Tripwire's Editor, Andrew Grossberg... Recently sent me a review copy of the Tripwire - Superhero Special 2009. 

At first sight, this magazine reminded of a magazine I used to see on occasion at other cons several years ago.  That's when I realized that this was a 'special publication' from the same magazine publishers those years before in the mid 1990's.

At that time it was a British publication that was unusual in its' dimension size and stood out in size from the rest of the mags that I would pick up at a con.   After reading my comics, magazines, etc., I always bag and board them for storing.  Thus I consider it an 'unusual size' because of the storage factor.

It still is a British publication, and still is in that unusual size, at least for this special issue.   When I say 'special' issue, that would be because this is a stand alone issue devoted to superheroes.  The next issue, scheduled for June 2009, is to be their 'Adventure Special' which will feature people like Michael Moorcock, Robert E Howard, and others.  Otherwise Tripwire appears to have gone to an 'annual' basis the past few years...

BTW, the photo at the top left of this blog post is showing several of the Tripwire group at the recent 2009 Wonder Con in San Francisco, including Andrew Grossberg at the far right, and Editor-In-Chief Joel Meadows directly next to him.

Their 'Superhero Special' contained several different stories, which although each was about superheroes, had enough different characters to interest most readers of superhero comics and graphic novels.

I'll just comment on a few of the stories:

Of course there is a 'timely' lead piece, that of co-creator Dave Gibbons discussing the genesis of the Watchmen comic book series.  Enough text and photos to keep anyone's interest who wanted to know more about the 1980's series.

'Millar's Crossing' opened my eyes on the world of Mark Millar's creation Kick-Ass that is coming to film.  Hopefully this film will be marketed correctly in that is not a 'superhero' movie for kids. After seeing very young children at the recent Watchmen film, the film's marketing should let potential viewers know what age groups movies based on comics like these are for! 

'The Myth-maker' was an article on discussing Marvel's Captain Britain.  The Captain has had a problem in reaching higher numbers in sales over here in the States, just like Doctor Who, although there are several fans of both here.  Just not enough publicity to get either out of 'cult' fan status so far during these many years...

'The Golden Years'  had a look back at the 1930's - 1940's, which is also 'timely' if you are in the Los Angeles area that has the Skirball Cultural Exhibit showing Jerry Robinson's Zap! Pow! Bam! Exhibit now through this summer! Click here for our thoughts on that exhibit!

'Royal Flush' was a short article to the 'King of Comics' Jack Kirby, which helped win me over to liking this magazine even more!

'The 15 Most Important Superhero Graphic Novels Ever', was the mag's pick of the superhero collections that you would need to stock your shelves at home.  Some of the picks were of course the standard ones you would find in many such lists, but there were ones that were unusual IMHO to have on this list.  Even those that are 'standards' in many lists had detailed write-ups in this article, emphazing why they were important enough to be on this short list.  Enough so, that my wife Tina, stopped reading the article long enough to tell me of one GN to put on our next shopping list that she had never read!

In summary, even though you may have a subscription to Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG), Wizard, and others like we do, this special issue is worthwhile to pick up and read!

Being a fan of Robert E Howard's works will make me look for the next Tripwire Special, 'The Tripwire Adventure Special' due out in June!

If you can't find this $7.95 US priced publication at your LCBS or your local newstand or auction site... then their web site is at: http://www.tripwireannual.com

(Please Note: A complimentary hard copy for this mention / review was provided by the publisher.)