In the Blog
Good-bye, Comic Foundry! Sniff! Sniff!
Like most Shamelesss readers, I get really excited about a quality magazine. I have been devouring every issue of the stellar comics culture magazine, Comic Foundry. My heart broke when I saw that newest issue is the second-to-last issue.
Comic Foundry is all about balance–it does a great job of covering indie comics, mainstream stuff and web comics. A diverse range of creators are featured, from Marvel and DC heavy hitters, to hot new indie kids. It’s funny, it’s informative, and they clearly know a lot about comics. Mostly importantly, Comic Foundry recognises that–GASP–girls like comics too!
To fully understand why Comic Foundry is such an breath of fresh air in comics culture, you have to be familiar with Wizard Magazine. Yup, the same Wizard that’s being told to “suck it” on that cover. Wizard is THE comics magazine. It’s been around for 18 years, has a huge readership, and is available in most magazine shops, not just comics stores. It’s also really, really awful.
Here’s a fairly typical Wizard feature-match the butt to the super-heroine!
(thanks to comicsworthreading.com for the scan)
For a while, Wizard was calling itself “The #1 Men’s Pop Culture Magazine.”
I would say that Wizard likes to alienate half its potential audience, but they also alienate another huge subsection of comic readers–men who aren’t idiots
So imagine my delight when an issue of Comic Foundry came out and emblazoned across the top was “The #1 Men and Women’s Pop Culture Magazine”
YESSSSS!
Sadly, the next issue will be last. The magazine’s founders, Tim Leong and Laura Hudson are burnt out, and cite lack of time and energy as the primary reasons why the magazine won’t continue.
I’ll have to console myself with rereading the back issues over and over again. SOB!
