No comics publisher has had a greater impact ― or generated more controversy ― than the immensely influential EC Comics. The second and concluding volume of conversations with the creators behind the EC war/horror/science fiction/suspense line brings The Comics Journal’s definitive interviews together with several never-before-published sessions, including a new interview with the legendary Jack Davis conducted by Gary Groth. It also includes: Publisher Bill Gaines on the origins of the company and his terrifying grilling before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, editor/writer/artist Al Feldstein on introducing serious science fiction to comics and his interactions with Ray Bradbury. Harvey Kurtzman on bringing realism to war comics with Frontline Combat and subversive satire to humor comics with Mad, the master of chirascuro, Alex Toth, on the aesthetic values that guided him through a career that included drawing for EC and animating Jonny Quest, colorist Marie Severin on the atmosphere of pranks and anarchy that dominated the EC bullpen. Plus, career-spanning interviews with George Evans and Jack Kamen, rare Q&A sessions with formal experimenter Bernard Krigstein and EC writer Colin Dawkins, and a conversation between Jack Davis and award-winning alternative cartoonist Jim Woodring.

The Comics Journal Library series is the most comprehensive series of lavishly illustrated interviews conducted with cartoonists ever published. To celebrate our republication of the legendary EC line, we proudly present the first of a two-volume set of interviews with the artists and writers (and publisher!) who made EC great. Included in the first volume: career-spanning conversations with EC legends Will Elder, John Severin, Harvey Kurtzman, and Al Feldstein, as well as short interviews with EC short-timers Frank Frazetta and Joe Kubert. Also: EC Publisher William Gaines on his infamous Senate subcommittee testimony, and probing conversations between Silver Age cartoonist Gil Kane and Harvey Kurtzman, as well as contemporary alternative cartoonist Sam Henderson and MAD great Al Jaffee. Part of what made EC the best publisher in the history of mainstream comics was some of the most beautiful drawing ever published in comic books, and every interview is profusely illustrated by pertinent examples of the work under discussion.

In 1976, a fledgling magazine held forth the the idea that comics could be art. In 2016, comics intended for an adult readership are reviewed favorably in the New York Times, enjoy panels devoted to them at Book Expo America, and sell in bookstores comparable to prose efforts of similar weight and intent. We Told You So: Comics as Art is an oral history about Fantagraphics Books’ key role in helping build and shape an art movement around a discredited, ignored and fading expression of Americana. It includes appearances by Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Harlan Ellison, Stan Lee, Daniel Clowes, Frank Miller, and more.

This issue of the award-winning magazine shines a light on how comics creators are affected by chronic disease, disability, and our nation's health care system. This issue also features a document that is significant not only in terms of comics history ― but American history, as well. Created by the civil rights organization SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and the Black Panther Party in 1967, this hand-printed zine is a report about a black community in Alabama that attempted to take back their voting rights in their local elections. There is also a profile on cartoonist Kevin Huizenga (Ganges), and much more.

This issue of the award-winning magazine of comics interviews, news, and criticism focuses on the relationship between animation and comics. Gary Groth interviews this issue’s cover artist Cathy Malkasian (Eartha), the PBS/Nickelodeon animation director (Curious George, The Wild Thornberrys) turned graphic novelist, about her first middle-grade GN, NoBody Likes You, Greta Grump. In addition to this issue’s featured interview with Cathy Malkasian, MLK graphic biographer Ho Che Anderson shares his animation storyboards, and Anya Davidson talks to Sally Cruikshank about how the underground comics movement influenced the latter’s aesthetic in a career that encompasses indie shorts and Flash animation, as well as work for feature film credits and Sesame Street. Other features include: an unpublished Ben Sears (Midnight Gospel) comic, and Jem and the Holograms cartoon creator Christy Marx talks about the behind-the-scenes advantages and disadvantages of both art forms. Plus! Sketchbook art by Vanesa Del Rey (Black Widow), an interview with Amazon warehouse worker-turned-cartoonist Ness Garza, Paul Karasik’s essay on an unseen gem, and much more. For more than 45 years, no magazine has chronicled the continuum of the comic arts with more rigor and passion than The Comics Journal.

Collects Marvel Comics #1, Saga of the Original Human Torch #1, Marvels #0 and Marvel Comics #1 70th Anniversary Edition. The book that kicked off the Marvel Universe back in 1939 - presented in glorious hardcover, with an extensive array of special features! MARVEL COMICS #1 promised action, mystery and adventure - and it delivered! The original android Human Torch blazed his way into readers' hearts, and Namor the Sub-Mariner made a big splash! Golden Age pulp star Ka-Zar swung into comics, and costumed detective the Angel made his debut! Plus: Western adventures with the Masked Raider - and terror in the jungle! And from this one issue, published 80 years ago, grew the entire Marvel Universe! Now, MARVEL COMICS #1 is collected along with retrospective stories, bonus artwork, insightful essays and more!

This biography reveals the true story of Mad creator Harvey Kurtzman―the man who revolutionized humor in America; it features new interviews with his colleagues Hugh Hefner, Robert Crumb, and others. Harvey Kurtzman created Mad, and Mad revolutionized humor in America. Kurtzman was the original editor, artist, and sole writer of Mad, one of the greatest publishing successes of the 20th century. But how did Kurtzman invent Mad, and why did he leave it shortly after it burst, nova-like, onto the American scene? For this heavily researched biography, Bill Schelly conducted new interviews with Kurtzman’s colleagues, friends and family, including Hugh Hefner, R. Crumb, Jack Davis, and many others, and examined Kurtzman’s personal archives. The result is the true story of one the 20th century’s greatest humorists: Kurtzman's family life, the details of the FBI's investigation during the McCarthy Era, his legal battles with William M. Gaines (publisher of Mad), are all revealed for the first time. Rich with anecdotes, this book traces Kurtzman’s life from his Brooklyn beginnings to his post-Mad years, when his ceaseless creativity produced more innovations: new magazines, a graphic novel, and Little Annie Fanny inPlayboy.

In this issue, Gary Groth interviews Roz Chast, the New Yorker humor cartoonist turned graphic memoirist (Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?). TCJ #306 focuses on the intersections between comics and politics. It includes op-eds on the importance (and lack thereof) of modern political cartooning. Also featured is a meditation on the creator of the Dilbert newspaper comic strip, Scott Adams; a piece about Daisy Scott, the first African American woman political cartoonist; a gallery of underground cartoonist John Pound’s code-generated comics; portraits of mass shooting victims; a selection of Spider-Gwen artist Chris Vision’s sketchbook pages; and other essays and galleries.