Multiverse magazine marooned no more

After being marooned at its Scottish printer for well over a fortnight – just one more victim of the worst snow the country has seen in 40 years – Multiverse #1, the first issue of Britian's new British comic magazine, is finally on its way to the shops.

“There is something more than a little ironic about the launch issue of title from a company calling itself Hell Freezes Over being delayed by freak winter weather conditions but that’s exactly what happened,” explained publisher/editor Mike Conroy, who's hoping the new title will fill the void left by the demise of Comics International.

“The very day Multiverse #1 was due to leave our printer the snow started falling and the temperature plummeted right along with it. It wasn’t until last Wednesday, 8th December, that the trucks could actually get in to Bonnyrigg to collect the print run.

“Copies are now reaching the shops but I’m advised that the backlog is so large that it could still take a week or more for orders to get to every outlet,” Conroy added. “The difficult circumstances have led me to scrap my plans to have a second issue out before Christmas. We’re now reworking the pages already produced for #2 and aiming to have it in the shops in early January... weather permitting, of course!"

“On behalf of the Multiverse team, I would like to thank all those who have sent messages of support and encouragement during what has been an extremely frustrating start to this new venture,” Mike concluded.

It's clear Mike feels the problems he's faced keenly, especially given his association with Comics International, whose frequency suffered for a number of reasons towards its end. He must be feeling the fates are conspiring - let's hope they give up and move on in 2011.