Tim Leong, Editor in Chief of Comic Foundry magazine, has announced that the magazine’s fifth issue, which is due out at the New York Comic Con in February, will be its last.  Writing on the Comic Foundry Website, Leong cited a lack of time (he is the art director of Complex Magazine and published Comic Foundry on the side with help from Senior Editor Laura Hudson) rather than financial considerations as the reason he is shutting down production of the magazine.  As Leong put it, “I’m sorry to admit that I’ve reached the unfortunate point where my career no longer allows enough time to do the magazine.”  Leong noted that subscribers to the magazine will be reimbursed for any issues that they will not receive, reiterating that “finances are not the reason for our early departure.”

Even though the magazine, which was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2008, was still in its infancy, the demise of Comic Foundry will mean definite loss for the print side of comic book journalism.  Comic Foundry attempted to find a middle ground between the two polar opposites of comic book commentary, Wizard and The Comics Journal.  Comic Foundry covered a wider range of comics including mainstream superhero books, indies of all sorts and manga. The Foundry also filtered and shaped its news coverage with a sort of hip, “lifestyle” approach that was actually a lot more interesting than it sounds (“lifestyle” is a particularly loathsome word, especially the way its bandied about by advertising types, but in this case it is descriptive of the wide-ranging approach of Comic Foundry, which covered fashion, decorating, and music in all their varied interactions with the world of comics).