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What a fun morning!  About every six months I try to pull together a group of folks to get with our buddy Jim Ivey for a marathon breakfast session.  This time we belatedly celebrated Jim’s 92nd birthday!  That’s Jim Ivey to the far right, me, Mike Sikes, Bill Black, John Beatty, Cliff Weikal and Jim (missed his last name). Taking the photo was Steven Martinez.

Jim Ivey is one of my oldest [as in been a friend the longest], oldest [as in age] and dearest friends. I first met Jim in the mid 1970’s when he was running The Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida. At the same time Jim was working as a syndicated cartoonist [The Thoughts of Man], a political cartoonist [The Orlando Sentinel], a publisher [CartooNews], teacher [UCF cartooning class] and even a comic book convention organizer [OrlandoCon]. I was just graduating high school and into collecting comic books and later original art. Jim’s shop was like heaven.

Going to The Cartoon Museum became a weekly trip [almost always accompanied by my best friend, John Beatty]. When I moved to Orlando to attend UCF, my trips to Jim’s Cartoon Museum became even more frequent. We’d spend the day shooting the breeze and playing cards [blackjack, gin, hearts, poker] and would occasionally stop for lunch or Jim to make a sale. Jim hated it when business got in the way of fun!

You never knew who would come through the store. Sometimes it was other buddies like Bill Black [pictured in the photo above with Jim and I], Mike Kott, Rafael Kayanan, or Robert Smith. Sometimes it was established artists like Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, Bruce Stark or so many others.

As the years have gone by and we’ve all gone in different directions.  Many of us correspond via e-mail, but Jim doesn’t mess with computers. So it’s snail mail correspondence for us. I love getting my letters from Jim. Just like when we’d go to his shop and you’d never know what would be waiting; it’s the same experience opening an envelope from Jim.

Getting back to today’s breakfast…

John Beatty, Cliff and I went in on stogies for Jim — got him some really nice cigars individually rolled ones from a specialty shop.  Other gifts included a nice Prince Valiant book, a Bill Black movie, a homemade carrot cake and more.  Jim was truly touched that so many old friends made the trip to honor him.  Old stories followed faster that our ice tea refills.  It was a wonderful time for all.  My guess is that our next get-together will be more of the same.  How could it not be when old friends make a point to re-connect?

If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 45, Ken took a look at Collector #29 from 1974 from Bill G. Wilson.

Collector #29 is a huge issue and features –

• Color Star Trek cover
• Very cool cowboy drawing by Joe Sinnott (dedicated to Bill – Black?)
• An interview with Walter Koenig (Chekov from Star Trek)
• Star Trek art and articles
• John Byrne Star Trek art
• Captain Marvel art and articles (full pager by Bill Black)
• C.C. Beck art and articles
• Ken Barr full pager
• RC Harvey story and art
• Kurt Schaffenberger full page with Captain Marvel, Superman and Lois Lane
• Steve Ditko comic story
• Two full page drawings of The Thing from Another World
• Art and articles about The Shadow
• Art and articles about The Spirit
• Bill Black full page Spirit piece
• Additional art by Bill Black, Clyde Caldwell, John Byrne, Steve Ditko, Will Eisner, Steve Fabian, R.C. Harvey, Don Newton, Joe Sinnott and more.

I’d never seen Collector 29 before but would have really been blown away back in the day seeing so many pros and fans coming together in a fanzine.

Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!

If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 42, Ken took a look at Collector issues 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 from 1969-1971.   Edited and published by Bill G. Wilson.

I’d never seen issues of Collector before reading Ken’s columsn.  The issues are full of the stuff that fanzines were known.  These issues feature:

Collector 16 features –

• a Don Newton Batman cover
• Sketches by Steranko, Giordano, Buckler, Adams
• Photos of comic legends [Adams, Kane, Frazetta, and more]  at an early convention.
• Tons of fan art

Collector 17 features –

• Don Newton interview, art and photos of Don and his studio
• Tons of fan art and articles

Collector 18 features –

• Shazam cover by Bill Black (earliest art I’ve seen from my buddy)
• Bill Black pin-up of Green Lantern
• Ad for Bill Black’s Paragon fanzine!
• Fan art and articles

Collector 19 features –

• Joe Sinnott Thing sketch
• Sketches from Steranko/Sinnott, Gene Colon, Bill Black and Steve Ditko
• Fan art and articles

Collector 21 features –

• Art from Dan Adkins, Don Rosa and Tom Sutton
• Fan art and articles

Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!

If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 16, Ken took a look at Comic Crusaders 10 from 1970.  Edited and published by Martin L. Greim.

Comic Crusaders 10 aka The Convention Issue.  I’d never seen this issue before Ken’s column and I’m glad I didn’t miss out.  The highlight of the issue is of course the Steranko full pager [posted above] but I also got a real kick out of seeing my buddy, Bill Black’s photos [man, he was young!] and art.

Other highlights include: a cover by Martin Greim, photos of legendary comic artists taken at a 1970 convention, an article on Super Heroes on Film with art and written by Bill Black, spot illos by Dan Adkins, Bill Black, Dennis Fujitake, Rich Corben, and more!

Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!

Earlier today, I picked up Jim Ivey [the gent getting the finger-point] and we headed to Robinson’s Diner in Apopka.

Once at Robinson’s, Jim and I met up with (from left to right) Rob Smith, Mike Sikes, Cliff Weikal, and Bill Black.  We’ve all been friends since the 1970’s and met through Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum.

I try to get the group together a couple of times a year [Jim’s birthday and Christmas] and it is always a blast spending time with the crew and reminiscing.  This time was no exception.  We always bring Jim gifts and this time he received some of his favorites: cigars, lottery tickets, and a Roy Crane book.  After breakfast Jim and I made the traditional trip to pick him up some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream for him for later.

It’s always a blast seeing Jim [still “full of prunes and macaroons” at 91] and the gang.  Hopefully John Beatty will be able to join us next go round.

If any of Jim’s old friends are reading this — he loves snail mail.  Contact me and I’ll forward you his address!

Later this morning I’m heading over to the Comic and Toy Show.  It’ll run from 10am to 5pm at the Holiday Inn on A1A in Daytona Beach, Florida.  

The theme of the con is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of AC Comics.  Bill Black the founder of AC Comics will be there.  So will a ton of other folks who have worked for AC Comics over the years. If you live within driving distance, you should come too.