It's funny - recently I found my old 18 Wheeler zines, and they're not nearly as "generic" as Tom makes them sound. You can definitely see the influence of Conflict, Forced Exposure and other period publications, but as early as issue #1 he's already toying with aliases and printing a Stewart Brodian dartboard (while graciously offering him a column next issue). Issue #2 features the Embarrassment, of course an enduring fascination. By issue #4 and the Dave Rick Celebrity Roast, you're definitely seeing Tom develop his own voice and sense of humor. In short: a solid publication, one that I frequently underrated at the time.
The real missing link, however, is the Superchunk Gazette. It might as well have been written by Linus, the Award-Winning Blogger; it's exactly the kind of humor and situation that fuels the Tom/Jon calls. And let's not forget who Superchunk's drummer was...
But I can definitely relate to Tom's reticence to make the past public. I sure wouldn't want people to see back issues of the zine I did in the '80s and very early '90s outside of a few interviews here and there. I'm not much of a music critic now, but I'm Lester Bangs Reincarnated compared to virtually every WB back issue.
