories in this issue of Epic Illustrated, and one of them is 'Fish Story', by Mike Baron (plot) and John Totleben (art). I've posted it below.