Several news sites are reporting that Wizard Magazine (and companion mag Toyfare) have ceased publication. While that might’ve been huge news ten years ago, when they still ruled the roost,  it’s not that big a shock to me today, nor probably to many of our TwoMorrows customers. (Heck, a lot of the people who read TwoMorrows’s stuff may’ve thought Wizard died several years ago, as I don’t think there’s much overlap in our respective readership.)

It’s a tough landscape for the magazine industry these days. Titles are folding monthly, and even biggies like Newsweek are struggling to survive. But don’t worry; TwoMorrows is doing just fine. Unlike Wizard, we don’t focus on the “news” in comics, but on the “old” in comics. (I even considered launching a “news”-centric mag several years ago, but after much exploration and deliberation of the marketplace, decided the online news sites could always beat us by posting news as it happens—whereas even a monthly mag would be printing old news by the time it saw print.)

“Comics history” by its nature is already “old news,” and hardcore comics fans can’t get enough of it. Plus, we can document history just fine in print, and even better with a digital component like our current crop of Digital Editions.

So whether you read our books and mags on paper or an iPad screen, look forward to lots of the same OLD coverage of the good OLD days of comics coming from TwoMorrows (including some exciting announcements coming later in 2011). But hats off to Wizard for making it 20 years in print. I didn’t find that mag my personal cup of tea, but I’ve got to respect their longevity, and onetime influence in the comics medium.

These items are in Diamond’s Previews catalog now, for shipping in March 2011. Just click the link for more info, and be sure to place your order with your local comics shop now (or order direct from TwoMorrows at the links).

ALTER EGO: CENTENNIAL
Edited by Roy Thomas
Previews page 317
Diamond Order Code: JAN11 1351

BACK ISSUE #47
Edited by Michael Eury
Previews page 335
Diamond Order Code: JAN11 1417

MATT BAKER: THE ART OF GLAMOUR
by Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington
Previews page 317
Diamond Order Code: JAN11 1352

And these items are OFFERED AGAIN in PREVIEWS this month (so if you missed them when they were first released, you can order again through your local comics shop):

THE BATCAVE COMPANION
by Michael Eury and Michael Kronenberg
Previews page 317
Diamond Order Code: JAN11 1353

GRAILPAGES
by Steven Alan Payne
Previews page 317
Diamond Order Code: JAN11 1354

Check out this newspaper article on Golden Age “Captain Marvel” artist Marcus Swayze (who, at age 97(!), regales readers with his regular “We Didn’t Know It Was The Golden Age” column in every issue of Alter Ego):

http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20110109/LIFESTYLE/101070303/Drawing-Captain-Marvel

My wife Pam and I are both graduates of Auburn University (from the era when Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson was our star football player; Pam even had a class with Bo back then). So last night’s victory in the College Football National Championship game was oh so sweet for me, especially after a couple of years ago, when Auburn missed the opportunity to play for the championship due to the screwy way the bowl system is set up.

The Auburn Tigers finished a perfect, undefeated season, 12-0, by overcoming a tough Oregon team to win 22-19 with a last second field goal. It was worth staying up past midnight to see. In typical Auburn fashion, they kept me tuned in and on the edge of my seat till the final ticks of the game clock.

If you got to Auburn’s website this morning, you can see a live webcam view of Toomer’s Corner, the traditional spot where students converge after a football victory, and toilet paper the intersection. Looking at the amount of TP there this morning, I think I should’ve bought stock in Charmin yesterday.

So hats (helmets?) off to the Tigers on a job really well done. And if you’re wondering why the Tigers’ battle cry is “War EAGLE”… well, it’s a Auburn thing. You just have to go there to understand.

My friend and longtime colorist for TwoMorrows has been hospitalized the last few weeks for acute kidney failure. As a freelancer, he’s going to be faced with some tough financial difficulties when he gets out of the hospital, and Alan Kupperberg is spearheading a fundraising effort to help Tom out.

Whether you’ve enjoyed Tom’s stellar color work on all the Marvel and DC books he’s colored since the 1970s, or on the bulk of TwoMorrows’ own output since 1994, I hope you’ll consider ANY kind of donation. As Alan Kupperberg said on his Facebook page, if everyone reading this donated even $1 apiece, it’d be a huge help.

Please do what you can. I’ve known Tom for over 15 years now, and I can vouch for the fact that he’s one of the most generous, talented guys in comics. Let’s all give a little back to a great guy!

Send Paypal payments to Alan’s account at:

kupperberg@earthlink.net

And below is Alan’s original appeal on Tom’s behalf.

Best regards,
John Morrow

A URGENT APPEAL FOR A FELLOW FREELANCER IN TROUBLE.
Tom Ziuko, good guy, great friend and color artist supreme needs our help! Tom is about to go into his fourth week of hospitalization in Niagara Falls. Tom spent the entire holiday season fighting acute kidney failure and several unrelated but severely painful conditions. The good n…ews is that the doctors seem to have finally stumbled on a series of treatments and therapies that have Tom seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The bad news is that Tom, uninsured and unable to work since the beginning of December, is in a tough financial bind.

Can you help? If all of my Friends on FB were to contribute even one dollar apiece it would be a tremendous boon to Tom. If you want to do a good deed and are able, Tom and I would be so grateful. You can send any contributions to my PayPal account (kupperberg@earthlink.net) and I will pass 100% (plus) along to Tom.

Tom’s cable service has been shut down but he has internet access in the hospital. If you wish to contact him, his address is: Atomica999@aol.com

Thanks so much to all those who can and will help.

-30-

If you’re a LEGO fan, check out the sneak peek at BrickJournal #13, which is online now. You can download the preview in PDF form, view it in FLASH, or order the issue in PRINT or DIGITAL form at this link:

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=931

It’ll be shipping on January 19.

…and yesterday it was mine. 48 years old/young (I’m not afraid to tell my age). My wife Pam says I look a little thinner and a lot younger than I did a few months ago, so I guess I’m doing something right lately.

What did I spend my special day doing?

Nothing comic-booky at all. And I heartily endorse it (to paraphrase Art Linkletter on the Game of Life, my favorite board game as a kid, and now).

Pam, our two daughters, and I spent the afternoon Christmas Caroling with members of our church, going to a nursing home, and the homes of some of our church’s homebound older members. (And in case you wondered, as surely you have, yes, I have a decent enough singing voice; I was a music major in college before switching to graphic design, and I can carry a tune pretty well. Watch out, Justin Bieber.)

I’ve gotta say, for about three hours, I didn’t think about it being my birthday, or ruminate on getting older; it was pretty gratifying to see how much these folks appreciated the fact that they simply weren’t forgotten about. It was equally gratifying to see how many teenagers came along to sing, of their own free will. Despite their deplorable lack of interest in comics, it looks like there’s still some hope for the youth of today. 🙂

Of course, it’s sobering too, to reflect on the fact that, one day, I may be in the same situation as some of the seniors I saw yesterday. But that didn’t hit me till long after the singing stopped. It was just a great day, start to finish. Here’s to another 48 (at least!).

And if you have any old Jack Kirby original art pages laying around, I’ll gladly accept them as a belated birthday gift—y’know, just so you don’t feel guilty about not getting me a present.

To all the people on Facebook who took the time to email me birthday greetings, let me say THANKS! I’m a total rookie on Facebook, and don’t check my page often enough (okay, hardly ever; never enough time). But it’s awfully cool to wake up and find my email box full of such pleasant messages.

ALTER EGO #99 spotlights the late GEORGE TUSKA and you can check out a FREE PDF preview of the issue at this link:

http://twomorrows.com/media/AlterEgo99Preview.pdf

To order through Diamond Comic Distributors, use Diamond Order Code: NOV101119

To preorder directly from TwoMorrows, for a FLASH preview, or for more info, go to:

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=927

It’ll be in stores on Wednesday, January 12, 2011.

For your convenience, we’ve now combined PRINT and DIGITAL ordering onto the same pages at our website. Just go to the description page for any item, and if a Digital Edition is available, you’ll see a menu at the bottom that says “What Format?”. Just choose DIGITAL ONLY, add it to your shopping cart, and checkout as usual. When you complete your order, the link to the DIGITAL EDITION will be on the confirmation page at checkout. (You may have to  scroll down to find it, depending on how big your computer screen is.)

Customers who order the Print versions of our magazines still get FREE access to the corresponding Digital Edition.

And if you’ve been looking closely, you may’ve noticed we’ve just added a LOT of Digital Editions of our older mags. There’s more to come, and by Jan. 1, we plan to have ALL our back issues available in digital form, with sold out BOOKS coming next. So tune in regularly to our site.

And look for our brand spankin’ new 2011 Catalog to be available at the first of the year. (Guess what I’ll be spending my Christmas vacation doing…)

I just sent Back Issue #46 to the printer, featuring a collection of “Greatest Stories Never Told”. It’s a great issue, from Mike Grell’s recounting of the unknown beginnings of Warlord, to the amazing unused Mike Sekowsky pages for a never-published Black Canary mini-series! (I’m a huge Sekowsky fan; sure wish we could’ve seen that one, with inks by Dick Giordano!)

You can see a free preview of the issue by clicking HERE:

http://twomorrows.com/media/BackIssue46Preview.pdf

If you prefer to see it in FLASH format, want more info on the issue, or want to order, here’s the link:

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=939