(JULY 21, 2009) They are probably the best-known good cop/bad cop team in comics today. “They” are Gary Groth, the founder of The Comics Journal, and his partner in —and fellow editor—Kim Thompson. Fantagraphics is a preeminent publisher of comics –related books and magazines, including the more than 30-year-old Comics Journal, as well as an extensive line of graphic novels, comics histories, underground comix—with an ‘X’ or two—and comic strip collections such as “Peanuts” and “Popeye.” So who is the good cop and who is the bad cop? It’s no secret actually. Groth, the founder of the company, is generally regarded as the bad cop, the guy who shoots acid from the lip and lets the cow chips fall where they may. Thompson, therefore, is generally regarded as the good cop, the guy who evens out Groth’s rough edges. That, as in any case, is the reputation of the two guys atop Fantagraphics. The truth, I suspect, is somewhere in-between. Fantagraphics • • •