EDITORIAL

A CRASH 2022 Annual — maybe there will be one after all!

Over the last few years, Roger Kean and I have embarked on a journey that has brought CRASH magazine back to those who still dearly loved the ZX Spectrum; from those with fond childhood memories to others who were very much still active in a vibrant ZX Spectrum scene. How the idea of creating the annual came about has been well documented before. Three have been published to date, 120 pages in length in hardback and released just before Xmas.

Oli Frey created brand new art for the covers — each one a modern masterpiece

Keeping the cover a secret was part of the fun for those who had pre-ordered. This sort of replicated the surprise the reader got in the 80s when seeing CRASH pop through their letterbox and seeing the cover for the first time — it was all part of the experience in getting the magazine.

With Roger being diagnosed with MND, the CRASH Annual 2021 was to be the last one in its current guise. The plan was not to do any further ones — a bi-monthly A5, 60-page publication took its place and has proved successful.

Over the last few months, I have been asked many times if there will be an annual publication this year. So I thought, what if we release a CRASH Annual, with an XMAS cover, re-use the best 80-90 pages from issue 1-5 with 30 or so pages of new content. The Annual would be 120 pages, A5 and hardback.

With the Fusion 2022 Annual Kickstarter launch in September, the idea is now to offer the CRASH

2022 Annual as a Tier Perk (Fusion is a sister publication to CRASH, covering all ‘gaming’, including toys and board games). And this is what we plan to do.

Who is the target audience, you may ask?

Well, maybe those who have not bumped into CRASH before? Or those who have bumped into the magazine on Readly or PressReader and see the annual as a way to start getting CRASH. Or maybe you, the reader of the bi-monthly magazine, who would like the new CRASH Annual as a keepsake or as an XMAS present for a relative or friend.

The Kickstarter will take place in the middle of September with the aim of sending out the Annual in December — I hope you can support it!