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.