From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!ariel!orion!lime!houti!hogpc!houxz!ihnp4!ihlts!tjarks
Newsgroups: net.rec
Title: The Comics Journal
Article-I.D.: ihlts.124
Posted: Mon Mar 21 17:31:52 1983
Received: Wed Mar 23 21:22:15 1983
Reply-To: tjarks@ihlts.UUCP (Tim Tjarks)

(To see what prompted this article, look in net.news.groups.)

Why does Gary Groth publish "The Comics Journal" if he hates comics?

Quite simply, he doesn't hate comics.  He likes the medium of the
comics/illustrated story/panelology/whatever.  It's the current output
of the major comic companies and several of the minor ones that he
hates.  He covers the major comics because most of his readers read
those comics, and if he just covered what he liked his circulation would
go down the drain.

I don't think the above is any excuse for his brand of "journalism"
though.  The news sections are either "Who is Jim Shooter forcing out of
Marvel this week" or plugs for his favorite new "alternative" comics
or "graphic novels".  Eclipse tends to get a lot of news, as do the
underground publishers.  Also, not surprisingly, his Fantagraphics books
get a lot of coverage.  The interviews always try to get the subject to
tell how horrible it is to work at Marvel, if not at both major
companies, and how newsstand comics are quickly going down the toilet. 
Quite often, Groth manages to put words in the subject's mouth, e.g.
when he got Harlan Ellison to libel Don Heck (I'm not sure Ellison knew
for sure what Don Heck ever worked on, it was probably just a name he
recognized.)  The only major comics that escape harsh criticism in the
Journal are current fan favorites, but watch out when popularity starts
to wane.

Anyway, I'm likely to let my subscription lapse in a few months.  I'm
interested in hearing what others on the net read for comics news and
reviews.  Right now, the only other comics related magazine I read is
The Comic Reader (I recommend it for all comics fans).

Also, has anyone out there read Fantagraphics "Love and Rockets".  That
is always being hyped in the Journal, but the samples I've seen there
have turned me off the book totally.

						Tim Tjarks