BACK when I was a teenager - in the mid-80s - Knave was the bee's knees when it came to grumble mags. The English publication had hot pictorials, a sharp sense of humour, literate reviews of interesting books and movies and....although I didn't appreciate it at the time...fantastic interviews and fiction by staffer Neil Gaiman. Yes, THAT Neil Gaiman.
Many years later, I read a biography on Gaiman and he explained that the editor at the time, Ian Pemble, was trying to do something different with Knave, producing a smarter-than-average wank mag. Obviously, that changed when he left the helm, because Knave eventually degenerated into the bog-standard type of periodical that most porn critics would expect: all cunt and no cleverness.
But Knave really was a cut above back the pack in 1984.
I found this particular issue cheap at a second-hand bookshop in the seaside village of Victor Harbor, South Australia, while on holidays in April.
Everything else in the shop was woefully overpriced, but this gem was being sold cheap for some reason. A wave of nostalgia splashed over me, so I bought it.
Little did I know itwas a classic issue in a classic run of issues.
It's cool enough that the Christmas 1984 edition features a Neil Gaiman interview with Bill Oddie (back when he was still fresh in the British public's minds after a long stint on TV's The Goodies. Who knew he'd swiftly become all-but-forgotten in his homeland, loosely remembered for being an eccentric birdwatcher and the oddball friend of fictional clown Alan Partridge, yet revered in Australia as a comedy genius for the next 30+ years?).
However, making things even sweeter is the inclusion of an original short story by Alan Moore (yes, THE Alan Moore).
It's not a particularly good story. But it IS Alan Moore, and that's something to celebrate.
Throw in a review of Vanessa Del Rio's new stick-flick Viva Vanessa! - including two pics of the X-rated legend that I've never seen before (and I'm a Vanessa aficionado) - and you have what I consider to be the PERFECT top-shelf mag.
