 FOOM 9: March 1975 Publisher/editor: Marvel Comics/Scott Edelman Hi, everyone, and welcome to another unhinged installment of Ink Stains and imagine my inthusiasm, inknuts! This time out covers another issue of the Marvel house "fanzine," FOOM, specifically issue 9. Much Byrne to be had, which you will see! The unfortunate thing is, much of the artwork is not signed, so I am guessing at the artists (though Duffy Vohland is the common thread and usually the inker, as he brought much of the art into the mag). See the image below, to start.  possibly Byrne and Vohland, maybe Paty The first article, Ride the Wild Cosmos, explores Galactus and his herald, The Silver Surfer, and features the illo above as well as the Paty (I think) illustration below.  Continuing in the galactic theme, Stern's next article focuses on Captain Marvel, and starts with the nice Don Maitz/Vohland illustration below (I am guessing the production department added all the color). There is also a clean Gil Kane (inked possibly by Dan Adkins) that you can see in the pdf.  Never one to resist milking a theme, FOOM continues with a piece featuring The Watcher, accompanied by some John Byrne work seen below.  ....and the milking is not done! Him/Warlock is the start of the next article (Man is the Father to Him), this time written by Duffy Vohland, and featuring a stylish Stephen Fabian/Vohland illustration (eyes down);  Various house articles follows, including a Marv Wolfman Wakanda piece, The 1974 Irving Awards ballot, the letters column, and the Department of Infoomation (with what looks like a Dave Cockrum sketch). Humorist Charley Parker (not that one) follows with Doctor Foom Meets the Mud-Thing, seen the opposite of above.  Lastly we are gifted a parody Kung Fu cover by Byrne, his slick style already in evidence.  OK, folks, that is about it for this installment of Ink Stains! Remember, you can see it all in the pdf! Sorry for the shortness of my text this time, I am catching up from a convention. Or maybe you should say thank you?
Ken Meyer Jr. [email protected]
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 (Cover spread, front cover on right by Wilson, back cover by Bill Schelly) The Collector 1, 2, 3/4, 5/6, 7:1967 Editor/publisher: Bill G. Wilson From small things! This installment covers the first 7 issues (two are double issues) of The Collector, from Bill G. Wilson. This particular column is mostly for historical significance. Usually, I tend to spotlight artists (and some writers) who started in the zines and went on to much bigger things. However, being so early in this great fanzine's run, there aren't really many of those. But at least you can view the pdfs to see where it all started! The cover illustration from issue one below the photo is most likely by Bill himself when he was, oh, maybe 12 or so (crazily, ALL of the issues in this column were done in one year, 1967). In fact, see the famous photo below that also includes people like an almost equally young Gary Groth, along with a ton of young comic pros (bill is front row in glasses, second from right). I grabbed the photo from the late John G. Fantucchio's site.  The guests all named and numbered are 1. John Verpoorten, 2. Stu Schwartzberg, 3. Bill Peckmann, 4. Jerry Bails, 5. Jean Bails, 6. Jean Thomas, 7. Roy Thomas, 8. John Buscema, 9. Tom Fagan, 10. John Fantucchio, 11. Mary Fantucchio, 12. Kathy Roberts, 13. Charlie Roberts, 14. Ellie Greim, 15. Martin L. Greim ,16. Richard "Grass" Green, 17. Arvell Jones, 18. Ed Aprill, 19. Gil Kane, 20. Hal Foster, 21. Phil Seuling, 22. Carole Seuling, 23. John Benson, 24. Bill Pearson, 25. Howard G. Groth, 26. Al Milgrom, 27. Joe Sinnott, 28. Michelle "Mike" Nolan (directly to the left of the "28"), 29. Rich Buckler (directly to the left of the "29"), 30. Ron Buckler, 31. Woody Gelman (the face directly above the "1" in "31"), 32. Greg Theakston, 33. Chester Grabowski, 34. Joseph Goggin, 35. Terry Murray, 36. Edwin Murray, 37. Bob Lewis, 38. Bill Thailing, 39. Bill Devine, 40. Stan Landman, 41. Mark Hanerfeld (Directly behind Stan - just the outline of his head is visible), 42. Eliot Wagner (face partially obscured by Len Wein), 43. Len Wein, 44. Ellen Vartanoff, 45. Irene Vartanoff, 46. Marv Wolfman, 47. Pami Texler, 48. Dick Giordano, 49. Alan Weiss, 50. Mary Skrenes, 51. Mrs. Don McGregor, 52. Don McGregor, 53. Sal Trapini, 54. Gray Morrow, 55. Jerry Weist, 56. Angelo Torres, 57. Archie Goodwin, 58. Al Williamson, 59. Tom Long, 60. Jeff Jones, 61. Gary Brown, 62. Greg Potter, 63. Jeff Potter, 64. Mark Dickson, 65. Gary Dolgoff, 66. Bill G. Wilson, 67. Gary Groth, 68. Paul Webb (partially hidden by Gary Via), 69. Gary Via, 70. Al Hewetson, 71. Pauline Goldberg, 72. Stan Goldberg, 73. Lamar Blaylock (partially obscured), 74. James Moorhead, 75. Craig Dawson, 76. Neal Tillotson, 77. Tom Watkins.  I will show the covers to all the issues, and a few spots, but there isn't that much to show, to be honest. Please feel free to see the pdfs for 1, 2, 3/4, 5/6, and 7 to see the whole story.   Marshall Lanz  (Cover spread, left back cover by Wilson, right front cover by Paul Legrazie Jr.)  It's very common to see these sorts of humble beginnings with zines that lasted as long as The Collector (29 issues, really taking off around issue 20 or so, in my opinion). These early issues are mostly composed of short articles on established characters like The Spirit, Superman, The Phantom, etc, as well as a few editorials, ads, checklists, etc. Check out the pdfs for yourself! There are a few spot illustrations here and there, such as the one at left by Fred Hembeck, long before the humorous style be became known for.
Check the main Ink Stains page on my site to see all the previous installments covering all of the other issues to see the incredible progression! Thanks this time goes out to Manny Maris, for the scans for all these early gems!  FOOM 8: 1974 Editor/Publisher: Scott Edelman/Stan Lee Hi Everyone! Wow, it's about 3:15 on the first of April and I just NOW realized I have a column to do! AGGGGGG! OK, I picked one that was already scanned (thanks to whomever did it, I cannot seem to find a reference to that person) and more or less ready to go. Luckily, this issue of FOOM has something interesting going for it...it features a still very young and new John Byrne! Below you will see several illustrations throughout this installment from the most famous Canadian Marvel creator! Funnily enough, his Wiki page states that his first professional published work was in an earlier issue of FOOM on the fan page, while working for Charlton would start about a year later. Who among the readers has an eagle eye and spot the somewhat obvious mistake on the cover? Hint: there is a Split Enz song that references the error (or, to be exact, you have to insert a "don't" into the song title). Anyway, enough obscure musical trivia, onto the zine!   You can see that Duffy Vohland inked the two pieces above, as well as the others seen below. Duffy's first goal was to be an artist, and he inked Byrne and others early on, as well as inking a good amount of Marvel projects (you can see a checklist here). He also ended up as FOOM editor himself (in this issue, he is listed as contributing editor)! The editor of this particular issue, Scott Edelman, has a little essay featuring Vohland here. You can see the genial dude at left. His column, Duffy's Tavern, was a mainstay of many a zine. As for this zine, after the cover, there is a funny ad for subscriptions that promises you can "win Don McGregor!" Seems like Don was augmenting his comic career with babysitting around this time. Don? As usual, there are some humorous features in FOOM, and you can see one below, with contributions from Marie Severin and Dave Cockrum.   Following that is some miscellaneous items, then the letters page appears, and after that is an article on Captain American by another CPL member, Roger Stern (Sterno to his buds). The two Cap Byrne/Vohland illustrations at top adorn the article, and as a sort of sub article, Manchild in a Troubled Land, featuring Cap sidekick, Bucky, seen at left. There is also a short piece on Cap's other partner, Falcon (with another Byrne/Vohland illustration behind the text). There is also another article, this one focusing on the 1944 Cap film (no shield...or Bucky!). An additional piece follow that, covering Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who are, as we all know, Cap's creators. The fan page which Byrne contributed to earlier follow that, and one name I recognize is George Lane! You can fine George on Facebook. Check out the fan page below. When I told George about the column, he posted this on Facebook: "Issue Eight! That was around 1973 after I was first married. I sent in a bunch of spot illos to Marvel while I was studying Gene Colan and Dave Cockrum from his LSH run at the time. I sent in a Silver Surfer, Captain America, Spider-Man, Vision, Medusa, Reed Richards, and the Banshee that was used. Tony Isabella sent me the artwork back with a request to ink them and send them back with full pages showing different angles of art with assorted characters and panel layouts. I was young, so I did panel layouts with fighting scenes of the original X-Men vs. Silver Surfer, The Defenders attacking the Inhumans, one large panel of the Hulk fighting the Man-Thing, etc. I made no copies of any of the art and sent it in full of the hope of being hired by Marvel! I never heard another word! A few years later, I was meeting Gary Barker at an Indianapolis flea market and he came running up to me to take me to a comic dealer who had the FOOM issue eight that you are covering. He was so excited to show me that I was on the Fan Page of that issue of FOOM! I was not aware of that! I had to buy it!"  There are several company related ads and articles after that, the Dept. of InFOOMation follows, which nicely condenses several creators remarks on their upcoming/current (at the time) projects. Some creators included are Len Wein, Don McGregor, Doug Moench, Marv Wolfman, Steve Gerber, and more. And that about wraps up this issue. However, I am going to end it with a funny little one pager from Charley Parker featuring Dr. Doom and all powerful Forbush Man! Somewhat related to this post, but definitely to the blog in general, here is a link to Alan Light's TBG Days page...TBG was what got me into fandom in the first place, thanks, Alan! Have a great April, everyone, and hopefully come back next month for who knows what! Remember to view the whole issue pdf!   Nimbus 2: December 1975 Editor/publisher: Frank Lovece  Welcome back to the world of fanzines, specifically those from around 1967 to 1981. It was a glorious time. That is, if you didn't mind sending quarters taped to index cards and waiting weeks to get your fix. But of course, it was all worth it! That anticipation (thank you, sir Furter) was part of the charm! This month, as you can see above, we are going to run down the halls of Nimbus 2 with big sharpie scissors. Issue 3 was stellar and covered in the column already (see here), so we are going backwards...sorta apropos, consider this column is being written 50 years later! OK, no more stalling! In the editorial, Lovece states that this issue is COSMIC! Several characters falling into that category are covered and/or depicted visually, as you can see in the first example at left, Warlock by Steve Leialoha.  Hoy Murphey starts us off with Adam Strange, The Thinking Man's Hero. A nicely designed masthead by Rich Bruning (inked by Leialoha) adorns the article (seen at right). Following that is an article on the beloved Charlton hero, E-Man, in Man...and E-man by editor Lovece. I remember really loving this series, especially at the beginning. I suppose. you could say it was possibly slightly inspired by silly characters such as Plastic Man, but modernized (Nova Kane, E-Man's partner was, after all, an "exotic dancer!") I think the tone of the series perfectly fit Joe Staton's cartoony and very charming visual style. The article is adorned by a Mike Zeck spot illo of the character, seen below (Karl Kesel does a piece featuring Nova).
 Above you see a certainly cosmic illustration by Don Maitz, who appeared in several zines back then, and later went on to become one of our best fantasy illustrators! Check out his awesome website here! Peter B. Gillis then has the gall to bother GOD for an interview! I wonder if Stephen Colbert asked God if he remembers Mr. Gillis? Right after that is the cool pin up you see below from Sam De la Rosa and Ric Cruz (InterFan regulars back then) of Charlton hero, Captain Atom. 
On the heels of Don is Super-Heroes, Space Opera, and Spiffy Stuff by Paul Kupperberg. Then, Dave Fryxell's Protean Thoughts appears, featuring thoughts on Warlock and Master of Kung Fu. That about wraps it up! There is a nice back cover from future pro, Keith Pollard (and Duffy Vohland), very reminiscent of John Buscema's work. I am hoping to add some thoughts from editor Lovece....but I don't know how quickly it will emerge, so check back!  Remember, you can see the whole zine as a pdf, so check it out...lots of art was not shown above! Thanks to Frank for the initial pdf.
Seeya next month! Ken Meyer [email protected]  Grymalkin 3: 1979ish Publishers/editors: Mike and Gay Brewer  Welcome to the first Ink Stains of 2025! An eventful year in many ways, some I can't even bear to talk about. On the brighter side, I now have the first of two eye operations done, with the hopes of never having to wear those damn glasses again! So far, so good. But, I digress...this month's entry is the third issue of Grymalkin. This is another of the wonderful half size zines of the time, alongside such greats as CPL, No Sex, The Comic Reader, and The Wonderful World of Comics, among others. Also, like many zines of the era, it is populated with conventions sketches from the pros, as well as interviews fan fiction, and other enthusiastic contributions. I wasn't able to track down the editor brothers, so unfortunately, it's only me this time! To the left you can see a typically stylish illustration by P. Craig Russell (you can see my interview with him in the main column index here on my site), the subject of an interview in this issue of Grymalkin that runs about 2 pages. It is followed by a fan fiction piece entitled The Blue Plague from Robert Oliver Jr and Mario Giguere, as well as a very short story/sorta poem from Joseph M. Shea called A Conspiracy of Sadness (with a cute little illo from Kenneth Smith paired with it). Close by is a con sketch from George Perez, seen below, as well as a dramatic illo from Marshall Rogers, which follows.    Above you see an illustration by the late and very much missed David Heath Jr (editor of the previously mentioned No Sex) for the Ken Hahn story, Mindsucker. That masthead brings back memories of all that press type from long ago! Below you see a centerspread illo from Mike Ray that looks like it was intended to be a cover. Now, if you remember the artists from back then, you might get a strong Mike Roberts vibe from this...wonder if is him under a pen name? I don't even know if Roberts is still with us. A nice illo, regardless.  Up next is a story from Allen D. Cockrell that goes by the name of Requiem Passing. It is accompanied by a nicely halftoned full page illustration from Bruce Conklin, seen below. There is also a nifty little Frazetta sketch you can see in the pdf.  The next story is by Harry Bose, called From the Moon to the Earth, and has an illo by Earl Johnson Jr adorning it. It is followed by Another Day at the Office, a little sf comedy skit by John Kelly. Unrelated, but beside it, is a fairly dynamic sketch by the great Howard Chaykin, seen below.  E-Man makes an appearance in sketch form from Joe Staton next, and a Jim Starlin interview follows that. Before the editorial on the last page is a Jerry Collins sketch, seen below. Jerry was in soooo many issues of No Sex, I remember David liked his stuff a lot.  That is Grymalkin we see exiting the building, who will take it's place next month...only the Shadow....  Rick Harrison What a drama queen! As I was saying, thanks for tuning in this month and please stop by next month. Thanks this time, yet again to the big man, the king of kings, master of all he surveys, Manny Maris, for the zine this time! Check out the pdf to see much more art, all the stories, etc!
Ken Meyer Jr [email protected]  Lollapaloosa 3: November 1979 Publisher/editor: Mitch O'Connell -I just heard that Carl Taylor has passed away (today, Jan 1). He posted art a mere two weeks ago. Terribly sad news...Carl is represented in this issue, as well as a ton of other zines from back then...he was everywhere! His great combination of Gil Kane and Jack Kirby made for dynamic and action packed work...and you could tell he loved what he was doing. He will be missed.- Well, folks, glad to see all of you here for the 184th installment of Ink Stains...man, that is a lot of typing! The last column of the year covers Mitch O'Connell's third issue of Lollapaloosa. I have covered a few other issues of this zine, as you will see if you go through the index here. I noticed Mitch's art early on, probably one of his several TBG covers. I always saw the little bit of Wrightson, along with perhaps some Neal Adams and Marshall Rogers, the last two being very well known for their work on Batman, Mitch's favorite comic character (as far as I know, and as exhibited in this issue). In fact, you can see one example below on the table of contents page!  Now, as you can see, THERE ARE A LOT OF ARTISTS LISTED ABOVE! In an email from Mitch, he himself said, "I seemed to have just wanted to have a whole bunch of art by pros to make my ‘zine look legit. A clue to that is the cover screaming, “THE WORKS OF 26 COMIC ARTISTS” (although I can’t remember any specifics of what was going through my head at the time)." I have always thought Mitch was a very dedicated artist, a real workhorse, and from a very young age too. The Hunt, which you will see some of in a bit, was done when he was only 18 years old, while the Batman story was done at only age 16. Far beyond my skills at that age! Of this exact period of his life, Mitch said... 1979. I had just moved to Chicago and was attending The School of the Art Institute while living in my Dad’s house. Divorced parents, moved after high school from my Mom’s apartment in Boulder, Colorado to the Windy City. My Dad was working/big wig at a downtown advertising agency and one of his co-workers had a printing press. I’d draw everything up, hand over the actual art, then after I got the printed pages I stapled ‘em all together. As I can see from the index page it had a press run of 500 copies.  Mitch did a ton of work in this zine, inking several illustrations, doing two stories, writing articles, and of course...all that stapling! The first article explores EC Comics, The Cause of Juvenile Delinquency? As for the surfeit of art, Mitch told me that "The cover was a convention sketch I got in person at one of the early Chicago Comic Cons. As for the other art, it was a mix of more convention sketches and pieces I saw in other ‘zines and asked if I could reprint ‘em." Mitch does a much better job than some zine editors in crediting all the artists, even the reprints in this article, for example. A Roy Krenkel "portfolio" follows, consisting of convention sketches (some very sketchy!), one image seen at left. Following Krenkel is one of several quite exhaustive checklists composed and researched by Mitch (this one being Howard Chaykin). On the subject of a Wrightson checklist later in the issue, he said "This issue had the 3rd installment of my Wrightson index. I would track down EVERYTHING he did, from book collections to when his art appeared in a Buyers Guide ad." The first sequential story then appears, featuring his favorite character, entitled Last Laugh. Of that, Mitch said it "...was drawn at the tender age of 16, and I actually got permission from DC to use it in Lollapaloosa. I was drawing comic stories all the time, mainly because my goal was to be a professional. I mailed off copies of the results constantly, and I still have the handful of rejection letters from the very nice (but unimpressed) people at Marvel and DC." See a few pages from this precocious talent below.    A Marshall Rogers index follows, and then, the Art Gallery, featuring work from Joe Staton, Mike Nasser (Netzer), Vaughn Bode, Mike Vosburg, Mike Grell, Fred Hembeck, Jack Kirby/Mike Machlan, and John Buscema/O'Connell. You can see a few below and at left. After those visuals, two more checklists follow, the first covering Jim Starlin, followed by the aforementioned Wrightson index (part 3). A Don Martin portfolio follows, composed of very quick sketches, as Mitch describes, "...were from my Dad. It seems they hired Don for an ad campaign and these were his idea sketches. As far as I know that’s as far as they went."     Another index appears, covering Barry Smith, and then the second story appears, The Hunt. Check out a few pages below. Mitch, though, is a little tough on himself regarding this story, saying ... The Hunt looks very silly (I was 18), but some things that stick out is one example of taking style from another artist but having no idea of the reasoning behind it. That lined shading on every wall was gleamed from Berni Wrightson’s Frankenstein art, and he of course got it from Franklin Booth. I also like the other techniques of toothbrush splatter for the ground. I’d block off an area of the paper, dip a toothbrush in ink, then flick my thumb across the bristols. Also, extensive use of my many sheets of zip-a-tone was a must. Fun fact, that’s me with the glasses, and my Dad’s van is our vehicle.    Another index follows, this time covering Neal Adams. There was a nice illo accompanying it that Mitch reprinted, which you can see below.  An ad appears, then the back cover by Frank Brunner, (seen below). For those of you that don't know, the Rog-2000 was a John Byrne character first appearing in the fanzine, CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature), from the group consisting of Byrne, Robert Layton, Duffy Vohland, Rogers Stern and Slifer, and others. It later appeared in various Charlton comics.  Well, that wraps up this zine and this installment! Thanks for coming by and hopefully leaving a comment of some sort! Thanks this time goes out to Mitch O'Connell for his time, and Manny Maris for the scans for this issue! Remember, you can see the zine in it's entirety as a pdf here! Have a great New Year's eve!
Ken Meyer Jr [email protected]  FOOM 6: Summer 1974 Publisher/Editor: Marvel Comics/Tony Isabella Face Front, True Believers! It is November, and in the Ink Stains world, November (this one, anyway) is the month of the Mighty Marvel, specifically their house fanzine, FOOM (Friends of Ol' Marvel)! It is interesting and fitting that some of the bigger and well known of the recent (then) fans ended up on the staff of this fanzine (as well as Marvel itself), including Tony Isabella (Fantastic Fanzine and more) , Duffy Vohland, Roger Slifer (both of CPL), Dave Cockrum, Paty (Greer, later Paty Cockrum). Above you see the front and back covers of this issue...the front by (I assume) Marie Severin, the back by Ed Hannigan (I think), who was the production chief of the zine (which means he could also have been the sole production person). This fanzine is of interest partially because of people like Cockrum (who did several pin ups this issue you will see), very recently big name fans...but also for the various pieces here and there by professionals of the future. By the way, I have covered other issues, you can see 7 here, as well as other issues which you access from the Ink Stains page here. So, on to the content! First up, other than the editorial by Isabella, is one of many FOOM contests, this one entailing the reader filling in the script for a page of Marvel Art (in this case, a Jungle Action page by Billy Graham). Then we get an interview with Jarvis, the Avengers' butler. It is actually pretty darn long, considering it is a fiction. It is adorned by several gorgeous Cockrum pin ups you see below.     The always delightful Marie Severin comes in next with her "My Son, the Superhero" series, seen below.  Following that is an article on an actual living person, Avengers writer, Steve Englehart. I need to interject to let you know that the always incredible Comic Book Creator has an Engelhart interview coming up in the next issue (which you can get here). I have been doing creator portraits for the last few issues, and here is a sneak peek at the portrait I did of Steve below.  It was interesting to me to find out that Steve initially had plans to be a comic artist, not a writer...his loss and our gain! The next several pages are filled with news about various Marvel projects, staffers, comics, and characters, featuring comic covers from the then current crop of the cream (Department of InFOOMation)! One thing I noticed, skimming those pages, is that supposedly art god Frank Frazetta was set to provide covers (assuming the paperback book cover paintings) for Savage Sword of Conan, but I don't remember ever seeing that, so I guess it fell through after all. Preview is next, featuring behind the scenes info and art (from Rich Buckler) from Man Gods from Beyond the Stars, something that is mentioned to appear in Marvel Preview...I must have missed that one too. Anyway, next we see the FOOM Fan Art Gallery, featuring old buddy Carl Taylor, future pro Rick Hoberg and one Tony Pezzela. See below.  FOOM Forum is up next, lamenting no current Silver Surfer content (the illustration is not credited, but I am wondering if it is also Carl...maybe he can tell us when he sees this column. The letter is from Lester Boutillier, by the way. Another contest of sorts appears next (The Code of the Circus), with an illustration appearing to be possibly by Paty. The actual letter column appears next, then a feature definitely by Paty (written by Isabella with help from Alan and Paul Kupperberg), featuring the star of Not Brand Echh, the mighty Forbush-Man (as well as The Vision and Scarlet Witch). See a sample below.  And, Mighty Fans of Fanzines, that about wraps up this incredible installment of Ink Stains! Thanks this time goes out to Anaphylactic Aaron Caplan for helping with the scans and figuring out some page discrepancies (see the pdf of side by side and page by page comparisons between what appears to be a correct issue and one that is...well...not so correct). Also, Magnanimous Morphin Manny Maris for initial help with that same problem. I am Krummy Ken Meyer Jr, signing off, but not before I remind you to check out the pdf of the whole issue...and come back next month for more! Oh, and of course, you can also use the navigation at top to see the rest of my site if you have a few months to spare!
Shriek 2: 1990 Editors: Tom Skulan, Steve Bissette, Publisher: FantaCo Enterprises   Clive Barker Happy Halloween, everyone! This installment of Ink Stains covers, not quite a fanzine, technically more than a prozine...for me, something in between, the second issue of Shriek. But, it has great content and is perfect for today, being run partially by one of the kings of horror, Steve Bissette! It is a very well done publication, with some lesser knowns, and some that became quite well known. Steve told me on Facebook that, "It was among the last things I did with Tom and FantaCo. At that time. TABOO was more and more my primary focus, much to the frustration of some folks. I was also struggling with a home/family crisis at the time, which contributed heavily to my stepping away from projects, other than TABOO." Bissette has such a big footprint in the industry, his very early work is still incredibly appreciated by this writer. You can find out as much as you like on his website here. So many singular works...Swamp Thing, 1964, Tyrant, and soooo much more. He was also in the first Kubert School class! A super nice guy, and a great representative of the comic industry (though he has also written fiction and non fiction works to great acclaim). Steve elaborates on this issue with "I did co-edit both issues with publisher Tom Skulan, and (unless I'm mistaken) contributed another Shriek portrait to the interior (or was the back cover portrait the only Shriek in sight? I didn't render that lovely b&w illustration). Let me think: I recall really liking Robinson and D'Israeli's story, Trial & Error (script by James Robinson, art by D'Israeli), and Bill Townsend and Mike Dubisch's collaboration (Mike was still a teenager, at the time; Bill runs a comic shop still, unless that's no longer the case, Bill came and spoke to my comics history class at the Center for Cartoon Studies one or two times as our guest retailer, talking through the retail end of the business). Other contents included Faith Which Must Offend (by Andrew Elliott and Mark Buckingham), Rest Room (by Chris Pelletiere), Finnegan's Awake (by Sean Carroll), and My Father's House (the collaboration I mentioned by Bill Townsend and Mike Dubisch). I remember making sure the fiction piece, The Toucher by Stan Wiater, made it through the gauntlet, with illustrations by Mirage Studios amigo Eric Talbot. Really lovely color Rolf Stark cover, quite unlike Rolf's usual style or imagery. Back cover Shriek portrait was by Mark Finneral, who Tom Skulan scared up, that wasn't in my ballpark, but I did have a hand in landing the Clive Barker illustration." You can see one of Barker's illustrations above.  Talbot and Bissette Above you see the pin up mentioned by Bissette. Below, you can see a pin up by Mike Dubisch. On Facebook, Mike told me that "I remember going into FantaCo after the publication of the first issue of the magazine, and up to Tom‘s office where he showed me Rolf Stark’s original oil painting of King Tut, for the cover, and a sizable sculpture of the Gore and Shriek host characters. I want to say Rolf made that too, but I’m not sure. I feel like a sculpture like that would be iconic, but I’ve never seen any photos of it. I’ll have to ask Tom about that someday, if he still has it. The story from that issue, My Father‘s House, I had originally written in a high school English class. My friend, Electric City Comics store owner, Bill Townsend, who had been writing for FantaCo, adapted my short story into a comic script. He had written The Devil‘s Music for me for the first issue, and the story Mall Rats illustrated by superstar Wolverine artist, Greg Capullo, in one of the issues of Gore Shriek. I remember working on the story using gray alcohol markers over pencil, with white gouache and ink, in the final days of my senior year in high school. The inside front cover pen and ink was my first full page published illustration, and was printed across from Clive Barker’s very first US published artwork on the title page." I was informed by Bissette that Barker actually had previous work in Fangoria and the first issue of Taboo.  Mike Dubisch OK, time to start checking out all the great continuity work inside! Story one is Trial and Error by James Robinson and D'Israeli. Robinson is another one of those extraordinarily talented British writers that burst into the US comic industry in the 90s (see this Wikipedia page for more), while fellow Brit, D'Israeli (Matt Brooker) and his precise linework and impeccably composed pages are evident in this story, as well as all of his many other projects. You can read a nice interview with him here. The visuals in this story really impressed me, being in the same deceptively simple style that other favorite artists such as Paul Grist and American Jaime Hernandez possess. Check some pages out below.     More impressive work from across the pond comes in story two, Faith Which Must Offend, by Andrew Elliott, Mark Buckingham (pencils), D'Israli (inks), and H. V. Derci (letters). Gorgeous layouts and sumptuous blacks make for a very stylish vampire story. If you are on Facebook, you can check out his page here. Below is a sampling.    Following that story is a prose piece by Stan Waiter, with illustrations from Eric Talbot, who I remember from some wonderfully textured TMNT stories loooong ago. The next comic story is Restroom by Chris Pelletiere, of which you can see a few pages from below. Check out Chris's website here.   Next up is Finnegan's Awake, by Sean Carroll, a story about someone being just a tad bit greedy with a demon, finishing with a twist ending EC comics would be proud of! The whimsical artwork suits the story really well, as you will see below.   The penultimate story is by the aforementioned Mike Dubisch (with Bill Townsend), My Father's House. I would say it is pretty darn polished for a high school student! See Mike's comments on this near the top of the column, while below, you can see his atmospheric work. While both Mike and I saw a little Jeff Jones in his pin up, here I see more of Jones's Studio mate, Berni Wrightson.    There is a one page Golem story by Michael Price and George Turner, and a back cover of the titular character, Shriek by Mark Finneral (below). That about wraps up your daily dose of dread from Bissette and crew! Don't forget to check out the pdf so you can read the stories in whole! Gratitude goes out this time to Mike Dubisch and Steve Bissette for their input! Thanks for stopping by and hopefully leaving comments...come back next month and we will get back to fanzines proper!   The Legion Outpost 8: Summer 1974 Editor/publisher: Harry Broertjes Welcome everyone to this installment of Ink Stains, where we all revel in the glory of the fanzines of years gone by. In this case, way back to 1974 and the eighth issue of The Legion Outpost! This fanzine's main claim to fame is the early and constant contributions by much loved artist, Dave Cockrum (whose work you see on front cover above). Though Dave was already working for DC on The Legion of Superheroes, he continued his ties with fandom though this and other zines. He was widely admired and well loved. If you appreciate Dave and his work, then there are a few essential books you can get from the prolific Cliff Meth. He states that "There are two books: The Uncanny Dave Cockrum, an art portfolio that 40 leading comics creators participated in ($45, limited edition, hardcover, signed) and Comic Book Babylon, which details the battle for Dave’s rights and royalties (introduction by Stan Lee — $28). I have copies of both if anyone wants one." Email Cliff at [email protected]. Do it now, holmes! If I remember right, I am in the first one! Editor and publisher, Harry, Broertjes, was kind enough to answer a few questions from me via email. Before we jump into the zine proper, Harry will tell us about his beginnings with comics. "As a kid growing up in the late 1950s and ’60s , comics were omnipresent as fun, throwaway amusement for me and all my friends. When I was in the first and second grades, we had to endure a 90-minute bus ride to and from school, and inevitably there would be an assortment of comics along for the ride; we’d pass them along from row to row with no concern about how beaten up they’d get, since sooner rather than later they’d be thrown away anyway. Around the time I turned 9, and was no longer riding that bus, I became interested in the Superman family comics, including the Legion of Super-Heroes, and started saving them. Collecting might be too strong a word to use for the start of this — I continued to roll the spines and make amateur repairs when a center page fell out. But over time, as my collection — by now you could start to use the word — grew, I started to take better care of them. And I’d been wholly sucked into the universe of Mort Weisinger-edited titles. I’d occasionally buy some of Julie Schwartz’s titles, like the Justice League of America, Green Lantern and the Flash, but it took a little longer for Batman (whom I saw enough of in World’s Finest Comics anyway). My interest in Marvel’s books was minimal at best during those early years." So, on to the issue at hand! The first feature is an interview with the incredibly precocious Jim Shooter. His history in comics was consequential and somewhat divisive, but man....what a beginning! He was selling stories to DC at 14 years old! In fact, only a few years later, he quit (he tried Marvel for a bit, but then quit that)! Of course, he later went back and became a fixture at Marvel. Interestingly, he did not come at from a fan of comics per se, but as a way to make a living...but eventually, the grind of school and work wore him down. I really doubt anyone could duplicate or top that beginning!   page layouts for LSH by Shooter  more Shooter layouts  Harry says of his meeting Shooter, "You could write a book, or at least a few chapters, about my strange adventures in fandom. But the most interesting story concerns my tracking down Jim Shooter, the wunderkind Legion writer of the late ’60s, who had vanished from the scene. I did a phone interview with him that appeared in Outpost #8, and then met him in person in August 1974 when Jay Zilber and I were driving to New York for our first face-to-face meeting with Mike Flynn and other Legion fans. I urged Jim to return to writing comics, which he did in 1976, first for a short stint at DC and then the much longer one at Marvel, where like it or not (and for some people it’s a solid not) he had a profound and, to my mind, extraordinarily positive impact on the company and, by extension, comics in general. There’s a parallel world where none of this ever happened, and it’s likely that we wouldn’t recognize the comics business there, if it even still exists. " In fact, it surely could have, considering a job offer that Harry mentions, "At one point in the ’80s Jim Shooter offered me a job as an editor at Marvel, but I ended up turning him down. My sense was that comics were the fun part of my life and work was, well, work. If comics became my work, the whole dynamic would be upended. By the way, that is Jay Zilber to the right of Harry, on that trip to New York!  A spot illo adorning the Letter Column. As for how Harry became exposed to, and involved in fandom, he explains that it was "...a letter to the editor in Superboy #182 (February 1972) written by Mike Flynn, who became a lifelong friend. He was announcing the formation of the Legion Fan Club. Fortunately, editor Murray Boltinoff included Mike’s mailing address, which he almost never did in his letter columns, and even more fortunately, the issue appeared just before Christmas break during my freshman year at Northwestern. That gave me some free time to respond to it — something I might not have done if I’d seen it at some other point during the school year. Mike and I began corresponding, and before long we cobbled together The Legion Outpost #1, which was intended to be the fan club’s newsletter. It didn’t take long for the Outpost and the fan club to effectively became one and the same, and after a few issues the fan club was a memory. While I was in college, I also discovered APAs through an entirely separate avenue. A friend of a dorm-mate belonged to CAPA-alpha, and I looked into it. After graduation I joined it as well as APA-5 at a time when its members included Frank Miller, Paul Chadwick and Mark Verheiden. In 1976, Rich Morrissey launched Interlac, the apa that became the focus of my fandom work for literally decades." Back in this issue of The Legion Outpost, we continue with two features on two different conventions, one with Mike Flynn covering Julycon, the other being Harry's coverage of not only a Legion convention, but a visit to the DC offices! The article mentions meeting such luminaries as Mike Grell and a now professional king of the letters columns, Guy H. Lillian III, among others. Below is a photo of the traveling circus!  sadly, a typically grainy bw fanzine photo (Mercy Van Vlack second from left in front)  Bruce D. Patterson! More inside scoops from Harry here, discussing a few of his favorite zines from the scene at that time. "In the ’70s I read a variety of fanzines, most of which were low-circulation and that I’ve forgotten. But somewhere I have a box full of individual little zines, many of them reproduced using blue ditto, which meant they were micro-circulation publications, many of them of lasting only one or two issues. There’s probably a lot of history in that box — history in the curiosities sense, not a substantial sense. Basically, once I entered the world of APAs, they became my favorite zines. I rejoined Interlac a couple of years ago after a hiatus of about 10 years, although I don’t contribute as energetically to it as I did the first time around. For those who aren’t familiar with APAs, the acronym stands for Amateur Press Association. They’re essentially closed-circuit fanzines, with members sending their contributions to a central mailer who then collects them and distributes one of each back to everyone. CAPA-alpha is monthly; Interlac is bimonthly. These days, I don’t see or read many actual fanzines that are published for the wider fannish world; there’s the occasional Alter Ego, which years ago we would have called a prozine. I’m not sure where the one-shot TwoMorrows titles fall on the spectrum, but I pick up some of those as well. Back in the day, before the internet, Paul Levitz’s The Comic Reader was a must-read newszine, and I kept with it almost from the start to the very end, by which time two guys by the names of Jerry Sinkovec and Mike Tiefenbacher were publishing it. There were the occasional RBCCs, too.  unfortunately, I do not know the artist of this nice illo Following is Update, by Rich Morrissey (subbing for Jay Zilber), where he critiques a specific issue of LSH. Then, another interview appears, the subject being industry veteran (and Marvel family writer...that is, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, etc...) Otto Binder. Several C.C. Beck Marvel illustrations adorn the interview, one of which you can see below, in addition to a photo of the writer himself.   Harry's schedule back then was busy and varied, as he states here, saying "This was during college and the years afterward. Looking back, I have no idea how I juggled classes (and later, work) with a regular social life, editing a fanzine, writing apazines and keeping up with a separate universe of friends, most of them at a distance — which meant lots of letter-writing and occasional phone calls. After I moved to Florida in 1976 and started working for the Miami Herald, I’d fly to New York two or three times a year to attend comic conventions, where a lot of us gathered in person for a long weekend of fun, comics and inevitably some sort of rowdiness and fooling around. The conventions were also a great place to meet and talk with the pros who worked for DC and Marvel. As New York started to fade as a convention venue, Chicago became the go-to place in the 1980s, and then San Diego in the ’90s. Harry fills us in on what his life was like after fandom and brings us up to date as well below. "I had kept up a steady stream of Interlac zines, one every two months, for close to 30 years. But then I got married, and a higher priority for my non-work hours emerged. I still kept up with comics, but I dropped out of Interlac as of issue #175 of my zine. A couple of years ago, now that I’m retired, I rejoined ’Lac, but my participation is far more limited than it used to be. I took early retirement from the Miami Herald in 2014 after 37 years of being a copy editor, page designer, night city editor and Page One editor. Over the course of a couple of years I took my collection and prepared it for sale. I had 147 long boxes of comics, all bagged, tagged and organized, stacked seven-high in a storage bay. By then I was long past the point where my original idea for boxing them — to have my comics handy in case I ever needed to refer to them, or just to reread them — was lost in literally four tons of boxes full of comics. Even if I’d wanted to, it wasn’t practical to retrieve a comic from its box because inevitably it would be in a box at the very bottom of one of those seven-tall stacks; it was easier to just order a new one online, or find it in a collection, or just say the hell with it. So I sold them all, and was happy with the price I got. The dealer was happy to get them and make a lot of money from them after the carrying costs. And the people who bought or will buy them are happy to have a comic they want. It was win-win-win. These days, now that I’ve turned 70, I’ve done such pulse-pounding things as serve on my condo board for eight years, walk our dogs and just take things easy. From college to retirement I worked my ass off at the Herald and the two papers I briefly worked at beforehand, and the more-relaxed life I’m now enjoying is my reward." Lastly, the letters column appears, with a letter from Dave Sim, no less! There is also an insert of a couple pages, The Legion Outpost Bulletin. The sublime back cover by Cockrum is seen below.   Harry makes it into Comics Interview! Well people, that about wraps up this installment of Ink Stains! Thanks first to Manny Maris for scanning this issue for me from his collection, and of course, Harry Broertjes, for taking the time to answer my questions! I hope you find the time to comment and come back next time! Don't forget to view the pdf!
 The Heroines Showcase (formerly The Heroine Addict) 12: Winter 77/78 Publisher: Steven R. Johnson, Editor: Ted Delorme  I chose to cover this particular fanzine primarily because of the contributions of two fan favorites, Lela Dowling (who has been "Mrs. Frank Cirocco" for awhile now), and Brent Anderson. Brent did the sublime cover you see above, the illustration at left, and several others scattered througout this issue. Brent would be a solid pro three short years later. I had and have a strong connection with Brent, since we were pen pals from his fanzine days (in Venture and his own Mindworks) through to his conversion as a pro, and now, mainly through Facebook. In fact, Brent inked the very first artwork I ever had published, a Bruce Lee drawing that appeared in a convention program book (Bay Con 1, covered here). We were and are both huge Bruce Lee fans and did many illustrations of the Little Dragon. The Heroines Showcase used to be The Heroine Addict...pretty clever, but probably good that they changed the name. The staff list is pretty strong, containing people like Mercy Van Vlack, Gary Winnick (also a Venture member), Bob Rodi, Dowling, Anderson, Anna Greenleaf, and others, including the late Tom Luth, official colorist for Usagi Yojimbo (sadly, you can see his obit here). The first article this issue is a fun interview with Red Sonja artist, Frank Thorne. Below, you see him as the wizard he dressed as at conventions, many times with future Elfquest artist, Wendi Pini (as Wendi Fletcher, she contributed to several zines back then).   Now, as the zine title obviously suggests, the focus here is comic heroines. Above you see Darrell McNeil and Brent Anderson's versions of a few of that select group. One of those is covered in the following article, A Tale of Four Wonder Women, by Carol Strickland, covering the WWs of Earth, Earth-2, and a few other iterations. The Club News page follows, where editor Ted Delorme submits his resignation and goes over a few editorial policies and lauds fellow zine members. There is also a very nice pencil illustration of the then-ubiquitous Farah Fawcett....though I cannot tell who actually did the art.  A Black Orchid feature is next up (Who is Black Orchid?), though this is before the excellent Vertigo series of the 90s. Then, publisher Johnson covers Miss Victory in Golden Age Girls (two nice Anderson illos accompany the article).  I want to jump in here and mention the contributions by Lela Dowling (the inside front cover seen above). She was in several other fanzines of the time (such as Princessions, Animag, and Rigel) and transitioned into independent black and white comics and then...well, heck, let's let her tell it! Below are some generous answers to some insipid questions that will flesh out the Lela Dowling story! 1. How and when did you get into comics (and/or fantasy)? Well, I’d have to say that my parents were at least partly responsible. Not only did they approve of anything that would encourage their kids to read (they were both school teachers), my dad especially was a big fan of early comic books. He was really put out with his mom for tossing out his little big book collection while he was overseas serving in the U.S. Army in WWII! He and my mom were also big fans of Pogo, and had a bunch of Pogo comic books that my brother and I enjoyed, -- they got so worn that he finally had the whole stack bound into a book that I still have. So I’d have to say Walt Kelly’s work was the biggest influence on my early cartooning style. As for later, I recall when I was in high school and home sick one day, I went rooting through my brother’s comic book box for reading material to keep me amused, and developed a taste for beautifully drawn comics. I literally picked up an issue of Green Lantern & Green Arrow #76, and said to myself, ‘Now that is a beautiful cover.” Man, I wish I still had that comic, but I had to sell it during some of the leaner years of being a self-employed artist! I began actively visiting comic shops to seek out the best stuff. Anything by Hal Foster, Neal Adams, Craig Russel, Jim Starlin, Ross Andru, Michael Kaluta, Jeff Jones and many, many others.  2. What was your first exposure to fandom? I met a guy in one of my commercial art classes at Foothill College, Alan Tyler. We started dating, and he took me to my first little sci-fi convention in San Francisco. I think that was the con he went to in full Planet of the Apes mask makeup, and my mom got a photo of us going out the door—me with my portfolio case, Alan with his prosthetic makeup -- she thought it was hilarious that her daughter was dating an ape! It was a lot of fun, and that got the ball rolling. I started making friends in fandom, and that was where I was introduced to fanzines. 3. You have a very distinctive style...who were your main influences? The English book illustrator Arthur Rackham for my fine art, and Walt Kelly for my cartooning. I’m sure there were others along the way who influenced my style, too. 4. What were your most positive and/or memorable moments in fandom? Wow, that’s hard to say. I was involved in comics & sci-fi/fantasy fandom for years, it was what I lived for! Socializing with ‘my people’ after years of being that odd kid who read a lot and liked scribbling unicorns and dragons. I had no artist friends until I was in college. Once in fandom, I made many friends who are still a part of my life today. I started selling my art, and was introduced to new writers and art styles. But no one event stands out apart from the rest. Bear in mind, that was a long time ago and at times, 'it's all a blur!' 5. Did you have any favorite zines both as a contributor and as a reader? You know, although I found fanzines interesting, I didn’t really get into them like some folks did. But early on Steve Johnson latched onto me thru mutual friends, and put me to work illustrating his fanzines, The Adventuress and The Heroine Addict (later renamed The Heroines Showcase) I guess I was a rare creature in those days—a girl artist who liked comic books, and not just the ‘girly’ comic books, I preferred the superhero comics. 6. There is one main connection you made because of fandom (that I am thinking of), but please mention that and any other long running friendships you have because of fandom. [I was referring to her husband, Frank Cirocco, but maybe it was too obvious!] Uh, are you referring to publishing? That would be Steve Johnson (god rest his soul) for his fanzines, which led to Schanes & Schanes for the art portfolios & comics work, which led to some comics work for … geez, I’ve gotta take a minute and go look up some of this stuff, … a little bit of work for Marvel, and a lot of comics work for Eclipse Comics, etc. But then there’s also the boyfriend connections I made thru fandom, and let me tell you—dating someone who understands one’s addiction to comic books, sci-fi, fantasy, animation & manga is a whole lot easier than a relationship with, well, a run of the mill normal person. Which I have tried. So that may be why I’m married to comic artist & graphic commercial artist Frank Cirocco, ha, ha! He ‘gets it’. 7. Did your experience and/or connections in fandom lead you to or help you to secure any later professional work? You betcha! I think the biggest example of that was getting a job at LucasArts during the early years of computer games animation. There were no computer animation classes back in the days of pixels-as-big-as-bricks, and I was hired purely because of my sequential storytelling abilities, in other words; my published comic book art. Published work also proves that you can follow instructions, play well with other adults, and meet your deadlines. I was hired and taught the basics of computer animation on the job. One week of tutoring, and they threw me in at the deep end -- creating animation for Maniac Mansion, The Day of the Tentacle. I worked there for almost 2 years, but left after Sam & Max Hit the Road, when it became apparent that I would have to learn to do 3-D animation, and I just didn’t have the technical ability to do that. 8. What have you pursued and accomplished since leaving fandom (feel free to supply any links, sites, etc)? I’ve always likened my move from one art career to another as leaping from one burning building to another one that is only starting to smolder. So I started out in fanzines, moved to sci-fi convention artshows, which then turned into a few gigs doing art portfolios & prints until that market slowed, and from there into comics, which tanked with the collapse of the black & white market, so I jumped into computer game animation, which led to avatar design for Yahoo!, which led to commercial art, and that’s pretty much where I’ve stayed—with brief forays into book illustration and fine art, etc. (When I was twenty I visited Neal Adams studio in New York, and his advice was ‘get into commercial art, that’s where the money is.’ Given my limited abilities as a painter, I have to agree.) 9. What is your life like now? What do you regularly do, and what are the things you have the most fun doing? I used to still do sci-fi & fantasy art for some of the bigger convention artshows like Westercon, Baycon, WorldCon and the like, but people’s interest in original art started to change, and the internet offered so much more to draw people away. My convention art was selling for minimum bid, or not at all. It's too bad, I really enjoyed creating pen & ink & watercolor pieces. So I stopped doing it and focused on purely commercial art freelance assignments. I’ve been working for the same computer ‘edutainment’ company for the past 10 years on a project called Reader Bee. I illustrate the page layouts for games that teach kindergarten-age kids to read, and design word icons. It’s fairly easy work, and my boss and I are very simpatico so it’s easy to figure out what she wants. Unfortunately, it sucks up all my time, so I haven’t produced much else artwise, though I have projects that I’m hoping to work on as I get closer to retirement age. I’ve also had to look after my elderly parents for several years (and during the pandemic, too!) who still lived in their own house, and that finally ended earlier this year with my father’s passing. So maybe there’ll be time to work on the comic books, cartoon strips, and fantasy artwork that I still want to do. There are days when It’s really, really hard to focus on the paying work, when what I really want is to work on some personal art project. Other than that, Frank, our dog and I hang out on the balcony of our house up in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains and say to each other, “We live here!” He keeps busy with his ebay pop culture collectibles store, Pop Daddy Vintage, and I keep house, work on Reader Bee, and occasionally push a pencil around on some paper. It’s a pretty good life!  Characters such as Sheena, Rima, and others follow in Drumbeats at Midnight, The Jungle Heroine Debate, by Jeff Thompson and editor Delorme. then, in The Heroine Revue, the obscure Jet Dream and her Stunt Girl Counterspies appear (in Gold Key's The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). A fanzine review column follows, then the letters page, and we are outta here! I have to say thanks for Lela, for contributing some illuminating info for this installment (that's a lot of alliteration for a blog boob), and there may be a similar contribution coming from Brent Anderson...keep your eyes peeled and I will announce when it gets inserted into the column. Tune in next month around the first for the next installment of Ink Stains! Remember to go to my site to find this column entry and get the pdf! (click on the fanzine name for the pdf)
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Ken Meyer Jr.Artist, tennis player, fanzine enthusiast Archives
June 2025
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