SoftQuest was a Tacoma-based group who, in 1983, planned to put out a monthly prose & comic magazine called Mega Illustrated Fantasy.
Each issue was to have a different theme: first was "Real Computer Stories", next would have been "Things That Go Bump In The Night" & third would have been "Fireplaces".
Had it not declared bankruptcy after the first issue I would have had a prose story published in the second issue & a comic book story published in the third issue. Aw, well...
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Mega Fantasy Illustrated #1
So what exactly is the name of this magazine? The cover has the logo read "Mega Illustrated Fantasy", but the indicia, interior logo & page identifications read "Mega Fantasy Illustrated".
Servik's Oracle
NANJAO. Text story.
NANJAO. It's rather amusing in 2009 to read a 1983 story about an advanced computer game, that is a text adventure, on a floppy, that requires a hard disk to play. (Also a shame that, since this was part 1 of a longer story, the rest of the story may never have seen print.)
NNAN. The type face changes for no purpose at several points in this story.
NNAN. The first time I read this story, I was real confused when it was revealed at the end that Servik was a woman. I just assumed Servik was a male friend of the main character since nothing stated the character was a woman or implied anything beyond a friendship between them.
When All Men's Dreams Come True
NANJAO. Text story.
Mentions "lazers".
Either this is something completely different or the author didn't realize that laser is an anagram.
The Game
Page 18, Panel 2. 'Does' is misspelled as "dose".
Storywise this story was doomed by it's ending, but I think it could have been made stronger if the guy who was having the dream actually did anything of consequence in the dream. Since it was a dream of a computer game coming to life having the main character become the hero would have, at least, matched the point of playing a game.
Sarah & Jack
Sarah's speech is split between two panels & reads, "I love you, but..." "... cannot stand around while you swing back and forth."
Seems like an "I" was lost between panels. ;-)
The ending of this story is subject to interpretation, although I'm not sure that that uncertainty is good or bad.
Most of the story is Sarah & Jack discussing/arguing about their relationship, then Jack shuts off the hologram of Sarah. The last panel is another Sarah asking Jack if he feels better.
Soooooo... is this the real Sarah or just another hologram? I don't think the uncertainty was intentional.
When All Men's Dreams Come True
Page 1, Paragraph 5, Sentence 1. "That Venus held a wealth of menerals".
Minerals.
666 Worms
Page 2, Column 3, Paragraph 2, Sentence 2. "She dreamed a choatic nightmare".
Chaotic.
Funny how sometimes one can contemplate a possible nit, but dismiss it for some reason or other then later realize it was a valid nit.
When All Men's Dreams Come True
The story mentions that the Martian "Thinkers" sent out automated space ships to other planets, but a point earlier in the story was that Martian building materials were impervious to Earth tools.
So did the "Thinkers" send ships to Earth & then left leaving no trace because if Martian stuff had been left behind, you'd think Humans might have found it.
666 Worms
The opening establishes that the story is being told by Mike's bed (C/Bed or Beddy-bye), but the main part of the story doesn't really feel like it's being narrated by the same personality.
Admittedlty this is a future where the apartment & the various pieces of furniture & appliances have artificial personalities so maybe Beddy-bye interfaced with the other computerized things to learn parts of the story the bed wasn't privy to, but still the voice of the narrator shouldn't feel different.
And now this comic has an entry at the Grand Comics Database.