Tom Heintjes is the editor of the absolutely wonderful comics magazine, Hogan’s Alley. HA covers both old skool and contemporary cartooning and always does so with an terrific entertaining and lively flair. Both the writing and design in Hogan’s is top notch. I always wanted to find out a little more about the talent behind HA so I talked the usually shy and modest Heintjes into a little self-revelation via an Arf Lover’s Blog Gimme Five!

Above: Tom isn’t so shy when he has a
few drinks under his belt. Here Tom drunkenly hits on
cartoonist Greg Evans’ wife.

1. Tell us about you first vivid comics reading experience, Tom.

I remember my grandmother bringing me and my brother Walt Disney comics books, and they just wrapped themselves around my brain immediately and never let go. There was one story where Uncle Scrooge had polluted a river so badly that the water became thick and sludgy, and one of the nephews described as being like “meringue.” I had no idea was meringue was, but at least I was reading and trying to figure it all out. I just fell in love with comics…nothing else compared. I started getting Peanuts paperback collections, comics adapted to View Masters, anything I could get my hands on. In that way, I haven’t really changed much, I guess!

2. How did Hogan’s Alley get started, Tom?

Rick Marschall and I conceived the idea of Hogan’s Alley in early 1994. We often talked about the type of comics magazine we would like to see on the stands, just blue-skying about our ideal comics magazine. Of course, Rick was the mastermind behind the legendary NEMO magazine, so he is a great partner to have. Anyway, the magazine we ended up describing sounded so good that-like a couple of idiots-we decided to put it out ourselves, figuring no one in their right minds would put such a magazine out. In the course of that first issue, published in the fall of 1994, we brought David Folkman on board as art director, and he’s been an indispensable part of things from the first issue.

One thing we felt was important was to connect cartooning’s present to its earliest days, so we came up with the title Hogan’s Alley, which is of course connected to the Yellow Kid. In hindsight, from a marketing point of view, it probably isn’t a good title. Most comics fans have no idea what the title represents-the Yellow Kid’s neighborhood-so they don’t know that they might be interested in the magazine. But we try to show both the interconnectedness of cartooning’s various disciplines as well as the role of cartooning in the larger realm of popular culture.

I think it’s important to note, also, that although we treat cartooning seriously, we also try to make it fun and accessible. I quite dislike turgid, overly scholarly writing about comics because it doesn’t further the understanding of the medium; in fact, often it detracts from it. In some ways, this dual-track editorial approach probably works against us, as some readers don’t know if we’re a serious comics magazine or a quirky gadfly. The truth is, we’re both. I try not to lose that sense of fun and excitement that got us all interested in comics in the first place!

3. The fun and excitement is def something I deeply appreciate about Hogan’s Alley-those qualiies come through strong. You have such a wonderful smorgasboard of contents -how do you choose what’s going to go in a new issue?

I wish I could say with a straight face that I approach each issue with a road map, but the truth is that it’s a much more organic process than that. And by “organic,” I mean chaotic! I’m lucky to have writers bring me great ideas that we shape into features, and I also seek out writers who I think would be good for a particular idea. A perfect example of the latter process is the article we published on martial arts ads in the comics. I became acquainted online with a writer named Dan Kelly who had deep interests in both martial arts and comics, so I approached him about writing an article tying the areas together. And I have to say that his article is one of my favorite pieces we’ve published!

4. The design is as terrific as the editorial content in HA, who does that and what’s the designer’s philosophical approach?

I mentioned David Folkman earlier, and he’s completely responsible for the look of the magazine. I give him articles and have no idea how he’s going to make them work, but he works miracles every time. I never fail to be amazed at what he puts together each issue. David is also a lifelong comics fan and has both amazing archives, full of obscurities, and know tons of people who help us out in countless ways.

5. What kind of treats are in the brand new Hogan’s Alley #15?

Well, it’s our usual smorgasbord…some in-depth looks at animation, comic strips, comic books and more. We really cast a wide net this issue and hopefully have something for everyone. I’m not trying to be vague or coy, but the articles range from Underdog to Brenda Starr to Henry to the amazing career of Hy Eisman, plus a lot more. If anyone reading this interview has never read Hogan’s Alley, this is a good issue to start with as we offer a great breadth of material in issue #15. Craig, thanks so much for the opportunity to talk about Hogan’s Alley as well as my love of comics. It’s a real treat to be on Arf Lovers, one of my favorite blogs!

“One of”, Tom? Anyway, the pleasure’s all yours!