Bank-Hold-Up studios, the pair responsible for the indie hit and Eisner winner 37 have hung their banner under the Contender Comics shingle. Starting with issue four of the black and white fave, 37 will become a Contender Comic, as part of an overall deal Bank-Hold-Up principals Holden McNeil and Bany Edwards entered into with the company. The deal also includes the publishing of a new title the pair are hard at work on, Bluntman and Chronic.

We're ecstatic about the Contender deal, commented Edwards through a press release. They're the best label in the biz, after DC.

What my partner meant to say, countered McNeil, via a phone follow-up. Is that for what were doing now, Contender makes absolute sense, and theyre the best at putting out the kind of books we think Bluntman and Chronic will be.

Bluntman and Chronic debut is scheduled for early 1996.

by Cliff Biggers

Routine Anything But

In the growing field of self-publishers, Alyssa Jones' Idiosyncratic Routine is starting to garner quite a few accolades. The ongoing seriocomic tale of one woman's life in the big city was picked by the Comics Buyers Guide as this year's title to watch. Routine has been seen on many critics Best lists (the title was even cited recently as Melissa Etheridge's favorite comic) with back issues reportedly moving like crazy. If your comic store fails to carry it, order Idiosyncratic Routine directly (from Alyssa Jones' Buried in the Rug label) by calling (212) 328-2868. You wont regret it.

by Ward Batty

Hooper X Marks the Spot

White-Hating Coon, the controversial Hooper X title that's taking the industry by storm, has switched publishers yet again. Opiate Press, the company responsible for such radical indies as Evil Legs and Finger F-ch Comics, has picked-up W.H.C. from FlanMan, Inc., who had in turn acquired the title from Distress Ltd. The move should effect the shipping of issue seven only mildly, setting it back by about a week. F-ck those bitches, Hooper X said in a press release. FlanMan was a black-mans hell. They were always censoring my sh-t. I intend to bring a suit against all those racist c-nts. And you can quote me on that! X, who had taken to wearing a temporary tattoo on his face that said Slave (known to be a reference to FlanMan), promises even more controversy in the next year. "I'm not saying anything. But some motherf-ckers just might get killed," he swore.

by Brett Brooks