CBGextra.com: Something new on line

I’ve quickly become a fan of the new monthly Comics Buyer’s Guide, since my subscription kicked in. It’s great subway reading, between books, and is also good to have on the coffee table when commercial breaks come along. As I’ve mentioned before, I began subscribing to Alan Light’s The Buyer’s Guide back in the mid-‘70s and continued well into the Krause publishing era. Even when my sub expired it was possible to pick up occasion issues at many of the comic shops I frequented. (Thanks to Elayne Riggs, my ex, I now have most of the monthly CBGs I missed. There’s plenty of fine reading ahead!)

While I really don’t care much about the monthly price guide or the tracking of eBay auctions, the overall format and loads of other material is quite good. Along with the usual reviews and promotional articles on the latest titles, you’ll get columns by Tony Isabella, Peter David, Heidi MacDonald and now Beau Smith, plus others. Naturally, you won’t agree with everything they have to say, or with all the reviewers, but it certainly will keep you informed on what’s current and popular in the comics’ field.

The one thing I found surprising was that while there was a website for Krause, there really wasn’t much available relating to CBG itself. That’s been corrected now and you can get some of the articles and material generally found in the print version over on the new CBGxtra.com page. There are even some forums available for those who’d like to comment on the latest issues and communicate with some of the Krause editors.