Events of recent days leave me with a handful of folks to whom I owe thanks, and I might as well do it publicly (though I think I’ve already done it privately, as well — better too much thanks than not enough!) …
… I’ve previously written in this space about a group I’ve been lucky enough to count as friends for more than thirty-five years (click here). One of those friends, who has been a premier comic book artist for just about thirty of those thirty-five years, is Lee Weeks. On Thursday, August 10th Lee pointed our little band (including yr hmbl svnt) to an absolutely wonderful Vanity Fair piece: When Fairfield County Was the Comic-Strip Capital of the World. The writer, Cullen Murphy, has done us a true service in this outstanding work, which captures a place, time, and assemblage of talent and personalities that should be near and dear to our hearts. I don’t throw around phrases like “a must-read” very often, but in this case I believe it’s not hyperbole to label “When Fairfield County …” a must-read for LOACers everywhere. And after you’ve checked out what Mr. Murphy has to tell us, I think you’ll join me in thanking Lee for directing us to it.
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… I’ve done a clutch of interviews this month, and so let me thank Howard Chaykin for taking time from his busy schedule to speak with me about his contributions to Star Hawks, and his mentor, the strip’s visual architect, Gil Kane. In our upcoming Star Hawks Volume 2 you’ll see more Kane, as well as sequences illustrated by both artist Ernie Colon and Chaykin himself, as this sample from January, 1979 shows. That action sequence in panels two and three is pure Chaykin:
Additionally, through circumstances that had a long gestation period and an unlikely chain of events, I’ve interviewed Lani Kida (granddaughter of Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip artist Fred Kida) and her father, Paul. Both these wonderful persons were generous with stories and memories of their talented relative, and while I’m still putting together all the pieces, I’m confident that in the near future you’ll be learning more about Fred Kida than you’ve found at any other source (and seeing rare artwork the family has shared, too!). Be watching for the fifth volume of our Amazing Spider-Man series, and keep watching this space, as well. Meanwhile, here’s a second look at a 1982 Kida Sunday featuring the wondrous wall-crawler and the malevolent monarch of Latveria, Doctor Doom —
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… Thanks are hereby extended to the handful of faithful visitors to this space who wrote to tell me they’ve bought copies of John Sayles’s mammoth novel, A Moment in the Sun. (Here’s my original review.) My fingers are crossed you enjoy this sprawling epic as much as I did!
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… Finally, a thanks we never lose sight of and one we can never offer enough: a big T*H*A*N*K Y*O*U to everyone who supports our efforts and buys our books. With all the options available to you and all the competition for your hard-earned entertainment dollar, it is humbling to know you choose to invest time and money in LOAC. We hope you’ll continue to enjoy the extensive reprints and associated rarities as much as we enjoy putting them together for you!