Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Paul Gulacy Week: Day 6. Today we have a Paul Gulacy pencilled and inked [and autographed] cover to the Ohio Con ’75 program book. I always thought that this was a bold design for a cover. I picked this up at Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum approximately 32 years ago.
Tomorrow we have a Paul Gulacy pencilled and inked Doc Savage centerspread coming our way.
It’s DAY 7 of MIKE ZECK WEEK at the ZONE and we’re going out with a bang. First up we have the photo above of my good buddies, Jim Ivey and Mike Zeck. My brother, John Beatty, forwarded it to me to share with fans. Beatty took it on a visit to Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum back around 1992 or 1993!
Before we go to our final art for MIKE ZECK WEEK at the ZONE, I thought it would be fun to check out a self portrait that Mike drew nearly 35 years ago, along with a more recent photo of the man. [By the way, Mike is wearing his “Damned” shirt — from the excellent crime graphic novel written by Steven Grant and drawn by, you guessed it, Mr. Zeck, his own bad self].
Okay, for the last piece of Zeck art, I wanted something dramatic. I was tempted to go with a piece from Damned… or Captain America… or Master of Kung Fu… or his Spider-Man / Kraven graphic novel… or his work at DC on Batman… or Secret Wars… okay, I never really considered Secret Wars because I decided that the final page of the Punisher in the Return to Big Nothing graphic novel would provide a fitting end to Mike Zeck Week at the Zone.
Hope you think so too.
Although I’ve never watched an episode of AMC’s “Mad Men” I felt compelled to see how my buddy, Jim Ivey and I would look drawn as “Mad Men” cartoon characters. All things considered, I guess we came out okay. If you want to see what you or your friends would look like, then click here.
When I was a kid I loved the original Star Trek series. [Who am I kidding? I still enjoy it.] When we’d play Star Trek I always wanted to be Spock. I had the haircut and even asked my mom if I could get my ears fixed like his. Thankfully she didn’t give in on that.
I’ve never watched any of the Star Trek spin-offs. It was just the original series for me. I am going to check out the Star Trek re-boot since it features the original characters. Still, it will be strange seeing someone else playing Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew. Although it won’t be as strange as the photo above with me as Spock, John Beatty as Kirk and Jim Ivey as a Romulan warrior.
When I was in college I played a lot of cards. A whole lot. We had friendly games at least once a week and sometimes [quite often] more than that. There are many stories that can be told and have been told about those games. Some of those tales have reached legendary status among those of us that were there… and our friends subjected to our “war stories.”
But I had no idea that Jim Ivey aka the “Inside Straight Man” was so well known!
I’m not an artist, but I’ve always loved art. I believe that comic books were the start of it all. Like most kids of my generation, I loved comic books. Unlike most, I never outgrew them.
In junior high I met John Beatty. He was also into comic books and original art. He wanted to be a comic book artist. During our high school and my college years, Beatty and I spent a lot of time at Jim Ivey’s Cartoon Museum. Jim’s was THE place for comics and original art. We also started attending conventions. I was in college and Beatty had become a comic book artist.
I sold off my art collection when I was ready to graduate college. I kept just one piece, a Paul Gulacy commission of Sylvester Stallone [my favorite actor]. Over the years some of my artist friends gifted me pieces of Stallone art. When my sons were in their mid-teens we started attending comic conventions. I realized that getting sketches of Stallone from my favorite comic artists was a perfect mesh of my hobbies.
So, no, I don’t draw ’em, I just collect ’em.
Mood: Joy
Listening to: 70’s Music
Reading: The Wildwood Boys by James Carlos Blake
Watching: “Serenity”
Playing: Internet Hearts
Eating: Wings
Drinking: Tea
You all remember my buddy, Jim Ivey, right? Yeah, he’s the 83 year old political cartoonist – former owner of The Cartoon Museum in Florida – co-founder of OrlandoCon – author – teacher – card player – and all around good guy.
I received my Christmas card from Jim today and it’s a tri-fold job that he created. The first two folds are show above. Click here to see the reveal. Not only do I hope I have as much wit and energy as Jim when I’m 83, I wish that I did now.
I love getting mail from my buddy, Jim Ivey. He doesn’t use a computer so it’s snail mail only. The great thing is, that Jim always includes a doodle or two. His most recent letter contained caricatures of me and Bill Black. Jim used photos from his 83rd birthday bash for reference. You read that right, Jim’s 83 and still full of “prunes and macaroons” as he often says.
I not only hope I have as much energy as Jim when I’m 83, I wish I had it now.
A trailer for Wild Bill Black’s “The Ghost of Gargantua” is now on-line. “Ghost of Gargantua” is the sequel to Bill’s ever-popular “The Amazing Colossal Woman.” Long-time ZONErs may remember this post where I talked about filming that was going to take place at one of Tim Gordon’s Tampa Cons. It did and much of it appears in the trailer below.
Here’s some trivia before you watch:
* At 2:09 in the trailer there is a close-up reaction shot of “The James” Howell. If you look closely at the collar of his shirt, you’ll notice its red. The red was from fake blood. Earlier in the day, we had shot a scene of “The James” being attacked by a vampire in a hotel room. That scene will appear in a future Bill Black release.
* You may recognize the four mugs featured in the trailer and pictured below: starting at the top and going clockwise – 1] “The James” Howell – comic book and art collector, writer and director and all around great guy 2] me 3] John “The Master” Higashi – comic art collector, master of sketches, leader of the pack 4] John “Big” Beatty – comic book artist, king of nonsense, and my oldest friend [although not as old as Jim Ivey or Bill Black].
* John Beatty is wearing a patch in the trailer. It’s a running gag that his character, “Patch,” shows up in several of Bill’s movies. This is his second appearance with a third soon to follow!
* John Higashi gets a close-up in the trailer where he yells “Godzilla.” It was totally ad-libbed and brought down the house.
So sit down, relax, let your mind take you back to the days of drive-ins, Nightmare Theater and watch the trailer for “The Ghost of Gargantua!”
John Beatty called me at work this morning to tell me the news. Mike Wieringo had passed away. It was hard to fathom. Mike was only 44 years old and appeared in good health. He worked out, ate right and by all appearances was in fine shape. The news hit hard. Big Beatty was at a loss… and so was I. What could be said? What could be done?Mike was one of the most popular artists currently working in comics today. Fans loved him. Pros loved him. I never, ever, heard a single negative thing said about Mike or his art. My dealings with Mike were limited, but they were always positive. I first met Mike about 5 or 6 years ago. Mike was gracious and kind to both my son and me, but that’s the way he was with ALL of his fans.
I became a regular visitor to Mike’s blog and would often leave comments about his weekday posts. When Mike posted a sketch of Rocky Balboa along with his thoughts on the movie, I wrote to say that if he ever considered selling the sketch, I would be interested. Mike wrote me back to say that several of the fans who post on his site had already suggested that I might like to have it for my collection. Mike said that as he was drawing it, he thought the same and it was mine for the taking… gratis. Mike went on to say that he would be honored to have his work appear in my gallery. Can you imagine? That’s the kind of guy Mike was. I suggested that if he wouldn’t take money, since he liked the movie, I would be happy to purchase the dvd for him. He said that wasn’t necessary, but did finally agree and acted like I was doing him the favor.
I knew that my blog today would be about Mike Wieringo. Mike positively touched so many lives that I knew that my voice would just be one of the many remembering him, but I knew that I had to mark his passing. I figured that I would probably post the Rocky sketch that he gave me. The when I checked my mail, I found a letter from my old friend Jim Ivey. Jim has always teased me about being a Sylvester Stallone fan. One of Jim’s comments is that Sly has sad eyes… and Jim drew them on the envelope of his letter. Talk about appropriate.
Today Mike Wieringo’s family, friends and fans are in mourning. Yes, there are tears in our eyes. We’ve lost not only a great artist, but a wonderful human being. My life was better for knowing Mike Wieringo. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
The above drawing came with a letter I received today from my old buddy Jim Ivey. You might not be able to tell, but that’s Jim remembering how I looked over 30 years ago when I first met him … well, if I was a cartoon character. The first time Jim ever drew a caricature of me, he turned me into Conan. Those days are long gone…
Jim wrote to tell me about the wonderful time he had in Washington, DC when he was recently honored at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists 50th-anniversary convention. Jim is one of three surviving original members. Not only did Jim get to see them again, but also to meet many new artists for the first time. The highlight for Jim was meeting Ann Telnaes whose work he’s admired for some time. Jim favorably compares to Herblock, Rube Goldberg and Roy Crane! Lofty company! [Jim’s right, she is an amazing talent.] You can read more about Jim’s trip HERE.
What’s really amazing is that it’s been 50 years since the first AAEC meeting. Jim is 82 and probably in as good of shape now as he was then! Conan, indeed!
Hard to believe, but that’s a photo of me that appeared in 1980 on the inside front cover of Bill Black’s Fun Comics #1. Although it was 27 years ago, it seems like yesterday… ok, maybe not really yesterday, but definitely not 27 years ago.
OrlandoCon 1980. Bill Black, Jim Ivey, and Mike Kott were all friends of mine [still are in fact] and the main men behind OrlandoCon. That year Jock Mahoney was the media guest of honor.
Jock had a long, successful career in movies and on tv. He started out as a stuntman, but soon was playing the lead as The Range Rider, Yancy Derringer, Tarzan [in 3 movies], and in so many other roles. Jock was also Sally Field’s stepfather!
Because of my connections with Bill, Jim and Mike, I was able to appear on stage with Jock when he did some demonstrations of how fights are filmed for movies. Jock was a great guest. He even posed with Bill and his wife Rebecca for the fumetti below. Hard to believe that it was done over 1/4 century ago…
Yesterday I received an e-mail from my buddy, Wild Bill Black that several of Jim Ivey’s friends were getting together to belatedly celebrate Jim’s 82nd birthday. Although it was short notice, I worked it out so that I could get over and share in the festivities.
I first met Jim back in the mid-70’s [the decade, not his age]. Jim was the owner of The Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida and the main man behind OrlandoCon. My buddy, John Beatty and I were still in high school, but would make the trek over to buy our comics and original art from Jim. Jim’s shop was an amazing place. At the time there weren’t many places that you could buy original art, but Jim’s Cartoon Museum was wall to wall art. Kirby, Steranko, Barry Windsor-Smith, Paul Gulacy, John Buscema… and so much more. You never knew what you’d see or who you’d meet while at The Cartoon Museum. I can’t begin to tell you how much time I spent there and I wouldn’t trade one hour there for a day anywhere else. Beatty and I made the trek to Jim’s at least once a week. Usually we’d end up playing cards but always having a great time no matter what we were doing. When I moved to Orlando to attend UCF, I’d go to the shop several times a week [my wife always knew where to find me]. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, but never as often as I’d like.
So today about 15 of us met to celebrate Jim’s 82 birthday. Jim, true to form, had prepared cards for each of us [and true to form — had enclosed a scratch off lottery ticket. Mine was good for a free ticket!]. Each of us had brought cards and gifts and a story or two for Jim. In fact, Jim looks shocked in the photo above… I hope it wasn’t from something I said!
Well, I’m home from Tampa. Although it was a quick trip, and I didn’t get much sleep; I did get to accomplish my major objectives of assisting Bill Black with filming some scenes for two movies he’s currently shooting and seeing my old buddy, Jim Ivey.
That’s Brenna Barry, star of Bill Black’s Gargantarama, and Jim Ivey [looking pretty content at 81] in today’s header photo. I’ll tell show and tell you more about the trip later this week. You’ll also get to see some cool reports over at John Beatty’s Blog. As for now, I need a rest!
Then tomorrow we’ll head to the show. It’s got a pretty impressive guest list for a small one day convention. There will also be a costume contest, door prizes and a film room. I’m really looking forward to seeing an old [as in longtime, not because he’s 81] friend of mine, Jim Ivey.
If you’re within driving distance of Tampa, come on over and join us. If you want to hook up with our group, more than likely I’ll be wearing a StalloneZone shirt, or just look for a 70’s lounge singer who was bitten by a vampire.
