Years End

Here I am, at the end of another year and as per usual, I am in a reflective mood.

In just a couple more days, it will be 2020 and that is a Bookmark moment, if only for the symmetry of the numeration.

I think about my mother, who died in 1990 and missed the Millennium by a decade, not that she would have been all that impressed, by all of the hoopla that surrounded that moment.

I also think about my father, who continued on alone, until 1997 and how much he was looking forward to stepping into the next Millennium... and then never got to see it.

My parents were very different people.  Mum was all about emotion and stories and The Movies, given a chance, she would have been Bette Davis, in a second and never looked back.

Dad, well he was the cold and rather unemotional part of the equation.  Mathematics, scientific things and love of everything technical in nature... he got me into computers, when he was 69 and I was a very unconvinced 35 year old!

Dad was on-line, when the modem was an external unit, running at 14.4 Bauds and his computer was a 286, with a 35 megabyte hard drive, visiting bulletin boards... I still remember, how ridiculous it all seemed, waiting interminably for the opening page, of the Image Comics website to load and thinking to myself, "This is BS and it will never catch on..." LOL

These days, when a day rarely passes, without me using my trusty iMac, to surf the Net, send E-Mail, or just watch movies, I realize how right my father was and how wrong I was.

It is a great shame that he missed out, on a lot of amazing things, computer related, that he would have loved.

Napster, Google, High Speed Internet and the HUGE hard drives, that we all take for granted these days.  I am uncertain, of how my dad would have taken to my becoming a Mac user, because he was a true believer in Windows and the PC revolution... even though he never even got to see Windows 98!

So, at this auspicious moment, with 2020 bearing down upon us, rapidly, I want to thank my parents, both long dead now but never far from my thoughts, for their contributions, to making me the person that I am.

I might be a loser, in the eyes of the rest of the world, but I am here, for the whole journey and hopefully, when it is all over, I won't have embarrassed too many more people, or made anymore enemies.

Happy New Year!

And

one last cartoon.

Drawing cartoons, has been a life long interest and I really thought that, way before now, I would have been a whole lot better at it... but I keep at it because it still fascinates me.

Merry Christmas Wishes

As is my usual practice, at this time of the year, 

I decorate the inside of mass produced Christmas cards,

with hand drawn cartoons.

They ain't much but they're all me!

Merry Christmas, one and all and here's to a safe and healthy 2020.

Bookland at Parliament & Queen Street East

Once upon a time,

back in the Eighties and into the Nineties,

BOOKLAND

was a neat and incredibly well run,

used book store and it was run by a French Canadian guy, who's name I cannot remember.

Harry Kremer, the owner and operator of 

NOW & THEN BOOKS, 

of Kitchener (and the first big time distributor of Dave Sim's Cerebus) knew the guy who owned Bookland pretty well...

they were both fans of Show Tune albums!

Anyway, while reading a bunch of 

P. G. Wodehouse books, that we bought years ago and put away for future reading, I discovered that one of them was stamped with the Bookland name and address.

It means nothing, but since the store it self, no longer exists, it is a neat piece of nostalgia and affirms that the place did, once, have a place on my list of regular haunts.

Lost Comic Book Shops of Toronto

Way, way back, in the early Eighties, 

there was a comic book store in The Beaches, here in Toronto and it was called, 

"Queen's Comics & Memorabilia"

This is an advert that they had printed in the pages of a local fanzine, "Gratis", issue one, in 1979.

"Gratis" for anyone who's interested, seems to have been fairly short lived and may have only lasted for four issues.  The publishers appear to have been, two young men from Scarborough, Scott Hutchinson and Jim Shedden.

Queen's Comics & Memorabilia, was also sponsoring a Comic Convention:

As this advert, in the same issue of "Gratis", proves.

The store it self, was an unusual mix of comic book stuff and music related items.  Thinking about it now, it's nearest relative, that I visited and knew about, would have been Now & Then Books, of Kitchener, which, because of the owner, Harry Kremer's eclectic taste, stocked a lot of odd stuff.

Although, even Harry streamlined the operation, somewhat, when he moved out of the old Victorian House, at 103 Queen Street South and across the street into a "proper" storefront location.

Back to "Queen's Comics..." and where it was located, at 

1962 Queen Street East, which was a clone, of this building, which still exists at 1964 Queen Street East.

If my memory isn't completely faulty and please remember, this was almost forty years ago, I recall that "Queen's Comics" 

actually occupied both addresses for a time?

Whatever, you get the picture and back then, The Beaches was an almost sleepy backwater, not the bustling Yuppie haven that it is today... so the shop fitted into that environment, of Hippies and Surfer Dudes, perfectly.

Later on, they moved the store up onto Kingston Road, close to where Victoria Park Avenue crosses it and that was where it eventually ended its life but I have no idea when.

While I am on the subject, does anyone remember another eclectic comic book and book emporium, 

"Unknown Worlds" 

that resided at 725 Danforth Avenue, just east of Pape Avenue?

This is the only proof of its existence that I have.

This is what the address looks like today!

It was an unusual place, with its walls lined with paperback books and the comics, in bins and on a rack, in the centre aisle of the shop.  I shopped there, from 1989 until 1994, when I left Toronto, for a couple of years and went loose my shirt, in Elliot Lake, Ontario.

The comic book business was in turmoil at the close of 1994 and into early 1995 and even the venerable distribution arm of The Silver Snail, Andromeda Distributions, declared bankruptcy at that time and closed its doors.

That seems to have been when "Unknown Worlds" closed, too.  I wasn't around to witness it but I do remember being puzzled, in the summer of 1995, on a visit to Toronto, by not being able to find the store.  I eventually enquired about it, at the office of a local politician, somewhere in the vicinity and they told me about the store's demise.

Just because it was the centre spread, in that first issue of "Gratis" and because I have a soft spot for it, 

here is the Franc Reyes drawn advert for 

The Silver Snail,

from 1979.

and finally, the back cover to "Gratis" issue one, which was from the young Wonder Kid, of the Toronto comic book and Science Fiction scene, at that time, 

Kevin Davies.

Kevin was also an organizer of the convention and as an artist, went on to paint the hoarding sign for Bakka Books, when it was still opposite the Silver Snail, on Queen Street West.

I borrowed this from another web page:

 Kevin Davies was a busy Toronto fan for many years… he still goes to the odd convention, has how own game design/art business, and announces on Facebook that he
has the odd guitar gig at a local pub or restaurant. Kevin chaired the very first convention Yvonne
attended, GVSTAcon, GVSTA standing for Georges Vanier Star Trek Addicts, a club at Kevin’s high
school.

So, there you have it. 

Two comic shops that "used to be", or even three, if one includes "Now & Then" of Kitchener, which pretty much died when the owner, Harry Kremer died... oh, yes and of course Andromeda, the distributor.

The Silver Snail is still with us but it has been relocated, to a second floor location, just north of Dundas Street, on Yonge Street, since 2012 and is now owned and operated by no one I know! LOL

Gray Morrow Borrows a Pose from Robert McGuinness

As an inveterate browser of the Internet and all of the intriguing art related sites upon it, I have found a lot of fascinating things.

One of the things that surprises me most, is my ability to recognize, when I see them, examples of artworks that were repurposed and reused by artists other than the original maker.

This is one of those cases.

I was looking at examples of Austin Briggs artwork and I ran across a Flickr account, compiled by the illustrator Matt Dicke, which had posted a few pages from Briggs' "How I Make a Picture".

After checking out the Briggs pages, I took a browse through whatever else Mr. Dicke had posted, because I love to see what other artists find inspiring and of interest.

That was when I found this:

(Robert McGinnis, Argosy magazine, July 1967)

and it rang a bell, in my memory banks and amazingly, I even remembered why...

Way back, in September of 1977, when I was still living in England but I was here, in Toronto, on vacation and visiting family, I had my first visit to The Silver Snail.

One of the items that I found and bought, at that time, was this fanzine:

Heritage Presents Amora by Gray Morrow (Heritage, 1971)

which I have treasured ever since 

and on it's back cover, was this Jungle Girl:

and it's similarity, to the McGuinness illustration was too close a match, to be accidental.

Robert McGuinness (1967)

Gray Morrow (1971) Flipped Horizontally

Anyway, here I am, forty two years later, chuckling into my cup of coffee with glee and marvelling at the fact that every artist, even those in my personal pantheon, all have used "swipes" at some point in their careers.

There is "nothing new under the sun" and novelty, for the most part, is in how we rearrange and reinterpret, the information at our fingertips.

Just in case anyone should think that this is a "knock" at the amazing and wonderful Gray Morrow, that is not my intent.  I merely wished to show, that the skillful use of reference materials, is all part and parcel of the graphic artists' trade.

The Times They are A Changing!

In the few years that I have been posting, here on the Blog, the amount of traffic, coming here to read it, has been, justifiably, MINIMAL!

My aim, when I began, was to try and preserve and share, some of the history of my comic book collecting obsession.

If only to keep it alive, for just a while more.

Secondary, to that aim, was the demented idea that I could share my own experiences, in learning how to draw cartoons and perhaps, impart a couple of insights that might help others to travel a similar road.

At this point in time, I think that the history lessons are pretty well over and except for a few minor anecdotes, I will be leaving that aspect of the Blog, in limbo.

From here on in, I will concentrate on how to draw comic books and comic strips, illustrated with my own work and any other, "how to" essays, that catch my eye.

In that spirit but also because this stuff is like catnip to me, here are some layouts, from the late Wally Wood, for the story,

"Prelude to Armageddon",

that appeared in Warren's Creepy Magazine

in 1971.

These examples, as rough as they are, clearly show Wood's ability to compose interesting panels and are an insight into how he broke down the page and the events that he wanted to illustrate, to tell an interesting and engaging story.

Vaughn Bode, as anyone who has read any of my earlier posts can attest, is another of my "Gods" and his cartooning was so appealing and cute, while covering topics that ranged from the banal, to raunchy, to violent.

What a talent and sorely missed.

Wally Wood Sketchbook II (1981)

I have had a copy of the first volume, of the Bill Crouch published, Wally Wood Sketchbooks, ever since I bought a copy of it, reduced in price, at The Silver Snail

but I have never actually seen a copy of the second one.

At least, "not in the flesh", but I have often seen images of it, here on the Net and the other day, I happened upon a copy that a local dealer had for sale and I jumped at it!

At this point, some 38 years after publication, I had pretty much resigned myself, to never actually owning a copy and I am made up, to be expecting to receive a copy, in the next couple of days, in the mail.

I have paid a lot more, in the past, for old fanzines and I thought that the $50, Canadian funds, including postage, was quite reasonable.

For those of you, who have no idea what I am talking about, here is the cover of the first volume.

It is very hard for me to believe, that a lot more time has passed, in my life, since Wally wood killed himself, in 1980, than had elapsed before that, almost twice as much!  I was just 23 years old, in 1980 and here today, I am 62, on my way to 63...

That makes me eight years older, than Wally was, when he took his own life and that makes me really sad because I don't feel that old, at least most of the time!

Remembering Andromeda Publications, Canadian Comic Book Distributor

Once upon a time, 

Ron Van Leeuwen,

the founder, owner and operator, of

The Silver Snail,

comic book emporium and all around cool spot,

decided to move into the realm of comic book distribution.

Since he already had the legal rights to use 

Andromeda Publications, 

the name under which he had published several comic books, back in the Seventies:

Andromeda

&

Arik Khan

So, he simply repurposed the name and set about being a distributor.  As I recall, by about 1987, the distribution arm of his business interests, was making a "river of money" and Ron was living the high life!

Despite the ballpoint pen addition, of the business address, this was one of their giant sized cards.

In 1991 they started producing their own version, of the catalogue that Diamond Distributions, continues publishing to this day.

They called it

Comics Etc.

and it ran from March of 1991

until the collapse of the comic book distribution world, 

in early 1995...

this might be the cover to their final issue?

The inside page, listed the contents and the names of the people involved in it's production:

All of them have, of course, dispersed and moved on.

Andromeda declared bankruptcy in 1995 and while Ron continued to own and run The Silver Snail, 

even he finally retired in 2011

and sold the business to his long-time employee/manager 

George Zotti and his business partner.

These days, even George has been forced out and The Snail, is now a pretty soulless place... more's the pity!

But I still remember the GLORY days, when we all so very much younger and everything seemed so much more interesting.

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.