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LO-FI MAGAZINE


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Got a bunch of new reviews cooking up, but this week I've got one of Toy Biz's Train Battle Playset, complete with 4" Spider-Man figure!

 

Clicky:

 

http://www.lofimagazine.com/toybox_spidey2train.html

 

ALSO, LO-FI's got a give away going for autographed DVDs and posters from Ghost in the Shell.

 

More details here:

 

http://www.lofimagazine.com/GITSgiveaway.html

 

 

As always, thanks for checking out the site!

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1) Couldnt find a herald in time, but that article was cool shit, thanks for the link man! You guys better archive that one.

 

2) Nice spidey review. I was big on Toy Biz back inna day, but i hated their lack of detail...i had like 12 Wolverine figures, none of em good.

Say what you will of Mcfarlane's bad taste in properties, and the fact his @#$% figures dont hold their goddamn accessories, theyre well-sculpted. I see them as cheap statues, since its not like you can pose em like Spidey's multi joints.

...did you know i bought up all the Metal Gear Solid 2 figures to assemble Ray, only to find out he doesnt fucking fit together proper-like? :D Thank god :D had an exacto knife and some skill. :D

 

3) Nice....ok, your giveayway just might land you another subscription soon. :D

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D, your mag's been sent!

 

Went to the office the other night and saw that the package I made up for you had gone out with all the other mail, so the wait shouldn't be much longer. You'll probably get your copy today, actually... unless the US Postal Service has secretly been hoarding all of the subscriptions we've sent out.

 

Anything to keep the murder-suicide rates in those places down, I s'pose.

 

 

Metal Heart, we totally accept Paypal.

 

Now that we've got some of the shipping bugs figured out, there's been a much faster turnaround in getting copies to the peeps that order 'em. Gotta keep in mind that we're new to this whole thing, so there're gonna be some growing pains... but also remember that we're busting ass to put out the best possible magazine for our readers and that everyone who orders LO-FI will get it-- even if it means me going over to your house and handing it you personally, if that's what it takes.

 

MH, you're in Texas, right?

 

ROAD TRIP!

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Oh, and here's the Herald article:

 

*Text copyright The Miami Herald, 2004

 

 

"Where indie meets the mainstream"

 

LO-FI magazine was born in Kendall. Next stop: the world.

 

BY ALEXANDRA ZAYAS

azayas@herald.com

 

The idea was nurtured in the 5 a.m. glow of the last Xbox game of the night, turning from a wish into a reality almost before anyone knew what happened. A group of Miami-Dade 20-somethings took their love of cool comics and glossy graphics and fused it into a magazine that reflected what they wanted to read. So LO-FI -- opposite of HiFi, get it? -- was born. It's a comics and entertainment magazine that showcases the work of independent comic artists and musicians while leaving room for mainstream stuff.

 

Aimed squarely at the 17- to 25-year-old crowd who grew up on Star Wars and Nintendo, LO-FI also aims to take the geek out of comic, or at least make comic geek cool. So far, the nine people behind the magazine seem to have found the formula. LO-FI is the brainchild of editor-in-chief Greg Narvasa, 25. It grew out of a printing company he owned with Carlos Capilla, also 25, who is now in charge of advertising at LO-FI. The first two issues have pop culture and counterculture colliding in 80 pages of slick color -- and they have earned nationwide attention. ''I was blown away by the production quality and the density of information,'' says Scott Allie, editor of Dark Horse Comics, which published Hellboy, also a recent movie. ``The industry has very few magazines of this kind of quality, and the amount of work that goes into creating these books is impressive.''

 

LO-FI's second issue was so well-received at Comic-Con that it has been picked up for nationwide distribution. It hit the shelves of more than 600 newsstands -- including Borders and Virgin Megastore -- in late August. They have gotten calls received for subscriptions from Australia, Canada and the UK. LO-FI's second issue premiered Wormwood, a series by renowned author Ben Templesmith, which will be exclusive to the magazine. The movie rights to another Templesmith comic, 30 Days of Night, were bought by Spider-Man director Sam Raimi.

 

''Everyone I've talked to about it feels the same way I do,'' Allie says. ``We want to help with the magazine because this is the sort of thing we need more of. They've been able to get some pretty big names involved in their first few numbers based on first impressions, which is that they're smart and serious.'' Right now, the brains and brawn of LO-FI can be found behind the door of a small Dadeland-area apartment, where the staff gathers to work nearly seven days a week. Their inspiration, they say, is people just like them.

 

''We're writing for everyday people who are into everyday normal things and just don't like the typical mainstream pop trash,'' says Capilla, who handles advertising for the magazine. ``We know what we want to read. It's not that we're just doing it for ourselves, but I'm sure there's a huge consumer audience that feels the same way as we do.'' ''We're starting from the ground up, but at the same time, we're trying to make it look not like a typical photocopied 'zine,'' says Narvasa, the editor-in-chief.

 

In 1999, Narvasa and Capilla met at a ''Goth Night'' at the South Beach club Groove Jet. The two graphic designers became friends and in 2002 they opened Bad Munkie Press as a way to turn their commercial art talent into a moneymaking venture, producing fliers, business cards, postcards and brochures.

 

When the LO-FI vision materialized, most of the logistics were already in place, which allowed the team to focus on making the magazine edgy and cool. That resulted in a product that wowed the comic book industry people -- like Allie -- who attended Comic-Con in San Diego, the largest comic book convention of its kind. Despite the big names and emphasis on independent culture, team members say they work extra hard to keep out the ''self-important pretension'' that sometimes comes with creating something that's supposed to be ``independent.''

 

''People just have this mentality that it's us against them. You're mainstream and you suck,'' says 23-year-old editor Bob Jannotti. 'When I edit the content, I try to make sure there's a uniform friendly voice. We want to be very friendly and just be like `Hey, there's really great mainstream stuff and there's really great indie stuff.' Just because it's in the mainstream doesn't mean it sucks, and just because it's independent doesn't mean it's great.'' Now a quarterly, the LO-FI staff is shooting for six issues a year soon. After that? It depends -- but the staff already has kicked around ideas for a recording label, comic books and a clothing line.

 

''It's just a cultural orgasm,'' says 26-year-old staff writer Carlos Espinoza, provoking a roar of laughter that is common in the LO-FI office, where banter and barbs rule. Some staffers say the magazine is well on its way to evening out the geek factor. ''We don't want to be geeky,'' says Capilla, who then adds his own note of caution: ``But we don't want to be über cool.''

 

To LO-FI's 28-year-old Web editor Ruben Diaz, the meaning of that is pretty simple: ``You don't have to play Dungeons and Dragons all the time. You can play on Friday -- and go on a date on Saturday.''

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LO-FI UPDATE:

 

Greg recorded an interview with BIG 106's Doc Reno today (Saturday), and it'll play sometime this coming week, during Doc's show, I imagine.

 

When I get specifics about day and time, I'll be sure to post 'em.

 

The LO-FI crew is also meeting with a writer from City Link this Wednesday for an interview... don't know when that one'll be published, but we're looking forward to the publicity. As always, when more details arrive, I'll spill the beans!

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  • 2 weeks later...

LO-FI'S BEEN NAMED ONE OF THE TOP MAGAZINES OF 2004!

 

Yesterday (Wednesday, 10/06/04), Texas' Ft. Worth Star-Telegram published their list of the top 26 magazines of 2004.

 

LO-FI was listed in a class of magazines that includes Vice, Giant Robot, Heeb, and Entertainment Weekly... magazines that the staff loves and reads regularly.

 

Here's what they had to say about LO-FI:

 

"Lo-Fi: This recently launched 'comics and entertainment magazine' out of Miami is starting to attract attention. Blending anime graphics with brief stories on the likes of Dave Chappelle, Nip/Tuck and lowrider bicycles, it's like channel-surfing through youth culture."

 

If you'd like to read the full article, please join the newspaper's free service:

 

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/c...ing/9848373.htm

 

LO-FI would like to thank the Star-Telegram's Pop Culture writer, Cary Darling, for writing about LO-FI-- thanks! Thanks also goes out to the Star-Telegram for their coverage and support of LO-FI. Thanks for the honor! We are floored, awed, and humbled all at the same time!

 

Also, for all you Hellboy fans out there, drop on by www.lofimagazine.com to see our *ORIGINAL* Mignola Hellboy cover for issue #3!

 

Cheers,

Bob

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So I got something pretty interesting in the mail today...an empty letter sized enveloped that's been pretty banged up...guess what it was? The envelope of my original LoFi mag...no mag, just the envelope, lol...I can't believe that they even delivered it. Anyhoo, WLN, at least we know what happened to my original issue!

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... And the mystery is solved.

 

I feel like one of the Hardy Boys, but not at all.

 

THE CITY LINK INTERVIEW IS OUT!

 

It came out on Wednesday, so if you live in the Ft. Lauderdale area, you can pick up a copy of Bob Weinberg's awesome piece... may be a little biased, but it's the best interview so far. If you don't live "Up North," here's a link to the story online:

 

http://www.southflorida.com/citylink/sfe-c...fe-cl-top-promo

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

Posted this in the comics forum, but here goes:

 

Hey everybody, for the folks going to MegaCon, LO-FI will be at the show in full force.

 

I don't know our table number, but I do know that we'll be in the indie press section. Keep your eyes peeled for our LO-FI banner and kids wearing LO-FI t-shirts (they're awesome!).

 

Should be there Saturday and Sunday, but the rest of the crew will be there Friday, since they left Miami today. If you'd like to meet up, definitely drop by the table and say hi!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

 

 

QUICK LO-FI UPDATE:

 

-We hit a rough patch with advertising for issue #3, but things are back on track. The third issue is a little late, but it's at the press RIGHT NOW!

 

-Issue #4 is in progress. I was actually working on some stuff for an interview with Tsunami Bomb that we're planning. We're totally committed to getting this one out ASAP, so have no fear. Things just got a little crazy for a second.

 

-Other than that, everything's going great. Got A TON of stuff planned for '05 that I can't talk about just yet. Soon as I get the okay, I won't be able to shut up. Sorry for the long absence, but I've been working a lot, with LO-FI at the forefront.

 

Just wanted to say hey, so hey!

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