Will Elder, RIP
Current mood: sad

You can find a short, illustrated tribute to the late Will Elder over in today's Fred Sez entry.

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Yet another Omnibus update...
Current mood: triumphant

Time for a quick status update regarding the long rumored publication of THE NEARLY COMPLETE ESSENTIAL HEMBECK ARCHIVES OMNIBUS.

Well, friends, I recently had occasion to go over the proofs of the entire thing, and after pointing out a few minor glitches that needed fixing, gave it my blessing. Turns out, with all the text set and shoehorned in between all that art, the thing clocks in at a whopping 912 pages, plus covers (included, incidentally, are a pair of entirely blank pages, suitable for sketching).

I've been informed that the book will be in stores on June 4th--which YEAR, they didn't say, but me, I'm hoping for 2008...

(Still don't know how much to charge for postage and such yet, though--but as soon as I know, I'll put out the word, and those of you hankering for a signed copy--or one with an original illo included as well--can finally send me those hard-earned shekels of yours.)

Funny thing--originally, it seemed like my collection would hit the stands roundabouts the same time as Mark Evanier's Kirby tome, but now, if everything works out as currently planned (and c'mon, what are the odds?...), we'll be hitting the shops the same week as Blake Bell's Steve Ditko overview! Either way, those are some way swell coattails to grab onto, no denying it!....

11:37 AM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Five!
Current mood: animated

Hey, art lovers--head on over to the

ACROSS THE PAGE GALLERY

to see the latest additions!

I promised you folks I'd post new pieces over there as I did 'em, and friends, I ain't no liar! Right up top, you'll see not one, not two, but FIVE brand-spanking new illos, each one of which is a recent commission (and with a half dozen currently in the pipeline, there'll be more a-comin''--watch this space!)

inasmuch as these ARE commissions, their content is naturally dictated by my always creative patrons! Hows about--in chronological order left to right--the many faces of the many Batgals? Or the Legion at play ("Have Duo Damsel use Bouncing Boy as a basketball, thrown through Colossal Boy's arms while playing against her other self" were my instructions!). The New X-Men, circa Storm's mohawk era. And another take each of the classic LSH and the Silver Age Superman Family--THAT'S what we have to show you today! And trust me, NEXT TIME, some of the situations get REALLY wacky! But later for that--in the meantime, check these five out!

And gosh, if you'd like one of your own, hey, you know what to do. No hard sell, merely a gentle reminder (said the hammer to the nail...).

11:28 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ditko times two!
Current mood: fascinated

Hey gang, I've just posted not one but two Ditko-centric, fully illustrated blog entries over at Fred Sez the past couple of days--why not got take a look?

1:20 PM - 5 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Double Talk!

You folks have been having things pretty darn easy lately, but that all ends now:

Yup--more Hembeck interviews! Two in fact!

They're both short, both done via email, and besides the predictable yadayada about my perpetually impending book, should you choose to check 'em out, you might even be able to turn up some fresh nuggets of useless info.

Such as, which super power would I most like to have and why? You''ll find that scintillating answer over here, in a Q&A conducted by Richard Vasseur for Jazma Online.

Or how about my ten favorite comics of all time? My list can be found here in this interview with Stefan Blitz over at the Forces Of Good website. Admittedly, for those of you paying any attention at all, my selections aren't going to come as any great surprise, save perhaps my choice for favorite Fantastic Four story of all time. Here's a hint: it involves a completely bald-headed antagonist who appeared in but a single issue of the classic Lee-Kirby run--and it's NOT the tale you're thinking of (though I DO like that one too...).

Thanks, Richard and Stefan, for your interest, and my thanks in advance to any of you who actually bother to go read even more of my web-babble--bless your little ol' hearts!

9:00 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Geneva conventions
Current mood: hopeful

It's official:

JULIE HAS GENEVA FEEVA!!

She finally made her final choice on Monday, and yesterday we dropped the letter confirming her acceptance into the mail--starting this fall, she'll be attending Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where she plans to double major in Fine Art and Physics. Gotta give the kid credit for dreaming big...

Though it took a while to reach this conclusion, in a lot of ways, it's appeared to be downright inevitable for a while now--Julie just had to admit it to herself and to the rest of the world. Personally, I think it was her best choice, and I have no doubt she's gonna do great there.

Picking a college isn't nearly as simple as it was back in my day. Back then, your mail box wasn't flooded with brochures from Universities located in all fifty states a full year before graduation from high school--not to mention the ease the Internet makes applying. As it turned out, Julie applied to ten colleges, all in New York State. That was probably about twice as many as necessary, but hey, compared to the girl who submitted thirty applications, she was relatively restrained!

How'd she do? Well, she got the thumbs down from Cornell (which we visited), got put on the waitist for Skidmore (which we didn't) and Vassar (the closest of all her options, a mere fifteen minutes from our house). She was accepted by all three SUNY schools she applied to: New Paltz (about 45 minutes away, which we naturally toured), Binghamton (which we likewise drove several hours to check out), and was offered a nice scholarship from Stony Brook, which, though located not far from where I grew up, we never quite made it down for a look-see. Then there was Sarah Lawrence (which we saw, and which offered Julie a modest scholarship), St. Lawrence (which offered a bit more of a substantial scholarship, but which we never actually visited), and Bard, which offered an even better scholarship. Bard--a mere hour's drive away--was the clear second choice, and last week, Lynn, Julie, Alec and I drove out there for a second look, just to make sure it hadn't somehow eked it's way up top into the first slot.

Nope. Great school, no doubt, but in the end, Julie picked Hobart and William Smith (it's actually two schools that started out separately--a men's college and a woman's college--that some years back combined all their resources--students from both colleges attend the same classes, live in the same dorms, eat at the same cafeteria, with only the male and female sporting teams having singular identifies, though officially, Julie is registered.only at William Smith College--follow that? Good--now explain it to ME!...). We visited HWS on three different occasions, and certainly didn't go into it figuring it to become our daughter's first choice, but, by golly gee whiz, everybody connected with the school couldn't have been nicer--even in comparison to all the folks at the OTHER schools who were likewise vying for our bucks! The fact that both the art and physics department looked tremendously appealing to Julie didn't hurt much either.

And you know what REALLY didn't hurt? The scholarships. After our initial visit in October, we were obligated to return in mid-February to show Julie's portfolio in the hopes of securing an art scholarship, which, thankfully, she did. A few weeks later, we were informed that Julie had also been chosen for a Trustee's scholarship, and if we showed up for a special day devoted to those lucky students, there'd be a chance we might even get luckier: three students from the pool of whoever attended that day (53, as it turned out) would, after individual interviews and such, be chosen for FULL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ALL FOUR YEARS!! Which is why we once again drove five hours upstate during a snow storm in early March!

Alas, Julie didn't win THAT coveted prize (if she had, there'd have been NO contest as to where she was going, trust me), but still, everything pointed towards HWS as the institution of choice, and now finally, the decision has been made! So, for the next four years, Julie will be going to school right across from Lake Seneca in Geneva New York.

Y'know, my kid has never been a voracious reader, and because of that, I may've underestimated just how bright she was. I mean, hey, I knew she wasn't DUMB by any means, but I don't know that I really expected all these fine institutions of higher learning to be so gosh-darn eager to have her in their intellectual clutches! A lot of the credit has to go to the folks at Poughkeepsie Day School, which Julie began attending in the ninth grade, particularly her art teacher, Wayne (who recommended HWS after his own daughter went there) and Jonathan, her physics professor who once called Julie "a great intellect", causing Lynn and I to wonder if this was the same individual who we'd been having some pretty silly conversations with over dinner all these years! But yeah, PDS really did a great job in bringing out the best in Julie and getting her ready for the next big step, and as schmaltzy as it may sound, her mom and I couldn't be any prouder of the little scamp!

Good luck, kiddo!

(And for couple of photos of Geneva and its newest citizen, check out today's Fred Sez entry!)

3:41 PM - 5 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

Politeness can save your life!
Current mood: relieved

Firstly, I sincerely hope all my fellow Earthlings have had themselves a swell Earth Day! All hail Terra!

Beyond that, I just wanted to share a quick note from my old buddy, Ron Marz, about my NEW buddy, Rafael Kayanan, who, as you may recall if you read my NYCC recap, I met for the very first time over this past weekend. Ron?...

One thing you didn't mention about ol' Rafael Kayanan -- he's a world-class knife fighter who has trained the military in knife fighting, and who also does fight choreography for films. So, in other words, it's a damn good thing you replied to his letter!

Phew--once again, Miss Manners saves my bacon!

8:44 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Pros and cons (again...)
Current mood: confused

On Saturday, I spent my day in The Big Apple at the 3rd annual New York Comic Con.

On Sunday, I spent my day preparing this photographic recap of my escapades, heavily annotated--go look!

12:12 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Pros and the Con!
Current mood: exhausted

On Saturday, I spent my day in The Big Apple at the 3rd annual New York Comic Con.

On Sunday, I spent my day preparing this photographic recap of my escapades, heavily annotated--go look!

11:40 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Biting Into The Big Apple
Current mood: excited

Just a quick reminder for those of you who live in the tri-state area--I'll be at the big NYCC event tomorrow, one day only (along with Lynn, daughter Julie, and her boyfriend, Alec--who've opted NOT to appear in Mario and Luigi outfits, sad to say...). I'm not a featured guest or anything--I won't have a table--but I AM scheduled to do a signing at the Image table between 3 and 4 on Saturday afternoon (alongside such stalwarts as Joe Kelly and CB Cebulski), so look for me there if you somehow think that's a good way to get a fair return on your admission fee! And bring along something to sign--the big ol' Omnibus isn't quite out yet, as you may well know. NEXT year for sure...

Mostly, I'll be wandering around the halls, meeting all sorts of good folks! Should be fun--y'know, I missed the first two of these, and so I figured that was a string that just had to be broken! Check back here in a few days for the recap!

3:27 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment