Newsarama is an American
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the
American comic book industry. It is owned by
Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website
GamesRadar+
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
, also owned by FutureUS.
History
Newsarama began in mid-1995 as a series of
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
postings on the
Prodigy
Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to:
* Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer
** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess
Arts, entertainment, and ...
comic book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In the forum postings, Doran shared comic book-related news items he had found across the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
and, as these postings became more regular and read widely, he gave them the title "Prodigy Comic Book Newswire."
In January 1997, Doran began to post a version of the column titled ''The Comics Newswire'' on
Usenet
Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...
's various rec.arts.comics communities. The name of the column evolved to ''The Newswire'', and then to ''CBI Newsarama'', before finally becoming ''Newsarama'' in 1998.
The posts quickly became popular due to the speed of reporting via the Internet. This meant Doran could break stories faster than other comic book news sources that appeared in printed publications, as the printed stories had to be fully edited weeks before they were released. By the time other online comic journalists arrived on the scene, Newsarama already had become an established brand. Although the column in its earliest forms reported both news and rumors, it later adopted a standard journalistic news approach.
Doran's postings left Usenet in 1998, becoming a Newsarama column on such websites as Mania.com, AnotherUniverse.com, Fandom.com and
Comicon.com
Richard Veitch (born May 7, 1951) is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.
Early life
Rick Veitch is a native of the small town of Bellows Falls, Vermont. One of six children, he ...
. The Newsarama column became a semi-autonomous site, hosted by
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...
's ViewAskew.com network of sites, in August 2002.
Three months later, Doran left Newsarama, which was by now its own website, to take a staff position at
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. Matt Brady, a writer who had written extensively for the site, took over. Doran later returned to work at Newsarama, while Brady continued working as primary writer for the site. The site left the ViewAskew.com network and became independent in early April 2006. Newsarama was acquired by the
Imaginova Imaginova Corporation is a U.S. digital commerce company based in Watsonville, California. The company, which was started in 1999 as "Space.com" by CNN business anchor Lou Dobbs, later became known as Space Holdings Corp. Dan Stone became President ...
corporation in October 2007. When Brady left the site in July 2009, Doran and Lucas Siegel stepped up to run it, with Siegel taking the position of Site Editor. The site was acquired by TopTenREVIEWS in October 2009. After the acquisition, TopTenREVIEWS was rebranded TechMedia Network before eventually becoming
Purch Group
Purch Group, Inc. was a New York City-based digital media company. Originally established in 2003 as TechMedia Network, Inc., it was positioned as a "portfolio of brands and products focused on purchasing decisions"—consisting primarily of we ...
.
Newsarama has been quoted as a source of comic news by the mainstream media, including ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. In 2006, ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' listed Newsarama as one of its "25 favorite online entertainment sites" in 2006 and as one of its "100 Greatest Websites" in 2007.
Newsarama originally maintained a registered member forum known as ''talk@Newsarama''. In 2010, Newsarama closed down the forum and redirected readers to comment on the site's Facebook page.
Purch's consumer brands, including Newsarama, were acquired by
Future US in July 2018.
In June 2020, the Newsarama website lost its
domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...
and became part of
GamesRadar+
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
, another website owned by Future US.
Columnists
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
Joe Quesada
Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...
's column "Joe Fridays" (renamed "New Joe Fridays" in 2006 as a joke regarding Marvel's penchant for relaunching titles with the prefix "new") appeared weekly until 2008, when the column moved to MySpace. Quesada then began writing the column "Cup of Joe" on
Comic Book Resources
''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion.
History
Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
. Former
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
editor Michael Siglain contributed the weekly "5.2 About
52", and in 2007, DC Executive Editor
Dan DiDio
Dan DiDio (; born October 13, 1959) is an American writer, editor, and publisher who has worked in the television and comic book industries. From February 2010 until February 2020, he was the co-publisher of DC Comics, along with Jim Lee. '' Wizar ...
announced he would write a column similar to "New Joe Fridays", focusing on the series ''Countdown''. Didio has participated in the weekly "10 Answers and 1 Question" column for the site.
Regular columns have included "Animated Shorts" by Steve Fritz, "Write or Wrong" by Dirk Manning, "Best Shots" by reviewers from ShotgunReviews.com, "10 Answers and 1 Question with Dan DiDio", "Weekly Webbing", "Right to Assemble", covering Marvel's
Avengers
Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to:
Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe
* Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes
**Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
titles by Troy Brownfield, "Column . . . for JUSTICE" by Brownfield, covering
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
titles, "Getting Animated" and "Friday Flashback" by Brownfield and "Agent of S.T.Y.L.E." by Alan Kistler, covering the evolution of costumes and designs for different comic book characters. Newsarama has also run a series of "Post Game" columns offering coverage and commentary of popular genre-related television programs on a regular basis. Covered shows include ''Lost'', ''Smallville'', ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', ''Fringe'', ''Flash Forward'', and others.
Criticism
In November 2005, Michael Dean, writing in ''
The Comics Journal
''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...
'', studied Internet comic book industry news sources and evaluated Newsarama's journalistic performance. The study praised the site for the depth of coverage provided in some articles, but criticized its reliance on press releases and the "softness" of the questions asked in its interviews.
Dean focused on one story in particular, "
Diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
Changes Thresholds" by Matt Brady. Though he found the piece qualified as "journalism", Dean also found it: "contained factual inaccuracies, failed to get multiple points of view and sucked up to its corporate subject."
[
]
Awards
The site has been the recipient of a number of awards and award nominations, including:
* 1999 Eagle Award nomination for Favorite Comics-Related Website (professional).
* 2000 Eagle Award nomination for Favourite Comics-Related Website (professional).
* 2004 Eagle Award for Favorite Comics E-Zine.
* 2005 Eagle Award nomination for Favourite Comics-Related Website.
* 2006 Eagle Award for Favorite Comics-Related Website.
* 2007 Eagle Award nomination for Favorite Comics Related Website.
* 2008 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism.
References
External links
Newsarama
Alexa site statistics for Newsarama.com
{{Comics information sources
American entertainment news websites
Eisner Award winners for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Publications established in 1995
Publications established in 2002
Websites about comics