Alan Light (comics)

Light sold The Buyer's Guide to Krause Publications in 1983, having published 481 issues. Kraus rechristened the publication The Comics Buyer's Guide and continued it until 2013; altogether the journal published 1,699 issues.

Krause Publications bought Film Collector's World along with The Buyer's Guide in 1983; FCW was rechristened Movie Collector's World. Much later, the magazine was acquired by, and absorbed into, Classic Images.

In 1983, when Light sold The Buyer's Guide, a Groth editorial denounced Light, calling him "fandom's first real business predator. His career of hustling is a monument to selfish opportunism and spiritual squalor." As a result, Light filed a libel suit against Groth, claiming that he had damaged Light's reputation; the suit was eventually dropped.

Light's sales of his publications to Kraus in 1983 enabled him to pursue his interest in photographing film and pop music celebrities. He attended the Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards, and Academy Awards on a number of occasions.

By 1976, Light had moved The Buyer's Guide headquarters to Rapids City, Illinois.

In 1976, Light added another tabloid to his publishing roster: Film Collector's World (FCW), which was at first edited by Don and Maggie Thompson, and later by Rick Best. FCW featured, among other items, the Thompsons' regular column, "View from a Darkened Room."

Gary Groth, publisher of The Nostalgia Journal (later renamed The Comics Journal), initiated a long-running feud with Light in 1976. (This came after Light allegedly offered to buy the competing Nostalgia Journal for $12,000 in 1975.) Groth's first editorial in The New Nostalgia Journal, in issue #27 (July 1976), called out Light for what Groth claimed were his "expedient" business practices, and the accusations continued for a number of years afterward.

A news column, "What Now?" by Murray Bishoff, was added with issue #26; the Thompsons' and Bishoff's columns provided the editorial content required by the United States Postal Service to qualify for second class mail (along with paid subscriptions being instituted). TBG went weekly in July 1975.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Light "recorded all of the panels and speeches" at the 1975 San Diego Comic-Con "and put together highlights for a limited-edition 12-inch LP record that also featured an interview with Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel." (Light was given an Inkpot Award at the 1975 San Diego Comic-Con.)

For his work promoting comics fandom, Light was given an Inkpot Award at the 1975 San Diego Comic-Con.

TBG's frequency was soon changed to twice-monthly, and prominent fans Don and Maggie Thompson began a monthly column, "Beautiful Balloons." The Thompsons administered the Goethe Awards, which originated with their fanzine Newfangles and then shared close ties with TBG. (Perhaps not coincidentally, TBG was given the Goethe Award for Favorite Fanzine in 1972.)

As a 17-year-old in February 1971, Light founded The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom (TBG) as a tabloid-format monthly newspaper. Run out of Light's parents' basement in East Moline, Illinois, TBG began primarily as an advertising venue – known in comics fandom as an "adzine", i.e. a fanzine devoted to ads.

Concurrently with publishing TBG, Light founded DynaPubs Enterprises, whose main business was publishing black-and-white reprints of material from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Flashback featured reprints of Golden Age superhero comics; DynaPubs longest-running series was Vintage Funnies, which published 85 issues (it had been preceded by Golden Funnies). Light operated DynaPubs from 1971 to 1976.

Alan L. Light (b. September 15, 1953) is a publisher involved in comics and pop culture fandom. He is best known as the founder of The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom (later known as the Comics Buyer's Guide), which was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry.