Jim Steranko's Rocket Robin Hood Storyboards, for "Escape from Xanador!"

 Many years ago, when we were still acquainted with each other, Ronn Sutton, the artist on Claypool Comics' Elvira, among other things, gave me these photo copies, knowing that they would interest me.

Ronn had been quite close with Jim Steranko and I am guessing, that these either came from him, or were passed along to Ronn by someone who knew them both.

To say that I was surprised, when so many other bits and pieces of paper ephemera are here, on the Web, for Geeks like me, to enjoy and collect, that these are not already available.

I hope, that by posting them, I am providing a service, to the collectors and academics, who find this type of "hidden gem", to be like catnip.

I sincerely hope, that Mister Steranko, sees it in that light and doesn't take exception, to these images being disseminated.

So, without further ado, I present "Escape from Xanador!"....some fifty years after they were drawn.

(The first eleven images were reduced, in the original photo copying.) 

These last two frames, are 'size as' and give an idea of the scale, that Jim Steranko, was working at.

Now and Then Books, 26th Anniversary Flyer

 Time flies and it really doesn't seem that long ago but it was 1997 and Harry Kremer was celebrating the 26th anniversary of his fantastic comic book emporium.

Unfortunately, it has been a very long time and I am sorry to say, that I really don't recall much about the event.  At the time, I was not really paying attention, to the comic books being published by the special guests.

It took me a while, a long while to discover what Mark Oakly and Tara Jenkins were doing...and while I remember Lethargic Lad, vaguely, I am still ignorant of what Greg Hyland's comic book was about.

Harry Kremer was a very special guy and while we all knew he was dealing with health issues, it was still a shock, when I learned from Tim Simms, the proprietor of Worlds Collide, in Oshawa, that Harry had died.

That was 2002...eighteen years ago!  It doesn't seem possible.

Stuart Immonen Draws a Comic Book Panel

 One of my personal recommendations, to any aspiring Comic Book artist, is that along with studying the old masters of the form, like Joe Kubert, Alex Toth and Will Eisner, it would also be beneficial, to study the work of Stuart Immonen.

Stuart managed to alienate me, a couple of years ago, with a very unnerving and brusque response to something I said to him but that doesn't stop me from admiring his skills as a graphic storyteller.

This example, in a step by step mode, I discovered, posted by someone else, just the other day but the good stuff, deserves to be re posted and this is definitely, good stuff.

Stuart has been a solid comic book professional, for around thirty odd years and the fact the ha has "stepped back" from the drawing table, in the last couple of years, is a shame.

I really enjoyed his short series, written by Mark Millar, Empress but it was over too soon.

The last book that Stuart worked on, was Plunge, written by Joe Hill.  Horror styled stories, while I have enjoyed a few, are not really my thing and while I bought the series and read it, I was less than overawed by it.

I wait, with anticipation, to see what he will do next.

Gino D'Achille and Yvonne De Carlo

 When I was around 17 years old, I read a slew of the Gor books, written by John Norman.

Back then, I don't remember if he was already a target, of the Women's Liberation movement and truthfully, I wouldn't have cared but when I tried to reread one of the books, a couple of years ago, I was appalled at my younger self's acceptance of some of the sexist subject matter.

When I was 17 and still a virgin, the idea of being a dominant macho man, manhandling beautiful women, had a certain appeal but as an older man, who has lived in the world, I found the explicit idea, that women were like paper tissues, to be used and discarded, to be repugnant and I just about threw the book across the room! LOL

That being said, John Norman was Lucky enough to have his book covers illustrated by some very fine artists and they made the books look fantastic and readable.

One of those artists, was the late Gino D'Achille and he painted this cover.  Which only goes to prove that good works of art, start with good reference images!

Which, as I discovered, was based on one of the movie stills, used to advertise the British Movie, of 1951, Hotel Sahara and showed off the fantastic body of the young Yvonne De Carlo.

A few years later on, Yvonne would become better known for her role of Lily Munster, on the TV show "The Munsters".

Jeff Jones and his Iguana

 I remember this cover of Nightmare and I always thought that the "attitude" or pose, of the flying Dragon/Lizard, was a bit off 

What I didn't know, was that Jeff Jones had an Iguana, for at least, long enough to use it as a reference, when he painted this cover.

The Internet, is a boon to a comic book/Illustration geek, like me!

Michael Golden aka The Reclusive One, Talking About Comic Book Making

 In the back pages, of three out of the four, Image Comics issues of Michael Golden's, SpartanX, the man himself put these pages, about  his approach to making comic books.

Starting with SpartanX Issue #2

Then SpartanX, Issue 3

And finally, SpartanX, issue 4

Truthfully, I was, upon searching the Net for any trace of these pages, surprised that they were nowhere to be found...hopefully, this will be a help to any students of the art form.

And also, hopefully, the Master, Mister Golden, will not be displeased by this post.

Robert Fawcett Art Books

 These are not very many Robert Fawcett books, either by him or about him and here they are.

The first one, would have to be, "How I Make a Picture", written for the Fantastic Artists, Advanced Course binder.  Published in 1949, it is quite the collectors item and in a perfect, complete state, it commands a good price...$600 USD.

This is my copy, which is missing a couple of full colour prints, a fold out reproduction of a tracing paper sketch and one of the course pages...but it also cost me a whole lot less than $600!

It is a phenomenal look, into the mind behind the artwork and the thought process behind their creation.  Having read it, finally, I am convinced that the comic book artist Alex Toth, had to have read it and been severely affected by it...to the point, of changing his approach to drawing; eschewing complexity and fine detail, in favour of simplicity and directness.

I can thoroughly recommend any and all of the publications, from the Two Morrows publishing empire, as they are all uniformly excellent.

(1958)

I bought this at the Dragon Lady, for the princely sum of $30, years and years ago, when they were down on Queen Street West and it has been with me ever since.  It is as oddly philosophical, as the binder he wrote for the Famous Artists course, which he wrote almost ten years earlier.

It was also, as far as I remember, the first "Stolen from the library of Fred G. Ivory", used book and as the years rolled by, I have accumulated a few more.  I always wondered who F. G. Ivory was and just today, I think I finally tracked him down.

The facts all fit, as does his age, at the point that the Fawcett book was was published.  There is a file card, in between the pages, that has the date 1960 written on it and Fred's notations, about passages in the book, that he thought were important.  I always thought, that he had to be in the graphics field, or an artist, based on his buying the book...so to discover that Fred was a commercial artist and a silk screener, is wonderful!

(1980)

This one, came through the mail, ordered from Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr. and Bud Plant Illustrated Books.  Some time around 1990, I think, because by 1995 or so, I had stopped buying stuff from them…with a couple of exceptions…because the Canadian Customs Men began levying duty on anything coming in from America!

(2010)

This one, is a great book and Manuel Auad has published some beauties in his time!

I cannot believe that it has been ten years since it was published, it still seems like a brand NEW book to me! LOL

It ha also appreciated in price, significantly, since 2010 and what was a $60 book, is now being offered for anywhere between $280 (used) and $1800 (new)…I kid you not!