The next three issues of THE SAVAGE KICK are called "Confessions", "Convictions" and "Conclusions." And it's no accident that SK#10 will act as some sort of a conclusion.

Since the last issue of THE SAVAGE KICK in 2015, the death of print books has continued. Our usual printing company went bankrupt after over-investing in a fancy printing press. And, of course, tablets and smart phones have added to the weight of Kindle in squeezing out physical books.

Daniel Clowes wrote that books will probably end up like vinyl. I tend to agree. They will become beautifully designed objects that you pay a premium for - Chris Ware and Fantagraphics have already sussed this out - but they will never sell in huge quantities. I'm not a Luddite and I appreciate the value of the digital technology. I can watch any film I want, find obscure CDs and talk to writers thousands of miles away. Yet the satisfaction of holding a book will always remain... the grooves of the paper and the feel of the cover.

The last survivors - like cockroaches - will be celebrity confessionals. A troubled childhood, an issue with weight, a battle with drugs, a blinkered rise against the odds to become a star, and some airbrushed colour photos in the middle of fucking 400 pages. They provide excellent gifts for family and friends you secretly don't like.

For the poor schlubs like us, life is a gentle decline. This feeds the satisfying stories. They are the true lives of almost everyone, but most are too scared to reveal them. The scared fill their lives with envy and aspiration, and this is more depressing than embracing the truth. The stupidity of the struggle is fun and the fuck-ups always have better stories than the successes.

So here it is... some more confessions and more people who feel the same way.

Murder Slim Press