IT Came from Kickstarter: Strange Kids Club Magazine #5

There were few things cooler growing up then being the owner of a Mad or Cracked Magazine. Possessing one was like owning a Playboy (for those who truly didn't understand what a Playboy was) and sneaking Cracked into school was like...sneaking crack into school. We imagined that the manic energy and childish parody contained within the pages was the secret formula to incite anarchy onto the patriarchal school administration.

Yeah, we didn't know anything but Mad and Cracked were still cool. Strange Kids Club has tried to re-create that zany and anti-authoritative tone with a healthy dose of nostalgia through  their publication SKC Magazine. On this, their fifth issue, they tackle that cherished trope that we all from the last two decades can identify with:

Afternoon Live-Action Adventure Shows.  

As I mentioned above Strange Kids Club Magazine strives to relive the days of teen/youth influenced humor mags while also getting into what made being a kid at that time so damn cool. 

We forget (okay, we never REALLY forget because we're all nostalgic saps but follow me here) that we were the "Sell To" generation. More product was aimed at us during all childhood then any decade before. With so much product being thrown at us something had to stick, and sometimes what sticked was sick. It's this sick, strange, and unusual content we remember the most. Madballs. Boglins. Mighty Max. Mad Scientist. The Real Ghostbusters. Creepy Crawlers. This was, not to be crass, some weird shit. SKC seeks to immortalize and explore these uncharted waters (like The Pirates of Dark Water, which was also really strange).  

Not content with simply swimming in the impact of these peculiar landmarks, SKC Magazine has featured interviews with the very minds behind such cherished brands such as Madballs designer James Groman and Garbage Pail Kids artist Brent Engstrom. I'm actually amazed at how he has obtained interviews with some of the most sought after architects of our childhoods. Combine that with various comic artists teaming with inventive collaborates creating original content and what you have is the bastard step-child of a nostalgic literary journal and offbeat art zine.

No squares needed here.

SKC Magazine is the brain-slug of Strange Kids Club founder Rondal Scott III, a man well-known for championing the more obscure and weird hemisphere of popular culture. Not resting on operating a popular website, Rondal has gathered a rag-tag group of like-minded soul brothers to help organize and revitalize the zeitgeist of the past through actual physical media (you know, like you use to buy. In stores.). Besides his regular assortment of contributors and guest writers Rondal has also brought on some amazing artist. The biggest contribution in this issue will be the Saturday morning flashback Bronarr: Space Barbarian in a comic tale titled Strange Kid Comes to Frogtown illustrated by 

Jonatan Cantero.

 

The thing about producing a magazine of this caliber is that there is a lot involved with the construction. This is not like the Xerox zines of the past. There is paying artist, shipping fees, and of course the actual printing cost (as illustrated in the pie chart below)

You notice that the one pie slice that wasn't featured was "Profit". This is a largely labor of love. Love of pop culture and being part of that larger universe. To create something that will be fondly remembered in the same nostalgic embrace. What Rondal and the Strange Kids Club team are trying to do is LIVE FOREVER!

Okay, not so much as live forever as trying to make a fun magazine rooted in the past while highlight the artist and writers of the future. Is that less pretensious? Doesn't matter, there cause is a noble one and we here fully support it. But should you?

Art by Brian Allen

While debating this issue I was re-playing the SEGA game that was made based off the last SKC Magazine feature Cassette Death.

Reliving the fun and manic energy the game had made me wish the story had gone on. I mean, once you've battered scores of rapid My Pet Monsters and blown-up countless Boglins only to find yourself facing a demonic Teddy Ruxpin, who wouldn't want that to have a sequel. While searched to see if there were any similar games like Kid Strange I discovered there was indeed a sequel.

 It was rare. Damn rare. That made it all the more desirable. I needed to play it. 

I lurked on the forums, I asked all the right people, and eventually tracked down the mythic second assortment of the continued adventure of Strange Kid. He wanted a fortune for it but it was well worth it. Behold...Kid Strange Comes to Frogtown for the SEGA Genesis system.

DOWNLOAD HERE

After mashing hundreds of Frogmen with Bronarr as my avatar (great playable character but lacks Strange Kid's toxic snot special feature, my only grip) I finally realized...yes, Strange Kids Club Magazine is culturally significant. Why? Because it celebrates the ugly.

Wait, let me be more specific. It celebrates "ket". What the hell is "ket"? According to British anthropologists and The Atlantic "ket" is anything that kids love because adults would (ideally) hate. Slime. Goosebumps. Basically anything we liked in the 80/90's. It's the idea of kids rebelling against the old guard, blowing a raspberry to the ruling parent class. You like easy listening? Here's punk. You like fine dinning? Here's pop rocks and coke. You like the status quo? Here's neon green slime that will most certainly stain your carpets.

It's also basically what makes Strange Kids Club Magazine so glorious. SKC Magazine is not only the celebration of "ket", it's the appreciation of "ket". It's the importance of "ket". It's a scientific study in why we continue to love "ket" despite the fact that we, the children of the past, are becoming the ruling parent class. We now drink coffee and have set schedules, we listen to jazz and NPR, and we certainly realize that slime will most definitely ruin the investment we put into our carpets (and we probably won't get our deposit back). But we still can look back on those fond years. We can use the  paychecks from our "adult" jobs to buy up our childhood treasures. We can stream the films we grew up on without paying rental fees (if you avoid the monthly statement this illusion lives on). SKC Magazine gives us pages of excuses to never grow up, letting us leave our grounded lives for a short while and be young again. Is that worth backing? Damn right.

These are the things you think of when strangling a frogman with his own intestines.

Just like middle school science class.

Pledge $5 or more

"DIGITAL BRO"
PDF version of SKC Magazine #5

You will also receive:
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Thank you on our website

Pledge $10 or more

"KEEP IT REAL BRO"
Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Thank you in the magazine
• PDF version

Pledge $15 or more

"STICKY BRO"
Set of Circle Jerk Stickers (Series 4) + Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Thank you in the magazine
• PDF version

Pledge $30 or more

"POSTER BRO"
Limited Edition print (11x17) + Set of Circle Jerk Stickers (Series 4) + Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Thank you in the magazine
• PDF version

Pledge $40 or more

"PILLOW BRO"
Limited Edition Stargoolian pillow + Set of Circle Jerk Stickers (Series 4) + Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Thank you in the magazine
• PDF version

Pledge $65 or more

"COLLECTABRO"
Limited Edition Stargoolian pillow + Limited Edition print (11x17) + Set of Circle Jerk Stickers (Series 4) + Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Downloadable storyboards
• Thank you in the magazine
• PDF version

Pledge $85 or more

"COLLECTABRO DELUXE"
Exclusive T-shirt + Limited Edition Stargoolian pillow + Limited Edition print (11x17) + Set of Circle Jerk Stickers (Series 4) + Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Downloadable storyboards
• Thank you in the magazine
• PDF version

Pledge $55 or more

"AD SPONSOR #1"
1/6 page ad + 120 x 60 banner ad on our site for 30 days

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

Pledge $200 or more

"AD SPONSOR #3"
1/2 page ad + 300 x 100 banner ad on our site for 60 days

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Physical copy of SKC Magazine #5

Pledge $500 or more

"AD SPONSOR #4"
Full page ad + 300 x 250 banner ad on our site for 60 days + podcast plug on Monsters & Metal

You will also receive:
• Downloadable theme song (MP3)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• 5 copies of SKC Magazine #5

ADD-ONS