Yesterday, November 29th, Maggie Thompson celebrated her 71st birthday.

Happy Belated Birthday Maggie! Sorry I'm late wishing you birthday wishes.Who? Well, many of you know her as one-half of the husband and wife dynamic duo: Don and Maggie Thompson. And for those of you who don't... Maggie Thompson is a legend in the industry and hobby for many reasons.I came to know of Maggie Thompson back in 1983, when Krause Publications published a now defunct magazine called Comics Collector (1983 - 1986). Before Wizard came along, Comics Collector was my absolute favorite magazine devoted to the art, storytelling, news, history, education and hobby of all things comic books. The first issue of Comics Collector celebrated 45 years of Superman with cover art by Curt Swan. The following issue was dedicated to the X-Men craze of the 80's. I missed issue three, but picked it up again with issue four that journaled Walter Simonson's popular Thor. Issue seven included a comprehensive look at the history and popularity of Batman. Sadly, issue ten was to be Comics Collector's last.Other highlights from Comics Collector's ten issue run include fascinating articles on the history and legacy of Max and William Gaines' EC Comics, DC's The Shadow, Walt Kelly's Pogo Possum, Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland, Al Capp's Li'l Abner, E.C. Segar's Popeye and Thimble Theatre, Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon, Will Eisner's the Spirit, the life and times of Wally Wood, and Marvel Comics 70's line of horror magazines and comics.Don and Maggie were also behind Krause Publication's other long running magazine: the Comics Buyer's Guide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_Buyer%27s_Guide). Although I knew of CBG, I never picked it up. In hindsight, I really regret that. Today, although there are a legion of devoted female fans to our beloved medium, back in the early 80's, Maggie Thompson was probably the first woman I knew of that loved and cared about comic books. I thought that was pretty cool and exceptional... still do!As fans and collectors of comic books, we owe much to Maggie Thompson and her late husband Don. They championed and brought comic collecting to the forefront before many of us were even alive... legitamizing it as a true hobby beyond the scope of what many would consider an immature and puerile form of entertainment and subversive literature targeted for the underclass and less educated. If you think we are passionate and devoted to this hobby... well, I'm just going to say this... and don't take this as an insult... but we can't hold a collective candle to their wind. I learned a lot from the pages of Comics Collector. I learned that comic books, comic strips, sequential art and sequential storytelling is a very special conduit for storytellers, artists, fantasists, escapists, and dreamers who not only love graphical storytelling, but are intelligent and sophisticated souls not given enough credit by societal snobs. Read more about Maggie Thompson via the following wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Thompson Happy Belated Birthday Maggie! SW3DTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.