Stan Lee & Gene Colan Remember Steve Gerber

Following Steve Gerber's passing, Stan Lee and Gene Colan each dropped me notes this evening asking that I share them:

“As a writer, Steve was a true professional,” said Stan, “but even more than that—he was a total individualist. He refused to do anything that was just the same old stuff. Whatever he did was touched by originality and flavored by irreverence, as witness his most famed creation, the totally unique and brilliant icon—Howard the Duck. Steve's passing is a great loss to the entire creative community.”

“Steve was my favorite writer,” said Gene Colan. “Working with him on Howard the Duck was the most fun I’ve ever had professionally in all the years prior and since.” Gene and Adrienne remembered getting ready to do the syndicated HTD strip and waiting for Steve’s scripts. “They were really late,” Adrienne recalls. “Months and months of waiting until finally a huge manilla envelope arrived at our home in New Jersey. ‘Ah! Finally!’ we said. Nope. Inside was a 20-page letter from Steve to Gene explaining all the reasons why they needed to put their best foot forward on this job! Aargh! We roared! But that was Steve.”

All I Ever Wanted Was to Impress This Man

Hanshi Richard Lenchus, the man who taught me Shotokan and first put a gun in my hand ("You can't smack someone, Mr. Meth, if he's too far away!") just started blogging. Prone to occassional hyperbole (but without question the baddest motherfucker I've ever known), Sensei looks back on some of his students who made the grade, including your humble host:

Sensei Clifford Meth is one of the most awesome fighters without fear. He has instilled this into all his sons who are all fighting champions. [He] is a wonderful writer and knowledgeable not only in the Martial Arts but in the Literary Arts. He is also a dear friend and supporter who I hold close.

Note that the photo on the left was taken when I was still thin and quick. Today I'd use the gun.

Hyding In My Pee

I'm relieved to report that my friend Morris Isaacson, formerly of IDT Entertainment, finally passed his kidney stone. He notes that it was an evil thing that looked something like John Hyde.

Remembering Steve Gerber

When it comes to lamenting the passing of Steve Gerber, I’m just another voice in the choir. It seems everyone is a little sick this morning with the news. I remember Steve as a rock-solid writer, a guy who really knew how to put the word down, a pillar at Marvel when I was a boy as he marked long runs on multiple titles, including The Defenders and Manthing. My first guru, comics fandom pioneer Bill-Dale Marcinko, used to wet himself over every issue of Howard the Duck. Now he’s gone. Steve Gerber, comics best-loved rebel, dead at 60. He died last night following a lengthy battle with pulmonary fibrosis.

In my house, you can almost tell by the way the phone rings when there’s bad news. Steve wouldn't have thought that odd. I got the call from Adrienne Colan (Gene’s wife), who said that Steve died awaiting a heart and lung transplant. The news was gutting. I hadn’t spoken with old Steve in some time but I jumped over to his blog and found he'd been recording the day-to-day details of his ailment nearly to the end.

Feb. 2 -- I’m still in the hospital. CAT scans show improvement: the spot(s) on the lung(s) are gradually but steadily getting smaller, which means the presence of a tumor is highly unlikely. I’m probably dealing with a very nasty, very persistent viral or fungal infection.

Jim McLauchlin of the HERO INITIATIVE was in LV today and stopped by to watch me vegetate. And walk — first time I’ve done that in a while. In fact, today was the first time in weeks that I’ve actually felt a little stronger, a little more well.

Have to keep this short. Urgent Doctor Fate stuff to be done. Will post another update next time I can get to a net connection.

The connection ended. Mark Evanier is maintaining Steve’s blog now. Tom Spurgeon--who probably stayed up all night doing it--just published the only bio on Steve you need to read.

“I remember Steve starting at Marvel when I was there,” John Romita told me this morning. “[My wife] Virginia was his traffic manager… Steve was part of a parade of young writers who came in, but he made a place for himself in history. And he was a nice kid... These are all my kids.”

After being introduced to me by Gene Colan in 1996, Steve wrote the introduction the book I did with Gene, Perverts, Pedophiles & Other Theologians (Aardwolf Publishing). That was a solid I could never repay, but I wasn’t expected to.

To conclude, let's turn to Tom Spurgeon who usually says it better than the rest of us anyway:

Steve Gerber's role as one of the best and emblematic writers of his generation can't be overstated… Gerber carved a place for self-expression and meaning out of a type of comic that had no right to hold within itself so many things and moments that were that quirky and offbeat and delicately realized -- except that Gerber made it so. His Howard the Duck comics remain amusing when read today, perhaps more poignant now, laying into their broad targets in a way that communicated a kind of critical consciousness into the minds of many devoted superhero comics readers, fans that simply wouldn't have been exposed to those kinds of ideas any other way, the concept that media might lie to you, the notion of absolute self-worth in the face of a world that seems dead-set against it. [His] superhero books were a tonic to the over-seriousness of most of their cousins, and his horror-adventure books were frequently classy and reserved in a genre that tends to reward the blunt and ugly… Few creators in the American mainstream were as consistently fascinating… Even fewer have been as outspoken and forthright, or in that way, as admirable.

Scott Edelman Lends a Paw

At his blog, Scott Edelman remembers Dave Cockrum and gives us a hand selling the Estate's comics collection for Dave’s widow Paty:

I have fond memories of sitting with [Dave] in the Marvel Bullpen and watching as he designed the costume for the Captain Marvel villain Deathgrip back when I was writing that book and dinosaurs still walked the Earth. Even though Dave wasn't the artist on that title, he helped out because he was one of the greatest costume generators ever. In addition to his prodigious talent, Dave was also one of the good guys, two qualities which aren't always found together in the same human being. He was a gentle man who was liked by all.

Scott has twice been a Stoker Award finalist and four times a Hugo Award finalist. I burn with jealousy for all such individuals.

SNAKED #1 Sells Out

From the press release...

San Diego, CA (February 6, 2008) - The first print of SNAKED #1, a noir horror story with playful if somewhat frightening political overtones, is sold out. SNAKED is the newest horror sensation from IDW Publishing, the company that brought you 30 DAYS OF NIGHT.

Following the escapades of a Republican with snakelike abilities, SNAKED winds through a tapestry of love triangles and political intrigue as true historical events - often with terrifying implications - shape the lives of the characters in this poignant tale. The comic series is based on a story first developed by Clifford Meth and illustrated by Dave Cockrum (co-creator of Marvel's X-Men).

Fan-favorite Ashley Wood provides cover art for the SNAKED series while Rufus Dayglo pencils and inks the book. Dayglo, one of IDW Publishing's rising stars, has worked for 2000 AD mostly on the Judge Dredd strip, and has been a professional animator since the early 90s. Clifford Meth, who has published numerous horror and SF stories, has been called one of dark-fiction's best kept secrets by Barnes and Noble.

"SNAKED is the most controversial book we've ever published, " said Ted Adams, president and founder of IDW. "The minute I read Cliff's story, I knew it would irritate a lot of people, but I also knew clever readers would have a strong affinity for a smart story like this, and that it would pick up virally."

Dead Artists Society

More often than not, the best part of my morning is that first steaming coffee, unless my pal Tommy Roberts joins me for bagels with cream cheese at Super-Duper Bagels in Livingston, New Jersey. There’s a little gal scurrying behind the counter there that we call Camel Toe. When you hit your mid-40s, these small things become much bigger.

My friend Marie Severin is enjoying the small things, too. When last seen in this correspondent’s musings, Marie was eating her breakfast off a Styrofoam tray, slurring her words and, unbeknownst to her, on the serious watch list at the hospital she was stuck at.

Good news: Today, Sev has moved on to an assisted living facility out on Long Island. It’s been a solid, steady recovery. Her spirits are high (but weren’t they always?) and she acts like nothing much has happened. And nothing much has. Except for retirement. Marie isn’t drawing anymore. Isn’t taking coloring assignments either. Time has finally caught up with the First Lady of Comics and she’s spending her twilight years relaxing and doing fun stuff. Whatever fun stuff means. I know she still likes to watch “Jeopardy.” So don’t try and track her down to ask for a cover recreation. Leave her alone.

I mention this because I get letters asking me where Marie is and if she’s willing to “just do a small drawing.” I’m asked this by virtue of just knowing Marie—people find my name by-lined on an article and think I have nothing better to do than get them free art. I used to get those letters about Dave Cockrum and Don Heck. Right in the shit can they went.

Today, people are trying to buy up Dave Cockrum’s art—especially his covers. And they still come to me. Hardly anyone was interested in Dave when he was alive, but now that he’s a footnote on pop history he’s an investment. It’s more than a little ghoulish, akin to Forrey Ackerman writing to Bob Bloch on his deathbed and asking Bob to sign “my last autograph ever before I died.” Too bad being a classless slob doesn’t hurt.

Here’s the advice part of my column: If you want art from an artist, start with, “I’m a big fan and I’d like a drawing of this particular character. Please name your price.” Then pay it. Don’t ask for freebies. And don’t negotiate. That’s an insult—especially to an old-timer who is STILL MAKING A LIVING drawing these little Ebay-destined doodles. Try negotiating with your urologist instead next time you’re pissing blood, chum.

Frankly, if I get one more letter asking for a freebie from Marie, I think I’ll blow an eyeball. I just might track the idiot down and throw them the beating their father neglected to impart.

And believe me, if I find out they’re bothering Marie at her retirement facility and trying to chisel her out of her happy hour, I’ll do something particularly vicious and mean-spirited to them, and they’ll never be able to prove who did it.

And then I’ll report it back to the rest of you so it won’t be a total loss.

The Meth Mishpacha

This blog is on hiatus as I travel the middle east in search of meaning and spirituality and shwarma that doesn't cause shilshul.

Dave Cockrum Estate Sale Continues

As previously posted here, I am helping Paty Cockrum sell off Dave Cockrum's personal collection of comics. This includes file copies of books that he drew for DC and Marvel (such as The Avengers, Ms. Marvel and The X-Men) as well as Dave's personal Bronze, Silver, and Golden Age collection. There's lots of great books at more than reasonable prices, as many of you have already discovered. And more books are added every other day. Click here for the current list.