Issue Description

The Comics Journal #285 is the latest volley in our ongoing attempt to tear down the stupid portions of the art form and industry and replace them with something finer. This time out, Superman Confidential creator Darwyn Cooke confides in us about his early career in animation, collaborating on Catwoman, re-pioneering DC's superhero mythology in The New Frontier, and providing his current takes on Batman, The Spirit and Superman. Ernie Colón, the artist for the best-selling The 9/11 Report: a Graphic Adaptation, talks about representing one of the defining traumas of our age, as well as working on Casper the Friendly Ghost; Magnus, Robot Fighter; Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld; and his current weekly comic strip SpyCat. The trilogy of interviews in this issue is rounded out with The K Chronicles creator Keith Knight. Purchasing a copy will provide you with many more delights, including the comics section (three hard-boiled, pre-Code John Buscema stories from the bizarre 1950s crime/horror series Wanted), R.C. Harvey on the life and career of Roger Armstrong, Bill Randall on the manga of Kazu Yuzuki, Tim O'Neil on Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland, Simon Abrams on Arvid Nelson's Rex Mundi, Noah Berlatsky on Fumi Yoshinaga's Antique Bakery 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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