Welcome back to Indy Magazine, relaunching at last with a spotlight on the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême, France.

Indy founder and Alternative Comics publisher Jeff Mason asked me (many, many months ago) to edit an online re-launch of Indy magazine, based upon the relative success of Egon, a comics news and information website I've maintained for over a year and a half.

The differences between Egon and Indy are obvious. What I hope will be equally obvious are the differences between Indy and other online comics magazines, past and present. Rather than try to compete with more up-to-the-minute websites, with Indy I would like to take the word "magazine" seriously and focus on what print magazines offer best: long, articulate features, copiously illustrated. I find it odd that the majority of online comics magazines feature few, if any, graphic elements. To speak analytically about a specific comic's graphic qualities requires a certain amount of illustration. Certainly the web is designed to facilitate text/image combination; it ought to be fully utilized to discuss this complex graphic medium. As for length, there are no page limits on the internet (nor in Indy Magazine), and I believe comics can support the kinds of ideas that need room to develop. Certainly, the many excellent in-depth pieces run by the Comics Journal over the years have been an inspiration.

The main "carry-over" from Egon to Indy is a focus on the comics medium itself. I don't exclude anything as a possible subject for Indy Magazine, but I must admit that I'm quite bored of speculative opinions about the future of the direct market, the bookstore trade, manga sales, etc., ad nauseum. Crushed myself beneath the boot-heel of capitalism, I recognize as well as any observer the potent issues at stake, but the industry must not be confused with the medium. To the degree that I am interested in the industry, I'd prefer to hear from individuals with well-informed (and well-formed) opinions. Perhaps we'll hear from some of them in future issues of Indy Magazine. Or we may never.

As I mentioned at the top of this piece, this issue's special emphasis is on the annual FIBD in Angoulême, France, which will begin just as this issue launches and runs through January 25, 2004. Jason Little's excellent photo essay, developed in 2003 for Indy Magazine, paints a fine picture of this annual event. My own Angoulême feature talks specifically about this year's festival program, but explores pivotal issues that should remain relevant for the forseeable future. Also apposite is my own review of A. B. Frost's "Stuff & Nonsense," nominated in it's French edition for a Festival prize, and happily available on both sides of the Atlantic. Through print and online coverage, comics readers outside of France have become increasingly aware of the Festival in recent years. These pieces taken together should contribute to a better understanding of this important annual event.

I should also mention Mike Wenthe's excellent piece on Ben Katchor's "The Jew of New York," which I'm pleased to make available to a wider audience. Mike gave a version of this essay as a presentation at the University of Florida a couple of years ago, fully illustrated with slides, and the web is well-equipped to simulate his informative lecture. I'm also glad to promote the genius of my friend Adam White, who turned in an evocative review of Alan Moore's long-unavailable (but coming soon) psychogeographical novel, "Voice of the Fire."

An online magazine seemed like an ideal venue to preview upcoming works. For this issue, Souther Salazar is sharing some pages from "Dragonfly," his upcoming art book. Special thanks to Souther for coming through at the last minute. I am also grateful to the Charles M. Schulz Museum for making pages from the upcoming "Li'l Folks" collection available for online preview.

The best magazines are those that I've spent serious time with, and I hope Indy will offer a similarly robust reading experience. Indy is currently planned as a quarterly web magazine. I hope you'll look forward to a new issue in the spring, and I thank you for reading today. Thanks as well to Jeff Mason for his patience and for his confidence in me (or, alternatively, for being too busy to second-guess me). I welcome feedback via e-mail.

Bill Kartalopoulos
January 21, 2004