PUBLICATION DATE: December 2001

CONTENTS: "Stop" and "Teevee" (both are straight adaptations of The Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infection Saturday Morning Cartoon Show episodes #179 and #191, respectively.)

NOTES: First printings feature a bright blue cover. There also exists a very limited number of full color covers for the first printing, most of which were dealer incentives and not put up for sale. This issue went to a second printing in January 2002 after it was discovered that the RV&OI website was not printed on the inside front cover. Second printings also featured a bright blue cover, making it virtually indistinguishable from the first printing. Third printings feature a light yellow/gold cover.

COMMENTARY: Shortly after the publication of this issue, Moist Doorknob Comics announced that they would move RV&OI Comics to a monthly publication schedule. After the discovery of the "error" cover, a second printing was announced, leading speculators to buy up quantities of the first printing, believing it to be the more valuable of the two versions.

REVIEW: By Jennifer Ray
Taken from Creeps HQ, 12-19-2001
Well, the first thing that struck me about issue #4 is that it's a much more cheapo, shoddy, low-budget affair, much more the kind of thing we'd expect from RV and OI. #1's superslick cover seemed a gratuitous touch, though I suspect it was intended as a parody of the deluxe-cover mania associated with comic collecting.

Unfortunately, this issue is much thinner on pages, which seemed to me to be unnecessary. For 75 cents, I think we have a right to expect more than 8 pages (8 surfaces, that is, not counting the cover). A comic this thin arouses my appetite without bedding it down. Perhaps an RV&OI Comics Super Special is in order.

The two features included in the comic are "Teevee" and "Stop" from the old RV&OI Saturday Morning Cartoon Show, rendered in print form. They hold up surprisingly well in print, and I still keep reading them over and over even though I've already seen them online a zillion times already. Still, once they run out of online material, I sincerely hope we will see some new RV&OI stories and not recycled ones.

Diehard geekettes like me will keep buying these comics no matter what, but I think there will have to be more substance in order to hold the attention of the average mini-comic buyer. Then again, this IS Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infection, so perhaps I'm making too much of it. After their long absence, I suppose I should just be happy they're back in the public eye again in any way.

Availability: The first and second printings are sold out. A third printing was published in August 2002, with a single color cover (light yellow). This printing is also available as a limited edition autographed version.

(Please note that in the scans of the third printing cover images, the difference in the color of the cover is due to our scanner. Also, if you happen to obtain an autographed copy, there ARE many variations in how RV and OI autographed each book, and it probably will not look like the copy that we have pictured on this page.)