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!