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| << February25, 2006 - [ComicBookNetwork E-Mag] CBEM 564.07 |
February25, 2006 - [ComicBookNetwork E-Mag] CBEM 564.09 >> |
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----------------------------------------------------------------- COMICS OBSCURA Mike Curtis shandafa@cyberback.com [COMICS OBSCURA are facts Mike Curtis has dug out during his 30 years of collecting Superman and writing about comics. His website for his comic imprint is www.shandafantasyarts.net ] HE DOES TRIPLE DUTY Jerry Maren is well known as one of the original Munchkins in the WIZARD OF OZ and makes numerous appearances at conventions and shows. There he sells signed photos of himself as a denizen of Oz as well as being one of the original portrayers of OSCAR MEYER. One of his lesser-known roles (to the public anyway) is helping sell a lot of pictures at his booth as well. A very popular photo there is him with George Reeves as SUPERMAN. Jerry played one of the MOLE MEN in the 1951 feature film tryout (he's the one with the raygun made of an Electrolux vacuum cleaner with a tin spigot at the end.) _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [6] Interviews Paul Dale Roberts Silhouet98@cs.com Interview with T. Casey Brennan, Former Writer of Vampirella! Interviewed by: Paul Dale Roberts, Publisher www.jazmaonline.com Question: Tell us something personal about yourself, your family life, schools you went to, etc. ANSWER: I was born August 11, 1948. Half of my grade school years (1 & 2) (7 & 8) were spent at a one-room public school; the other half - which I hated - at a Catholic grade school in Michigan. I attended Peck High School in Sanilac County, Michigan, graduated Class of '65. Took a short course in Sociology at what was then Port Huron Junior College -- no college after that. Both my parents were writers and school board officials. My late mother, Alice Brennan, wrote paperback novels -- my late father published some work in the Street & Smith pulp LOVE STORY, as "Bill Brennan". Question: What was the first comic book you ever read? ANSWER: I don't know. Probably the pre-code horrors that I first saw when I started school in 1953. Question: Tell us what comic book projects you were involved with in the 70s. ANSWER: CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA, Skywald's NIGHTMARE, Archie's RED CIRCLE SORCERY, Paragon's FEM FANTASTIQUE and TARA ON THE DARK CONTINENT, DC's HOUSE OF MYSTERY, ORB, POWER COMICS, FANTASY QUARTERLY...probably some others, also. Question: Why did you get out of the comic book business? ANSWER: I've always alleged that I was blacklisted. Question: What are you doing now? ANSWER: I'm now a singer/lyricist in a band called FRANKENHEAD; a video of my song LET THEM RISE was on the Halloween episode of a local punk rock show, Crazy Mark TV. Crazy Mark has posted the LET THEM RISE video at his site: http://www.marktv.net/crazy-mark.html You should be able to get it directly with this URL: http://www.marktv.net/FRANKENHEAD.mov Kitaro's Sideshow, podcast in Israel just played LET THEM RISE on show #36...it's at: http://sideshow.libsyn.com/ The song & refs to me are on toward the end. Here's what the site says: "Fri, 18 November 2005 Kitaro's Sideshow #36 A solo show. Feat music by Beat & Path, T. Casey Brennan and more. Reviews on the movies: Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Lord of War, Flightplan and Threshold. The comic book DMZ and the books the man in the maze, and childhood's end. Have fun" This is my band's page (my 2 songs are SOCIAL WORKER BLUES and LET THEM RISE: http://www.soldierrecords.net (do an insite search for my band, FRANKENHEAD) Question: What is your connection to JFK? ANSWER: Unless they ever get me on the witness stand, let's just say he's a character in one of my stories. Question: Do you plan to get back into writing stories for comics? ANSWER: Hypothetical situation: let's say they held a big convention for every top-notch professional in the comic book industry. They served fugu but didn't prepare it right, so they all DIED. Then I would plan to get back into writing stories for comics. Question: What creators have you worked for? ANSWER: Actually, none. I've always sent my scripts in through the mail; the publisher would pick an artist and send it to him. But I did one of my greatest stories - "Carrier of the Serpent" in EERIE #38, for a painting by Ken Kelley that was the cover for that issue. Question: What publishers have you worked with? ANSWER: DC, Archie, and Warren would be the only PRO publishers I've ever worked for. Maybe you could count Skywald, but they were ALMOST a fanzine publisher. Orb, Power Comics, and Paragon were all definitely fanzine publishers, even though they all had an impact. Question: What radio station recently interviewed you and where can we go to listen to this show? ANSWER: I was interviewed on the internationally syndicated X- Zone radio show on January 3, 2006. You can still listen by going to the shows archives and scrolling to this year's first show... http://xzone-radio.com/archives.htm Unfortunately, now you have to give them an email address, and they send you a password to get in. But it's still up there. Click on the blue letters PLAY NOW, at the right of this episode: "Tuesday, January 3, 2006 - T Casey Brennan - The man who claims to have been one of the shooters from the Texas Book Depository who shot at President Kennedy when he was a child, talked about his part in the JFK assassination and the brain control that he was under.A former top notch comic book creator and illustrator, T Casey Brennan is now homeless trying desperately to get away from his past and to create a new life and future" Question: What conventions will you be attending or have attended? ANSWER: I may be at SPACE in Columbus, this May. Question: How can someone contact you? ANSWER: I don't know. It can't be hard because college students, usually girls, stalk me all the time. Try tcaseybrennan2002@yahoo.com Question: What is your website URL address? ANSWER: Don't have one. People put stuff up about me all the time, however; here's one tying me into the Wold Newton Universe... http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/warrenverse/MK_Ultra.html Question: What are your hobbies and recreational activities? ANSWER: I don't like much of anything except girls. Question: If you can have 6 dinner guests, 3 fictional and 3 real-life from any time period, who would those 6 people be and why? ANSWER: I don't know. They would all be girls. Let's say...Lilith, the Phantom Lady, Pallas Athena, Lucretia Borgia, Ida Lupino, and Radha Rani. Question: If you could go into any time machine, what year would you stop at and tell us why. ANSWER: 2007, I guess. 2006 is all right, but things aren't happening fast enough. The 21st is my favorite century, so far. Question: What TV shows, movies, cartoons do you like? TV: Lexx, X-Files MOVIES: Flashdance, Casablanca, 2001 CARTOONS: Aqua-Teen Hunger Force Question: What books do you enjoy? ANSWER: If I read at all, I like to read about Quantum Physics. Steven Hawking is best, there there was another, Sandra Ferber, from OMNI, that no one mentions anymore. Question: What comic books do you read now? ANSWER: Golden-age and pre-code only, and off the net, when I can find scans. Question: This ends the interview, any encouraging words of wisdom? ANSWER: Sure. The old ones shall rise up. They shall take back the Earth. http://spectrummagazines.bizland.com/fccurrent2.chtml http://sideshow.libsyn.com http://www.marktv.net/crazy-mark.html http://www.music.us/education/T/T.-Casey-Brennan.htm http://www.wikipedia.infostar.cz/d/da/dave_sim.html http://explanation-guide.info/meaning/T.-Casey-Brennan.html http://dmoz.org/Arts/Comics/Creators/B/Brennan,_T._Casey/ http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.com/conspire.html#Brennan http://onyx.gothicunderworld.com/darkendsoul/Conjurella.html http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/l/longuard.htm http://www.pacificsites.com/~lakenews/LCFP%20Graphics/conjurella. shtml http://www.blonnet.com/2005/10/13/stories/2005101300740900.htm http://danielfry.com/index.php?id=1905 http://paragonfin.net/Gate/LiberationChannel/2005/01/t-casey- brennan_110624909910569458.html http://angelfire.com/zine2/warrenverse/MK_Ultra.html ***** Interview with: Tom Pomplun, Publisher Graphic Classics Interview by Paul Dale Roberts, Publisher - Jazma Online! http://www.jazmaonline.com/ Question: Tell us something personal about yourself. Maybe where you were born, something about your family/work background, schools you attended, etc. I grew up in Whitewater, a small town in Wisconsin. I attended the University of Wisconsin, Art Institute of Boston, and Madison Area Technical Institute, where I went for a tech degree in Printing, once I realized a B.S. in Art would not pay the bills. I spent thirteen years as an Art Director in two Madison ad agencies, then three as trainer for a Mac-based prepress systems integrator. Since 1994 I have run my own one-man business, Eureka Productions. I do freelance design and production, and since 2001 have been a small publisher. I am married; my talented wife Georgene is a painter and freelance graphic designer. Question: What was the first comic book you ever read? That was a long time ago, as you can probably tell from the above, but it was probably a Superman or Adventure Comics. I do know that it cost 10. It was a big deal when comics went up to 12. I remember buying a lot of Dells and later, Gold Keys (Magnus Robot Fighter, etc.), partly because they were a couple cents cheaper than than the DCs and Marvels. I also enjoyed Classics Illustrated, as you might guess from my current occupation. Question: What were your favorite comic books growing up? I always favored the DC standards as a child; Superman, Batman, etc. I especially liked Mystery in Space with Adam the Marvel heroes when I was young, though I remember reading the first issue of X-Men. I later got turned on to the Marvel stuff and bought all the back issues, especially Ditko's Doctor Strange and Sterankos's Nick Fury. Question: Tell us about Graphic Classics. What exactly is Graphic Classics providing? Graphic Classics is an update on the old Classics Illustrated line I enjoyed in my youth. Like the old Classics Illustrated, these are comics adaptations of the most famous and enduring fiction in the (mostly) English language. There are som approach, however, which distinguish Graphic Classics from both the old Classics Illustrated, and from most of the more recent variations on the idea. While there are occasional adaptations of condensed novels as well as poems in the Graphic Classics series, the mainstay of the books are short stories. This emphasis allows me to present some of the lesser-known works of well-known authors, and to utilize a large number of illustrators with a wide range of graphic styles in each book. I prefer to choose artist styles, who can contribute something new to a story in their visual interpretation. I think the main problem with the old Classics Illustrated, as well as the many of the newer iterations, is that they had a tendency to take exciting stories and turn them into boring comics. When I began Graphic Classics I swore that, s might be, they would not be dull. Another difference in the Graphic Classics books is that while they are marketed to all ages, they are scripted at an adult level, retaining as much as possible of the author's original language. I aim the books at ages twelve and up. The challenge is to create books that are accessible to yo l interesting to adults. Our operating theory is that, by presenting the stories with bold, exciting graphics we can encourage children to read at a higher level than they would normally attempt. Question: Who are some of the creative team that are working on these books? Since Eureka Productions is a one-man business, I am involved in nearly every aspect of the books' creation, from concept to shipping to emptying the wastebaskets. I do all the original reading and selection of authors and stories, as well as abridgments, some scripting, design, production and marketing. Several writers regularly provide additional adaptation scripting for the series, including Rod Lott, publisher of Hitch magazine, Antonella Caputo, an Italian writer now living in England, and horror author Mort Castle, who has written a number of comics bios of the series' authors. Over a hundred artists have now contributed to the series. I recruit artists from all over the world, and have included fine artists, book illustrators, political cartoonists and commercial artists, as well as seasoned comics artists. The books have included well-known names such as Rick Geary, Richard Corben, Gahan Wilson and Shary Flenniken, and have also presented a number of new talents like Pedro Lopez, Onsmith Jeremi, Carlo Vergara and Lisa K. Weber. The roster includes artists from Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Africa and the Philippines, as well as all over the US. Question: What are some of the main titles? The Graphic Classics series has included single-author col Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, Jack London, Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, O. Henry and Rafael Sabatini. I have recently begun alternating the single-author collections with themed multi-author anthologies, starting with Horror Classics and Adventure Classics. Question: What's coming up in the series? I am now concentrating on bringing back some of the early titles in the series, several of which have been out of print for years. These will be published in greatly-revised second editions, with new comics adaptations. First up is a third edition of Graphic Classics: Edgar Allan Poe, scheduled for June. Following that will be a new Graphic Classics: Jack London (Sept 2006) and Graphic Classics: H.P. LovecraftGothic Classics. Question: How can I go about ordering some Classic Graphic comic book graphic novels? The series is available at bookstores and comics shops nationwide, or through a multitude of online dealers including Amazon. Or you can order directly from the GC website at http://www.graphicclassics.com. Question: How did you get involved in the comic book industry? I got into comics by a rather different route than do most publishers, coming from my experience as a literary magazine designer. While I was an avid reader and collector in my youth, I got turned off to comics in the mid-70s, when speculators more interested in bagging and reselling comics than in reading them seemed to take over the field. I got rid of my huge collection of superhero comics, retaining only my treasured undergrounds from the late 60s and ear d many comics until the 1990s, when the resurgence of books from Fantagraphics and other small publishers caught my attention. At that time I was designing a literary magazine called Rosebud, which I co-founded in 1993 (and which still continues under a new art director). Rosebud was a magazine of fiction, poetry and art, and in 2000 I began to add comics to the mix, with both original strips and reprints from artists including Robert Crumb, Jack Jackson, Frank Stack and Roger Langridge. I found that the comics soon grew to be of more interest to me than the rest of the magazine, so in 2003 I left Rosebud to concentrate on Graphic Classics. Question: How can someone contact you? My website is at http://www.graphicclassics.com, and my e-mail is tom@graphicclassics.com. My mailing address is Eureka Productions, 8778 Oak Grove Road, Mount Horeb, WI 53572. I am happy to look at artist portfolios, either as lo-res images online, or as non-returnable print samples. But aspiring artists should please understand that over a ontribute to the books, and there are a limited number of assignments available. Question: What is the most unusual thing that has ever happened to you? Well... as for the most interesting thing related to Graphic Classics, I am under police orders not to divulge the details, pending a criminal trial (not of me). But I can say that it involved a rather gruesome comic strip depicting murder and cannibalism that was submitted to me by an aspiring artist. The sender is now awaiting trial on a charge of real-life murder which parallels the comics. Question: Your thoughts on the comic industry? I tend to operate in my own little niche, so am not too involved in the general comics industry. Obviously, the growing acceptance of graphic novels in the mainstream is a good thing for all of us, though bookstore sales are difficult for a small publisher. The returns system can be financially devastating. I think comics shops are doomed to a slow death unless they can find ways to broaden their appeal beyond a tight group of fanboys and collectors. Question: What cons are you going to? I rarely go to cons (or for that matter, anywhere else!) I tend to shun crowds and public speaking. For the past ten years I have lived in a hundre in the country. I do most of my business via the internet, and am determinedly adopting the lifestyle of a grouchy old hermit. Question: What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites? I think South Park is brilliant, as was Samurai Jack. I don't get the appeal of the currently-popular Family Guy at all. Most anime bores me, though I did like Fooly-Cooly. As for movies, I love everything by Quentin Tarantino, and my all-time favorite film is David Lynch's Eraserhead. Question: What books do you read? I read constantly, mostly the late 19th and early 20th century literature that is the basis of Graphic Classics. I am now reading Jane Austen. I have been an avid science fiction reader all my life, my favorite being Philip K. Dick. Question: What comic books do you read now? Dumpster, and Johnny Ryan's Comic Book Holocaust. Question: That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom? Read the classics, not only in my comics, but in their original form. In the past five years since I started this project I have probably done more reading than in all my previous life (and I was always a voracious reader). But I avoided the classic books, thinking them boring, and having been turned off to them by a succession of un only now finding out what I was missing. These books and authors have remained popular for over a hundred years for good reasons, and reading them has greatly broadened my horizons. While the main purpose of my Graphic Classics books is as self-contained entertainment, if they can inspire readers to seek out the original works, so much the better. _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- COMICS OBSCURA Mike Curtis shandafa@cyberback.com [COMICS OBSCURA are facts Mike Curtis has dug out during his 30 years of collecting Superman and writing about comics. His website for his comic imprint is www.shandafantasyarts.net ] WE JUST LOOK ALIKE, NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT In the 1950's there seemed to be a lot of PARROT cartoon spokesmen for products, most of them almost forgotten today. And when recalled at all, frequently mistaken for each other. FRESH UP FREDDIE hawked 7 UP and was seen most often in animated commercials, while kids got their shoes at POLL PARROT and received a free giveaway comic book. And sports fans knew SHARPIE, for Gillette razor blades. Oddly enough Sharpie is the one best remembered for his odd animation style. His cartoon pitches were often done in "white line" animation over scenes of major league baseball games. _________________________________________________________________ Thanks for subscribing to the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine (CBEM) --------------------------->Disclaimer<--------------------------- This is an ANNOUNCE only mailing list, only the Editor can send messages to the list. No one else has access to the subscriber list. Replies to these messages will be received by the Editor ONLY, so you must CC: individual contributors if you want them to get your E-Mail. The E-mail to the E-mag MAY be used in future issues at the Editor's discretion UNLESS you specifically request that they not be. It is our policy to withhold names and/or Addresses, by request only, from letters of comment. 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February25, 2006 - [ComicBookNetwork E-Mag] CBEM 564.09 >> |
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