Joe Kubert 1926-2012 RIP old friend

Update 3:10 pm: Adam and Andy Kubert have announced that Joe's funeral services will be tomorrow at Tuttle Funeral Home 272 Rt-10, Randolph, NJ 07869. This is where Muriel's service was held in 2008. The gathering is from 10 AM - 12 PM, and actual services will commence at noon. Internment will follow afterwards. It's believed that the procession of cars will pass by the Kubert School and then Joe's home before going to the cemetery. Donations can be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in Joe's name, 383 Main Avenue, 5th floor, Norwalk CT 06851 - www.themmrf.org. Sympathy cards can be sent to the Kubert family c/o the Kubert School, 37 Myrtle Avenue, Dover, NJ 07801.

May the family have no more sorrow. - CM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


When someone advanced in years passes, people often toss the cliche, "They had a full life." With Joe Kubert, it was true.

Neal Adams once remarked to me that Joe had the three major pillars in place: He took care of his family, his business and his health.

I'll leave it for others to expound on Joe's pioneering art, his importance and longevity as comics royalty, his role as a the definitive comics-art instructor. Let me instead say this:

I knew Joe since I was a boy. We were neighbors and I didn't realize he was a legend until I got older. He didn't act like a legend -- not then, not ever. I'd run into him at my local supermarket. One time, shortly after ComicCon, Joe was on line with his shopping cart full of fruit and vegetables, waiting to pay for his groceries, so I snuck up behind him. "Isn't it strange," I said, "not having people waiting on line to see you?" Joe turned around and laughed.

By all accounts Joe was a regular guy, except he was better than everyone at most things and never let on. Joe was an exceptional family man, an exceptional artist and teacher, a keen businessman. His school in Dover, NJ, changed lives, provided careers for young artists for three decades and will continue to do so under the guidance of his sons, who he adored... Joe was still playing paddle-ball or handball into his mid-eighties, still creating exquisite art every day in his studio, grabbing your hand with that vice-like handshake of his when you entered, always a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye. I was so pleased to know him, to stop by the school whenever I was in the neighborhood, to be able to participate in the scholarship awards there each year, and to have Joe grace the charity projects I was running. He was just aces, this terrific guy who never seemed to age -- this big, wonderful, strong and excellent man. I was sure Joe Kubert would be around forever.

Joe was 85. Rest in peace old friend. You were sensational.


update (9:40 a.m. 8/13):

As always, Tom Spurgeon offers insightful, detailed coverage of those friends we have lost. Tom's article on Joe can be read here.

xxx

Some Thoughts on DON HECK

John Coates, who is writing a book on Don Heck's life for TwoMorrow's Publishing, recently interviewed me regarding my brief relationship with Don. From that interview:

What was your overall relationship with Don? More than an agent? Friend? Confidant?

I was very close with Gray Morrow, Dave Cockrum, and Gene Colan but I was never close with Don. We were friends, but not what I'd call close. Towards the end of his life—after he called me and told me he was dying—I guess you could say we were closer. He asked me to help find someone who could take care of his dog. He was terribly concerned that he’d die and there would be no one there for the dog.

Did Don share any recollections about his time at Marvel? Not getting art returned?

Don had nothing negative to say about anything or anyone. He’d been trashed by Gary Groth and that miserable rag he publishes. Groth had manipulated Harlan Ellison into saying something disparaging about Don's abilities during an interview, but Don didn’t indicate that he held it against Harlan. He knew Harlan and I were friends—at least I presume that he knew that—but these types of things seemed beneath him. It wasn’t as if he was taking the high road; I think it was all just petty to him... He certainly had great affection for John Buscema, as John did for him. John told me he wanted to punch Groth in the mouth for what he did to Don.

Were you in communications with Don prior to his death?

One day Don phoned me. “I’m calling to say goodbye,” he said. “Goodbye?” I asked. “I have cancer,” said Don. “I’m not gonna make it.” I can still hear him saying it. And how do you respond to that? With some bullshit that everything’s going to be okay? I was stunned. He was only 66.

Were you involved in the estate post-death?

Not at all. I was just sad. I liked Don very much. He was humble and easy to get along with. He did what he said he was going to do and his commission work at the end of his life was as good as anything he’d done during his career. He was very much the craftsman. I didn’t see a lot of emotion in Don's artwork, like you’d see in, say, Gene Colan’s, but I s'pose comparing artists is as foolish as comparing schools of thought. As Stan Lee once told me, Don was reliable; you’d give him a job and know he’d get it done right and on time. There’s plenty to be said for reliability.

Peppi Marchello Sits Shiva

Peppi Marchello looking sheepish. At sheep.

“I need a Jew,” Peppi said to me. “I had a weird dream.”

“So now I’m Joseph?” I asked.

“Listen,” said Pep. “I dreamed I was engaged to an infant and—”

“An infant?” I repeated. My lower back’s been hurting, there’s a touch of arthritis in my knees, occasional indigestion, flatulence after Chinese food. What do I know? Maybe the hearing’s going, too.

“Yes,” said Peppi. “An infant.”

“Continue,” said Meth looking around for witnesses.

“So I’m talking to her, to the infant, my fiancé, and she says to me, ‘My parents want us to live here.' You know, here in her parents’ house. So I said okay, sure, that's fine with me. And then her mother walks into the room and I’m looking at her and I see she’s a famous actress. But I can’t recall anything she was in.”

“Probably nothing worth seeing,” I deduced.

Peppi coughed lightly, one of his two gestures. “She looks at me, the mother, and she says, ‘My husband and I insist—we want you both to live here with us. Right away.’ Right away? But we’re not married yet, I tell her.”

“Geez, you’re old fashioned,” I said.

“In my dreams I’m old fashioned. In real life I’m a prude.” Peppi wiped his nose, his other gesture. “So where was I?”

“About to commit a felony with an infant,” I said. Gilgamesh dreamed of axes falling from the sky. Peppi Marchello dreams of carnal knowledge with a weanling. So this is what it’s like to be a rock star. Or maybe just a rock star from Long Island. I mean, even Caligula had boundaries. I’m wondering what laws I’m breaking just by listening to this.

“Anyway, all of the sudden she’s not an infant anymore,” says the maestro. “She’s a beautiful young woman. You know how dreams are.”

“Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re trying to be so quiet,” I wax.

“So I turn to Gene, my son,” says Peppi, as if I didn’t know who Gene was, “and I say to him, ‘Hey Gene—am I nuts or is this a beautiful woman?’ And he says, ‘You’re not nuts, Pop.’”

“Charles Manson walks into a room and says, ‘Is hot in here or am I crazy?’”

“Do you want to hear this or not?” Peppi asks, interrupting my interruption.

“Continue,” I said.

“So the next thing I know her old man walks in and he says, ‘Look—I want to show you something. And he leads me down a flight of stairs to this new bathroom with six toilets lined up next to each other. No stalls or dividers—just six toilets. I look at him and said, ‘What is this?’ and he says, ‘We’re expecting a lot of people.’ And I said, ‘Wait a minute—I can’t live like this.’ And he said, ‘We’re Jewish. This is our tradition.’ And I said, ‘Hold on buddy—you’re not the only Jewish guy I know. I’ve never seen this before.' But he insisted. So I was in the middle of this dilemma. That’s when I woke up.”

“And for this you need a Jew,” I lamented.

“I can’t figure out what it means,” said Peppi. “I mean first the infant, and then the six toilets.”

“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” I suggested.

“Who said that?”

“Didn’t you just hear me say it?”

“Okay, so why six toilets?”

“Perhaps you should prepare for six years of irritable bowel syndrome,” I suggested. “Did the toilets eat six skinnier toilets?”

“I’m really bothered by the toilets,” said Peppi.

“But you’re okay with the infant?”

“Maybe it has something to do with sitting shiva?”

“Shiva means seven,” I explained. “You’re missing a toilet.”

“That’s weird,” said Peppi.

“Go back to sleep,” I suggested. “Maybe you miscounted.”

-------------

The newest Good Rats / Peppi Marchello song "Boom Boom" is available now through iTunes.

Gene Colan, Dave & Paty Cockrum Continue to Enrich

Joe Kubert (center, top) and his students with Adam Kubert (bottom right)

This afternoon, I was honored to participate again in the Scholarship Ceremony at the Joe Kubert School. Joe and his son, artist Adam Kubert, were both on hand to present students with cash awards for outstanding work--monies that we hope will help them in their training before they head off to work in the very competitive field of comic art.


From Joe Kubert:

"THE GENE COLAN SCHOLARSHIP was established by writer Clifford Meth in memory of his friend Gene Colan, who passed away last June. Gene is regarded as one of the most influential and beloved artists of Marvel's Silver Age. He worked for Marvel for 64 years--longer than anyone else to date--touching nearly every major Marvel character and defining many including Daredevil, Iron Man, Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck. In the last decade of his career, Marvel and Dark Horse stopped assigning inkers to Gene's work--his pencils were regarded as too perfect to cover up. This is the first time the GENE COLAN SCHOLARSHIP has been awarded and the award is presented for outstanding craftsmanship with a pencil."

"THE DAVE and PATY COCKRUM SCHOLARSHIP was established by Dave's widow Paty and their friend and collaborator Clifford Meth. Paty was a production artist at Marvel during the last years of the famed Marvel Bullpen, where she also did occasional pencils on Marvel's British magazines and such U.S. books as Amazing Spider-Man and Claws of the Cat. Her husband Dave Cockrum, who passed away in 2006, was considered by many the the greatest character designer Marvel had after Jack Kirby and John Romita. Cockrum's designs and creations for Marvel included Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Mystique, Thunderbird, Ms. Marvel, the Black Cat, Starjammers and the Futurians among others. Having trained under Murphy Anderson at DC, Dave spent most of his career at Marvel. The annual DAVE and PATY COCKRUM SCHOLARSHIP is awarded for creativity and outstanding story-telling ability."

Still Underappreciated After All These Years: The Return of the Good Rats

It's 1978 and I'm in the front row at The Show Place in Dover, NJ, watching Peppi Marchello on stage as he removes the lid from the garbage can he's been slamming all night with the Louisville slugger he plays air guitar on. This is the moment we Rat fans have waited for all night. The bride's gonna toss the bouquet.

"Who wants a rat? Who wants a rat? Who wants a rat with a squeaky asshole?" Peppi chants while brother Mickey Marchello and John Gatto trade leads. Hands in the air, the audience climbs over itself in frenzied anticipation. Who by fire? Who by water? Who by a rat in their yellow teeth?

These were only the most important rock moments of my misspent youth, following, as I did, one of the least appreciated but most beloved bands of the '70s; a quintette of rare talent who were ignored by the little men careering in the industry but adored by legions of fans. So if you'd told me then, at age 17, that Peppi would one day pen a forward to one of my books--or that he'd ask me to write liner notes for a Good Rats LP--you could've knocked me over with a feather.

Of course I was drunk as a skunk back then so you could've knocked me over without telling me bupkes.

Meth, Marchello and Manitoba protesting the removal of the letter M from the phone book.

Message from the Good Rats' Newsletter below:

GOOD RATS RELEASE BLUE COLLAR RATS - ARCHIVES

Thank you, thank you, thank you fans for your continuous support.  Some of you discovered us after the first Good Rats album in 1969, some after the Tasty album in 1974, some after the Ratcity album in 1976, some after the Rats To Riches album in 1978, some after the Great American album in 1981 etc. The point being that many of you have expressed to me how much enjoyment you've received from my music over the last 43 years. It's now my intention to get out both old songs of mine that were recorded but never released, and new songs I've written over the last few months. We are selling the Blue Collar Rats CD right now, a collection of archives with 20 songs on it, including my new song "Boom Boom." The players include the original Good Rats, as well as my son Gene Marchello, Bruce Kulick, Schuyler Deale, and other great musicians I've been fortunate enough to work with from 1974 to 1984. The CD has a terrific fold-out color poster, which I will be happy to personally autograph for you. It is also dedicated to the memory of my dear friend Jimmy Rainey

There are thousands of you on our e-mail list and Facebook. I sincerely hope you will continue to support me in the future as you have in the past. I hope you will find some of my new songs worthy of your support and help spread the word to others who you think will enjoy becoming new Good Rats fans. I call this a "chain CD strategy."

The Blue Collar Rats Archives CD with 20 songs is available now. You can place your order for the CD now thru my Uncle Rat Music, PO Box 585, St. James, NY 11780. Make payments to Uncle Rat Music, $15 for the 20 song CD plus $5 shipping and handling (total $20). Don't forget, if you want me to autograph the color foldout and have a specific message you want me to write, then include that with your order.

By the way, the first 100 orders will receive a free copy of CRIB DEATH and OTHER BEDTIME STORIES by my pal, author Clifford Meth. CRIB DEATH was Cliff's first collection before he began selling movies to Hollywood that were never made. Fifteen years ago I wrote the introduction to Cliff's book CONFLICTS OF DISINTEREST. Seriously twisted stuff. But you've all got to be a little twisted...

I've performed thru six decades. God willing, I hope to continue to play into my seventies. I cannot accomplish this without your support. Finally, a current study in the Harvard Medical Journal has absolutely proven that owning all new material written by Peppi Marchello will improve your sex life by 200%.

Let's all keep rockin' together!

Peppi

"For Palestine"

Eye-witness accounts of Monday's shooting attack on the Ozar Hatorah School:

A man riding on a scooter open fired on the school at around 7:46 am as the students were arriving for the school day. Jonathan Sandler was the first one to be shot at short range. He was holding his 3-year-old son Gabriel in his arms. Gabriel was hit and fell to the ground and then Arieh, age 6, followed.

The gun then jammed, so the killer swiftly changed weapons and headed into the school. He grabbed Miriam Monsongo (age 7) and as she tried to escape, grasped her hair and shot her. Then, as she bled to death on the floor, he lifted up her head and fired two additional bullets.

Ian Anderson: Still Thick After All These Years

My pal Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is returning to the road to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of "Thick As A Brick"--but more exciting, methinks, is the announcement of THICK AS A BRICK 2 (a.k.a., "Whatever happened to Gerald Bostock?"). To Ian's fans worldwide, this will spell Tull-mania.

In 1972, Tull's now-classic "Thick As A Brick" had lyrics credited to fictitious child genius Gerald Bostock, whose parents supposedly lied about his age. The record was an instant number one Billboard charting LP and enjoyed worldwide success. Forty years later, what would Gerald Bostock (aged 50) be doing today? The anniversary “part two” album will examine the possible paths that precocious young Gerald might have taken, through alter-ego characters with song-section identities illustrating the hugely varied potential twists and turns of fate and opportunity. Says Ian, "As we baby-boomers look back on our own lives, we must often feel an occasional what-if' moment. Might we, like Gerald, have become instead preacher, soldier, down-and-out, shopkeeper or finance tycoon? And those of more tender years - the social media and internet generation - may choose to ponder well the myriad of chance possibilities ahead of them at every turn.”

For the first time since 1972, Anderson and fellow musicians John O'Hara (keyboards), David Goodier (bass), Florian Opahle (guitar) and Scott Hammond (drums)--along with guest performers--will take BRICK on the road to perform the album in its entirety. And part II of the show will see the new Tull also perform the sequel.

"Since 1972, the album has never been performed in its entirety although a few minutes of the material have been a regular repertoire staple in both Tull and Ian Anderson solo shows over the years," says Ian. "Now, scheduled for performance again in 2012, I will take the original album and this follow-up recording to a theatre near you.

"If someone had suggested that I might release a Prog concept album in the year 2012, I would have thought him seriously, dangerously even, off his trolley. But that is precisely what happened. A few years ago, Mike Andrews and Royston Eldridge, two ex-Chrysalis Records gents,pressed me to consider a follow-up to Thick As A Brick. I gave it some dutiful deliberation--for a couple of minutes--and politely declined. Nice idea, nice chaps but, after reflection, no-oooooo...

"Then, in 2010, a re-aquaintance with seventies Prog Rock vocalist-turned-record exec Derek Shulman--yes, he of Gentle Giant fame--restarted the old refrain. Yes, but... no, but, and finally--OK, I'll give it some more dutiful deliberation (four and a half minutes, this time) eventually produced, in February of 2011, the synopsis of the idea. Derek's enthusiasm and gauntlet-challenge plus two weeks of dedicated, fast and furious music and lyric writing combined to produce a flurry of material. And--blow me down with a Dodo's tail-feather--the whole thing was completed ready for scoring and arranging by the beginning of March.

"There were a couple of pieces prepared earlier which were bent into new shape and fitted into the scheme of things, so they too were popped into the bubbling saucepan. It was a little daunting to consider the impact--or perhaps lack of--which this release might have on old and new fans alike but I eventually decided that I would embark on this for my own benefit and enjoyment rather than trying to please anyone else at all.

"To find the balance of interesting musicality and more accessible content too was not the main issue. The conceptual and heavily lyrical nature of the beast, however, might be out of place in the attention span-deficit world which we seem to occupy these days. But, having toured in 2010 and 2011 in Italy, Latin America, Australia and other countries where passions run high, I decided that maybe the world--or our little corners of it--was, in fact, ready for a bit of more substantial and weightier fare. The era of professional media Prog-bashing seems to have given way to a more appreciative appraisal of the genre and newer bands such as Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard have possibly prompted a new and younger audience to re-examine the seventies originators' seminal albums too. So, it's not such a cold and lonely place after all.

"The elements of Folk, Classical and Jazz Music are still to be found in today's more Rock-oriented Progressive Rock. You will certainly find them subtly present in TAAB2 but along with a rather more acoustic feel than many of our peers, past and present. Not the only flute in town but... Actually, I played much more acoustic guitar than usual on this record having written most of the music on that instrument. But there are still sections conceived on the flute and sometimes--quite often, in fact--the lyric writing preceded all the melodies and harmonic structures. Starting with lyrics and then thinking of the music is not normally the way I work but it was here. A title, a few words or a verse or two and then the acoustic guitar was immediately to hand to conjure up a full song section out of the growing lyrics.

"Having a plan was important. Stories to tell made it all easier. The imagination-filled process of thinking how things might have turned out for the young and older Gerald kept me fascinated. Maybe you will be too. And maybe not. Ah, well --you can always go and watch The X Factor and the Eurovision Song Contest."

Gene Colan's "Missing" Art: Part Two

Were these pieces drawn by Gene Colan stolen or destroyed? Family members would like to know.

If you ever see any of this art of these offered for sale, please contact me, the Colan family, or Detective John O'Conner of the Nassau Police.

Tough Questions for Tough Jews: Ross The Boss Breaks His Silence

The hard-rocking Hailstorm is a year old now, there’s continual web chatter regarding a Dictators reunion, and Ross “the Boss” Friedman is heading to South America for a number of shows. Ever the gentleman, Ross took a few moments to answer the important questions that everyone has been asking:

Cliff: A guy walks into a house of ill repute and says, “I want a punk girl.” And the Madame says, “We only have metal chicks.” Is this a problem?

Ross: House of ill repute? Never been to one! Hahaha! To me there’s only two types of music. What are they? Good and bad. To me, good is good, so there would be no difference in my mind. Besides, when the lights go out, who cares?

Cliff: Have you played South America before?

Ross: We played in Venezuela last summer in a baseball stadium.

Cliff: What are you listening to when you’re not playing music?

Ross: I tend to listen to my old favorites—classical, blues, old-school metal, punk and real country.

Cliff: With you on lead guitar, assemble the perfect band, dead or alive.

Ross: Great question. Hmmm… Geezer Butler on bass, John Bonham on drums, Jim Morrison doing lead vocals, and Jerry Lee Lewis on keyboards.

Cliff: And now the million-dollar question--You played with Andy Shernoff in May at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash. What’s it going to take to get the rest of the Beatles back together?

Ross: Sad to say, the Dictators as we know them won’t play in the very near future. But the new band “Manitoba” will make its debut at The Don Hill Benefit at Irving Plaza on December 15.

Cliff: And what a show that will be. Salute!

Harlan Ellison vs. Mediocrity: Part Three

I continue to get the occasional emails or queries in mid-conversation: “Have you heard from Harlan?” “So what’s with Harlan?” “Is it true that Harlan…?”

As if I’m my brother’s keeper. Which I guess I am.

But I prefer to leave all things Harlan for him to announce. He certainly has the outlets, between Rabbit Hole and his website. Besides, most of what the two of us discuss is fairly private.

I can tell you that when we spoke last week, Harlan was energized by his current projects and events. He talked about his “strong third act.”

So. Act Three:

“Possibly (he said, jocularly) the last chance to see Harlan alive performing his death defying life-story in the flesh.” Thus reads the flier I received on Friday inviting me to “An Evening with Harlan Ellison (Redux),” a reprise on his “public interview and rampant racontourage” at the Cinefamily Theatre last November, a sold-out event emcee’d by writer Josh Olson (another swell guy). The event, which any of you can attend, too—for the price of a ticket—is January 19, 2012, at 7:30pm at The Cinefamily Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036; phone: 323-655-2510.

Act Three also includes a number of book releases and revamps. The one I look forward to most is BUGF#CK: THE USELESS WIT & WISDOM OF HARLAN ELLISON (Spectrum Books and Edgeworks Abbey, $10), 123 pages of Harlan quotes which, if you’ve ever spoken with Harlan or read him or heard him speak, promises to be priceless. Mencken had nothing on my brother.

It doesn’t appear that YR. PAL HARLAN, the book of Harlan’s web posts and e-letters that I edited a few years ago, will be coming out any time soon. But, as with all things Harlan, we never say never.

Gene Colan's Stolen Art? At Last, A Clue

Out of nowhere, I heard from a friend of Gene's today. He had some photos that he wanted to share. Among them was a photo he snapped of Gene working on the Star Wars art (commissioned by George Lucas Studios) which eventually went missing.

If this art is offered for sale, please note that it is considered stolen.

Joe Giella Robbed - Comic Art Stolen

I am late to the party with this news but I just hung up with comic artist Joe Giella and wanted to share this immediately:

Joe had the following items stolen from his home:

* “Menace of the Man Missile”, pages 1 and 9. Pencils by Carmine Infantino.
* “Castle with Wall to Wall Danger” pages 7 and 8. Pencils by Carmine Infantino.
* Green Lantern/Green Arrow #107 cover. Pencils by Joe Staton.

Please re-post this notice to as many places possible. If you hear of this art being offered, please contact Detective John O'Connor, Nassau County Police Dept., Third Squad, phone: 516-573-6353.

Tony Isabella just advised me that this story was broken weeks ago (I must've been sleeping) but it never hurts to remind folks.

The SideKick Foundation: A New Friend to Creators in Need

The Sidekick Foundation is a new confederacy that seeks to generously aid comics creators in need of financial and medical assistance. Sidekick’s board of directors and advisors consists of established, respected comics professionals who have agreed to support the organization’s initiative which, in its first year, shall be to donate 90% of all generated proceeds directly to those in need.

“Sidekick was established by Clifford Meth, whose work on behalf of comics creators in need is well known,” said Jim Reeber, president of Aardwolf Publishing and Secretary of Sidekick. “By adding the weight of some of the industry’s most respected names to his own, I believe Cliff can help more people than ever before and do so more effectively.”

“I’ve spent the last three years working for well-known charities and non-profits,” said Meth, a former Executive V.P. of IDW Publishing and recent spokesman for Kars4Kids. “Regardless of the cause, the one thing that always irked me was how much money goes to the overhead of charitable organizations. While it may be legal to only give away a small portion of collected proceeds, I find it ethically unacceptable. The Sidekick Foundation will not have a paid Director nor full-time staff. Most work will be done by volunteers allowing the foundation to keep expenses to a minimum.”

Sidekick’s Board of Advisors includes Neal Adams, Harlan Ellison, Joe Sinnott, Tom Palmer, Herb Trimpe, and Morris Berger (former president of IDT Entertainment and chairman of IDW Publishing).

“I’m particularly proud to have Neal Adams and Harlan Ellison with us,” said Meth. “Neal laid the foundation for art returns and his work on behalf of Superman’s creators is legendary, while Harlan Ellison is a stalwart champion of creator’s rights. With friends like these in your corner, you can move mountains.”

Sidekick will debut at New York ComicCon on Sunday, October 16. Artist David Lloyd (“V for Vendetta”) will be drawing for Sidekick at the Cadence table #3153 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. In addition, Clifford Meth and writer Don McGregor will be selling donated art as well as items from the late Gene Colan and Dave Cockrum, among others. Future signings and events are planned from artists Michael Netzer and Bill Messner-Loebs,

For more information, visit http://www.thesidekickfoundation.org/

Shapes of Things to Come (If We're Lucky)

The Yardbirds—first stop for three of Rock and Roll’s greatest guitar heroes—mixed blues and psychedelia into a unique soup that produced such classics as “For Your Love” and “Heart Full of Soul.” While noted for launching the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, it was Paul Samwell-Smith (bass), Keith Relf (singer/harmonica), Chris Dreja (rhythm guitar) and Jim McCarty (drums) who maintained the core. I plan to see Chris and Jim perform, along with new Yardbirds band members, on Wed., September 7, at BB Kings' in NY City (the Good Rats are opening). You can also catch the Yardbirds in a lot of other places through October.

Yesterday I caught up with Jim McCarty—far and away one of the most influential drummers of his time.

Meth: Is drumming work? It looks like work.

McCarty: (Laughs) I never really thought of it as work, Cliff. It’s not really hard work is it? The hard work is traveling around (laughs again). But I did once see an article about drummers having to be really fit. There was an experiment in England and they said Blondie’s drummer was as fit as a footballer. So I guess it’s work but being in a rhythm sorts of works itself.

Meth: You’ve been a Yardbird for what, 45 years? Did you think that was possible?

McCarty: I didn’t actually. At one point I worked for a stock broker in London and I was playing drums at night and on weekends. After a few weeks it was very tiring and I didn’t think it would last. I went to my boss and said, “I need to take a break. Can you keep the job open for me when the band folds up?” But it lasted a bit longer… I was going to become an actuary at the time. I was obviously destined not to do that but I always had a mathematical brain. It also helped with the songwriting, I think.

Meth: There was a bit of a break in there. How did you reform the group?

McCarty: We were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992 but we didn’t get it together again until ‘95. I was playing in a blues band and we sort of built a place up. Jeff [Beck] and Paul [Samwell-Smith] would come and see the band but they didn’t sit in. Then Chris and I were approached by an agent and there was interest in putting the band back together. Jeff hasn’t played with us, nor has Jimmy [Page], but they’ve shown up at shows and played air guitar.

Meth: Air guitar. That's not work.

McCarty: Yes. [Laughs]

Meth: While you played musical guitar heroes, the core of the Yardbirds seemed to stay close knit. Who were you closest with?

McCarty: I suppose Keith and I were very close back then. Me and Keith and Chris were the steady members. But there was tension because it was very hectic having to work the whole time. We weren’t making any money. Even when we were signed, the LPs weren’t selling well and royalties were poor—all the money was on the road so were relentlessly working and that created tension. It was clear that Eric and Jeff were destined to be their own bosses—they were people who found it difficult to be in a band.

Meth: But there was some sense of fraternity wasn’t there? You were too young not to have that idealized dynamic.

McCarty: Well, we would go to our manager and have meetings. I remember that Eric was very unhappy about the way the band was going and didn’t like the idea of doing “For Your Love,” which the rest of us wanted to do. He thought that was selling out. We loved it but he only wanted to do blues. We tried to do bluesly singles like “Good Morning Little School Girl” but they weren’t commercial enough to be big hits and to get anywhere you had to have a single. Now the music industry has gone full circle. The LP market is dead again and it’s all about being on the road, but back then it was all about singles.

Meth: You contributed to the writing on some of those singles.

McCarty: Yes, most of the songs were team efforts. “Shapes of Things to Come” came from Keith and Paul and myself.

Meth: Well, while we're on shapes of things to come, are you disappointed with where music has gone? The death of rock culture—and for that matter, the virtual death of everything else?

McCarty: I tend to think positively about where we’re going and I try to reflect that in my songwriting. There’s a change coming but the change is for the good.

Meth: What do you see in evidence of that?

McCarty: I guess ecological things, especially in Europe. People trying to get by without using un-renewable fuels… I sort of do see a better world coming, a growing awareness and growing consciousness of other people. I think it will be alright.

(c) 2011 Clifford Meth

Simonson, Trimpe and McGregor Salute Gene Colan

Walter Simonson, Herb Trimpe and Don McGregor will join the panel I'm chairing at New York ComicCon (on Sunday, October 14) to pay tribute to Gene Colan's unique legacy. We're still hoping that John Romita and Joe Sinnott (and perhaps a few surprise guests) will join us, too. There will also be artwork and signed books from Gene Colan available at the event with some proceeds benefiting The Gene Colan Scholarship at the Joe Kubert School.

Gene Colan Tribute at NY ComicCon

New York ComicCon has asked me to chair a tribute panel to Gene Colan at this year’s convention. As such, I spent the early part of this evening chatting with Johnny Romita Sr., Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott, Roy Thomas and Don McGregor. Everyone loved Gene and has wonderful memories they’d be delighted to share—it’s really just a question of who will be coming to con. I’ve also reached out to Walter Simonson and David Lloyd, who I believe will have unique perspectives on Gene’s influence. Stay tuned.

Pictured: David Lloyd, Hank Magitz and Gene Colan at NY ComicCon 2010

Honoring Gene Colan & Dave Cockrum

Dan Bertwell sent me the below letter and HERO assures me this is on the up and up. So I support these efforts and hope many of you will, too:

My name is Dan Bertwell and I am running two marathons within the first two weeks of October to raise money for the Hero Initiative. Comics were an escape for me when I was very young and I latched onto the X-Men, Colossus in particular, right away. I stopped collecting when I became a teenager (mostly for financial reasons) and got back into it while in my twenties. Soon after I returned I was saddened to hear that Dave Cockrum, who had created many of the characters and drawn many of the stories that I loved so much, had passed away. His family mentioned in his obituary that, rather than sending flowers, fans should make donations to the Hero Initiative. This was the first I’d heard of the charity.

The Hero Initiative is a non-profit with a very simple purpose: to assist comic creators in need. Like many people, I’ve seen the Hero table at various cons in the past few years, and I’ve donated some cash into the collection jars that they set up. Earlier this year I decided that I’d like to run another marathon but wanted this run to benefit others as well as myself. I decided to run for the Hero Initiative because I wanted to give back to the comic community.

The recent passing of Gene Colan cemented in my mind that I should run two marathons and dedicate them to Mr. ockrum and Mr. Colan and all of the creators that have brought so many great stories into my life. I’ll run the New Hampshire Marathon on October 1 and the Hartford Marathon on October 15 and I hope very much that anyone able to donate will do so by going to http://www.razoo.com/marathondan.

All told, between training and the races, I’m going to run somewhere between 500 and 600 miles. I hope that all that work can help out some creators in need.

Ovie Mughelli is Making Comics

As reported here, Pro Bowl fullback for the Atlanta Falcons, will be announcing his own comics property later this week. The project is being developed in conjunction with writer Clifford Meth ( Snaked from IDW) and artist Michael Netzer (Batman, Superboy, Web of Spider-Man). Mughelli, who had a breakout 2010 Pro Bowl season, signed a six-year, $18 million contract with a $5 million signing bonus on March 2, 2007 with the Falcons, the largest contract given to a fullback in NFL history at the time.

Ethics Versus Self Interest. And the Winner Is…?

The news wrinkle in the on-going coverage of Leiby Kletzky’s murder isn’t the fund that this child’s parents have set up in a valiant effort to combat grief by doing good. Instead, it’s the flap over whether or not Gerard Marrone, one of two defense attorneys representing Levi Aron (the confessed murderer), should have quit the case.

“The allegations were too horrific—it's not something I wanted to be involved in," Marrone told Eyewitness News. “I have three boys. One of my sons is seven. I looked at my own children, and there are no words.”

Unlike those Jewish attorneys from the ACLU who represented Nazi rights to march in Skokie, Illinois in 1978, or William Kuntsler (another born Jew) who defended Rabbi Meir Kahane’s murderer, Gerard Marrone (whose faith we can only guess at), holds his ethical platform higher than his potential earnings ceiling. The skeptics among us will seek less than pristine motives for Marrone recusing himself, but it seems clear to me that this man holds principiles above potential movie-of-the-week deals. He doesn’t want to help the beast Levi Aron. He doesn’t want to breathe the same air Aron exhales.

Sadly, it’s a Jew (or perhaps just a Phillip Rothian Jew) who takes public issue with Marrone’s retreat. Defense attorney Scott Greenfield, on his Simple Justice blog, attacks Marrone for stepping away. “He knew the allegations going in,” writes Greenfield. “He knew what he was getting involved with. He chose to do so, a choice which is admirable in that everyone, even Levi Aron, must be given a defense… But now, even though nothing has significantly changed, Marrone has made another choice… He's chosen to quit, to walk away from his client and in the process, to announce that he, as defense lawyer, is too sickened by his client's actions to remain beside him. This he cannot do.”

Does this blog post qualify Greenfield to join the ranks of George Soros and other Juddenrat who willingly sacrificed their fellow Jews for purely self-interest? Perhaps not. But we know where Greenfield’s values lie. Like Kunstler, Ron Kuby and other "defenders" of the justice system, Greenfield feigns sanctifying an ever-reinterpreted Constitution as if the tablet were given by a god that these men profess to not believe in anyway.

But the simple truth is the quest for fame, or minimally widespread popularity (a lesser fame to be certain) are also too enticing for men like Greenfield. Having one's blog quoted by major media outlets will likely raise his per diem. This type of lawyer can’t fathom walking away from his generation’s Lindberg kidnapping.

But men of good conscience, men like Marrone, raise the bar of human dignity by reminding us that all the hoopla surrounding this soon-to-be-much-publicized trial (which has the potential to make media stars of prosecutors and counsel alike) is just so much noise obscuring the real story. Because the real story is that of a family who lost a child, and the enormous swelling of empathy that’s coming from all corners, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Even from an attorney who just walked away from the potential of extending his fifteen minutes into a major career milestone.

Leiby Kletzky and The Rest of Us

I spoke with a friend this morning about the news coming out of Boro Park, which is too much for any of us to shoulder alone. It takes a village to raise a child, and to bury one.

I had called and emailed many people last night, my own grown sons among them. I begged that people perform extra deeds of kindness and spiritual charity to help balance the scales. Writing checks and dropping coins in pushkas and saying T’hillim (Psalms) is not enough—vital, but not enough. It is the rebalancing of realms that’s necessary. We live in a world where monsters dwell. Monsters who hurt children. And we need grace.

There is only one way to achieve grace, and it encompasses many smaller ways. And we need no preacher nor specific guidelines to understand what is called for. We need only place ourselves in the minds of those parents whose child went missing yesterday and did not return home. Their torment is unimaginable except to those who have experienced just this (may the Al-mighty spare them from further grief).

Had I lived anywhere near the area, I’d have joined the hundreds and hundreds who searched day and night for this little child. I considered driving there and joining them but I decided that the myriad search parties—all locals and many professionals—were sufficient. Instead, I gave an offering: I phoned someone that I have avoided speaking with for a decade—someone who holds me in colossal contempt—and apologized profusely for anything I might have done to offend them. It didn’t matter what occurred years ago; it didn’t matter if I considered myself the injured party. The important thing is peace. Peace is the vessel that contains blessings in this world. We learn these lessons too late.

I entreated the Al-mighty to add my merit to those who prayed for this boy’s safe return. That was last night. Then came the news this morning, which was too much to contain.

We hang our heads. And we must content ourselves with knowing that random acts of kindness are done for their own sake. Rebalancing the world is a responsibility we all share.

There will always be monsters. The rest of us must maintain balance.

My Silence

After Gene died, it seemed like a hundred other horrible things happened in rapid succession. But at 50 I am no longer inclined to list them.

Neither am I writing at the moment. I am reading extraordinary letters by an extraordinary man who left this world in 1996 and that seems to be enough. I am genuinely considering an exit from any sort of public life, including publishing.

I remain in touch with my friends--with sensei Richard Lenchus, Paty Cockrum, my pal Harlan, and with several writers, artists and musicians whose work and whose nature (like Michael Netzer, Richard Manitoba, Peppi Marchello, Steve Forbert and Don McGregor) are uplifting and make one proud to be part of the same species, though others work endlessly to cast shame on the lot. I am devastated about this missing child in Brooklyn.

I will be 50 and a half next month. I am back to counting half birthdays like a child. I'm not sure if I will ever seek to publish fiction again. It really wasn't fiction anyway. And the death of the book in America calls for a certain reverence by those of us who care enough to be reverent.

Mark Staff Brandl: Call Him Doctor

I was pleased to hear that my long-distance pal, artist and art historian Mark Staff Brandl has earned his PhD with a creative dissertation on visual art and metaphor theory. Mark was awarded his PhD in Art History, magna cum laude, from the University of Zurich Switzerland on May 20, 2011.

Dr Brandl's book, Metaphor(m): Engaging a Theory of Central Trope in Art, presents his thesis that the formal, technical and stylistic aspects of artists' approaches concretely manifest content in culturally and historically antithetical ways through a uniquely discovered trope. Yes, that's a mouthful. But more importantly, to this small voice, is that Mark Staff Brandl is a mensch. His dissertation is now in the process of being expanded and translated into an art exhibition and installation with the curatorial advice of Markus Landert, Director of the Art Museum of Thurgovia Switzerland. Congrats Mark!

Goodbye Gene

Gene was put to rest today with dignity and tears, surrounded by family and friends and sent off with a military honor guard marking his service to his country during World War II. It was humbling and warming and memorable.

The lessons I learned from this fine man are just starting to articulate themselves. He promised me when I was young (with regards to my writings), "If you're willing to do it for free, you'll make it." Mull that over for a while.

More importantly, Gene taught by example the importance of being happy for happy sake. He was what Pirke Avos characterized as a rich man. He was happy with his lot.

Thank you my friends across the fruited internet for your kind emails and messages during these sleepless days. Your words especially, Harlan, are always balm in Gilead.

And thank you, Gene, for sharing your final moments on this planet with this small voice.

Cliff

Advice From Gene Colan

This lovely note sums up Gene Colan better than any of us can.
Greg Hatcher--thank you for sharing this.

For Gene Colan's Memory (in lieu of flowers)

Following my earlier discussions with Gene, and one this morning with his daughter Nanci, I am setting up the Gene Colan Scholarship at the Joe Kubert School.

In lieu of flowers and such, if you would like to contribute to this scholarship in Gene’s memory, please make your check payable to “Joe Kubert School” and mail it to my attention:

Gene Colan Scholarship
c/o Clifford Meth
179-9 Rt. 46 West
Rockaway, NJ 07866

All checks will be delivered to Mike Chen, the school’s coordinator.

Gene Colan 1926-2011

On behalf of the Colan family, I regret to announce that my friend Gene Colan died at about 11 pm on June 23. Gene spent this last week in a quasi-coma state following a broken hip and complications from liver disease. He was 84.

I am terribly saddened to lose Gene. He was a gentle and deeply spiritual man, a bright light in every context, and those who knew him at any level were enriched by his warmth and generous nature. Below are some thoughts I cobbled together when he slipped from consciousness earlier this week.

I leave the historical perspective and details of Gene's significant career to my friends Tom Spurgeon and Mark Evanier. For now, I mourn.

Clifford Meth

------------------------------------
My Friend Gene Colan

When I was in Morristown, New Jersey, in the early 1990s, there was a girl of about 12 or 13 who lived around the corner. Every time I saw her, she was out walking a German Sheppard puppy. I'd spot the pair every two weeks or so. But as the years passed, I realized the puppy hadn't aged. My young neighbor was blossoming into a young lady, but her little dog was like Peter Pan, or Jefty in Harlan Ellison’s story. Eventually, I inquired and learned that the young lady received her young dog from the Morristown Seeing Eye. After six months of house-breaking and bonding with the little dog, she returned it when it was ready to be trained to help the blind. And then she’d get another puppy and start over again.

It must be heart-breaking, I thought, getting to love something the way taking care of it will allow you to love, only to say goodbye so quickly.

I recall this as I sit to gather my thoughts on what it’s been like working with Gene Colan these past 12 months. It was a year ago tomorrow, on June 21st, that we received word that Adrienne, Gene’s wife of 45 years, had been found dead in their apartment.

Since Adrienne’s passing, I’ve managed Gene’s business affairs. It was really just an excuse to spend more time with my friend; I funneled commissions his way and reminded him what was on the agenda; arranged signings and occasional appearances and that was it. These tasks had been Adrienne’s.

Following their mother’s passing, Gene’s children and I concluded that the best thing for Gene was to keep him as busy as possible. But we needn’t have worried; Gene knew instinctively what he needed do to survive with dignity. He mourned his wife daily but never allowed himself to become depressed. Instead, he labored at his art board as often as he could, losing himself—or perhaps finding himself—in his work. At 84, with one blind eye and the other eye failing, Gene Colan continued to create art at its highest level.

Sadly, that ended a few months ago. Two tumors on his liver, which appeared more than a year earlier, had grown much larger. Gene phoned me one night literally gasping for breath. He was hospitalized and a few weeks later taken to Calvary, a hospice in the Bronx. Gene wouldn’t go home again.

But Gene never lost hope. He continued to talk about his plans for the future. Mind you, this was not a feeble-minded man. An occasional short-term memory loss notwithstanding (and who doesn’t have those after high school?) Gene was clear-thinking and real-world oriented. He just wanted to go home. And he believed that wanting to was enough. This had been a recurring theme in his life. Gene wanted a career drawing comics. He wanted to work for Marvel. He wanted to be the best artist in his field. He wanted to marry Adrienne the minute he laid eyes on her... Gene believed that if he wanted something badly enough, focused and stuck to his guns, he’d eventually get it. And he usually did.

“There isn't anything I have to be afraid of,” Gene said in his final interview. “Love is the answer.”

Each time we spoke at the hospice, Gene discussed what he was going to do when he got out. He remembered every promised, unfinished piece of artwork. He thought about moving back to Vermont. And there was still that livingroom wall he wanted to paint horses on. He wasn't deluding himself; he understood instictively the sublime magic of possitive thinking.

I didn’t speak to Gene on Saturday. Then Sunday was Father’s Day and my entire family was home for a change. I figured I’d catch up with Gene on Monday.

Today is Monday. On the Hebrew calendar, it’s my father’s yahrzeit, the anniversary of the day he passed. Art is long but life is short. And this morning Gene’s daughter Nanci told me that Gene fractured his hip over the weekend.

Gene had already been declining rapidly. Now, with this fracture, he was sedated into a sleep state and would not likely waken again. Without drinking, his already fragile kidneys would fail. His family and doctors decided there was no point hydrating Gene intravenously because if he did awaken, he would be in terrible pain and the morphine necessary to alleviate that pain would just put him under again.

“Seven to 10 days is the usual,” Nanci said. “Could be sooner or later.”

Newspaper people are in the practice of writing obituaries long before well-known people actually pass away. That’s the demand of the trade. My grandmother would have considered that an ayin horah. I guess I do, too. But I know that when I get that call, I won’t be able to write a blessed word for a long time. So I’m writing this now.

This is not a eulogy—it’s some thoughts about a man I always liked very much and grew to love; a pal I spoke with nearly every day because he needed help. Now, at the end of the road, I realize how much he’s helped me.

I knew this day would come but it came too quickly. It's been a rare pleasure working with Gene. He knew who he was—how valuable his contributions to the world of comic art have been—how prized it remains by so many. Yet he never felt less than grateful to anyone who’d even read a single panel that he’d drawn. Until he was too weak to hold a pencil, he put his whole kishkes into everything he drew—whether it was a $5000 commission or a small drawing for someone’s child. And he was never satisfied with his artwork but always eager to learn a little more, do a little better, try something new. At 84.

Gene would look at artists like James Bama and says, “Now that’s really something. Oh boy, can this guy paint!” He was a kid again looking at Milt Caniff renderings and floored by his friend John Buscema's work.

My pal Gene was generous and funny and kind. He was exactly the type of man who should be drawing superheroes for young people to marvel at. Exactly and precisely. I’m richer for having known him. He was truly an original.

Seven to 10 days. It’s heart-rending growing to love someone that you know you’ll be saying goodbye to so soon, but worth every moment.

Clifford Meth
4:30 pm, June 20, 2011

Gene Colan

Russ Heath CGC Sketch Op - Part II

Here's three more Russ Heath sketches (bound for CGC) available now. Russ is only doing a limited number of these. Interested? Contact Chris Seminara at cseminara@akibia.com.

(Note: numbering below continues from previous post)

5. Capt. America with tank in background - $260 (sold)
6. Capt. America and soldiers - $270 (sold)
7. Woman with sword and werewolf - $210 (sold)

Original Gene Colan Art and Signed Books

Click here.