Ink Stains 184: Lollapaloosa 3

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."

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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."

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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]