Although the title is PACESETTER: THE GEORGEPEREZ MAGAZINE #1, it really is THE GEORGE PEREZ NEWSLETTER #4. The new title fits the magazine better than "newsletter" but personally, I wouldn't mind it if it just continued the numbering, sort of like VECTOR #14).
What's cool about this issue is that it's exclusively just independent comic works! Since most of us usually stick with Marvel or DC Comics, you can learn and see a lot of stuff that you normally don't see in this issue.
As usual, there is an exclusive interview with George Pérez, mostly focusing on his independent works:
PACESETTER: of all the indy publishers that you've worked for, which one did you enjoy working the most? Why?
GPz: I guess that it would have to be Topps because of the opportunity it gave me to work with Gil Kane, Editor Jim Salicrup, whom I've known since I started in the business, was great to work with and he even let me ink a Steve Ditko cover for JACK KIRBY'S SECRET CITY. Kane and Ditko I was in fanboy heaven. If you count the "Heavy Hitters" imprint as an indy, I loved working with Peter David on SACH AND VIOLENS immensely, even though I had trouble keeping the schedule after the first two issues. The subject matter really excited me on that one.
My favorite article is actually how the cover to BREAKNECK BLVD #0 was born. To be honest, I've never seen or heard of this comic book, but it has a George Pérez and Dick Giordano cover.
Other great articles include an interview with CAPTAIN AWARENESS's Danny DeAngelo and how he came to work with George Pérez.
The interview with Gerard Jones mostly deal with Ultraforce, but I was surprised to learn that he's doing work for VIZ Comics in translating Japanese to English for American audiences. For those who doesn't know, VIZ published the US version of SHONEN JUMP, which is quite popular with the Yu-Gi-Oh/Dragonball Z crowd.
One of the cool thing that I noticed at the Pérez art gallery, is that it has some other designs for SPACE CASES, which I just mentioned on this website not too long ago.
Anyway, there's a lot more stuff, which I can't really cover, but check it out yourself next Wednesday at your local comic store, if you haven't already bought your copy directly from Tony himself.
