Todd Klein's Blog, page 121

Rereading: THE STAR BEAST by Robert A. Heinlein

Cover art by Clifford Geary

As has often been the case, I reread a Heinlein book on my way to the San Diego Con last week. I didn’t bring my hardcover copy (which does not have the dust jacket pictured above, sadly), I read an ebook version.

“Star Beast” is the eighth of the author’s juveniles series, science fiction novels written for young readers, most published by Scribners in the 1950s. This one came out in 1954. It takes place in a future Earth which has had spaceflight for a few centuries, and had contact with a number of non-terrestrial species and civilizations. The protagonist, teenager John Thomas Stuart XI, lives in the small Rocky Mountains town of Westville. The one unusual thing about his life is his pet, Lummox, a creature brought back from an early space expedition by his great-grandfather. At the time, Lummox was about the size of a dog, but he has continued to grow, and developed the ability to speak English in the manner of a child. Lummox is now the size of a small bus, and quartered in a large barn in John Thomas’ back yard, which he’s been forbidden to leave. The creature is obedient, but boredom eventually causes him to find a way to sneak out, and soon he’s caused a great deal of damage to property all over Westville.

John Thomas’ widowed mother does not like Lummox, and sees this as a way to get the animal destroyed. At first John Thomas and his girlfriend try to protect Lummox, but attempts by the town’s police chief to kill the beast (unsuccessful) lead them to engineer an escape into the mountains where they hope to hide out.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kiku, a career diplomat with Earth’s Department of Spacial Affairs, is having trouble negotiating with a new, powerful alien species, whose ship has arrived in Earth orbit. Their negotiator demands the return of a lost child they are sure is on Earth, though no creature similar to the Hroshi has ever been seen there. As you might imagine, these two stories soon intertwine in a very entertaining way.

I hadn’t read this fine book in a long time, and one thing that surprised me was how talky it is. I expect that of Heinlein’s later works, but this one is about two-thirds dialogue. Despite that, the story moves along well, and all the characters and ideas are clever and appealing. This is one of the funniest and most charming of Heinlein’s works. Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN #9

Image © DC Comics. Written by Grant Morrison, art by Liam Sharp,
colors by Steve Oliff, letters by Tom Orzechowski.

Grant Morrison is having fun with this series and the dusty, forgotten characters from ancient DC issues too. The first half of the book has a group of superheroes called the United Planets Superwatch overmatched by a new gamma-radiation-spewing enemy, the Qwa-Man or Mad Lantern. This group is made up of one-appearance heroes mainly from Superman-related titles. (I only know this from reading it online.) United Planets is connected to the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century. Qwa-Man appears to be unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Hal Jordan is having a fantasy heroic quest vacation on the planet Athmoora with a warrior woman and a demonic satyr as companions. They are up against a fearsome enemy who gradually becomes familiar to Hal. Without spoiling things, I’ll just say the two storylines connect at the end with more interesting characters from Grant’s imagination.

The writing, art, colors and letters are all top-notch in this series, and it’s a pleasure to read. Highly recommended, and this is a good jumping-on point.

And Then I Read: PLANET OF THE NERDS #4

Written by Paul Constant, art by Alan Robinson & Randy Elliott,
colors by Felipe Sobreiro, letters by Rob Steen.

The jocks from the 1980s continue to struggle with life in the present they’ve arrived at thanks to cryogenic freezing by their high-school nerd nemesis Alvin, now the CEO of a major electronics company. They’re staying with the former girlfriend of Steve, a situation which can’t last long…unless Steve is able to rekindle that relationship. Trouble is, there’s now a huge age difference between them. Meanwhile, Chad has a new plan to get revenge and compensation from Alvin, since they found out where he lives. The backup story is about Jenny, and equally entertaining. Two text stories by Carol Lay and Mariah McCourt are worth reading, too. A fine effort by everyone involved, even if two of the leads are massive jerks.

Recommended.

2019 San Diego Con: SUNDAY

As usual, my Sunday report will be shorter than the others. The day began when I looked out my hotel room window and saw that the Dole pineapple boat had arrived overnight, and was busy unloading many trailer-loads of pineapples, and probably some bananas. Their dock is just beyond the hotel.

I hadn’t done much signing at the Con this year because I didn’t have a table or home base where people could find me, but a few folks contacted me before the Con and asked if we could meet somewhere. I combined two of those Sunday morning in my hotel lobby, and was happy to sign a copy of SANDMAN #1 and a page of original art from SANDMAN #8.

There I was also happy to meet artist Rafael Albuquerque. We had recently worked together on a Neil Gaiman project for Dark Horse, an adaptation of Neil’s story A STUDY IN EMERALD. Rafael’s art was a delight to work on.

Inside the Con, I attended a panel celebrating the life of writer/artist Batton Lash, who passed in January. I didn’t know Batton well, but I enjoyed talking to him when we met at these cons. The stories told by his wife Jackie Estrada and friends were a nice mix of funny, heartwarming and enlightening about the man and his work.

Back in Artists Alley, I talked to Peter Kuper, who encourages us to stay MAD. Peter is the current artist of the feature “Spy Vs. Spy,” and he told me he is not convinced the magazine is dead. I hope he’s right.

Next I attended a panel about the Con’s recent past and probable future with panelists Kurt Busiek, Gene Ha, Eddie Campbell, Kevin Smith and others. Everyone had a few good Con stories, but I think Kevin’s was the best, about the time his Hall H panel was right after a Star Wars panel where the audience was invited to leave the room and walk to the bandstand in the park behind the Con Center for a live concert of Star Wars music. This left Kevin facing a nearly empty room.

Though my focus at this show is usually on comics and comics creators, I also love science fiction, and I enjoyed this panel about time travel with SF authors Larry Niven, Greg Bear and David Brin, all of whom were entertaining, even if they didn’t provide us with personal time machines. But, as David pointed out, we’re all time travelers. We do it one moment at a time all our lives.

My favorite costume on Sunday was this one. Even though it’s made of light-weight materials, there’s so much of it I’m sure it was a heavy load to carry, but quite impressive.

Here’s an interesting marketing gimmick: mystery boxes selling for $30, guaranteed to hold merchandise worth at least $50. People were buying them.

There are many finely-crafted and very expensive statues on display at the Con. I’m not a big fan of statues, but I do like the “Lord of the Rings” ones by Weta Workshop like this one of Frodo and Gandalf…

…and this one of Galadriel. They are something I wouldn’t have room for even if I could afford them, but I do like to see them.

Abrams editor Charles Kochman is always fun to talk to. This year he was a Con guest and presented with an Inkpot Award, something he was very surprised and pleased about. Welcome to the club, Charlie!

Somehow I missed seeing my friend Gary Gianni until Sunday afternoon. He was admittedly a little burned out and manic, but happily selling his books, including a new deluxe hardcover from Flesk, the “Art of Gary Gianni for George R.R. Martin’s Seven Kingdoms.” I can’t think of a better artist for the world of Game of Thrones.

I talked to my old workmate Anthony Tollin, seen here with color guides he did for DC back in the day, and behind him are some of the many pulp novels in book form he’s published. Tony recently completed publication of all the novels featuring “The Shadow,” his favorite character, over 300 of them.

After packing up my things as much as I could, I headed across the pedestrian bridge over Harbor Drive and the rail lines into the Gaslamp District for my last event of the show, a traditional dinner with friends that’s been going on since the 1990s.

Here’s a photo from after that dinner organized by Anina Bennett and Heidi MacDonald. It was a fun and relaxing way to wind down from the show, as always.

Hope you’ve enjoyed these reports, even though they’re a little late. I’m back home now catching up with things and adjusting to jet lag. I’ll be resuming the usual blog reviews and such soon.

2019 San Diego Con: SATURDAY

After spending a lot of time at panels on Friday, on Saturday I spent much of my time in the Exhibit Hall. Heritage Auctions and others had some expensive original art on display. This one features excellent lettering by Tom Orzechowski.

And here’s a page from WATCHMEN with great art and lettering by Dave Gibbons. I probably did lettering corrections on it when it came through the DC Production Department, which in this case consisted of a few added quote marks.

Here’s something I hadn’t expected to see again. It’s a 1960s cover by Murphy Anderson that he gave to me many years ago. I enjoyed it for decades, then a few years ago I sold it through Heritage Auctions for about $9,000. It’s available from Metropolis Collectibles today for a bit more…

I did attend one panel on Saturday, the always entertaining “Quick Draw,” in which Mark Evanier has three artists doing quick drawings of all kinds, mostly humorous. Sergio Aragones and Scott Shaw are the usual anchors, with guest artist Floyd Norman this year. It was great, but I was too far away from the screens for photos.

I enjoyed talking to Bill Morrison, until recently the new editor of MAD magazine. The impending demise of MAD was the talk of the con, with most people bemoaning its end. I have to admit I rarely saw it, but from all reports, Bill was doing a fine job. Fortunately, he’s found plenty of other work in animation and elsewhere.

Thom Zahler told me he’s recently been able to write some Star Trek material, and as you can probably guess from the pin he’s wearing, it’s a thrill for him. He’s also selling his own self-published books of humorous romance comics.

A good friend and workmate for many years, Steve Leialoha was busy doing sketches at his table while we caught up.

Here’s Top Shelf publisher Chris Staros holding the final issue of THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: THE TEMPEST, which I’ve been lettering for him. It’s been said by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O’Neill that it’s their final work in comics. The end of an era. Now I just have to get the collected edition out the door.

I chatted briefly with the always busy Walt Simonson while he sketched and signed an Artist’s Edition of his work. I told him I was sorry I hadn’t worked with him more, but was happy that he and letterer John Workman had formed such a great team for many years.

Here’s my obligatory photo of part of the Con floor from the window on the second floor. This is about ten percent of the total.

Saturday’s favorite costume was this one of Howard the Duck. It doesn’t look all that much like the comics character, but the attitude is perfect.

Here’s a PEANUTS display of strips from 50 years ago featuring Snoopy on the moon, something I’d forgotten. Charles Schulz was always in tune with the times.

I’ve been trying hard not to buy any new hardcover books, but there was one recent issue wonderfully illustrated by my friend Charles Vess that I knew I had to get. I caught up with Charles at the Simon & Schuster booth, where he was happy to inscribe one for me. (Here he’s signing someone’s SANDMAN comic.)

The book is a massive tome collecting all of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Earthsea” novels and stories, including a new one, the last thing she wrote before she passed in January of 2018. Charles worked closely with her for several years on the art for this book, which includes color plates and many black and white drawings.

Charles did a great sketch on the title page, and I’m looking forward to reading or rereading the stories.

Here we are with the edition of Neil Gaiman’s “Stardust” that he illustrated and I did some title lettering for. It was good to catch up with Charles.

Saturday evening after dinner I spent some time at a DC party, talking to Ben Abernathy and Jim Chadwick briefly, Marv and Noel Wolfman, Benjamin LeClear and others. As the sun set over the bay, I made my way back to my hotel along the harbor promenade.

I passed the steps up to the bay side of the Con Center, which I’d never realized were lit this way at night. Soon I was getting to bed earlier than Friday, which was fine with me. I’m not a late night person, and the late Con bar and party scene is something I’m just as happy to skip. One report to go.

2019 San Diego Con: FRIDAY

Friday morning I was feeling much more myself after a good night’s sleep. Looking down at the Convention Center from my hotel, I could see people beginning to arrive, and the white tents for those waiting in line for the Hall H events. Those are the big media shows that I’ve never even tried to get into. Some people wait many hours for that, or even overnight. My morning route would take me across the road to that pink walkway, then around the corner into the east end of the Con Center.

Here I’m in front of the Con Center heading toward the doors, along with many other people.

Getting in at the show opening is a bit of a mob scene, but it all moves along pretty well.

Once inside you have to tap your badge, which has an RFID transmitter, on one of those posts. This is supposed to allow the authorities (perhaps the fire department?) to keep track of how many people are inside. I don’t know how accurate that is, I’m sure some people don’t do it. I’ve yet to see anything here closed because it was filled to capacity, other than some of the meeting rooms.

I went to several panels this day, beginning with “That 70’s Panel” hosted by Mark Evanier, seen here at left with Tony Isabella.

Next to Isabella was Trina Robbins…

…and then Lee Marrs, Mike Friedrich, and Louise and Walter Simonson.

Artist Arvell Jones came in a bit later. The idea of this panel was to talk about the comics business in the 1970s, when all of these people were in it. (Some began in the 1960s.) As Mark Evanier explained, he used to run Golden Age and Silver Age panels, but now there are not enough people left who were in comics in the 1930s to 1960s to fill them.

Each person talked about how they got into comics, and told a few stories about their early days there. I enjoyed hearing them. Perhaps the most surprising story was from Lee Marrs, who got her start as a background artist in comic strips.

After that I met up with Danish superfan Henrik Andreasen, who has been coming to this Con just as long as I have, we both started in 1993. Henrik always has a few things he wants signed, and I’m happy to do that.

Then I walked through Artists Alley talking to friends. Here’s Scott Hampton with his colorist and girlfriend Jennifer Lange. Scott just finished up a two-year project with P. Craig Russell doing painted art over Russell’s adaptation and layouts for a graphic version of Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods.” He has several other projects in the works, too.

Gene Ha was a special guest of the Con this year, here he is with his wife Lisa. It’s hard to imagine a more cheerful, upbeat creator than Gene, and he was delighted with the treatment and reception he was getting at the con, including an Inkpot Award, given by the Con to guests. He’s continuing to work on his book MAE, now published by Lion Forge.

Artist Eric Shanower has lately been doing some charming stories featuring Harvey Comics characters like Casper the Friendly Ghost, while continuing to work on his epic project depicting the Trojan War in comics form, AGE OF BRONZE. He and his partner, David Maxine, at right, also run Hungry Tiger Press, which publishes books and art about all things Oz.

I haven’t seen inker Matt Banning in a while, it was good to catch up with him.

Writer/artist Zander Cannon is still doing KAIJUMAX comics, depicting prison life for giant Japanese monsters in a manga style. It’s always good to talk to him.

I spoke to Elliott S! Maggin, writer of comics and novels since the 1970s, who was selling several he has self-published recently.

This Judge Dredd costume was the best one I saw Friday.

In the Exhibit Hall, I enjoyed looking through some original art from the 1960s, featuring lettering by two of my favorites, Ira Schnapp here…

…and Gaspar Saladine in this story. All this old art was at the larger art size used at the time, and it was fascinating to see.

Taking a break outside at the back of the Con Center, I noted the yachts lined up in the harbor there. The largest one has a helicopter on it!

Next I attended an animation panel that included Disney master Floyd Norman and Saturday cartoon veteran Willie Ito, as well as younger talents like Bill Morrison.

Then I listened to Jim Steranko tell stories about his early career as an escape artist in a spotlight panel hosted by Ming Chen. I knew that Steranko had worked as an escape artist, but not heard any of these amazing stories about his shows, some of which involved close calls with disaster. Steranko was the inspiration for Jack Kirby’s MISTER MIRACLE.

Looking outside the Con Center, I could see some of the show outside the show over in the Gaslamp District. I did walk through there Friday, but did not stay long. If you can’t get tickets for the Con, it’s possible to still enjoy these events and activities, often put on by and promoting TV shows and movies.

In the late afternoon I tried to get into one more panel put on by NASA about their search for extraterrestrial life, but I didn’t make it in.

As a consolation prize, those turned away were given these cool stickers.

Leaving the show for the day, I stopped at Sweet Things in the base of the Bayfront Hilton for my favorite treat in the area, frozen yogurt with fresh fruit and chocolate syrup.

I had a brief nap, then it was time to get ready for the Eisner Awards, held at the Bayfront Hilton. As always, the ceremony was very long, but I enjoyed it.

The very first category was Best Lettering, and I’m delighted and surprised to say that I won again! This is my eighteenth Eisner, and I’m not sure why people keep voting for me, but it’s nice to be appreciated.

Other winners can be found easily online, but I’ll just say that some of the most entertaining speakers were Tom King and Mitch Gerads, who won multiple awards.

I was too far from the podium to get good photos, but I did take a few of the Hall of Fame winners on the big screen. Here’s Jenette Kahn, my publisher when I was on staff at DC, and a champion of creators’ rights.

Also winning was her “partner in crime,” Paul Levitz, another of the people running DC for many years, and also a champion of creators’ rights. Both gave wonderful acceptance speeches.

Another pair of Hall of Fame winners were Richard and Wendy Pini, of ELFQUEST fame.

And the amazing artist Bill Sienkiewicz, who as one person commented, seems to have aged little in the past few decades. Perhaps he as a magical portrait somewhere like Dorian Gray.

After the ceremony and some chatting in the lobby, I was exhausted and ended my long day. There would be more to do on Saturday.

2019 San Diego Con: THURSDAY

I wasn’t able to do reports from the Con this year because my laptop wasn’t working right, so I put a lot of photos on Facebook with brief notes. I’ll be using many of those here with more words as I recap my time at the Con. I was up at 3:30 AM Thursday morning, and on the road to the Philadelphia airport by 4:30. I got to my gate in plenty of time to have an egg sandwich for breakfast. I was in the new Terminal B, which has very different waiting rooms for flights. In the center are high counters with stools, and each seat faces an iPad-like information and entertainment device. I didn’t try one.

It was a long non-stop flight, and eventually we were descending over San Diego’s downtown. The convention center can just be seen, the white sails in the back below the water.

In the airport I stopped briefly to admire an aircraft from another age, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” the plane in which Lindbergh made the first solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

Outside, I got a cab. I had heard that Harbor Drive, the road in front of the Con Center, was closed for the event, so I just told him to drop me as close as he could. That was in front of the Marriott, just west of the Con Center. The sidewalk was packed solid and not moving as people waited to get inside, but I began using my knowledge to get where I needed to go. Pulling my roller bag and carrying my DC under-seat bag, I went around the crowd and down the parking ramp behind it, then up the stairs along the side of the Con Center to the lobby. Despite not having a badge, I got in by telling security I was heading for Pro Registration. I went up the escalator to the third level, where Registration is under the Sails. Then I found the Pro Registration Help Desk, where I soon got my badge (much quicker than last time). Walking through the upper level, not yet crowded, I went down the escalator at the other end of the Con Center, and from there, my hotel was only a short walk. I had landed at about 10:30 Pacific Time, and I was back in the con by noon.

The first familiar face I saw inside was special guest, writer Marv Wolfman. Marv had a fall not long ago, but is recovering well, “about 80%,” he told me. He and his wife, Noel said he’s doing okay, just being extra careful when getting around. Marv continues to be a busy writer for DC and elsewhere.

From there I went to the new combined DC/Warner Bros. booth in the corner behind Artists Alley. I found this disappointing. Unlike the previous DC booth in the center of the Exhibition Hall, this one is completely focused on TV and movies. Empty character costumes were on display, which don’t interest me, and promo films for the shows, likewise. There was a small TV studio where creators or actors were being made up for interviews. Todd McFarland, of all people, was doing a signing (he has a toy deal with WB). Other than him, there were no comics creators in evidence when I was there, and no sign of any DC employees that I knew. I never went back to the booth.

Further toward the center of the Exhibit Hall I found writer/artist Mark Wheatley and enjoyed talking to him. His previous project, “Doctor Cthulittle,” was there, and a new one, “Songs of Giants,” was selling very well, and Mark sold out of copies he brought to the show by Sunday. The latter is illustrated poems by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. He said the response has been surprisingly strong. Mark also said he probably won’t be at this show after this year, it’s getting too expensive, a theme I heard from others.

While I was talking to Mark, ace comics news reporter of The Beat, Heidi MacDonald stopped by in her whirlwind tour of the booths, collecting info. Mark noticed her lobster pants, and warned her to stay away from melted butter.

Richard Starkings was at his booth promoting new books he wrote for Comixology, including ASK FOR MERCY. Richard has moved from L.A. to Chattanooga, TN, and seems very happy there. Comicraft, the lettering studio he started with John Roshell, is still going well, as is his font-selling business. A little later I attended a panel Richard did about lettering, and enjoyed it and his insights. As I was leaving, I ran into artist/letterer Stan Sakai in the back of the room. “So, you want to learn how to letter,” he joked. “I’m always learning, ” I replied.

It was only late afternoon, but my extra-long day, due to the three-hour time change, had me exhausted, and I started heading back to my room. On the way, under the Sails, I saw this great costume of Beaker from The Muppets, the best one of the day.

I was too tired to go out for dinner or any partying, and got room service. As the sun set in San Diego, I turned in early, hoping for a fresh start on Friday.

Incoming: LOEG The Tempest #6

Image © Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill.

Here it is, the final issue of the final series of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Should be in shops this week. It was an honor and a privilege to letter it. If you are a reader of the entire series, you will find much to reward you. If not, it’s still a great comic.

And Then I Read: THE DREAMING #10

Image © DC Comics. Written by Simon Spurrier, art by Bilquis Evely, colors by Mat Lopes, letters by Simon Bowland, cover by Yanick Paquette & Nathan Fairbairn

The strange entity who has reluctantly taken on the role of command in The Dreaming approaches the job as one that can be understood logically. That makes her a poor fit for the job, even as she tries to understand it and get help from Abel. Meanwhile, Matthew the raven and mysterious Dora of the winged head, see above, are searching Hell, on the trail of the real Dream Lord. On the way they encounter Balam, a rhymer, and someone who knows Dora well, to her chagrin. The trail wends down to the deepest depths of Hell, and knowledge is gained, but not a resolution. The direction the quest will go next looks promising.

Of the new characters introduced by writer Simon Spurrier, I think Balam is my new favorite. His rhymes are quite good. Both the writing and the art are appealing, and this was a fine read.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: A SENDING OF DRAGONS by Jane Yolen

Cover illustration by Dominick Domingo

The third book in the Pit Dragon series takes a different turn by sending the two fugitives, Jakkin and Akki, underground, where they become prisoners of trogdolytes descended from humans who had escaped from bondage in centuries past, and who have developed a twisted interdependence on dragons kept with them in their maze of caverns. Like the two human captives, they can withstand the deep cold of the Austarian nights because they have bathed in dragon’s blood. Both the cave dwellers and their dragons have devolved through inbreeding, though, and while they have strong mental command powers that Jakkin and Akki are helpless to defy, their way of life is declining steadily. Jakkin’s talent with dragons helps him gain some new importance in the group, and he is able to get Akki to help him as they deal with a female dragon who is sick. Eventually they learn of a dangerous way out of the caves and are determined to try it.

I didn’t like this book as much as the first two, I think because the two leads are often helpless, and the atmosphere is gloomy. Adventures with their own group of young dragons is mostly put on hold here except for the beginning and end of the book. This was meant to be a trilogy, but in the back of this one is a sample of book four. That turned out to be the final entry. I may try it eventually, but my interest in the series has cooled.

Mildly recommended.