Those of you who read my seventies journal blogs will no doubt recall just how important THE BUYER'S GUIDE TO COMIC FANDOM (TBG) and later THE COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE (CBG) were to me over the years. Beginning with issue # 17 I subscribed faithfully for 25 years and continued to pick up issues from time to time ever since.
Today--on MY birthday, when I traditionally treated myself to a renewed subscription--CBG announced its impending demise.
I was going to go into some depth as to the newspaper/magazine's history but here's a link to someone who does I better job than I could do: http://blog.comichron.com/2013/01/end-of-era-comics-buyers-guide-1971-2013.html
The issue above was delivered the day my mother died. In those pre-Net days, it was the first I'd heard of Wally Wood's passing, even though it was a month beyond the actual date of death.
This was also where I became a fan of the writings of Tony Isabella, Mark Evanier and Peter David. I also enjoyed columns by Bob Ingersoll, Cat Yronwode, David Scroggy, Martin Greim, Shel Dorf and even Craig Yoe. Artists whose work I was first introduced to in the newspaper include Terry Beatty, Russ Maheras, Jim Engel and Alan Hanley.
Above it all, Don and Maggie Thompson and, before them, Alan Light and Murray Bishoff.
You guys meant the world to me at times when I sometimes felt all alone. Thanks to all of you for everything.
Happy natal anniversary. It is indeed a sad day for comic fandom with the cancellation of The Comics Buyer's Guide.
ReplyDeleteCBG is folding!? That's a damn shame. My subscription lapsed a short while ago, and I've been meaning to renew it. About five years back, I had to decide between WIZARD magazine and CBG, and glad I made the choice I did. WIZARD wasn't the magazine that I remembered from my youth. It was full of fluff and puff pieces, seemingly praising everything. It was more like a promotional brochure than a true editorial magazine anymore. CBG, though, was a revelation when I stumbled across it. Thoughtful and truthful articles written by fans who knew what they liked and what they didn't, and it payed just as much attention to what came out fifty years ago as it did to what was coming out next month--something that I thoroughly enjoyed. Being a blogger myself, CBG struck a chord with me. These articles and columns were, in essence, blog posts on the printed page. I'm going to miss being able to hold those blog posts in my hand, but at the same time, it should be an easy transition for them to go all digital--either under the CBG umbrella, or just through the individual contributor's blogs. I'm sure this will be their next step.
ReplyDeleteSorry to ramble, Steve...but thanks for letting me do it.
--J/Metro