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.

CBR

Screenshot of CBR main page from August 26, 2023
Type of site	Comic book
Available in	English
Headquarters	Saint-Laurent, Quebec
Owner	Valnet Inc.
Created by	Jonah Weiland
URL	www.cbr.com
Launched	1995 (1995)
Current status	Online

History

Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland created to discuss DC Comics' then-new mini-series of the same name.^[1][2]

Comic Book Resources features columns written by industry professionals that have included Robert Kirkman, Gail Simone, and Mark Millar.^[1] Other columns are published by comic book historians and critics such as George Khoury and Timothy Callahan.^[3][4]

Acquisition by Valnet

In April 2016, Comic Book Resources was sold to Valnet Inc., a Montreal-based company based known for its acquisition and ownership of media properties including Screen Rant.^[5][6] The site was relaunched as CBR.com on August 23, 2016, with the blogs integrated into the site.^[7][8] Popverse reported that following the acquisition by Valnet "comics were increasingly sidelined for coverage [...], as were both reviews and columns as focuses for publishing; instead, the site refocused on shorter news pieces and reactions to news stories".^[8]

Adam Swiderski, CBR's editor-in-chief since July 2022,^[9] along with "senior news editor Stephen Gerding after 18 years with CBR and senior features editor Christopher Baggett after eight years" were laid off by Valnet in May 2023.^[10] Heidi MacDonald, for The Beat, reported that Swiderski, Gerding and Baggett were removed for "standing up for writers" and "pushing back against" changes Valnet instituted.^[11] MacDonald wrote that "writers were being asked to do more work while shrinking the Pay Per View rates. The situation was described to me by one person as 'working writers to the bone'. The situation is so dire that in addition to the three editors, I'm told two HR people were laid off, who also objected to the demands that management was making on writers, who, as a reminder, are contractors, not employees".^[11] Graeme McMillan, for Popverse, commented that Valnet's culture does not permit "its contributors and employees to question corporate decree" which has led to layoffs of people who have spoken out "about potential issues over Valnet's management and business practices" at CBR and other Valnet-owned sites.^[8]

In June 2023, McMillan of Popverse reported that there was a continuing "editorial exodus" at CBR.^[12] In August 2023, Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool commented that there appears to be "serious internal tensions" at CBR and highlighted that former CBR Comics News Editor Sean Gribbin stated between May and August ten News Editors have either left CBR or been laid off.^[13] Johnston reported that CBR Managing Editor Jon Arvden pushed back on speculation that CBR was eliminating its news section.^[13]

Comic Book Idol

Comic Book Idol, also known as CBI, is an amateur comic-book art competition created and hosted by comics writer J. Torres, and sponsored by Comic Book Resources and its participating advertisers.^[14] Inspired by the singing contest American Idol, CBI is a five-week and five-round competition in which each contestant is given one week to draw a script provided by guest judges. These invited comic-book professionals comment on the artists' work in each round. The contestants to move on to subsequent rounds are selected by fans who vote in a weekly poll.^[14]

• Patrick Scherberger won CBI1 and has since worked on a number of Marvel Comics titles like Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures: Hulk and GeNext.^[15][16]
• Jonathan Hickman was the runner-up in CBI1 and went on to work for Virgin Comics (Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper and Seven Brothers), Image Comics (Pax Romana, A Red Mass for Mars and Transhuman) and Marvel Comics (Fantastic Four, Astonishing Tales).^[17][18]
• Carlos Rodríguez won CBI2 and went on to work on Shadowhawk for Image and Batman and the Outsiders for DC Comics.^[19][20]
• Billy Penn also competed in CBI2 and went on to work on Savage Dragon.^[20][21]
• Joe Infurnari, another CBI2 contestant, went on a couple of titles from Oni Press, including Wasteland and Borrowed Time, as well as on the back-up feature of Jersey Gods with Mark Waid.^[20][22]
• Dan McDaid, writer and artist on various Doctor Who comics for Panini and IDW and Jersey Gods for Image Comics, as well as strips for DC Comics, competed in CBI3.^[23]
• Nick Pitarra competed in CBI3 and went on to do work for Marvel Comics on books such as Astonishing Tales.^[24]
• Charles Paul Wilson III, artist on The Stuff of Legend, competed in CBI3.^[25]

Reception

In 2008, the University at Buffalo's research library described Comic Book Resources as "the premiere comics-related site on the Web."^[26]

In April 2013, comics writer Mark Millar said he read the site every morning after reading the Financial Times.^[27]

In 2014, an article by guest author Janelle Asselin criticized the cover of DC Comics's Teen Titans,^[28] leading to harassment of and personal threats against Asselin in the website's community forums. Weiland issued a statement apologizing for the incident, condemning the way some community members had reacted, and rebooted the forums in order to establish new ground rules.^[29][30]

Heidi MacDonald, for The Beat in June 2023, commented that after CBR was purchased by Valnet in 2016 it "gradually became a more generic 'content farm' turning out less and less comics content and more and more listicles and inane click-baity articles".^[11]

Awards

• 1999: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website (professional)" Eagle Award.^[1]
• 2000: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website (professional)" Eagle Award.^[1]
• 2001: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website (professional)" Eagle Award.^[31]
• 2004: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award.^[1]
• 2005: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award.^[1]
• 2006: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award.^[1]
• 2007: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics Related Website" Eagle Award.^[1]
• 2008: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award.^[32]
• 2009: Won the "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" Eisner Award.^[33]
• 2010: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award.^[34]
• 2011: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award.^[35]
• 2011: Won the "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" Eisner Award.^[36]
• 2013: Won the "Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation" Harvey Award for its Robot 6 blog.^[37]
• 2014: Won the "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" Eisner Award.^[38]

References

1. "Press Kit". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
2. Arrant, Chris (August 6, 2019). "DC Hires Jonah Wiland as VP of Marketing & Creative Services". Newsarama. Wayback Machine. from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
3. "Jorge Khoury". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. 9 December 2011. from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
4. "Timothy Callahan". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. 21 November 2014. from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
5. Rich Johnston (2016-04-04). "How Comic Book Resources Employees Learned Their Site Had Been Sold To Valnet". Bleeding Cool. Wayback Machine. from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
6. "Comic Book Resources Acquired". ICv2. April 4, 2016. from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
7. Heidi MacDonald (2016-08-25). "CBR.com has new design, rebrand, no blogs". The Beat. Wayback Machine. from the original on 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
8. McMillan, Graeme (June 12, 2023). "CBR layoffs: What led to the firing of three-quarters of their editors (and what happens next)". Popverse. from the original on June 18, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
9. McMillan, Graeme (May 30, 2023). "The comic & pop culture journalism website CBR just laid off its editor-in-chief". Popverse. from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
10. Johnston, Rich (June 4, 2023). "Firings, Quittings and Valnet Fallout at Comic Book Resources". Bleeding Cool. from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
11. MacDonald, Heidi (June 2, 2023). "Inside the CBR layoffs and bad week". The Beat. from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
12. McMillan, Graeme (June 28, 2023). "Three more editors leave CBR, continuing exodus pattern". Popverse. from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
13. Johnston, Rich (August 22, 2023). "A Deleted CBR Post Indicates Serious Internal Tensions". Bleeding Cool. from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
14. Torres, J (September 5, 2007). . Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on April 28, 2008. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
15. at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
16. Cronin, Brian (September 26, 2007). . Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
17. at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
18. Cronin, Brian (September 4, 2007). "Jonathan Hickman on "Comic Book Idol… what!?!"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 9, 2017.^{[dead link]}
19. at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
20. Cronin, Brian (27 May 2009). . Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
21. at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
22. at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
23. Cardwell, Mark (April 3, 2018). "Talking Doctor Who with CBI Finalist Dan McDaid". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
24. Tarbys, Jason (January 22, 2013). "Nick Pitarra Talks Conspiring with Hickman On 'Manhattan Projects'". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
25. "Comic Book Idol Finalists Announced; Winner to Draw "Popgun" Story for Image". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. October 12, 2017. from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
26. . University of Buffalo Libraries. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
27. "The Third Degree: Mark Millar" Jupiter's Legacy, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 27 (April 2013). Image Comics.
28. Asselin, Janelle (April 11, 2014). "Anatomy of a Bad Cover: DC's New 'Teen Titans' #1". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
29. "Out With the Old: Introducing the New CBR Community". Comic Book Resources. Wayback Machine. April 30, 2014. from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
30. Polo, Susana (2014-05-01). "CBR Overhauls Forums In Wake of Widespread Discussion of Treatment of Women in Comics". The Mary Sue. from the original on 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
31. . Eagle Awards. Wayback Machine. February 6, 2011. Archived from the original on February 6, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
32. . Eagle Awards. Wayback Machine. November 30, 2011. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
33. . Comic-Con International: San Diego. Wayback Machine. December 2, 2012. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
34. . Eagle Awards. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
35. . Eagle Awards. Wayback Machine. November 30, 2011. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
36. "2010-Present". Comic-Con International: San Diego. Wayback Machine. December 2, 2012. from the original on February 13, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
37. "Your 2013 Harvey Awards Winners". The Comics Reporter. Wayback Machine. September 8, 2013. from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
38. "2014 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Winners". Comic-Con International: San Diego. Wayback Machine. July 26, 2014. from the original on April 1, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015.

External links

• Official website