Bill Watterson Speaks!

This is said to be the first interview with the ultra-reclusive "Calvin and Hobbes" creator since 1989.

Cleveland Plain Dealer Interview

Get Out Your Dr. Martin's Dyes...

...time for a lecture on who colored the Marvel comics of the 1950's and 1960's. Mark Evanier reveals him to be the veteran Archie comics artist Stan Goldberg.

New On Our Blogroll

Our blogroll keeps getting bigger and bigger. Jill Pantozzi is our newest blogroll member who has an impressive blog about comic books, called "Has Boobs, Reads Comics". I was a comic collector back in the old days and still have an appreciation for those who ply the art today, as well as the living and departed legends of the field. Jill seems to like DC Comics best, and I would have to say I leaned more toward DC than Marvel in my collecting days.

Jill's not only a comic fan, but she's also a radio disk jockey for WJLK-FM. She's on from 10pm-2am. And her birthday is coming up soon or has passed (NOTE: it's today - born on 12/14/1982) - so happy birthday Jill and congrats for making the blogroll!

A Gaspar Saladino Love-In

Todd Klein, a pretty decent comics letterer himself, on the king of 'em all, Gaspar Saladino. His lettering graced the covers of DC Comics for years. If I had known yesterday was Gaspar Saladino day, I would have joined the fray myself, noting the one bit of Saladino trivia no one else knows - he was the letterer on the "Superfan" comic strip that appeared in "Pro Quarterback" magazine. The strip was crafted by writer Nick Meglin and artist Jack Davis, both MAD Magazine stalwarts, and thus the quality showed through.

Mark Evanier Gives Two Guys The Finger

Sounds like something I did in 1982.

But we're actually talking about the annual Bill Finger Award, bestowed on two comic book writing legends. The award is named for the original writer of Batman comics.

This year's recipients are the late Gardner Fox and the very much alive George Gladir. Fox was a fellow writer for National Comics along with Finger, while Gladir still contributes stories for Archie Comics and is bearing down on fifty years service with the company, and for many of those years he was the head writer for Cracked Mazagine.

And just a thought. Wouldn't it have been nice to make it an all-Archie parlay and give the award designated for the deceased comics writer to Frank Doyle? Man, back in the day there was nothing like a good Archie story written by Doyle and drawn by Dan DeCarlo or Harry Lucey.

Rudy Lapick dies

Death notice for comics inker Rudy Lapick, who was one of the mainstays of the Archie Comics bullpen for many years, inking the work of Dan DeCarlo, Stan Goldberg, Bob Bolling, and the other Archie pencillers.