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whileafollow-upannualsaw1, 422 backers
pledging£43,825.Athirdhasrecentlybeen
successfully funded, having seen 1,948 people
handing over £58,714.
ButZzap!64’s second wind has been
successful, too.The 2019 annual raised
£60,407 from 1,664 backers, and the 2020
version raised £51,226 from 1,603 people.
Eye-watering numbers, for sure.
“Those annuals were my wife’sidea,”says
Wilkins, who has been publishing retro-related
books since 2012. “Wewere sitting in apub
with Roger Kean, Oli Freyand Steven Day,who
hadcreated the covers for many ofmybooks.
Isaid Iwanted todoamagazineand those at
the table said Iwas mad, so my wifesuggested
aCrashannual and that was that.”GATECRASHING
Kean and Freywere keyfigures on both
CrashandZzap!64.Theyfounded Newsfield
Publications in 1983 and launchedCrashfirst,
initially as asoftware catalogue,before turning
it intoamonthly magazine in February 1984.
It focused on the ZX Spectrum and, unlikemany other magazines at the time,ithad an
anarchic air about it. Kean was the editor and
Freycreated the fantasy artwork for which it
soon become known.
Zzap!64launched in Maythe following
year.This one concentrated on the
Commodore 64, although later issues would
look at the Commodore Amiga. The pair also
publishedAmtix!for Amstrad CPC owners, but
it didn’t get past 18 issues and closed in 1987.
CrashandZzap!64continued until 1992, and
both Kean and Freywere keen toensure the
more recent annuals were faithful.
“Werecreated the graphical look down to
amillimetre,”Wilkins says. “Roger was very
precise and Steve helped with colouring the
black and whiteimages from the original
magazine,because we agreed very early on
that we wanted bothCrashandZzap!64to
be full colour.”
The new magazines are also going tobe
entirely colourful affairs. “From December,
Crashwill have 60 A5 pages with asmattering
ofallthe popular sections from its A4
brethren,”Wilkins tells us. “It will be full of
current reviews and will cover the ZX
Spectrum and the Spectrum Next. Once we
haveCrashin the bag, we will then look to
replicateits success withZzap!64.”
More than 630 readers have already
subscribed, and Wilkins is eager to tap intoa
collector’s mindset by offeringbinders –red
forCrashand blue forZzap!64.There is talk
of revivingAmtix!,too,but that’s on the
backburner while the other two bed in. Will
theybereplicatingthe quirks of the original?
“Yes,”Wilkins says. But what does that entail?ZAPPINGTHE OPPOSITION
Crashwas certainly different in that it
eschewed the hiring of professional journalists
in favourofpaying local schoolchildren to
writethe reviews. Kean would hand out⬆ChrisWilkinsworkingontheforthcomingrevival
ofCrashasanA5magazine⬆Newsfield Publications launchedCrashin 1984 and itran until 1992, with Europress as publisher for the
final year.Zzap!64ran for90issues before becomingCommodoreForcein 1992