Issue Description

Our cover this issue spotlights Paul Gravett's extensive and fascinating conversation with one of Britain's national treasures, Gemma Bovary author Posy Simmonds. It's a career-spanning discussion ranging from Simmonds' early days as a compulsive comicker to her career at The Guardian, her children's books, all the way to her forthcoming graphic novel Tamara Drewe.

Join Shaenon Garrity for a chat with one of the finest writers currently working in genre comics, Wonder Woman scribe Gail Simone. The two discuss Simone's controversial "Women in Refrigerators" investigation, her unlikely entry into the comics world, her early work for Bongo and Marvel, and her fan-favorite run on such DC Comics titles as Birds of Prey, Action Comics and Welcome to Tranquility.

Our comics section this issue offers a generous collection of episodes from Otto Soglow's rarely seen, hilariously absurd newspaper strip The Ambassador.

Also: R. Fiore on DC Comics' recent attempts to revitalize such classic characters as Captain Marvel and The Spirit, R.C. Harvey on the impact of legacy strips in the newspaper comics page, and much more. Don't forget to pick up a copy of the best magazine about comics this fine nation has to offer, The Comics Journal!

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