CBI Archive
Comic Foundry #2 - All in Color For Sixty Dimes
- by Brian Cronin
- in Comic Reviews
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 3:32 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 3:33 AM EST
I don’t mean to bust chops, but I can’t be the only one to find this amusing, right? Comic Foundry was originally denied distribution by Diamond because Diamond didn’t think that a black and white comic in the style of Comic Foundry would sell. Comic Foudry head honcho Tim Leong said at the time - “So, to be a timely magazine with topical content (and feature images of comic characters) it has to be in color? I’m sorry, I’ve thought about this all afternoon, and I don’t really see how this makes sense.” And now, after the first issue of Comic Foundry came out in black and white, the magazine has been re-tooled to be…yep, you guessed it, all in color. Come on, that’s at least kinda funny, right?
Anyhow, what’s Comic Foundry (the color version) like?
Well, basically the same as the first issue (which I did a bit on here).
Comic Foundry is basically Wizard, only if Wizard wrote almost entirely about comics, and their decisions regarding what comics to talk about were based on which comics they think are the coolest. So for a fan of good comics, you’ll likely enjoy and/or be familiar with most of the comics being discussed in this issue.
By the by, speaking of the change to color, it is a HUGE improvement over the black and white pages. The book looks a lot better in color.
Anyhow, like the first issue, the book was a lot of fun, but it was fun you mostly forgot about as soon as you finished reading the issue. That’s not really a bad thing, per se, as a fun read about comics is always appreciated, just noting that there is a lack of “heft” to the magazine, as it stresses a rapid-fire succession of short features - sidebar, sidebar, sidebar, sidebar - coming at you like machine gun fire.
The notable exception was the featured interview with Matt Fraction (I like this cover with Fraction a lot better than issue #1’s cover) by Laura Hudson. Hudson did an excellent job on the interview making it feel quite substantial and interesting - and there was even a cute sidebar to the interview on TOP of the interview (detailing one of Fraction’s earliest “comic book works”).
Oh, and the Venture Brothers spotlight piece was good, too.
And while the Final Crisis/Secret Invasion pieces seemed fairly routine, I DID like that they got a quote from Morrison complaining about how no one ever uses his continuity changes - it’s true, and I always figured it must irk him, but this is the first time I recall seeing him actually SAY it.
So Comic Foundry is a nice-looking book featuring a lot of disposable fun comic features - not a bad book to have, no?
17 Comments
Michael
April 2, 2008 at 5:30 am
“Comic Foundry is basically Wizard, only if Wizard wrote almost entirely about comics, and their decisions regarding what comics to talk about were based on which comics they think are the coolest.”
So it’s Wizard from fifteen years ago?
Josh P.
April 2, 2008 at 7:52 am
It’s Wizard: Year One
montoya
April 2, 2008 at 8:27 am
It’s the goddamned All-Star Wizard!
Tekende
April 2, 2008 at 9:26 am
“Morrison complaining about how no one ever uses his continuity changes”
Maybe if his continuity changes weren’t completely ridiculous people would use them.
Henz_Be_Luvin_Me
April 2, 2008 at 10:16 am
That’s rich. Hacks like Bendis aren’t fit to shine Morrison’s shoes.
fanboy d
April 2, 2008 at 1:37 pm
i’m loving the ‘men’s AND women’s’ stab at WIZARD
Lucion
April 2, 2008 at 3:22 pm
A comic magazine about comics!? I wish I could find it at the bookstore or a magazine stand locally.
slaz
April 2, 2008 at 4:38 pm
It wouldn’t have occurred to me to buy this, but the cover promises the “All-Star Batman Drinking Game”… Any guesses?
FunkyGreenJerusalem
April 2, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Which one’s were ridiculous?
Alan Coil
April 2, 2008 at 9:30 pm
“Take a drink any time Batman grins or laughs maniacally.”
There were many other rules, most of them funny, but I can’t remember what they were.
I can’t read them from the magazine, as I didn’t bring it home with me. I bought it, and then immediately loaned it to a guy who was enthused that it was a magazine about comics that wasn’t juvenile and wasn’t trying to be too cerebral. He said he had enough of that cerebral stuff when he wrote for his Master’s degree in literature.
What I did see of this issue was MUCH better than the previous issue, except for the emphasis on Bendis and his Marvel posse.If I never see another picture of Bendis, that will be great. Not that I hate Bendis, I just don’t want to see that head again.
Tomer S
April 3, 2008 at 2:43 am
They already got rid of that tagline.
Rick Rottman
April 3, 2008 at 5:26 am
Isn’t the term “timely magazine” kind of an oxymoron?
Ken Raining
April 3, 2008 at 8:25 am
I bought the first issue, because I liked the stated agenda behind the magazine, and because I dislike Diamond’s reasoning for initially rejecting it, but I found it to be a pretty boring read. After that, I can’t say I have much enthusiasm for the second issue. Again, I like the idea of this mag, but in practice it was pretty bland.
yo go re
April 3, 2008 at 2:25 pm
What Grant Morrison continuity changes haven’t been used?
Carroll
April 3, 2008 at 7:44 pm
What Grant Morrison continuity changes haven’t been used?
It’s been a while since I read it, but wasn’t pretty much EVERYTHING from NEW X-MEN thrown out?
yo go re
April 3, 2008 at 8:48 pm
The only thing that was immediately undone was Magneto - and of course, it was undone in the clumsiest, most ham-handed way possible…
Tomer S
April 4, 2008 at 12:47 am
[quote]It’s been a while since I read it, but wasn’t pretty much EVERYTHING from NEW X-MEN thrown out?[/quote]
Like Beast’s secondaty mutation? Emma’s? Her relationship with Scott? Maybe the death of Jean? Or the extinction of 16 million mutants? Could it be not using any characters Morrison created like the Stepford Cuckoos, Dust and Beak?
The only thing retconned - as yo go re said - was the Magneto/Xorn story. And yes, it was done bad.