Maggie Thompson (born Margaret Curtis; November 29, 1942)[ Comics Buyer's Guide #1636 (December 2007); Page 135] is an American longtime editor of the now-defunct comic book industry news magazine Comics Buyer's Guide, science fiction fan, and collector of comics.
Early life
Margaret (
nickname, "Maggie") Curtis was born November 29, 1942. Her mother, science fiction writer
Betsy Curtis, would be nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1969 for her story "The Steiger Effect"; she carried on a long correspondence with colleagues such as
Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard. According to family tradition, Betsy claimed descent from
Anne Bradstreet and at least two presidents of
Yale University.
Thompson and her late husband and fellow science fiction fan Don Thompson (October 30, 1935 – May 23, 1994) were among the instigators of what developed in the 1960s into comic book fandom.
Their Harbinger (a mimeographed one-sheet published in the autumn of 1960) announced the upcoming publication of Comic Art, one of the early amateur magazines devoted to all aspects of sequential art (a term not then in use). The initial issue of Comic Art was released the following spring.[ Biographical information at CBGXtra.com] Seven issues were published at irregular intervals between 1961 and 1968. As publication of Comic Art wound down, they shifted their attention to a new venture as the Thompsons started a fanzine titled Newfangles in March 1967. Unlike other comics news fanzines of the time it was devoted to the doings of comics fandom instead of news about comic books and comic book professionals.
Career
Thompson began working for Krause Publications as the editor of
Movie Collector's World and
Comics Buyer's Guide in 1983. With her husband Don, she wrote a miscellany of articles and comic-book stories;
The Official Price Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy (1989, House of Collectibles); five years of
Comics Buyer's Guide Annual (1992–1996, Krause Publications);
Marvel Comics Checklist & Price Guide 1961-Present (1993, Krause Publications); and
Comic-Book Superstars (1993, Krause Publications). With others, she produced the
Comics Buyer's Guide Checklist & Price Guide (now in its 15th edition, Krause Publications); and the
Standard Catalog of Comic Books (now in its 5th edition, Krause Publications). Working solo, Thompson created and edited
Fantasy Empire magazine for New Media in 1981 and wrote
Dark Shadows: Book Two - Lost in Thought #1-4 in 1993 for Innovation Comics.
Krause later sold the movie newspaper, but Thompson continued to edit Comics Buyer's Guide, long after her husband's death in 1994
Her son Stephen Thompson would go on to become an editor for The Onion and creator of The A.V. Club before moving on to NPR. Stephen co-hosts "Pop Culture Happy Hour", a pop culture-themed podcast on which Maggie has made multiple appearances.
Accolades
Under Maggie's editorial direction,
Comics Buyer's Guide twice won the comics industry's
Eisner Award for periodicals, among other awards.
She was a recipient of the
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award and was also the first recipient of the Friends of Lulu's Women of Distinction Award.
[ ]
Maggie and Don Thompson received many joint awards,[ Thompson entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.] including:
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Comic Fan Art Award Favorite Fan Writer, 1973 & 1974
[ Don Thompson entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Accessed Feb. 4, 2016.]
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Inkpot Award, 1976
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Jack Kirby Award, Best Comics Publication, 1985
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Diamond Lifetime Fandom Award, 1991
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Eisner Award, Best Comics-Related Periodical, 1992
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Harvey Award, Comics Industry Pioneer Award, 2019
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Eisner Award, Hall of Fame, 2020
Thompson Award
The Motor City Comic Con awarded the Don Thompson Award from 1992 to 1998. Originally known as the "Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum Award", the name was changed to the "Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum's Don Thompson Award" (or, simply, the "Thompson") after Don Thompson's death in 1994.
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