Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson » graphic novels

Saint Nick’s Naughty and Nice List–a 4-part serial

Nicky Brown — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 21:12:24 +0000

Although there were a few family members who had grand visions that DC was going to canonize the Major in the recent documentary on the 75 years of DC, Secret Origin, yours truly was not among them. I’m just relieved that DC/WB included him and were nice! Thank you again, Sean and Mac.

Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was called Nick at least by the time he was attending Manlius Military Academy in upstate New York. Several items in the yearbook from 1911 identify him with that nickname. Evidently he was also known for being quite elegant in his dress, once again disproving the French boulevardier’s cape and hat story. Sorry about that Gerard.

Here’s how I came to share a “nick” name with the illustrious grandfather. At birth I was given an unwieldly name four times as long as I was, encrusted with the ancient European connections from both sides of the various ancestors. Left in the care of my southern maternal grandparents since both my parents were in New York, (it’s complicated) Granddaddy Pickens who named everything and everybody in his own dry way immediately referred to me as the Wheeler-Nick. This promptly got shortened to Nick and Nicky and that’s what I’ve been called my entire life no matter which gentleman came along and attached his name to mine. Although I am an ardent champion of Grandfather Nick’s creative energy I know he wasn’t a saint and since I’m pretty clear I’m not a saint we’ll leave it to the real Saint Nick to imbue his spirit forthwith for the season.

Santa's Reality Check © respective holders

The following is all about giving fun to someone else. Wasn’t that the idea for comics in the first place? None other than Pete Marston, son of William Moulton Marston of Wonder Woman fame recently stated that he felt the Major was well aware of how important it was to cheer people up in bad times. I’d like to think that is so.

Giving is a two-way street. If you purchase from the heroes and heroines toiling away in publishing as the publishers, creators, writers and artists you give them a gift as well and believe me, they deserve it! One of the things I love about comics and pulps is that almost every one of the incredibly prolific and creative people I’ve met is fun and unbelievably nice.

So fellow procrastinators and harried over-worked bohemians–take heart! It’s not too late to get things together for the seasonal gift-giving. You know you’re going to buy at least a few gifts even if you’re pinching pennies so think about spending them wisely and well. I’ve left out some of the obvious gift choices because they’re being touted non-stop by the giant machine of hyperbole. Herewith the Un-saint Nick’s quirky list of books, pulps and comic books for all those who’ve been Naughty or Nice. You know very well who and what you are.

Part One–Big Art Books and Collections

Grab anything from The Library of American Comics run by two incredibly talented guys—Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell. Check out this photo of them at the IDW booth from NY Comic Con 2010. The Library of American Comics provides archival editions of newspaper comic strips. The books are all beautifully accomplished and award winning productions. With everything from Blondie to Rip Kirby you’ll find something here for everyone on your list. Clicky on the pic to go right on over to their gorgeous site with Bruce’s informative and fun blog as an added bonus. I love these guys.

This book Shazam by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear grabbed my eye in The Bookloft, one of our favorite local independent bookstores. I want this book myself so I know you will too. How can anyone resist anything that the extraordinarily talented Chip Kidd puts his hand to? Only his nibs Mr. Kidd could get away with entitling a book Shazam and he has the plaid pants to prove it. You know where to click.

The prolific (in more ways than one) Craig Yoe is also represented at IDW with beautiful books. I keep talking about his book on Milt Gross which has a perfect combination of artwork and prose to keep you entertained for hours. Craig also just finished a book on Frankenstein that is sure to be great fun. Mr. Yoe turns out so many amazing books on comics that it is hard to keep up. Check out his site for more beautiful graphic books on comics.

David Saunders whom I’ve just discovered and written about in a previous post is so talented and his beautiful art books on the pulps are on a par with anything out there. His father Norman Saunders was a great pulp artist and I love David’s heartfelt book about him. David’s newest book is on H. J. Ward another of the great pulp artists. David has some terrific yarns about Ward when he worked for Donenfeld in the Spicy pulp department. It’s all done with beautifully reproduced artwork. The click will take you to the publisher’s site.

The multi-talented Denis Kitchen, one of the grand oldish men of underground comics–hard to believe old and underground comics could be in the same phrase–seems to be everywhere these days talking about his incredible adventures. Denis won an Eisner at this year’s Comic Con for his beautiful book on Harvey Kurtzman and he has his own book The Oddly Compelling Art of Denis Kitchen. If you have a chance to hear Denis speak I would not miss this opportunity to hear first hand about the underground world of artists like Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb not to mention the inimitable Will Eisner and all the great tales Denis has of his life in comics.

For kid friendly browsing you can’t go wrong at Papercutz run by another of the great gentlemen publishers, Jim Salicrup. I have one of their Nancy Drew graphic novels that I love. There are tons of options here to please the finickiest non-adult person on your list. And if you’re still not sure, get a gift certificate and let Mr. or Miz Picky do his/her own shopping. Their books are high quality at great prices.

And don’t forget the classics like Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History. This beautiful book by Ron Goulart is one of the first books I purchased about the comics. It is still a great book with striking artwork and well-written prose. Ron’s knowledge of this genre is first-hand as he knew and befriended so many of the early pioneers of the game. His stories are often original source material so you need this book if you’re at all serious about your comics’ history.

If you want a splurge or you want to woo someone (hint, hint)–anything remotely affordable by the astoundingly gifted Steranko will do the trick. I had a hard time choosing a representative piece of artwork. The man is so talented in a variety of genres. Here’s a link to a wonderful site (The Drawings of Steranko) that also provides lots of links like Amazon where you can do your Santa Claus deal. Steranko rates in my book as the Maestro.

I’m placing Archie Comics here in the big book department but they are also Affordable Luxury. For Archie’s big book, Archie Marries… Michael Uslan and Stan Goldberg have created this luxurious book featuring all new stories about Archie and the gang. Michael took the idea of Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken and applied it to Archie and Veronica and Betty. It’s a huge hit and you’ll want this book. I do. If you catch Mr. Uslan as he flies hither and yon and get him to sign your book, Santa will get a well-deserved big smooch.

Finally I’m including the venerable Bobs here. Robert Beerbohm’s online bookstore BLB Books has thousands of affordable collectible comic books but he also has plenty of splurges for the serious collector on your list. I bought a nice Wonder Woman for one of my few gal pals who is into comics that was very reasonable but I saw plenty of others of the drool only category. If I were you I would email Bob and communicate with him directly if you’re planning on investment grade presents. Best to get knowledgeable advice from those in the know and Bob is your man.

The other venerable Robert is Overstreet. His 40^th Overstreet’s Guide just came out. That’s a phenomenal accomplishment and Bob’s your man here as well. The Overstreet Guide is for the person on your list who is serious about collecting comics and you might want one for yourself too. Published by Gemstone Publishing with scholar and gentleman, JC Vaughn at the helm, you can find new and back issues of their prolific output for fans and collectors from their various publications which also fits nicely in the Affordable Luxury department.

Part Two: Must Have Books by Writers and Artists

I’ve put various links onto the pics such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble or the publisher’s site but you should also visit your local independent bookstores and comic book stores. You can check out a few comic book stores listed here on the blog with links. Abrams seems to have quite a few of my favorite books on comics but the top of the list has to be Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics by Christopher Couch. Christopher is a dedicated writer who loves his subject matter. The book was written in collaboration with Jerry Robinson who is not only a gentleman in every sense of the word but has been a champion of artists’ rights thus the Ambassador title. This wonderful book filled with great illustrations is a fount of information about Jerry’s amazing career in comics. For those of you who are Batman aficiaonados you need this book.

Danny Fingeroth has wonderful how-to books with TwoMorrows press (see Affordable Luxury) that are excellent choices but my favorite of his is Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics and the Creation of the Superhero published by Continuum. It is a deeply intelligent book that gives you a much greater understanding of the contribution of Jewish immigrants to the comic book industry and Danny’s thoughts on how that came about. I truly loved this book and it made me appreciate even more what a smart and talented guy our Danny happens to be.

Of course, Gerard Jones should be on your list. His book Men of Tomorrow is a classic even if he did get the information wrong about the Major. I’m not holding it against him because there is so much information in here that sheds light on the entire industry and how it evolved although I’m not so sure evolved is the best word here. I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating—what I especially like about MOT is the way Gerard places everything within historical context. It makes a big difference in one’s understanding of the rise of this hugely popular cultural phenomena. Gerard also has other wonderful books on pop culture like Killing Monsters, The Beaver Papers and Honey I’m Home among many others which you can find on his very own Amazon page.

Howard Cruse is a dear friend so if you don’t know his work you may suspect my gushing. However, my 80ish grand dame of a mother-in-law whose usual bedside table reading consists of Jane Austen and the latest literary environmental guru has pronounced Howard’s graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby as one of the best books she’s ever read. So there you have it. Howard’s beautifully written and beautifully drawn book about being gay in the segregated south has just been re-issued by Vertigo (an imprint of DC) with a haunting new cover by Howard and an intro by Alison Bechdel of Dykes to Watch out For (another book that’s on my personal Santa list). I never go against anything the grande dame pronounces and neither should you if you know what’s good for you.

The new cover.© Howard Cruse

My dream team would be a collaboration between Marc Rosenthal artist extraordinaire and one of my favorite writers, Tom DeHaven. Marc’s art is reminiscent of a much earlier style that has an updated graphic look. Marc and I agree that some of the newer graphic novels and comics are simply dizzying to look at in the style of a Baz Lurman film at his most indulgent–Vertigo meets Moulin Rouge.

I’ve gone on about Tom DeHaven’s writing before. He writes like one of the heroes of the 30′s and 40′s–clean and sharp and takes you right there. His latest book on Superman called Superman, Our Hero on Earth is quite simply wonderful. I’m in the midst of reading his earlier fiction books, It’s Superman, Derby Dugan’s Depression Funnies and Funny Papers and they are sublime. More about that in the spring. If you know what’s good for you, track down these books and get them now before they cannot be got. I’ve helped you out with links.

Speaking of Supermen, if you want to encourage someone to be a lot smarter about comics then you should check out Mel Gordon and Tom Andrae’s latest book on Siegel and Shuster, Funnyman. It’s all about their Jewish hero Funnyman which I vaguely knew about and this book is a must read to get a broader picture of Siegel and Shuster and their careers. Knowing Tom and having heard Mel speak you can be assured it will not only be smart but a great read.

Finally, if you want to be au courant and on the cutting edge I’d check out Batton Lash’s fabulous comics Supernatural Law. They are beautifully drawn and the stories are great–absolutely hysterically funny! Batton is right up there with the best of the best and you would be wise to be collecting him right this minute. Buy his book on Amazon or get the comics from Exhibit A Press. Get several and you’ll be a super hero/heroine. And you can even like Supernatural Law on the Facebook. Better do it fast or you’ll be trailing behind the in-the-know crowd.

Part Three: Affordable Luxury

Adventure House as I’ve noted before is run by one of the gurus of pulps, John Gunnison. He has a huge selection of reprints and books about the pulps. They’re all enticing and in affordable price ranges. You’re going to get lost looking at everything so have fun wandering the stacks. John also has periodic auctions for serious buyers and again, I would communicate with him if you get to the investment level. You could just about do one-stop shopping here for your pulp enthusiasts but you don’t want to miss Bold Venture Press or Blood ‘n’ Thunder.

Blood ‘n’ Thunder Publications run by the knowledgeable Ed Hulse has back issues and the current issues are very affordable and quite handsome magazines about the pulps. I’m currently reading Ed’s Blood n Thunder Guide to Collecting Pulps which is top-notch. Even though I’ve been collecting for a while, I needed some guidance and this is the right place to start. You can find these at the Adventure House site.

Bold Venture Press is also a favorite site with reprints and books about the pulps. Rich Harvey promotes the art of gorgeous graphics and my favorite man about town, Jim Steranko is represented there as well with his illustrations in Compliments of the Domino Lady. I absolutely adore the book featured below, Deadly Dames edited by Gary Lovisi-”Sometimes the last man standing is a woman…” You know exactly who needs this book.

I am also a big fan of the upstart publishing group I Know Joe Kimpel. My pal Mario Van Buren is there and they have a variety of new works in a variety of price ranges. You should check them out if you want to know what’s going on with upcoming younger artists cause you don’t want to be left out of the loop. Ditto The Strangler Brothers with fantastic artwork by Melinda Davidson and delightfully weird stories by Judge Leverich and Josh Frankovich.

TwoMorrows Publishing run by two superb southern gentlemen—John Morrow, publisher and Roy Thomas, editor emeritus glorious is the perfect one stop shopping. They have a ton of books by everyone we all know and love which are very reasonably priced and aimed for those who want to learn more—count me in. Besides the current issues they also have back issues of Alter Ego, which are collectors’ items in themselves with great articles by among others, the renowned punster, kindly curmudgeon Jim Amash about anyone who is or was anyone in comics. We love them cause they did such a knock out job on helping people learn more about the Major and his contributions to comic books in issue #88 which you can still obtain. Here’s your clicky pic.

Speaking of Sir Roy Thomas you should check out his book The All-Star Companion, Vol. 4. I’m definitely going to because it “features, along with other info about the Justice Society and Roy’s 1980s revision of it, an article on M.C. Gaines’ International Crime Patrol of the late 1940s.” Roy, like the true gentleman he is, never goes on about himself. So if he tells you something you best jump on that bandwagon because it is for your benefit. Roy is one of the legends of comics so you won’t go wrong with anything that has his name upon it.

I managed to track down a couple of paperbacks written by the renowned Max Allan Collins. They may be out of print but you can still find them and they’re not hard on the pocket book. I love these books as they have some passing connection to my passion. The detective is none other than the son of the founder of “CD” Comics, “the Colonel.” The first murder A Killing in Comics is a fictionalized version of the fracas around just who owns Superman-oops-Wonder Guy. Donny Harrison the publisher of Americana Comics gets impaled on a birthday cake knife. Need I say more. I’m just envious that I didn’t write these myself. There are at least one or two people in the comics industry who deserve a writer’s take on their justice league desserts!

And once again, in the kid-friendly department Archie Comics led by Nancy Silberkleit, Jon Goldwater and Victor Gorelick are doing a truly amazing job with their latest comics. They’ve got some of the best writers and artists around like Alex Simmons, Jim Amash, Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz among others with the heroic Mike Pell at the editorial helm. You can buy online, buy a subscription, buy books. There are several different age groups here that you can buy for including adults who love the nostalgia. It won’t break the bank and what a pleasure to give and of course, receive.

I also ran across City of Spies, this fantastic graphic novel in The Bookloft and although it is aimed for the pre-teen or tween set I immediately wanted it for myself. Don’t go there! Santa’s helper dually took note so I’m hoping that I can be good all the way up to the 25th in order to get one in my stocking hung by the chimney with care. The artwork by Pascal Dizin is beautiful and the writing by veteran screen and mystery writers Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan seems like great fun.

I won myself at least 3 big gold stars for gifting Chris Hart’s book on Drawing Vampires: Gothic Creatures of the Night to my family favorite 13 year old. She was in ecstasy and for the moment I was the most wonderful person in the world. You can be one too if you check out any of his books for kids (and I suppose adults as well) teaching them how to draw Manga and other popular styles.

And there you have it. Remember to click on the pics and solve all your Santa Claus problems immediately. Stay tuned for the final installment, which reveals how Santa goes Buddhist to extol those who have been nice and dole out karma to those who have been super naughty.

Stuck Rubber Baby

Nicky Brown — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:23:49 +0000

I left the Gulf Coast in 1968 to attend school in what seemed to be far away Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham-Southern College is a liberal arts school in every sense of the word. It is liberal and it has a strong arts community. We used to call the local John Birch Society for a laugh because they had a recorded message condemning the school as a hotbed of communists specifically naming some of our favorite professors. The college sits on a hilltop with the kind of ivied brick buildings, Greek revival facades, quads with large old growth trees that could be plunked down in Massachusetts and nobody would blink an eye. It was a godsend to those of us who did not have the extra cash to make it all the way to the northeast. Our professors were graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard and Yale as well as distinguished southern colleges like Duke and Vanderbilt.

As it was a United Methodist College we had the requisite chaplain. Ours led us in anti-war marches and made sure we understood the significance of living in Birmingham, a town that bears the scars of some of the worst of the civil rights movement. We participated in programs with our sister school run by the Methodists, Miles College which at the time was an all black college. We attended the 6^th Avenue Baptist Church to hear Angela Davis speak and sat-in on the campus to mark the bombings in Cambodia. Bobby Seale came to the campus at one point and from the other end of the culture so did Mississippi Fred MacDowell the great blues singer as well as Johnny Shines brought there by our resident cultural anthropologist Jimmy Griffith. It was an amazing time.

From CollegeBoard.com ©respective holders.

I joined the theatre department under the direction of the brilliant Dr. Arnold Powell who exposed us to Peter Brooks, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco and to the concept of striving for the highest and best in all our creative efforts. We were housed in a building designed by Dr. Powell with a split lift revolving stage, cyclorama, movable seats for different configurations from circular to proscenium and an incredible lighting board much of which was used as the template for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. When I arrived the seniors of the last year were remarked upon and stories were told and Howard Cruse was one of those so noted. I was cast in my very first play—a short play that Howard had written and I was cast as a prostitute. I have no idea how or why because I was hardly seductive still wearing baby fat without a sophisticated bone in my body. Cheryl, what were you thinking?

Arnold Powell from Howard's Blog Loose Cruse. Clicky on the pic.

Cheryl Thacker, a brilliant lighting designer who would go on to a distinguished career in New York under the mentorship of the talented Jules Fisher was the director. I was thrilled to be working with such talented people and upperclassmen at that.

Howard came to the set and worked with us several times and I fell in love with him immediately. I don’t think I know anyone who is such a gentleman in every sense of the word. He has impeccable manners and he is one of the kindest souls I know. I consider myself fortunate to be his friend.

His intellect and artistry are without parallel. I have been saying for a long time that Stuck Rubber Baby is one of the best graphic novels ever and I mean it. It took Howard four years to finish this book and every line drawn and written is from the deep well of his heart and soul.

Howard is incredibly generous and supportive of all our artistic endeavors and always finds time to talk about your work with insight and care. With my own foray into the comics world he has been there for me with advice and information and the open door. I have gained entry by using Howard’s name, by saying that he is my long-time friend. There are people who immediately trust me and respect me simply because I am his friend. What does this say about the other person—that he is so well-respected that anyone among his group of friends carries the mantle of that respect.

Stuck Rubber Baby is probably one of the most beautifully drawn graphic novels I have ever read. Howard’s style is so precise and the story so well-written with such large powerful themes that the combination of all these things makes it a perfect graphic novel and without a doubt one of the best ever written which is exactly what I said at the beginning. It’s not just my opinion but something that you can see for yourself. It is on its simplest level a book about homophobia and racism in the south but as with all sophisticated works it is about so much more. The nuanced characters reveal the south in ways that very few writers are able to do and as both a writer and a southerner I deeply respect Howard’s ability to accomplish this.

It was such fun to be with Howard at San Diego Comic Con this year and see him receive the recognition he well deserves in all the panels and spotlights and signings. DC under their Vertigo Imprint has re-issued Stuck Rubber Baby (thank you DC and Vertigo!) with a beautiful and haunting new cover by Howard and a new introduction by Alison Bechdel, of the award winning comic strip, Dykes To Watch Out For. Alison is a great artist herself and my latest entry for the Jane Austen Irony Award.

I haven’t mentioned Howard’s husband Ed Sedarbaum who deserves his own column and who is Howard’s biggest fan albeit with a spouse’s gimlet eye for the personal. Suffice it to say Ed is every bit as talented and wonderful in his own right. We will all be gathering Saturday, the 16^th at 2 pm in Lenox, MA at Matt Tannenbaum’s absolutely fabulous independent bookstore, The Bookstore to hear Howard read and you can buy his book. Here is the link. Come and join Howard and his many friends to help cheer on a lovely man and an artist at the top of his game.

Comic Con 2010 in San Diego

Nicky Brown — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:28:22 +0000

The Setting

I’m glad to know that Comic Con is staying in San Diego. Although I’m new to the Comic Con scenario, I have come to love going out to San Diego. There’s just something about California—the sunshine, the palm trees, boats bobbing on the Pacific—the whole postcard setting that makes it so enticing. The first time I went in 2008, “the Major,” my grandfather, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson received an Eisner Award, finally beginning to be recognized for his tremendous contribution to the industry—he basically started the whole thing in 1934 with New Fun, all original comics and scripts. It was thrilling to be set up for the royal treatment by the woman who could easily run a small country, Jackie Estrada and her highly competent staff. With Jackie’s assistance I was able to organize a group of family members to attend including my then 80-year old uncle, Douglas Wheeler-Nicholson, an enthusiastic cheerleader of the cause. We had an incredible time with all the glamour and glitz we could possibly want. But truth to tell, in hindsight, it was not so easy for me. I somehow ended up as the resident tour director and you can just use your imagination for the various happy and unhappy endings to that story. So it was with a certain giddiness that I accepted the invitation to go once again in 2010—on my own!

And now that we’ve got Comic Con New York coming up this Friday, October 8, I’m here to report that I had a fabulous time in San Diego in July. Since it took place right in the midst of the sci-fi horror show of the Gulf Oil Spill, it was an added incentive to get away. I had arrived “down south” from my home in Massachusetts to the languid heat of the Gulf Coast where my family has been for 7 generations. It was weird to see the bay and Gulf empty of all activity at the height of summer—no boats, no swimmers, no shrimpers—nothing except the Coast Guard boats moving boom against the dark tide of oil. So it was a welcome respite to see friends and fans at Comic Con and then visit my West Coast cousins.

Orange Beach, Al at dawn. ©Lesley Lomers

The hotel I stayed in was about 7 blocks away and referred to as a European boutique hotel. It was lovely and everybody who worked there was under 30 and gorgeous. It is California after all. I suppose it was referred to as a European boutique hotel because of that and the fact that the bathroom and luxurious tub were surrounded by glass—no privacy there—you could imagine yourself with your very own Jean Paul Belmondo in various aquatic configurations. I was just happy to be able to sink into warm oblivion alone after walking miles each day and being bombarded with the stimulus of 150,000 or so people and all the attendant media. Next time Jean Paul, next time.

Everybody's here. © BMA studios

The Panels

Knowing that several DC and Warner Brothers lawyers would be in attendance at the panel I was on entitled “More Fun with Siegel and Shuster” did give me pre-performance jitters. Gerard Jones, who would be Cary Grant if Cary Grant loved comics the way Gerard does, made it all as smooth as John Robie, Cary’s cat burglar in To Catch A Thief. Gerard in his easygoing erudite way was a great moderator and the other panelists were terrific.

Gerard Jones © David Armstrong

I have no idea what I said, I think I did manage to talk about how “the Major” created Slam Bradley. The audience, including all the lawyers, seemed to enjoy it—whew. Brad Ricca, a professor at Case Western and a very talented documentary filmmaker among other things (Last Son) presented a short version of his bounty of information about Siegel and Shuster and their lives in Cleveland and spoke about how Siegel and Shuster made Slam Bradley their very own character. Lauren Agostino presented her fascinating tale of finding legal documents from the original lawsuits of the whole Dickensian Siegel and Shuster versus DC saga. Believe it or not they were on their way to the local landfill. I can’t possibly do justice to the story so let this pique your curiosity and catch Lauren the next time she appears.

Bradley "the Slam" Ricca

I especially loved Mel Gordon’s talk on Siegmund Breitbart, a Polish Jew who toured the United States in the 1920’s and was billed as The Strongest Man in the World. Breitbart may well have been one of the important influences upon Siegel and Shuster for their original ideas about Superman. Mel is not only a smart guy professor at UC Berkeley but he’s a great raconteur and had us all spellbound. He and good friend, writer and professor Tom Andrae just completed a book, Funnyman about the later character created by Siegel and Shuster, the first Jewish Superhero.

Many thanks to David Armstrong fellow comics historian and a superb filmmaker for his photos of the event and to Jamie Coville, one of the nicest guys ever who is one of the unsung archivists at these events. Jamie recorded this panel among others and here is a link if you’ve a mind. It was great to see Mike Catron, who knows as much as anyone about the early comics and Super Collector, Mark Zaid, Esquire. Thanks also to Wayne Smith for his attention to detail and his help in making sure I get things right and Jay Kogan, who truly loves what he does and happens to be one of the nicest lawyers I know (and yes there is such a thing). How can you argue with that? I was especially grateful to see my good friend, Rod Welles who dropped in from one of the other worlds I inhabit. It was a special treat to have fellow southerner Randy Duncan supporting us all and whose book The Power of Comics co-authored with Matthew Smith, I’m now reading and highly recommend. There are the usual quibbles about the Major but hey, we’re all working on that, right?

Peter Coogan, our fearless leader from the Comics Arts Conference and The Institute for Comic Studies handled things as adroitly as ever and it was over before I knew it and I survived! From then on it was just fun and even more fun.

My long time friend and a great comics artist, Howard Cruse also happened to be at Comic Con. He was a special guest and in appearance everywhere. As much as I know about Howard, it was such a pleasure to see him interviewed in a panel by Blake Bell who did a superb job of drawing out all the many facets of Howard’s long career from his early beginnings in Alabama where Howard and I first met at Birmingham-Southern College to his creation of Barefootz, Wendel and the newly reissued Stuck Rubber Baby. Stuck Rubber Baby is in my humble opinion one of the best graphic novels ever. Howard knows how to tell a good story and his artwork is stunning. In one of those fortunate twists of fate, Howard and his spouse Ed Sedarbaum now live near me in the Berkshires. Yes, eat your hearts out because you know how great these two guys are.

One of my other favorite panels was a spotlight on Jerry Robinson, one of the great legends of comics—70 years, no less! Michael Uslan, the producer of the Batman movies and a top-notch comics writer himself, Archie Marries, interviewed Jerry and it was another fascinating glimpse into a long career from which came much of the Batman mythos. I especially enjoyed seeing some of Jerry’s artwork that was unfamiliar to me. This is clearly sacrilege but I like Jerry’s London series best. They are beautifully drawn and haunting. It was also a privilege to see some examples of Jerry’s fine artwork. Besides being a gentleman with a dry wit, Jerry Robinson is a very talented artist in many genres. I should also mention Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics, a new book written by N. Christopher Couch, professor at U Mass in Amherst. There are some great stories and lots of new material so if you love the history of comics this is a must read. I am especially grateful to Christopher because he not only introduced me to a fellow pulp heir but made it possible for me to meet the legendary Harvey Pekar just months before he passed away. More about that later.

The Big Picture

Friday night was the premiere of the documentary film on the 75 years of DC. Since my grandfather had a little something to do with the beginnings I was naturally curious. Sean Welch, the producer of Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics and Mac Carter, the director are highly talented guys—Spellbound and the new doc—Lucky about lottery winners which is getting the same rave reviews as Spellbound did. However, there was a lot of skepticism among those who have experience in the film business as to whether they could pull it off in the short time they were given. Well, this is what separates the auteurs from the hypesters. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here to report, they did it and they did it with style. I suspect neither of them had slept in a week or so but they were still standing when the film started and are about as nice as they can possibly be.

Given the tons of material and hundreds of people they were coordinating in telling the story they could not have been more solicitous and careful in the few moments of film time they gave to Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. They took the care to get it right and they didn’t trash the old guy, which in itself was thrilling for a change. Although we had talked about a little longer script by the time it got down to the wire there was simply not enough time to tell much. They used some of the evocative photographs Swedish cousin Finn Andreen took of Grandfather Nick when he was in Sweden in 1948-49 and Finn was a youth. Thanks guys so much. We all really appreciate it! The film will be screened again in New York during Comic Con on Saturday at 4pm.

The Eisners

This is always a treat with lots of surprise guests and great fun. This year the Eisners were in a new swell venue at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront and there is obviously a good chef there as we were provided with delicious food. Friend Howard Cruse was my date and we had a great time seeing lots of friends and oohing and aahing at all the tremendous talent presented. It was lovely to see Howard’s longtime friend Denis Kitchen win an Eisner for Best Comics-Related Book, The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics, by Denis and Paul Buhle. Denis is a stalwart of the comics community having worn many creative hats over the years and has been a champion of Will Eisner’s for a very long time. Nice. I’m not at all surprised because I was fortunate to see an early version of the book while Denis was trying his best to steer me through the shoals. Remember, Denis, patience is a virtue. I have to admit one of my favorite moments of the evening was being able to astonish the unstoppably talented and unflappably soigné Chip Kidd. That was fun.

Out on the Floor

This is when it gets wild and wooly out on the floor of the exhibit hall tracking down friends and running into everyone and searching out someone you promised to meet. It is a cacophony of sound, lights, color and hordes of people thronging the aisles many in fantastic costumes and the ubiquitous nekid girls.

I always love seeing Jeff Vaughn of Gemstone Publishing who is not a nekid girl. He is such a good guy and has his pulse on the business end of things. It’s good to check in with him. He made sure that I got to meet Robert Overstreet, the man behind Overstreet’s Guide who has had an incredible career and is one of a handful of well-respected comics historians before there was such a thing. Robert has a 40^th edition out now and it is spectacular for comics collectors and historians… Attorney sister Christine’s favorite comics creator Batton Lash was manning his booth featuring his outrageously original, Supernatural Law Comics in his usual debonair style… Robert Beerbohm, a comics dealer and comics historian who not only knows a thing or two about comics but has himself been part of some of the history of the last 40 years, showed me some amazing early comics. We could have talked for hours but he was way too much in demand in the midst of his booth crammed with comics… My dashing young friend Mario Van Buren of I Know Joe Kimpel comics gallantly came to my rescue at one point seeing me flailing in the throng and took me out for a coffee break in the sunshine. Speaking of Mario, his cooperative comics group came out of the Center for Cartoon Studies, the school co-founded by James Sturm who was in attendance with his stunningly beautiful graphic novel, Market Day… The Archie gang were all there with Nancy Silberkleit at the helm and of course, Michael Uslan who has generated many new fans and brought back old ones with his new stories about Archie and the roads taken. Michael is a fount of wisdom about comics and many other questions in life and happens to be one of the most generous people I know…

Jim Salicrup of PaperCutz entertained me in between customers. Since I adore Nancy Drew and Jim is such a lovely man, it wasn’t that difficult. Jim, who is on the board of The Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art founded by our pal Lawrence Klein is another generous soul. We were talking about Alex Simmons, Archie writer and creator of BlackJack Comics who tirelessly works on behalf of kids through his Kids Comic Con… There are a lot of good guys out there. This is one of the big reasons I love hanging out with this group besides the incredible array of talent. You would think that with all that many people there would be a lot of shoving, pushing and rudeness. I’ve not experienced that at all and I suspect it has something to do with the underlying shared communal ideals, you know, the fairness, justice doctrine… John Morrow of TwoMorrows publishing was there, of course. We’re fellow Mobilians, which doesn’t mean a thing to anybody except us, but to us it matters! John does a great job with AlterEgo among the other things he publishes and our family owes him a huge debt of gratitude for helping get the word out about grandfather Nick’s true history in the August 2009 issue ably helmed by the multi-talented and true blue gentleman, Roy Thomas and the irrepressible Jim Amash… I had a crazed fan moment—oh come on, everybody’s allowed at least one—when I happened upon Keith Knight. I have adored Keith’s comics for years. He is one of the funniest guys around, topically speaking, with sly irreverent wit. I managed to snare an original print from him and tried my best not to gush too much. I did not succeed. Sorry about that Keith…

Somehow I kept missing Craig Yoe, which seems crazy as it is almost impossible to miss the talented Mr. Yoe and somebody needs to make sure he’s nominated for an Eisner as he is not only prolific but does beautiful work. His book on Milt Gross is just one stellar example… At one point Mr. Jones and I took a stroll around the shrubbery, I mean, aisles and happened on a very interesting new graphic novel, the Strangler Brothers Automotive , a quirky story of two brothers who run an automotive shop. It was created and written by Judge Leverich and Josh Frankovich and drawn by Melinda Davidson. I really loved the style and the fact that the artist is a girl! That was nice. It is always so inspiring to see the work of so many talented people.

Gerard, another prolific writer—I swear I don’t know how he does it with all the tweets, thousands of Facebook fans, several blogs and oh, yeah, a couple of new books every time you turn around—has a new graphic novel with Mark Badger, Networked: Carabella on the Run. It’s about the whole social networking scene and all the issues around our ongoing reality show lives and besides being fascinating, it’s gorgeous… Of course, I ended up at the DC booth like a homing pigeon or maybe just a sitting duck—hard to know. But it was great to see Paul Levitz, smiling and thoroughly enjoying himself. He was on practically every panel about the history of comics that took place over the whole 4 days since he knows whereof he speaks and his new book by Taschen, 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking,

a hefty tome was the talk of the town. I’m a little skittish about reading it since he mentioned to me not too long ago that it’s easy to look at the same information and come out with different viewpoints. I’m hoping that doesn’t mean what I think it does. No matter, his book will be a classic, that’s for sure.

Finally, the best thing of all was seeing my dear friend Howard Cruse ensconced at the DC booth with his book Stuck Rubber Baby chatting away with fans. That was worth it all right there.

I think you get the picture. I left out all the carousing. If you made it this far, bless your heart. And Steve, as promised, this is for you!

Comics with your Coffee

Nicky Brown — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:18:58 +0000

We had a great time on Saturday at Storefront Artist Project in spite of the crazy weather. It was a small but select crowd and Howard Cruse was his usual engaging and generous self to the young fans who were there. I was fascinated by one young man who follows the artists’ work more than the particular comics story. That’s a pretty sophisticated way to look at comics. I don’t think anyone from my generation who grew up with comics would even think of such a thing. It’s indicative to me of a greater respect for the work of individual artists who contribute to the medium and that’s as it should be.

Storefront Artist Project: Cartoon and Comic Art Come Alive

Speaking of super heros Lawrence Klein has done his own version of heroics with this month’s amazing programming at Storefront Artist Project: Cartoon and Comic Art Come Alive. The entire month has been jam-packed with activities featuring major comic books artists, all of it free, kid friendly and accessible to a diverse population. Scott Hanna’s drawings have been in the gallery at 124 Fenn St. in Pittsfield all month and they are beautiful. Next Saturday night is the closing reception from 6-8 pm and Scott will be on hand again so if you haven’t seen this exhibit and you want to meet Scott be sure and go.

Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse

I was excited to learn that my friend Howard Cruse’s graphic novel, Stuck Rubber Baby is being reissued by Vertigo, DC Comics line of “comics and books for mature readers.” Congratulations, Howard. It’s about time. This is a grown-up tale and it’s one of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read with the most beautifully crafted artwork. If you see it in your local bookstore or in all the usual places grab it. It’s a keepsake. Jump over to Howard’s blog to learn more.

Blackjack, an African-American Action Hero as created by Alex Simmons

And finally with that last sip of coffee, Alex Simmons is over at GraphicNovelReporter for a guest spot. Alex is one of the good guys in comics who tirelessly supports getting kids back into the comics world, using comics as a way to teach kids to read through things like workshops and Kids Comic Con which he created. Alex also writes for Archie comics and he has created Blackjack whom I just discovered and is now one of my favorite characters. You won’t be sorry to check out whatever Alex is doing because it’s always thoughtful and entertaining. Jump over to GraphicNovelReporter before you finish that coffee. See you later.