''The Comic Reader'' (''TCR'') was a

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

news-

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

published from 1961 to 1984. Debuting in the pre-

direct market The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * three major comic distributors: ** Luna ...

era (before the proliferation of comics retailers), ''TCR'' was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine, and was able to secure many contacts from within the ranks of the larger publishers. As ''TCR'' increased in popularity and influence, it was able to attract professional artist to illustrate the covers. ''TCR'' also proved to be a launching pad for aspiring comic book creators, many of whom published work in the fanzine as amateurs. Contributors from the world of fandom included founding editor

Jerry Bails Jerry Gwin Bails (June 26, 1933 – November 23, 2006) was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primar ...

, key editor

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (; born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for ...

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

Byron Preiss Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005)Byron Preiss
at the

Neal Pozner Neal Pozner (1955 – June 21, 1994), sometimes credited as Neil Pozner, was an art director, editor, and writer known for his work in the comic book industry. He worked with DC Comics at two points, first as a design director and later as Group E ...

Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...

Carl Gafford Carl Gafford (November 23, 1953–July 13, 2020) was a colorist (and occasional editor) who worked for several decades in the comics industry. He worked for a number of publishers during his career, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Topp ...

, and

Doug Hazlewood Doug Hazlewood (born September 20, 1954) is an American comic book artist, known primarily for inking. Hazlewood has primarily worked for DC Comics during his career, often partnering with pencilers Tom Grummett and Nicola Scott, and he occupies ...

. The fanzine was founded in 1961 as ''On the Drawing Board'' by

, the "Father of Comics Fandom", changing its name to ''The Comic Reader'' in 1962 and being named the official bulletin of the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors (ACBFC). During its run, ''TCR'' won a number of industry awards, including the

Alley Award The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with th ...

and the Goethe Award/ Comic Fan Art Award. In its last incarnation, published by Street Enterprises, it was more professional magazine than fanzine, and was known colloquially as "the ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' of the comics industry".

Publication history

''On the Drawing Board''

founded and published ''On the Drawing Board'' in October 1961, to showcase the latest comic news.Yutko, Nick
"1961", Absolute Elsewhere, Oct. 3, 1998.
Retrieved July 16, 2008. Spinning-off from Bails' other zine, ''

Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

'' (after appearing for three issues as a column within that publication), ''On the Drawing Board'' "was devoted to blurbs and news items pertaining to upcoming events in pro comics". Released in stand-alone form as "a single-page news-sheet", ''On the Drawing Board'' #4 (#1-3 being applied to the columns appearing in those issues of ''A/E'') debuted on October 7, 1961. Bill Schelly, "Jerry Bails' Ten Building Blocks of Fandom" in ''

'' Vol. 3 Issue #25 (June 2003) pp. 5-8 Comics fandom historian Bill Schelly described its impact:

Birth of ''The Comic Reader'' and a succession of editors

In March 1962, issue #8 of ''On the Drawing Board'' was retitled ''The Comic Reader''. The "On the Drawing Board" name was retained for the periodical's news section. The (generally) monthly title became "a mainstay of fandom", winning a 1963

. In January 1964, Bails announced the merger of ''The Comic Reader'' with another of his fanzines, ''The Comicollector'', under the editorship of Bill White. However, a death in White's family prevented the merger from happening, at which point Florida-based published G. B. Love merged ''The Comicollector'' into his own fanzine '' Rocket's Blast'', as well as offering to absorb ''The Comic Reader''. The ACBFC board, however, voted to maintain ''TCR'' as a standalone publication, and in mid-1964 New Mexico-based comics enthusiast Glen Johnson stepped forward to take over editorial duties. Johnson was followed by a succession of editors, including Derrill Rothermich, who switched the fanzine to

offset printing Offset printing is a common printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithography, lithographic process, which ...

in late 1965. Mark Hanerfeld took over ''TCR'' in 1968 with issue #65, but by mid-1969 was having trouble maintaining a consistent publication schedule. Hanerfeld was doing double-duty as executive secretary of the ACBFC, and apparently this workload was too much for him. The ACBFC went defunct in mid-1969; and despite winning a 1969 Alley Award, by early 1970 ''TCR'' was no longer being published.

Levitz era

In early 1971, New York teenager

bought the property and revived ''The Comic Reader'' with issue #78, merging it with ''

Etcetera ''Et cetera'' (, ), abbreviated to ''etc.'', ''et cet.'', ''&c.'' or ''&c'', is a Latin expression that is used in English to mean "and all the rest". "&" is a ligature of "et." Translated literally from Latin, can mean , while can mean ; th ...

'', a zine he had previously co-published with

. From issues #78–#89, the merged zine was called ''Etcetera & The Comic Reader''; after issue #90 the zines split up again. Under Levitz's editorship, ''TCR'' increased circulation (going monthly after a previous schedule of eight issues per year) and changed format, usually featuring an illustrated cover and typically 16 pages in length. As the zine gained in popularity and influence, it was able to attract industry professionals, such as

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

Rich Buckler Rich Buckler (February 6, 1949 – May 19, 2017) was an Americans, American comics artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' in the mid-1970s and for creating the character Deat ...

Walt Simonson Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned ...

, and

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an Americans, American comics artist, comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett an ...

, to illustrate the covers. During this period, ''TCR'' won two Best Fanzine Comic Fan Art Awards. Due to his work on the zine, Levitz became well known at the offices of

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, where he eventually ended up working for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. ''TCR'' published ballots for the 1973 Goethe Awards (for comics published in 1972); ''TCR'' staff also produced the program booklet for the 1973

Comic Art Convention The Comic Art Convention (CAC) was an American comic book fan convention held annually New York City, New York, over Independence Day weekend from 1968 through 1983, except for 1977, when it was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 1978 to 19 ...

. Issue #99 (July 1973) featured ''TCR'''s first color cover.

Street Enterprises

In November 1973, with issue #101, Wisconsin-based publisher Street Enterprises took over ''TCR'', and Mike Tiefenbacher took over as editor. Under Street Enterprises' oversight, ''TCR'' changed format to

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine, but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately . It is also a and format, similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes evolved from the printing ...

, giving it even more the impression of being "the ''

'' of the comics industry". The magazine also began licensing its U.S. comics news material to the British fan press, particularly

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

's ''Comic Media News'' and Martin Lock's '' BEM''.Willis, Russell
"AN INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN LOCK (PART 1 , THE BEM YEARS)"
''Under the Stairs'' (2013). Retrieved Jan. 8, 2020. In early 1979, due to the cancellation of another Street Enterprises title, ''

The Menomonee Falls Gazette ''The Menomonee Falls Gazette'' (subtitled "The international newspaper for comic art fans") was a weekly Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid published in the 1970s by Street Enterprises that reprinted newspaper comic strips from the United State ...

'', the publisher moved many of the strips featured in ''The Gazette'' over to ''The Comic Reader''. The emergence of ''

Amazing Heroes ''Amazing Heroes'' was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, '' The Comics Journal'', ''Amazing Heroes'' was a hobbyist magazine rather than an anal ...

'' in 1981, published by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

, ate into ''TCR'''s readership. As long-time Fantagraphics co-publisher

Kim Thompson Kim Thompson (September 25, 1956 – June 19, 2013) was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thompso ...

put it: "If you want to look at it cynically, we set out to steal ''The Comic Reader'''s cheese. Which we did". ''The Comic Reader'' published its final issue, #219, in September 1984.

Features

In addition to news about creators, publishers, conventions, and the like, ''TCR'' ran recurring

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

s and features such as: * "Bullet Crow" by Chuck Fiala (strips reprinted in 2 issues published by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

in 1987) * "Captain Kentucky" by

* "Dateline @!!?#" by

Fred Hembeck Fred Hembeck (born January 30, 1953) is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are ...

* "Dick Duck, Duck Dick" by Jim Engel * "Fandom Confidential" by Jim Engel and Chuck Fiala * "Fowl of Fortune" by Chuck Fiala

Awards

* 1963:

for Best Comics Fanzine * 1969:

for Best Unlimited Reproduction Fanzine * 1973: Goethe Award for Favorite Fan MagazineLevitz entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Feb. 4, 2016. * 1974: Comic Fan Art Award for Favorite Fanzine * 1975: Comic Fan Art Award for Favorite Fanzine * 1983: (nominated) Eagle Award for Favourite Specialist Comics Publication"The Eagle Awards - Results: 1983"
Eagle Awards website. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Accessed Jan. 27, 2020. * 1984: (nominated) Eagle Award for Favourite Specialist Comics Publication"Eagle Nominations Announced; American Flagg Nominated for 10", ''The Comics Journal'' #89 (May 1984), p. 11.

Notes

References

External links

*
''The Comic Reader''
on Cover Brower * Turner, Greg
"Early Comic Reader Fanzines,"
Back to the Past website (Nov. 8, 2013). * Caputo, Nick

Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae blog (Jan. 24, 2014). * Caputo, Nick

Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae blog (Jan. 29, 2014). * Caputo, Nick

Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae blog (Mar. 17, 2014). {{DEFAULTSORT:Comic Reader, The Magazines about comics Comics zines Magazines disestablished in 1984 Magazines established in 1961 Defunct American comics Defunct magazines published in New York City Magazines published in Wisconsin Monthly magazines published in the United States