The Magazine of Comics News and Criticism.

In this issue:

What do Charles Burns, Kim Deitch, Bill Griffith, Joe Sacco and Seth all have in common -- aside from the fact that they're all among the elite alternative cartoonists working today? Well, yes, this month's jam cover -- but also to the group interview featured in this issue, conducted by TCJ founder and editor Gary Groth behind the scenes at SPX 2000! Also in this issue: If you draw breath, you've wondered what it's like to be married to Acme Novelty Library's Chris Ware, or Love & Rockets' Gilbert Hernandez, or Eightball's Dan Clowes. Find out in this issue's feature-length interview with cartoonists' wives as Carol Kovinick-Hernandez, Marnie Ware, Erika Clowes and Wendy Jung kiss and tell. Add in all the reviews, news and criticism you've come to expect, and TCJ #234 is a no-lose proposition in April!

Letters
Blood & Thunder (p. 3)
News
Newswatch (p. 5)
Reviews
Christopher Brayshaw, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth (p. 24)
Sarah Kavage, The Soap Lady (p. 26)
Kent Worcester, Speechless (p. 27)
Dylan Horrocks, Understanding Comics (p. 29)
Ng Suat Tong, The House on the Borderland (p. 40)
Gregory Cwiklik, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (p. 43)
Ng Suat Tong, "Marcel Guldemond, Underrated Gem" (p. 47)
Anne Elizabeth Moore, Kent Worcester, Ng Suat Tong, Eric Reynolds, Nancy J. Arms, Matt Silvie, Hitlist (p. 118)
Essays
Gary Groth, McCloud "Cuckoo-Land Un-Reinventing Comics, Part 2" (p. 49)
Mike Barrier, "Thoughts on Carl Barks's 100th Birthday" (p. 53)
Interviews
Kim Deitch, Bill Griffith, Seth, Joe Sacco and Charles Burns "Six Guys in a Hotel Room" (p. 66)
Marnie Ware, Erika Clowes, Wendy Jung and Carol Kovinick-Hernandez "Kiss and Tell" (p. 78)
Columns
Scattershots: Robert Edison Sandiford on Bob Fingerman (p. 57)
Viva la Comix! (p. 20)
Comicopia: "The Graphic Novel, Will Eisner, and Other Pioneer Part 2" (p. 92)
Meet The Comics Press: "The Charlton Phenomenon" (p. 98)
Minimalism (p. 100)
Eurocomics for Beginners: "El Diablo's Danijel Zezelj, important cartoonist" (p. 105)
History of Comics Fandom (p. 107)
End Times "Slavish New World" (p. 112)
Illustrations
Kim Deitch, Charles Burns, Joe Sacco, Seth and Bill Griffith, colored by Carrie Whitney (Front Cover)