Mike Zeck Week: Day 3

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It’s Day Three of Mike Zeck Week and we’re running his profile and self-portrait from RBCC 132 [December 1976].   Yeah, Mike wore it long back in the day.  His profile tells us:

  • Mike’s first RBCC cover was #109.
  • Mike was 27 at the time of the profile so let’s see… subtract 1976 from 2009… add in 27… carry the one… oh, never mind.
  • Mike first entered fandom in 1970.
  • Mike’s first published professional work was the inside front cover to Savage Sword of Conan #2 [which was a “fair reproduction of the same Conan drawing which had graced the cover of RBCC #109]
  • At the time of the profile, Mike had worked mainly for Charlton Comics Group where his first published work was text illustrations in Barney & Betty Rubble #11.
  • His first story published by Charlton was “Only a Toy” in Scary Tales #2.
  • The first story that Mike drew for Charlton was “That Old Gang of Mine” but it wasn’t published until several months after “Only a Toy.”
  • At the time of the profile, Mike had completed a five page story featuring The Destroyer for Marvel Comics which wasn’t scheduled to see print until the following summer.
  • Mike was a busy guy.  He had just completed an eight page story for Bill Pearson’s Witzend titled “The Avenging Dodo.”
  • Mike’s self-portrait was done for the MiamiCon program book the previous year.

Wow!  Does that profile bring back memories.  I can remember how knocked out Big Beatty was when he got his copy of Witzend with Mike’s ink wash story.  Great stuff.  The profile piece posted above actually only shows you 2/3 of the original page.  The bottom third consisted of this Mike Zeck drawing of Jonah Hex.

If you’re a Mike Zeck fan, you know tomorrow is MIKE ZECK WEEK: DAY FOUR.  We’re going to take a look at his inside front cover to RBCC 132.