A Century of Women Cartoonists, from Kitchen Sink Press in 1993, seems like a revision of Women and the Comics, with a few major changes: 1) Trina Robbins has no co-writer this time, 2) the emphasis is on history, not present-day creators, and 3) a stated intent to focus only on cartoonists, not women who only write comics. On a flip-through, this volume seems to have more illustrations as well, which makes for a breezy read and gives more of […]

Trina Robbins keeps writing books about the contributions of women to comics, filling in gaps in the more familiar history with lots of fascinating stories of under-appreciated creators. Yet these books keep going out of print. Male conspiracy? Or just bad luck with publishers? Her first book on the topic, Women and the Comics, was co-written with Cat Yronwode (Editor-in-Chief of Eclipse Comics, who published this volume in 1985) and intended in part as a response to Maurice Horn’s Women […]

The best conversations at comic conventions happen in the bars, after plenty of social lubricant has been flowing. Artist Bryan Talbot has collected many of the anecdotes and stories passed around in The Naked Artist: Comic Book Legends. Don’t be mistaken; this isn’t a graphic novel, but a book of text stories, perfect for pick-up-and-put-down sampling. (Given some of the subjects, one is immediately tempted to suggest bathroom reading.) They’re casually presented, as though sitting around swapping tales, with occasional […]

Comic Foundry‘s second issue is now out, and (obnoxious as this sounds), I was right, it is much better in color. The design is excellent, welcoming and readable. There are plenty of short features covering a range of material, including webcomics, indy publishers, superheroes, and manga. With two or three items on most pages, none of them are terribly deep, but they’re entertaining enough introductions to the subjects. I did weary of them a little before the longer pieces started, […]

Comics Now! is a new quarterly magazine put together by some of the folks behind the Comic Geek Speak podcast. (Editor in Chief is Bryan Deemer; Editor is Kevin Freeman; and Peter Rios is the Assistant Editor.) It “striv[es] to provide fair and equal coverage to ALL segments of the comic book marketplace, mantaining a ‘FAN to FAN’ perspective, and by striving to promoting [sic] the readability of comic books over the collectibility.” Those are all great goals, and they […]

Review by KC Carlson Welcome to the Ancient and Honorable Order of THE MERRY MARVEL MARCHING SOCIETY Congratulations, favored one! …For having the wisdom and wit to become a Merry Marvel Marcher! Your name has been ceremoniously entered in our log book, and your dollar has been avariciously deposited in our treasury! From this day forth, you will stand a little straighter, speak a little wiser, and walk a little prouder. You’ve made the scene! You’re in! You’ve joined the […]

There’s a lack of good reference information about best practices specific to comic retailing. I’m only aware of two books worth recommending, and one is out of print. So You Want to Be a Comics Retailer So You Want to Be a Comics Retailer was first put out in 1995. That’s prior to the distributor collapse, when DC went exclusive with Diamond, knocking off a string of dominoes that left them the only practical distribution choice. That makes some of […]

Mangaka is the Japanese term for “comic creator”. It’s used in Mangaka America to mean those young creators affected by and working in the style of manga. Many of them combine American and Japanese influences in their work, and like the subjects it covers, the book itself is a hybrid. Its larger size, glossy full-color pages, and anthology format suggest a paperback coffee table book, while most creator sections contain not only an interview and art samples but a short […]