Comics Scene #6

History

Comics Scene was launched by Starlog Group Inc. in 1982 as a spin-off of its flagship science fiction magazine Starlog, with the explicit goal of covering comics properties being adapted into film and television, though it also regularly profiled working comics creators and industry trends. The magazine ran in three distinct volumes: an original 11-issue run from January 1982 through September 1983, a longer second volume published from 1987 through early 1996, and a brief 2000 revival. Like its Starlog and Fangoria siblings, it was distributed through the mainstream newsstand system — drug stores, grocery outlets — rather than exclusively through comic shops, giving it reach well beyond the direct-market readership.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published by Starlog Group Inc. (sometimes listed under the earlier imprint name Starlog Communications / O'Quinn Studios), the sixth issue of Volume 2 is dated 1989.
• The issue features coverage of Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge McDuck and a foundational figure in Disney comics, who had only recently been permitted by Disney to participate publicly in retrospectives of his work.
• A Frank Miller interview or feature is included, placing the issue in the context of Miller's post-Dark Knight Returns, post-Batman Year One prominence — among the most discussed creator profiles of the era.
• Additional features cover Batman (a logical editorial focus given the 1989 Tim Burton film's looming release), James Bond comics, Frank Thorne, Swamp Thing, and Moon Knight.
• Comics Scene was one of the only widely available newsstand publications at the time devoted substantially to comics journalism, giving issues like this unusual reach among general readers who were not regular comic-shop patrons.
• The magazine was a sister publication to Starlog and Fangoria, all published by Starlog Group Inc., and was distributed through the same newsstand infrastructure — drugstores and grocery outlets — that carried mainstream periodicals.
• There are at least three separate publications called 'Comics Scene #6': Volume 1 #6 (November 1982), Volume 2 #6 (1989), and Comics Scene Spectacular #6 (July 1992, featuring Batman Returns); the edition with Carl Barks and Frank Miller coverage corresponds to the 1989 Volume 2 entry.
• The Starlog Group's back-issue warehouse was destroyed by fire in December 2007, which has made physical copies of its magazines, including Comics Scene issues, harder to source directly from the publisher's archives.

Key issues in Comics Scene