When I first started reading comic books during the early 1980s, I dove head first into the medium and then the artistic culture.
From those poly-bagged Marvel Comics and DC Comics two-for-one deals found on the local department store magazine rack, I deftly moved to the direct-market comic book store and all they had to offer.
It was there that I came across periodicals that featured sample chapters, biographies, focus articles and interviews with some of the writers and artists that I was just discovering – and growing to love. More than just monthly Batman comics, I was reading and adoring issues of The Comics Reader (1961-1984), Epic Illustrated (1980-1986) and The Comics Journal (1977-and still going, albeit online), full of tales of writers and artists and their influences, their work, and their craft.
Those sorts of industry and artistry periodicals have gone the way of most print zines, unfortunately – which is to say that they can now be found, somewhat fragmented, on online websites and blogs.
That twenty-first century paradigm is well and fine – but I do miss the hardcopy in-my-hand, comic book industry magazine, bought at the local comic book shop.
IDW Publishing looks to remedy that situation (along with distinctly twenty-first century tech) with the publication of the first hardcover volume of Full Bleed: The Comics & Culture Quarterly Volume 1
Full Bleed: The Comics & Culture Quarterly Volume 1
Written By: Various
Illustrated By: Various
Published By: IDW Publishing
Full Bleed: The Comics & Culture Quarterly Volume 1 was announced and crowd-funded last year via Kickstarter – and it’s been an eagerly anticipated release ever since.
If you were in on that Kickstarter endeavor, you’ve probably got the 200-page hardcopy hardcover in your hot little hands now! If you’re looking to get a copy, head over to your local (and better) comic book shop, because that’s the only place you’re going to be able to find it. The Full Bleed: The Comics & Culture Quarterly will only be published in print.
It’s an interesting thing to finance a publication like this using online technology, but making it available to only those who dig old school touch-and-feel aesthetics. Leave it to IDW to push the boundaries!
Priced at a fair-for-value $25, Full Bleed: The Comics & Culture Quarterly Volume 1 is full of interviews and comics, reviews and articles about comics, film, television, books and much, much more.
In this particular issue you’ll find an exclusive interview with Stephen King, a long lost unpublished interview with the legendary Alan Moore, a piece on politics with spot illustrations by Bob Fingerman, a short story from Joe Lansdale with illustrations by Timothy Truman, and new comic book content from creators like Shannon Wheeler, Craig Yoe, Erin Nations and a whole lot more!
If you’re into comic books, the comic book industry, art, writing and the culture in which it exists, Full Bleed: The Comics & Culture Quarterly Volume 1 is the magazine you should be reading right now.
Make the run to your local comic book shop and pick it up while you can – it won’t be on store shelves for long!
Reblogged this on JP Fallavollita.