The Comics Journal

The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels.[1] Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing reviews of the products of the mainstream comics industry, the magazine promotes the view that comics are a fine art meriting broader cultural respect, and thus should be evaluated with higher critical standards.[2][3][4]

The Comics Journal
Jay Lynch self-portrait for The Comics Journal No. 114 (February 1987)
Editor-in-chiefGary Groth (since 1977)
Categoriescomics, criticism, history, interviews
FrequencyTwice a year
PublisherFantagraphics Books
First issue1977
CountryUnited States
Based inSeattle, Washington
LanguageEnglish
WebsiteTCJ.com
ISSN0194-7869

History

In 1976, Gary Groth and Michael Catron acquired The Nostalgia Journal, a small competitor of the newspaper adzine The Buyer's Guide for Comics Fandom. At the time, Groth and Catron were already publishing Sounds Fine, a similarly formatted adzine for record collectors that they had started after producing Rock 'N Roll Expo '75, held during the July 4 weekend in 1975 in Washington, D.C.

The publication was relaunched as The New Nostalgia Journal with issue No. 27 (July 1976), and with issue No. 32 (January 1977), it became The Comics Journal ("a quality publication for the serious comics fan").[5] Issue No. 37 (December 1977) adopted a magazine format. With issue #45 (March 1979), the magazine moved to a monthly schedule; at that point it had a circulation of 10,000.[6]

In addition to lengthy interviews with comics industry figures, the Journal has always published criticism—and received it in turn.[2] Starting in the early 2000s, the Journal published a series of annual specials combining its usual critical format with extended samples of comics from specially selected contributors.

With issue No. 300 (November 2009), The Comics Journal ceased its semi-monthly print publication.[7] TCJ shifted from an eight-times a year publishing schedule to a larger, more elaborate, semi-annual format supported by a new website.[8][9] This format lasted until 2013 with issue #302. The print magazine then went on hiatus, returning to a magazine format in 2019 with issue #303.

Lawsuits

Over the years The Journal has been involved in a handful of lawsuits.[2] Artist Rich Buckler attempted legal action for a review that called him a plagiarist while printing his panels next to earlier and quite similar Jack Kirby art.[10][11][12][13] A Groth interview with science fiction writer Harlan Ellison sparked a lawsuit by writer Michael Fleisher, over an informal discussion of Fleisher's work and temperament.[14] Co-defendants Groth and Ellison won the case, but emerged from the suit estranged.[15][16][17]

Ellison later became a plaintiff against The Comics Journal, filing suit in part to enjoin The Comics Journal Library: The Writers, a 2006 Fantagraphics book that reprinted the Ellison interview, and which used a cover blurb calling Ellison a "Famous Comics Dilettante."[18] That case was ultimately settled, with Fantagraphics agreeing to omit both the blurb and the interview from any future printings of the book, Ellison agreeing to post a Groth rebuttal statement on Ellison's webpage, and both sides agreeing to avoid future "ad hominem attacks."[19]

The Journal has on occasion published, as cover features, lengthy court transcripts of comics-related civil suits. Notable instances include the Fleisher suit[17][20] and Marv Wolfman's failed suit against Marvel Comics over ownership of the character Blade.[21][22]

Content

The Journal features critical essays, articles on comics history and lengthy interviews, conducted by Gary Groth and others. Noteworthy interviews include Gil Kane in No. 38, Steve Gerber in No. 41, Harlan Ellison in No. 53, Dennis O'Neil in No. 64, Robert Crumb in No. 113, and Charles M. Schulz in #200.

The Journal's combination of forthright news coverage and critical analysis – although the norm for traditional journalistic enterprises – was in sharp contrast to the affectionate and promotional methods of publications like Comics Buyer's Guide and (later) Wizard. In 1995, publisher Gary Groth joked that his magazine occupied "a niche that nobody wants."[23]

Staff members and regular contributors

Gary Groth has been the Journal's publisher and nominal editor for almost all of its existence. Staff members and regular contributors have included Kim Thompson, Greg Stump, Eric Millikin, Eric Reynolds, Ng Suat Tong, R. Fiore, R.C. Harvey, Kenneth Smith, Don Phelps, Robert Boyd, Tom Heintjes, Michael Dean, Tom Spurgeon, Robert Rodi, Gene Phillips, Marilyn Bethke, Cat Yronwode, Heidi MacDonald, Lee Wochner, Bhob Stewart, Arn Saba, Ted White, Bob Levin, Carter Scholz, and Noah Berlatsky. Guest contributors have included Dave Sim and Trina Robbins.

Managing editors
  • 1987–1988: Thom Powers[24]
  • 1988–1989: Greg S. Baisden
  • 1989–1990: Robert Boyd
  • 1990–September 1991: Helena Harvilicz[25]
  • September 1991 – 1993: Frank M. Young[26]
  • 1993 – September 1993: Carole Sobocinski[27]
  • September 1993 – September 1994: Scott Nybakken
  • September 1994 – 1999: Tom Spurgeon[28] (also executive editor 1998–1999)
  • 1999–2001: Eric Evans and Darren Hick
  • 2001–2002: Anne Elizabeth Moore
  • 2002–2004: Milo George
  • 2004–2006: Dirk Deppey[29]
  • 2006–2011: Michael Dean
  • 2019: RJ Casey and Kristy Valenti

Online editors
  • Kristy Valenti, 2010–2011
  • Dan Nadel and Tim Hodler, 2011–2017
  • Tim Hodler and Tucker Stone, 2017–2019[30]
  • Tucker Stone, 2017–ongoing

The Journal's Top 100 Comics list

The Journal published a 20th-century comics canon in its 210th issue (February 1999). To compile the list, eight contributors and editors made eight separate top 100 (or fewer than 100 for some) lists of American works. These eight lists were then informally combined, and tweaked into an ordered list. Krazy Kat topped the list, followed by Peanuts, Pogo, and Art Spiegelman's Maus.[31] Harvey Kurtzman had the most entries of any creator, five: his original run on Mad (#8), his "New Trend" EC war comics (#12), the 1959 Jungle Book graphic novel (#26), his Hey Look! gag cartoons (#63), and the Goodman Beaver stories (#64).

The Village Voice cited the survey's ad hoc criteria:

"Putting Bernard Krigstein and Al Feldstein's eight-page story "Master Race," Hal Foster's 34 years of work on Prince Valiant, Al Hirschfeld's theatrical caricatures, all the horror comics EC published in the first half of the '50s and Robert Crumb's sketchbooks in the same category suggests that they've cast their net a bit wide."[32]

Among the controversial omissions to the Top 100 was Dave Sim's Cerebus series. Sim and the Journal had periodically found themselves at odds in the years preceding the list's formulation.[33] Issue No. 213 included eight pages of responses to, and defenses of the list; Journal columnist R. Fiore wrote "Dave Sim must now think you have a personal vendetta against him," and co-publisher Kim Thompson conceded, "If I had to do it over again, I'd squash together the Hernandez material into two entries [and] put Cerebus and two other things in the vacant spots."[34] Twelve years later, the omission was still being acknowledged by the Journal, which noted that Dave Sim's Cerebus "was conspicuously excluded."[35]

Less surprisingly, given the magazine's longstanding editorial standards and preferences, the list was also light on the dominant genre of superhero comics. Editor and survey participant Tom Spurgeon wrote, "I voted for most of the men-in-spandex titles that made the list – Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Plastic Man – despite the sheer lousiness of some of those works' contributing elements."[36] Ultimately, the Top 100 included six superhero works, including the deconstructionist Watchmen. Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns was one well-regarded mainstream superhero project that was considered but ultimately not chosen, according to co-publisher Kim Thompson.[33]

Awards
Awards and award nominations for The Comics Journal
Year Organisation Award Result
1981 Eagle Award Favourite Fan Publication (American Division) Won[37]
1990 Harvey Award Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation Won[38]
1991 Won[39]
1992 Won[40]
1993 Won[41]
1995 Won[42]
1996 Eisner Award Best Comics-Related Periodical/Publication Won[43]
1997 Best Comics-Related Periodical/Publication Won[43]
Harvey Award Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation Won[44]
1998 Eisner Award Best Comics-Related Periodical/Publication Won[43]
Harvey Award Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation Won[45]
1999 Eisner Award Best Comics-Related Periodical/Publication Won[43]
Harvey Award Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation Won[46]
2000 Won[47]
2001 Won[48]
2003 Best Anthology
Comics Journal Summer Special 2002		 Won[49]
2004 Eagle Award Favourite Magazine About Comics Won[50]
2005 Won[51]
2006 Harvey Award Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation Won[52]
2009 Eisner Award Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism Nominated[53]
2018 Won[54]
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See also

Notes
  1. Wolk, Douglas. Reading Comics (2007) Da Capo Press. p.68. ISBN 0-306-81509-5
  2. Brad Brooks; Pilcher, Tim. The Essential Guide to World Comics. London: Collins & Brown. pp. 32–36. ISBN 1-84340-300-5.
  3. Inge, M. Thomas, Comics as Culture. p.153.
  4. Skinn, Dez. Comix: The Underground Revolution. p.244.
  5. Maheras, Russ. The Comics Journal Message Board :: View topic – The Comics Journal #32, Jan. 1977 (July 2, 2007): "... transforming it from an adzine into a magazine of news and criticism that just happened to carry advertisements."
  6. Groth, Gary and Kim Thompson. "Movin' Up and Movin' Out," The Comics Journal #45 (March 1979), p. 7.
  7. The 300th and final magazine-sized issue of the Comics Journal Archived April 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine The Comics Journal No. 300 free and online
  8. Phegley, Kiel. "Rethinking 'The Comics Journal'", Comic Book Resources, October 30, 2009
  9. Spurgeon, Tom. "TCJ Moves More Dramatically On-Line; Print Version To Come Out Two Times A Year", The Comics Reporter, October 27, 2009
  10. "Plagiarism: Rich Buckler Signs his Name to Jack Kirby's Work," The Comics Journal #83 (Aug. 1983), pp. 33–35.
  11. "Rich Buckler Answers His Critics," The Comics Journal #86 (November 1983), pp. 28–31.
  12. "Rich Buckler Sues Comics Journal and two of its Writers for Libel," The Comics Journal #88 (Jan. 1984), p. 13.
  13. "Buckler Drops Comics Journal Libel Suit," The Comics Journal #93 (Sept. 1984), pp. 11–12.
  14. "Newswatch: Notice From The Editors," The Comics Journal #59 (October 1980), p. 19.
  15. "Harlan Ellison Out of Comics Journal Libel Case," The Comics Journal #69 (December 1981), p. 29.
  16. "Newswatch: Comics Journal wins Fleisher libel suit". The Comics Journal #113 (December 1986), p. 11.
  17. The Comics Journal #115 (April 1987), pp. 51–142: Special section on the Fleisher lawsuit, including the testimony of Ellison, Groth, and Jim Shooter; the disposition of Dean Mullaney, closing arguments; and jurors' recollections.
  18. Deppey, Dirk. "EXTRA: Harlan Ellison sues Fantagraphics" Journalista! blog post (2006). Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  19. Rahner, Mark (August 16, 2007). "Ellison vs. Fantagraphics: comics publisher to remove author's name from books". Seattle Times.
  20. The Comics Journal No. 115, April 1987
  21. The Comics Journal No. 236, August 2001
  22. The Comics Journal #236 at The Comic Journal. August 17, 2001 Archived August 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  23. Cusick, Rick. Gauntlet magazine. Issue 9, Vol. 2, 1995
  24. Spurgeon, Tom and Michael Dean. "FEATURES: Fantagraphics vs. Everyone (Part One)," The Comics Journal (DEC 15, 2016): "Powers: 'I was managing editor of The Comics Journal was that it did mark a particularly nasty streak for the magazine. It was issues #117 to maybe #124.'"
  25. Spurgeon, Tom and Michael Dean. "FEATURES: Fantagraphics vs. Everyone (Part One)," The Comics Journal (DEC 15, 2016): "Frank Young: 'Helena quit on Labor Day of 1991. We had just finished issue #144 and something happened over the weekend and she just exploded for the last time. She left a resignation letter that just said, “I have quit. Sincerely, Helena Harvilicz.”'"
  26. Young, Frank M. "Note from the Managing Editor" The Comics Journal #146 (Nov 1991), p. 7.
  27. JMC. "Newswatch: Fantagraphics Sues Ex-Comics Journal Editor: New Job at KSP Takes Sobocinski Across Country, with Lawsuit Pending," The Comics Journal #161 (Aug. 1993).
  28. "Comics Reporter Blog Reaches Anniversary". Editor & Publisher. October 10, 2007.
  29. Deppey, Dirk. "Writings," Official Dirk Deppey website. Accessed Feb. 10, 2017.
  30. "The End?! |". Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  31. The Comics Journal No. 210, pages 34–108
  32. Wolk, Douglas, Village Voice Literary Supplement (VLS), April–May 1999
  33. "Top comics make fans pick sides". The Baltimore Sun. May 2, 1999.
  34. Comics Journal No. 213, June 1999, Fantagraphics Publishing, pgs. 2–9
  35. Kreider, Tim (June 21, 2011). "TCJ #301: Excerpt from 'Irredeemable: Dave Sim’s Cerebus'". The Comics Journal.
  36. Comics Journal No. 213, June 1999, Fantagraphics Publishing, pgs. 9
  37. "Marvel's X-Men Sweep British Eagle Awards," The Comics Journal #69 (Dec. 1981), p. 19.
  38. 1990 Harvey Award winners Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  39. 1991 Harvey Award winners Archived November 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  40. 1992 Harvey Award winners at the Harvey awards website
  41. 1993 Harvey Award winners Archived November 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  42. 1995 Harvey Award winners Archived July 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  43. List of Eisner Award winners Archived April 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine San Diego Comic-Cob International website.
  44. 1996 Harvey Award winners Archived November 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  45. 1998 Harvey Award winners Archived September 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  46. 1999 Harvey Award winners Archived November 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  47. 2000 Harvey Award winners Archived November 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  48. 2001 Harvey Award winners at the Harvey awards website
  49. 2003 Harvey Award winners Archived November 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  50. Patty, Shawn (November 11, 2004). "2004 Eagle Awards Winners: News Bulletins". Comics Bulletin. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011.
  51. 2005 Eagle Award winners Archived October 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine at the Eagle Awards website
  52. 2006 Harvey Award winners Archived October 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine at the Harvey awards website
  53. 2009 Eisner Award Nominees Announced (press release), Comic Book Resources, April 7, 2009
  54. McMillan, Graeme (July 21, 2018). "Eisner Awards: The Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Valence Media.

References


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