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45-576: The company's publishing arm, New Media , continued in the business until 1995. New Media mainly published periodicals for comics/fantasy/science fiction enthusiasts, including the long-running critical journal Comics Feature . Editors and writers with New Media included Carol Kalish , Richard Howell , Peter B. Gillis , Kurt Busiek , Don and Maggie Thompson , James Van Hise , Peter Sanderson , Max Allan Collins , Ron Goulart , Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones , Steve Perrin , and Roy Thomas . Hal Schuster, his father, Irwin, and his brother, Jack, formed

90-579: A column on writing for comics for parts of two years. After dabbling in publishing for a few years, brothers Hal and Jack Schuster, co-owners of the distributor New Media/Irjax , founded New Media Publishing (NMP) in 1980. NMP's first publication, launched in March 1980, was the professionally produced hobbyist fanzine Comics Feature . NMP's line of publications was overseen by editorial director Peter B. Gillis ; Comics Feature 's first editors were Dean Mullaney and Carol Kalish . Mullaney soon left

135-404: A few actual comic books — three in total — featuring such creators as Doug Moench , Bill Sienkiewicz , Pat Boyette , Owen Wister , Don Heck , John Warner , Tom Sutton , P. Craig Russell , Steve Ditko , Steve Englehart , Don McGregor , Mark Evanier , Steve Leialoha , Grass Green , and Mike Sekowsky . In October 1982, Marilyn Bethke of The Comics Journal published a takedown of

180-453: A fictitious panel discussion that David ran in "Snob Appeal", an edition of his then-weekly column, "But I Digress..." in Comics Buyer's Guide . David also took issue with attacks on Kalish by Mile High Comics retailer and columnist Chuck Rozanski . When Glenn Hauman , the webmaster of David's website, reprinted David's eulogy to Kalish on David's site in 2002, along with a request to

225-447: A half-dozen practical and direct suggestions as to how that store could be made better; not specifically for Marvel, but just a better store in general. That was a powerful memory for me, and the lessons that Carol taught us have stuck with me all of these years later. I thought, "that's how I want to be when I grow up", and I am, frankly, personally embarrassed that current Marvel management isn't willing to live up to her legacy, and engage

270-777: A practice similar to the pulp magazine era, the brothers set up a number of publishing entities, especially during the period 1985–1987. Overall, the Schusters published material from 1975 to 1995. Befitting the overall fly-by-night feeling, over the years the Schusters operated publishers out of Rockville, Maryland ; Boston ; the Tampa Bay area ( Largo and Tampa ); various Los Angeles locations ( Studio City , Topanga , Canoga Park , and Granada Hills ); and finally Las Vegas . The brothers' first publishing venture, Irjax Enterprises , lasted from 1975 to 1977, releasing one publication each summer, on such subjects as Star Trek and Howard

315-411: A reputation for announcing titles that never appeared and/or releasing titles late and otherwise behind schedule. For instance, in 1981 NMP took over publication of the long-running fanzine Rocket's Blast Comicollector (previously edited and published by NMP writer/editor James Van Hise ), but only put out three issues in the period 1981 to 1983 before RBCC was canceled. Similarly, New Media acquired

360-444: A slate of new titles, most of them professionally produced fanzines . Right off the bat, however, NMP began to promise more than it could deliver, such as announcing the critical journals Artform and Brush Strokes — which never appeared. Gillis left NMP by mid-1981, replaced as editorial director by Howell. He and Kalish, however, left in 1982 — the same year New Media's distribution business failed. By then, NMP had developed

405-448: A time Marvel, under Carol's DM sales team, was the most DM-friendly publisher. The cash register program, rack credits via the IADD, effective and scrupulous solicitations, these were all things that happened under Carol's watch. In fact, I'll still always remember being 16 years old, working at another person's store, and Carol was in town for a vacation, and she took the time to come in and make

450-688: Is a breakdown of the various Schuster Brothers publishing entities from 1975 to 1995: Comics Feature Comics Feature was an American magazine of news, criticism, and commentary pertaining to comic books , comic strips , and animation . Published by New Media Publishing , it produced 57 issues (and a number of specials) between 1980 and 1987. Staff members and regular contributors to Comics Feature included Kurt Busiek , Max Allan Collins , Ron Goulart , Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones , Scott McCloud , Steve Perrin , Peter Sanderson , Roy Thomas , Don & Maggie Thompson , and James Van Hise . Guest contributors included Stan Lee , who wrote

495-520: Is credited with pioneering the American comics direct market when it was in its adolescence, in part through a program wherein Marvel helped pay for comic book stores to acquire cash registers. She was the winner of an Inkpot Award in 1991, and in 2010 was posthumously awarded the first ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award, beating nominees such as Will Eisner , Julius Schwartz and Phil Seuling . Carol

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540-617: The Adventures of Superman TV series cast in issue #57; and Bugs Bunny in issue #45! The magazine didn't restrict itself exclusively to mainstream American comics: other notable interviews included Hunt Emerson and Gilbert Shelton in issue #3, Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly in issue #4, Bill Griffith in issue #7, Larry Gonick in issue #12/13, and Ralph Bakshi in issue #39. Issue #10, published in 1981, focused on Captain America 's 40th anniversary. Issue #18, in 1982, commemorated

585-549: The File[s] series include James Bond , Doctor Who , The Monkees , Star Trek , and others. Files Magazine also covered Marvel and DC heroes; article authors included Martin Cannon, Edward Gross, Glenn A. Magee, Doug Murray , John Peel, and James Van Hise ; with Schuster serving as editor and publisher. In 1986, Schuster announced that Movie Publisher Services would release a 60-page paperback collection of articles and interviews with

630-406: The "last loyal customers" when New Media began having fiscal difficulties, Geppi made a deal with Schuster: "[t]he owner was going into retail," so Geppi agreed to provide Schuster with "free books for a period of time in return for his account list." Hal Schuster relocated to Florida early in 1982, and he asked "Geppi to service more accounts for a bigger discount," thereby effectively selling Geppi

675-401: The 50th anniversary of Dick Tracy , as well as a review of the past year in the comics industry. Issue #22, also published in 1982, commemorated Spider-Man 's 20th anniversary. Issue #26 was devoted to a Russ Manning tribute. Issue #32, published in 1984, celebrated DC Comics ' 50th anniversary, and featured an interview with Vice-President/Executive Editor Dick Giordano on the future of

720-461: The British fanzine BEM in 1981, ostensibly to distribute BEM in the U.S. and widen its readership. But, after many delays, NMP only produced two U.S. issues, #35 and #36, and BEM faded away. NMP's most notable publications included: Other notable names who worked for New Media as editors and/or writers included Don and Maggie Thompson , Kurt Busiek , and Peter Sanderson . NMP also published

765-585: The Duck . Each issue of the various titles was labeled #1 but was never continued. In 1980 the Schuster brothers established New Media Publishing ( NMP ), which ultimately produced the bulk of the company's output overall. Hal had the title of Publisher, while Jack had the title of President. They hired Carol Kalish , Richard Howell (doing double duty since they were still helping operate Solar Spice distribution), and Peter B. Gillis (as editorial director), and announced

810-479: The Golden Age (written by Roy Thomas in 1986–1987), Saturday Morning Season (about animated television shows ), and How to Write Comics , a column by Stan Lee that ran in 1985–1986. There were also regular stories on the animation business, role-playing games , and comics collecting/investing (written by Mike Benton). Ron Goulart wrote about science fiction comic strips. Comics Feature primarily focused on

855-565: The Hal Schuster and his various publications. Branching into book publishing in 1985, the brothers established New Media Books (NMB), which published a few softcover books in the same vein as the company's periodicals. With the demise of New Media Publications in 1987, things became much more complicated. By then, the brothers were running four publishing corporations — New Media Books , Movie Publisher Services / Movieland Publishing , Psi Fi Movie Press , and Heroes Publishing — all sharing

900-413: The Schuster brothers for copyright and trademark infringement, claiming they had improperly used Marvel artwork in various issues of another NMP magazine. The Marvel lawsuit appears to have put the various Schuster Brother operations out of business, as they stopped publishing after that point; Comics Feature was one of the casualties. Comics Feature started out as a monthly, with some exceptions where

945-637: The Schuster-owned Boston-area distributor Solar Spice and Liquors (named after a fictional corporation created by science fiction writer Poul Anderson ). In 1982, she began working at Marvel, having been hired by Ed Shukin, Marvel's Vice President in charge of sales. She was known as Marvel's "Mistress of Propaganda," and "discovered" Alex Ross and Peter David , who worked with Kalish as Assistant Sale Manager in Marvel Comics ' Sales Department, along with Sandy Schechter. Beginning in

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990-405: The absence of cash registers on the part of retailers, and was inspired to originate Marvel's cash register program, with which the company would subsidize, at bulk cost, registers for retailers, which is credited with positively affecting the level of professionalism of the direct market. According to a March 2010 piece by retailer and Comic Book Resources columnist Brian Hibbs: Once upon

1035-500: The book off the stands. Though none of the three people in the Sales Department were fired over the incident, it resulted in premature revelation of the secrets of the film's plot. During the last year or so of her life, Kalish developed a line of religious books, Civil War comics, and "greeting card" comics to expand Marvel's market. She was also preparing to leave Marvel to start her own publishing firm. Kalish's life partner

1080-471: The character Wonder Woman when they were children. Kalish worked as a comic book retailer and wholesaler. Kalish's first work in circulation was two years as circulation manager on the science fiction publication Galileo , which folded in early 1980. This led her (and her partner Richard Howell ) to dual positions with Hal Schuster's New Media/Irjax : co-editors of New Media Publishing 's brand-new hobbyist publication, Comics Feature , and running

1125-464: The comic book publishers DC , Marvel , Archie , and Warren for their anti-competitive arrangement with Seagate. As a result of the lawsuit Irjax gained "a sizeable chunk of the direct-distribution market," with distribution centers in Boston and Tampa. The Boston-area division was known as Solar Spice and Liquors (named after a fictional corporation created by science fiction writer Poul Anderson ); and

1170-515: The comics superstar Frank Miller — unauthorized by Miller, who threatened legal action. Ultimately the book was released by Heroes Publishing as Frank Miller, A Work In Progress: Great Comic Artist File (part of the Files Magazine series). In 1987 Marvel Comics sued the Schuster brothers for copyright and trademark infringement, claiming they had improperly used Marvel artwork in various issues of Files . The Marvel lawsuit appears to have put

1215-545: The company. Issue #44 (May 1986) was devoted to Marvel Comics ' 25th anniversary. The magazine's 50th issue featured interviews with Jack Kirby , Stan Lee , Jim Steranko , Michael Kaluta , Chris Claremont , Brent Anderson , Charles Vess , and Jim Shooter . Carol Kalish Carol Kalish (February 14, 1955 – September 5, 1991) was an American writer, editor, comic book retailer, and sales manager. She worked as Direct Sales Manager and Vice President of New Product Development at Marvel Comics from 1981 to 1991. She

1260-540: The distribution company Irjax Enterprises (a play on the names " Ir win" and " Jack "), based in Rockville, Maryland , in 1973. By 1978, in addition to Irjax Enterprises, Hal Schuster had a comic book store in Rockville. After Phil Seuling established the direct market in 1972, his company Sea Gate Distributors maintained a virtual monopoly on comic book distribution, until a lawsuit brought by Irjax in 1978. Irjax sued

1305-466: The distribution end of the business. Geppi took over New Media/Irjax's office and warehouse space and had to "sort out the good customers from the bad overnight," negotiating with creditors to continue Schuster's distribution business as Diamond Comic Distributors . In addition to their comics distribution business, in 1975 Hal and Jack Schuster set up a publishing operation, originally producing periodicals for comics/fantasy/science fiction enthusiasts. In

1350-452: The editor job to focus full-time on his publishing house, Eclipse Enterprises . Peter B. Gillis left NMP in June 1981, with Richard Howell replacing him as editorial director. Howell joined his partner Carol Kalish as co-editor of Comics Feature in late 1981. Howell and Kalish didn't last long, however, as they both left for positions at Marvel Comics by the conclusion of 1982. Despite

1395-503: The hegemonic power of a corporation that already owns all the distributors and most of the retailers...." Groth's piece led to outrage on the part of Kalish's friend and former co-worker, writer Peter David, who named his youngest daughter after Kalish, and found Groth's piece to be "vicious." He retaliated by parodying Groth as Louis Lance, a snobbish publisher of the only comics he considers to be "true art", who looks down on superhero comics published by large, work-for-hire companies, in

New Media/Irjax - Misplaced Pages Continue

1440-467: The letters pages of CBG was theretofore unprecedented and came from fans and her professional colleagues alike. Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth , however, was less effusive. Although respectful of Kalish's personal qualities, Groth considered that these were not always used for the best of purposes: "Kalish, who I have no reason to believe was anything other than decent and personable in her personal relations, devoted her professional life to expanding

1485-715: The magazine skipped a month. In 1981 and 1982 it was published roughly on a bimonthly basis. 1983 only saw three issues of Comics Feature published, but the magazine returned to a bimonthly schedule in 1984 and 1985. Comics Feature returned to a monthly schedule in 1986 and 1987. In total, Comics Feature published 57 issues from March 1980 to July 1987. In addition, NMP published the following Comics Feature specials: The magazine's regular content included industry news, comics creator interviews, histories of Silver Age characters and comic book companies, and reviews of current titles. Regular columns included Don & Maggie Thompson 's The Fandom Zone (1980–1982), Looking Back at

1530-434: The mid-1980s, Kalish spearheaded the expansion of the Marvel's distribution into theretofore unexplored retail outlets, including major bookstores such as B. Daltons and Waldenbooks . Kalish also conducted numerous trips to comic book shops during the course of her work and on her vacation time, during which she would offer advice to retailers on how to improve their stores. During these visits, Kalish consistently observed

1575-404: The people who sell their comics for them, and represent them to the buying public. Kalish also set the official Marvel direct sales policy regarding retailer orders of back issue stock, emphasizing to retailers that they should order only what they could sell within a month's time, and not order additional copies intended solely for back stock, as this would merely tie up their money. Although this

1620-636: The same office space in Topanga, California . Jack was the president of New Media Books, Movie Publisher Services, and Heroes Publishing; while Hal was president of Psi Fi Movie Press. Psi Fi published Files magazine, as described in The Comics Journal : The File[s] Magazine series consists of magazine-sized, perfect-bound books, containing 60 pages retailing from $ 4.95 to $ 7.95. The series focuses on comic characters, TV shows, rock groups, or movies, mixing text pieces with photos or drawings. Other titles in

1665-507: The site's visitors to link heavily to the post in order to displace Groth's 1991 piece as the top search result on Google , Comics Journal online editor Dirk Deppey defended Groth's 1991 piece, saying that it had not been directed at Kalish personally, but at her work for a corporation and at the deep sorrow expressed by David and the CBG letter writers, which Groth and Deppey characterized as trite and inarticulate "beatification." In 2010, Kalish

1710-416: The turmoil, Comics Feature was nominated for Favourite Fan Publication in the 1981 Eagle Awards , losing to The Comics Journal in a close vote. After Kalish and Howell's departure, the editorial reins of Comics Feature passed to Robert Lewis. NMP Published Hal Schuster became editor in 1986, staying in that position through the magazine's final issue. In the summer of 1987, Marvel Comics sued

1755-492: The two major mainstream publishing companies of the time, Marvel Comics and DC Comics , with more covers devoted to Marvel properties. (The magazine was also not above reporting on other NMP publications.) Each issue featured at least one major interview, often with some of the industry's most popular creators. Noteworthy interviews included Julius Schwartz in issue #30; Stan Lee in issues #33, #44, and #50; Jack Kirby in issues #34, #44, and #50; Jim Steranko in issue #50;

1800-485: The various Schuster Brother operations out of business, as they stopped publishing after that point. In 1989 Hal Schuster got back into book publishing by starting a new company, Pioneer Books . Pioneer published softcover books in a pop culture vein similar to New Media; many volumes were written by James Van Hise. Schuster designed and edited most of the books. Based in Las Vegas , Pioneer operated from 1989 to 1995. This

1845-433: Was awarded the first ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award in the posthumous category, a "Hall of Fame"-type award that was created to honor behind-the-scenes publishing personnel for helping to promote the comics market, beating fellow nominees Will Eisner , Phil Seuling and Julius Schwartz . The award was accepted by Richard Howell on her behalf. Though Howell was not present at the ceremony, writer/editor Paul Levitz read

New Media/Irjax - Misplaced Pages Continue

1890-613: Was born to Michael and Molly Kalish on February 14, 1955, when her parents were overseas in Thailand. She had one elder sister named Candace. She graduated from Radcliffe College with Honors in Geology and a specialty in History. From the age of three, she was fascinated by dinosaurs, which may explain her devotion to Jack Kirby 's creation Devil Dinosaur . Kalish was a childhood friend of writer Paul Dini , who credits her with introducing him to

1935-506: Was comics writer/artist Richard Howell . They lived in Leonia, New Jersey . Kalish died on September 5, 1991, from a pulmonary embolism , at the age 36. Tributes to Kalish included a memorial service arranged by Marvel Comics president Terry Stewart and a lengthy eulogy by Peter David in the Comics Buyer's Guide , in which David credited Kalish with making him a comics industry professional. The outpouring of grief over her death seen in

1980-552: Was considered "heresy" at the time, Kalish advised retailers that was far wiser to keep capital available for the flow of new comics coming into stores. It was during Kalish's tenure in Marvel Sales that copies of the company's adaptation of the 1983 film Return of the Jedi was discovered by actor Mark Hamill on sale a month prior to the release of the film. After Hamill alerted Lucasfilm , Marvel, according to Kalish, swiftly recalled

2025-420: Was staffed by Carol Kalish and her partner Richard Howell . Meanwhile, Baltimore retailer Steve Geppi had four comic book stores and was acting as a sub-distributor, "doing a little informal distributing . . . for smaller retailers." By 1981, Geppi was one of New Media/Irjax's biggest accounts. In late 1981, the company, now known as New Media Distribution , or New Media/Irjax , filed for Chapter 11. One of

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