Michael D Hamersky On Comics Comments On... Paper & Ink  Issue One A New Fanzine From Steve Shipley With News & Reviews Of Small Press Comics - Top Left Photo:  A recent photo of Steve Shipley, Chairman of the UFO (United Fanzine Organization)! - Above Top Photo:  The front cover to the premiere issue of 'Paper & Ink' by Steve Shipley!

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3532:

I recently received an envelope in the mail from Facebook Friend Steve Shipley.

When I opened the envelope, I found that there was a twelve page fanzine enclosed in it.  The title was 'Paper & Ink', Issue One for $1.00.  With a blurb on the cover stating 'News & Reviews Of Small Press Comics'.

I didn't remember sending for this fanzine, but it had the UFO (United Fanzine Organization) logo at the bottom right of the front cover, which I am well aware of.

Since my interest in recent years has been mainly on 'small press comics', I immediately turned the cover page and started reading!

The inside front cover had a feature titled 'Notes From The Chief Bottle Washer...'.  It was a 'welcome' piece from Steve stating why I, among others, was receiving this premiere issue. 

You see, Steve, (like myself), is mainly interested in what is more and more being called 'hard copies' in this new digital age! He goes on to say that although he has "...nothing against 'digital comics' or as they are sometimes called, 'web-comics'.  They have their place and they have the entire internet to blossom and grow.  The purpose of this publication is to give center stage to those who still sell hard copy comics".

Steve goes on to explain further the purpose of his new fanzine, which reminds me of what I have been doing for a while via this blog you are reading, and at my own Facebook group and fan pages.

So with his stated purpose in mind... I continued to read on, going to page page three.

That page was a feature on 'The Comics of Larry Blake', a one page feature by Steve Shipley.  There I found out more about Larry, who has been drawing and publishing comics since the 1960s!   However, the odds are you haven't seen his stuff since they are not on the web!  Which is why Steve used one page of this twelve page fanzine to feature Larry.  Steve goes to give Larry's mailing address and suggest you send $5 for a sample of his comics and prepare to be entertained.

Page four started a six page feature titled 'Small Press Comics Listings And Reviews', where Steve reviews small press publications, and then gives a rating between 0 and 5.  

Some of the items that Steve reviews are also ones that I have review blogged on.  Others are publications that I know of the person(s) that are behind the creation of the publication, but haven't read the issue yet.  I found that Steve reviewed the publications fairly, and also gave the reader the mailing address to purchase the item from, if not found on a web site for sale.  Yes, even though this fanzine doesn't cover webcomics, selling the actual hard copy via an online web site presence is perfectly fine.

On the bottom half of pages six & seven, was a 'Spotlight On Matt Levin', a similar feature to what I have been doing here for several years.

Page ten was titled: "Important Stuff!", where Steve invited comics creators to send in their printed comics only for review.  He does not review webcomics or PDF comics.  There was also a 'house ad' at the bottom of the page for Steve's own comic book, 'The Peacemakers', which is a sci-fi series, now on its twelth issue!

Page eleven was 'The UFO Checklist', which is included to show you the reader, what else is available in small press publications by those publishers that are members of the UFO.

What is the UFO?  Here's what I found on one of their web sites:

The UFO is one of the longest-running co-ops (publishing clubs) on the small press scene, existing in one form or another since the 1960s! Like most small press co-ops, our mission is simple: members trade their comics or 'zines via the mail, and help to promote one another's books by including the UFO Checklist in each book they print, all in the interest of creating greater "buzz" for the hobby of small press comics. In addition, the club publishes a bi-monthly newsletter called Tetragrammaton Fragments, where the entire membership contributes reviews, editorials, and artwork. Once a year, the UFO releases its famed All-Comics Annual, a massive collection of new and classic material by everyone in the group.

The back cover was a color page, with another house ad by Steve; this one on his newest comic:  'Boondoggle!'.  Plus at the bottom was an UFO ad.  Steve is the current Chairman of this group.   Although I've found a few other websites for the UFO group... Steve shows the 'Official UFO' web site to be at this link.

Plus, the group has a Facebook Group Page at:  United Fanzine Organization.

There is also a 'community page' at Facebook, that takes the Wikipedia entry for the group and puts it online via Facebook.  Interesting reading on how the UFO came to be!

My comic book grade for this premiere issue of Steve's "Paper & Ink" is a NEAR MINT (NM) 9.4 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.  Steve presents the info in this publication in a 'hard copy' format, charges a very reasonable amount for it, $1.00 postpaid, and it contains reviews on the topic of small press publications.  It definitely 'hits' the mark it sets out for itself on the 'welcome' inside cover page.

Here is where YOU can purchase a copy from Steve:

Suscriptions are $2.00 for 4 issues!

Steve Shipley

1825 Eastgate Rd.

Toledo, OH 43614

My thanks to Steve for sending me the premiere issue!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!

Oh... And don't forget to make yourself eligible to win one of several prizes being given away at my 3rd Annual Black Friday / Cyber Monday Event!  See this link to do so.  It just takes two clicks... Click the 'Attending' link for this VIRTUAL ONLY event, and then click 'LIKE' on my Facebook Fan Page.  That's all there is to become eligible.  No Purchase Necessary!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,587 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Comments On... A Video Interview of Milton Caniff by Shel Dorf with Tom French as Cameraman Filmed November of 1982* *Thanks to Greg Koudoulian of THE OFFICIAL SHEL DORF FAN CLUB and ENTOURAGE for the DVD! Top Photo this column: Courtesy of Milton Caniff Estate, Matt Lorentz, and the OSDFC and E. Photos to the Right:  Top) A photo from the DVD interview. Middle) Milton Caniff receiving his Inkpot Award from Shel Dorf at the 1982 SDCC (photo courtesy of Alan Light). Bottom) The masthead to the column in the Steve Canyon Magazine that Shel Dorf wrote!     - - -

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3531:

This past weekend I played a few of the DVDs that Greg Koudoulian had sent me after joining his 'Shel Dorf Fan Club and Entourage' group, for my wife and youngest child to view.

The longest playing one was this interview with Milton Caniff by Shel Dorf, aided by cameraman, Tom French, who popped into view a couple of minutes during this very long interview.

I say 'very long interview' because it had at least 52 'chapters' total!  It went on for a long period of time, and would be a very good interview for Milt Caniff fans to see!

When I asked Greg if this was available for sale at either the Fan Club web site or his Facebook fan page, Planet El Cortez, he said no.

When looking for pics of Shel with Milt during this 1982 period, I found that this interview had been uploaded on YouTube within multiple videos, as it is so very long in playing time!  Here is the link to Mike Lynch's Cartoons blog, with the chapters broken up and then recombined into YouTube length videos.

Mike posts a bit of text with each segment, as to what the video covers.  Why Mike took the time to upload and post this video interview is a question that isn't answered, but I'm glad that he did, for those of you that have never seen it before.

Here are just a few of my thoughts while watching the full length video:

The video was filmed in November of 1982.  An undated Sunday morning at Milt's studio in Palm Springs, California.  Milt later mentioned that he had just finished the upcoming Christmas script for his Steve Canyon comic book strip. 

It was good to see Tom French pop in for a few minutes during this interview.  Tom had just started growing his beard, as Milt mentioned that Tom didn't have it at the 1982 SDCC, (Milt & Shel shown at the top middle photo of this blog post).  I had known Tom because he was in charge of the Dealers Room at the SDCC. As long time readers of this blog know... I first set up as a comic books dealer back in 1972 at the El Cortez Hotel where the San Diego Comic Con was then being held at.

Milt talked about his earlier comic book strip, 'Terry and the Pirates', which he did not own, but created.  He also talked about George, who continued the strip for the syndicate that owned it.

Milt also mentioned many others during the time this video played.  Bud Sickles had his respect, and he spent some time talking about Bud and his comic strip, 'Scorchy Smith'.

After a long time being interviewed... Milt showed how he inked, using a strip that would be dated January 16th of 1983.  He is shown inking the last panel of the strip.

Additionally, Milt is shown creating a commission of the 'Dragon Lady' for Joan and Charlie Roberts.  Milt mentions that he had told actress Joan Crawford that he patterned the 'Dragon Lady' after Joan.

There were at least 52 chapters in this video.  It is a very long one... But for fans of Milt Caniff, this is a 'MUST SEE' video.

Again, Greg does not have copies to sell, but you can see most of it at the link that I provided above taking you to where Mike Lynch uploaded it.

My thanks to Greg for sending me this video and other clips from the Shel Dorf Collection to view.

I urge those of you reading this to go 'Like' the Facebook fan page for Planet El Cortez, which Greg is starting to build up!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,584 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  As of Monday, June 27th, 2011, I'll be using my new laptop, where the default resolution is 'higher', so there may be some temporary glitches until I am used to the new resolution.

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On... 'The Sandman' A Hardcover (HC) Book Published By DC Comics  - Top Left Photo:  A CGC graded copy of Adventure Comics #74 from DC Comics cover dated May of 1942! - Above Top Photo:  The front cover to 'The Sandman' HC book published by DC Comics, using the same cover!

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3530:

I just finished reading this hardcover book (HC) that was first published in 2009.  Before I go into 'My Take' on this book, I want to post what the promotional info on the book shows what the book is about:

"In 1942, legendary creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby began a series of incredible stories for DC Comics - not least of which was "The Sandman"! Taking their inspiration from the previous Sandman character, but replacing his fedora and gas mask with a brightly-coloured costume, Simon and Kirby's "Sandman" was a masked adventurer, protecting the big city from crime with his sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy. With menaces drawn straight from the worlds of dreams and myth, these comics are as thrilling today as they were in 1942! Written by Joe Simon, who went on to create "Captain America", with art by Jack Kirby, later creator of "Fantastic Four", these are classic comics at their very best."

Of course I probably don't have to go into who the authors were for long time readers of this Blog... But for those of you that are new here, I want to add a few lines about the authors:

"Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created one of the most enduring American heroes in 1940 with the first issue of Captain America Comics from Timely Comics - the company that became Marvel Comics. Simon proved to be a brilliant editor, writer, penciller, inker, and businessman, serving as an editor for Archie, Harvey, Fox, Crestwood, and Mainline Publications - Simon and Kirby's own company. Jack Kirby is one of the most famous illustrators in comic book history. Having begun in the Fox Comics Bullpen in 1939, he teamed with Joe Simon on such seminal series as Blue Bolt and Captain Marvel Adventures."

Okay... So now that we are all on the same page... What's 'My Take' on this book?

First, although I am a 'Kirby Fan', and 'old'... I'm not that old to remember this original series as a kid.   I grew up reading comics in the late 1950's and was 'there' for the start of the 'Marvel Age of Comics'. 

Indeed, my first reading of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby's Captain America stories were in the reprint series of 'Fantasy Masterpieces' from Marvel Comics.  Great stuff for nostalgia, but the story and art was what I thought was a little 'primitive' during the mid 1960s, when I was much younger.  Indeed, I was a little surprised after viewing a cover of the series with a Captain America figure penciled by Jack Kirby & inked by Frank Giacoia to see a vastly different stylized Captain America story inside!

Yes, I did realize that the story was from 'The Golden Age of Marvel', but it was so different from what Stan & Jack were producing in October of 1966, when this issue #5 was cover dated!

Anyways, I found this HC book to be similar in presentation.  However, the editor of the book had the good sense to use a cover from Adventure Comics on the front cover of the book, instead of a new rendition of the character with his sidekick Sandy.  Nowadays a book on Simon & Kirby has a core 'market' that publishers can sell to, without having to resort to new material for the cover.

I show a CGC graded copy of the issue that this HC's cover is from in the top left of the blog post for comparison purposes. It was the first issue that Simon & Kirby's 'The Sandman' feature was used on the front cover of the Adventure Comics title after they started working on it.

Since this 'The Sandman' feature was the first thing that was published from the creative team, Simon & Kirby, after they left Timely Comics (pre-Marvel Comics), of course their work would look similar to the 'Captain America' feature they had started at Marvel Comics.

Quite honestly, I believe you have to develope a taste for this style of story & art presentation.   Really... As the storyline, dialogue, and artwork is from 'another time'.  I may be 'Old School', but this presentation style is even 'older'.

Yet I found myself enjoying the ten page stories in this HC.  Why?  Because the publisher had the good sense to use the original front cover to the issue that each story came from, and print it on paper that made me feel like I was 'reading' the original story.  None of that fancy glossy paper here! 

Very good job in presentation for someone picking up the HC book and browsing through it at a bookstore! 

Including the Table of Contents (TOC)!  Each story was documented as to where it was first published, and the cover date.  The two page TOC laid out precisely what the HC was going to present.

The 'Introduction' by John Morrow was a good choice.  That's because John is the publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector, and knows his stuff!

The interior pages collects World's Finest (Summer & Fall of 1942) #6-7, Adventure Comics (March of 1942 - Apr/May of 1945 & then Oct/Nov of 1945 - Dec 45 / Jan 1946) #72-97, and #100-102, and Sandman ( Winter of 1974) #1 from DC Comics.

Jack Kirby had just stopped his 'Fourth World' titles by that time, and this one-shot that he did with his old partner, Joe Simon, was a collaboration along with his then current primary inker, Mike Royer.

I found that I enjoyed reading this series that I had never really read, except for when some stories had been included in the 25cent editions of 'The Forever People' when DC had gone from 15cents to 25cents and included reprint stories by Jack, during the issues #4 - 9 back in the Aug/Sept 1971 - June/July 1972 period.  However, the distribution of those 'The Forever People' issues were kind of 'spotty' at best, and with Marvel Comics quickly reverting to 20cents, I stayed with Marvel Comics, instead of continuing with Jack's new works at DC.

Anyways... This HC book is a fine representation of the Simon & Kirby work during this time period of 1942 - 1946. Add to it the inclusion of the one-shot by Simon & Kirby of The Sandman #1 from 1974... This is a good book for someone that enjoys the Simon & Kirby team's works. The cost of obtaining the back issues, especially ones CGC'd as shown in the top of this blog post make this HC book's cover price of $39.99 a bargain!

My comic book grade for this HC book is a VERY FINE PLUS (VF+) 8.5 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale. Although the presentation of the HC is great... The book's contents are more than likely limited to those that have an appreciation of the Simon & Kirby output during those war years. As I said above, it does take an appreciation of the storytelling & art style to really 'get' this book.

Talking about 'getting' this HC book... Here is where I suggest you purchase it online, usually at a discounted price: The Sandman By Jack Kirby and Joe Simon! It would make a fine 'holiday gift' for those friends of yours that are into 'Simon & Kirby' works.

Here's the publishing info with the ISBN numbers if you prefer to buy it somewhere else:

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: DC Comics (August 18, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401222994
ISBN-13: 978-1401222994
Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches  

My thanks to DC Comics for collecting & publishing this book. A fine addition to those who have a library of Simon & Kirby books in their collection!

 ~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,584 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  As of Monday, June 27th, 2011, I'll be using my new laptop, where the default resolution is 'higher', so there may be some temporary glitches until I am used to the new resolution.

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 

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