After buying an issue of the magazine Back Issue off the rack (11-10-24), I went to the TwoMorrows website and found a bunch of issues with topics I was interested in. I picked up several pdf issues and went back for a second tranche the next month. I probably should have waited until I’d actually read the first batch before getting the second. I wasn’t actually that happy with what I’d originally gotten and held up on getting any more. Reading all of these became something of a chore honestly.
Oddly, when I went to their website, I already had an account. In 2020, TwoMorrows had offered a free issue for the lockdown. I guess I had trouble figuring out their ordering and didn’t get anything. The magazine I picked was still in my “shopping cart,” which I discovered when I put in the new order four years later.
Even more oddly, I discovered I actually had a few preview pdf’s from the company on my hard drive. This included a preview of their tabloid comics retrospective, a history of comics in the 80’s, and a history of the Filmation animation studio. The later two are actually books. The previews were very interesting. I’ve used that Filmation one to research the 70’s Archie cartoons. Ironically, I didn’t get the full pdf’s of the books, because the previews were pretty comprehensive.
I’m likely done getting Back Issues. The physical issues never showed up back on the newsstand. These pdf’s aren’t the greatest to read. I found myself blowing up blurry images and panning and scanning across pages. My main regret is that some older issues advertised Silver and Bronze Age companion books for Superman and Batman. Unfortunately, they’re apparently not even available as pdf’s now. That’s a real shame.
In general, these issues feature a lot of interviews with the creators. These interviews generally turn into an airing grievances concerning the editors, the company, and fellow creators. To say this is tedious reading is an understatement. If you’re looking for insight on your favorite characters, you’re basically just going to get a lesson in the economics comic book production and petty office feuds. There are also retrospectives of various titles and interesting runs. These pretty much just make you want to read the comics. You don’t need the magazine for that.
However, to be fair, there is plenty of interesting material in these issues. On some level, I may have been too harshly judgmental and expected too much, since the subject matter was directly in my wheelhouse. Back Issue is just a magazine. Like any other, you’ll find a few interesting articles and some better written than others. I’m going to tackle these in numerical order, rather than purchase order. I’ll also name these based on the main article I was interested in and just hittin the high points.
#9 Nexus
This 2005 issue was 100 pages, but in black and white. When it comes to good articles, this one has an impressive overview of the original run of Marvel Star Wars comics. It explains a lot of the decisions made in the storytelling. It even explains Jaxxon, the giant green rabbit. (Sort of.) I collected this title for several years in the 80’s. I also had the first six comics and gave them away in elementary school. (They were reprint versions, not the original printings, but they’re still probably worth money today.)
As a big Nexus fan, I was mostly interested in the Barron and Rude interview. It’s a very long interview, but there wasn’t not a whole lot about Nexus really. I’d been curious about Grimjack, though I’d only ever read one issue. The retrospective was comprehensive without being really insightful. An article about the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries and a history of Thanos were other highlights.
#31 Steve Gerber
You might question a whole issue dedicated to the guy who was best known for creating Howard the Duck, but Gerber had a widely varied career. The Howard articles were pretty in depth and even included coverage of the newspaper strip. Gerber worked on a bunch of Marvel horror titles, including the KISS Super Special. He was on a spectrum of superhero titles, especially the Defenders. He had a short run at DC and created Sludge for Malibu Comics. I had no idea Gerber wrote for Thundaar the Barbarian and worked with Jack Kirby and Alex Toth on it, no less. With that array of talent, no wonder that Saturday morning TV show was so good. I had a new appreciation for Gerber after reading this.
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