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Post by MDG on Nov 28, 2022 18:26:23 GMT -5
I've got a lot of oddball comic-related stuff, as well as several original pages, con sketches, and commissions. I find that of non-published items, the ones that mean the most to me I associate with the memories of the event where I got them. However, this is from the only time I mailed a letter to an artist asking to buy a piece. He sent it to me, trusting me to send him a money order after I received it. It's by Justin Green whose passing earlier this year was terribly overshadowed by the death of George Perez. I was probably 15 or 16 at the time; the piece includes character sketches drawn on the back of a printer's ink demo, about 13" x 13" with some additional pieces pasted on.  On the bottom, he replies to my saying I wanted to be a cartoonist: "You can take my place. I quit!" |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2022 20:12:29 GMT -5
I've got a lot of oddball comic-related stuff, as well as several original pages, con sketches, and commissions. I find that of non-published items, the ones that mean the most to me I associate with the memories of the event where I got them. However, this is from the only time I mailed a letter to an artist asking to buy a piece. He sent it to me, trusting me to send him a money order after I received it. It's by Justin Green whose passing earlier this year was terribly overshadowed by the death of George Perez. I was probably 15 or 16 at the time; the piece includes character sketches drawn on the back of a printer's ink demo, about 13" x 13" with some additional pieces pasted on. On the bottom, he replies to my saying I wanted to be a cartoonist: "You can take my place. I quit!" Amazing story (I love the money order part!), such a cool piece of art, and the inscription on the bottom takes the cake. I have to ask, did you end up pursuing cartooning? |
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Post by MDG on Nov 28, 2022 21:36:52 GMT -5
Amazing story (I love the money order part!), such a cool piece of art, and the inscription on the bottom takes the cake. I have to ask, did you end up pursuing cartooning? Yes, I signed with King Features and appear in 120 papers with my widely-loved stri--- I kid, of course. This is as close as I got though I might pursue some self-published projects when I retire. I still gots the bug. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 28, 2022 22:36:24 GMT -5
Amazing story (I love the money order part!), such a cool piece of art, and the inscription on the bottom takes the cake. I have to ask, did you end up pursuing cartooning? Yes, I signed with King Features and appear in 120 papers with my widely-loved stri--- I kid, of course. This is as close as I got though I might pursue some self-published projects when I retire. I still gots the bug.
You had covers published - I don't call that getting close, I call that actually getting there, making it.
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Post by tartanphantom on Nov 28, 2022 22:37:04 GMT -5
While not strictly comics, Vertigo is directly comics-adjacent and is listed on the GCD due to its significance as an early precursor to the graphic novel. Ward created a series of wordless novels, told with no text, dialogue or narrative-- using nothing but his own illustrations in 230 hand-cut woodcuts. It took Ward over two years to make all of the woodcuts. This was the last of Ward's wordless novels, and is one of the rarest of his works, as the first printing was the ONLY printing for over 70 years. The book was not reprinted until 2009. My wife found it in a local antique bookshop and gave it to me for my birthday several years ago. I was ecstatic... finding a complete 1st edition of Vertigo in good shape is like finding the Ark of the Covenant.
The significance of Ward's work has also been acknowledged by Art Spiegelman as "a key work of Depression-era literature."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2022 0:10:28 GMT -5
I know it says 1 image and there is 2 here, but that's the story behind it...   I commissioned a Conan piece from a local artist Adam Fields. I had commissioned other pieces form him before, and supported his self-published comic Prowl, and watched his career grow (he's done al to of stuff for smaller publishers, other indy publishers, sets of cards for Upper Deck's Marvel card series, etc.). I caught Adam at the beginning of a 6 hour show (10-4) and commissioned a Conan sketch in black and white. He was excited to do it, and set to work while I was wandering the con. Adam took it upon himself to add a splash of red to the piece at no extra charge, and when I came by his table again around noon, he showed me the piece on the left, and frowned at me, saying he wasn't satisfied with how it came out. He asked me if I wanted to take it for free and offered me my money back, or offered to do another. I told him neither was necessary, I was fine with it and to keep the money. He didn't want to do that, but agreed. Later, as I was leaving the show, I had to pass his table again, and he jumped out to catch me, handing me the full color piece on the right, telling me this was mine too, as he couldn't let the other piece go as is, so he did a second full color sketch (which cost more than the b&w I commissioned) at no charge to me and for me to keep both. Not a lot of creators would do that, and Adam is a really good guy. It's not my favorite piece of art I have commissioned (it's not even the favorite piece I have from Adam, don't me wrong, I really like it but I have others I like more) but it is one of my favorite interactions with a creator just because of what a stand up guy Adam is. Both pieces are framed and on display in my stairwell leading up to our finished gaming/comic room in the attic. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2022 9:36:38 GMT -5
While not strictly comics, Vertigo is directly comics-adjacent and is listed on the GCD due to its significance as an early precursor to the graphic novel. Ward created a series of wordless novels, told with no text, dialogue or narrative-- using nothing but his own illustrations in 230 hand-cut woodcuts. It took Ward over two years to make all of the woodcuts. This was the last of Ward's wordless novels, and is one of the rarest of his works, as the first printing was the ONLY printing for over 70 years. The book was not reprinted until 2009. My wife found it in a local antique bookshop and gave it to me for my birthday several years ago. I was ecstatic... finding a complete 1st edition of Vertigo in good shape is like finding the Ark of the Covenant.
The significance of Ward's work has also been acknowledged by Art Spiegelman as "a key work of Depression-era literature." I can only imagine the expression on your face when you opened it, that's a heck of a birthday present  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2022 9:43:45 GMT -5
I commissioned a Conan piece from a local artist Adam Fields. I had commissioned other pieces form him before, and supported his self-published comic Prowl, and watched his career grow (he's done al to of stuff for smaller publishers, other indy publishers, sets of cards for Upper Deck's Marvel card series, etc.). I caught Adam at the beginning of a 6 hour show (10-4) and commissioned a Conan sketch in black and white. He was excited to do it, and set to work while I was wandering the con. Adam took it upon himself to add a splash of red to the piece at no extra charge, and when I came by his table again around noon, he showed me the piece on the left, and frowned at me, saying he wasn't satisfied with how it came out. He asked me if I wanted to take it for free and offered me my money back, or offered to do another. I told him neither was necessary, I was fine with it and to keep the money. He didn't want to do that, but agreed. Later, as I was leaving the show, I had to pass his table again, and he jumped out to catch me, handing me the full color piece on the right, telling me this was mine too, as he couldn't let the other piece go as is, so he did a second full color sketch (which cost more than the b&w I commissioned) at no charge to me and for me to keep both. Not a lot of creators would do that, and Adam is a really good guy. It's not my favorite piece of art I have commissioned (it's not even the favorite piece I have from Adam, don't me wrong, I really like it but I have others I like more) but it is one of my favorite interactions with a creator just because of what a stand up guy Adam is. Both pieces are framed and on display in my stairwell leading up to our finished gaming/comic room in the attic. -M That is an incredibly inspiring story. Not to get too philosophical here, but I feel like in a world that sometimes feels increasingly filled with people who often act indifferently to each other (my perception probably being a mix of getting older as well as reality), hearing about someone who wanted to make right simply because they felt like they didn't live up to their own standards even though there was no pressure to act...I don't know, it just made my day a little brighter hearing this. Stand up guy indeed, thank you for sharing! |
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Post by arfetto on Nov 29, 2022 11:03:16 GMT -5
I do not have many rare or historical comics, though I wish I did. The same with original art, etc.
There are many comics in my collection that hold significance to me, but this particular comic, Star Masters issue 1 , is probably the one I think about the most. This is a photo of the copy I first bought all those years ago (I now have a better condition copy in my Quasar longbox) and I read it all the time.
The reason this comic fascinates me so much is, besides it being Gruenwald's return work on Quasar after that series was cancelled (Quasar is my all-time favorite superhero comic series) it also has a final page written by Gruenwald explaining how the comic came to be...or rather, how it almost didn't. Reading this page when I was younger was the first time I really stopped and thought about how comics from a big publisher were made as a kid, and the hurdles and interference involved in getting a title off the ground.
I will now type out the text on that last page, written by Mark Gruenwald:
Man, its been a long strange trip getting this book to you. STAR MASTERS was begun right after the last issue of QUASAR hit the stands over two years ago. Tom DeFalco was editor in chief then, Craig Anderson was editor, and yours truly still had a notebook full of science fiction ideas he wanted to unload on an unsuspecting reading public. So what happened?
Well...for starters, the STARBLAST limited series didn't do as well as we'd hoped. (If you're one of the 22 people who bought it, you may have noticed the chaotic succession of artists and wondered what that meant. It meant trouble over which this writer had no control.) But that had nothing to do with craggy Craig, so he got Scot Eaton on board and we poured our creative hearts into a boffo first issue. I went through three rewrites of the plot before I got one that satisfied everybody. Then Big Tom D. informs us that the name "Star Masters" would invoke bad "Starblast" recollections, particularly when it becomes known that Quasar and I were involved in both. So, I say to Tom, we'll change the name.
Months go by, the series is taken off the publishing schedule, and Craig and I brainstorm for alternate titles, none of which passes DeFalco's muster. Told the project is "on hold," our illustrious artist takes on other assignments. More months go by. I finish scripting the terrific art for #1, but stop plotting #2 since who knows when it will appear.
We finally get a new name past Tom -- "Starfighters." More months pass as we try to get the book back on the schedule. Finally so many months pass that Tom figures the "Starblast" taint has worn off the collective consciousness, so we're back to the name STAR MASTERS again.
Then the bottom drops out of the direct sales market. Marvelution happens and Tom and Craig leave staff. I inherit the editorship of Craig's cosmic books, among which is STAR MASTERS. I try to put the book back on the schedule pronto, but am told by our ace marketing people that I should save it till I can make an event out of it -- do an entire relaunch of the cosmic line. So I plan a revamp for SILVER SURFER, coaxing George Perez on board as writer, I begin preproduction of a new CAPTAIN MARVEL series, coaxing Fabian Nicieza aboard as writer, I plan to do Lunatik (from the pages of MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS) as a limited series. Okay, I have four books now. Do we have enough to make a promotable event? Yes, I am told. Huzzah! I say.
Now I have to get Scot geared up again after the long lay-off. I manage. Now I have to get my brain geared up to finish this saga that's been on my mental back burner for over a year. I manage.
But then I'm told that due to a "soft marketplace," it is not believed a Silver Surfer team book will do well enough to warrant an ongoing series. Okay, I say, we'll do it as a six issue limited series, see how it does, and come out with an ongoing series if there's a demand. Could you make it a three issue limited series, I'm asked, and make that first issue a 22 page story instead of 40? Arrrgh, yes, but not easily.
Oh, one last thing, I'm told by our ace marketing people, could you change the name to avoid confusion with the STARJAMMERS series that will be coming out around the same time? NO! I say.
And that's how STAR MASTERS #1 came to be. We hope you like our efforts, 'cause there are tons more stories of the Surfer, Quasar, and Beta Ray we could tell. Next issue, two new members join the assemblage and wait till you see who they are. Keep cosmic, people!
--Mark Gruenwald
This small amount of writing resonated with me as a kid, and still does now. The amount of effort put into even the most forgotten, unloved comic is often astounding to me, whether it is an independent comic a person is attempting on their own or with a few others or even a large staffed comic backed by the "Big Two" that can mercilessly "live or die" based on the marketplace and many other factors. Star Masters issue 1 was the first time I was confronted with this reality, as before reading that last page I did not think much about the behind-the-scenes work put into comic publication. And despite all the troubles Gruenwald and company went through in getting the three issue limited series off the ground (to little acclaim or interest), somehow reading all that made me even more interested in creating my own comics as some sort of challenge.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2022 12:21:27 GMT -5
This small amount of writing resonated with me as a kid, and still does now. The amount of effort put into even the most forgotten, unloved comic is often astounding to me, whether it is an independent comic a person is attempting on their own or with a few others or even a large staffed comic backed by the "Big Two" that can mercilessly "live or die" based on the marketplace and many other factors. Star Masters issue 1 was the first time I was confronted with this reality, as before reading that last page I did not think much about the behind-the-scenes work put into comic publication. And despite all the troubles Gruenwald and company went through in getting the three issue limited series off the ground (to little acclaim or interest), somehow reading all that made me even more interested in creating my own comics as some sort of challenge.
As a kid I had this very simplistic notion that comic book creators had the most glamorous jobs (I'm sure I was far from alone in that), and had no idea of all the real world challenges they could/did face. Definitely can see how this resonated. I miss Mark Gruenwald, I think he was a terrific writer (among other roles he played) and left us far too soon. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 29, 2022 13:00:32 GMT -5
I'm more of a reader than a collector, so usually the edition and/or format of any given book is less important to me. However, there are a few books I have like this one...  ...that I specifically sought out. In the case of Blackmark, I just like having the original mass market paperback from 1971 - even though I also have the edition with the complete story published by Fantagraphics in the early '00s. |
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Post by DubipR on Nov 29, 2022 17:56:13 GMT -5
Here's a fun one for you all. Codename:Knockout issue 7, page 5. Art by Yanick Paquette My brother and I are forever immortalized in print. I've known Yanick since the early days of CBR's chat. We struck up a friendship and been friends since. One night in the chat, he came in and requested who wants to be in an issue he's drawing. I email him a pic of my brother and I; he laughs and said perfect. I get an email from him 3 months later asking for my address. I get the page for free. Yay internet!   |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 29, 2022 23:21:40 GMT -5
I got this Don Newton fanzine piece, from Joseph Koch, the mail order service & store in Brooklyn (I think), who advertised in CBG.  I was always a fan of the Black Terror's costume and some of the stories (the Jerry Robinson & Mort Meskin ones) and when I saw it was Don Newton and The Black Terror, I snapped it up, for $25. I don't have a picture; but, I got Gil Kane to sign this issue of The THUNDER Agents....  I was at the 1992 Heroes Con and had gotten a couple of issues, to add to the growing colelction I had, at home, and spotted him at a table and went over to have him sign it. He hadn't seen an issue in years and flipped through it to see if he had done an interior story. It was only the cover and he signed it for me. If I had known he was going to be a guest, I would have brought in the ones I had at home, as I had the Raven story he did and at least one or two Menthor stories. |
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Post by tonebone on Dec 2, 2022 10:21:51 GMT -5
A Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Comics, and The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics.  I discovered the comic book collection at my local library, when I was about 12, and it was my first exposure to golden age comics... I knew about them, of course, but had never been able to READ them... Little Lulu, The Spirit, and the Mad comic book. My mind was blown. I had no idea comics were so good SO LONG AGO! I must have checked out this book 40 times over the years, until I eventually found my own copy as an adult. It was also the first time I had seen comics reproduced as photos of actual comics pages, yellowing and all. Still my preferred way to see them reprinted. The companion Newspaper Comics book is larger, on slicker paper, and VERY dense and heavy. I had no idea it existed, until one Christmas when my mother in law presented it to me. She was always struggling financially, but had found it in her local Goodwill. She apologized for giving me a "used" gift, but I loved it so much. It introduced me to so many of the classic strips before the current age of being able to see them in nice reprint collections. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2022 19:43:59 GMT -5
The comic that gave me my name
This is one of the few covers I can post here without having to worry about getting reported. The 'Patreon' logo means this uncensored edition was only available to Patreon subscribers and not sold in stores (the stores got a censored edition printed by Antarctic Press). Patreon issues are much rarer, print runs of 200-300ish copies which is why a copy of this on the bay is listed for about $150.
It's made me wonder....I can come up with something of my own and maybe go the Patreon route someday 
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