Digital Comic Museum
General Category => Comic Related Discussion => Topic started by: bminor on April 21, 2013, 01:31:31 PM
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Does anybody have any interesting stories of meeting, knowing any comic book creators, artists, authors from the golden age?
I personally having grown up in Minnesota, have none.
B.
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I interviewed a bunch of them for Comics Interview and at conventions and met more that I didn't interview.
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I've only met a handful of creators.
Al Williamson, George Perez and Bill Willingham. All were very gracious with this young kid.
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Darkmark,
That is a vague response. You met some.
Well... WHO?
B.
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Hmmm. Well...
Interviews: Will Eisner, Murphy Anderson, Al Williamson, Archie Goodwin, Mark Evanier, Steve Englehart, Gardner Fox, Dick Sprang, Jerry Grandenetti, Arnold Drake, Martin Nodell, Marie Severin, Don Heck, Gene Colan, Michael T. Gilbert, Roy Thomas, Alfred Bester, Doug Wildey, Neil Gaiman, Dan Spiegle, Jim Steranko, Don McGregor, and some I'm forgetting.
Meetings: Jack Kirby, Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel, Steve Gerber, Dave Kraft, Gil Kane, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, E. Nelson Bridwell, Julie Schwartz, Stan Lee, Mark Waid, Tony Isabella, Bill Willingham, Chuck Dixon, Walt Simonson, Weezie Simonson, Alan Moore, Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Jim Shooter, whole buncha other people. Not all these folks are Golden Age, but what the hey.
Work with: Len Wein, Carmine Infantino, Jim Valentino, Henry Martinez, Rich Howell, Mark Gruenwald, Don Heck, several others.
Hope that helps.
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Say, does anybody have any interesting stories of meeting, knowing any comic book creators, artists, authors from the golden age? :)
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Jim Amish sure does... tons of interviews in Alter-Ego. Often the high-light of each issue.
Mr Williamson was very nice to me but I was too young to know an intelligent question to ask.
Mr Perez had an insanely long line-up and people weren't encourage to ask questions.
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Irwin Hasen was very nice at Heroes Con. I was a big fan of his Dondi strip in the early seventies so we talked about that.
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Hmmmm, okay. First off, Jack Kirby...I met him 1st in San Diego, where he told me, "I draw destructive ducks." (Shortly after Destroyer Duck appeared.) I said, "I know, sir," and tried to corral him for an interview, but not much luck. Another year, in Chicago, Mark Evanier gave me an invite to Kirby's surprise birthday party, and I was there! We yelled "Happy Birthday!" to Jack and I took pics of him cutting the cake. I don't think I met him again before the end. But one of my funniest meetings w/ him was when he was sitting at the Eclipse table with Dean Mullaney, Jerry Siegel, and Steve Gerber. Jack wore a Yankees cap and I remarked that it reminded me of Steve's story from HAUNT OF HORROR #1. Since it was about a psycho killer who wore the same kind of cap, Steve cracked up and almost fell out of his chair.
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That's a fun story DM!
I'm sure the gang would love to see a Kirby birthday pic if you felt it was ok to share.
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This is good fun and I have met and had nights out with some comics creators here in Scotland. Not many of them were G.A. But Mr. Eisner was one and having dinner with him and Archie Goodwin in Café Gandolfi, just up the street from the shop, was a huge high point in my life. The nicest people you could hope to meet. Not a very interesting story, bminor, but there it is. I should remember more about the chat as there were only 5 of us but I was so taken up with it and in awe. And there was the small matter of the odd libation.
Irwin Hasen turned up at a con. (this is getting boring) but I chatted to him while other chanty rasslers got sketches and I forgot.
Non. G.A. - Bill Sienkiewicz was at a series of signings in Scotland and some of us were in McShane's flat with the great man for the odd drink and ,of course, some numpty asked him how to pronounce his name. He replied, "Bill".
I'd be more than happy to regale you with just what great company Dave Sim is (what a constitution) but I'm sure you all know what happened when we took him to Strathclyde Uni. Students Union. All I remember, to my eternal shame, is the first hour and a half. But there is a pic of him, me and a couple of others on the back of Cerebus (I forget the number)
Mike Richardson bought dinner for a small party of 3 of us, in the hotel we were staying in, 20 odd KM outside of Angoulême - we were all there for the amazing annual con. - and he was good dinner companion, his only request being that we didn't talk about comics.
This wont mean much to most of you but I know someone who now lives in the house formerly inhabited by Dudley D. Watkins, arguably the greatest artist to work in British comics (Well, he is, in my opinion) What a claim to fame, eh?
Enough ramblings, I have comics to read.
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Well, here's another I recall: I was walking with Al Williamson to the room where we'd set up gear for a videotaped interview. We talked a little about his alias "Baldo Smudge", which was used in an old CREEPY story he drew, "The Success Story", which see. I told him I always thought that story had a happy ending: a bunch of friends came over and pitched in to help him make a deadline. He laughed.
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These are all great stories! I wish I had some of these wonderful experiences here in Minnesota.
When I was a little boy in the seventies I spent several summers in the small town of Menagha, Minnesota,(current population 1300), located in the upper central portion of the state, in lakes country,
We stayed at a cabin on Blueberry Lake just north of town.
We would spend a week there every summer, our family would be out on the lake every day fishing.
I was then as I am now a rabid comic book fan.
Years later I am on the internet reading about comic creators.
I have always been a big fan of artists'. Well one day I was reading a biography of Wally Wood.
It turns out he was born in Menagha, MN on June 27, 1927.
I just did a new search on Mr. Wood. Growing up, he and his family lived on a farm in Becker, MN just 30 miles from my home town of Anoka, MN.
I have driven though Becker hundreds of times. I have always loved history, now I am going to have to find out where this farm is.
B.
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Somebody MUST have some more stories about creators of comic books....
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Has anyone ever had an meeting/encounter with the mysterious Steve Ditko?
B.
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Technically, I didn't meet him, but ..
I commissioned Superman-artist Al Plastino for this weird piece:
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=756994&GSub=129741
I spoke with him on the phone (during SNOWMAGEDDON 2011!!) about his work, history, and the piece. He said that, yes, comic strip work was considered more acceptable than comic books, but that he grew to like and appreciate comic books (obviously). He had designed the look of a plane in WWII, etc.
I don't recall if I asked about him grabbing one of the DC editors by the lapels ( http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/plastino_1.shtml ):
AP: I don't know if I should tell you this. But anyway, I got into an argument with Murray Boltinoff. They wanted me to work with him drawing Superboy and I couldn't stand the man. They got this attitude that they think who the hell they are. Later, when I was interviewed for an article, I said, "You're not my boss, you're my editor." So I never took no…baloney. I have to watch my language; my wife doesn't like it.
Prof: (Laughter.)
AP: So when Ellsworth came in, Ellsworth saved his life. I swear, I was really angry and I said, "I wouldn't work with you." And he heard me, he said, "Look, Al, what's the matter?" I said, "Blah, blah, blah." He said, "Never mind. You work with me on Batman. You want to do Batman?" I said, "Yeah, rather than do work with this…banana head." Now Weisinger, I got along with him because I straightened him out a long time ago.
Prof: That seems to be what it took with him.
AP: Because when [Joe] Shuster was in, when the poor bums that created Superman, was in his office one time and doing some writing for him, and he talked to them like they were dirt. So when they left, I just said, "Mort, if that was me, and you spoke to me the way you spoke to [Joe] Shuster and [Jerry] Siegel," I don't know who wrote it, I think Siegel wrote it and Shuster drew it, I'm not sure. He worked for a post office! "How the hell do you get the nerve to talk to him that way? Who the hell do you think you are?" Oh, I wasn't afraid. My wife used to yell at me. "Don't talk to them that way." I said, "What are you worried about him for? I'm not worried about him." So anyway, I laced into him. I said, "If it was me, I would have not only punched you in the jaw," and I'm not a big man, but when I get angry, I don't care how big the guy is, I get angry. Anyway, we got along fine after that.
Prof: That does seem to be what it takes.
Very interesting guy - a no-BS type of fellow, which I admire.
His website is still up (and not updated for his passing) for more info.
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I don't know if this will interest anyone but here goes anyway. Years ago, when we organised big cons in Glasgow, at the end of the day whoever was sort of in the vicinity strolled off to the nearest pub. The group could get a little loud after a couple and Cam Kennedy, who is great company, took umbrage at what someone from another table, nothing to do with our group, said or did, turned his bunnet back to front, got up and was on the point of claiming the bloke when 2 of us managed to pull him back and sit him down. He's a big lad but Glasgow pubs, Saturday nights, a very bad idea.
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Interesting thread. Though I worked professionally, I did it all from an LA backwater. That fact combined with crippling shyness meant I met very few pros of the day. I still regret never having met Archie Goodwin; I always imagined we'd have an interesting chat. Likewise Herb Trimpe, who at the time was the only other guy who'd done a fantasy-airplane strip. Most of my big-name-pro encounters were during my fanboy days, when the San Diego Comic Con was held at the El Cortez Hotel. The Con was young, vibrant, and just barely professional, so there were many opportunities to run into THE PROS.
The more memorable encounters included a conversation with Gil Kane and his wife about his work in the 1950s (wish I'd had a tape recorder). Kane was simultaneously gracious and opinionated, and great fun to talk to. Jim Vadeboncoeur and I hung around a lot at San Diego, and he knew Jim Steranko. One year we chatted with Steranko for a long time at his booth. He was a thorough showman and told endless stories. I appreciated that even though he was quite aware that he was a superstar, Steranko talked to me person-to-person as if we were both on the same level. Another fun San Diego moment was when I briefly met Dan Spiegle, who back then wasn't well-known outside of Dell Comics fans. I had a copy of an old TV tie-in (the 77th Bengal Lancers) which I was pretty sure he'd drawn and asked him about it. To my amusement he paged through the book just like I had, saying things like, "Well, this kind of looks like me...this looks like a Spiegle head..." He wound up unsure whether he'd drawn the book or not--just like me.
Ever since discovering the 1930's "Terry and the Pirates" in my college's newspaper archives, I'd been a passionate Milton Caniff fan. One year he was Guest of Honor at San Diego. After his talk I stood in line (not a very long line, really) and asked him to sign a Harvey reprint of his 1935 strips. He flipped through it and said, "Boy, I haven't seen THIS stuff in a long time!" Being a fanboy without much tact I asked him if he'd followed George Wunder's work on the strip, and what he though of GW's ignoring or doing away with most of the strip's famous supporting characters. Caniff said, "Well yes, I did wonder about that, but I guess he figured it was his strip now, and he wanted to start with a clean slate." Which is almost surely the case. Like Kane, Caniff was very gracious and talked with me a little before moving on to the next fan.
Surely my most pleasurable Pro Encounter was the time Jim got John Buscema (during his "Savage Sword" days) to consent to an interview about his career. That should show you how informal things were--he spent hours with us, going over the stack of books Jim had brought, one moment roaring out opinions ("I HATE Alcala! His inks are like somebody screaming nonstop at the top of his lungs!") and the next telling stories on himself (incredibly for someone we knew as a tireless workhorse, JB used to be rather irresponsible. He was finally fired from Dell after he spent a weekend working on a handmade chessboard instead of meeting a deadline). What a great time we had! In that interview I was struck by Buscema's paradoxical attitude. Over the years I saw it resurface again and again in interviews and stories from people who knew the man. Buscema swore repeatedly that he was just in it for the money, that comics were baloney and that he didn't care about anything as long as he got his paycheck. Yet it was obvious that he DID care. He cared about how his drawings were treated, he cared about how to tell comics stories, he cared about the artists and editors with whom he'd worked over the years...and he cared enough to later teach classes which trained a new generation of professionals. He just wasn't willing to admit it.
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I thought that this story that Ty Templeton told about meeting Jack Kirby was kinda cute:
http://tytempletonart.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/building-to-the-point-bun-toons-yay/
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Hi Crash,
Wow, thanks so much for your fascinating post! Please feel free to regal us with more if you would like. I think we would all like them.
This 'Jim Vadeboncoeur' fellow sounds interesting. What was he like? ;)
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Hi Crash,
Wow, thanks so much for your fascinating post! Please feel free to regal us with more if you would like. I think we would all like them.
This 'Jim Vadeboncoeur' fellow sounds interesting. What was he like? ;)
YOC!! :o
;)
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I just had to mention the weird synchronicity that occurred last night. Writing about people I'd met at the San Diego Con set me reminiscing about the great times we had at the El Cortez Hotel. It was a fabulous 1920s building which had fallen into tired shabbiness. As the Con grew it moved to fancier venues. Eventually the hotel was bought by some religious cult (Moonies maybe?) and was their HQ for many years. As far as I knew it still was.
But last night my wife was watching "House Hunters" on HGTV and a young woman was looking for a nice condo in downtown San Diego. So the real estate agent takes her to the El Cortez!! Somehow it was reclaimed by developers and has been turned into mid-range condos. I'm not much for gentrification but I must admit they did a fine job restoring the 1920s elegance, though the rooms themselves were rather generic. I wonder if the elevators still stop halfway to the floor if you load them with too many comics fans.
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What Crash failed to mention in his Buscema/San Diego Con story is that our interview with him took place in our motel room. I brought a bunch of comics to show to John and we spent the best part of an afternoon sitting around on the bed and chair of the motel room going over the books one by one. The convention was SO much more accessible to everyone back then. I was nobody. Just a guy who liked Buscema and had asked him about his early career via mail. Arranging the "interview" was sort of a "how about Friday afternoon?" kind of thing. Those were the days...
I don't know if it was at the same El Cortez con or not, but at one of them I was lazing by the Hotel pool talking to the guy next to me for about a half hour before I introduced myself and discovered that I was conversing with B. Kliban! Wow!
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I had the pleasure of meeting and talking briefly with Jack Kirby at San Diego. I had brought a ragged copy of "This Man, This Monster," and told him I thought it was one of the best "super hero" stories I'd read -- and great pictures of the Thing in the rain. Roz cautioned him, telling him to be careful of his hand, but Jack insisted on signing the book for me. He was a gentleman, and clearly enjoyed hearing from his fans.
In the Dark Ages, I wrote some pieces for comics fanzines, including a few on how to "read" a comic book page and page design. I got invited to emcee a panel on page design -- with Will Eisner, Paul Chadwick, and Ty Templeton. I was in the audience trying to calm my nerves when the gentleman sitting next to my glanced at my name tag and said, "MacGregor -- you wrote "The Net," didn't you? That was a pretty good book." I was in a state of shock, because the "gentleman sitting next to me" was Will Eisner -- and he'd not only read but liked my novel. And THEN he said, "What the hell are you doing on the design panel?"
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I love these stories. Thank you all so much for sharing.
Please continue!!!
Bminor
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I sure wish Jim had recorded his hours with Big John. It sounds like they covered a lot of ground!
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I sure wish Jim had recorded his hours with Big John. It sounds like they covered a lot of ground!
But to some degree that completely misses the point, Yoc. John and Crash and I were just three guys (maybe four, if Dr. Scott was there, too???) sitting around talking about comics and learning about John's earliest work.
[Actually, I was SHOWING John his early work, much of which he had to be re-convinced was his. I've experienced this with several artists (Krigstein and Severin also come to mind) where I've identified their first work in comics and only after some examination and rumination have they come to recognize it as their own.]
Back to the motel room: we weren't so much awe-struck as very privileged participants in a question and answer session with one of our favorite artists, who very graciously treated us like equals. We were all probably 25 to 30 or so, so we weren't green kids and we were deferential and asked intelligent questions, so we had a prolonged conversation. Recording it would have made it (and us) into something entirely different. I don't know about Crash, but I am very glad that we had nothing that might have inhibited Mr. Buscema in any way. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. A couple years later and San Diego was too big and John was too important and things were much too organized for it have occurred like it did. I'll take it like it was.
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I met Alex Schomburg when he was a guest of honor at a PulpCon in the late Seventies or early Eighties. He was very friendly and loaded with stories. I got to talk with him one on one for a few minutes. The one insight I remember from the conversation was his reply to my question of how he could have been so prolific in the 1943-1945 period. He told me his secret was that he never wasted a painting or preliminary drawing. In other words if an idea for a Captain America cover didn't fly Cap and Bucky would become the Black Terror and Tim or the Green Hornet and Kato, maybe even Cat-Man and the Kitten. In that way he made all his drawing time count.
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Interesting Rocket
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Whiskey tango foxtrot...well, if we're looking for funny stories, I'll try this one. First time I ever talked to Jim Steranko, I told him about reading part of his Captain Marvel article to my mom and her saying, "Yeah, he writes like you." Steranko said, "Now, Lou...I know how mothers are. You tell your mother you write like ME!"
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HEhehe, that is a fun one. Thanks DM.
I've been enjoying this topic a lot. Thanks for all the stories gang!
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Me too Yoc, very interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing gentlemen. ;D
Geo
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Living in Louisville I had little opportunity to encounter many Pros on a regular basis (other than Don Rosa) so encounters were limited to running them at the few Cons I attended over the years.
The first was MetroCon held August 14 and 15 1971 at the Statler Hilton Hotel in Washington DC. I drove over with two of my collector friends, Ray and Jay. I was just getting ready to enter Sophomore year in College and this was my first big road trip. I had a limited pocketful of money for room, food and comics. Frazetta was Guest of Honor at the Luncheon but you had to buy a ticket and they were pricey and long gone, so I didn't make it. He was whisked in and out so if you didn't pay - you didn't see him. Denny O'Neill was the Keynote Speaker but we were more interested in hitting the hucksters room. Bought underground comics from Bud Plant, Golden Age from Phil Seuling, an original Murphy Anderson page from Showcase 56. Page 8 with Dr Fate in every panel for $25. If I could have swung another 10 I was offered a half page Hawkman from MiS but I passed on it. Still regret that. I also purchased a caricature of myself from Alan Hanley as Good Guy.
Starting at ten pm the first night movies were to be shown in a Ball Room. I really have no memory of what was shown. The memorable part began at midnight when a hotel manager came in and shut the room down claiming some curfew or other. Several of those in attendance weren't ready to call it a night so we offered our room up as a gathering place. Among those there that night were Bernie Wrightson and Mike Kaluta. That much is definite because they signed my Con book. Others that were there I'm not so clear on. My recollection is that Len Wein and Marv Wolfman were there along with Mark Hanerfeld. But I could be wrong. We sat up talking comics and movies until the wee hours. I remember Wrightson sitting by the window and doodling.
In 1975 I went up to Indianapolis for Napcon with one of my Jay. It was a daytrip and we concentrated on hitting the Dealer's room. Don't remember seeing any pros that day.
Also that summer I attended Rivercon which was also DeepSouthCon XIII. This was held in Louisville and was a combination Science Fiction and Comic Con. My buddies and I had purchased a couple of tables in the Dealer's Room and so spent much of our time there. Being Comic Book People (second class citizens according to the S-F and Pulp people) we were off in a downstairs room while the rest of the Con was upstairs. Mike Kaluta was a guest and I did get to see him briefly. With my earnings from sales at the table I purchased some old comics and two tickets to the upcoming Rolling Stones concert.
Next was OmniCon put on by Don Rosa in July 1976. I was in charge of the Art Exhibit and so spent most of my time guarding said art. Kaluta was once again in attendance but I missed him. I did spend time with Frank Brunner who was not particularly friendly.
Final Con was the biggest as far as meeting Big Names. This was ChicagoCon in the summer of 77. I drove up with Ray and Don Rosa. Don was still just a BNF but was accorded the Royal Treatment and as Ray and I were with him we were included. Ron Massengill was our escort who swept us to the front of any line and catered to our every whim.
Chester Gould was the Guest of Honor and when I saw him he was holding court in a sitting area outside the dealer's room. I approached with my copy of The Celebrated Cases of Dick Tracy and got a personalized autograph from him. Across the room was a very elegant looking older lady who was not getting much attention. So I wander over and met Dale Messick. I came away with another personalized autograph after spending some time visiting with her. I was familiar with Brenda Starr but only vaguely as the local paper didn't carry the strip. I did come away a big fan of Ms Messick.
Massengill approached Ray and me and said he needed to go a couple blocks up the street to pick up another Con guest and bring him back for his panel appearance. Did we want to go along. Sure we replied. So Ray and I went along. At the hotel we were led into Stan Lee's room where we spent almost an hour chatting him up. Stan was friendly and quite jovial and while he really didn't want to talk comics much he did go on at length about a new TV show in production for Spider-Man as well as the possibility of The Incredible Hulk and Doctor Strange and possibly others getting shows as well as some animation possibilities.
After getting Stan to the panel I met his co-panelist Jenette Kahn but missed Harvey Kurtzman. Besides Stan and Jenette's autographs I came away with Joe Orlando, Howard Chayken and Tim Conrad's. Denis Kitchen and Pete Poplaski had a table in the dealers room and I bought a big pile of Sgt Bilko, Bob Hope and Dobie Gillis comics from Kitchen. Came away with their signatures as well. Finally I got another caricature from Hanley, this time as Plastic Man.
I turned down going back to Chicago in 78, my two buddies form DC went back with Don. I missed out on the opportunity to ride along as Jay drove Bill Gaines from downtown out to O'Hare.
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Great story
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Hmm, funny stories...well, the first time I met Steve Englehart, he was at a table selling THE POINT MAN, which I bought a copy of. We got to talking and I told him about a script proposal I was trying at Marvel for the WHAT IF? book, being "What if the Son of Satan stayed loyal to his father?" I told him I wanted to do it so I could use titles like "One Man's Family" (Steve cracked up)..."Make Room For Daddy"...(Steve cracked up HARDER)...
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Reading all these stories of encounters with pros reminded me of one of the strangest such experiences I've had. The star of the anecdote has been gone some fifteen years so I trust I can retell it without seeming snarky.
In late 1982 I'd just finished a gruelling two years drawing a couple of newspaper strips. The pay had been low and the work was hell, but the upside was that I hadn't had time to spend the money I'd earned. I had a nice little sum in the bank which I used to fulfill a longtime dream: to attend the international comics convention in Lucca, Italy. The experience was wonderful. One of its high points was an evening spent with some notable British cartoonists. I don't remember just how I connected with them. Probably we heard each other speaking English. The group consisted of Ron Embleton, Martin Asbury, Jim Baikie, and legendary collector-historian-artist Denis Gifford. I was welcomed into the group as an equal, being a professional and all, but I assure you I felt a perfect amateur in that company. We talked for a long time, mostly about our careers. I don't remember Embleton and Asbury well. Asbury was still drawing the "Garth" daily at the time. He didn't say much and looked exhausted. Maybe from meeting deadlines! Embleton I recall as pleasant though reserved. He was nicely dressed and gave off a sophisticated vibe. Back then I knew him only for "Wicked Wanda," which he'd wrapped up two years earlier. If I'd known then what a giant figure he was in British comics I'd have tried to talk his ear off! The guy I most enjoyed was Jim Baikie. At the time he was working on various media tie-ins for UK publishers. Of course soon afterward he embarked upon a stellar career on both sides of the Atlantic. I've always regretted never having got to know Baikie. We hit it off and had plenty to talk about, and I came away with the impression he was a really nice fellow.
Denis Gifford was voluble and rather pushy, but his incredible knowledge of British comics and his enthusiasm for the subject made him great fun to talk to. Force of personality had made him the de facto leader of the group. At a certain point he decided we should go to dinner. It must have been then that he removed his Dr Jekyll suit.
At Lucca, visiting professionals received coupon books good for free meals at local restaurants. I had an inkling of trouble ahead when Denis, though still civil to us, treated the Italian restaurant staff with undisguised contempt. Then he discovered that the restaurant offered coupon bearers only a narrow menu of what I presume were cheap dishes. (Maybe the REAL pros got better coupon books, I don't know.) On our special menu almost all the dishes featured lepre (rabbit), and Denis did not like rabbit. One of the waiters, with very limited English, attempted to suggest other dishes, but they all turned out to have rabbit in them. Denis became increasingly heated and increasingly loud. The language barrier made him even more irate. He dealt with it by speaking English louder and louder, using ever more complex grammar until finally he was roaring, "I have told you, I do not care for RABBIT, I do not wish to be served RABBIT, and I will not order any dish of which RABBIT is a part!"
I don't know about the others, but being by nature a person who avoids confrontation, I was mightily embarrassed. In fact I later apologized (in Italian) to the waiter who had borne the brunt of Denis' assault. He shrugged and said the Italian equivalent of "Whatever." The issue was finally resolved by Denis paying for a rabbit-free dish from the standard menu. Soon he was once again chatting merrily. For my part, as I chewed my rabbit I felt as if the whole establishment were glaring at us.
After dinner we went our separate ways and I didn't see the British contingent again. It was fun while it lasted.
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Great insight, crash, and sort of reflects my feelings about Mr. Gifford's personality. Some of us were occasionally in his company at London marts. Voluble was another word I associated with him. But his knowledge of British comics and their history was encyclopaedic and I have a couple of his books on my shelves. In fact, a couple of the British comics on CB+ came from his collection. Not directly but via a dealer. His collection spanned 2 houses, I seem to remember. And, of course, he also drew some comics in his early days.
By the way, I love rabbit, which is coniglio in italian, particularly in a stew served with wild porcinis and polenta. I think lepre is hare. But, then again, that's tasty too.
Modifying this to add that, I just remembered an interview aka the fanzine conducted with Jim Baikie many years ago. (Re. the ref. made by crashryan to Jim Baikie) Please have a look here:-
comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21998
Seems so long ago now but, as I was involved in aka, I'd be curious to read any comments anyone would care to make. We were fortunate to have been able to bring many pros to Scotland and it was a privilege to meet and chat with them.
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Thanks, Paw, for the clarification. I confess I don't know the difference between a rabbit and a hare. ("Rabbit" was the word Denis used). Eating rabbitoid critters seems to be a regional thing in the US. Lucca was the only time I ever ate it. Here on the West Coast where I've spent most of my time I haven't seen either rabbit or hare in supermarkets or on menus.
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The two GA artists who stand out for me are Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman. Kurtzman first: I was at a NY Comic Con at the beginning of the '70s (I think) and ran into John Benson who said "I'm going to interview Harvey Kurtzman up in his room, want to come along?" I was a young UG cartoonist at the time and of course my answer was "you bet!" On meeting Kurtzman I gushed something along the lines of "It's an honor to meet you, you've been one of the biggest influences on my life," to which he answered "I'm sorry to hear that." In the course of the interview, I asked a question or two, which made their way into the editorial matter for one of Russ Cochran EC reprint volumes.
I met Eisner at the opening for an exhibit of UG comix art at a museum in Manhattan (c. 1970-1) (I want to say the Whitney, but I don't think that's right. It may have been a museum which is no longer around.) I had a full tabloid-size page in the exhibit and talked Eisner into going over to take a look. By happenstance, it was a page I'd done when I'd finally figured out brushwork (Winsor-Newton Series 7, No. 2, if I recall correctly) and it was heavily influenced by Eisner's work. He graciously complemented me, which of course made my day.
Apologies if these anecdotes come off as self-serving. I was just a kid at the time and meeting my heroes was definitely a big thrill.
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Hi Poz,
Don't worry about that Poz. They didn't feel that way to me at all. I quite enjoy reading these so please feel free to continue if you like.
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Paw, thanks for the link to aka with the Baike and Ranson interviews. The entire magazine was a very interesting read. I'd no idea Baike had been in the industry so long when I met him. Since 1967! That was the year I graduated high school.
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Glad you enjoyed it. Because all of us connected to aka, the shop and fanzine, were based in Scotland, we did find it easier to meet industry people from U.K. at a time when so many of them were playing an increasingly bigger role in American comics. A time when the likes of Morrison and Millar were just wee guys turning up at pubs where fans met, and Morrison was taking his first tentative steps in local comics, drawing as well as writing. Seems so long ago.
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Let's see: WILL EISNER: I first "met" Will when I penned a note to him (per Cat Yronwode) about his initial graphic novel thing, Life In Outer Space. He was glad to get some honest reaction and gave me a Spirit sketch. We became pal-acquaintances and I loved the guy. Interviewed him at Dallas. Sad he died.
ALAN MOORE: Met him in San Diego. Took a picture of him (he was gracious, like most Brits) and one of his then-wife to be fair about it. Later, when he was signing a buncha comics, I talked politics and philosophy with him and he said his belief was that there were two real political viewpoints, one being fascism, where people essentially did the same and thought the same, and anarchy, where everybody went and did their own thing. I brought up the bit that Mao did pretty much the same to gays, as I understand, that the Fascist Britain government did to V's inspiration, and he seemed to agree that in a Communist society there could be a right-wing V For Vendetta. He was a nice guy.
NEIL GAIMAN: A prince. Interviewed him twice at Dallas and had fun both times. Traded comics with him. Took him down in a letter once about a too-violent scene in Sandman, and he said he was sorry it upset me. Even nicer than Alan.
STEVE BISSETTE: Big guy with a trademarked black hat he should still be wearing. We should get up a petition to that effect. We disagree about everything political, but that's ALL we disagree about. We are both friends on a deeper level than pro to fan. Love the guy.
MARK WAID: Actually, he called me up back in the early 80's because he found we were both in Texas, and he came to Wichita Falls to live for a bit. Stayed at our house for a night or two. We did the Crisis Indexes together just before he went to edit Amazing Heroes, after which he became a star. I once pitched him a Flash cover idea: Wally West being chased at hyper-speed by John Wesley Shipp. He laughed.
ROY THOMAS: I don't even remember when the first time I met him was. We both share a love for the Golden Age and I borrowed one of his characters (with his permission) for a comic story. Did a three or four-part interview with him for Comics Interview. Last time I saw him was a few years ago at the Robert E. Howard Fest at Cross Plains, Texas.
HOWARD CHAYKIN: In Chicago, he blew up at a fan who made a rather inconsiderate criticism of his art. To diffuse the tension, I asked Howard if he could give an autograph to a fan-friend of mine who was collecting them. He said "Sure", glad to clear the air, and gave his autograph to her. Moral of the story: Don't bait artists. And especially don't bait Chaykin.
BILL WILLINGHAM: Good old boy. Not pretentious. Met him in Dallas and got him to do a great sketch of Pat Savage and some of her gang which I dreamed up. Told him I'd seen a lot of comics with names like Supreme, Prime, HARD Corps and WildCATS..."How about a book called...ADEQUATE?" He nodded. "Yeah. 'Good Enough For You'", he suggested.
MARV WOLFMAN: We were on a writer's panel together. I showed some books I got at bargain prices to Roy Thomas and said, "I Christianed them down on it." Marv said, "I get lower." I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "That's 'cause you came first."
LEN WEIN: Got his picture at San Diego, as I did for a lotta folks, and told him I'd tack it over my bed. He said, "Then you'll never sleep again!"
Lots of other stories. I'll think of some more.
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That's some fun reading there DM.
I only got to meet J. M. DeMatteis at a shop woh signed a 'Moonshadow' TPB for me (loved that series!), Harlan Ellison (as acerbic as expected and a hit at that con), George Perez during the first 'Teen Titans' year (he had an insanely long autograph line. He patiently signed 1000s of books), Bill Willingham promoting his 'Elementals' who laughed when I produced a 'Villains and Vigilantes' game module with his art, and Al Williamson who was super nice while signing a 'Shock Illustrated' #2 and did a sketch for me.
-Yoc