Coppervale's International Studio

The other day, after a lucky find, 

I now have what constitutes an "almost" set,

of 

James A. Owens'

Coppervale's International Studio

magazine.

When they were first published, 

I didn't really pay them any attention, 

mainly because I seem to recall only ever seeing one of them.

Anyway, I am now the proud owner of the second, third, fourth (and final) issues.

Apparently, the first issue is very rare and I somehow doubt, that I will ever be lucky enough to find a copy.

This is the rare first issue...

and these are the ones that I own!

They were very well produced and lovely objects to own.

James A. Owens deserves to be commended for spending his own, hard earned money, to produce them.

Just as the last issue was being published, James was switching gears again and setting off on his new project, 

becoming a write and a successful one, too!

Marshall Rogers Drew Erotic Comics!

Before reading this, I should make it clear that the images, that are contained in this post, are 

NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

You Have Been Warned!

Just at the cusp, of his becoming the new 

Hot Batman Artist,

Marshall Rogers was making his rent money

by drawing an Erotic comic strip for

Escapade

one of the lower echelon, to be sure

but their money was as good as anyone else's!

Oddly, when I went searching on-line, for any mention of these works, I was astonished to find out that, 

other than this brief mention, from the lips of the man himself:

I worked for "[r]eal low-grade schlock sleazo magazines that had illustrations to precede the stories".

At the same time, he too, failed to mention the comic strips.

So, there you have it.

I hope no one takes offence because, truthfully, by modern standards, these pages are pretty tame.

Marshall Rogers went on to redefine The Batman and to have an extended career in comic books, which was unfortunately cut short, by a probable heart attack, at the age of 57, in 2007.

Along with a lot of other people, in the late Seventies, I was really impressed with the Batman stories, that Rogers and Englehart produced and for me, that was Marshall's peak.

Rest easy, Marshall, you left a lasting impression.

Jeff Jones & Vaughn Bode

Following on, from my last post, 

we come to the cover of Warren's Vamirella, issue four and 

another stunning collaboration but this time, 

Vaughn combined his talent with Jeff Jones.

The image above, shows the colour scheme of the printed cover, the one that I fell in love with, way back in the early Seventies, when I first saw it.

This, is the actual painting!

Which is also lovely but it was quite a shock to discover that, at least a part of the painting that I had fallen in love with, never existed and was a function of someone in the Warren Empire's Graphics department!

The wonderful thing about the Internet, at least for me, is the amazing dissemination of information, which allows GEEKS like me, to indulge their curiosity, to the MAX!

Larry Todd & Vaughn Bode

I was reminded, the other day, of the artistic collaborations of 

Larry Todd & Vaughn Bode 

and how much I had loved that artwork!

This was used by Jim Warren, as the front cover for his Vampirella magazine, issue number three and it 

still lightens my heart, every time I look at it.

Interestingly, this photograph, of Larry and Vaughn, was taken at about the same time that they painted the cover, which would make it around 1969 or 1970.

Larry and Vaughn combined their talents quite a few times and the results were always colourful and interesting.  Here are a few of their efforts:

Vaughn also collaborated on paintings with Jeff Jones but that is a subject for another posting.

Larry Todd went on, later in life, to be a carnival hoarding painter and in 2012, he was briefly interviewed about his occupation:

larry todd carnival painter

and this is how he looked then

at the age of 64.

As far as I can tell, in searching the Web, Larry is a still alive and kicking but whether or not, he is still a working artist, is open to question.

Larry Todd is now 71 years old and had Vaughn managed to escape his fate and survive the "experiment" that ended his life, in 1975, he would be 78!

Sometimes I like to wonder and imagine, all that has been lost.

Time Changes Everything

I have waffled around the subject many times, as I have bored my all but non-existent readership with my my blather but the truth is that after almost fifty years, as a dyed in the wool comic book collector, I think it might just be time to accept that I no longer feel the passion for comic books that I once did.

It is a sad moment for me 

because for most of my life, my relationship with comic books and the collecting mania they spawned, 

defined my life... and now it doesn't!

With this being the forty third anniversary of 

The Silver Snail, 

it has brought into sharp focus for me, 

the fact that I haven't actually been a regular visitor to the store, in almost a quarter of a century!

What was once a dire necessity, that burning desire for the latest batch of comic books, on New Comic Book Day, has faded into an almost once a month, wander through Toronto and the few remaining second hand book shops.

The comic books don't speak to me anymore.

The stories that they tell and the motivations of the characters within them, are all alien to me and where I once haunted the shelves, looking for comics that would catch my interest, these days I barely glance at them!

It is, I have to concede, time that I left it to the younger crowd and concentrated my efforts on remembering the old days and documenting them for anyone who might be interested.

So far, my interest in cartooning and the art of making comic strips and comic books, continues to be a passion.

So, there is the subject matter that I will try to write about, hopefully in a manner that enlightens and entertains.

Edwards Books of Toronto

Once upon a time, 

when Queen Street West, here in Toronto, 

was a great place, chock full of book stores 

and I loved it!

Edwards Books, had a great art book section and I spent many a happy hour there, in the mid-Eighties.

Then, everything began to change and Edwards Books closed, along with a lot of other book stores on the strip.

So, this is my "Thank You" to Edwards Books, as I recently found one of their bookmarks, tucked in between the pages of a book.

George Barr and the days of my youth

Forty years ago, when I was a much younger and much more impressionable, I fell under the spell of the magical art of 

George Barr.

Within a couple of years, I also got a chance to see the wonderfully camp, Flesh Gordon, probably at the Nova Con of 1977 but I cannot be certain!

There were four artists, in the Fantasy and SF fanzines of the time, that I really took to and George was one of them.  The others were Alicia Austin, Stephen Fabian and the amazing Tim Kirk.

In the years since 1977, I have been fortunate enough to meet George Barr and by an illustration from him, when he attended the Winnipeg WorldCon, in 1994.

I also met Alicia Austin, at the Boston WorldCon, in 1980.

Stephen Fabian... well he was just a casual e-mail acquaintance and we only wrote to each other once. But I did manage to tell him, how much his artwork had meant to me.

The central theme, of my addiction to the art of the fantastic and the cartooning of comic books, has always been the almost sensual effect that those works have had upon me.

I LOVE them and they have have always been there for me, like the best of friends, ready to help me cope with the everyday problems and disappointments, that the world drops on us all... from time to time.

Although his work was introduced to me, in a slightly different way but still, through the association I had with Dave Holmes and 

The Andromeda Bookshop,

Vaughn Bode and his smart assed, foul mouthed character, 

CHEECH WIZARD

were an integral part of the mix too.

Last but most assuredly, not least, was the stunning artwork of the amazing Richard Corben and his wonderful underground comic book, Fantagor.

There are many, many more artists, that have left an impression on me and I will write about them all, given enough time and motivation.