Issue Description

It's The Comics Journal #294, the magazine that isn't afraid of little cartoon boys who consort with monsters! Oh, have we got presents for you...

Matthias Wivel interviews Norwegian cartoonist Jason, the author of such works as Hey, Wait..., The Last Musketeer and Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories. Crawl behind the deadpan anthropomorphic mask and learn how he came to the storytelling style and themes that made him one of the first breakout indy-comics stars of the 21st century.Lio creator Mark Tatulli talks to Andrew Farago about how he broke into the ultra-competitive newspaper-strip market, his longrunning series Heart of the City, and the tightrope act involved in putting macabre humor on the funny pages.R. Fiore discusses the comic-book censorship wave of the 1950s, and explains why it would have happened even without the assistance of Seduction of the Innocent author Fredric Wertham.Chris Lanier looks at the work of cartoon pioneer Rudolphe Töpffer, the man who invented the modern comic strip.John A. Lent introduces us to the controversial Cameroonian cartoonist Issa Nyaphaga, and explains why his work ultimately forced him to flee his home nation for the United States.Having trouble getting into the Holiday spirit this year? Let us help, with a gallery of original Christmas cards from some of the best cartoonists the medium has to offer!Our comics section this issue: A generous helping of Billy DeBeck’s early (1919 to 1921) Barney Google strips!

As always, TCJ.com has excerpts from the Jason interview, the Mark Tatulli interview and R. Fiore’s essay on comic-book censorship. Need more? Here’s our Christmas gift guide for 2008, featuring suggestions from a variety of cartoonists, critics and industry professionals, as well as a short interview with American Elf author James Kochalka!

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