Recommended Buying

Here's a more formal recommendation of the new issue of Comic Book Artist, which spotlights Gold Key Comics.  It's chock-full of info and interviews (including one with moi) about one of the most successful and ignored-by-fandom comic book companies of all time.  Western Publishing was an amazing operation that sold a staggering number of funnybooks in its day.  At one point, the books they considered unsuccessful were outselling the books that other companies considered successful and some of those were pretty good comics.  CBA editor Jon Cooke has gathered loads of valuable info about the company and some of the people behind its glorious history.

As Jerry Beck notes over at Cartoon Research, a number of great comic artists like Pete Alvarado are barely mentioned.  This is because the story of Gold Key Comics is too vast to be covered in one magazine, even as packed as this one is with info.  There is much more to be said, especially about the funny animal comics…and I hope we'll see a sequel in the not-too-distant future.