Comics Buyer's Guide: Great Views! Great Reviews! Great Previews!

Comic Buyer’s Guide(CBG) is a monthly magazine about comic books. In fact, it is the world’s longest-running magazine about comics, and one of the most respected! CBG covers the world of comics from the big companies (Marvel, DC), to independents, the industry, movies and such based on comics, and even has articles and commentaries about comics of yesteryear!

CBG used to be a weekly newsprint magazine that a few years ago switched to a monthly part glossy, part newsprint magazine that is chock full of comic goodness. I have been reading CBG for probably at least 10 years and have no plans to stop. From the great cover articles, to the great reviews and columnists, there is no better comic book magazine and price guide.

The layout of the magazine is very simple, nicely organized, and very easy to read for a modern pop-culture magazine. The first 20 pages or so are full color to showcase articles that would be enhanced with full color pictures, while the rest is black and white with an easy-to-read two column format. Each issue also has a color section showcasing the top 10 favorite comic-book covers of a particular comic-book veteran. I love looking at these! The writing style is very professional and personable, while the columnists come across as knowledgeable and very interested in their hobby.

One of the key factors of CBG is the quality and quantity of reviews. Each issue is chock full of reviews, from in-depth reviews to quick-hit reviews and even (my favorite) retro-reviews that review comic book runs of the past! Very cool!

Cover
The cover always has an exciting cover, usually with one of the more popular characters or recently-in-the-news characters. It is easy to see the main articles of each issue, and the font is bright and easy to read.

Sections

Cover Stories The cover stories of each issue tend to be very informative, in-depth, well-written and often entertaining. They can be 5 or more pages long and often have plenty of artwork to accompany them. The stories range from in-depth looks at recent major storylines, upcoming events, and even stories on the comic book creators themselves and interviews with them. These are always worth the read! Each issue tends to center on a theme, and the writers and columnists try their best to accommodate the theme when they can, which give a great mix of theme related content and regular content.

Comic News! Each issue has 20 or so pages of news of the comic book world. This news can be about major story-lines in recent books, to updates on publisher, to updates on the health and goings-on of various creators, to recent comic-book related projects and even the actors who are signed on to play various roles in the comic-book based movies. The selection of news is always interesting and worth checking out.

Comic Views!: The columns in this section run across the gamut of the comics spectrum and are about comics and their influence in lives, about creators, about whatever great comic-book related topic that the writers come up with. They are written from professionals and comic historians who really know their subject and are full of great articles!

Comic Reviews!: I love the reviews in this magazine. Each issue probably has more then 15-20 pages of reviews spread throughout! From Tony Isabella’s rambling and entertaining reviews, to the quick shot staff reviews, to the retro-views of comics past, these reviews have helped me find many great books to read and helped me save much money on stuff I would not have liked. The reviews in this magazine do a great job of reviewing popular titles and small press and independent titles as well, helping to bring a nice well-rounded view of the comic world.

Nostalgia!: I love reading the column “Ask Mr. Silver Age” in which Criag Shutt digs deep into the recesses of old comics to answer questions and bring these old books to the fore. I never enjoyed silver age comics much until after several years of reading this column I started becoming more and more intrigued, thus igniting my love of the silver (and even golden) age of comics!

The Guide!: This is a very respected guide, and one that I find pretty accurate for most cases. The guide itself is entertaining as it is surrounded by fun facts, timelines, and retroviews!

Opinion: Peter David’s column (one of the several opinion columns) is, in itself, worth the cover price of this magazine. Always witty, entertaining, and knowledgeable, Peter David informs, entertains, and comments on the comic book world (or other things that pop into his head).

Final Thoughts: CBG is the premier comic-book magazine if you have any interest beyond the current top 100 popular comics. From in-depth reporting, to great reviews and opinion pieces, CBG is a favorite monthly read of mine!

Website
www.CBGXTRA.com

Here you can find extra articles and links.
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Title: Comics Buyer’s Guide
Publisher: Krause Publication
Frequency: Monthly
Issue Cost: $5.99 US
Subscription: $38.95 per year