By John Jackson Miller on
3/17/2007 12:00 AM
Thanks for visting the Comics Chronicles, alternately known as Comichron (either spelling will get you to the site).
Having worked in comic professionally for may years, I'm really looking at Comichron as a chance to both reclaim the "hobby" element of my comics-collecting life — while providing a location for similarly interested folks to trade information. I've been interested in comics circulation history — a fancy way of saying "how many comics exist" — for years, even before my tenure on Comics & Games Retailer and Comics Buyer's Guide. While there, I was able to focus on the subject in the magazines — and then, after I had gone elsewhere in the company, in books like the Standard Catalog of Comic Books and on the CBG website.
I'm still contributing research to those publications as a freelancer and columnist — but I've still got mountains of information that I'd like to get in front of the people who'd like to use it. I've answered countless inquiries individually from reporters and students looking into the state of the comics market over time; the site gives me a chance to get those answers online, while providing networking to knowledgeable folk such as Peter Bickford, Milton Griepp, Russ Maheras, John Mayo, and Maggie Thompson.
Again, the Chronicles are, for me, a hobby — I'm beginning modestly with data from the 1960s, and will get more online as I have time. There's a research forum for your questions, for new data submitted by others, and for submitting corrections. Longer-term, I'm exploring other strategies for managing the information online — and I also have a number of data sets that delve into time periods where there really hasn't been much information available. Suggestions and comments are welcome!