Total Carnage is a 48-page "oversized" (8½ × 12) format anthology comics magazine that was published in the United Kingdom by Dark Horse International from April 1993-January 1994. Like Dark Horse International's other UK publications, the magazine featured serialized reprints of existing Dark Horse comic books for the UK market, along with articles, news and interviews. Notably, it was home to reprints of Predator and Aliens vs. Predator comics after both were moved out of Aliens magazine.[1]
Poor sales led to the magazine being cancelled after just 10 issues. Several further issues were solicited but none ever saw print.
Overview[]
Although Dark Horse Comics' early Aliens and Predator comics proved hugely successful in North America, they were hard to obtain in Europe, where they were only available as expensive imports from a limited number of speciality comic shops.[1] Eventually, several European publishers sought to change this situation by securing the rights to reprint American comics in their own territories. This led to publications such as Aliens magazine and Total Carnage in the United Kingdom and the Aliens and Predator anthology series in Germany.
Total Carnage was designed to showcase some of Dark Horse's more violent and edgy stories, with taglines such as "Comics with Attitude!", "Your Mother Wouldn't Like Total Carnage" and "Not for Kiddies". Among the comics featured were Grendel, The Mask and the comic adaptation of Army of Darkness by John Bolton.[1] The magazine also featured serialized reprints of Predator and Aliens vs. Predator comics; prior to the launch of Total Carnage, UK reprints of these stories had featured in Aliens magazine, but as that publication's focus shifted exclusively to the Alien franchise, Predator and AVP titles found themselves in need of a new home. As a result, they were added to the roster of comics to be featured in the newly-launched Total Carnage. Several issues of the magazine also featured Predator and AVP cover artwork, all of which was recycled from existing comics and other publications.
As well as comics, the magazine included news, articles and interviews about other similarly "adult" media, most typically contemporary action movies from the likes of actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme and director John Woo. Each issue also featured a give-away competition offering readers the chance to win a variety of prizes. Articles were primarily written by Dave Hughes, while issues were jointly edited by Dick Hansom and Cefn Ridout.
Poor sales saw the magazine being cancelled after 10 issues. Cut short by this cancellation was the magazine's reprints of Predator: Blood Feud, which was left incomplete after just one installment, and Aliens vs. Predator: Deadliest of the Species, which ended after two installments.
Contents[]
Note that only Predator and Aliens vs. Predator content is listed below. The magazine also contained numerous other comic book stories and articles, but these have been omitted as they are irrelevant to the franchise.
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Issue 1 (Apr 1993)
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Issue 2 (May 1993)
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Issue 3 (June 1993)
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Issue 4 (July 1993)
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Issue 5 (Aug 1993)
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Issue 6 (Sept 1993)
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Issue 7 (Oct 1993)
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Issue 8 (Nov 1993)
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Issue 9 (Dec 1993)
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Issue 10 (Jan 1994)
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Unpublished issues[]
The following issues were solicited/planned but never published. As such, their contents may not be entirely accurate and is possibly incomplete.
Issue 11 (Feb 1994)
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Issue 12 (Mar 1994)
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Trivia[]
- The free Predator postcard given away with issue 9 is actually half of an image that could be completed with a free Aliens postcard given away with Aliens magazine, Vol. 2 #17, published the previous month by Dark Horse International.[1]
See Also[]
- Aliens (1991 magazine) — A similar comics magazine also produced by Dark Horse International.
- Aliens (1997 magazine) — A similar comics magazine produced by Titan Comics.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Hasslein Blog - The Alien/Predator Comic Strips, Part Two". Retrieved on 2015-07-15.
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