Ink Stains 191: Xal-Kor 1 and Grass Green

Xal-Kor 1: August 1980
Editor/publisher: Richard "Grass" Green/New Media Publishing

Welcome everyone to installment 191 of Ink Stains, your repository for all those great fanzines of the past that often served as a training ground for our treasured professionals. This time out, we are gifted with one of the most beloved fan artists (and writer), Richard "Grass" Green (from an earlier nickname, Grasshopper, which you will see as his signature on some very early work later in the column). I have to say, personally, I only knew of him in a peripheral sort of way. I had heard the name many times, but the few times I saw the work, it looked too crude to really interest me. But, I was not the most educated or enlightened comics fan back then. In the beginning, I also did not see the appeal of such giants as Ditko, Kirby, or Toth. Luckily, to paraphrase Monty Python, "I got better." In my little bit of research, I found out some interesting things about Green that were unknown to me before. But, before we get into that, let's start the preview of this actual sorta fanzine, Xal-Kor 1. Above you see the cover, and below you see the handwritten credits. A high school aged Grass is seen at left.
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I remember when I was corresponding with another groundbreaking black comic artist, David Heath Jr and contributing to his No Sex fanzine (covered in Ink Stains several times), David talking about Par Holman, seen in the credits above. Looks like he lived in the Salt Lake area the same time as I did...missed my chance! Par inked the first story, and adds a bit of cleanliness to the art. Like a few other fan artists back then, Green's inking was a bit scratchy and weak (although, by 1980, Green had worked professionally for several years on projects I will mention later). You can see a page from the first story below.

I wonder if that mad scientist was a bit of a tribute to the Captain Marvel villain, Dr. Sivana? Probably coincidence. The second story features Green's parody characters, Wildman and Rubberoy and is drawn in an even more cartoony style. As I was looking through the fanzine (again, remember, my previous exposure to Green was minimal), I was struck by the Kirby feeling of the art, especially when more cartoony or when showing the less attractive characters. In my research, I found that Green had actually written to Kirby when he was young (in 1961), and got an answer back of encouragement and advice. The King! Green started publishing pretty early, both in his life, and in our history of fandom. One of his parody creations, The Frantic Four, was a FF parody when the FF was only a year old. Below and left are some very early pieces by Green.

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You can see his early nickname, "Grass Hoppa," as his signature

Getting back into this issue of Xal-Kor, below are a few pages that struck me as particularly Kirby like.

As a character got more grotesque, the more Kirby like it got...and when I say that, I am thinking of early Kirby, like the Newsboy Legion, etc. Eddie Eddings, as you can see in the credits, also played a part in this zine. I remember sharing several fanzine appearances with Eddie...he was good at both ultra cartoony (Jetsons style, for example, as you can see below), and more straight superhero like work. He is still on Facebook, if you want to say hi! Below is a page from his parody story.

Green and his good friend and collaborator, Howard Keltner.

Below you can see some very early work, only seen on the InterFan website. At this time, Green added an "e" to the end of his name, just because he thought it looked better, perhaps more arty?

Another place to see more information about Grass Green, including his stint doing erotic work for Fantagraphics Eros line, is the Lambiek comiclopiedia site here. He did not hold back! I don't feel like I can post the page shown there in this column for some silly reason, but go check it out! He also did some "afrocentric" work, most notably in the underground comics scene, such as Super Soul. Below is some information about that period from the Lambiek site.

While Grass Green enjoyed drawing superhero comics as much as humorous comics, he eventually became part of the alternative and underground comix scene. These comic artists not only worked independent from major publishing companies, but could also draw and publish whatever they wanted. It inspired Green to also take a more provocative route and publish his work independently. By 1969, he drew the comic strip 'Lost Family' for Frost Illustrated, a weekly newspaper aimed at the African-American population of Fort Wayne, Indiana. A very young Seitu Hayden assisted on the inking. Green's work could be read in Super-Soul Comix issue #1 (1972), a hard-edged exposé of racism and bigotry in the United States, distributed by Kitchen Sink Press. The star of these comic books was Soul Brother American, an African American who just returned from the Vietnam War. As if his misery wasn't enough already, he is also beaten up by police officers. Yet Soul Brother American discovers a serum that transforms him into a superhero. Now he is able to fight against the racist corporation Bigots, Inc., who terrorize his city. Green's work was also present in Good Jive Comix (Pooo Bear Productions, 1972-1973), Bizarre Sex #2 and Teen-Age Horizons of Shangrila #2 (Kitchen Sink Press, 1972).

The InterFan site mentioned earlier has tons of great stuff (you can see their Green page here), including a beautiful tribute from his wife, Janice. You can read it below. 

I would like to say that we were a very special couple. My husband was very dear to me. He was truly sent to me by God. I enjoyed the time we had together.

However, there were times I would ask myself why did I marry this guy, especially after attending my first comic convention in Rosemont, Illinois. I was in a world I had never heard of nor seen and did not want to do either of them again. As I watched Richard move about the crowd I could see that this was definitely his world. When people came into his presence there was an awe and respect for him that I could not understand.

I came to realize that this man, my husband was a giant and a pioneer for all African Americans that were about to enter this world of comic book writing. He was a man who was never given much credit for all that he had done by paving the way for African Americans.

During our 14 years of marriage I was blessed to have a man who not only was a very talented comic book artist but he was also a great piano player and singer. We spent weekends together while he played and sang at some night club, American Legion or AM Vets Club. He was as well loved at these places as he was in the comic world.

Richard was not only loved and respected outside of our home, he was truly loved and respected in our home. He was a devoted Christian, a loving husband, my best friend and a loving dad.

September 11, 2001 was a very sad one. I will always remember this day not only because I had just seen one of our country's worst disasters, but I was confronted with some of the worst news a wife could hear. "Your husband has a year at the most to live." Richard was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He was given 6 months to a year to live. We had just started making plans to fulfill our dreams of hitting the road as we both were getting ready to retire. This dream never came true.

However, Richard and I spent as much time together as possible. These were some very hard days for us, but we knew God had never made a mistake and we were sure He was not about to start now. Richard had a life long dream and that was to publish one of his many characters Xal-Kor. And that dream was made possible by the hard work of Bill Schelly, Alter Ego and TwoMorrows Publishing. I owe them so much for making Grass's dream a reality.

Richard died at home on August 5, 2002, and my life has not been the same. Even though I have had to face a very difficult time, making adjustments to my life without Richard, I am grateful to God that He allowed Richard to become a very important factor in my life. I will always love Richard. I have said good-bye to the physical Richard, but I will never say good-bye to his spirit.

Remember, the pdf here has the whole issue, and there is a lot in there! Thanks for stopping by. Remember also, I am always very happy when people are willing to share their zines for the column, send scans, or contribute remembrances, anecdotes, etc. Don't let Manny be the only one!

Oh, almost forgot! From now on, I will supply a link to a pdf of an issue of The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom from the great Alan Light...TBG was my avenue into fandom! This time out it is issue 3, click here. Below you can see the super clean Dan Adkins cover. Unfortunately these were all taken with my phone...I don't have the time or resources to scan those huge pages!

Ken Meyer Jr.
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