Here is the main text of CBG #1670‘s letters column with additional art that we didn’t have room for in the print edition. You’ll find the comic strips, Flashbacks, and Tony’s Back Page in the print edition, on sale now.
COMICS MEMORIES
Don Petrone
3219 Silverthorne Dr.
Fort Collins, CO 80526
In early 1957, I was 8 years old. It was a cold but sunny Saturday in my childhood home of Brockton, Mass. My dad brought me to the local Weatheril’s Drugstore, and I was treated to a mug of 5¢ root beer at the soda fountain. Two minutes later, as I waited for Dad, I checked out the comic-book spinner rack right next to the door. There was a comic there I couldn’t take my eyes from — I wasn’t sure what “Challengers” meant, but the cover had a giant robot holding a lady in its palm and fighting military-looking guys. Wow!
I’d never bought a comic book. (I’d only read my older brother’s Tarzans, Turoks, Blackhawks, and Atlas monster comics.)
I asked Dad if I could use some of my newly instituted 25¢-per-week allowance to buy that comic: Showcase #7 with The Challengers of the Unknown. Admittedly, it looked already read many times, and my father asked Mr. Weatheril, “What kinda books you sellin’ here?” The owner said that the “hang-around” kids in the store would sometimes read them. I was terrified at what my father was implying, and with that terror was vanishing my first comic-book buy! I immediately implored him to let me buy it. He asked me if I wouldn’t rather have some “newer” book. I told him, “No! Really!” So he said, “OK.” Then I reminded him that the rule was that I couldn’t take my allowance money out of the house. So, by default, he bought it for me.
At home, I read that comic over and over. My very own first comic!
A few days later, on the way home from school, in that same store, fate allowed my eye to be caught by yet another comic with those same Challengers guys on the cover. Only this time they were cracking open a giant egg and some incredible monster-reptilian arm was emerging! (This comic looked even more pre-read than my first one.)
I eagerly grabbed the comic and asked the nice lady behind the counter if she’d please put it aside for me while I ran home and got 10¢. At home, Mom wasn’t there (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!) So, rule or not, I took one of my two accumulated allowance quarters and biked it to Weatheril’s. Moments later, I owned 15¢ and Showcase #6 with another Challengers of the Unknown story. (Yes! For some cosmic reason, #6 was still on the spinner rack, unsold! It was, indeed, fairly beat-up — perhaps the reason it had taken up residence there?)
The rest is history. At age 62, I’m still an avid comics collector. In 1968 I sold the bulk of my collection for cash to get married (to my current wife of 42 years). But I still have these original, bought-off-the-spinner-rack copies of Showcase #6 and 7 (and, by the way, also #11 and 12.) (I later bought another copy of each, too.) I also have my well-read spinner-rack copies of Fantastic Four #1 and Showcase #22.Showcase #4 (My childhood copy of was a late-’50s second-hand buy, and I still have that.)
Michelle, your recent Challengers article (CBG #1668) delighted and entranced me! Brent, I don’t have a vintage super-hero ring like the Legion ring you showed in CBG #1668, but I do still have my late-’70s kryptonite in a box!
Thanks so much! Keep up such great stuff!
Brent: I’m glad we were able to bring back such fond memories for you — and thanks for sharing them with us.
RECYCLING
Pab Sungenis
Creator, New Adventures of Queen Victoria
In CBG #1668, David Klees presented two Nancy comic strips that were nearly identical, even though one of them was from March 1961 and the other from 1974. Maggie Thompson commented upon the recycling of the gag and explained that it isn’t standard practice.
However, the fact is that, although it’s not standard practice today (thanks mainly to the examples of Garry Trudeau and Bill Watterson, which made it acceptable for reruns of a strip to appear during a sabbatical), back in the 1970s there were certain circumstances that could precipitate the wholesale recycling of strips. The illness or other incapacitation of a strip’s creator could occasionally force a strip into retouched reruns.
One of the most notable examples of this was Pogo. As Walt Kelly’s health deteriorated in the early 1970s, most of the day-to-day work on his strip was taken over by his assistants George Ward and Henry Shikuma, whose jobs grew from lettering and detail to full inks and, eventually, most of the art — with Kelly providing scripts and roughs. When Kelly was forced into the hospital and eventually had his leg amputated, work on the strip ground to a halt. Needing a fresh supply of strips for the syndicate fast, someone in the Kelly studio took stats of a Pogo storyline that had originally made fun of the Suez Canal crisis from 15 years earlier, retouched the art slightly, and relettered the strips to get rid of topical references.
Looking at the two Nancy strips side-by-side leads me to wonder whether something similar could have happened with Ernie Bushmiller in 1974. While Bushmiller was (as, let’s admit it, every cartoonist was or is) not above recycling a gag from time to time in a pinch, the near-identical art leads me to believe that there was something more at work than just reusing a setup and punchline. Not only are all of the characters’ poses identical in each panel, but many of the details are the same. Especially notable are the musical notes in the first two panels, which are almost perfect duplicates.
Was there a situation where Bushmiller had an illness or emergency that would have made him unable to meet a deadline and forced an assistant to take a strip from 13 years earlier and either retouch or recreate it? It would be especially interesting to see if any other strips from around Aug. 7, 1974, also were also repeats of gags and strips from the 1960s.
Perhaps some historian more familiar with the details of Bushmiller’s life could shed light on this subject. Was there a situation in Bushmiller’s life in the late spring or summer of 1974 that would have caused a need for wholesale reproduction, if there was any?
AL WILLIAMSON
Chris Bonham
Al Williamson has been my favorite artist since 1980. Between picking up his adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back off the stands as well as the first few issues of Creepy and Eerie from a used bookstore in Maryland, I became a fan for life.
Many years later, I was all set to meet Williamson in person for the first time at the 1997 Comic-Con International: San Diego, but serious health issues ended up keeping me away. My friend and employer, Bob Ficarra, attended, and, as luck would have it, found himself sitting next to Al at the pool at the Hyatt adjacent to the convention center. Bob spoke of me and my situation to him, and Al was genuinely concerned. He didn’t know either of us before that day, yet, a couple weeks later, a package arrived at the comics shop where we worked containing a piece of original art with the handwritten inscription: “To Chris, My thoughts are with you. Al Williamson.”
A few months after that, the phone rang at work, and it was Williamson following up to see how I was doing. I was actually doing much better, because I had just returned to work, and was able to speak with him and thank him and let him know how his generosity had touched me in such an amazing way.
In 2000, he was going to be in San Diego again for a big E.C. Comics reunion. This time, I was able to attend. I had the opportunity to finally meet him in person and was able to convey the positive impact he’d had on my life during that difficult time for me three years earlier.
Also present in 2000 were Angelo Torres and other E.C. artists, and it gave me the idea that they should also have a reunion in the comic books. Wouldn’t it be great if they all got back together for one more science fiction-horror-war anthology?
Al Williamson and Mark Schultz illustrated a
story for Treehouse of Horror #11 (2005).
I pitched that to Bill Morrison at Bongo Comics and, along with Steve Ringgenberg, we wrote an E.C. homage story for Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #11 that was published in 2005. With the help of Mark Schultz, Al was able to complete what may have been his last published comic-book story. I am very lucky to have been a part of that.
Al Williamson has been an inspiration to me for the past 30 years. His talent and kindness will continue to motivate me into the future.
Brent: That E.C. reunion was an outstanding series of events at Comic-Con in 2000. The panels were some of the most entertaining I’ve ever been to, the autograph session under the sails was a lot of fun (I was fortunate enough to get in line just before it was cut off), and having a chance to visit with each of the E.C. creators provided all attendees with warm memories that they’ll cherish forever. I remember Williamson deprecating his own work, claiming that he just dashed it off so he could go outside and play ball or goof off more. Of course, no one believed him.
CON PROS AND CONS
Chris Galvan
Adventure Con was held May 28-30, moving from its previous venue at the Knoxville Convention Center to the Grand Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. For those unfamiliar with the area, Pigeon Forge could be described as a “mini Las Vegas” without the gambling. As a next-door neighbor to the Smoky Mountains National Park, it features the same kind of garish electronic billboards and “touristy” glitz as Vegas, but with miniature golf and gem-mining attractions substituting for casinos.
Unfortunately, the convention was a disappointment in many ways to both fans and dealers, with a smaller, more crowded building that had poor lighting and about half as many dealers as last year’s show. The significant drop in comics and toy dealers resulted in the necessity of adding such other types of dealers as tattoo artists and sword and knife vendors. Even with these additions, there were still empty tables in the dealer room.
Many cost-cutting measures were immediately noticeable, such as the replacement of a weekend badge with irritating wristbands (difficult to keep on for an entire weekend and even more difficult to remove), as well as the elimination of a program book. The closest item was a single piece of paper that contained a list of events and guests, which I almost missed in my pile of flyers, and barely even identified as “Adventure Con.” Program guides are often taken for granted and seem like a minor aspect of a convention. However, they give many fans a sense of identity of the show and often become a life-long souvenir of the event. When I pull an old convention program out of a box, good memories of that particular show usually come along for the ride.
From the moment the convention opened at noon on Friday, it appeared to be in a state of disarray. The lines that were created to separate prepaid attendees from onsite ticket purchasers were all but forgotten, as a couple hundred fans surged forward in one chaotic rush after a loudspeaker announcement officially opened the convention. The Grand Resort is a much smaller building than the Knoxville Convention Center, and the excited, unorganized crowd was not handled well by convention staffers.
Billy Dee Williams, scheduled to appear on Friday and Saturday, was absent for several hours on the first day of the show. With his name still listed at his booth on Sunday, confused fans searched through the media-guest section in the back of the convention center, where other celebrities seemed to be missing, too. Perhaps the most notable cancellation was Charisma Carpenter of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars fame, who was unable to attend, “due to a last minute filming schedule conflict,” according to the convention website. The Knoxville.com news blog commented, “She was committed to do the ABC Family series Greek, and had to be on standby for shooting until June 9.” Staff members at the information booth appeared unprepared for specific questions about comics guests, and one staffer thought an artist I inquired about was “one of the wrestlers.” Other celebrity guest appearances included Neil Kaplan, Jake Lloyd, and Deep Roy.
The primary complaint among dealers was consistently the same: the lack of adequate lighting throughout the facility. While some dealers struggled to sell high-grade Silver Age issues that were difficult for potential customers to examine thoroughly, others supplemented with their own light source, depending on their placement in the building. Amazingly, bright yellow ribbons covering the ceiling obscured even further the limited lighting that was available. The reason for the ribbons was unclear; this type of decoration would be more at home at a state fair than at a comic-book and media event.
Will Chapman, the owner of BrickArms, was set up in an area of the building with some of the poorest lighting, and it clearly affected his ability to showcase his products effectively: custom-designed Lego mini-figures and weapons. Dealers also commented that Friday and Sunday were both slow days, with Saturday having the highest level of traffic. Not surprisingly, most of them increased discounts significantly on the final day of the show to move product. One large dealer in particular had most of his $1 boxes reduced to 3 for $1.
However, there were positive and fun aspects to the show, such as the return of the DeLorean featured in the Back to the Future trilogy, as well as a replica of the TARDIS used in Doctor Who. Photo opportunities were available with the DeLorean for a $20 donation that went to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Ghost Rider co-creator Gary Friedrich was one of the featured guests of honor. He signed prints for sale at his table, as well as copies of any Ghost Rider comic, whether or not he’d written them. The highlight of the entire convention for me was purchasing a Ghost Rider (Vol. 1) #1 at a reasonable price, courtesy of Charles Bond Comics. Friedrich then signed my just-purchased copy about 15 minutes later, leaving me with a great addition to my collection. Other comics creators included Marv Wolfman and Arthur Suydam, who were accessible with the light crowds on Friday and Sunday.
After attending two of the three days, my wife and I both agreed that Adventure Con 2010 had taken a huge downturn from last year’s event. Unfortunately, the convention does not have a forum for attendees to voice their opinions or provide feedback about the show, in the way that some other conventions provide through Facebook or a website blog. I hope the organizers will rethink some of the logistics and bring the convention to where it had been in previous years.
APPRECIATING ANNIVERSARIES
Jeff Dyer
With the release of Superman #700, Batman #700, and Wonder Woman #600 (Yay for historic numbering restored!), I am remembering anniversary issues of the past. It seems to me that the 1980s saw the best anniversary issues from DC.
One of the best (if not the best) single anniversary issues was Superman #400 (Oct 84). What an issue that was! Remember? Editor Julie Schwartz wanted to assemble the biggest group of creators to help honor The Man of Steel. The cover by Howard Chaykin was just the start of the amazing stories and art inside. The story, which spanned centuries, celebrated everything great about Superman. The art included work by Brian Bolland, John Byrne, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Mike Kaluta, Frank Miller, Moebius, Marshall Rogers, Jerry Robinson, Walter Simonson, Leonard Starr, Bernie Wrightson, and many more. The issue was capped with a breathtaking Steranko Superman tale that I can never forget.
Then there was Batman #400 (Oct 86), a similar treat with art by Joe Kubert, George Pérez, Steve Rude, and many more. It even had an essay by Stephen King!
And don’t get me started on Justice League of America #200 (Mar 82), a jam-packed epic by Jim Aparo, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Joe Kubert, Pérez, and more. The story featured all the classic members of The JLA teaming against a cosmic menace.
And what about Flash #300 (Aug 81) — a wonderful dream-like story by Carmine Infantino that touched on many of the hallmarks of the Flash legend?
Finally, there was Detective Comics #526 (May 83), celebrating Batman’s 500th appearance in that title. The Gerry Conway-Don Newton story pitted Batman against all his major foes. It also was the moment when Bruce Wayne took on a new ward named Jason Todd. The book included a pin-up by Bob Kane.
I could say, “They don’t make ’em like they used to,” but that would make me sound like an old geezer. I’m really not, but I do enjoy anniversary issues. Let’s hope comics publishers continue to celebrate the long histories of their most iconic characters.
Brent: I, too, enjoy anniversary issues, since they’re usually a treat. JLA #200 is also one of my favorites. I remember seeing Flash #300 on the newsstand at the local grocery store but didn’t pick it up at the time, since I wasn’t a big Flash fan. Superman #400 was, as you wrote, probably the best anniversary issue from DC.
Will Eisner was just one of the many creators to
contribute a pin-up to Superman #400.
The Magazine
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