Even More Silver Snail Posters

I ended my last posting with the 32nd Anniversary poster

and as luck would have it, I have an image of the

 33rd Anniversary Poster,

by the very talented Paul Rivoche,

to begin this posting with.

For some reason, I cannot locate a 34th Anniversary Poster 

and I cannot be sure that one was even made.

Think about it, that would have been the 2011 edition 

and the Silver Snail had bigger fish to fry, namely 

finding a new location!

Not only that but it was also the year that Mark Gingras and George Zotti, bought out the original owner, Ron Van Leeuwen. 

Turbulent times indeed.

The 35th Anniversary Poster,

 strangely, still carries the old street address, 

367 Queen Street West, 

despite the fact that, around that time, 

the store relocated to it's present location at 329 Yonge Street.

It was from the talented hand of Kalman Andrasofszky. 

The 36th Anniversary Poster, 

which I also don't have a copy of but fortunately, 

the Silver Snail has on their web pages,

 was commissioned from the talented 

Phil Noto.

It is also the first poster to display the new address.

The 37th Anniversary Poster, 

was commissioned from the artist

Skottie Young, 

who was continuing to make his mark, on the comic book world, in 2013.

The 38th Anniversary Poster, 

was commissioned from the exceptionally talented illustrator, 

Dave Johnson.

I love the whimsical way that he transformed the robot mascot, Bobo, into a scurrying cartoonist, spilling pages of artwork, from his portfolio.

A fitting image for 2014.

Bear with me, because we are almost to the end of our journey; at least, as far as we can go, at the moment!

The 39th Anniversary Poster, 

was commissioned from 

Francesco Francavilla, 

who turned in a lovely "duet", 

featuring his character, The Black Beetle.

So ends 2015.

For the 40th Anniversary Poster, 

it is perhaps fitting, that the commission went to a Canadian artist, 

Cary Nord.

Summer of 2016.

I happen to think that this is one of the best, possibly because, to me, it harkens back to the earlier examples and Ken Steacy's 

illustrations of the Bobo robot character.

So, there you have it.  We are rapidly coming to the end of another year and that means, provided the venerable Silver Snail remains viable, the chance of another Anniversary Poster!

We wait, with bated breath, to see who will do the art for it.

More Silver Snail Posters

I closed out my last posting, with the 1992

Anniversary Poster.

The mid-Ninties were a turbulent time, for me 

and I lost touch with the store, 

missing out on several Anniversaries

and their accompanying posters.

So, please forgive me if I am mistaken but I think,

given that there are no identifying Anniversary logos,

or even a date, that this poster,

may have been the stores 20th.

It was commissioned from an artist named

Peter Moehrle,

who was visiting Toronto and working

in the animation field,

when he met Ron Van Leeuwen, the store's owner.

It is an unusual poster

because the artist was not a

Torontonian, nor was he an established member of the

professional Comic Book artist fraternity.

So, in 1999, I reconnected with the Snail

and picked up a copy of the

Ron Boyd

Anniversary Poster

clearly marked as the 23rd issue.

Ron Boyd was a Toronto based artist,

at the time and he was inking Stuart Immonen's

pencils, on the Legion of Super Heroes,

for DC Comics.

Ron was also a regular customer of the Silver Snail,

which probably led, I am assuming,  to his selection as the artist for this poster.

I missed another couple of Anniversaries, for diverse reasons

and I do not own a copy of the Dave McKean Poster,

that was commissioned for the stores 25th.

This image is borrowed from the Silver Snails photo page.

I am willing to bet, that it is quite a collector's item these days.

I was still missing-in-action at the Snail and time marched on.

The next poster that I own,

was drawn by

Jeff Smith

of Bone fame and it marked the stores 26th.

The next Anniversary Poster that I could find,

was drawn by

Anthony Van Bruggen,

another old customer and a talented artist,

for the stores 29th.

Once again, I don't have a copy of this poster and

this image is borrowed from the

Silver Snail's photo page.

 

This is where my renewed association,

with the Silver Snail,

seems to have taken hold, because I have copies of the next few posters.  Beginning with this beauty,

by the incomparable,

Mike Mignola.

Which marked the stores 30th!

Adam Hughes, the Mega-Star artist,

drew this absolutely stunning image, 

which, so I was told, Ron Van Leeuwen, failed to purchase!

The reason being, that Adam Hughes' artwork, sells very quickly and by the time Ron had seen the art and decided to buy it, it was already sold to someone else.

What a way to celebrate the store's 31st!

The next artist, was not only a hot commodity, but was also Canadian!

Steve McNiven

the artist on Marvel Comics',

"Old Man Logan",

among a host of other great comic books,

turned in this spectacular poster.

Which marked the stores 32nd Anniversary.

That was in 2008, so we are rapidly approaching the store's change of ownership and it's moving into a new location.

We'll cover that next time.

The Silver Snail Anniversary Posters & Others

I am always surprised, by the vast amounts of information

that are available to me, on the Web/Net and yet,

there are things that I expect to find and inexplicably,they are missing from the fossil record.

The Silver Snail comic book shop, of Toronto, has published 

a number of posters, over it's 40 Years in operation and 

it seems like an ideal time to commemorate that fact.

Let me start with the earliest one,

at least, as far as I am aware.

It was used to advertise the store's moving,

from it's second location 

at 223 Queen Street West,

to

it's third and so far longest lived location,

at 367 Queen Street West.

I apologize, in advance, for my poor photography and I hope that, anyone who is interested in this topic, will just be glad that these examples are here to be seen.

The same image was used on postcards, available for free, at the cash register, in the store, preceding the great move.

This would have been 1983 and if this had been an 

Anniversary Poster,

it would have been the 7th.

Paul Rivoche, the artist, had already worked with 

Ron Van Leeuwen, the owner of the store, on the original 

'Andromeda' comic book.

1985

This poster does not state that it is an Anniversary Poster 

but it is quite possible that it was and that I have simply forgotten that fact, in the 31 years since!

The indomitable, Ken Steacy, who left us, moving to the West Coast, in the late Eighties, did the artwork.

The pencilled layout image, for this painting, is framed and hanging on the wall, in the Silver Snail's present location.

If it was an Anniversary Poster,

then it would have been the store's 9th.

1986

At the 10 year mark, Ron felt sufficiently moved, to make a very big deal out of the Anniversary and even went so far as to throw a big party at, 'His Majesty's Feast' aka Medieval Times, down on the Lakeshore, here in Toronto.

I seem to remember meeting the writer,

Chris Claremont there and the artist,

Marc Silvestri, who were both in attendance and well into their cups!

Ty Templeton, the then young artist, was chosen to illustrate the poster and did a fabulous job of it.

As far as I know, this was the first poster to announce it's Anniversary status and it proudly displays the fact

that this is the stores 10th.

The next poster marks a turning point,

at least, I think so, as Ron selected an American professional,

from the ranks of the mainstream comic book world, to illustrate it.

Charles Vess, had fairly close ties with the store, at that time and with his passion for fantasy themed paintings and stories, he was an excellent choice.

The artwork is signed and dated 1986

but I think, this poster was published in 1987,

which means, that this could be taken as being the 11th

Anniversary Poster.

It is a very poor photograph but the eagle eyed among you, may notice the added silver disc, in the upper right hand corner.  It is my only example of a self-adhesive promotional item, from the store, with the Silver Snail logo on it.

Now we move into an area of uncertainty, because the next poster that I own, was printed in 1989 to advertise the visit to the stores (At that time there were only three, Silver Snails. The fourth one, in Ottawa, would not open until the following year.)

 by the French superstar artist,

Jean Giraud, otherwise known as Moebius.

Can this be construed as an Anniversary Poster?

Were there any other posters, Anniversary or not, printed for the Silver Snail, during these years?

I, for one, would love to know and sinceI do not have any examples, nor have I seen any, that would fill in the dating gap, between the Charles Vess poster, of 1987(?)

and this one:

The self proclaimed, 15th Anniversary Poster!

Painted by one of the 'star' artists of the time,

from England, this time, 

Simon Bisley.

This would have been the year 1991 and his

Batman/Judge Dredd:

Judgement on Gotham,

from DC comics, was making news at the time.

I will end this first part, of 'my trip down memory lane',

with what was probably the longest of the Anniversary Posters,

Michael William Kaluta's

glorious 16th Anniversary poster,

of 1992.

In 1993, I left Toronto, moving up north, to the small city of Elliot Lake and I lost track, as one does, of the busy comic book scene of Toronto.

Even when I returned, down here to the south, it was to the suburb of Pickering, in 1997 and I tended, being short of cash, to do my comic book collecting closer to home.

That meant, that I was more intimately associated with the stores in Oshawa, than I was with the Silver Snail, in Toronto and that was how it remained, until I moved back into the city, in 2004.

It explains why there is a huge gap, in the record that I have, of the posters and why the next example is the one from 

1999.

Odd Happenings on the Comic Book Scene, 2016

One of the strangest things to happen, this year, was the complete disappearance of the web site, of Stuart Immonen and his wife Kathryn.

Not only did 'Maison Immonen' disappear but there wasn't a comment to be found, anywhere on the Web, about the disappearance!

Does anyone know what happened?

Incidentally, if you haven't tried the new, limited series, Empress, by Mark Millar and Stuart Immonen, 

then you are missing out on a great read.

It is only a seven issue series and six of them are already out but for some odd reason, the last one will ship very late and it won't appear until the middle of November!

Another event in the local comic book scene, that went almost completely unremarked, was the changing of the guard at the venerable Toronto comic book shop,

The Silver Snail.

George Zotti, who has been the owner, at least in partnership, of the store, since the original owner, Ron Van Leeuwen retired, in 2011, has sold out his interest in the store and moved on!

It is truly, the end of an era.  George had worked at the store, except for a break of about five years (after a falling out with Ron), when he worked for a mainstream "real" business and excelled at it, since he was about 13 years old.  It feels strange, that such a monumental shift has sunk beneath the waves and left not a ripple in it's wake.

Farewell George, you lasted a long time and I wish you well, in whatever you are going to do next.

Of course, the BIGGEST change, in the local comic book retail scene, is coming in December, when The Beguiling has to close and hopefully move, to a new location.

We live in interesting times.

Summer is Over, time to Fall into Winter!

It has been an interesting season.

I got to a visit from a very old friend, Nigel, who I

last saw in 1981!  We used to be fellow comic collectors, frequenting the same stores and conventions, back in England, in the Seventies

Somewhere along the line, we changed places, he became the responsible, dependable career guy and I turned into the California dude, laid back and unconcerned; life teaches us lessons and some of them are unexpected.

I have spoken before, about my life long interest in cartooning and Nigel, back then, shared that interest but he transformed himself, over time, into a really spectacular representational artist.

There is no way, that I could do what he does and I am amazed at his talent, not to mention his speed of production... and he only paints for a hobby!

Nigel Whittaker

Artist and Business Tycoon!

http://www.nigelwhittakerart.com

Follow the Link to see more of Nigel's paintings.

While he was here, in Toronto, we talked up a storm, about just about every topic you could imagine and probably a few you couldn't!  Somehow, we never really talked about Art or the fun and techniques of making it, which is a shame because that is where my interest lies.

Truthfully, after a break of 35 years, it often felt as though we had never been apart and we both experienced "Timewarp" moments!

It was an amazing thing, that he would travel so far, at such an expense, for such a short time, just to see me again.  I am humbled by his gift.

I have been an amateur cartoonist ever since I was a child

but for far too long, I thought that I could be an Artist and that did nothing but complicate matters.

It didn't help, that I was very slow to realize, that it was the cartoony aspects of comic book art, that really grabbed my attention and not the allure of the photorealistic artists like Neal Adams.

I still have a lot of Neal Adams' comic books, they have been a part of my collection for over forty years but I rarely, if ever look at them, these days.  Which is just a little bit sad, really because there was a time when they lit a fire inside of me!

These days, I am more impressed by people like Paul Grist, Chris Samnee and a local, Toronto artist, Tonci Zonjic, who signs his drawings "TOZO".

So, without further ado, I present a few of my amateur efforts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, finds something interesting in them.

I wear my influences on my sleeve and when I was 16 years old, I fell in love with the work of Vaughn Bode... it still shows!

This is an attempt to create a character sheet, that would help me to stop, continuously, noodling around with concepts that have been bubbling away inside of my head, for too many years.

Finally, these are a couple of "slice of life" moments in the lives of a couple of the characters.  They are also investigations of effective composition, as it pertains to cartooning.

I would like to think, that my love of the artwork of Wallace Wood and his light touch style of humour, is also evident, if only a tiny bit.

Grand Ma Moses, the primitive style painter, who only began "painting in earnest" at the age of 78, shows that it it is never too late to pursue a dream.

Mine is a pretty small one.

I just want to put together a cartoon story, that will, at the very least, not embarrass me to put my name on it.

Who knows, maybe it will actually happen but until then, I will continue to do my best, to learn from the cartoonists that I admire by dissecting their work.

Summertime and the Living is Hot!

After another period of inactivity,

I have finally come back to the Blog.

One of the best parts about being a kid, in the 1960s, was getting to read comic books that were being drawn by

Jack Kirby,

Steve Ditko,

Don Heck,

Gene Colan,

John Romita Sr.,

John Buscema,

Jim Steranko

and a host of other, very talented artists.

It was a secret dream, of my fevered childish brain, to become the next Ditko and take Marvel Comics by storm!  Of Course, in the end, I didn't have the talent or the dedication, to achieve that goal and I, like so many other fans, went on to other things.

Drawing was always something that I loved to do and I never stopped doodling cartoons and daydreaming, about actually making a comic book story out of them.

It may yet happen, while their is breath, there is hope, you know but in the meantime, I continue to try and educate myself about how to cartoon well.  It has been an engrossing subject and I have followed it for years.

One of the best things about the InterNet and personal computers is the ability to find and see publications, digitally, that, because of their rarity, one would never be able to hold in on's hands.

One such item, that I always coveted and should have realized, had I been intelligent enough to do so, that I could have sent away for, even from foggy old England, was:

The Charlton Comics

Guide for the 

Artist, Writer and Letterer

Some things, are worth waiting for and I was finally able to read this slim volume, page by page, 

right here 

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.ca/2009/03/how-to-make-comics-charlton-way.html

on the wonderful Blog, Diversions of the Groovy Kind.

It was put together by Nick Cuti, who went on to write the adventures of E-Man and the cover, is a great example of the amazing work of Tom Sutton, who died in 2002.

The information it contains is clear and easy to follow, which is why it was produced in the first place.  According to Cuti, Charlton Comics was being inundated with poorly formatted submissions, at that time and they wanted a way to show people, how to send in work, that might actually make the grade.

If cartooning How-To books get your motor running, then follow the link and enjoy!

Time is fleeting!

The time goes nowhere and the year is already half over!

Blogging is a lot harder than it seems.  As a reader, it is easy to miss the fact, that someone is spending their time, sometimes lots of it, trying to write about things that they find interesting.

Comic strips and comic books, which can be read quite quickly, sometimes, fool the reader into believing, that the creation of that content, was also speedily achieved.

Nothing comes without a price and our time is the currency we spend, in making or doing anything.

Wimbledon, is a movie that I literally stumbled across, never having heard about it's release.  It was in the theatres in 2004 but I didn't see it until 2015 and it is a great little film.  I watched it again last night! 

As a group, I would place Wimbledon, with A Good Year, Shirley Valentine and An Ideal Husband, which is pretty high praise indeed.

On the comic book collecting front, their really isn't a lot being published, that catches my imagination, these days and most of my purchases are of books and magazines that are related to the field of cartooning.

Illustrators Quarterly 14, just arrived at the Silver Snail this past week and despite it's truly steep cover price, $30 Cdn, I bought it.  I have a complete set, so far and it is a very classy product, well produced and beautifully printed.  It also manages to shine a spotlight on European artists, being British it's self, that are often under represented in North American publications like Illustration Magazine.

Speaking of publications from the Illustrated Press, I managed to find a copy of their third volume of The Golden Age, at The Beguiling and bought it, along with 

Kelly Green: The Complete Collection.

Classic Comics Press has done an excellent job of scanning and enhancing the art, from all five of the original books, so that this volume has the look and feel of an "Artist's Edition".

It isn't cheap, at $70 Cdn, but it is well worth the money to a fan-boy geek like me!

Warren Kremer, is not a name that too many comic book collectors would recognize but he was a giant within the comic book industry.  Warren Kremer worked for Harvey comics for 34 years and he either created or defined the look of their most well known characters.

A consumate comic book artist, his pages are beautifully designed and drawn and remind me, in a way, of the work of Joe Kubert, who's work is also a text book to making comic books.

The pages above, are from the amazing western story "Tex", written by the Italian storyteller Claudio Nizzi.

They should have subtitled it, Comics 101because it is a masterclass in how to design and draw readable comic books.

One of my intentions, at the beginning of my Blogging, was to share some of my thoughts and ideas about how to make  comic book art appealing and readable.  It is something that I have drifted away from but I would like to return to.

Here is a minor list of guidelines, that I cobbled together the other night and I thought, as basic as it is, some struggling amateur cartoonists, might gain an insight from it.

Happy Cartooning Folks!

Assorted Brain Droppings!

Brain Droppings, as a term, was originally coined by the comedian George Carlin and he used it as the title of his,"first real book",

in 1997.

I always liked the mental image that those words, in combination, evoked.  That ideas are the excreta of the brain, often

coming after a period of ingesting and digesting a diverse banquet, of all that life presents us with.

That should give any potential reader an indication, that this posting is likely to be fragmented and scatter-shot!

A very long time ago, I bought a couple of small paperbacks that collected the socio-political cartoons of Ron Cobb.  This would have been around 1978 and I had no idea of who Ron Cobb was but I was very taken with the radically edgy humour and the line work employed in the images.

Mister Cobb went on to have a stelar career as a movie concept designer and worked on Star Wars, Aliens, Conan the Barbarian and many others; look him up, it is quite a list.

I always loved his colour sense and it is a great shame that "Colorvision", published in 1981 by Australian publisher Wild & Wooly, is the only coffee table style book about him.

The wonderful pen and ink drawings above, are the work of Charles Dana Gibson, one of the best artists in that style.  He was also, in the late 1800s one of the stars of the the newly burgeoning magazine industry and his depictions, of the 'pretty young things' of the day, made the 'Gibson Girl' part of the language.

As a gateway 'drug' into the artists of that age, he is probably the most accessible to cartoonists and comic book artists but there are many, many more.  Do yourselves a favour and look into the other great artists of that time, Howard Candler Christy, James Montgomery Flagg and Arthur Burdett Frost;

to name just a few.

The pages above are borrowed from the one and only, slim, volume about an artist that I admired.

Ken Barr first caught my attention, as the cover artist on the influential (?) fanzine, Phase 1, that only had one issue and was published in 1971, by John Carbonaro and, I am assuming, the very young, Sal Quartuccio.

I ran across a piece about him the other day and I was saddened to learn that Ken Barr had passed away, at the age of 83, in March of this year.  Goodbye Mister Barr, you will be missed.

Frank Frazetta needs no introduction to fans of fantastic literature, after all, his covers for Conan the Barbarian, are legendary.

The interest, for me, in presenting the rough sketch and the published book cover, side by side, is in seeing what Frazetta included in his 'rough', quick, (presumably) sketch because that is the essence of the image.

As small and relatively simple, as it is, the sketch shows us what Frank Frazetta felt was important, as marks on paper, to describe a sexy young woman.

To be quite frank, no pun intended, I would be overjoyed, if my finished drawings, looked as effortless and as good, as a Frazetta sketch.

That's all for now, I think that I will try and concentrate on cartooning and 'how to draw them', in my next post.

People like Ben Caldwell and Rad Sechrist, will figure prominently!