Comic Book Artist began publication in 1998 as an offshoot of the magazine The Jack Kirby Collector, flagship periodical of Raleigh, North Carolina's TwoMorrows Publishing.
Most issues are each devoted to a single publisher's comics and the creators responsible within, by way of multiple interviews and oral histories to form overall impressions of a specific era.
The first five issues sported a "flip-side" magazine that revived the fondly remembered 1960s fanzine Alter Ego, founded by Dr. Jerry Bails and devoted to superhero comics.
The first several issues of Comic Book Artist were collected into three trade paperback volumes that also include new material.
In 2002, after 25 issues, the magazine and editor-owner Cooke – who is also a book designer and layout artist – left TwoMorrows for a new publisher, Top Shelf Productions, in Atlanta, Georgia.