Issue Description

Headlining this issue: Matthias Wivel's interview with prolific cartoonist Lewis Trondheim, who discusses his multifaceted career, his approach to creativity and the turbulent history of the legendary arts-first publishing house that he co-founded, L'Association. PictureBox publisher Dan Nadel queries art-comics (Wonderfool World) creator and fine artist David Sandlin on his pieces in Raw, as well as the eerie Swamp Preacher, which ties into the larger world of his Blab! anthology-and-storybook work. Our color comics section turns up Dick Davis and Jim Lavery's 1949 comics adaptation of the John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps. Plus, David Beard on how Diamond's sales data distorts the comic-book industry, Donald Phelps on Rose O'Neill's Kewpies, Bill Randall on Inio Asano's breakout novel Nijigahara Holograph, Tom Crippen dissects Marvel's Civil War miniseries, R.C. Harvey remembers Johnny Hart and Brant Parker, and much more.

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