Always enjoy seeing Matt Wagner. He liked the Doris format and asked for a copy. He said Grendel got a movie deal. Also that he’s putting together a big Grendel anniversary book, which of course has to have Hunter Rose. I asked if the movie would be Hunter Rose. No, Christine Powell, he said.
When we told him we were expecting, he shared the father story he said he always likes to tell. His son was just a baby, and in the middle of the night they heard an enormous wretching sound. They ran in, and the little guy was covered head to toe in his own puke. Matt said, disregarding his own well being, or the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, and is an extremely hirsute, hair-chested man, he grabbed his son in his arms and held him close, covering himself in puke. He said, That’s when he knew he was a father. He said, When it’s your own kid, that stuff doesn’t bother you anymore, no matter how gross it is with other kids.
Talking about his “Batman and the Monster Men” books, he shows me the current issue, and asks if I know the cover of Detective #31. I’m flattered he’d think I know all my classic golden age covers, but I don’t. He said, “Oh, you’d know it,” and begins to describe it, and then I knew it was the famous castle on the hill, with a red hooded villain, and a menacing humongous Batman towering over the landscape. He’s using this story, and described his version of the red hooded Monk, who sucks blood, but keeps his hood on while he does it. So the hood falls over the luscious female victim’s neck, and you can’t see what’s going on, and the Monk leans back up, and blood is dripping out from under the hood. Great image.
He said he was designing a cover, so he referenced another classic Batman cover, I believe Detective #33, where Batman actually has a gun holster on his utility belt! Matt submitted his version of Batman with a gun, but DC told him there are certain rules that DC adheres strictly to, and one is that Batman is not allowed to carry firearms on any of his covers, even if it’s a reference to this classic cover. So he designed a new cover that he said he actually enjoys even better. In Matt’s issue, Batman does pull out a pistol, but it’s gonna be a tranquilizer or smoke gun or something, so that it’s okay for Batman to have it.
My favorite Batman gun cover is Detective 423, a gorgeous shot of Batman firing a huge rifle! You find out in the issue, however, that it isn’t really a rifle. It’s just a camera (a CAMERA??!?!?) that for some reason is shaped just like a rifle.
I approached Russ Heath for the God-knows-how-many-eth time. This con was a good sign, though. He actually said, he thought he’d have some time for a commission right now, and to get in contact with him. When I saw neither of us had anything going on at our tables (he sat directly behind me), I showed him the Doris book. To my surprise, later he popped over to my booth, and showed me a commission he’d recently done, in the EC style. He said that’s the closest he’s come to doing giant monsters lately.
He’s really funny. He tells jokes with such a deadpan expression, you can’t tell if he’s joking. He once again made a crack that at his age, it’s best not to send him money until his work is done.
When Elizabeth asked him how he was doing at the con, he seemed disappointed with how slow it had been for him. He said maybe he’d just try and shoot himself, but his friend told him he’d have to have pinpoint accuracy.
Later, he asked if she would mind watching his table while he got a quick bite to eat. His table had some war prints, but it also had a bunch of nude pin-ups. E felt a little out of her element there, and was glad when he came back.
I asked if he had ever been in the services, and about his photographic accuracy with all his drawings of tanks and planes. He said he never served, but wanted people who had served to see his art was respectful and true to them. He said he buys models of all his drawing materials. He pulled out a model of a plane, about eighteen inches long, and said this was something he was drawing recently. He was amazed at the accuracy of these models, how even the cockpits or wheel wells open accurately. So that’s how he does it!
I may have finally convinced Sergio Aragonez to do a monster pin-up, with a great deal of help from the double-teaming aid of Thomas Yeates, who was sitting next to him. I went up, introduced myself, and showed Sergio my book, and he said, “Well, if it’s not a humor book, I don’t really do pin-ups.” I said, “Oh, it IS a humor book.” He said, Well, I’m really busy. But I got him talking a little, and finally he said maybe to contact him in a few months. I said I’d be at San Diego, and he said that would be a perfect time to check back in. Then I slyly went right over to Thomas at the next table, and talked loudly about his pin-up, so that Sergio could hear. Thomas obliged, by telling Sergio, Oh, yeah, he’s got a great book, you’ve got to see it. I had to leave for a moment, but when I came back, I could tell Sergio had been asking about me. So is that guy okay? His book’s okay? That kind of thing.
Sergio did give me a talk. He said it’s a tricky thing having a book with so many pin-ups, because I’ll never know if people are buying the book for my work, or just for all the pin-ups. I told him it’s an unfortunate and anxiety-producing line I know I’m always walking. I want to be seen, but no one wants to see me, because I’m an unknown. I told him I’ve done other books besides the pin-up-flaunting stuff. I’ve got my fingers crossed for something from Sergio. I just adored his work when I was a kid.
I met William Stout. I spoke with William about publishing one of his sketches from his sketchbook, since he’s too busy for a commission. Given the size of my Doris books, he suggested a particular sketch, which I agree would look nice. I will definitely be in touch with him.
Frank Miller was listed as a special guest. I suspected he wouldn’t be sitting at artist’s alley or anywhere he would be approachable. I tried poking around to see if I could find him anywhere. He did a panel discussion, and had a one-hour signing, or something like that, both of which I knew would be a zoo.
It turns out, Frank pissed a lot of liberal San Franciscans off at his panel, when he announced he’d be doing a new Batman book, where Batman goes after the Middle Eastern terrorists and kicks their asses.
I investigated the scene for his signing at the Darkhorse booth, and hours before he arrived, he had a line so long and crazy, not even a bunch of the people who’d been waiting for hours were able to see him. However, Matt Wagner told me his son was able to get a sketch from Frank. Wow! If only I were the son of Matt Wagner!
Went and introduced myself to Scott Shaw, who it turned out had already picked up two copies of my book at his local comics shop, one for himself, and one to share, he said! He asked if I could sign a new copy for him. We shared Kirbyesque anecdotes and talked about Kirby’s monsters. Scott is so damn funny and entertaining. He has so many great stories. I really enjoyed myself. He said he’s too busy to do things like pin-ups for other books, but for my book he’d make an exception. He seemed especially taken by my Peeka Peeka, Peeping Tom of Mt. Rushmore, and he said he was glad I appreciated Stan Lee’s monsters with double consonants at the end of their names.
Scott talked about a bunch of Kirby monster stories. He said when the DC books had monsters, they felt like the old Japanese monster movies, but when Marvel had monsters, it was like “I was a Teenage Werewolf” or “I was a Teenage Frankenstein,” full of the raw, teen emotions and melodrama.
He told me of an early sketch he drew and actually gave to Jack Kirby. Kirby had a page of someone or other, “the Dog who Can’t be Beat!” facing off against someone with a big stick. Or maybe the dog wrestled the stick out of the potential “beater’s” hands. Scott drew his own version, “The Dog Who Can’t be Beat Off!” with a huge erection instead of a stick. He showed it to Jack, and Jack was really embarrassed, but accepted the piece, according to Scott.
Scott also talked about a Herb Trimpe Hulk story, with a giant monster in it that looked like a huge turd. Scott thought it was the ultimate “man’s fear of feces” symbolic story, and at the end, the giant turd monster fell off a building and landed with a graphic splat to its death. The final panel looked more like a steaming turd than a defeated monster, Scott said. It was the most turdlike image of the entire story. Scott then pulled out his sketch pad, drew me a sketch on the spot of his own creation, and an homage to this Hulk story. His character, “The Turd.” I told him I wished he spelled it with two D’s, or two U’s.