Amazing Heroes Issue #2 Table of Contents

Amazing Heroes Issue #2 Table of Contents

Periodical
Comic Strips

The title “Amazing Heroes” is printed in black outline on the top left of the page. Eleven items are on the list of contents and these include long-form articles, short news blurbs, price, and release date information about past and future comics, comic strips, and colored visual art pieces. This issue places a spotlight on the Teen Titans and there are three items on the list related to the group. These three items are the cover depicting the Teen Titans drawn by George Perez, a “hero history” of the Teen Titans by Tom Burkert, and an index of the Teen Titans comics which has a drawing of four members of the Titans next to it. The other items on the list are an editorial by the executive editor Michael Catron, a Star Wars comic strip, “Comics Report”, “Coming Distractions”, a short humor comic called “The Collectors”, a story about a convention in New York, a space-themed comic strip titled “Star Hawks”, and a painting of Superman by Paul McCall. In the bottom left corner, there is a list of this issue’s staff. Next to that is various copyright, publication, and distribution information. In the bottom right corner, there is a list of advertisers in the issue along with where the advertisements are.

The entries on the table of contents show the many goals of this publication. The drawing by George Perez helps to show the legitimacy the publication by bringing a real name in the industry. Along with that, it brings a name tied to this new Teen Titans series. The inclusion of a hero history and index would have been desired by fans as they may want to revisit these older Teen Titans comics before diving into the new series as many new characters were already being added to the Teen Titans world. Though each issue may have a different focus and long-form articles about a variety of comic topics, there are some items on the list that provide information that readers want each issue. These items are the “Comics Report” section, which provided comic-related news stories of the month, and the “Coming Distractions” section, which provided a list of upcoming comic titles. As this publication was in its infancy, these sections would be replaced by others containing similar information in later issues. This information would have been desirable to a comic-reading audience. With the rise of the direct market, readers wanted to know what was going on in the industry, the titles that would be coming out soon, and when to get them from their local comic shops. The inclusion of two space-themed comic strips speaks to a common audience between science fiction and comics, the inclusion of a Star Wars comic specifically speaks to an attempt to capitalize off the success of the two films that had been released by the time of this issue’s publication. Marvel had already had success with a Star Wars comic adaptation which laid the groundwork for other comic creators to follow. The convention article signifies the increased interaction between comic readers and comic creators during this period.

J. Michael Catron - Executive Editor and Contributing Writer
Peppy White - Art Director
Laura K. Beal - Editorial Assistant
Tom Burkert - Contributing Writer and Research
Gary Kwapisz - Contributing Artist and Color Separations
Paul McCall, George Perez, Randy Reynaldo - Contributing Artists
Todd Klein - Logo

MSU Special Collection Comic Art, PN6725.A47

Zam Inc.

1981-02

Gregory McClure

Rights Restrictions Apply

8 3/8" x 10 7/8", black and white

English

Periodical

1981-1992

Periodical

8 3/8" x 10 7/8"