 unknown/MItch Sonoda Siege 1: 1975 Editor/publisher: John Stedronsky Though it is not often I come upon a fanzine I had never heard of, Siege 1 (there may not have been any other issues) is one of those fanzines. There is no real editorial content, other than the "this zine..." inside the front cover, it is dedicated to stories by amateur artists and writers, with a few pin ups. None of the artists are familiar to me, other than the super polished Mitch Sonoda). The cover above has no signature but the Logo itself definitely looks to be Mitch Sonoda. On to the content!  Jim Frejofsky  Above you see a few pages from Jim Frejofsky's adaptation of Beowulf done in a coarse but effective pen and ink style. Next up is Sonoda with Error. Mitch had a style that seemed to be inspired heavily by Neal Adams, and has appeared in several other zines I have covered and he loves his zipatone (especially the gradated from light to dark one)! Mitch also had a good hand at lettering. Check out a few pages from his story below.  Sonoda  Sonoda Publisher Stedronsky contributes a pin up below.  John Stedronsky Stedronsky also contributes a funny little story about the assembly of the fanzine itself, with the visual style slightly reminiscent of Vaughn Bode, below.  Stedronsky There are a couple more pin ups by Sonoda and Stedronsky, seen below.  Sonoda  Stedronsky Wayne Pieplow gives us Poe's The Raven...well, sort of. See a snippet below.  Wayne Pieplow Pieplow  Pieplow Judging by the rest of the art, I suspect that protagonist yelling Nevermore was swiped from something....maybe Steranko? There is another, quite nice, pinup from Stedronsky, seen below.  Stedronsky A funny little two pager is up next from Sonoda, check it out in the pdf! You can see the rest of the zine there as well. I am sorry I don't have much backstory on this little gem. I also did a search for a few of the names, turning up nothing...feel free to clue me in! Below is this installment's TBG (10) cover, another beauty by Don Newton. Check out the pdf of that right here. Have a great one, zineheads! 
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 TCP Vol 2 #3: Spring 1976 Publisher/editor: Russell Condello   Welcome to the last Ink Stains of 2025! I am still surprised it has lasted this long. Amid all the holiday goings on, I managed to get this column done, which covers TCP Vol 2 # 3 (I profiled an earlier issue, but, for now, the actual column website is still compromised). Publisher/editor Russell Condello has produced another solid issue, starting with a bang and the cover by Mike Gustovich and Mike Machlan (probably through InterFan), seen above. Machlan and inker Doug Herring do us a solid with the nicely designed backcover as well (and you can see a Herring illo above in the banner). Now, onto the heat of the meat, the feast of the beast, the pink of the ink...the interior! NOTE: After I finished the column, it was asked, where is the Perez interview? Indeed, where? I realized the zine I bought from someone had the center spreads containing that interview were gone! Hopefully, I will obtain another copy at some point and will update this installment. Like many zines of the day, spot illustrations (small illustrations that float on the page) abound, by pro and fan alike. The parade starts with a nice little Neal Adams piece, seen at left. The editorial is the first bit of text (where he confirms that the issue is a sort of InterFan team up, as well as bemoaning inflation causing comics to go up to 30 CENTS!!! Oh, the humanity!), which itself is made pretty by a super solid rendition of the Hulk by Mike Zeck, below (check out his site here), as well as a tiny Enchantress by Mercy Van Vlack.  Fandom longtimer, Rick "Doc" Livingston gives us a real eyeful with Relief, which you can see in the PDF. Breaking into the Business by InterFan bigwig, Steve Clement, follows. Then, the first actual continuity feature greets our eyes. Granted, it's only 2 pages (by Bill Wake, artist Jim McPherson...reminding me a bit of Earl Geier...and editor Condello, well, editing), but it is a fun little read. Check it out below.   Some classified ads come up next, followed by a couple of nice pin ups by Scott Gallery and Kerry Gammil, the latter who turns in a really solid piece. See em both below!   Next up is a short Conan article by Robert Clements, which is made richer by a beautiful and whimsical (that's right...a whimsical Conan!) illustration by Jim Dickison. The Rac, a zine review column then appears. The letters column is last, but of course, several spot illos appear here and there. I am pretty sure I have seen Dickison's work before (mainly because of that interesting signature), and was impressed. I tracked down a bit of info, some of which you can see here. I also found a bit of a bio, which follows. Larry Dickison Presently a graphics composer for THE BURLINGTON POST. A high school dropout before it became fashionable, has been a miner, fruit picker, dishwasher, upholsterer, logger, newspaper photographer, truck driver, railroad lineman, bull cook, rigger, pin-setter, salesman, clerk, and carny. He is also a rabid fisherman. Larry has originated several comic strips, and illustrated children’s stories, album covers, posters, t-shirts and a history book and does editorial cartooning for several weekly papers. His work has been exhibited in Canada and the U.S. as well as within and without the pages of many magazines. He is an art angel extraordinaire for many amateur publishers including, of course, Niekas Publications. Provided art for Don Grant’s edition of The Far Islands by John Buchanan. Seminal exhibitor at Necon, Roger Williams College in Rhode Island. He is a member of the Small Press Writers and Artists Organization.  Larry Dickison Several other well done images are there as well, by people such as Herring, Ron Fortier, and my bud, Rick McCollum. And that wraps up this issue of TCP (The Comic Press), thanks for the good times, Russell and crew! Get the whole zine here! Now, the accompanying issue of TBG is very special, to me at least! Issue 8 is where it all started for me...fandom, that is. As some of you know, a librarian in my high school in Georgia (freshman year, 1971) gave me this, knowing I liked comics. As you can see from the letter below (actually, 2 letters combined), editor Alan Light was nice enough to send me a few free zines when I wrote to him...and the rest is history! Ink Stains history!   So....above you see the actual cover of that issue, in blazing red ink. Below you see the original Dennis Fujitake art for that cover, which I own (!!!!!). I was flabbergasted to know someone who was wanting some art of mine had this artwork, so we traded. You can see the whole issue here.  Technically, this is the first post of the new year, but I am posting a bit early...and it worked out well that my introduction to fandom is a feature of this installment!
Happy Holidays and an ink filled new year to you all, see you in about 30! Ken Meyer Jr. [email protected] Reply  Ink Stains 196: Ozone 1, 1981 Editor/Publisher: Doug Hazlewood Hi everyone, welcome back to another installment of Ink Stains, where we look through the fanzines of the past. This time out, we will be gazing at the decisive and (very) clean work of one Doug Hazlewood. I remember very well Doug's super clean (and, early on, somewhat thick) line work. In fact, I am pretty sure he inked at least one of my sloppy selections. Doug was nice enough to answer a slew of questions, and pretty expansively as well! This fanzine is not so much a regular fanzine as it is a compilation of Doug's spot illustrations. In fact, I can remember seeing a few of these images in the zines in which they were first published.  One image above was penciled by Jessie Flores. I usually ask those that have the time to participate what first got them into comics (and the age they were at the time), when asked that, Doug gave a long, juicy reply. I remember a decent-sized 'wall of comics' at a drugstore we frequented. We lived there for four years (I guess from the age of 5 to 8). That is the only store I remember seeing them sold/displayed like that. I assume they were all 'within reach.' It was near the soda fountain/lunch counter. We all liked comic books back then (I have an older brother and sister). I would buy issues often based on the cover and really liked the JLA because it had all of the main DC heroes. The Flash was my favorite. I really don't remember seeing Marvel Comics or buying any until a trip to my great aunt and uncle's place near Waco.  Of course, every interview with an artist must press for early influences! I am no different, and on that topic, Doug said, "Kirby for sure, once I found Marvels. He was the first one whose name I knew whose work I loved. I was more of a DC reader early on for sure. Neal Adams was a revelation! My mother loved to read and I would go with her to the library and check out any cartoon related books. I liked Steve Ditko and loved Wally Wood. I got to understand more how an inker affected the finished product. I was a big Flash fan and thought the art was usually elegant. But, later I could see how much Giella, Anderson and Greene polished things up. They had some Infantino pencils in one of the annuals. And inking him later on Power Factor was daunting. Loved Steranko when he hit. And Tom Palmer was way more than just a great inker." When I asked about his early art training backgound, he mentioned that "my mother enrolled me in a local painter's art class and I didn't really like doing still life drawings. Maybe I only went that one time. I took art in junior high, but our teacher was on the older side and could not keep discipline. That made me NOT take art in high school. I wish I had. Some relative on my mother's side worked for Disney. Never met him."  Doug told me that he got into fanzines by "getting a letter printed in a Marvel comic, and then I was contacted by someone involved with The Marvel Tribune, a Canadian fanzine. Based on the comic I assume I was 13 or maybe 14. That was my discovery of fanzines." Doug then went to to expound on his favorite fanzines of that time, both as a reader and contributor. Fantastic Fanzine. Only had maybe three illoes in there, but it was pretty slick and interesting. Tom Mason's Radion used my work a lot and I appreciated that. Graphic Visions, *Pfsszt, Afta, The Fan's-Zine, Woweekazowie, Sarcophagus, and I am sure I'm forgetting some. Always remember the first pic I inked over Carl Taylor in an issue of Unreal. Many of us involved in fandom back then formed lifelong friendships, and Doug was no different. He mentions that "I appreciated folks like Tom Mason putting up with my overly long typed letters. I am thankful for Tom. Carl Taylor and Larry Houston became friends. So proud of Larry! And just seeing my fellow fan artists who went on to be pros. Most before I did. Sam de la Rosa was always more busy drawing and working than to write back anything very long. But, I understood that. He had that drive. I am more laid back/wimpy... " On the subject of his own zine, Ozone, Doug says that "For something with so little writing it took longer to put together than I remembered. If I had my way I would have shot all the halftones, but I was no expert at that. It was a little showcase/outlet for me."  Below, Doug goes over some of his early professional work, what he did, and how it progressed. I inked stories and some covers for Americomics. My friend Mark Heike worked there. That was while I was still working full-time at a print shop. Hamster Vice & Power Factor (one issue inking Infantino!!! and the next inking Tom Lyle) were what I came back from my first SDCC with. [Funny coincidence, Lyle was one of my professors at SCAD when I went back to college! -Ken] And Kurt Busiek had called while I was gone about Liberty Project. [I progressed to] inking for smaller companies and inking some covers for Eternity and Sal Q. At First Comics I finally started to get raises on my page rate and my editor was very positive and inspiring. Inking actual comics showed me I could really do it for a living. And seeing them in print made me realize I didn't have to obsess over little background details (on newsprint books). It was not fun doing pages at $25 a page! But, each gig was a step forward and I started submitting more samples to DC and Marvel. I learned techniques and tips even from folks doing backgrounds for me when I was in a bind. Being self-taught limits you unless you are 'a natural.' Animal Man was my first DC book and it was a memorable one! I feel blessed to have had the good fortune to have been on a Superman title when we 'killed' him.  These days, Doug says that, "I mainly try to sell lots of my "stuff" that I have collected. Time zooms by too fast now. Haven't felt much like inking commissions or doing recreations lately. If I could "draw-to-order" I am sure it would be different. I am not as much of an overall natural artist. I doodle it! " I think we can all disagree, at least a bit, with Doug on that last assertion! That wraps up this installment. Thanks very much to Doug Hazlewood for his time, it made the column so much more interesting than it would have been without him! Say hi to him on Facebook if you see him. Don't forget about the pdf, where you can see many more illustrations by Doug. This installment is a bit early, obviously...I have two events in a row, with only one day between them, and they extend into January, so I needed to get this sucker done now! Oh, I forgot...here is the TBG pdf, which is issue 9, with a Stephen Fabian cover! And our buddy, Manny Maris, has a classified ad!   Ink Stains 195: Nebulous 1, 1971 Publisher/editor: Jim Stewart Hey, folks, thanks for stopping by to check out the most recent installment of my column covering the fanzines of the 70s and 80s, Ink Stains! This time out, we cover Nebulous 1 (I doubt there was a 2), a zine I had never heard of, despite containing several of the "usual gang of idiots" of the fanzine world at that time. Let's jump in! A common feature of the fanzines of the time was an interview with a professional, many times procured at whatever comic con the editor could attend. As stated in the preface to the interview with cover artist Sal Buscema (with Dan Adkins), the interview was helped along by Gary Groth (Fantastic Fanzine, of course), Jim mentioned he met Sal at a convention young Groth had organized, and after a few stops and starts, he succeeded in getting his interview. Not a bad interview at all, and Sal comes off as very accommodating and personable. Gary also helped Jim produce this actual fanzine, industrious youngster that he was!  Following the interview, fandom stalwart, Bill Cantey, contributes Who's Afraid of the Big Red Cheese? A typically gorgeous illo of Captain Marvel (seen above) accompanies the beginning of the article. Most of us who were not around at the height of the character's popularity would be incredibly surprised to know it routinely sold as much as two million copies a month, doubling even his doppelganger, Superman! There are several more illustrations of Captain Marvel sprinkled throughout the zine, several of which you see below.  art by Don Newton  The art immediately above is by Mike Roberts. Roberts appeared in many fanzines at the time. Slick, powerfully posed characters were Mike's forte...although the size of the heads are definitely not "heroically" proportioned, as you can see above. His love of Steranko is evident as well. Good going, Mike!  art by Steve Hickman The Andromeda Saga, by editor Stewart follows (a short Star Trek homage of sorts), with art, apparently by Roberts, though it is not evident how much of it is actually all Mike. Below you can see the stylish first page.  Cantey appears again with The Torch in His Own Mag? Adorning the article is a few illos by Roberts (one seen above, and another below).  That about finishes this somewhat slim, if nicely illustrated, fanzine. You can see the rest in the pdf, including art by Carter Scholz, Dave Cockrum (reprinted from Fantastic Fanzine), Bob Tetzloff, and Buscema. The last thing you see on the back cover is a typical heroic headshot by John G. Fantucchio and inked by Dan the Man Adkins.  Agggggg! I forgot to include TBG 7! OK, I fixed it...see the cover below and get the pdf here!  cover by Martin L. Greim Thanks again, and tune in again around the first of December for the next installment.
Ken Meyer Jr. [email protected]  RBCC 147: February 1979 Editor/publisher: James Van Hise Welcome once again to the haven for fans of "that fanzine smell!" Maybe I should do a parody song about it to the tune of "That Smell" by, who was it, Lynyrd Skynyrd? Anyway, I digress...right off the bat! Today's column covers another issue of the lengthy and impressive Jim Van Hise run on RBCC. So many incredible covers! So many new features! The issue covered here is 147, with an energetic and cleanly rendered battle between Batman and Captain America by Marc Hempel. I loved his art from the beginning. To me, he seemed to come out of nowhere with a beautiful style, an already accomplished knowledge of the human figure, and inventive figure positioning. Luckily, I got Marc to answer a few questions via email, look below! Above you see Marc's contribution to the issue. Ink Stains: How and when did you start reading comics? Marc Hempel: As a small child I watched a lot of animated cartoons on TV (e.g., Rocky & Bullwinkle, Hanna-Barbera stuff, Looney Tunes, A Charlie Brown Christmas). I started reading comic books while on a family vacation in northern Wisconsin in the summer of 1965 – Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, a Jimmy Olsen 80-Page Giant, Doctor Solar, Fly Man, and, significantly, The Amazing Spider-Man (#29). A year and a half later I bought my first Creepy (#13). IS: Who were some of your favorite artists back then? MH: Ditko was a favorite and an early influence. Loved all the Warren artists, though I wasn't really aware of Frazetta at the very beginning. Later on I was a big fan of Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Richard Corben, Moebius, Lorenzo Mattotti, Chris Ware, Jim Woodring, and many others. IS: What were the circumstances behind your first interaction or awareness with/of fandom? MH: On a snowy Chicago day in January of 1973 I received my very first issue of The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom. From there I moved on to RBCC and Paragon Publications ... eventually doing art/comics for all of them. Oh, yeah – and I drew a comic strip for a fanzine called Nucleus (see below). IS: I assume you came into contact with Mark Wheatley in fandom, how did that come about? Any other long time friends that you met through fandom? MH: I saw an ad for Mark Wheatley's Nucleus (issue #8) in the pages of TBG, liked what I saw, and so I sent him photostats of comics pages (from an underground, science fiction comic book I'd been working on) with hopes of getting published. I was 16 or 17 at the time. Well, Mark loved my art, I illustrated What Happened to Jory in the next issue, and we continued to stay in touch as I worked toward my BFA at Northern Illinois University. After I graduated in '80, Mark invited me out to Baltimore to work with him at Insight Studios and make comics. Well, I'm still here and, surprisingly, we're still good friends! IS: As a reader, what were a few of your favorite zines? And, were there a few favorites to actually work with? MH: I didn't read many fanzines...but it was very exciting and a lot of fun getting my stuff published by Nucleus, TBG, RBCC, and Paragon Publications when I was 18‒20 years old. IS: .Any anecdotes or memories of working with RBCC and Jim Van Hise? MH: Jim seemed like a nice guy and he treated me well – about all I can say. I seem to remember that he requested that I draw Batman fighting Captain America for the one RBCC cover I illustrated. IS: I almost feel like you sprung fully formed into fandom, unlike Mark, for example who "grew up" in front of us in his zine, but I know that can't be true. Did I just miss a lot of your work showing growing pains or did you consciously wait to start showing the work? MH: Well, I'd been drawing and creating comics since I was very young (beginning at age 2½), and contributed comic strips to both my elementary and high school newspapers. I also created logo designs for the high school basketball team and concert band, plus yearbook illustrations and poster and program cover art for musicals. I went straight from that into working for comics fanzines during my early college years, then had my first professional sale in 1978 (Gasm magazine). IS: Please list any specific places/publications you would want people to see (the new Breathtaker collection comes to mind), and feel free to list urls of sites and such. MH: The new, remastered Breathtaker 35th Anniversary Edition hardcover! Baltimore Comic-Con 2025! IS: What non comics activities do you enjoy...hobbies and such? If you have any unpublished work you wouldn't mind letting me show, it would be a great addition to the column and thanks for your time! MH: Well, I currently seem to be into changing my address (I've moved twice in the past year [a long and somewhat sad story]). More seriously, I've played drums since the early '90s (mostly vintage rock & roll), but I'm not presently in a band. In past years I've been a stereo photographer and collector of View-Master reels and other 3D things. And while I still consider myself an audiophile, I haven't yet figured out a way to set up my hi-fi gear in my current residence. I haven't created much art in recent months, so I alas have nothing I can share here. My latest endeavor: a full color Breathtaker/Bone piece for the Baltimore Comic-Con 2025 Yearbook.  One of the two interviews in this issue is with George Clayton Johnson (who wrote for the original Star Trek series, as well as Twilight Zone and the book, Logan's Run, among many other things). Above you can see George in all his hirsute glory! It is a long and comprehensive interview with a credits summation as well, so check it out!   The first bit of fiction/art is the story, Tales of the Forgotten Wilderness: Something Lost, Something Never Found, by editor Van Hise and artist Ron Wilber. Ron Wilber was an interesting and ultimately, tragic character. His illustrations stood out from the usual superhero work, as they were primarily fantasy subject matter, rendered in an appealingly labored and almost pointillistic style. I recall seeing his work in several other fanzines (and, as mentioned in RBCC, he features prominently in the companion zine, Fantastic Exploits, which I have yet to see). As to the tragic aspect of Ron, Van Hise told me, "I was in contact with him a lot until he died in September 2016. He lived with his mother and after she died he became depressed and started drinking. He fell down his cellar stairs but never went to a doctor to be checked out and he developed a blood clot in his leg which finally moved to his heart. A cousin of his gave all of his original art (hundreds of pages) to someone to sell but I've never seen it offered anywhere. I had known Ron since the 1970s." Van Hise also mentions (in the RBCC Contributors page) that Ron had sent him a few illustrations that seemed to invite further contribution on Van Hise's part, which is what prompted him to write the story to the illustrations, and Ron provided more art once he saw the story Van Hise had composed. You see a few here and you will see more in the pdf. The next feature is Critique, the regular column covering new fanzines, magazines, books and more. This is one example of what an essential part of fandom RBCC was back then, especially under the guidance of Van Hise. Accompanying the article are two full page illustrations, by Bret Blevins and a very young Scott McLeod, seen below.   Up next is another regular feature, Comics Commentary, various ruminations on the comic industry, this time bemoaning the lack of experimentation. In addition, we are treated to another wonderful illustration by the underused (and big fave of this writer) Dennis Fujitake. I also included below another illustration from later in this issue by Dennis, which showcases in better form Dennis's command of beautifully sinuous figures, recalling two of his favorite artists, Steve Ditko and Jeffrey Jones.     Don Rosa's Information Center is up next, another regular feature of this long running and revered zine. Filling in the visual gaps are several illustrations by Eddie Eddings. His work seemed everywhere back then. We even shared space in the crazy Afta, specifically issue 3 (which coincidentally, has an ad in this issue!). I asked Eddie via email how he became involved with Jim and RBCC and he said simply, "I merely got in contact with James Van Hise and with his approval started sending my art. Many months later, Don Rosa asked me to take over the illos for Information Center. Those days were filled with excitement!" As you can see, Eddie mastered that cartoony, Loony Tunes/Hanna-Barbera style effortlessly! Check the PDF for several more fun cartoons by Eddings. Next up is another interview, this being with Doug Moench, conducted by Mark Burbey. Along with the vampire themed Fujitake pin up you see above, within this interview you can see some stunning and detailed pages from the ill fated Future History Chronicles that appeared in (from what I can gather in my limited time), Marvel's Planet of the Apes comic magazine. Seems Mark and his artists were always under incredibly tight deadlines, from what I read in the interview. Tom, I feel, was never truly and fully utilized to the best of his abilities, or at least, not very often.    R. C. Harvey's regular column covering the classic comic strips, Comicopia, follows, and the rest of the zine is pretty much filled with ads (which, in themselves, is a nice trip down memory lane). The last thing we see is a typically gorgeous illustration on the back cover by Mike Zeck. I so loved his work then...I have said many times that my favorite work of his was back then, doing fanzine work. Before I forget, this installment also features TBG 6, of which you can see the always amazing Dan Adkins on the cover below and get the complete issue here! Be aware that I have flipped a few ads so they are viewable and you don't have to flip your noggin to read em. Thanks to Larry Thomas for the photos!  That is it, folks, another installment of Ink Stains has ground to a crunching halt! I hope you liked it, please download the pdf here and feel free to leave comments. Who knows what zines lurk in the mind of me? Tune in next month to find out!
Ken Meyer Jr. [email protected]  Fandom Circus 1: 1977 Editor/publisher: Rich Lisiura/Twin Oak Enterprises
    You may have seen mentions of InterFan in the column before. In fact, one of my installments focused on InterFan, I just cannot find it at the moment. It was an organization like no other, and you can read about it from the members themselves here. It was a service that hooked up artists and writers with places to get their work published. Many people went on to the professional ranks, including the above Sir Ordway. The next story, Incident at the End of the World was provided by Jim Bertges, Bill Neville, and Rick Burchett (with Sam Maronie), a funny little tale poking fun at, well, the idea of Heaven. Check it out below.    The third story to appear features Emrys by Paul Shaffer. Paul wears his influence on his sleeve, pants, and underwear, but does a nice job with it! Barbarians unite! See if you can spot the influence below...    Next one is from Carl Walconic and Jim Thompson and is called Too Many Gurus, and is the funny animal entry in this variety filled fanzine.    The last story, Values, is from Steve Clement, Jim McPherson and others, and is the sf entry...check out the faux computer lettering!    And that wraps up the first issue of Fandom Circus....well done, Rich and InterFan! The column ends, as the last few, with an issue of The Buyers Guide for Comic Fandom issue 5. You can see the gorgeous Fujitake cover below and you can see the whole issue here!  Thanks for tuning in! Who knows what fanzine lurks in the heart of the next column???
Ken Meyer Jr. [email protected]  Wonderful World of Comix 4-5: Fall 1970 Publisher/editor: Neal Pozner Hello and welcome to the new installment of your friendly neighborhood fanzine column, Ink Stains! Today we go inside another issue of Neal Pozner's great little half zine zine, The Wonderful World of Comix. It was around this time that you started to realize Neal meant bizness! He ups the ante in art, columns, and page count, starting with the fully rendered John Buscema viking on the cover, seen above.  Jumping right into the interior content, after the editorial page, we are treated to an interview with veteran, Syd Shores. Sadly, other than (I assume), the caricature of Shores, there isn't any of his art accompanying the interview. The interviewer mentions some painted work and other art that they saw while in Shores' house, but no pictures of any of it, darn it! Shores was one of those stalwarts that, as a kid, I never really properly appreciated (along with others like Kirby, Trimpe, Swan, etc). We DO get to see some early Klaus Janson along with the article, as you can see at left. I keep trying to get that Janson interview, but with no success!  Next up is a lengthy roundtable discussion of the comic code. Some intelligent and insightful comments are made by the participants, including Dr. Frederic Wertham, Duffy Vohland, Syd Shores, Mike Sekowsky, and Tony Isabella. A typically energetic spot illustration by Dave Russell (seen at right) adorns the article. Following the comic code article is Gordon Matthews ...Moralities of War, which focuses on a few issues of Star Spangled War Stories, featuring Enemy Ace, and dwells on, well...the moralities of war as they are depicted by the characters in this comic. A sequential story of 2 pages follows, featuring Pozner and John McLaughlin's Duplicate Man, which you can check out below.    Neal and buddies Bill Wilson (of The Collector), Bill's mom, and Vohland next take us on a tour of the DC offices, complete with a diagram of the office layout. Man, I would have been beside myself to be a part of that (or a Marvel tour). There is a simple but expert Neal Adams sketch you can see that came along with the article. An article on Dr. McCoy, from the original Star Trek, by Pozner (along with an illo by Neal) is next, and then, the fan fave column, Duffy's Tavern appears. Duffy bemoans the fact (in his opinion) that Marvel was falling behind DC in quality around that time, partially due to a policy to not have continued stories, and a plethora of reprints. Mini fan mogul, Bill Black, contributes an illustration of Black Bolt to the article.  There is another Pro-file, that being an interview with Joe Orlando. A nifty DD illustration by Klaus Janson is part of the article (at right), along with work by others. Conveniently, immediately following that is Meet the Fan, featuring Janson himself. Sadly, there is no general artist listing in this issue, so there are several illustrations that I cannot identify the artist of, but the work that IS signed that you can see in the PDF include Frank McLaughlin, Al Williamson, Mike Royer, and Joe Sinnott. Below, you can see the back cover by Gray Morrow. And another column comes to a close! Don't forget to view the pdf, if you want to see the zine in its entirety! Thanks for dropping by, and please feel free to leave a comment. Don't forget also, if you have any zines you want to donate, or scan for me, I am always grateful for that! Oh, by the way, the TBG you can access for this column is issue 4, and in addition, this link will show you the early days of TBG, behind the scenes, by Alan Light himself! https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan-light/albums/72157594258122660/   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.  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.  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. 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!   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]  (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! |
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