I was talking to Marie Severin a while back, about comics, as we often do. I mentioned that Stan Lee, although an affable person to work with on various projects, never seemed to me to be a mover and shaker on the business side of Marvel Comics. Marie responded that…
Here’s something to think about. At the San Diego Comicon recently, a cover by Mike Kaluta was for sale at $30,000. Not directly from Mike, more’s the pity; he’s not going to get another penny for that piece of his original artwork. The dealer’s price was met via a trade…
You know that line, “I was country when country wasn’t cool”? This week, while the media goes gaga over the San Diego Comicon, that’s how I feel. I was a serious comic book fan* back when serious comic book fans were the nerdiest of the nerds. Star Trek fans didn’t…
Recently, I completed a lengthy e-mail interview with Bryan Stroud for his The Silver Lantern site, which is dedicated to superhero comic books of the Silver Age, the 1960s. Bryan has posted interviews with a lot of people I know from the comic book biz, so I am happy to…
Shaun Usher has a site, Letterheady, that has letterhead from a wide variety of interesting sources. I’ve submitted a piece of old Wonder Woman stationery I found while working at DC Comics. When I was in the business, I was shocked to see person after person dumping reams–yes, actual reams–of…
Several times recently people have asked me questions that have brought back a key moment with my father. When I received my subscription copy of Hawkman #18, I discovered that in addition to the usual lettercolumn page that I always was eager to read, an entire page was devoted to…
Last night I watched a few minutes of an episode of the TV show “Big Bang Theory,” in which Stan Lee played himself while wearing a bathrobe that he must have stolen from Reed Richards–it had the Fantastic Four symbol on it. Silly stuff. The fanboys desperate for his autograph…
If I thought that this blog would be the blog o’ short bits, I am now thoroughly convinced otherwise. I just have so much to say. Which is ironic–really–because when I wrote letters to comic books back in the dawn of time, I wrote most of them on postcards. Typed,…
I dug into my box of old Marvel Comics memories the other day. I am still reeling from the negative vibes of that encounter with my past. Sarcastic memos flung far and wide, sturm und drang from every direction. Bad stuff happening to many people. Bad stuff perpetrated by many…
Turns out there were lots of hilarious Jimmy Olsen stories. Mostly drawn by the wonderful Curt Swan, they often featured glamorous women who wanted a romance with Jimmy. These beauties, usually from outer space, would always be disappointments. Jimmy’s new love would be a plasma person, or 20 feet tall,…
