When I got the press release that Fantagraphics Publishing needed fandom's help to survive, I was stunned. If there was ever a company that was central to my continuing interest in comics, it was Fantagraphics, and more specifically, The Comics Journal.
I started reading the Journal when they still had superheroes on the cover. Gary Groth was the lone voice in the wilderness of American comics. An angry young man, Gary asked why we weren't producing quality comics in America? In Europe, adults read comics. In Japan, adults read comics. Why weren't we doing the same? Why did we only have superheroes? Oooh, he was angry.
The Journal also had the most amazing, hard hitting interviews. They'd get folks who toiled in the superhero ghetto to talk ugly about their companies, and the comics business in general. Later, they touted creators I had never heard of, folks like Art Spiegelman, who went on to create Maus.
Gary Groth and Kim Thompson created magic in those early issues of The Comics Journal. They set a standard to aim for, a goal to strive for, an expectation that comic fans shouldn't just have to read superhero stuff.
I didn't always agree with their visions. I liked superheroes. I still like superheroes. The Journal pissed me off, cracked me up, and always made me think. It still does.
I believe The Comics Journal was directly responsible for the variety of comics we have today. Gary and Kim had a vision, and eventually started printing comics and graphic novels that they felt were worthwhile. I've tried several of their various products, and while I may not have liked all of the stuff they have printed, I have recognized it as quality work. I still subscribe through my comics shop to The Comics Journal, and to Love and Rockets.
I don't know Gary Groth, or Kim Thompson. They don't know me. I go by the Fantagraphics table at San Diego and I buy their products. I have never met any of these folks personally. The closest I have come is knowing someone online who spent his summer living in Gary Groth's basement and working for Fantagraphics as an intern. He had a great time, by the way : )
So, I have no real motive for writing this except for wanting the comics and the magazine I read to continue. Not because I'm big buddies with these folks, but because they deserve our support. They have given a lot to the comics industry, and to our current state of diversified comics. If any company deserves to continue operating, it's Fantagraphics. So go over to their website, . Peruse their products. If you don't know what to order from them, I will personally recommend Love and Rockets, and anything they print by Joe Sacco. My personal favorite of Sacco's work is Palestine, but you might like something else. Get a subscription to The Comics Journal, or just try an issue. Or pick something else that appeals to you, but buy something. I feel it's important they continue.
Besides, Fantagraphics also publishes the Eros line of comics (it supports their quality publishing ventures.) Smut! They peddle smut! If you don't buy the high minded comics, you can always buy smut! In any case, we need to keep Fantagraphics alive, so go buy something, you won't be sorry.