Inspired in part by Alex's epic and successful quest to collect the full run of Alpha Flight comics and also by my participation in a successfully funded but ultimately stalled kickstarter project, I recently decided to collect the entire run of issues for Mondo 2000 magazine. For those of you unfamilar with Mondo it was an intermintently published magazine that ran from 1989 to 1998 and did a spectacular job of tying counterculture together with emerging and fringe technologies. In just 17 issues the mondoids of yore managed to bring together an astounding array of unique individuals including:
- psychadelic enthusiasts Terence McKenna, Dr. Timothy Leary
- authors Bruce Sterling, Willian S. Burroughs, Rudy Rucker and William Gibson
- artists Kate Bornstein and Mark Pauline
- musicians Brian Eno, Trent Reznor, Daniel Johnston, Camper Van Beetovhen and Negativeland
- hackers Captain Crunch and The Legion of Doom
- architect Eugene Tsui
As a boy growing up in rural Canada, each issue encountered provided a wealth of idiosyncratic perspectives that in the pre-web era weren't otherwise easy to obtain. Re-reading the magazines now as an adult, I can affirm that they haven't lost their edge.
The good news: after much haggling and online perusing I've managed to collect a complete run. Well ... complete at least from issue 2 to the final issue no. 17. Issue no. 1 continues to elude me despite assistance from a number of good folks from the orignal Mondo 2000 inner circle.
My search continues.
