what's the deal with "The Comics Journal"?

I buy when there's an interview with someone I adore. And I notice. Mostly I miss it entirely.

Funnily enough the latest issue - Posy Simmonds cover/interview - is one of tHE best issues in years - over 30 pages of superb Otto Soglow strips in full colour - doesn't get any better than that

I love the interviews (and the Michael Dean-edited industry news, back when I was buying it) but they don't really justify the price. I buy it about once a year now. The big bookstore in Tupelo quit carrying it, a few months before the issue with the Joost Swarte cover/interview, but if they had still been carrying it then, they probably would have dropped it after that issue, full frontal nudity on the cover in Don Wildmon's town y'know.

The Posy interview was a huge disappointment, though I was kinda braced for it with Gravett's typical all-surface, no-analysis approach. It still could have been made worthwhile if the designers hadn't falledn completely over and illustrated her talking about various French cartoonists from the 60s with Posy strips from the '00s, talking about British cartoonists of the 40s with Posy strips from the '00s, talking about Posy strips from the 70s with Posy strips from the '00s, talking about Posy strips from the 80s with Posy strips from the 00s, etc. Is this the second time in, what, 32 years that they've illustrated a headline interview with an old piece of the interviewee's art, instead of a new cover? At least last time it was a mistake and they did something designy with it, this was just reprinting the cover of her last-but-one book!*

Totally worth it for the Soglow, though.

*since TD wasn't out when they went to press

I think I will buy the latest issue anyway, as having discovered that Posy Simmonds is very old I am suddenly fascinated by her (I had assumed she was some kind of young trender).

david hine gives us some nice scans from one of gary groth's very first fanzines:

http://www.waitingfortrade.com/2012/01/gary-groths-fantastic-fanzine.html

Wow at Steranko's shirt in that scanned pic! Too bad the pic is in b&w, would've loved to see what colours it had...

Returning to print next year, yo, biannually. Stay tuned for sic with all the details I neglected to mention!

biannually

Every other year?

Twice a year; first issue went to press a couple of weeks ago. Podcast interview with the in-house editors here: http://www.inkstuds.org/kristy-valenti-and-rj-casey/

Johnny on the spot.

wow maybe i will finally receive the issues remaining on my subscribed purchased back in 2011!

*subscription

you will!

if you still live in the same place, I guess