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Happy 83rd Jim Ivey

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Yesterday, my wife and I joined Jim Ivey and several of his friends to celebrate Jim’s 83rd birthday. Long time readers know that 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]. At the time, I was 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 became even more frequent. We’d spend the day shooting the breeze and playing cards [blackjack, gin, hearts] 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, I’m happy to say that most of us are still in touch fairly regularly. 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.

But, I digress… back to the party.

Jim was happy to see the number of folks who made it to his party. Jim opened the festivities with a speech in which he talked about everything from the state of political cartoons today to the origins of Aborigines in Australia. We ordered our meals and while we were waiting Jim opened the gifts that had been brought to celebrate his 83rd. He received cigars, lottery tickets, and money — three of his favorite items — and more! The meals arrived and as we ate we shared stories… and more stories… and even more stories. Three and a half hours passed in what seemed less than an hour. There was enough laughter and fellowship packed into the short time, that it made me really wish that we could go back to the days of The Cartoon Museum with Jim running the show.

Oh well, if nothing else, we have Jim’s 84th to look forward to.

Jim & Mike & Cartoons I Liked

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One of my highlight’s from MegaCon was getting to spend a bit of time with two old friends. That’s Jim Ivey on the left and Mike Kott on the right. I’ve known these guys for over 30 years. Jim is an award-winning political cartoonist and founder of the original Cartoon Museum. Mike is the founder and co-owner of The Intergalactic Trading Company. Together they [along with Bill Black] put on OrlandoCon, one of the best comic book conventions you’d find anywhere. I knew them because of their respective business enterprises, but we became friends over countless hands and hours playing cards. I only get to see these guys about once a year now. But when we do see each other, it’s like the years melt away.It’s hard to believe that I’m almost the age that Jim Ivey was when we first met! And speaking of Jim Ivey, he has a new book out called Cartoons That I Liked. It features some of his favorite cartoons from the thousands that he did over the years. It’s available as a or $3.00 pdf download or $9.95 for the actual book. You can even order one from Jim which will come autographed and with a sketch for $20.00. If you’re at all interested in political cartoons, then I’d appeciate it if you’d order a copy. The pdf is a steal at three bucks and getting the autographed copy at $20 is a bargain. If you order a copy from Jim, please tell him I sent you his way. Who knows, I may need some goodwill from him should we ever get into another poker game.

Time for Tampa

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On Sunday, August 19th, I’ll be joining Big Beatty and hundreds of other fans of comics, movies, sci-fi and other interesting hobbies as we converge on Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book & Toy Convention.You’ve heard me rave many times about what a great show Tim puts on. This one could be the best ever! In addition to John Beatty, guests will include Bill Black, Alex Saviuk, Herb Trimpe, Gary Friedrich, Chuck Dixon, Pablo Marcos, and many others. There will be something for everyone… artists sketching and signing autographs, a costume contest, a continuously running film room and more.

If you’re able to make it, swing by Big Beatty’s table and be sure to say, “Hi!”

Hard to Believe… Jock Mahoney

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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…

Mallow-Con Report

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That’s Brenna Barry surrounded by Keith Mallow and Wild Bill Black. For some reason the guys seem much happier than Brenna. I wonder why? That photo and those that follow were taken yesterday at Collector’s Comic-Con in Fort Pierce, Florida. Keith puts on the show and brought in Brenna, Bill and John Beatty as special guests. Keith and Big John always invite me along and since I enjoy their nonsense, I always make an effort to attend.
That’s Aleissa [hope I spelled that correctly] and her boyfriend. Aleissa is one of John’s returning sketch customers. This time she opted for a Batman and Beatty came through in style.
Jesse “Cadre” Hansen was set up selling prints and sketching!Wild Bill Black brought in a bunch of his movies and showed us the latest trailer [which features me, Big John Beatty, James “The James” Howell, and John Higashi in a cameo – where’s our IMDB listing?] for “The Ghost of Garganta.” Bill also talked about plans for future movies as well as a possible syndicated horror movie package complete with a horror host [the excellent Lon Midnight]!

Big Beatty was sketching away and each one was a winner. He was in the ZONE [and I don’t mean this ZONE… although he IS in it as well]. The Punisher sketch below got a lot of attention from fans, but it was the final sketch of the day, a Joker piece, that won the Best Beatty Sketch of the Show Award.

As always, Keith’s shows are a lot of fun. His next one is scheduled for late October. If you can make it, you should!

Collector’s ComicCon Are You "N"?

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On Sunday, July 22nd from 10am – 5pm, the Collector’s ComicCon is going to be the place to be in Fort Pierce, Florida. Not only will my best bud, John Beatty be a guest, but he’ll be joined by Bill Black [artist, writer, publisher of AC comics, writer, director and producer of “GARGANTARAMA” ] and Brenna Berry star of “GARGANTARAMA”.


It’s a fun little one day show. Click HERE for all the details. Hope to see you there!

Captured by The Cloak

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My buddy, Bill Black, CCABW [Chief Cook and Bottle Washer] at AC Comics has decided to take the plunge and regularly produce movies based on his comic book characters. Bill has jumped in with both feet and fan reaction has been extremely positive. Bill is currently finishing production on The Blue Bulleteer: Captured by The Cloak.

Happy, Happy to JBI

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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!


It was great seeing Jim again. It was also a lot of fun hanging with Wild Bill Black. Special props to “The AAB” for putting the plan in place. And once last shout out to Jim Ivey — “Happy, happy, SIR!”

Back Home from Tampa Con

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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!

Shawn Surface

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Shawn Surface is an independent comic book artist best known for his work at Bill Black’s AC comics and “Bubba the Redneck Werewolf.” I first met Shawn a few years ago at a TampaCon. We talked about comics, movies and art. I left the show thinking that I’d like to get Shawn to do a piece for my Stallone Gallery.Finally at this year’s Heroes Con things worked out. Shawn decided to draw Sly as The Punisher. Click HERE and you can see the result.

Shawn is available for commissions and is reasonably priced. Check out his website and tell him I sent you!

"Gargantarma" is Coming!

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I’ve told you many times before about the Comic Book and Toy Show that Tim Gordon puts on several times a year in Tampa. Tim started doing the conventions about 3 or 4 years ago and they were pretty small affairs – but boy, were they fun.My son Mike, John “Big” Beatty, John “Johnny Star-Warz” Higashi and James “The James” Howell and I would always try to make the shows because we always had a blast. Over the years the convention has gradually gotten bigger [adding multiple guest artists per show, costume contests, an independent film room and more], but was able to retain that small show feel.

Tim will have his next show on August 20th. My buddy, Bill Black will be on hand [along with star Brenna Barry] to screen “Gargantarma” a documentary which explores the history of giant women in cinema. Legendary comic artist, Nick Cardy, will be the guest of honor! Several other guests will be on hand. 

If you’re able to make it, you should plan on joining us!

MegaCon Report

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One of the best parts of attending conventions is meeting up with folks that you don’t get to see often enough. MeganCon was no exception. I spent the bulk of the show hanging at the table shared by my best buddy John Beatty and Alberto Ruiz. Now THAT was a blast [and I plan to write about the experience later].

Directly across from Alberto and Beatty’s table, Bob McLeod was set up. Bob‘s sketch list was full and his new book, Superhero ABC was selling like hotcakes. If you have [or know anyone who has] young kids, Bob‘s book would make the perfect gift! Heck, I even saw fans without kids buying it for themselves!

Alex Saviuk was set up. Alex is a great guy who’s been busy the last couple of years doing storyboards for movies in addition to his comic work. Alex has a true love of film and so it was great to spend a few minutes catching up with him.

Mark Pennington was there on Saturday sketching for fans. Mark had a really cool Conan painting on display. Mark said that it was a commission for a fan and the fan wanted Mark to change it so that Conan was wearing a horned helmet rather than the wolf’s head. While I can understand the fan’s thought process, I think that the painting would look cooler the way that it is.

Mark was sketching for fans and turning out some really nice pieces. James Howell got a Batman in the rain that was so nice that he went back to get a Joker [also in the rain] so he’d have “bookend” pieces. Matt Hollub also got on board for a piece from Mark. I would have as well, but my reference was with another artist and Mark was only going to be at the show on Saturday. Still, I know just the sketch I’d like to get from Mark, so the next time we’re at a show together, you know I’ll be in his line.

Although I was on two sketch lists [Adam Hughes and Phil Noto], and Alberto did me three gratis [3!!!] Stallone pieces [more on that later], I wanted to try and pick up a piece of art for a buddy who’d done me some favors.

I thought that Shawn Surface might just be the man for the job, and boy was I right. Shawn has done some work for my buddy, Bill Black’s AC Comics, as well as Mitch Hyman’s Bubba The Redneck WereWolf. I’d talked to Shawn at a few cons over the years about getting a Stallone sketch from him… but since I wanted to get a piece from my buddy, that had to come first. Shawn was more than up for the task. I really liked the way it turned out. I’d like to tell you that you can click HERE to see the piece, but instead you’ll see Shawn and what a Mage sketch might look like. LOL. Ok, ok… it wasn’t THAT funny [unless you know James Howell and have read THIS].

Gus Vasquez was there. We talked a bit about the work that he’s been doing on an animation feature. I also asked him about his niece, Rosario Dawson. What a year she’s had with her involvement in Sin City and Rent. We also discussed the comic, OCT [Occult Crimes Taskforce] that she’s co-creating with David Atchison and Tony Shastee. Rosario and Gus will be among the tons of guests at Heroes Con later this year.

Andy Smith was there. When he wasn’t sketching for fans, he was looking for something to take back home to his daughter.

Jesse “Cadre” Hansen “the hardest working man” in comics was set up with his crew. I really wanted to spend a few minutes catching up with Jesse, but the time just wasn’t there. We did say “hi” a few times as we passed each other though.

MegaCon, like most cons these days, has people showing up in amazing costumes. Sometimes the folks really look like the characters that they’re supposed to be.

Thor had a cool helmet and his beard and hair were right. Still I thought Thor would be taller than me. I love Eric Powell’s The Goon. And he’s a character that people seldom choose to dress up as. Still, I thought The Goon would be bigger than me. A lot of people choose to dress up as Batman. Although, not too many are lucky enough to have Batgirl and Robin [also in great costumes] along for the ride. But I have to admit, I thought that Batman would be taller than me. You might think that I was starting to feel like “the big man in comics” but you’d be wrong… see I met up with the Kingpin!

If you’ve ever been to a con, you know how much goes on. I’m sure I’m leaving out some stuff… still, I’ll post my new Adam Hughes sketch tomorrow [I LOVE IT!] and my thoughts on hanging with Big Beatty and Alberto soon.

Tampa Con Report

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Hey Zoners… ok, I’m picking up the tale of our four middle-aged playas after they’ve
arrived at the show. If you want to read more tales of the trip then click HERE and
John “The Dude Abides” Beatty will fill you in.

Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention is the best one day show
that you’ll find anywhere. There are media guests, comic artists, costumers,independent filmmakers [with a continuously running screening room] , and
dozens and dozens of dealers.

Yes, that’s the look of fear that crossed Mark and Stephanie Heike‘s faces when
they discovered that the Mild Bunch [John “Johnny Star-Warz” Higashi, James
“The James” Howell, John “The Dude Abides” Beatty, and yours truly] had arrived.

Larry Thomas, better known as “The Soup Nazi” from Seinfeld, had a table. He was selling autographed pictures and soup ladles for $20 a pop. I’m a huge Seinfeld fan.
I loved the series and thought “The Soup Nazi” episode was a riot. However, $20
bucks for an autographed picture? Five samoleons and I’m there, heck, I’d have
even bought a couple, but twenty of my hard-earned smack-a-toons for one?
No thanks.

So, I’m waiting for Pat Broderick to arrive and up walks Beatty. He says that every
time he tried to get a photo of “The Soup Nazi,” the “Nazi” turned or raised his hands
to insure that the picture wasn’t a good one. I laughed it off. Later Beatty came up to
say that he’d tried for a photo several more times, but each time the “Nazi” thwarted
his efforts. This, of course, makes me want to get a candid. I did, but as you can tell
from the full shot, Mr. Thomas did not seem to happy about it. If that’s the case, I’m
sorry, Mr. Thomas… and I really would have bought a couple of autographs had
they been cheaper!

Now the guy that I really was there to see was Pat Broderick. I’ve known Pat for
nearly 30 years! We first met at an OrlandoCon back in the 70’s. Pat‘s a great guy
and a heck of an artist. He and Beatty even teamed up on a couple of comic series
over the years! I was curious to see if Pat would be interested in doing a piece for my Stallone gallery. Lucky for me he was! I’ll post it later this weekend with my SZ update.
Higashi and Howell also set up sketches with Pat.

The next guy on our hit list was Karl Moline who was sharing a table with Randy
[Edward Scissorhands Collection] Martin. While John Higashi and I set up sketches
with Karl, The James scooted over to arrange a take-home commission with Pablo Marcos.

Then it was over to the film room where we caught some of Joel D. Wynkoop‘s film
“Lost Faith.” Joel was at the show, and as you can see HERE has made a lot of films.
Joel is very approachable and obviously has a love of film. It might be cool if he and
Bill Black ever hook up for a project.

Beatty got that look in his eyes that said it was time for lunch. Howell said he was
ready for a bite too. Even Higashi said he’d eat [which is a rare thing for Johnny SW
to do at a show]. I wasn’t hungry, but said I’d join them for a Coke. We ended up in the hotel’s sport’s bar. As we were yacking away waiting for the food to arrive, the NY
Giants were on tv playing the Philadelphia Eagles. Howell suddenly blurted out, “I’ve
got five bucks for anyone who’ll yell “Go Giants!”

I immediately yelled, “Go Giants! Go Giants!” and before I could collect my fiver, a
loud chorus of “Go Philly!” “Giants Suck” “Go Philly” erupted from behind me. I
turned to see probably 30 or 40 grown men [most of whom were wearing Eagles
jerseys] looking our way. Of course, this just made Beatty an instant Giants fan who
began to LOUDLY cheer for the Giants way and BOO the Eagles.

Two things saved us from the situation getting ugly. 1] Beatty‘s sandwich arrived and
2] Mrs. Pat Broderick came by the table to say, “Hi.”

After lunch we headed back to the show. Pat and Karl had finished my sketches.
They had [independently] decided to draw Deke from Nighthawks! And both did
really, really cool sketches. I’ll post them tomorrow with the SZ update.

I’d been wanting to get a sketch from Derrick Fish for a while. Luck was with me
because when I checked with Derrick, he had a spot on his sketch list open. 
Derrick completed my sketch trifecta by doing a really nice cartoon of Rocky
knocking out Dandy.

Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and load up the “Jack Carter” car for our trip
home. As we snaked our way around the con to say we were heading out, we made
sure to let the Heike‘s know that we’d see them at the next show in May!

Tampa Was a Blast!

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Last weekend, Big Beatty, John Higashi and I made our way to the Tampa Comic Book and Toy Show.

As many of you know, it’s my favorite little convention. But if Tim Gordon continues to put on such great shows, it won’t be little much longer. It’s held three times a year and has added the Tampa Indie Film Fest to a program which already includes celebrites signing autographs, artists sketching, a costume contest, prize drawaings… there’s ALWAYS something going on to interest everyone.

Beatty, Higashi and I drove down the night before. It’s become a tradition that we go down a day ahead of the show, hang out with other collectors and eat dinner at a place called Sweet Tomatoes.

This time Randy Martin joined us for dinner. Afterwards we went over to his place to hang out. Randy has the coolest Edward Scissorhands art collection that you can see if you click HERE.

The next morning, Beatty, Higashi and I headed over to the show. Higashi was on a mission. His goal was to get to Ethan Van Sciver to add to a sketch that he’d started a few shows ago, and to set up a commission with Pablo Marcos. My plan was to meet Pablo Marcos and possibly get a Stallone sketch from him. Beatty was there just to stir up some fun.

Higashi started getting that predator look in his eyes and I knew that soon he would be in full con mode. The doors opened and the crowd headed in. As we were walking to the artist area, I saw Randy Martin had set up and so I stopped to chat with him. Higashi continued to make his way to Ethan’s spot center stage.

A few minutes later, I headed over to the stage area. Higashi was waiting for Ethan to arrive. I said, “Hi” to Marty Nodell and his son. I was just hanging out waiting for Big Beatty to mosey over when Cindy Morgan walked up to me and introduced herself. Cindy was a guest of the show and is best known for her role as Lacey Underall in Caddyshack. She asked if I was with the show. I told her I wasn’t. As luck would have it, Tim
Gordon [who runs the show] was passing by. He stopped and was able to answer Ms. Morgan‘s question. There was a bit of small talk and then she excused herself to set up. Tim and I spoke a bit before he went on stage to introduce the guests and welcome the crowd.

I decided to head over to the film room when suddenly Captain Battle and his Battle Team appeared.

His Battle Team was filming fan reaction as he walked through the crowd meeting and greeting young and old alike. I shook hands with the good
Captain and was awarded his first dvd movie. I’ll write more about that soon.

In the film room, Beatty and I watched a retrospective on Irwin Allen. Allen was first known for his tv shows, Lost in Space, Voyage to the
Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants. He then went on to become the King of Disaster Movies with The Posideon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno. Higashi came in. He’d been successful in getting Ethan to add more to his Star Wars piece. The three of us watched a short film called Contact from Beyond. The people who made the film were in the audience and the crowd enjoyed the experience.

That’s the look that Wild Bill Black had on his face when he saw Beatty and I re-enter the convention hall. Bill was talking to Marty Nodell and had made the trip to Tampa just to hang with Marty for the afternoon. It’s always great to see Wild Bill, who is busier than ever with his comic and dvd businesses.

I spent some time talking with Jesse “Cadre” Hansen and Mitch “Bubba the Redneck Werewolf” Hyman. It’s always a blast speaking to these guys as they love what they’re doing and their fan base continues to grow. Beatty came over to see some new stuff that Cadre had created. When Beatty gives praise, you know it’s earned. He and Mitch talked about Beatty doing a cover for a future issue of Bubba — so that looks like it’s going to happen.

Then is was time for the costume contest. It’s surprising to me, because of the size of the show, how many really good costumers are always there. You have to admit that it adds something to a show, when you see characters walking around and they look like who they’re supposed to be. The winner was a guy dressed as The Shadow — at the last show he came as Marv. In the picture above, that’s me with The Scarecrow from Batman Begins and Kevin from Sin City.

The only thing left to do was for Higashi to set up his Star Wars commission. That’s Pablo and his lovely wife pictured above. Higashi and I were in line as Pablo sketched for fans. Higashi asked me if I was going to try for a Stallone sketch. Because of the time factor, I said that I didn’t think so. We watched as Pablo completed a beautiful Vamperella sketch… then a Zombie pencil sketch… and then a Conan. Man, each sketch was a beaut. Higashi set up his commission which
Pablo was doing as a take-home piece. I then arranged to have a Stallone sketch done and mailed with Higashi‘s. I don’t know which character Pablo is going to do… but you can be sure, it’ll be sweet.

Sadly it was time for us to get on the road. Higashi had been able to get Ethan to add to his piece and Pablo to commit to a commission. I had been able to arrange for a Pablo sketch as well. We’d been able to visit with old and new friends, see some fun films, check out some wild costumes, and just have a great day. Tim’s next show is in November. If you’re able to make it, I can promise that you’ll have a fun time. Heck, you may even get to be in a picture with Steve, Big Beatty and Wild Bill!