Ty Templeton the Amazing Young Man

One of the people that used to work for the Silver Snail

was a charming young man named William P. Marks;

who spent a lot of the time smiling and chatting with the customers.

I think that it was Ron Van Leuween or Tom Stormonth who

dubbed him "Smiler" or some such nickname.

William was an entrepreneurial sort and he joined forces with another young wunderkind of Toronto fandom, Kevin Davies, on the last four issues of the Fanzine turned Magazine, "Miriad".

Art by Kevin Davies

Art by Kevin Davies

Art by Kevin Davies

That was back in 1981.  The magazine and the publishing partnership fizzled out after their fourth issue together (#7) but it led to Bill's next publishing venture, "Vortex Comics".  Which in turn led to him publishing the cult hit comic, Mr. X and later on, Howard Chaykin's "Black Kiss".

Courtesy of Dean Motter .com

Not forgetting, Chester Brown and his contribution,
 "Yummy Fur",
which was not my cup of tea but garnered a lot of critical acclaim in it's day.

That eventually led to my seeing the early artwork of the incredibly talented and very young, Tyrone Templeton.

Ty was something else back then, charming, witty, talented and handsome... overwhelming in a lot of ways and a conversation with him was often akin to being slapped in the face, repeatedly, with a wet fish, by the whole cast of Monty Python!

At least, that is how I often felt.

Anyway, Ty was a regular member of the ebb and flow of the Silver Snail regulars and I watched, in awe, as his skill with pencil and ink continued to improve.

That brings us to the oddity that I present below.

I have a vague but persistent memory of actually receiving this flyer from Ty himself, while milling about in the foyer of the Snail.

I didn't attend.  I'm a lot of things but a party person I am not, invite me at your peril!

I would be interested to know if anyone else managed to hang onto one of these flyers or am I alone in this?

That's it, time to call in the cat and head for bed.
See you all next time.