Issue Description

2008 was a fantastic year for comics and graphic novels, with so much good stuff coming out that it might have seemed a bit overwhelming. Fortunately for you, we’ve assembled an all-star collection of cartoonists and critics to give you their picks for the best material to come out last year. In addition, we’ve also interviewed five creators who excelled in 2008: What It Is author Lynda Barry, All Star Superman artist Frank Quitely, Bottomless Belly Button creator Dash Shaw, Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich and The Ten-Cent Plague author David Hajdu!

Plus: a generous comics section spotlighting some of the best new cartoonists to emerge from the Finland comics scene; Noah Van Sciver’s cartoon interview with humorist Johnny Ryan; Matthias Wivel on Eurocomics in 2008; Tim Kreider on two recent books by and about legendary cartoonist Bill Mauldin; Noah Berlatsky on Garfield, and much more!

As always, we’ve got excerpts from the magazine to whet your appetite: Here are selections from our interviews with Lynda Barry, Frank Quitely, Dash Shaw and David Hajdu, and an excerpt from Tim Kreider’s look at Bill Mauldin. Finally, as a special website extra, we’ve got Rob Clough’s recommendations for ten great minicomics from 2008!

The Comics Journal — ringing in the new year with one eye on the past, one eye on the future and both hands on the steering wheel. Don’t miss it!

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