Antic (magazine)

"Antic" was the name of a home computer magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit computer line (Atari 400/800 and compatibles). Its ISSN is 0113-1141. It took its name from the ANTIC chip which produced the Atari line's graphics. The first issue was published in April 1982. While it began as a bimonthly magazine, within a year it had gone monthly. The last issue was in June/July 1990. All told, 88 issues were published. A "Best of" book was also published.

Its main rival in the United States was "ANALOG Computing", another long-lived magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit line. A lesser rival was the short lived "Hi-Res Magazine".

In 1986, "Antic" spun off "STart Magazine", a sister publication aimed at the Atari ST line. The daughter magazine would outlive its parent by about a year. When "Antic" ended, it continued as a section of "STart", appearing in six more issues.

Typo

One feature of "Antic" magazine was a program called "TYPO ('Type Your Program Once', and a play on typographical error)". This was a program that generated a code for each Atari BASIC line entered in a program. By comparing this code with the code in the magazine, the reader could check if they typed in the BASIC source correctly. "TYPO" was later succeeded by "TYPO II", a smaller, faster program.

Versions of "TYPO" were also published and used (with permission) by Page 6 magazine.

ee also

*"Antic Software" – The software company founded by Antic.
*"Atari User" – A British Atari magazine

External links

* [http://www.atarimagazines.com/antic/ Antic Magazine] – At the Classic Computer Magazine Archive
* [http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/cgi-bin/sitewise.pl?act=sect&pt=1094_371&s=1482 The Antic Magazine Library at the Centre for Computing History]