THE NEW NOSTALGIA JOURNAL #27 (July 1976)
This is an inauspicious beginning to THE COMICS JOURNAL media empire. Thanks to the trio of Gary Groth, Michael Catron, and Jim Wilson however the future was definitely looking up. Digging into the many pages devoted to Alan Light, THE BUYERS GUIDE TO COMIC FANDOM, and Dynapubs is well worth the occasional cringe-worthy verbiage. Groth composes a detailed history of Light's evolution from "crudzine" publisher to fanzine mogul and his business practices to get there, the kind of in-depth reporting I'm sure had never been seen in the fanzines up to that point. The first TCJ-style interview is a real hoot, with Groth (in full Mike Wallace mode) grilling Murry Bishoff relentlessly, and Light having none of it. This is really the only content of historical interest in their first effort, but there's definitely other things of specialized interest to a few of us brave souls willing to read further:
DOUG FRATZ: "TNJ Listings: Fanzines" is a time capsule of all the then current fanzines published in 1976. Fratz lists underground and alternative related zines like Clay Geerdes' COMIX WORLD newsletter, BOB VOJTKO'S COMIX CONVENTION adzine, Lee Marrs' PUDGE GIRL BLIMP (Star*Reach), and Eric Vincent's CERBERUS.
"The Unlicensed Balloon Vendor: AMONG THE DEAD AND OTHER EVENTS LEADING TO THE APOCALYPSE by Edward Bryant." Review column by author Alan Brennert, who according to ISFDB had nine science fiction short stories published by the time he authored this column. Also listed on ISFDB are twenty-two other review columns written by Mr. Brennert between 1974-77 for LOCUS and DELAP'S F&SF REVIEW. For what the author has been up to since his brief intersection with TCJ check out his website here.
BUD PLANT (pages 15-17): This is an adzine so Comics & Comix and Bud Plant are naturally represented. Mr. Plant is still in business today, of course, but back then his was a unique one stop shop for undergrounds, fanzines, semi-pro zines, classic newspaper strip reprints, golden age comics reprints, comics history, classic animation, movie serials, foreign comics, and art books. Just five things that stick out as tangentially future Fantagraphics publications: BERNARD PRINCE: GUERILLA POUR UN FANTOME by Hermann and Greg; PHANTASMAGORIA 1-4 by future TCJ mainstay Kenneth Smith; KRAZY KAT, PRINCE VALIANT, POPEYE, MICKEY MOUSE early reprint volumes; THE HISTORY OF O by Guido Crepax; and, AMERICAN SPLENDOR 1. Oh yes, fantasy-themed belt buckles in stock, in case you needed to be reminded it was the seventies (hey, I wore enough plaid and corduroy in that decade that I'm not judging anybody's fashion choices).
JACK KIRBY (page 18): a May 14, 1971 interview with Jack Kirby from The Tim Skelly Show on WNUR. The interview touches on his childhood, influences, Joe Simon, Fighting American, working relationship with Stan Lee, Steve Ditko creator of Spider-Man, why he left Marvel, In the Days of the Mob, comics as film (not pulps), character design, coloring, New Gods books, and DC's problems with his depiction of Superman.
JIM WILSON "The Creative Experience: Highest Castle, Deepest Grave" (page 23-26): I wish I could just post this whole essay, as it discussed many things that resonated through the future efforts of Fantagraphics Books and the sort of people they have gravitated toward. Here was the first paragraph which set out Mr. Wilson's theory more plainly than I could have summarized: (page 23) "Hello. You are very fortunate, you out there who are reading this. You are fortunate because you are a comics fan, which-from the viewpoint of creative achievement-automatically places you several steps above most in your peer group, whether that group be grade school friends, high school friends, college friends, common men, or whatever. You are fortunate because you decided that you weren't going to let your potential for creative work and self-expression atrophy; that you wanted an intellectual atmosphere where open-mindedness prevailed; where people could consider and discuss and believe in things which weren't necessarily consistent with the status quo of their daily lives. You came to comics fandom and found, to a large degree, what you were looking for. Anybody who could sit and enjoy the offbeat beauty of a comic book against almost universal disapproval would have to have an open mind. And then you discovered that fandom was much more than just comic books." Mr. Wilson went on to discuss the place in the general society of the people that read comics and made fanzines and what set them apart, no matter their level of talent or social standing. I'll leave it at that, if you identified with Mr. Wilson's observations (like I did) please seek out the full article on the TCJ Archive.
"[...]and whose present product is without equal in design and format." Jim Wilson (page 23). The rest of the story...
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