A Personal Best

I have managed, by trying to be a fairly regular Blogger, 

to have stacked up more postings, in this year, 

than any of the previous years in which I have been here!

Most of what I have to say, is very inconsequential and borders on the banal, I am sure but it is fun to have somewhere to post these idle thoughts to.

Today I am going to create a mixed bag of stuff, with only a tenuous connection between the individual items.

Of course, this being my Blog, that tenuous connection is related to my fascination and collecting, of comic books.

 This is the very first Anniversary Poster that the venerable 

Silver Snail comic emporium, ever had.

If I am not too much mistaken, the store would have still been located at, 

321 Queen Street West 

because they wouldn't have yet moved next door, 

to the premises at,

323 Queen Street West.

Speaking of 323 Queen Street West:

Way back, in 1979 or so,

Tom Stormonth is waiting, with Ron Van Leeuwen, Mark Askwith (mostly hidden) and Carlos, for Uli to unlock the door and let them in!

George Zotti, who started working for Ron at around the age of thirteen and who, after many years and a parting of the ways, for a time, became the part owner of 

The Silver Snail,

before being squeezed out by his partner.

I have known George, for going on thirty five years, although, for much of that time, our connection has been faint, bordering on nonexistent.

I have always admired him, for charting his own course and for successfully having dealt with Ron Van Leeuwen, over the years, which was not an easy task!

After buying the business, from Ron, George and his partner eventually moved the store into it's present location, 

at 329 Yonge Street, here in Toronto, just north of Dundas Street.

I was surprised to discover, when I looked George up, the other day, that he has returned to the fold of RBC Insurance, which was where he spent the years he was estranged from his position at 

The Snail.

George is now around fifty years of age and as the photograph, borrowed from his Linked-In page shows, 

he is every inch, the solid, dependable business executive today.

Congratulations to you, George, you are an inspiration.

I will close this rambling missive out, with a couple of covers by Alex Toth.

God knows, 1988 doesn't seem that long ago but when counted out, it was still thirty years ago!

For a variety of reasons, I did not buy these covers when they were published and today, I only own a copy of #3... never having seen a copy of #4!

Alex Toth was an amazingly complex person and a phenomenal artist.  

It is only recently, that I have come to see the similarity, in approach, between the artwork of the illustrator Robert Fawcett and the stylistic theme of Alex Toth's work.

Anyone interested in doing their own research into that similarity, should search out this fine volume, which was published by 

Manuel Auad, who had also published a couple of great volumes about Alex Toth too.

Friendship at Christmas Time

I consider myself to be a very lucky guy

because, three years ago, I remade contact

with Nigel Whittaker,

who was, almost forty years ago, 

quite possibly my best friend.

I met Nigel at the old Andromeda Bookshop, on 

Summer Row, in Birmingham, England, when he was about sixteen and I was nineteen.

We were comic book collectors and our mutual passion brought us together but it was our similarity of humour, that made us good friends.

Dave Holmes, may he rest in peace, was a catalyst too, since he was looking after Andromeda's comic book basement at the time and became a friend too.

All of that happened in the mid-Seventies and we were mates, right up until I emigrated, here to Canada, in 1980.

Even that didn't put an end to things between us, 

because Nigel and his pal Jeff, came to visit me here, in the summer of 1981.

Sometime, shortly after that, we fell out of touch and despite a few searches, on-line, over the years, I had failed 

to find any trace of him. 

Then, in late December of 2015,  

I found a website operated by an artist named 

Nigel Whittaker

and something about the paintings of the artist's father, rang a bell and I decided to see if it was the same guy that I used to know.

Nigel was always a talented guy and besides turning himself into a dynamite businessman, running his own company, he continued to improve as an artist and the portrait above is an up to date example of his skill.

As it turned out, it was and he was delighted to hear from me, after so many years, which was great.

At the time, I was happy that Nigel remembered me and was willing to trade e-mails with me but I really didn't expect it to last.  Based on a couple of earlier reconnections, with people from my past, I thought I would be lucky if it lasted a couple of months.

Almost immediately, Nigel said that he was going to come and see me again and in the Fall of 2016, Nigel flew here, to Toronto and we renewed our friendship, face to face.

Amazingly, it is now almost three years since my first e-mail to him and more than two years since that landmark visit and

we are still in regular contact.

Almost every day, we exchange at least one e-mail and every couple of weeks, we have a video Skype chat

and in an incredible way, although he is seven thousand miles away, Nigel is very much my best friend again.

Thank you Nigel, for being willing to allow me back into your life and for making the effort to keep our reconnection alive.

It's Almost Christmas Day, Again!

Every year, for the past twenty years or so, I have employed my meagre abilities and customized Christmas cards

 for friends and family.

The family part of the equation, has slowly dwindled to nothing and I cut the final tie, quite deliberately, this year.

There comes a time, when one has to acknowledge, that the relationship one wishes for with someone, is never going to be the way you would like it to be and my cousin, finally went one step too far, in her push for family mementos and papers.

It has been a sad tale of attrition, with my contacts to my extended family, slowly eroding away as their complete lack of interest in me and my life, became apparent.

Way back, around the year 2000, in an effort, begun by my mother, to ensure that the family history, photographs and documentation, I digitized all the family stuff that I had and burned those files to a batch of CDs.

Then, I posted one of those data CDs,  to every cousin for whom I had a contact address... and not ONE of them ever wrote back to thank me for it!

I should have taken the hint but I didn't and I persevered at trying to remain in tenuous contact, usually through the Christmas cards.  

Unfortunately, while I would struggle, to write a brief note on my cards, giving some details about my life in the preceding year, none of the family members, who sent a card back to me,

ever bothered to do do more than scrawl a signature on theirs.

It has been 28 years since my mother died and 22 years since my father died.  That is how long it has taken for it to finally sink in, that none of the people who are related to me, 

give a shit about me.

What that means, unfortunately, is that all of the old photographs, documents, mementos and jewellery, 

will become part of a landfill here in Ontario, Canada,

when I finally die.

And all because of an amazing lack of interest, on the part of my cousins and their spawn.

On that note, let me wish anyone reading this, all the very best for this Christmas Day and for the coming year.

Tuesday Tips by Griz & Norm

This morning, I received an e-mail notification from the amazing and wonderful Stuart Ng, book seller extraordinary, of California.

There were, as usual, a host of New Arrivals to scan through but this item, in particular, stood out for me and I thought that I should add my 10 cents about it to the pot.

I discovered Griz & Norm and their fantastically informative, Tuesday Tips, while surfing on-line, looking for just such assistance and soon thereafter, they published their first collection as a book.

Needless to say, I sprinted to my nearest reseller, The Labyrinth bookshop, on Bloor Street West, here in Toronto and bought myself a copy... as soon as it came in!

Dan, the original owner of The Labyrinth, decided a while ago, to close his downtown location and concentrate on his store in Oakville.  

Luckily, Dobi, who had managed the downtown location for Dan, for almost 10 years, decided (however unwisely) to throw her cap into the ring, as an owner operator.

Without missing a beat, except for Dan's crappy insistence that, "The Labyrinth is CLOSING here",

Dobi renamed the store "Thunderstruck" and continued to be my source for the rare and unusual art books that I collect.

Hopefully, I will be buying this second volume of Griz & Norm's Tuesday Tips, from Dobi, whenever it arrives.

I cannot praise the first volume enough and I expect to be raving about the second volume too.

So, do yourself a favour and go out, to a bricks and mortar book store and buy one.  Amazon really doesn't need your business and the independent owner operator, of your local specialty store, will really appreciate your patronage.

The Art of William Stout

Many years ago, back in the late Seventies, I discovered the artwork of Bill Stout, probably in the Underground Comics of the time and I have followed his career ever since.

Fantastic Worlds, is a magnificent feat of publishing and I applaud the publisher and the book's designer, for making it such a beautiful object.

Here in the Great White North, it should have cost me $101 Canadian but thanks to Dobi, the owner / operator of Thunderstruck Books (formerly known as The Labyrinth, Toronto),

I also got my Club Rewards Dollars off that price and only paid $62!  I was over the moon.

It was an expensive day in town, for me but since my book buying trips have become a whole lot less frequent lately, it isn't surprising.

My weekly comic book buying habit, began around 1971 and I have managed to remain a dedicated comic book fan, ever since but lately, after almost fifty years, it has, rather suddenly, become less important to me and I can finally see, that an end to my obsession is near.

Modern comic books, just don't grab my attention, in the way that those issues from the late Sixties did and with the exception of the new Strangers in Paradise XXV, 

I don't buy a monthly comic book anymore 

and now, I have just learned that that series is only ten issues long, so in two more issues...

At that point, a decision will have to be made, I think and who knows, perhaps 2019 will be the year that I finally grow up and leave the world of comic books behind

BUT

I doubt it!

Jay Fosgitt and his Dead Duck

Many moons ago, I ran across the web site of Jay Fosgitt and his creations, Dead Duck & Zombie Chick!

Jay's cartoon style is captivating and he has been working on it since he was very young, when he was a devotee of Jim Henson and his Muppets.

Although he found an initial audience through his web comics, he was discovered by IDW, the publishers of My Little Pony and other titles.  Since then, he has been employed by Ape Entertainment, Boom, archie Comics and Marvel.

As you can see here:

http://www.jayfosgitt.com/deadduckcomic/?p=136

Follow the link and have some fun!

I have always had a soft spot for good cartoonists and those who can write well too, so this guy is like catnip to me!

Vaughn Bode and Cartooning

Had he managed to escape the fate that befell him, Vaughn Bode would be Seventy Seven years old!

That just doesn't compute but in a time, when even the seemingly immortal Stan Lee eventually fell to the reaper and it has been seven long years, since Jeffrey Catherine Jones left us, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised!

Vaughn was a wonderful cartoonist and I have been studying his works for the past forty plus years.

Here is an example of the type of dissecting that I do:

I hope, that in some small way, I can be of help, to other students of cartooning and perhaps speed up their own understanding, of this very special area of the graphic arts. 

Zelazny Illustrated by Vaughn Bode

Roger Zelazny is a writer, whose prose style I find very hard to read.

I find the works of Ray Bradbury to be of the same, almost poetic slant.

I like my writers to be a little less fey and a bit more concrete but hat does not mean that I have any less regard for the contributions that Bradbury and Zelazny made to the Science Fiction & Fantasy genre.

Hey, while we are on the subject, I had high hopes that I would be able to read Ursula K. Le Guin's, Earthsea cycle of stories, 

especially since they are now available in a single, HUGE volume that has been illustrated by Charles Vess.

Unfortunately, even with the assistance of Mr. Vess' artwork, I still find that it is an up hill slog, for me to read the prose!

My loss, I am sure.

Getting back to the seed that produced this posting...

The late, great Vaughn Bode, illustrated a couple of slim volumes, written by Roger Zelazny, that were eventually published by Donald M. Grant.

They were the the children's stories, 

Here There Be Dragons and Way Up High,

originally published in 1992 and then republished in 2016.

Vaughn Bode was a complex individual, who managed to draw his illustrations and comic strips, in a wonderfully cartoony manner.

Here is a taste of the art that he produced, commissioned by Zelazny himself, to illustrate the stories.

I don't own either book and I have never actually seen a copy.

If I had, I would probably have bought them, since I have an abiding fascination with the art works of Vaughn Bode.

Cartooning and Distortion in Comic Book Drawing

The panel above, illustrates a certain pet peeve of mine and that is 

the misaligning of facial features within the outline of the human head.

The panel was drawn by Daniel Boultwood, a British cartoonist and comes from his comic book 

"It Came!"

One of my all time favourite comic book makers, 

Paul Grist, who is also British, 

has often done something similar 

but without shifting the centre line of the face 

towards the revealed ear.

In Grist's case, it is more in the way he draws a turned head as a "U" shape, but with the side of the face that is turned away from the  camera, being flattened. 

Usually, His alignment, for the facial features, is pretty good.

See what I mean?

It is a subtle difference but a significant one, from my point of view.

I guess that to me, Paul Grist is employing a form of shorthand, in his describing a face,  where as Daniel Boultwood willfully distorts the description he is making, for no good reason.

My biggest criticism of the way Paul Grist draws faces, would be that they are always incredibly long!  The accepted, 

normal proportions, where the length of the nose is roughly the same as that of the ear, from lobe to tip, are also ignored but somehow that never seems to jar my viewing pleasure.

Almost the last thing, that Paul Grist had published, came out a few years ago, in 2000 AD and it was great.

For those of you who overlooked it, Demon Nic, is well worth the trouble of tracking it down.

Vaughn Bode and Cartooning Techniques

I am falling further and further behind, in my commitment to posting regularly on this Blog

and I apologize for my tardiness...

as much to myself, as to any of my supposed readers.

I annotated this page of Vaughn Bode's Cheech Wizard and I thought that perhaps my thoughts, on how he constructed the page & panels, would be of interest to other students of cartooning.

One of the biggest hurdles, that anyone who is trying to teach themselves how to draw cartoons has to get over, is the idea that composition "just happens".

Composition never just happens, it is always the product of thought and consideration that results, hopefully, in a compelling image, or images, that clearly communicate the intent of the artist.

It is hard to believe that Vaughn Bode has been dead for 43 years and that he was only 34 years old, when he died.

Everything that I have read about him, over the years, has confirmed that he was a complicated person and he could be quite abrasive.  Regardless, every time I revisit Cheech Wizard and the world that Vaughn created for those adventures, I am seventeen again and laughing, with tears streaming down my cheeks.... Howling with laughter at Cheech's Time Distortion Trick!

Thank you Mister Bode, for all the laughter.

A new to me, Jeff Jones book cover

I have been an unabashed fan of Jeff Jones' 

artwork, ever since I ran across it, as a thirteen, or so, year old, 

and I fell in love with the images of the women that he drew and painted.

Way back then, I had no idea, that he was already having doubts about his gender and perhaps that played into the very sympathetic renditions, that he made of lovely young maidens.

The fact that he never really found the peace that he was searching for is tragic, in the only sense of the word that works for me and that he seems to have died, unsure that his life choices had been the right ones.

The artwork is still lovely to look at though and I thank him for all of the hours of contented enjoyment his works have given me.

Star Barbarians, 

by 

Dave Van Arnam

is a cover by Jeff, that I am fairly confident, that I have never seen before and given that I have been collecting his book covers for about forty years... that is pretty remarkable.

I would lay good money, on the chance that this painting is based on a photograph, from an issue of National Geographic.

Not that I can prove it but it just "feels" that way to me. 

The Silver Snail, White Goddess Poster by Charles Vess

The other day, quite by accident, 

I happened across a Facebook posting 

by Mark Askwith, 

who was the manager of Toronto's iconic comic book shop, 

The Silver Snail, 

in it's heydays of the Eighties.

When Mark left that position,  I was caught by surprise and for some reason,  I always thought it was less than happily accepted by the owner, Ron Van Leeuwen.

But, as the post proves, Ron was happy enough with the change, to give Mark the Charles Vess, original painting, that was used as a poster to commemorate the store's eleventh (?) Anniversary. 

I will state, here and now, that Mark Askwith is the real deal, a true spirit with a reliable moral compass and I am not the least bit surprised to discover, that during Charles' time of need, Mark gave him the artwork back.

I take my hat off and bow, in the presence of that generosity of spirit and I know that Charles and his wife appreciated the gift.

It has been many years now, since I last bumped into Mark but we were never really that close and I doubt if he would even recognize me today... which is as it should be.

Linda Lessmann and Barry Smith

When the young Barry Smith, 

walked away from his burgeoning comic book career 

in the mid-Seventies and 

set up shop as, 

The Gorblimey Press,

his partner in crime, was his girlfriend 

Linda Lessmann 

who was a colourist and had also worked for Marvel Comics.

Linda, as she looked in the Mid-Seventies.

Barry's art was the engine that drove the business but Linda was the person who made it all work, by doing everything else that needed to be done and allowing Barry to concentrate on making art.

The face of the angel, in this Christmas Card illustration, drawn by Barry Smith in 1977, does seem to have been modelled on the young and beautiful, Miss Lessmann.

The relationship with Barry Windsor-Smith (as he became known) faltered and failed, after eleven years 

and Linda moved on with her life.

The Mid-Eighties found her working for the 

young upstarts at First Comics 

and there she met Bill Reinhold, a penciller, 

who was also doing work for First Comics.

They married in 1987 and are still together, to this day.

Interestingly, their children, a boy and a girl, are both musicians who perform on stage, with their respective bands.

Nostalgia runs deep and for me and many like me, the founding of The Gorblimey Press 

and the prints that they released 

was a defining moment.

I would like to thank Barry and Linda for making my teenaged years brighter and for all the enjoyment that I got from looking at those amazing images.

I couldn't afford them, when they were published but I have been fortunate enough to gather up a number of them, over the intervening forty odd years and they are very coveted possessions 

to this day.

I have a framed and signed, although the ball-point ink has faded on the signature, print of 

Pandora (1975) 

and it has pride of place, on the wall of my studio.

It had not occurred to me before but it is highly possible that the figure of Pandora was modelled on the young 

Linda Lessmann too!

Linda Lessmann & Diane Pitre Stevens

at the New York Comic Con of 1976

Judging by her chin, in the photograph and the chin Barry gave to Pandora, I would say that it is a given, that Linda is the model.

Jeff Jones' Blind Narcissus Painting

Here is the strange case of Diane Pitre Stevens and her connection to the reasonably famous painting, by the late Jeff Jones, entitled Blind Narcissus.

I have not found any supporting evidence, other than the image above, where she is shown, similarly posed, in front of a copy of the painting, done as a mural

BUT

Diane uses the portrait part of the painting, as a banner,  on her Facebook page and she does bear a resemblance to the girl in the painting.

On top of which, some of the people in her Facebook friends list, are people who were in the mix at Marvel Comics and Neal Adams' Continuity Studio, during the mid-Seventies.

Diane is the girl on the left, in this photograph from that time period.

So, at the very least, it is a possibility.

It would be interesting to know for sure and perhaps Jeff's ex-wife, Louise, who has been married to Walt Simonson for the last 

thirty eight years, might know

but this is just idle speculation and I have no wish to annoy, or disturb anyone, over it.

I think that it is her nose, that has a very distinctive shape, that is the most compelling visual clue but whatever the truth of the matter, the painting is a classic.

Thank you Jeff, for filling my young mind with flights of fantasy and inspiring me, to try and draw as well as you did.  

Growing Old and Grey

We all grow older, it is, for the moment anyway, one of the universal constants

but

the downside to growing older, is that age tends to rob us, of all the things that once made life worth living...

I was unfortunate and my testosterone factory started to fail, at the relatively young age of 38 and pretty much closed it's doors, by the time I was 48

and yes, it was devastating but it was only likely to be life threatening, if I let the depression that accompanied the collapse of my sex life, drive me to suicide.

Well, I crossed that particular bridge a long time ago and I embraced then, a concept that I believe comes from the Buddhist 

Faith, the idea that if one can stand on the lip of the abyss, toes curled over the edge and stare into the depths, without fear, one can survive anything.

And I have survived.

The latest indignity, is being unable to sleep for more than two hours at a time, because I need to urinate, even when I can barely squeeze any urine out!

So, the chances are, my prostate is enlarged, hopefully in a benign way and that is just a little bit scary, because my paternal grandfather actually died from prostate cancer.

A great wit once opined that, Life Sucks and then You Die.

It is a very good line and the best part of it, in my opinion, is the promise of the final exit.

I am not afraid of dying, although the cause of my death, of which there is no guarantee and it could be messy, does cause me some nervousness.

However, while I am still here, I will try and remain interested and hopefully interesting.  We'll see how it goes.

It has nothing to do with the foregoing but I am a huge Paul Grist fan and I am going to close with a thought about him.

Paul Grist, UKCAC 1989

Paul Grist has been Missing in Action, for far too long and I really hope that he publishes something personal, this year.

Books that Don't Show Up Locally

I don't know if it is just here in Toronto,

or wether it is a phenomenon being experienced elsewhere too

but over the course of the last few years, 

the comic book shops, here in town, sometimes fail to stock 

some of the larger, more expensive books.

The first time that I realized that I could not rely on, "I'll check out a copy at the store...", was in relation to the first printing of the Jim Starlin art book, from IDW, way back in 2010.

I never saw a copy.

Neither of the two mainstays, of the local comic book scene, ever had a copy on display and I eventually got one, 

when AfterShock Comics reprinted it a couple of months ago.

BUT

this time I was smarter and placed an order for it, in advance!

 This is the latest example.

Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise,

the Graphitti Designs, Gallery Edition.

It was scheduled to be on the shelves this past Wednesday, July the 18th of 2018 but no one, here in town, had a copy!

Here is another example,

published in October of 2016,

Girl Power: Amanda Conner Gallery Edition.

Amazingly, when I questioned the, usually knowledgable guys at The Beguiling, they actually fobbed me of with the line,

" A lot of those books never see the light of day..."!

They didn't even try to search for the item, on-line, I just wasn't worth their effort, I guess.

The fact is, the item does exist and if I was so inclined, I could order a copy from one of the on-line book sellers.

I have been visiting dedicated comic book shops, since around the beginning of 1974, when I lucked into meeting a couple of far more knowledgable young guys, in Birmingham, England.

Derek Powell and Vince Harris, were both younger than I was, at the time and both of them had collections of older Marvel Comics, that made my head swim!

They were far more astute and connected to the fledgeling British Comic Fan Scene, than I was.  They escorted me to the newly opened Andromeda Bookshop and the basement of Japetus Bookshop, where a young, long haired guy, Alan, operated Warp Comics.

Forty four years on, I am still a regular visitor to the local outlets but I buy a whole lot less than I used to and what I buy is, in some ways, quite different from the items that I began this hobby with.

It used to be four colour comic books, specifically, The Fantastic Four, before I began buying out the collections of my classmates and broadening my base.

I hate to say it but except for a couple of rare exceptions, the monthly colour comic books hold no interest for me and these days I spend my allowance on related Art Books, magazines and the like.

I have also watched the amazing rise of the dedicated comic book shop and I am beginning to admit, that I seem to be witnessing their demise too.

I am grateful that we still have several Comic Book Shops, here in the city but there are a lot fewer than there used to be and truthfully, I don't understand how they manage to stay in business... in the face of skyrocketing commercial rent fees and the equally high costs of the stock.

I wait and wonder, what the future will bring.

Changing Technologies and Video Files

I was saying, to my old friend Nigel, the other day, that when it comes to the saving and sharing of movies, the technology we use has changed beyond all recognition.

It wasn't that long ago that Video Tape was the only way to go and thirty years ago, we jumped in and over the years, between the self recorded tapes and the prerecorded tapes, we amassed quite a few of them.

Well, then came DVDs, well technically, the Video CD came somewhere in there but the quality was not great but DVDs were the best.

It seemed to take quite a while but eventually the venerable VCRs started to lose ground and once the recordable and re-recordable DVDs arrived, their days were numbered.

Of course, almost overnight, we all became accustomed to HUGE Hard Drives and Multi GigaByte Thumb Drives and by then we were simply saving videos as computer files.

Then, to muddy the waters, Netflix arrived, in 1997 and with almost limitless access to old movies, old TV shows and the like, these days, many people don't feel the need to actually own their own copy of anything.

Things changed so much that Blockbuster, the destination for millions of us to rent videos and DVDs, went bankrupt in 2010.

The point of all this is:

Over the course of the last few weeks, I simply sent my huge collection of VHS video tapes to the landfill.  It was not an easy decision to make but in the end, no longer having a large sized CRT TV set to show them on and the fact that showing them on my computer screen, via my Elgato video device, only highlighted their grainy quality... it was time!

 Now, instead of a thousand, thick, bulky and heavy VHS tapes, which took up a lot of space, we have less than a hundred DVDs and less than fifty Blu-Ray Discs...

Everything else is saved as computer files and that has turned my computer into a Movie Jukebox, which is great and very convenient.

It has certainly changed the way that I watch movies.

I used to want to watch a movie, from start to finish, all at one sitting because video tape was supposed to stretch out of shape, especially if one didn't completely rewind the tape, before removing it from the machine.

But with advent of watching digital video files, it is easy and none damaging, to simply stop and resume watching, any old time, that I find myself, these days, watching movies in much the same way that I used to read books... one chapter at a time.

Freedom is a great thing.

I try not to think of all of the dollars that we invested in those old video tapes because in the early days, they were not exactly cheap and even averaging out the costs, over the years, it would represent a tidy pile of cash!

C'est la vie.