Will Pfeifer's Blog, page 43

Advance Team Tuesdays: ONE WEEK

Hey, I got mine...


And in a mere seven days, you can get yours, too.

I have to say, opening that box I felt just like George McFly at the end of "Back to the Future." If only Biff could have brought the box of novels into my house. And, in all modesty, I think the title of my book ("The Advance Team") is a lot better than the title of George's book ("A Match Made in Space.") But otherwise, we science fiction authors have to stick together, right?

In all seriousness, if you get a copy, let me know what you thought in the comments, OK?

Will Elder Weekends: Come aboard, we're expecting you!

Here's an ad Will Elder drew for TV Guide promoting the original TV movie version of "The Love Boat," which hit the airwaves (and the high seas) about a year before the long-lived TV series got underway in1977. It's not as loose and full of in-jokes as his legendary Mad work (and, obviously, doesn't have that dark satirical undertone I love so much), but it's fun illustration -- and I'm guessing Will was paid well for doing it.


Sharp-eyed fans of '70s television will spot caricatures of Florence Henderson, Don Adams, Tom Bosley, Gabe Kaplan, Harvey Korman, Hal Linden and Karen Valentine. There's also a very Jaws-esque shark in the water, though what sort of danger a single shark could possibly pose to a cruise ship I don't know.

Next week: Did you know "The Love Boat" TV movie had a sequel? It did -- and Elder did the ad for that, too.

Image from the Golden Age Comic Book Stories site. 

Advance Team Tuesdays: TWO WEEKS

That's right, in a mere fortnight, you'll have a copy of "The Advance Team," the science fiction graphic novel by artist German Torres and writer yours truly, of your own. I'm assuming, of course, that you'll be buying a copy -- and buying one on the first day it's available, but I'm safe in assuming that, right?

Of course, I am.

Now, I'm also assuming that you're reading this on some high-tech portable computing apparatus because, right now, you're camped out in front of some bookstore so you can be the first kid on your block to get a copy. That's right, too, isn't it?

Of course it is.

And that's why I'm once again reproducing the cover at the top of this entry. When the bookstore doors are thrown open on March 27, I don't want you to have any doubt about which book you're charging across the store to buy multiple copies of (another safe assumption, right?). Of course, you'll no doubt encounter a huge display right inside the front door, but this is just in case. Plus, it's not like we can see that beautiful cover by German too many times, right?

Damn right.

Will Elder Weekends: Is this the end of Starchie? (Yes, as a matter of fact, it is!)

After weeks (and weeks and weeks) of looking back at Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder's "Starchie!," which I'd argue -- in all seriousness -- is one of the genuine high points in the history of satire, we've finally reached the end. And that end arrives on a surprisingly subdued note...


See, typical teenager Starchie is in prison, having been double-crossed decades ago by his typical teen-aged pal Bottleneck, Turns out ol' Bottleneck was actually Edward G. Robinson in disguise, and he muscled poor Starch out of his typical teen-aged rackets while simultaneously turning him over to the police (in the form of  -- who else? -- Dick Tracy). So, in the story's final panels, Starchie sits in his cell, looking back at his life -- at old friends, good times and missed opportunities...


Not much else to say, except I love how Elder included the very realistic looking crater in the cell wall to show that poor Starchie must spend most of his waking hours staring at that photo of Biddy and thinking  of what he could have had, all those years ago. What better way to end a story about high school?

RIP Jean Giraud (Moebius)

Legendary cartoonist Jean Giraud -- who also worked under the pen name Moebius -- died earlier today at the age of 73.

I was trying to explain to my wife the significance of Moebius in comic book history, and the best metaphor I could come up with was director Francois Truffaut. (She knows movies much better than she knows comics.) Both of them were huge overseas, both were little-known here by the average Joe, and both had a colossal impact on the pop culture that was part of our everyday lives.

Judging by Twitter and Facebook, virtually every comic book creator out there feels the impact of Moebius' passing, but I'm guessing younger readers probably have no idea who he is. They might have seen that Silver Surfer story he did years ago, or something he drew for "Batman: Black and White," but that's like knowing Truffaut for his work in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." It's nice, but it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

The first time I saw Moebius' work was in some ancient issue of The Comics Journal when it ran with a review of some collection Heavy Metal was foisting upon the newsstands of America. Even shrunk down and on lousy newsprint, the beauty of his line shone through, and I wanted to see more. A few years later, Marvel (under its Epic imprint) released a series of "graphic novels" collecting short stories and longer pieces, and I bought 'em all.

In what must have been some sort of promotional effort for that series, the man himself was one of the guests of honor at the Chicago Con back in 1987. Quiet but friendly and more than happy to meet with his fans, Moebius signed my copy of "Upon a Star," the first volume of that Epic series. And, what's more, he even did a little sketch...


I have a lot of sketches, pages and pieces of original art, but the idea that I have a book -- even a flimsy '80s trade paperback -- that Moebius touched with his pen -- never stops being exciting.

What I take most of all from Moebius' work isn't necessarily the craft or the talent or even the artistic vision -- though all of those things, of course, are evident in every single line. What I see, whether it's Lt. Blueberry squinting into the dust or Arzach flying that big bird or that legendary panel of the guy falling into the science fiction cityscape is the sense that no matter what he was drawing, Moebius was having a blast. I'm sure it was hard work, but everything flows so beautiful and feels so natural that the enjoyment he had putting it on the page is matched by our enjoyment reading it off the page.

In that way and a million others, he will be missed.

Advance Team Tuesdays: Three weeks! Three weeks! Three weeks!

Three weeks from today -- that's mere 21 days* -- "The Advance Team" will, at long last, arrive on bookstore shelves.

You know what would be nice? If some of you dear people camped out in front of your local bookstore and/or comic book shop so you could be first in the door when the books are available for sale. Think of the publicity! Why, you could get your picture in the paper, just like these fine folks...


You know, someday, I'd like to be richer than the queen, too. Won't you help me achieve my simple, humble dream?

Then again, you could advance order a copy, too. Here's the link to the official page at the publisher's site.

* That's 504 hours, 30,240 minutes and 1,814,400 seconds. You're welcome!

Will Elder Weekends: Starchie, Bottleneck and Wedgie!

The salute to Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder's "Starchie!" satire continues with this bit of pre-(Comics) Code nudity as our "heroes," Starchie and Bottleneck frisk their typically teen-age rival, Wedgie...

Again, just not the sort of thing you saw in comic books, all made memorably darker (and funnier) thanks to Elder's distinctively twisted style of mimicry -- that, of course, went way beyond mere mimicry.

Will Elder Weekends: Starchie Goes Home

Most of the action in "Starchie," Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder's blistering satire of "Archie" takes place among Starchie's typical teen-age chums. But for a brief interlude, Starchie goes home, and we get a peek at Starchie's typical teen-age family...

The joke, of course, is that everyone yells loudly while complaining about everyone yelling loudly. As a gag it's not one of Kurtzman's best, but the sheer energy Elder brings to the art makes it work. I love Starchie's mom slapping his dad in his shirt (that, for some reason, has a cat hiding in it) with the sound effect "SMEK," and though I had no idea what "The Quiet Man" was back when I read this as a kid, I appreciate the nod to classic John Ford. And, best of all, I love how Starchie is so upset that the criss-crossing has actually left the side of his head and jumped off into the open air.

Buy my comics, make me rich: Iron Man 2.0: Asymmetry

Well, it didn't take long for Marvel to collect this, did it?

Out this week at your friendly neighborhood comic book shop is the latest Iron Man 2.0 trade paperback, "Asymmetry," which collected the second half of the Palmer Addley storyline. I provided the scripts for half of Iron Man 2.0 #10 and the full scripts for issues 11 and 12, so I'm just one of many names on the cover.

But, if you're a fan of the late, lamented H.E.R.O. comic book I wrote for DC a few years ago, you might be interested to know that Kano, who drew the first several issues of that book, also drew the first issue reprinted in this trade. I didn't write that issue, but considering we're both between the same covers once again, you could (almost, maybe, just barely) consider this trade the (sort-of, semi, kinda) H.E.R.O. reunion you've been waiting for.

Well, not exactly. But it's a pretty fun book nonetheless. And it gave me the chance to write a few lines of dialogue for the Fantastic Four. Not bad, eh?

Advance Team Tuesdays: Look! Up in the sky!

It's just over a month to the long-awaited (by me at least) arrival of "The Advance Team" in stores, so I thought I'd turn down the volume on the hype machine just a bit and offer up a bit of a cosmic moment from late in the graphic novel. That's our hero, of course, Zack, spending some time with one of the most powerful -- in every sense of the word -- men on the planet, staring up into the night sky.

No details on exactly what it is they're seeing. You'll find out soon enough.