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Al Milgrom has made in incredible career in comics as an editor, writer, penciller, and inker...he can do it all! But everyone has to start somewhere...and that somewhere was Title!  Al Milgrom Title 1: April 1972 Publisher/editor: Al Milgrom Al Milgrom is probably the best example I can think of, of an all around comics professional. As you read above, he pretty much does it all, and has been doing it since the year of this zine, 1972! His Wikipedia page illustrates the breadth of his incredible career. I don't know exactly how much involvement he had in fandom, but at least we have this zine as evidence that he did participate! Several others contribute as well, including Mike Vosburg, Jim Starlin, and Tom Orzechowski, all who went on to stellar careers in the comic biz. On that Wiki page, Al's buddy, Walt Simonson talks about hanging with his future pro contemporaries when they were starting out, by saying, "At one point Milgrom lived in the same Queens apartment building as artists Walt Simonson, Howard Chaykin, and Bernie Wrightson. We'd get together at 3 a.m. They'd come up and we'd have popcorn and sit around and talk about whatever a 26, 27 and 20-year-old guys talk about. Our art, TV, you name it. I pretty much knew at the time, these are the good ole days." Al was kind enough to answer a few of my oh so basic questions via email, the first being "how and when did you get into fandom?" I was probably about 12 or 13. I saw an ad for the fanzine Alter-Ego (probably in a comic book) and sent in money for an issue. What arrived was just the cover--a Ronn Foss illo of The Eclipse, who was sort of a rip-off of Dr. Midnight. But I liked what I saw and sent in for a full copy which I received and liked even more! Don't know what happened the first time--perhaps the staples gave way and the interior of the issue got (as the saying goes...) lost in the mail. I then found my way to other fanzines including those published by the Texas Trio. Three guys who published a number of comics with their own original characters. I showed them to Jim Starlin and he immediately sent them samples. They gave him work at once. I did inking or scripting for some of Jim's stuff, I think. I asked him to expound more on his zine, Title, specifically... Title was my only foray into publishing fanzines. The Conan homage Jim and I did was originally intended for Skywald publications. The short-lived company owned by Sol BrodSKY and Israel WALDman (hence the name). They liked our work (no one else was quite interested yet). They said they didn't have a script and asked if we could write our own. Jim was never at a loss for story ideas and plotted and drew the tale. We sent it in--they said they liked it and would pay us upon publication. Unfortunately the company went out of business before they could use it. I then hounded Sol for a year to get our originals back. Then I used it in Title. I did both covers and did a 2 page job myself and got Mike Vosburg to write and draw one for me as well. Some sort of sci-fi tribute to Joni Mitchell. Rounding out the issue was a friend of mine from college who did a very interesting allegory about an escaped convict being hunted down as if it was a deer hunt. I inked that job too. As for the title of Title--I had done the cover and written "Title" as a holding spot for when I settled on an actual title. You see how that went! BTW the book also featured fine lettering by Tom Orzechowski. Another Detroit guy who became a professional. Ultimately I put the book together as a project for part of my grade in an art school/advertising class at the University of Michigan. I advertised it in some fanzine (Rocket's Blast/ Comic Collector?) It sold very few copies. Sigh! There will be some input from Mike Vosburg later in the column. For now, my third question, I asked him if he had any fanzine or fanzine editors. As I mentioned, I liked the Texas Trio and their publications. I liked the Work of Foss (who was heavily influenced by Joe Kubert), Richard "Grass" Green (a Kirby clone), and Biljo White, who mimicked Bob Kane. I saw some early work by Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails (a college prof and comics historian). There was art by Robert Kline (not the comedian), and Landon Chesney, and a guy who was heavily influenced by Ditko (Kujava?). There was some early Buckler, Wrightson, Cockrum, and Alan Weiss. The whole fandom thing was very exciting to me because it indicated there were others out there who loved the comics and who had aspirations of becoming pros. My next question dealt with possible alliances in fanzines that proved worthwhile later in the early professional days. Oh, yes--I did some early work with Buckler. That was short lived. Ultimately I got a job working for Murphy Anderson at DC inking backgrounds for him. After a year of that I got to ink a Starlin job (Gray Mouser) in Sword of Sorcery. Then I helped Cockrum on a job, then Simonson on the lead feature in that same Sword of Sorcery issue. Then Jim dragged me over to Marvel to ink him on Captain Marvel. He just announced to John Verpoorten that I would now be inking the book. John looked up, shrugged and I was in. My Marvel career had begun! Speaking of Vosburg, here Al talks about his long relationship with the writer/artist. Starlin and I (or should I say Jim and I--Gemini) became aware of Mike because at the time he also was publishing a fanzine he called The Masquerader. It featured articles and strips, including one he drew. Don't recall the name but it was some sort of acrobat character. Pretty well drawn! Mike was a few years older than we were and considerably more advanced artistically. I think we were about 13 and Mike was 17 or 18. We got somebody to drive us out to his house in Pontiac Michigan...only a few miles away from where we lived. We got along well immediately. He had a bunch of Kubert originals that the DC editors had sent him for writing thoughtful letters. Mike, like Foss, was heavily influenced by Kubert but ultimately Mike was better and ended up getting pro work in comics and storyboarding. I became good friends with Voz and remain so to this day! Not wanting to inundate Al with too many questions, I asked if he had any anecdotes he wanted to share about his time in comics. I actually tried to put together another comic when I was working and living in New York. Inspired by Flo Steinberg who published a "ground level" (as opposed to Underground comic). It was quite good with work by Wally Wood and Herb Trimpe and others. Time to get going with this zine! The first story, Joan, is by Mike Vosburg, who was smart enough way back in 1972 to write a story that could as easily be talking about our present. Below, you can see a few pages.     Mike Vosburg, Tom Orzechowski Mike was also incredible generous with his time (I want to add, I once visited Mike at his place and he was very accommodating and showed me around to many of my oohs and ahhs towards his art!) and granted an interview via email as well...read up below, Jethro! Ken: What was your introduction to comic fandom? At what age was it? Mike: When I was 14 my friends Fred Jackson and Augie Guzman told me about Jerry Bails and his newsletter. Since Jerry only lived about 20 miles away I talked to him on the phone and visited him. Fred and I had been doing our homemade comics for a couple of years so I thought I could start doing them as a fanzine. I started corresponding with artist Ronn Foss and several other fans and it opened up a whole new world to me over the next few years. By the time I was 15 or 16 I had already “met” the majority of people I would be working with in comics a decade later. Ken: In particular, how did you become involved with Al Milgrom and his Title fanzine? Mike: Starlin hitchhiked out to my house when he was about 13 and he introduced me to his friend Al and we started getting together. Jim was off in the navy for a while and when he got back he started working with Marvel pretty quickly. Al had finished up his studies at UM and I think Title 1 was a chance for him to create a portfolio to show what he could do in the field. Despite having me contribute it was a very professional looking book. lol. Ken: Did you have any favorite fanzines as a reader and, alternately, as a contributor? Mike: I loved the work of artist Ronn Foss so anything he did I always watched out for. The same with Biljo White and Richard “Grass” Green. I was always more interested in artists than articles. Once I finished my run on the six issues of Masquerader I didn’t do much until I graduated from high school. I was far more interested in basketball, but I badly sprained my ankle in a game and couldn’t play for a couple of months and in that time I started drawing and writing comic stories again….and never stopped. I did a few things for Bill Duday and Marty Arbunach and lot os stuff for fellow Detroiter Arvel Jones. Ken: What were some of the first comic books you loved? Joe Kubert was my idol in comics and Leonard Starr in comic strips. Again, I was far more interested in the art than the writing. While I loved Classics Illustrated, once AI started reading a lot of books the comics stories had a hard time competing. But Wally Wood, Frazetta, Williamson, I was always looking at and later Will Eisner and eventually Alex Toth, who I never appreciated as a kid. Ken: Did any of your fanzine connections lead to later pro work? Mike: I did a few stories in the undergrounds to get my feet wet. When I started making the rounds with my work in NYC my fanzines were already a “letter of introduction”. With fan friends who were already working, they always gave me great recommendations, and lots of the pros had seen and were impressed with my fanzine. And when I’d come into NYC looking for work Al always graciously put me up at his apartment he shared with Walt Simonson. Ken: What were the circumstances around getting your first professional work? Mike: My first job was given to me by an editor at Gold key named Paul Kuhn who told me, "I don’t know anything about comics, but you seem like a nice young man.” Since he hired me, I agreed with him on both counts. Once somebody gave you a job, everyone was open to using you, since comics were booming and artists were in demand. Ken: What were a few highlights of your pro career? Mike: Moving on to drawing storyboards for animation and live action. Not to denigrate any of the talented folks I worked with in comics, but I wasn’t very interested in doing super heroes; I would have much preferred working on mystery stories and such. I often have to explain to folks that working in traditional comics was the least successful art job I ever had. Certainly my creator owned projects I’ve done over the years were much more satisfying and creatively successful…though they always had a very small audience. The jobs I had working at Marvel and HBO Animation, on the HOBO Tales From the Crypt series, designing installations for the LA Museum of Tolerance and storyboarding the the Narnia films brought me much more satisfaction, respect and income. Ken: What is life like now for you? Mike: I still do pretty much the same thing I’ve done most of my life: I get up every day, take a walk, and then come home and draw on whatever project of my own I’m working on for a few years. (On Sundays I’ve always attended Bill Stout’s figure drawing sessions for the past 30+ years.) I also read read and watch tv…and all this with my beautiful, witty and talented wife around….and our three-legged cat Sarah. Milgrom appears next with a two pager called End of an Era, and featuring a Conan stand-in facing the future...terminally  Milgrom The third story, The Deer (by Mark Worden, Mark Cohen, and Milgrom on inks) is told in a very effective and spare visual style, with evocative text. In fact, the whole zine has a good sense of design, the paper is thick, a really nice product. See a a few pages from this story below.     Mark Cohen, Milgrom D'Rok thunders into view next, by Jim Starlin, with some help from Milgrom. You can see in this early story why Starlin would become such a fan favorite in just a few years time. Co-written with Milgrom, there is a nice little twist at the end.     Jim Starlin, Milgrom, Orzechowski Hey, you still there? Good, because that about wraps this sucker up! Al delivered a very professional zine here, assembling a great crew, showing his early skill at composition and understanding of the actual practical elements of publishing. Way to go, Al! Below you see his back cover, ending with a strong metallic KLANG! In fact, this was, as Tom Orzechowski said on Facebook, "This zine was essentially the final fan work for all of us. Starlin had done layouts for John Romita on Amazing Spider-Man by then, and was about to begin his stint on Captain Marvel; he had me installed as letterer with his fourth issue. Al would very soon be assisting Murphy Anderson. Nine months after this cover date, I was doing lettering corrections at the Marvel office, soon to begin lettering for the b&w magazines. That same month, I crashed for a couple of weeks on Milgrom's couch. Oh, I lettered Starlin's story in this issue, as well as Vosburg's." Comments are welcome, see the whole zine as a pdf and come back next time! Thanks go out to Al Milgrom and Mike Vosburg, as well as a last minute contribution from Tom Orzechowski!  Milgrom Don't forget, as a bonus, you get to see issue 15 of TBG, with a great cover by Dennis Fujitake (below)! PDF here!  Dennis Fujitake  Mike Vosburg Hey, don't leave yet! I have a couple of last minute additions from the wonderful Mike Vosburg! An explanation of what you see below is...well, below! "Alter Ego and AICFADime were the first comic zines along with Biljo’s White’s Comic Art and Par Holman’s Spotlight, with my Masquerader appearing soon after. I had the advantage of living fairly close to Jerry Bails. My first issue was in 1962 and ran for six issues. My 6th issue was done photo offset, which only Alter Ego was doing at the time. All done while I was in high school. And yes, I’ve kept copies of all the issues. While I was still in high school I was in contract with most of the folks I would be working with when I started in comics a decade later. " Mike has a blog that shows much more of this great history here!  Vosburg  Biljo White, Ronn Foss, "Grass" Green Lastly, here is a very recent drawing that Mike graciously provided. 
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Gosh Wow holds a somewhat sacred place in the world of fanzines, featuring very early work from people like Berni Wrightson and others. Issue 3 is no exception!  Gosh Wow 3: Summer 1969 Publisher/editor: Robert Schoenfeld  Tom Sutton I missed out on Gosh Wow when it was current, since it started in 1968 and this last issue came out in 1969...I didn't find out about fanzines until 1971. But I have always heard of it as one of the best of the early fantasy/comic zines. As you can see below, editor Schoenfeld had an eye for future greats, in this case, Berni Wrightson. I couldn't find any real information on Schoenfeld unfortunately...one factor being this zine was a last minute replacement for a different zine that will have some input from the principals a bit later (next month). At just 20 years old, though, he presented himself as very intelligent in his beginning editorial, Mad River. A plus is the bang-up spot illustration by Tom Sutton at left.  Berni Wrightson (color by Bill Spicer) Aside from the spot illustrations, convention coverage and some text articles, the bulk of the issue is devoted to the first installment and perhaps, first ever publishing, of the soon to be underground comix staple, Moondog, from George Metzger. We will get to that soon. The first two text entries, aside from the editorial, are wonderfully heavy photographically illustrated articles on the 1968 Comic Art Convention (by big name fan, Tom Fagan, and J. Randolph Cox), as well as Scarp con from the same year. Check out all the pros you could meet with little or no fanfare back then below!       John G. Fantucchio As I said, the heat of the meat (as Colbert would say) of this issue is the 20 page epic introduction to George Metzger's character, Moondog. George would go on to publishing his post apocalyptic series in the undergrounds through Print Mint. I do remember seeing it, but, at my age, undergrounds were hard to find and somewhat verboten. I did manage to hoard a few here and there, though! Just not this one. The Wikipedia article states that he was "born in rural Illinois, and moved with his family to northern California when he was six years old. As a youth, he collected comic strips and read such authors as H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Herbert Asbury. He studied the work of such book illustrators as Fritz Eichenberg, and Lynd Ward. His later work was influenced by his interest in Maxfield Parrish, Hannes Bok, EC Comics, and various science fiction illustrators." Definitely of his time, it states also that "Obsessively drawing every night, Metzger could be found at his drawing board while friends gathered and talked around him. In the early days of the original Star Trek, Metzger and several friends would gather every Wednesday evening to watch. Always a guest at the hippest parties in the Bay Area, he often carried a flask of brandy in his back pocket for all to share. He was friendly with the underground artists of the day, plus many Bay Area bluegrass and country musicians, as well as the Grateful Dead." Her certainly had no trouble world building, the evidence being Moondog. The art is lush, detailed, very evocative, while the lettering is definitely hand drawn, elaborate and, to be honest, a bit hard to read at times. Fantagraphics, a long time supporter of great comics (and comix), has a great bio book, as well as others that you can see here. Enough chit chat, let's get to the Dog!      George Metzger  Back cover by Metzger I have such incredible admiration for someone who can create such a detailed character and environment...I am sorry I missed out! Of course, you don't have to...just get the pdf...and those pages above are just the introduction! The letters page is somewhat expansive, featuring biggiewiggies such as Vaughn Bode, Doug Moench, Fred Hembeck Marv Wolfman, Dwight Decker, and more. But wait...there's still more! As a bonus, you get to see issue 12 of The Buyers Guide for Comic Fandom! Get the pdf and check out the cover below by Jim Pinkoski! And Ken Kelley has a tiny little illustration in there (assuming "Kenn Kelley" is the same guy)!  Little Tommy Mason dreamed of having a fanzine one day...that day came...and then, four issues later he did the fifth issue of Radion!  Doug Hazlewood Radion 5: January 1976 Editor/publisher: Tom Mason. That is one eye catching "The Devil Wants You!" illustration by "that inker guy who was everywhere" back then, Doug Hazlewood! He truly was everywhere. His inks were clean and dramatic. Doug himself admits he was a bit heavy handed early on, but he really made those illos sing, especially with people like Carl Taylor, who was also pretty omnipresent and whose work you will see in this zine. I am gonna jump into the zine and supplemental info in a sec, but first, some nice art contained in the pages below. Tom makes it easy to credit these, since he lists them all in the first few pages!  Jesse Flores/Hazlewood  Lee Jackson/Hazlewood Doug Hazlewood sent a nice little batch of memories below, supplemented by an illustration by the wonderfully energetic work of Carl Taylor (so much energy, it's breaking out of it's border!).  Carl Taylor/Hazlewood "Around the time of Radion 5, I was at a new college after doing junior college in Victoria. I had been frustrated by only getting an illustration printed here and there and felt the urge to get some things done for print! Tom Mason was a friend via letters and I felt at home in Radion. I wondered why years ago I had some of the early new X-MEN issues, as I was not buying comic books regularly at all back then. Seeing that Colossus fan pic [which you will see in the pdf] was one reason. I had no idea who that was supposed to be. Must have had to buy other issues for Thunderbird and others as a few months rolled by. Turned out to be good purchases when I looked them up those years later. I was never trying to overwhelm pencils or sketches. Just go with the flow on sketches and use my judgment on fan pencils. I wish I was more of an overall artist who could easily see how to improve/fix things back then (and now). I was getting more confident and may have taken a Printing class already (offset printing mainly). I enjoyed that and learned about what would and would not print/show up. I appreciate to this day Tom putting up with my long letters and giving me a reliable outlet. When my comps of it showed up I was very happy, especially with the cover. Did a stone litho print of the devil also for a "printmaking' class. I like it, but this came first and was a good guide. And my own work. I still have dreams of being back in San Marcos and for some reason being way far away from my first class and not being sure where or what class it was [Doug, I have very similar dreams frequently!]. At least I have my clothes on. Or I never found out where my mailbox was on campus or some locker. Weird. Had hoped my local buddy was going to go there, too...as he was good at prodding me socially. He went to Stephen F. Austin instead. This one of of my favorite fanzine memories for sure." Tom as well was nice enough to give me more info to add to the column, so it's not just my yammering. Below, Tom lists his impressive credits as a writer, as well and some zine info. From my brief fanzine dabbling, I worked as a cartoonist, then art director, then Dave Olbrich asked me to join him in launching Malibu Comics, and there I was full-time in comics. Then I started writing comics as a side-hustle. Malibu was eventually sold to Marvel Comics and I quit to write for television. I have credits on over 600 television episodes, mostly animation. And I've written or co-written 75 books, mostly for kids. My most recent is Stitch!: Best Food Forever, a manga graphic novel from Tokyopop. Here is a link for that recent project.  Paul Chadwick Tom also won an Emmy as a writer on the TV series WordWorld! As for Radion, after the editorial, Tom has an interview with Byron Preiss, a publisher I have always been impressed with, as well as purchased a ton of what he did. A bonus is an illustration by Concrete creator/writer/artist, Paul Chadwick, who contributes a few more throughout this issue. You can see one of those at left. The great news for all of us is that there is a new Concrete series in the works, so keep those eyes peeled! Rich Morrissey contributes Scripto Boy Wonder, a very long article on writer Jim Shooter. Rich also went on to be a comics professional, and there is a wonderfully long article by fan and comic vet, Mark Evanier here. The Shooter article actually takes up the rest of the fanzine. so kudos to Rich for being so expansive! For more art from this great zine, look below!  Taylor/Wes Smith  Gene Day Above you see two eye catching spots by the late and very great Gene Day. There are so many well published zine artists in this issue, including Ric Cruz, Tim Herzog, Arvell Jones, Bill Mutschler, and Sam de la Rosa, many who part of the fan organization, Inter Fan, and went on later to become professionals. There are also several pros featured, such as Gil Kane, Pat Boyette, Al Williamson, and Wally Wood. Below you see the back cover by another zine regular, Doug Herring.  Doug Herring That sums up Radion 5, folks. Get the pdf to see all the illustrations and articles, thanks for tuning in, and feel free to comment! By the way, the TBG featured this issue is number 11, which reprints the cover to the first issue, and you can see it below in all it's Fantucchio glory! Get the pdf here.  John G. Fantucchio  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!   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/  |
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