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Our cover comes to us this month from Shannon Denton. Shannon is a full time animator, who does toy designs and comics on the side. Shannon, in his animation career, is the character designer for the new Spidey cartoon, and is doing development work for the Avengers.

High Stakes Adventure, published by Antarctic Press, is Shannon's latest comic project. If you haven't read it, you should. Issue #1 contains 4 stories, in an anthology format. The first issue is co-written by Kurt Hathaway and Shannon Denton, illustrated by Shannon, with colors by Kristen Fitzner. Issue #2 should be out this summer, featuring The BIG G.A.M.E. with an alternate cover by Bernie Wrightson. There is also an issue with DelBarras, featuring Giant Fighters, in the works. Shannon is taking over the writing chores with the next issue. I am impressed with this book for many reasons, but the most important one is that it is a good all ages comic. That's a hard trick to pull off, and I am impressed that Shannon and company have managed it so well.

Involving young people in comics is a pet project of mine. I would like to read comics for the next 40 years of my life, and if we don't involve young people in the joys of comics reading, and don't include them in the fun of fandom, we won't have comics in the future. My endeavors towards this goal in Houston tells me some very important things: kids still do love comics, and kids will read them if they have access to them, and if the comics are good. What constitutes a good comic? We can debate this endlessly, but the fact remains, it is a pretty subjective thing. However, I am going to attempt with this magazine, to give the older reading comic fans, and the comic companies, some feedback on what younger readers are reading and enjoying or reading and hating. I find teenagers' viewpoints very enlightening when looking at what older readers deem "suitable for children." There are many comic reviewing sites on the web, but my Alternate Views section is only going to contain comic reviews by teenagers. The young reviewers we start with are Jordan Child, who is 14, and my daughter Sidra Roberts, who is 16. Take a look at what they think, and pass along this site to the comics pros. I have other teenagers writing for The Collector Times also, and if some company thinks they have a comic that teenagers will like, they can send it to our post office box and I'll make sure one of my teenagers on staff reviews it. Take a look at what young people *really* think about the comics being published today.

OK, I'm off of my soap box now. This issue of The Collector Times is really great for other reasons. Jamie Coville interviews Devin Grayson about her writing career, her influences, and her opinions, ranging from The Friends of Lulu to Usenet and fandom. I think you'll find the interview very thought provoking, as I did. Nathan Bredfelt, of The Surly Gamer fame, has a younger brother named Mathew, and Mathew Bredfelt gives us an interesting overview of the GI Joe craze this month. We also welcome a new contributor to our art sections this month, Juan Navarro. You can check out Juan's work in both the art gallery and in the comic strip section.

So take your shoes off, get comfortable in your chair, and get ready to explore our site. As always, we are very glad you are here!