Amazing Heroes was a magazine about the comic book medium published by Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analytical journal.
Publication history
Amazing Heroes' first editor was Michael Catron, Fantagraphics' head of promotion and circulation. Upon his departure after issue #6, Comics Journal editor Kim Thompson took over the reins.
The magazine was initially published under the Fantagraphics imprint Zam, Inc., through issue #6. Beginning with #7, the publishing imprint became Redbeard, Inc. It remained under Redbeard through at least issue #61, but by issue #68 was being published by Fantagraphics Books, Inc.
The magazine began as a monthly, then appeared twice a month for many years, and then went monthly again beginning in 1989. The magazine ran for 204 issues, folding with its July 1992 issue.
In February 1993, Fantagraphics announced that the publisher Personality Comics had bought the rights to Amazing Heroes, and planned to revive the magazine. Nothing came of it, however, as Personality itself folded later that year.
Format and content
Amazing Heroes' first dozen issues were magazine-sized, while the rest were comic book-sized.
The regular content included industry news, comics creator interviews, histories of comic book characters and reviews. Features included Hero Histories of various characters/features, previews of upcoming series, and letters page. Other regular features were a column called "Doc's Bookshelf" by Dwight Decker (which ran from 1987â€"1989), and a question-and-answer feature called "Information Center," which ran from 1986â€"1989.
There were regular special editions for previews of upcoming comics, and "swimsuit editions" in which various comics artists drew pin-ups of characters in bikinis and similar beach apparel. The Amazing Heroes Preview Special appeared twice a year (beginning with the Summer 1985 issue), presenting previews of all comics slated to appear over the next six months. These were extra-sized issues, and were often square-bound. Many issues of the AHPS also contained joke entries. The editors fluctuated between publishing these as separately numbered specials and special issues of the regular series itself.
The Amazing Heroes Swimsuit Special debuted with a June 1990 edition.
Awards
The Jack Kirby Award
From 1985 to 1987, the magazine presented The Jack Kirby Award for achievement in comic books, voted on by comic-book professionals and managed by Dave Olbrich, a Fantagraphics employee and, later, publisher of Malibu Comics. Starting in 1988, the Kirby Award was discontinued and two new awards were created: the Eisner Award, managed by Olbrich, and the Fantagraphics-managed Harvey Award.
Awards won
- 1986: Eagle Award â€" Favourite Specialist Comics Publication
- 1987: Eagle Award â€" Favourite Specialist Comics Publication
- 1988: Eagle Award â€" Favourite Specialist Comics Publication
- 1992: Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum Award â€" Best Non-Fiction Work
Notes
References
- Bethke, Marilyn. "The New Kids on the Block," The Comics Journal #70, January 1982, pp. 110â€"111.