Issue Description

The Comics Journal #291 features your regularly scheduled dose of funnybook diversity and critical acumen. This issue’s all over the place, folks. Check it out:

An interview with Batman: The Long Halloween artist and Heroes illustrator Tim Sale.A conversation with House/Jessica Farm author Josh Simmons.Gary Groth’s comprehensive review of the new Ralph Steadman memoir, The Joke’s Over: Bruised Memories: Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, and Me.William Stout offers a personal remembrance of his longtime friend, Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens.Tom Crippen examines the career of Howard the Duck creator Steve Gerber.A generous selection of humor and funny-animal comics by Flintstones mastermind Dan Gordon.John A. Lent looks at the growing market for comics in the Middle East.A color preview of Danica Novgorodoff’s new graphic novel, Slow Storm

As always, we’ve posted online excerpts from several features to whet non-subscribers’ apetites, including Joe McCabe’s interview with Tim Sale, Kristy Valenti’s interview with Josh Simmons, and Gary Groth’s look at the partnership between Ralph Steadman and Hunter S. Thompson. Dig in and enjoy!

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.

Please first Sign In before leaving a review.

Status: Not in Collection