Hogan's Alley, a publication devoted to comic art, is subtitled the magazine of the cartoon arts. It has been published on an irregular schedule since 1994 by Bull Moose Publishing in Atlanta. Covering comic strips, comic books, cartoons and animation, each hefty issue contains at least 144 pages with a square-backed spine. Originally planned as a quarterly, the frequency is closer to that of an annual, with 16 issues published in 15 years.

The editor is Tom Heintjes, who also edits three magazines for the Federal Reserve Bank

Federal Reserve Bank

The twelve Federal Reserve Banks form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The twelve federal reserve banks together divide the nation into twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the twelve banking districts created by the Federal Reserve Act of...

. The magazine was co-founded by Heintjes and Rick Marschall

Rick Marschall

Rick Marschall is a writer/editor and comic strip historian, described by Bostonia magazine as "America's foremost authority on pop culture." Marschall has served as an editor for both Marvel and Disney comics, plus several syndicates.Marschall has written and edited more than 62 books on cultural...

, former editor of Nemo, the Classic Comics Library

Nemo, the Classic Comics Library

Nemo, the Classic Comics Library was a magazine devoted to the history and creators of vintage comic strips. Created by comics historian Rick Marschall, it was published in the 1980s by Fantagraphics....

. The designer is David Folkman. Interviewed in 2004. Heintjes gave some background on the magazine's origins:

Rick Marschall and I conceived the idea of Hogan's Alley in early 1994. We often talked about the type of coverage we wanted cartooning to have, and we would blue-sky about our ideal comics magazine. It sounded so good that–like a couple of idiots–we decided to put it out ourselves. In the course of that first issue, we brought David Folkman on board as art director, and he's been an indispensable part of things from the first issue. One thing we felt was important was to connect cartooning's present to its earliest days, so we came up with the title Hogan's Alley. In hindsight, from a marketing point of view, it probably isn't a good title. Most comics fans have no idea what the title represents–the Yellow Kid

The Yellow Kid

The Yellow Kid emerged as the lead character in Hogan's Alley, drawn by Richard F. Outcault, which became one of the first Sunday supplement comic strips in an American newspaper, although its graphical layout had already been thoroughly established in political and other, purely-for-entertainment...

's neighborhood–so they don't know that they might be interested in the magazine. Also–we found this out later–a Hogan's Alley is a firearms training exercise, so I occasionally get letters from gun owners who felt tricked into picking up the magazine. I am not crazy about the idea of misleading a bunch of gun owners, but we're stuck with the title now. To fund the issue–the printing and postage and advertising–we emptied our piggy banks, sold some of our comics stuff and sought investments from friends who thought our idea had merit. The earliest issues all lost money, but it's become largely a break-even endeavor by now. We pay our writers, although David and I have never made a penny from the magazine.

Writers

The scope of the magazine ranges from historical articles to coverage of current comic strips. Contributing writers have included Ron Goulart

Ron Goulart

Ron Goulart is an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author.The prolific Goulart wrote many novelizations and other routine work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson , Con Steffanson , Chad Calhoun, R.T...

, R. C. Harvey

R. C. Harvey

Robert C. Harvey , popularly known as R. C. Harvey, is an author, critic and cartoonist. He has written a number of books on the history of the medium, with special focus on the history of the comic strip, and he has also worked as a freelance cartoonist.Harvey describes himself as having created...

 and Allan Holtz

Allan Holtz

Allan Holtz is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels...

. In issue #12, Holtz examined the early evolution of Sunday comics

Sunday comics

Sunday comics is the commonly accepted term for the full-color comic strip section carried in most American newspapers. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies....

 supplements to the daily comic strip, notably The Importance of Mister Peewee, which ran in Joseph Pulitzer

Joseph Pulitzer

Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...

's New York World

New York World

The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...

 in 1903-04. In that same issue, R. C. Harvey offered an in-depth profile of cartoonist Dave Breger.

Interview subjects have included Gus Arriola

Gus Arriola

Gustavo "Gus" Arriola was a Mexican-American comic strip cartoonist and animator, primarily known for the comic strip Gordo, which ran from 1941 through 1985....

, C. C. Beck

C. C. Beck

Charles Clarence Beck was an American cartoonist and comic book artist, best known for his work on Captain Marvel at Fawcett Comics and DC Comics....

 and Will Eisner

Will Eisner

William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...

.

Hogan's Alleys official site is subtitled the online magazine of the cartooon arts, although it's not clear whether that is a joke or a typo.

See also

• Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
  Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
  The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, a research library of American comic art, is affiliated with the Ohio State University library system in Columbus, Ohio...
  
  
• Comic Art
• The Comics Journal
  The Comics Journal
  The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
  
  
• List of comic strip syndicates
• The Menomonee Falls Gazette
  The Menomonee Falls Gazette
  The Menomonee Falls Gazette was a weekly tabloid that reprinted newspaper comic strips from USA and UK. The first issue was published December 11, 1972, with the last issue on March 3, 1978...
  
  
• The Menomonee Falls Guardian
  The Menomonee Falls Guardian
  The Menomonee Falls Guardian was a tabloid that reprinted newspaper comic strips from the USA and the UK. The first issue appeared June 28, 1973, with new issues published weekly until February 23, 1976, when it became a monthly publication, running until August 1976.Unlike its sister publication,...
  
  

External links

• Craig Yoe interviews Tom Heintjes (November 8, 2007)
• Hogan's Alley trading card
• Hogan's Alley