Will Evans

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LeeT
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Will Evans

Post by LeeT »

In the latest issue of Retro Gamer, there is a feature about a missing 'Nintendo Force' review by a person called Will Evans. According to RG, he did a review for ZZAP! in Issue 78.

True? :?
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Post by Iain »

Dunno, look through the issue yourself ;-)
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Post by LeeT »

I got to page sixty then I used my quota up...I'll have a look at my DVD later (I'm lazy basically!). Out of the first sixty pages, a couple of the reviews didn't have the names of the reviewer(s), just the cartoon head drawings, and I haven't come across the contributors list yet...
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Post by Professor Brian Strain »

Don't forget that a lot of reviews may have been written by someone else and then edited and put under a different byline...

(And RG managed to get their facts wrong. Again. Future offered to take over ZZAP! when Newsfield collapsed, they never made a formal offer when Impact closed...)
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Post by LeeT »

Professor Brian Strain wrote:Don't forget that a lot of reviews may have been written by someone else and then edited and put under a different byline...

(And RG managed to get their facts wrong. Again. Future offered to take over ZZAP! when Newsfield collapsed, they never made a formal offer when Impact closed...)
Yeah - Warren Lapworth did some of the PS comments before he 'officially' joined ZZAP!

I read that RG article earlier tonight and thought it sounded odd - Also in the 'Back To The Eighties' article, they said 'Future Publications' :roll:
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Post by Iain »

Professor Brian Strain wrote:Future offered to take over ZZAP! when Newsfield collapsed, they never made a formal offer when Impact closed...)
Interesting, I did hear something here or somewhere else a few years ago that maybe Future had the licence for Zzap related stuff, maybe that was just speculation, or did someone mention that one of their mags used a gold medal??...?
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Post by Ian Osborne »

Yes, it is true. Newsfield were to publish two sister console mags, Sega Force and Nintendo Force, but the company closed before either appeared. When Impact emerged from the ashes, they bought the rights to Sega Force from the receivers, but Nintendo Force was abandoned after a legal from Nintendo. The lost review is a print-out of a piece that was being worked on before Newsfield bit the dust.
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Post by Fab »

Iain wrote:Dunno, look through the issue yourself ;-)
The only place in the issue where Will Evans' name appears is the credits column on page 74, under "Contributors". I cannot remember seeing that name anywhere else in Zzap! (any issue).

The face at the end of Darkman review (same issue, page 17) is unknown, and I cannot remember seeing that face anywhere else in Zzap! (any issue). So it must be Will Evans' face! Well, maybe I'm rushing to conclusions... But, then, whose face is that? Does anyone know how Will Evans looks like? Any photos?
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Post by Ian Osborne »

Fab wrote:The face at the end of Darkman review (same issue, page 17) is unknown, and I cannot remember seeing that face anywhere else in Zzap! (any issue). So it must be Will Evans' face! Well, maybe I'm rushing to conclusions... But, then, whose face is that? Does anyone know how Will Evans looks like? Any photos?
Yes, that's Will - a purple-haired goth type. And Roger Kean's cousin...
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Post by Yossarian »

I had a some fine nights out in Will's native Abergavenny with him, his remarkably buxom girlfriend (who introduced me to the magnificent Doolittle by the Pixies), and Miles. The last time I saw him was around nine years ago, I think, when me and my (then) girlfriend were driving through the town and dropped by his house. I think he was at university at the time. He must have been fourteen, fifteen, when he first wrote for Zzap!, and seventeen as a staff writer on SNES Force during the Impact days.

Tragically, Will died in a fire a three or four years ago. I hate banal platitudes in these situations, but I really liked the guy - quirky, irritable and unique little bastard that he was. I spoke to Roger for an Edge article a few years back, first time since the closure of Impact, and put off making the call because I didn't know what to say about Will.

[respectfully raises virtual glass in lieu of appropriate closing comment]

James
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Post by LeeT »

Thats very sad news about Will. Thinking about it, I'm sure he wrote for CRASH as well (earlier in its life)?
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Post by Fab »

How sad... :(

According to Yossarian, Will was about 14 when he first wrote for Zzap! Does this mean that Will wrote something well before issue 78?
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Will Evans

Post by Roger Kean »

I noted the discussion about Will (who was in fact my second cousin), and it's true he did submit several pieces for review inclusion in Crash and Zzap between the ages of 14 and his joining Newsfield on extended work experience (later full-time at Impact). His accidental death affected my family pretty badly (faulty electical wiring started the fire; he died of smoke inhalation, which he would have found amusingly ironical, considering what he usually smoked). What's not widely known, is that he was a wickedly satirical cartoonist.
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Re: Will Evans

Post by LeeT »

Roger Kean wrote:I noted the discussion about Will (who was in fact my second cousin), and it's true he did submit several pieces for review inclusion in Crash and Zzap between the ages of 14 and his joining Newsfield on extended work experience (later full-time at Impact). His accidental death affected my family pretty badly (faulty electical wiring started the fire; he died of smoke inhalation, which he would have found amusingly ironical, considering what he usually smoked). What's not widely known, is that he was a wickedly satirical cartoonist.
Again, I'm sorry to hear about this Roger - I was corresponding with Barnaby Page around four years ago and he mentioned that he was going to a funeral with some ex-Newsfield staff, so it must have been Will's?
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How lovely!

Post by badgerdaddy »

Really nice to see this about Will and to see him so fondly remembered. He really was a top, top bloke.
I don't think that was the funeral Barnaby could have been talking about, but if it was he didn't go!
Nice words, James - hope you're well. And hi to Roger, and any other former Ludlovians who might frequent this site. Ended up here because I was searching for SNES Force online, as yesterday, while unpacking stuff, I found the 'order of service' kinda thing from Will's funeral. Sounds odd, but it was the best funeral I've ever been to, a really fine goodbye to a good friend. Also the last time I saw Roger and Oli, I think.
Oh, and Emma isn't so buxom these days, but she's still great fun.
Jon (Bruford!)
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