The Comics Code Is Dead: DC and Archie Drop Out

The dominoes fell quickly. From comic institution and infamous legacy of kneecapping a medium in order to “protect the children” to irrelevant and unused in just two days. History The Comics Code Authority was an industry trade group formed to promote self-regulation and fend off government censorship. The code was first adopted by publishers in 1954 in response to Fredric Wertham‘s Seduction of the Innocent and Congressional investigation into lurid and excessive comics, often horror titles. A comic was submitted […]

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Archie Cancelling Betty?

During the discussion resulting from my post on last year’s Archie sales patterns, the question of whether the company had cancelled some titles came up. A commenter mentioned that Betty and Archie & Friends had been taken off the company’s subscription sales page. This Archie fan thread mentions: Betty‘s last issue solicited so far is #191 out in March Archie and Friends is running at least til #154 due to the Little Archie story being promoted out in April. But […]

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Archie in 2010: Eliminated Single Digests, Took Some Titles Bi-Monthly

I took a look back at the list of publications Archie Comics released over the entire year of 2010 and noticed some interesting facts. First, Archie has eliminated the standard single digest, the 80-pager priced at $2.69. Archie Digest became World of Archie Double Digest in October; Betty & Veronica Digest became Betty & Veronica Friends Double Digest in November; I’m assuming the quarterly Tales From Riverdale Digest became Archie & Friends Double Digest in December; and Jughead and Friends […]

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Interview With Brian Fies About Graphic Medicine Conference

After getting some information about the upcoming Graphic Medicine conference, scheduled for June in Chicago, from Brian Fies, I asked him a few more questions about the upcoming event. My thanks to him for his time and answers. Q: How did you come to work with the Graphic Medicine conference? I was asked! The organizer of last June’s London conference, Ian Williams — who is both a cartoonist and physician — invited me to give a keynote lecture. I thought […]

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Flex Mentallo Finally Returns to Print — A Brief History and Atlas Letter

Now, this is interesting — Pamela Mullin has just announced at the Vertigo blog (link no longer available) that DC will be publishing the long-out-of-print Flex Mentallo in a “Deluxe Edition hardcover with bonus material” this fall. The four-issue miniseries has been a fan favorite due to its creators — Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely — and unusual meta-fictional treatment of comics and their influence on readers. This isn’t the first “we won’t publish this!” item that has come back […]

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Best Graphic Novels of 2010

Here’s what I thought were the best graphic novels of 2010, in order, based on what affected, entertained, and enlightened me. For more information on any of the following titles, the links take you to my reviews. Castle Waiting Volume 2 by Linda Medley — Exceptionally illustrated fantasy revolving around everyday life among a stunning cast of unusual characters who make their own unusual family in an abandoned castle. Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson — Gorgeous […]

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Medical Comic Conference: Graphic Medicine June 2011 in Chicago

Brian Fies, the talented author of Mom’s Cancer, passes along the following event news: The second international conference on Graphic Medicine will be held June 9-11, 2011, in Chicago. I was a keynote speaker at the first conference in London last June and thought it was terrific — interesting, fun, and potentially important. The concept is that cartooning and medicine have some interesting overlap that can benefit both. Think of work like Our Cancer Year, Stitches, Epileptic, Cancer Made Me […]

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Archie Plans to Release Two New Graphic Novels a Month in 2011, Starts New Subscription Program

An ad currently running in the Archie comic books is promoting the Archie Comics Book Club, a new subscription offer beginning January 2011. For $19.99 a month, billed automatically to your credit card, you’ll get two new graphic novels a month, plus a one-year subscription to an Archie comic book, plus a one-year subscription to Archie Digital Comics. The digital product itself is priced at $9.95 month or a year for $49.95. The Archie “baby trade” collections (my term, since […]

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