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!