RAWHIDE KID WEDNESDAY 91

The Rawhide Kid is my favorite western comics character and one of my favorite comics characters period.  Something about the short of stature (but big on courage and fighting skills) Johnny Clay spoke to the short of stature (but big on comics-reading skills) teenage Tony Isabella.  After rereading the Kid’s earliest adventures when Marvel Comics reprinted them in a pair of Marvel Masterworks and an Essential Rawhide Kid volume, I wanted to reacquire every Rawhide Kid comic, reread them and write about them in this bloggy thing of mine. This is the 91st installment in that series.

 

The Rawhide Kid #105 [November 1972] had a cover by Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia. “The Sinister Sons of Ma Morgan” (14 pages) was an all-new story written and penciled by Lieber with inks and most likely colors by George Roussos. At this time, we are less than a year away from the very last new Rawhide Kid story that will appear in this title.

SPOILERS AHEAD
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The tale opens with one of “The Sinister Sons of Ma Morgan” robbing an express office. The Rawhide Kid has just ridden into the town. Not seeing a sheriff’s office, Johnny figures he’ll be safe for a few days while he rests. Except “Sonny” kills the express office’s clerk and clubs the curious Rawhide on his way out. The townspeople figure Rawhide for the robber-killer, despite his just getting up from the ground when they arrive on the scene and despite his not having the stolen money from the office.

While the Kid tracks the robber, we learn that Ma Morgan’s husband  lived honest and died poor. She and her four boys aren’t going to carry that tune. They are all about the robbing.

Rawhide hides up the house. Ma tells she hasn’t seen any riders in ages. She invited him in for a home-cooked meal. He is overwhelmed by her kindness...up until the drugged hot chocolate he is drinking knocks him out.

When the Kid wakes, he’s surrounded by Ma and her sons. Ma tells him he’s going to ride with them...because having a top gun like Rawhide in their gang will put them in the big time. The Kid isn’t flattered. Fisticuffs break out. Rawhide is holding his own until Ma fires some warning shots.

Ma lays it out. The Kid rides with them - his guns empty - or they will drop him on the doorstep of the nearest lawman. After robbing a bank with the Morgan boys, Rawhide tries to escape. They shoot at him and they think they’ve killed him. In reality, they missed the Kid and he’s pretending to be dead in a conveniently nearby river. He breathes through reeds until they leave.

The last three pages go by fast. Rawhide clobbers the son standing guard outside the Morgan home. He shoots it out with the remaining three sons, killing them. The fourth son tries to shoot the Kid in the back. The Kid ducks and fires. The fourth son goes to join his brothers and mother. The shot that missed the Rawhide Kid killed Ma Morgan. The Kid reflects on the carnage:

Men or women--it don’t make no never mind! The greedy and the ruthless always come to the same end!

Johnny returns the stolen money to the express office and the bank with a note explaining his innocence. But he remains an outlaw and a fugitive.

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“The Sinister Sons of Ma Morgan” isn’t one of Lieber’s better ones. There’s some good dialogue and some great action panels, but Ma and her boys don’t have much depth to them. But I remained a huge fan of my pal Larry’s Rawhide Kid adventures. Once I started working at Marvel, I always made sure to grab a make-ready of every issue that had a new Lieber story. Outside of my own work, I don’t think I did that with any other Marvel title.

Ten comics-related classified ads ran in this issue. Eight of them had run previously. The two new ones were for buyer/seller J. Hunt of Kenmore, New York...and, from Cleveland, Tennessee, a very small ad for something called The Comic Book Price Guide. I wonder if it  that guide ever amounted to anything.
                                                                                

The issue’s reprint was a five-page Western Kid story - “Stampede” - that was drawn by John Romita and which first appeared in Western Kid #10 [June 1956].

SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
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Tex Dawson aka the Western Kid and “his fighting pals” Whirlwind (horse) and Lightning (dog) help stop a stampede, not realizing the stampede was caused by Larkin, the man they thought they had been helping. It’s some sort of rustling scheme of Larkin and a guy name of Stone. Truth be told, I lost interest in this tale by the end of page two. Anyway...

Larkin frames Dawson for the stampede. The law tries to arrest the Kid and his fighting pals. The Kid escapes. He lays low until he’s able to prove Larkin and Stone were the real criminals. Which - get this - the sheriff knew all along. He just wanted to see how things would play out. It’s an Old West dick move. How nice.

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The Western Kid and his fighting pals are pretty cool. The Romita art is interesting, but not as good as what he was capable of even this early in his career. Whirlwind’s legs look spindly in a couple panel and there’s a gun drawn so badly it looks like two pieces of square wood nailed together.
                                                                                   

The Western Kid story is followed by a full-page house ad for Kid Colt Outlaw #164 [November 1972}. The otherwise all-reprint issue has an action-packed cover by Dick Ayers and Frank Giacoia. My pal Dick was always at his best with westerns.

Inside the issue, we get three short Kid Colt stories and one non-series stories. The Kid Colt stories are:

“Draw Or Die, Mister!” (6 pages) by Stan Lee, Jack Keller (pencils) and Dick Ayers (inks). From Kid Colt Outlaw #92 [September 1960].

“Flames Along the Border!” (5 pages) with art by Keller. From Kid Colt Outlaw #56 [January 1956].

“Trail’s End!” (5 pages) with art by Keller. From Kid Colt Outlaw #56 [January 1956].

The non-series reprint story is unusual because it’s not from one of Marvel’s western comics. “The Iron Giant!” (5 pages) first saw print in Journey into Mystery #69 [June 1961]. It’s drawn by Paul Reinman and the Grand Comics Database opines that Stan Lee plotted it and Larry Lieber scripted. Here’s the GCD synopsis:

A train conductor in the Old West, who loves his locomotive, is robbed by bandits and left in the wilderness to die. But the bandits are chased to justice by the suddenly-animated locomotive.

It’s not the weirdest western story from Marvel - the Rawhide Kid once fought a giant alien totem pole - but its placement in a Kid Colt reprint issue this late in the game is noteworthy.

Next up was the “Marvel Bullpen Bulletins” page. “Stan’s Soapbox” discusses his recent lectures and eschews “beating the drums for Claws of the Cat, Journey Into Mystery, Jungle Action, Gunhawks, Night Nurse, Doc Savage or Shanna the She-Devil.” He’s not going to mention them, nor is he going to mention Wyatt Earp, Gothic Thrillers, Spoof...you get the idea.

The next Bullpen Bulletins section plugs Claws of the Cat...Linda Carter, Night Nurse...and Shanna the She Devil, three comic books  written by Linda Fite, Jean Thomas and Carole Seuling. This early attempt at diversity in Marvel’s writing staff wasn’t successful, but it did start the process, however long it would end up taking the comics industry to be more open to women writers.

The next item plugs Chamber of Chills (where my first Marvel comics story would appear, Journey into Mystery and Gothic Thrillers, which would undergo a name change to Supernatural Thrillers before publication. Promised were adaptations of stories by such literary greats as Robert E. Howard, Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon and Robert Bloch.

The final item welcomed new creators to Marvel: Irv Wesley (alias for Sam Kweskin), Craig Russell and Jim Starlin.

The “Mighty Marvel Checklist” for comics on sale included Amazing Spider-Man #114 (Doc Ock and Hammerhead), Thor #205 (Mephisto); Captain America and the Falcon #155 (with Cap’s secret origin) and  nearly two dozen other issues.

The issue closes with the “Ridin’ the Range with Rawhide” letters page. There are three letters.

Howard J. Tockman of St. Louis, Missouri thinks western comics are a waste of the medium, but he did enjoy “I Shot Jesse James” in The Rawhide Kid #101.

Wayne Springer of Evansville, Indiana wrote about several western titles and picked up a no-prize for spotting a word balloon error.

Brian De Lorenzce of Paseto, Pennsylvania found discrepancies in different versions of the Rawhide Kid’s origins. Marvel copped to the situation and responded:

The story in Rawhide Kid #91 is the correct one. Rawhide outdrew two sidewinders [who murdered the man who raised and trained him] in a fair fight and was later blamed for their murders.

That’s it for this installment of “Rawhide Kid Wednesday.” I’ll be back tomorrow with something. I just haven’t decided what I want to write about. Come back tomorrow and we’ll both be surprised.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

TONY'S TIPS #183

This week in TONY'S TIPS at Tales of Wonder...The MLJ Companion - “The Complete History of the Archie Comics Super-Heroes!” - by Rik Offenberger, Paul Castiglia and Jon B. Cooke; Neil Gaiman’s Troll Bridge with art by Colleen Doran; and Cage! #1 by Genndy Tartakovsky!

THE AKRON COMICON 2016: PART TWO

The end of Daylight Savings Times on Sunday, November 6, meant that I gained an extra hour to relax before heading over to the John S. Knight Convention Center for the second day of the Akron Comicon. I slept in a little bit, then headed downstairs to have breakfast at The Bistro.

The Bistro served a mighty fine breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, sourdough toast and orange juice. Big portions, too. More than I could eat. At 65, the days when I would soldier on and clean my plate are well behind me. I try to limit how much food I eat at all times. After all, I have to look my best for the special Tony Isabella’s Bloggy Thing Swimsuit Edition.

I ended up eating breakfast with Mike Curtis who, with Joe Staton, creates the Dick Tracy newspaper strip. Mike and Joe have brought new life to the adventures of the legendary detective. The strip is one of my favorites. Coming soon in the strip: Dick Tracy teams up with Will Eisner’s The Spirit. It is permitted, nay, expected that you squeal with delight like a small child on hearing this exciting news. I know I did.

Back in my room, I finished one of Guy H. Smith’s giant crab novels on my Kindle. These aren’t exactly great literature, but, as I have said, they are the prose equivalent of cheese monster movies. Just the ticket for when I have a little bit of time to kill.

I determined Sunday at the Akron Comicon was going to be all about catching up with old friends, doing some shopping, and enjoying the cosplay. My plans went south because Sunday turned out to be near as busy for me as Saturday was. I never got to do any shopping and, for some reason, the cosplayers were mostly hanging out across the convention center from me. I did see a spectacular Mary Jane Watson whose “Face it, tiger, you just hit the jackpot!” was perfect. I gotta tell you...John Romita really knows how to draw sexy women!

In more or less alphabetical order...

New pulp novelist and pop culture historian Jim Beard was across the aisle from me. I think I first met Jim at a Pulpfest, an annual show held in Columbus. Alas, having been screwed over by its Hyatt Regency venue, Pulpfest has not yet landed a venue for 2017. Which makes fitting it into my schedule impossible. I’m hoping the event can set the dates and location soon because I always enjoying going to the show and seeing old friends, even those who were dicks after the presidential election.

Craig Boldman, whose run on Jughead is one of my favorites, was one of several creators I didn’t get much of a chance to hang out with at the convention. To that number, you can add Mike Gustovich, Bob Ingersoll, Arvell Jones, Dirk Manning, Milo Miller and Ted Sikora of Apama and Hero Tomorrow, and Mark Sumerak. Have I left out some names? Of course, I have. As I said yesterday, I really to need to get a helper human.
                                                                              

George Broderick, Jr., one of the most clever, multi-talented and underrated cartoonist of our time was at the convention and sharing a booth with multi-media creator Chris Yambar. George gave me his three most recent comics and I gave him a copy of Black Lightning Volume One. I’ll be reviewing George’s comics soon.
                                                                                  

As for Chris Yambar, though he has been dealing with some serious health issues, including the loss of vision in one eye, he has not stopped making art. He gave me a cool postcard set from his Artist and Model collection, which opened October 7 at The Soap Gallery in Youngstown, Ohio. He even quoted me on the back of one of the cards in the set:

“Chris is the poster boy for over-achievement in the arts.”
                                                                             

I also managed a nice conversation with P. Craig Russell, a friend of mine from when we both broke into comic books in the 1970s. He is one of the most masterful artists and storytellers in the field and I always look forward to his new work. He gave me a DVD of his P. Craig Russell’s Guide to Graphic Storytelling (Elric Edition). Before the end of the month, I’ll be writing about that and all the other cool stuff that’s been given or sent to me in recent weeks.

If the 2016 Akron Comicon was a disappointment in any way, it was only in my not getting to spend much time with all the incredible cosplayers who came to the event. For the most part, I could only glimpse them from across the room. I’m determined this will never happen again. My battle plan is two-fold...

One. I’m getting a smart phone that will allow me to take photos I can share with my bloggy thing readers.

Two. At every convention I attend in 2017, I will have money and a certificate for cosplayers. Here’s how that will work...

Before the end of the year, I will post a list of the cosplay I’d like to see at my 2017 appearance. There will be 20-25 costumes on the list. Many will be characters I created, like Black Lightning, Misty Knight and Tigra. Others will be characters I wrote, such as Hawkman, Hawkwoman, the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider and others. Some will just be characters I love like the Blonde Phantom, Cosmo the Merry Martian, Herbie Popnecker, the original Sugar and Spike, the classic Zatanna, Mademoiselle Marie, and others. If you come to my convention booth/table cosplaying as these characters, I will give a dollar and a special certificate.

A dollar? Yeah, but it’s the thought that counts and I will have at least fifty bucks per event to hand out at each convention.

The certificate? That will be a whole lot cooler. It will have all kinds of flowery language and a terrific design. It’ll be suitable for framing. I’ll be sitting down with a designer before the end of the year to create this certificate.

Okay, now that I’ve written this down, it sounds like I’m the kid who could only get a dog to play with him by tying a burger around his neck. However, I’m willing to come off as pathetic to see some great cosplay. If it works, it’ll be fun. If it doesn’t work, well, it won’t be the first time a plan went awry. Always forward.

The 2016 Akron Comicon was, as expected, enormous fun for everyone who attended. Next year’s event will take place on Saturday/Sunday, November 4-5, at the John S. Knight Convention Center. The Comicon will include Monsterfest Mania, giving fans two great shows for the price of one. I’ll be there. You should be there, too.

As always, my thanks to Akron Comicon promoters Robert Jenkins, Michael Savene and Jesse Noble for putting on such a spiffy event and for treating the fans, the guests and me so well. Just as Mid-Ohio-Con used to be my home show, the Akron Comicon is now my home show. You can expect to see me there every year.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

THE AKRON COMICON 2016: PART ONE

This year’s Akron Comicon marked the event’s move to the John S. Knight Convention Center. It’s a larger venue the show’s previous location at the getting-less-desirable-every-year Quaker Station. The Comicon, which was held on Saturday and Sunday, November 5-6, occupied roughly half the available space of the Center. In 2017, when the Akron Comicon absorbs Monsterfest Mania, it will fill the entire place. Man, am I looking forward to that!

The Comicon was a first for the Knight Center. The Center workers, from the guys at the loading dock to the concessions staff to the security people, were all friendly. They were honestly excited to be hosting the Comicon.

Loading into the con was pretty simple. It was the first convention where I set up the stylish display stand my son Eddie gave me for Father’s Day. It showcased the Black Lightning trade paperback and my remaining copies of 1000 Comic Books You Must Read beautifully, and drew compliments from other guests.

On the table itself, I had a box of Isabella-written comics, a box of dollar comics, the Garfield books I worked on for PaperCutz and the double-sided Superman poster I helped designed for Cleveland’s International Superman Exposition in 1988. I also brought all the leftover Halloween candy from our house. The candy was free to all. I consider this self-defense because you know I would have eaten it all myself if it had stayed at my house.
                                                                          

Before the convention opened, I made sure to stop by the booth set up by my friends at WBNX-TV, Cleveland’s CW station. If you visited their table, you could spin a wheel and win a CW-related prize of some sort. Over the course of the con, I scored an Agents of SHIELD backpack, a Supernatural poster, an iZombie magnet, and a WBNX-TV drink container. Great station, great swag.

Saturday was a whirlwind of activity for me. The show ran from 10 am to 6 pm with the hours just flying by. My booth was behind the table shared by Alan Davis and Mike W. Barr, which was across the aisle from Alan Grant’s table. Those three fine creators commanded the most attention and the longest lines. I think my proximity to them is one of the reasons I had better sales at this show than at any of my other 2016 appearances.

Next to me was Tom Orzechowski, my friend of almost half a century and one of the best letterers in comics. There were lots of other old pals at the convention and I’ll be telling you about them as I write about the event.

Warning...I was so busy at the con I didn’t have time to take any notes. Expect my report to be all over the place.

Over the two days, I signed as many and possible more comic books than I have at any other event this year. The most frequent things I signed were Black Lightning (of course), The Champions, Hawkman, Marvel Premiere (Iron Fist), Justice Machine, the Captain America prose novel I wrote with Bob Ingersoll, 1000 Comic Books You Must Read and various DC and Marvel history books. My wrist was actually sore by Sunday night.

My “Tony’s Tips” panel was scheduled for 1 pm and drew an excellent crowd. I told a bunch of stories about my life and comics career, spoke about how important diversity in comics is to me and to our art form, recommended some comics and graphic novel to the audience and made an impertinent joke about John Byrne. I felt a little bad about that, but only for a couple seconds. I mean, you know, John Byrne. ‘Nuff said.

Before I could grab lunch, I was asked to appear on the live radio show that was broadcasting from the Knight Center. There was only one thing wrong with the broadcast. I can’t remember the station’s name or where to go online to listen to the interview. As soon as someone who was at the convention sends me that information, I’ll post here and on my Facebook page. There are times when I think I need a helper human to come to these things with me.

One of my complaints about this year’s Monsterfest Mania was that there was no easily-available food at the con. That was definitely wasn’t a problem at the Knight Center. The two concessions stands had a decent selection and, judging from the slice of pizza I had, tasty offerings. I liked the pizza so much that I got another slice on Sunday. The concession workers were friendly and very efficient. That’s a winning combination for any exhibitor, fan or guest with a limited amount of time to eat.

I did one more interview on Saturday. Amanda Garrett of the Akron Beacon Journal spoke to me for about a half-hour or so. Her article on the show ran in Sunday’s edition.

It was around four o’clock when I realized I had not yet been able to say “hi” to and chat with a bunch of cool people. I did exchange hugs with the wondrous Allen Bellman, who drew Captain America and other features back in the 1940s. I never got a chance to meet the two super-hero Captains who were at the show: Reb Brown, who played Captain America in the 1970s TV movies Captain America and Captain America II: Death Too Soon; and Jackson Bostwick, Captain Marvel in the first season of the Shazam! series in 1974-75. I hope to meet them at some future event.

I did spend some time talking with Craig Yoe, who creates all those wildly wondrous reprint comic books and hardcover collections over at IDW. My only actual purchase at the convention was Yoe’s Super Weird Heroes, which I’ve been recommending to every comics reader whose path crosses mine.
                                                                            

More dear pals at the show. Ohio’s own Thom Zahler (Love and Capes, Long Distance, My Little Pony) and Michigan’s own Paul Storrie (Gotham Girls, Robin Hood) were set up next to one another. I see Thom regularly, but it’s been ages since I’ve had a chance to talk with Paul at length. Seeing Paul reminded me that DC is leaving a chunk of money on the table by not collecting Gotham Girls in trade paperback or hardcover. It’s a terrific story starring some of the company’s most popular characters. I know I’d buy a copy...unless I could sweet-talk my friends at DC into having me write the intro for it and thus get one for free. Oh, heck, I’d still buy a copy of two. Them’s really good comics.

By the time the show closed, I was running on fumes. I drove over to the official Akron Comicon hotel: the Marriott Courtyard, about a mile from the Knight Center. It’s a very modern and comfortable hotel within line of sight of the famous Luigi’s Pizza, the model for Montoni’s Pizza in Tom Batiuk’s Funky Winkerbean.

Various dinner plans fell through. A Mexican restaurant that we’d heard of was closed. Luigi’s had its usual long line of customers waiting to get in. A nice little bar next to Luigi’s didn’t have a big enough menu to satisfy one of our party. The snooty restaurant next to the hotel was, well, snooty with the host speaking to us as if we were hicks:

“It is Saturday night, after all. You can’t possibly expect us to seat you [in one of our many empty tables] without a reservation. We could maybe squeeze you sometime after 9.” 

Squeeze this, Nasal Whine Boy.

Tired as I was, I took my leave of my intended dinner companions. The Marriott didn’t have a proper restaurant or room service. What it did have, in its lobby, was The Bistro, which served appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, cocktails, beer, wine and soft drinks. I ordered a turkey BLT to go with cole slaw and fresh fruit sides. The service time was longer than it should have been, but the meal itself was good.

While I ate, I watched The Ohio State Buckeyes clobber the Nebraska Huskies 62-3. The team would repeat that score a week later against the Maryland Terrapins. I didn’t watch the entire game because the outcome was pretty clear early on. I watched long enough to finish my meal and get ready for the second day of the convention. I did a little more channel-surfing without finding anything that grabbed my interest. Then I called it a night.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the conclusion of my Akron Comicon 2016 report. See you then.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING COMICS CREATORS

There are dozens of books on how to write and draw and even publish comic books. Some of them are very good. This is not one of them. It’s not even the start of one of them.

There are a number of terrific online resources with information on how to write and draw and even publish comic books. This is not one of them.

Today’s bloggy thing is just my answers to two questions I am asked at virtually every convention I attend, and in at least one e-mail or private message a month. That’s what this is.

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Will you look at my comic-book ideas?

The short answer to this one is...no. I don’t look at unpublished comic-book ideas for legal reasons. I don’t want prior knowledge of something that may or may not ever see the light of day for fear I might accidentally use those ideas in the future.

You might respond by telling me you would never sue me or anything. You’re lying to yourself. If you saw one of your ideas in one of my projects, you would get angry and you would want to sue me. If you asked me for advice in the matter, I would tell you to get yourself a good lawyer and sic him on me.

Never, you proclaim, I am not a litigious person. Maybe you aren’t. But there are plenty of litigious persons out there and I can not and will not take the chance that you are not one of them, Heck, DC Comics and I were once threatened with a lawsuit by a pair of rank amateurs who claimed we had stolen the idea of Black Lightning’s electrical force-field from them. As if there hadn’t been countless force fields in countless science-fiction stories for decades upon decades. I explained this to them nicely - really - and they never bothered me again.

So...no. I won’t look at your unpublished work.

But you’d really really like to get my comments and suggestions on your unpublished work. How can we surmount this obstacle?

Simple. Publish it online.

If you published the work, even online, I will be ever so much more likely to remember it and not accidentally steal anything from it. I have more protection and you have more protection.

This isn’t an invitation for you to send me dozens of links to your work. I don’t have time to read and comment on your work en masse. But, on occasion, when someone’s demeanor impresses me at a comics convention, I will look at and comment on your work. I may not get to it right away, but I will get to it as quickly as my crazy busy schedule allows.

There’s your answer. I won’t look at your unpublished work. I will consider looking at your published work.

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I have a great idea for a story with Marvel (or DC) characters. How can I get them to look at it?

The short answer is...you can’t.

As someone who is not in the loop, it seems to me that DC and Marvel recruiters aren't looking for writers they haven’t already decided they want to hire. They recruit current writers from each other. They look at comics published by other companies. For example...

One of Marvel’s current top writers was turned down when he first sought work from the company. He was told to go off and created a new title and get it published elsewhere...and then send them that new title. He did. Marvel liked it. He started writing for them. I think that’s as valid a path to Marvel as any.

Both companies like to use writers who have been successful outside comics. They’ve written novels or even non-fiction books. They’ve written movies, TV shows and plays. They’ve written and performed their own songs. If you have done any of those things, then Marvel and DC may very well be interested in your work.

Sometimes an editor thinks how much he enjoyed the comics written by someone when he (the editor) got into comics. He might want to see if that writer still has it. If you’re new to the business, that’s probably not you.

But, you tell me, you really want to tell that story you’ve come up with. Here’s where I tell you how you can do that.

Look at your story and figure out its core plot. Then take out each and every element of the story that is owned by Marvel or DC. Then reinvent the elements you just removed.

Your story requires a government agency. It doesn’t really have to be S.H.I.E.L.D. You can create your own government agency that can serve the same purpose without being S.H.I.E.L.D.

Your story has mutants. I’m pretty sure the concept of mutants with powers is fair game. There have been such characters in tales that go back a hundred years or longer. You don’t need to use mutants who already exist in the DC or Marvel Universe.

Your intrepid reporter doesn’t need to be Lois Lane.

Your maniacal villain doesn’t need to be the Joker.

Your alien conquerors don’t need to be the Kree.

Create your own characters and tailor them to the core plot of your story. Then write it. Then find someone to draw it. Then publish it somewhere. Print on demand is an option. Pitching it to a company that’s not DC or Marvel is an option. Publishing it online is also an option.

Look at you. You’ve told your story and you didn’t need to use DC or Marvel characters. Now you have something you can send to those companies as a sample of what you can do. They still might not be interested in hiring you, but you have a completed story that you own and that, conceivably, you can profit from.

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Questions asked and answered. I’ll be back on Monday with the first installment of my report on the 2016 Akron Comicon.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY (October 2016)

Life has its ups and downs. Obviously, this week has been about as down as it could get for our country. But, even in the face of this awful, soul-crushing election, we must keep the disappointments, nay, tragedies of the moment from having crippling power over us. I will continue to concentrate on the people, events and creations that bring great joy to my life. Every day, on my Facebook page and on Twitter, I remind myself of my wondrous blessings in a segment I call “Things That Make Me Happy.”

At the end of each month, for my bloggy thing readers who might not be following me on Facebook or Twitter, I collect the items posted during that month. With additions and/or corrections in italics, here’s what I posted in October...

October 1: Having a terrific relationship with both DC and Marvel Comics, the two greatest names in our industry. 10-1-16.

October 2: Spending time with my dear pal Barry Pearl while I was in New York City. 10-2-16.

October 3: Talking with comics legend Larry Lieber, something we’re going to do more of. 10-3-16.

October 4: The love and respect shown me at the Luke Cage premiere and in nearly every other facet of my life. 10-4-16.

October 5: Spending time in my old New York City neighborhood near Times Square. So many memories. 10-5-16.

October 6: Seeing my name (“Special Thanks”) in the end credits of Marvel’s Luke Cage on Netflix. 10-6-16.

October 7: Having so many happy things in my life that I’m writing this one on October 1. 10-7-16.

October 8: LeBron James, successful businessman, philanthropist and one of the greatest athletes of all time, endorses Hilary Clinton for president. 10-8-16.

I hope James and the other athletes and celebrities who supported Clinton will continue their involvement in politics. The election of Donald Trump shows how broken politics have become in our land. In the same way, James and others inspire their fans to a greater involvement in our nation’s future and help our citizens overcome the hate and fear that were Trump’s message.   

October 9: TV’s Lethal Weapon and MacGyver. Good fun that combines action, drama, heart and humor. 10-9-16.

October 10: That laugh out loud scene in the fourth episode of Luke Cage. You know the one. 10-10-16

October 11: Our cool new refrigerator. I love the slate color, even though it means we will eventually need to replace our dishwasher, microwave and oven to match. 10-11-16

October 12: Shin Godzilla on a big screen in its original form with sub-titles. Seeing it with my son Eddie. 10-12-16.

October 13: Valiant’s Faith endorsing Clinton. Step back, haters. Who else would an intelligent, powerful young woman support in this election? 10-13-16.

It turns out Faith didn’t actually endorse Clinton or anyone in the issue. Which didn’t stop a few idiotic comic-shop proprietors from refusing to carry the issue in their stores. I sincerely hope the fans in their area were able to find the issue elsewhere and, when they did, found the other comic shops to be more to their liking.   

 

October 14: Thinking about the private talks between me and my dad before he passed. 10-14-16.

October 15: Jidenna’s amazing performance in the fifth episode of Luke Cage and, for that matter, all of the music in this brilliant series. I’ve got some shopping to do. 10-15-16

October 16: Relieving stress by binge-watching Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. It seems to have worked. 10-16-16.

October 17: Samantha Bee describing Mike Pence as a homophobic Race Bannon on her 10/5 show. I like to think I was the first one to see and post the resemblance. 10-17-16.

October 18: The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XXVII.” Six hundred episodes and this show is still must-watch TV for me. 10-18-16.

October 19: Tyler Hoechlin as Superman on The CW’s Supergirl. It’s maybe a tad old school, but so heartwarming to see. 10-19-16.

October 20: The Cleveland Indians are going to the World Series. ‘Nuff said! 10-20-16.

October 21: Magenta on The Flash. It was a terrific translation of the character to TV and a satisfying conclusion to her first appearance. 10-21-16.

October 22: Amway Grand Rapids Hotel. One of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in. 10-22-16.

October 23: Grand Rapids Comic-Con. A wonderful convention I hope to attend every year. 10-23-16.

October 24: The Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum display at Grand Rapids Comic Con. I look forward to visiting the museum. 10-24-16.

October 25: Eddie and Kelly have tickets to the first game of the World Series. Go Tribe! 10-25-16.

October 26: Cleveland winning the first game of World Series. Only the Tribe could make a 6-0 win look so hard. 10-26-16.

Though the Indians did not win the World Series, they gave us the most exciting game seven in World Series history. Congratulations to the Cubs and thanks to the Indians.

October 27: Ashley Rickards as the Top on The Flash. Loved the kind of sort of retro look of her “costume.” 10-27-16.

October 28: Samantha Bee’s takedown of Catholic hospitals who deny life-saving treatment to women. If your religious beliefs are more important than the needs of your patients, you shouldn’t be in the hospital business. 10-28-16.

October 29: Early voting. The Republicans keep trying to interfere with it, but my nation is represented best when we make it easier for citizens to vote. 10-29-16.

Alas, the gutting of the Voters Rights Act left many voters at the mercy of partisan Republican officeholders with a lot fewer voting places in minority areas. It wasn’t the only cause of the terrible Trump victory, but it was definitely a factor.

October 30: G-Fan. I’ve only read half the issues I own, but, when I read one, I discover anew what a great magazine it is. 10-30-16.

October 31: Halloween. I love the idea of this special spooky day. I hope to do more Halloween stuff in the future. 10-31-16.

With the prospect of a Trump presidency, one might think Halloween is redundant. I think we need it more than ever, but that we should strive to make it scariest for the Republicans.

 

That’s all for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with a special piece on tips for aspiring comics creators.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

GRAND RAPIDS COMIC-CON: PART THREE

Previously in Tony Isabella’s Bloggy Thing:

I’ve been writing about the Grand Rapids Comic-Con, which was held October 21-23 at The DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Now we get to the last day of the convention.

Being an earlier riser, I spend Sunday morning answering questions for The Undefeated, a website that recently published an interview with me concerning Black Lightning. It was a pretty good interview and you can read it here.

Traditionally, Sunday is the slowest day of a convention, but that hasn’t been the case for me with recent appearances. I was signing Isabella-written items, answering questions and selling books from near the start of the day to near the finish of the day. I estimate I signed between 200-250 items over the weekend.

My best guess as to why Sundays have picked up of late is that we are seeing more families for which Sunday is the best day for them to attend en masse and workers who no longer get the entire weekend off. However, I did manage to get away from my table several times, thanks to the convention volunteers who were always willing to keep an eye on my booth.

The cosplay was in full swing on Sunday. There was an amazing Carol Danvers Captain Marvel, an incredible Mysterio, a Doctor Strange or two, Iron Fist, Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan, Zatanna in her classic outfit and a couple of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think I saw a woman cosplay as Lady Killer from the wonderful Dark Horse series of that name, but never got the chance to ask her if that’s who she was supposed to be.

Hands down, the biggest star at the convention with the longest and most enthusiastic lines was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman. It did my heart good to see a comics guy getting the most attention at the event. I got a chance to chat with Kevin in passing and told him just that. He’s a nice guy who knows how very blessed he is. I couldn’t be happier for him.

Speaking of nice guys, I learned on Sunday that the convention had provided 500 free tickets to military personnel with each of those tickets being good for four admissions. That’s 2000 people who got in the convention for free. What a great way to thank our men and women in uniform for their service! My admiration for this event was growing with each passing hour. 

 

A highlight of the weekend was getting to meet and chat with Denise Crosby, perhaps best known for her role as Lieutenant Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation. When we spoke I told her I thought her best work was in two other TV shows and said I bet few people ever mentioned them to her at conventions.

The first was the tragically short-lived but terrific Key West. She played Mayor Chaucy Caldwell. She said a few people have mentioned that series at conventions.

The second was her two-episode appearance in NYPD Blue. She played Lt. Susan Dalto, a tough and way-too-intense gay woman who was in charge of the detective squad for those two episodes until she was transferred. Someone higher in the department hierarchy was looking out for Andy Sipowicz and his fellow detective squad members.

Crosby’s face lit up. She told me that was her very favorite role. She has every right to feel that way. Her performance was nothing shout of award-deserving. She was one scary lady. She said Dennis Franz liked the character and her performance so much he wanted her to stay on. Alas, Esai Morales, who played Lt. Tony Rodriguez, the actual new squad boss, had already been signed to a long contract. He would appear in 66 episodes. Nothing against Morales, who is a fine actor, but I kept hoping Crosby’s character would make return appearances on the series.

It was so cool to see Crosby’s face light up that way. I felt like I had given something back to her for all the enjoyment her acting has brought me over the years.

The Grand Rapids Comic-Con fan were also a joy. A little girl was looking at Thom Zahler’s display of My Little Pony and other stuff. She said to her mom:

“I like his drawings!”

Across from my booth, I heard another young girl literally squeal in delight as she beheld a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sketch that Kevin Eastman had drawn for her.

And then there was the enthusiastic Spider-Man fan who dreams of someday playing the character in a movie. The young man had a very convincing costume and just the right Peter Parker attitude in his voice. If such decisions were up to me, I would have at least given him an audition.

I tried to answer as many questions from the fans as I could. I hope they enjoyed talking with me as much as I enjoyed talking with them. Because they were great folks.

The Grand Rapids Comic-Con took great care of its guests. They fed us and kept us hydrated. I’m still using the convention souvenir  water bottle they gave us. In the final hour of the show, the crew came by his gift bags and to thank us personally for coming to the convention. They even mailed out thank you cards.

I felt the love. I’ll come back every year they ask me back. This is one of the best conventions in the country.

When the show closed, it took but two quick trips for Thom and I to load up my van and get on the road. It was a long five-hour drive back to Medina, but it didn’t feel like it. I was still flying high on the good vibrations from the convention.

In case you haven’t put it together, I heartily recommend the Grand Rapids Comic-Con to all my bloggy thing readers. Next year’s event is scheduled for October 20-22. Make your plans early.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a special bloggy thing, followed by my report on 2016's Akron Comicon. See you then.

© 2016 Tony Isabella