Mood:
caffeinatedTopic: Comic Book History
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3395: My subscription issue of Comics Buyer's Guide, (CBG), #1678 arrived in the mail on Tuesday of this week... I already knew about the upcoming anniversary, but couldn't help noticing while I was standing right at my PO Box door, the front cover commemorating the 40 Years of CBG! So, I placed this issue at the top of my 'To Read Stack' of comics and mags to read and possibly review for this Blog. You see, I've been reading CBG via a subscription service, off and on ever since 1986. (I had seen and purchased individual issues before that at my LCBS(s), but had not subscribed.) The format for CBG has changed quite a bit since I've been reading it, from a newspaper format, that was too hard to bag & board to store properly, to a monthly magazine that the USPS seems to like to keep it from arriving Near Mint (NM) to my PO Box. Yet, because of the articles in CBG, I've kept a subscription going. Other magazines that I've bought on a mail subscription basis, Comic Book Marketplace, Wizard, etc., etc., have all ceased hard copy distribution. Others that I didn't have a subscription, but purchased at my local LCBS(s), like Hero Illustrated, Comics Scene, etc., etc., have also ceased publishing. With the increased usage and timeliness of the internet, a lot of breaking news is 'broken' first now on the web... So for a hard copy magazine to make it to 40 Years in this day and age... Well that's an achievement! My congrats to those working on CBG at fw media for bringing this 40th Year Anniversary Issue to press! That is quite an accomplishment! Also my congrats to those who have had regular features in CBG for many years! Such as Maggie Thompson (Beautiful Balloons), Michelle Nolan (Who Was Who In The Four-Color Funnies), Craig 'Mr. Silver Age' Shutt (Ask Mr. Silver Age), Andrew 'Captain Comics' Smith (Dear Captain), Tony Isabella (Tony's Tips), John Lustig (Last Kiss), Peter David (But I Digress), and others, such as Chris Galvan, the first fan reviewer as part of 'The Review Crew' with their reviews of mainstream and indy publications. My thanks also to those like Chuck Rozanski, Beau Smith, and others, who have been regular contributors in the past, but no longer contribute to the magazine on a regular basis. (Note: Chuck's column was always the first I would read during his time with CBG.) Thanks also to those who have worked on CBG during the previous years, but have passed on, including Don Thompson, who added so much to the 'flavor' of CBG. Reading the current issues... I've noticed that the number of pages in each issue seem to have dwindled in recent months, (this issue coming in at 60 pages, counting covers), but the quality of articles and information has stayed constantly good. That has to be due to those that are part of the CBG 'community' that put this magazine together!
I used CBG years ago to find comics from other dealers and individual collectors that I was missing for my collection, but those ad pages have fallen in number of pages. I used CBG years ago to find out what comic books I should be reading, but anymore I'm mailed many comics for possible review in this Blog, or given them at comic cons I attend. (Personal note: Until March of 2010 I was also sent many .pdfs of comics via email for possible review, but found that I don't have the time or inclination to read them, so stopped accepting them.) I used CBG years ago to find out what next 'Big Event' was coming in comics with all of those cross-over events... But now I can find those online, or am notified by creators involved in those events... What I STILL use CBG for is a sense of 'Community' that just isn't found in any other hard copy comics related magazine anymore... Which is why I thank all of those that are continuing Comics Buyer's Guide into what is now its 40th Anniversary Year! Oh, and the reason that I'm blogging about CBG's 40th Anniversary today is because of issue #1678, which had several special features in it, including 'CBG at 40' by Brent Frankenhoff, and the 'Top 10 Favorite Comic Book Covers' - this time presented by Maggie and Brent who chosed their Top 10 CBG covers), besides the regular columns, (already mentioned above), with 40th Anniversary thoughts! A good way to celebrate the 40th Anniversary, and I thank them all for printing their thoughts! To see more of the 'community' and / or 'history' of CBG, via 'online', please see the following links: CBGxtra.com - The community online Comics Buyer's Guide - The Facebook 'Profile / Friend' Page Comics Buyer's Guide - Wikipedia entry Back Issues of CBG - Can be found at my online LCBS ComicBooksCircus.com As for myself, I'll check those links from time to tine, but I'll continue reading CBG in hard copy format, (either via subscription or via my LCBS) as it is a long time habit that I quite enjoy!
BTW, You can 'follow' this Blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app! We currently have over 2,385 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! ~ Michael D Hamersky Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item that was reviewed here today...! If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at: http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ Web Page Note: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013  Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!
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Of course there is an online 'presence', that of CBGxtra.com! With so much for me to do online, (blogging, social networking, promoting Facebook Fan Pages, listing comics for sale, etc., etc.), I personally don't frequently access that web site... But I'm sure others do, as I've seen plenty of interaction on the boards when I've checked. I prefer to read CBG for enjoyment when I am 'offline', but then again, I am 'old school'...
My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,395 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!
Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!
