Evan Dorkin's Blog, page 34

The Return of the H.O.F. Original Art Auctions (w/color commentary)

We have some new H.O.F. art up for grabs on eBay, including three recent Mad illustrations...








As well as one (not-so-recent) bad illustration  ...





The above is a cover I drew for the second issue of Fantastic Fanzine, which was affiliated with the Fantastic Store comic shop on New Dorp Lane in Staten Island, NYC. The shop was co-owned by Jim Hanley, who some of you may know as the Jim Hanley of Jim Hanley's Universe, the fine comic shop outfit with two locations in Staten Island and Manhattan, NYC.

The Fantastic Store (formerly The Merchant of Venus -- yes, you read that right, my friend) was the first comic shop I worked at, also the first I was fired from. I was re-hired by Jim when he split from his partner to open JHU, saving me from a dishwashing job I didn't particularly care for (for one thing, there were no comic books at the restaurant, and I happened to like comic books very much at the time. Also, they pretty much only had male waiters, so there was nothing much to look at while washing dishes. They did let us play the punk rock music in the kitchen, however, very loudly, too. And it was a great place for cursing. But no comic books, so, it was goodbye to that.). 

Anyway, long story short, there was this ("Fantastic") fanzine that a co-worker at the shop named Jim Higgins (who later worked at DC for a spell) put together and only one issue was produced, for which I did the back cover (Judge Dredd, if you really need to know). I can't find my copy of it, I wish I could so I could show off not only my amateurish fanboy artwork but my amateurish fanboy review skills (I reviewed Neal Adams Batman:Odyssey warm-up, Skate-Man #1, as well as one or two other comics). The above piece of work was intended for the cover of the second issue, a year-end review type-of-thing. Luckily, the world was spared this masterpiece of clumsiness (until now, of course -- Because The Whole World is Watching!!!). I think it speaks volumes about how incredibly not good you can be when you're young and that if you keep at it long enough and try hard enough you can eventually learn to at least draw professionally and solidly, if not beautifully or wonderfully. I mean, Holy %$@&#!  look at that rendering. That anatomy. That "inking", that "lettering". It's charming in a grotesque way, less so because I wasn't that young, I was 18, and most 18 year-olds then and now and in caveman days can and could draw rings around this cowflop. Very nicely-drawn rings, I might add.

But I'm done with it, and yes, I said it was bad and I know it is bad, and you know it is bad, but I also know that someone out there might find it amusing or interesting. And some folks collect bad art, or fanzine art by professionals, or what have you. And I already tossed about thirty recent-ish sketchbook pages into the recycling last night and I didn't feel like trashing every single thing I've been going through (I also found an ad for JHU from 1985 that I drew and am on the fence about keeping/selling/burning. Among other things I'm finding as I clean up the files). And I need the money. Any money. I love money. I'd do anything for money! I'd kill for money! (please feel free to complete this Chico Marx routine in the privacy of your own home). So it's on eBay and amazingly, as I type this drivel, there are two bids for it already. Whee! Whereas the nicer-looking, professional Mad illos are bereft of monetary attention. It's a little like the Direct Market, isn't it, sometimes solid work won't get the attention that less-than-solid work gets if the ickier work's gots them there superheroes in it. If you know what I mean. Batman drawn by a jittery crab rolled in ink would still sell better than Love and Rockets in the funnybook shops. It's just the way things go. But that's another rant, and I'm getting all typed out and it's damned cold in the office tonight with the heat off while the family sleeps.

Besides the aforementioned/afore-panned, there's also a Nickelodeon Magazine (RIP) gag panel up for the bidding, a Bizarro comic page (Superman/Batman, a re-list, as it didn't sell last time around -- and what does that do to my above comic book theory? I guess price matters, as well. Fuggit. I'm all theorized out. I think it's a nice page, though, surprised it didn't get any takers. I blame Satan and his agents, who happen to be at William Morris now, I hear), a sheet of little Milk and Cheese button/magnet designs, and the M&C zombie piece I posted here the other day. That's the biggie, the tentpole, the baby's new pair of shoes. Or not.

You can see the auctions here, or just go there to look at the art and ignore the auctions. I can't buy art either, not even the cheaper stuff I sell. If I could, I wouldn't be selling a lot of this stuff. What can you do? Wash dishes, I guess.

Hopefully it won't come to that. Mostly because I wash dishes the same way I make comics, the OCD kicks in and I slow things down. The kitchen staff would yell at me because I would be stupid enough to actually try to clean the old, stuck cheese out from the french onion soup bowls. The others just dumped the new order of soup in and covered whatever wasn't cleaned out from the previous order. Nice, huh? I couldn't do it.

Meeeemorieeees., memorieees...

(This post brought to you by the makers of Iron Man 3-D, coming soon to a torrent site near you)

Dunch

My First Convention Party - SDCC 1987

1987 was my first San Diego Comic-Con and when it wrapped up on Sunday I ended up with an invitation to the "kinda official meltdown" after-party, either through Bob Schreck or Diana Schutz, or both of them). I was happy to be invited, but being the geek I was (and am), my first reaction to the invitation was, "Holy crap, Gilbert Hernandez drew this! This is a keeper!".





As you can see it was sponsored by DC Comics, Comico Comics and Graphitti Designs, can you imagine three disparate companies like that co-hosting a con party these days? Well, I can't, and if you can, you're a drunken hippie, go away. Anyway, back then there were a hell of a lot less comics professionals milling about the (old) San Diego Convention Center, so you didn't have to do much of anything to rub elbows with a lot of creators in a more laid-back atmosphere. Everyone seemed easier to talk to, schmucks like me could end up speaking with DC and Marvel "stars", small-press folks at SLG, Dark Horse, Comico et al, Los Bros, Bob Burden -- it was a different vibe, more like SPX or what have you than today's mega-events. People had hotel room parties and folks drifted all over the Holiday Inn from one room to the other, in 1988 Jim Hanley threw a room party and we had professionals like Chris Warner walking in and five minutes later a drunk guy in a Robin costume with a cigarette dangling from his mumbly lips waltzed in. Later that night Chris Warner squared off against a group of punk kids and it almost led to a brawl. He was armed with a chair to even things up. It was pretty wild.

Back to 1987 -- the party was held in a Holiday Inn hotel suite and was an informal, laid-back and enjoyable affair, just like the convention that had wrapped up earlier that day. Anybody had a good chance to meet anyone back then, and at the party I met a number of creators  whose work I was ringing up and reading back home at Jim Hanley's Universe. Added bonus: I got to hear the infamous letter that Bob Burden would read at gatherings, an amazing rant/ramble from a scorned reader. A very memorable evening. The entire convention was a heady experience, I laughed, I cried, i drank, I was mortified. My first peek into how things really were in comics, first time meeting some folks I have since become friendly with and/or worked with. I never even tried to "network", I still don't, but you couldn't help meeting people and talking to them at that show, unless you stayed in your room alone the entire time.

Now that I think about it, 1988 was just as weird/crazy/cool -- more so, actually -- I passed out Hollywood drunk-style in front of David Lloyd, signed up with SLG at a party where Dan Vado and I were flat on our backs intoxicated on the carpet, got in trouble for spitting beer on people from Bob Burden's hotel room window during the Dark Horse party, got hired to assist Bob on Flaming Carrot #20, hooked up with a girl I met at a party where people were wearing paper Spirit masks (we weren't), then got C-blocked when my roommate/boss tossed us out of the room later that evening. The next day the young lady showed up at my table wearing a Rogue costume. Color me uptight, I just couldn't take the lady out for lunch in her superhero costume, which she refused to change out of. My first and only inadvertent experience with a cosplayer, some time before the term existed.

Yeah.

Anyway, I found the '87 invitation while looking for something of Emily's and ended up uncovering a pile of flyers, program books and whatnot. So I have more comic book career ephemera to scan and post here and/or on my Flickr set when I get around to it. This one was just too goofy to let sit, and it brings back a lot of memories.

Wasted too much time, gotta get back to being an old fart cartoonist behind on his deadlines.
 

The Drinking Dead

11" by 14", pen and ink, brush market, white ink, waiting for the ink to dry on some commissions.

World's Finest (with Selected Rogues Galleries)

Private commission drawn in Feb, 2011. 12" by 15", pen and ink, brush marker, white ink, fun.

Milk and Cheese #1 Cover Recreation

Private commission, 14" x 17", pen and ink, brush marker, white ink, 1991 nostalgia and a mix of old habits and new.

Coming Soon To A Comic Book Near You

Milk and Cheese Fan Art

Found a small batch of Milk and Cheese fan art from back in the day, scanned them in and uploaded them to Flickr as part of the ongoing "HOF Dumpster Dive Archive".

There's also a hate letter in the set that I found pretty funny. 

Here's my favorite of the drawings (I'm keeping this one, along with a companion drawing of Cheese):




I know this isn't the best use of my time at the moment, but after two and half hours of chopping ice my hands and wrists aren't up for inking just yet. Holy crap, I find discussions of the weather tiresome as hell but this has been ridiculous. Two signs of a bad winter -- we've gone through 240 lbs of ice melt in just over the last 2 weeks, and I swear I almost have the beginnings of a bicep muscle or two. That is just wrong.

P.S. I'm not sure why my scans are appearing larger than usual here on the LJ lately, sorry if that's a problem for anyone. I still don't have this computer stuff down right. Hell, I'm still trying to get a hang of inking and that's almost three decades- worth of WTF.

Come On, Let's Go

I was very saddened to hear that singer Trish Keenan of the band Broadcast died recently.

If you have roughly three minutes of spare time and want to hear what I happen to think is a beautiful song, a song which is one of my all-time favorites, then by all means go here. Dreamy shimmering electro-pop, lovely vocals, fine drumming, perfection. It simply kills me every time I hear it, as it has three times tonight.

On a lighter, albeit less perfect note, while cleaning up the office tonight I came across a pile of flyers for some conventions and store signings I/we did back in the 1990's. I'd meant to scan them so I could recycle the papers, but I lost track of things, as usual. Anyway, now they're scanned and recycled and there's a set of them uploaded to Flickr in case anyone wants to look at them. I think they're of interest mainly to see what things were like at the time, to look at old convention guest lists and see creators and comics you've never heard of, and creators and comics you've forgotten all about. And then there's the failed shows and closed shops, and even the names of stores that are still around, miraculously.

Anyway, you can see the set here if you care to.

I added  a few comments here and there about some of the flyers -- dates, locations, etc, but my memory is terrible and I'm at a complete loss on a few of them. If by any chance anyone out there recalls any of these appearances/events and has anything to add, please let me know in the comments section if you will. If I find any more similar items I'll add them to the set sometime. I know we have a Bizarro Wuxtry flyer by Devlin Thompson that's too large for my scanner, so I'll have to ask Sarah to help me out there. I tossed a lot of papers several months ago and now I regret it. I'm glad I tossed it all and there's more to be tossed but I wish I had waited to scan some of it -- sure, it's not important "history", but it jogs my (terrible) memory and it doesn't take up physical space on a computer. Of course, it does take up considerable time, which I really needed to spend on work tonight, so don't I feel like a royal schmuck right now?

(I do.)

Anyway. Time to go.

Good night.

I've Come to a Conclusion...

Milk and Cheese are great.

Even if they aren't, they are. So there. They're not drawn great, they're not written great, but nonetheless, they are great.

Those who cannot see are blind, those who cannot hear are deaf, those who cannot buy are idiots.

Long live Milk and Cheese.

Trading card recreation done for a commission -  8" x 8", pen and ink, opaque white ink and nostalgia