Issue Description

This issue, travel from Marvel to Hollywood and back, as Michael Dean conducts a definitive interview with cartoonist and illustrator Mike Ploog! The artist discusses his time with the 1970s Marvel Bullpen, creating early takes on such characters as Ghost Rider and Man-Thing, as well as his early fantasy epic "Weirdworld"; his career as a Hollywood storyboard artist; his experiences in the closing days of CrossGen, and much more. Also: B.N. Duncan talks to breakout indy cartoonist Sophie Crumb about everything from homelessness to escaping the shadow of her famous father; a rare, never-collected sequence of Billy DeBeck's classic comic strip Barney Google, complete with an appreciation by noted critic Donald Phelps; and all the news, commentary and criticism you've come to expect from America's most respected magazine about the cartooning arts.

The Comics Journal (1976)

Publisher

Fantagraphics

Volume Description

The Comics Journal is a magazine that covers the comics medium from an arts-first perspective, and one of the nation's most respected single-arts magazines, providing its readers with an eclectic mix of industry news, commentary, professional interviews, classic comics sections and reviews of current work on a regular basis. Due to its reputation as the American magazine with an interest in comics as an art form, the Journal has subscribers worldwide, and in this country serves as an important window into the world of comics for several general arts and news magazines.

Despite a contentious relationship with the rest of the North American comics industry, due in no small part to its investigative news stories and uncompromising review section, the Journal has won several industry awards, most notably the Utne Reader, Eisner and Harvey trophies.

In October 2009, we announced the next phase of the evolution of The Comics Journal, beginning in 2010 as a uniquely sized and formatted, evocatively visual and tactile semi-annual event, with expanded content at The Comics Journal website TCJ.com.

A comics magazine, which originally began as the New Nostalgia Journal, started in 1976 by Gary Groth and Mike Catron after the Nostalgia Journal (which ran 26 issues) lost their battle against the competing adzine, The Buyer's Guide. Gary and Mike, both in their twenties, had no plan, but somehow convinced the maker of the Nostalgia Journal to give them the paper.

As Gary Groth recalls:

I can’t remember how we talked them into this, but I suspect they were on their last legs and decided to hell with it, let’s give it to these two kids. Shortly thereafter, a box arrived in the mail with some back issues, a list of advertisers and a mailing list, and we were the proud new owners of Journal.

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Status: Not in Collection