This Saturday, May 4, is Free Comic Book Day, comics’ national holiday. Visit the link to find a participating store near you and to see which books will be available. Or, for more entertainment, read Glen Weldon’s list, a hilarious rundown by category of reader that includes the following:

There’s some great superhero books you need to check out. Fantastic Four, Hawkeye, Daredevil, Young Avengers, Wonder Woman, Invincible, Batgirl, Dial H for Hero. None of them are FCBD offers this year, I’m afraid.

Or this, which sums up the holiday well:

Historically, Free Comic Book Day has dutifully reflected the current status of the comics marketplace, which is to say: wholly dominated by superheroes, licensed tie-ins, and genre fare.

But this is a once-in-a-year opportunity to show the truly limitless breadth of comics storytelling, and FCBD offerings have never done a particularly good job of representing that. There are plenty of comics that fit your description, trust me. You’ll just have to buy them.

Glen’s going for light-hearted humor, so he doesn’t mention — or perhaps doesn’t share my opinion — why those kinds of books aren’t included in FCBD. That’s because it’s easier to make it a kiddy holiday, fun for the whole family! Comics for adults have been included in the giveaways in the past, but one of them resulted in legal prosecution, and now everyone seems to find it safer to make the comics innocuous.

Except the flip side of that is that most of the superhero books really aren’t the kind of things you want kids reading, with the violence and the grimness. One year, back in the day, I was helping give out books, and Marvel’s title, in particular, wasn’t safe for younger children. It’s really hard to turn down a kid who wants the hot hero book when it’s not appropriate for them, and it’s confusing for parents who don’t follow comics.

I know today’s audience for superhero comics isn’t children, but there’s a confusing mixed message going on where the day is mostly about the kids — look at Diamond’s ads, which mostly feature children and people in costume — and yet DC and Marvel’s main books aren’t suitable for them. Making a “kid-friendly” second book just highlights the conflict.

Wow, that turned grumpy. That’s why I admire Glen for making his points about the gaps in FCBD coverage with humor. But the fact is, in spite of rah-rah Team Comics cheerleading about Free Comic Book Day being so important, the day isn’t for people like me. It’s to get the “uninitiated” into the stores, and the emphasis on well-known and licensed properties helps with that, even if I personally never want to read another comic that started as a movie/book/cartoon/bubble gum wrapper or serves mostly as an advertisement for same.

That’s why I’m looking forward to Action Lab’s Princeless/Molly Danger flipbook. It’s fresh content with girl heroes in genres — superhero and fantasy — that work well in comics. And remember — Free Comic Book Day isn’t free for retailers, so if you’re enjoying the event, consider buying something!

Best Writer: Leia Weathington (The Legend of Bold Riley)
Best Artist: Juanjo Guarnido (Blacksad: A Silent Hell)
Best Webcomic: Evan Dahm (Vattu)
Best Small Press: Poorcraft: The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less by C. Spike Trotman and Diana Nock
Best New Talent: Kory Bing (Skin Deep: Exchanges)
Best Letterer: Carla Speed McNeil (Finder: Talisman)
Best Colorist: Kory Bing (Skin Deep: Exchanges)
Best Cartoonist: Carla Speed McNeil (Finder: Talisman)
Best Anthology: Smut Peddler, published by Iron Circus Comics
Best Publication Design: Blacksad: A Silent Hell, designed by Cary Grazzini
Readers’ Choice Award: E.K. Weaver

(Note that although Finder: Talisman was originally released in 2002, Dark Horse re-released it last year, which apparently made it eligible.)

The official notice should appear on the convention website sometime soon. Congratulations to all the winners and award nominees. And yay for Smut Peddler!

You have until Monday, April 22, to cast your vote in the 2013 Stumptown Comic Arts Awards. In my opinion, any list that includes Carla Speed McNeil and Steve Lieber is a good one, but I have a selfish motive for pointing this out — the book I helped put together, Smut Peddler, is up for Best Anthology.

The awards list — Best Writer, Best Artist, Best Webcomic, Best Small Press, Best New Talent, Best Letterer, Best Colorist, Best Cartoonist, Best Anthology, and Best Publication Design — is short and focused, so it won’t take too much time. You vote by filling out the form, then waiting for an email confirmation link (which may come the next day, so be patient).

In an uncertain world, older brands that have already built fans can seem like a safer choice for companies than the risk of developing something new. However, it’s no longer a sure thing that involved, informed buyers will automatically follow your brand name. Consumers often find it important to think about what really made those products so enjoyable in the first place.

Sometimes, it’s obvious. For instance, take Quantum and Woody, a buddy-comedy superhero book created and written by Christopher Priest and illustrated by M.D. Bright in the late 1990s. That book got its appeal from Priest’s unique take on the world and the entertaining way he expressed it — plus the way he was hanging out online to talk about it with fans.

Now comes news that old-property-resurrection publisher Valiant will be relaunching the book in July, since they bought defunct publisher Acclaim’s comic properties. The only problem is that it won’t be the book fans remember, since the creative team is writer James Asmus (who?) and artist Tom Fowler. And without Priest’s voice, I have no reason to try it. So much of the appeal for me was how hard Priest worked to make this book something unusual.

The biggest sign for me that this title won’t be what I remember? The Valiant CEO refers to Priest as “Chris”, which means he’s never talked to the guy. But hey! This zombie title will have variant covers! Isn’t that an old-new thing now?

In the first clip (4 1/2 minutes), Brad and I talk about what the comic is about, his music background, and what brought him to creating the comic.

In the second clip (4 1/2 minutes), we discuss the different distribution strategy Brad’s trying with Mixtape and the importance of making independent titles available for browsing in comic stores.

In the last clip (just over a minute), Brad tells us where to find preview pages and more news about Mixtape.

Huge thanks to Brad for being willing to talk with me on camera, especially since it was my first time taping! Please let me know what you think of this format, and if I should do more.

The new management made all kinds of great improvements, from plenty of volunteer staffing to clear signage, good-sized aisles, and the pipe-and-red-drape booths that made the space look professional. All the key indy publishers anchored the show — Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf, First Second, NBM, Oni — plus the publishers with GN lines, like Abrams and Pantheon. In between were artists tabling for the first time and those with plenty of experience and exciting new comics.

Jen Vaughn shows off The Adventures of Jodelle at Fantagraphics

I’ll be writing more about the great books I found when I’m home and can read them, but I did fangirl a bit in getting some signed from Lucy Knisley (Relish), Laura Lee Gulledge (Will & Whit), and Darryl Cunningham (How to Fake a Moon Landing), shown here with Brigid Alverson as he signs my copy.

Brigid, Heidi MacDonald, Jennifer Hayden, Erica Friedman, and I had a wonderful lunch, full of great conversation, at the cafe downstairs. They only had a few sandwich and salad choices, but they were fresh and tasty, and the talk was terrific. It was the best way to relax and take a break from being on my feet, and it was very convenient to be able to stay on site to eat. After lunch, I returned to the show floor and wondered where all these people came from? It was crowded, which was hopefully good for business for the exhibitors.

It was also a good show for catching up with a couple of Richmond friends. Chris Pitzer’s AdHouse Books was there with Boulet’s Noirness, a much-anticipated and popular comic. I also chatted with Christopher Irving, who is prepping for a move back to Virginia. Later, when I visited the table of Dean Haspiel and Seth Kushner, I was surprised to see that Christopher had been one of the participants in Kushner’s new Force Field Fotocomix. That shouldn’t surprise me, since the two worked together on Leaping Tall Buildings.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take in any of the programming. Instead, I tried filming a video interview with Brad Abraham, author of indy comic Mixtape. (I had a miniature video camera and wanted an excuse to try it.) I won’t know until I get home whether it worked, but if it did, I’ll post the clips. I really appreciated his willingness to play along with my experiment!

There’s still time, if you’re in New York City, to check out the show today from 11-6. Here are a few more of my photos:

Jana Christy shows off her happy punk paper dolls

Leigh Walton at Top Shelf demonstrates just how big the limited edition hardcover of Alan Moore’s Unearthing is

I was really happy to meet Connie Sun, since I really like reading her webcomic. I was glad to note that she wasn’t always as morose as some of her strips seem — it’s artistic exaggeration! Just like the nifty animals she draws herself interacting with.

I haven’t read this guy’s alternative history steampunk comic, but I really liked the way he themed the booth to match his material, from the old-style front bunting to the muslin cover to the stovepipe hat with a hole in it.

As titled, look! People actually drawing!

I got a chance to talk with Alisa Harris, who does Cooking Up Comics and drew the party invite. Co-host Lucy Knisley, whose book Relish I predict will be one of the hits of the show tomorrow, is over her left shoulder.

It was also fun to talk with other journalists, including Heidi and Alexa. (On the left is Dre, artist.)

I met several excited young artists who didn’t realize that, when I started this gig (20 years ago or so), you could count the number of women talking about comics on one hand. Now, there’s an overflowing room of women making them. When told what I do in comics, some asked, “how do you get to be a critic?” I said, “tell other people what you think and don’t shut up.” (And bless the organizers for including reviewers as a comic craft on the invite.)

My only concern is that it was noisy enough that we were often shouting to talk to each other, so I hope I still have a voice tomorrow. Otherwise, it was an amazing, rejuvenating experience that was a terrific prep for the show.

Update: Alisa Harris, one of the organizers, has a great writeup of the event, with more pictures (including one I’m in).

Maybe that’s just me being old-fashioned or nostalgic, but if that’s your interest, their newest digital-first title is perfect: they’ve announced Batman ’66, a comic inspired by the classic TV show.

The stories will be written by Jeff Parker and illustrated by Jonathan Case, who drew the likeness-inspired art shown here. Parker’s got a good ear for lighthearted superheroics, too. According to Case, “DC licensed the rights to all the actors from the 60s TV show (!)”. Robot 6 has more art samples. This interview with Parker suggests he’s going to do a good job walking the line between entertaining and too cheesy, as well as plans to introduce Batman characters into that world that never appeared on the show, such as Killer Croc.

This is just part of a bigger licensing plan, with merchandise based on the show also coming available, including costumes and action figures. Still no word on the DVD release, though — that seems much more complicated.

Now, the steering committee has released a statement that addresses how they’re attempting to address the problem fairly, and the choice benefits us all. The show will greatly expand their space. They’re using the full hotel ballroom, which allows a table count of approximately 280 (compared to last year’s 210).

They’re clear about the financial needs — they want exhibitors to make money at the show, so they’re balancing growth with a scale that will allow that. It’s also clearly labeled an experiment, not necessarily a permanent expansion. Whether it continues will depend on feedback and business.

Unfortunately, the growth still won’t cover everyone who wanted to sign up to exhibit. To make up for the confusion, those wait listed who do not eventually receive a table will get two free passes to the show and a free SPX tote bag designed by Dan Clowes, which is a nice gesture and an indication of just how artist-focused SPX is. Kudos to the organizers for handling this graciously. I’m making my reservations to attend now, because I can’t wait to see a bigger, better SPX.

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly has as a cover-featured tag line “DC Comics’ Big Gay Controversy”.

The mention inside, in the short takes “News and Notes” section, doesn’t live up to the billing. The piece is headlined “The Ender’s Game Controversy” and mentions how

“Card’s incendiary views have postponed one project: He was hired to co-write an issue of Adventures of Superman, but artist Chris Sprouse announced March 5 that he had decided to quit the DC Comics venture.”

The entire article is four paragraphs: an introduction on how there’s an Ender’s Game movie coming, a paragraph on Orson Scott Card’s bigotry, the paragraph I quoted (with another sentence from Sprouse), and a speculation paragraph on what it might mean for the movie. That’s it. If I was DC, I’d be ticked they were using the company name for this when it’s really about whether anyone will react to the film based on Card’s views, particularly since he didn’t write the screenplay.

I wonder if this was intended to be a bigger piece, since a lot seems to be missing from it — like information on how Adventures of Superman was an anthology title and will be continuing with other creators, actual mention of controversy regarding the comics, and a note that both DC and EW are owned by the same company. Here’s the article as it appeared on my iPad (click for bigger):

The way it works is, jury members walk the show on the afternoon of Saturday, April 6, picking contenders for the award based on “quality of artwork”. (So if you’re a great writer but an ok draftsperson… ?) They then convene and select six Awards of Excellence to be named that evening.

Who are the jury members? Quite the illustrious group: Karen Berger, Gary Groth, Nora Krug, David Mazzucchelli, and Paul Pope. Winners will have their work exhibited at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art at the Society of Illustrators from May 21 to July 6, 2013. Any item chosen by a jury member will be acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library for a newly-established MoCCA Arts Festival collection, to be expanded annually.

This is a really neat idea, as a festival-specific prize, and I hope it goes well. If you’re exhibiting, google images of the jury, stick by your table that afternoon, and be ready to give them samples.

Update: (March 26) The Society of Illustrators has released new submission guidelines for the award. If you are an artist attending the show with a new self-published work, you may send in five copies by THURSDAY, March 28. So not much advance notice, and this section is hilarious!

Cartoonists published by established independent publishers (not to mention corporate ones) like Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, D&Q, Secret Acres are not eligible; those cartoonists have already achieved fame and wealth and are not eligible for an award designed to discover new and emerging talent and to reward youth and pluck. If “youth” and “pluck” do not describe you, do not submit your work.

“Fame and wealth” just because one of those publishers put out your work? Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Clearly, they’re going for humor in this release, since they go on to say about the judges, “Ties will be determined by arm-wrestling in the privacy of their luxurious juror suite.”

By the way, if you’re in the city for the show, you may want to visit a special exhibit the Society of Illustrators has on until May 11, The Art of Harvey Kurtzman.

Highlights include: Kurtzman life drawings from 1941; rarely-seen late ’40s strips done for the New York Herald-Tribune as well as for Marvel’s Stan Lee; key covers, strips, and full stories Kurtzman created for MAD, Frontline Combat, Two-Fisted Tales, Humbug, and Help!, sometimes in collaboration with fellow comics geniuses Will Elder and Jack Davis. In addition, “Kurtzmania”, numerous rare artifacts and ancillary publications seldom seen by the public, will be on display.

It won’t be Marvel, since they’re busy crashing comiXology’s servers by giving away 700 free digital first issues. Digital comics are great until you can’t read them because too many other people are trying to do the same thing. Just a reminder that you don’t really own any of the comics you get through them.

Anyway, Marvel is doing too well with its movies, still rules the comic direct market, and they’re actively reaching for new markets, as seen by their recent digital announcements. Much as we hate their policies, their lack of bookstore support (such as their refusal to keep collections in print) and their head honcho’s love of cost-cutting to the bone means that comics are still a viable business for them.

So I’m unsure whether to bet on DC or Archie. Few people making decisions at DC these days at the highest levels have the kind of history with or love for the comic business their chiefs used to have. However, there’s still too much of a “we want to be Marvel” attitude for them to strike out in such a fresh direction. If something that drastic was to happen, I’d bet on a simple shutdown instead of reprint publications.

So I guess I’ll pick Archie. Their newest product, Archie Double Double Digest #238 for $5.99, provided hours of reading with over 300 pages of content, all of which was reprint. The stories came from all eras — in fact, it was hard to place many of them once we get into the time where fashions become more generic, since the plots, if not involving fads, seem timeless. The only obvious ones were the 1940s reprints in a section titled “From the Vault of Archie”, which I’m guessing were repurposed from the recent Archives line. Particularly if you’re targeting a young audience, if they’re never read them before, it’s a great value, regardless of when they originally came out.

I know they’re talking to the adults because aiming websites at kids requires a lot more legal scrutiny, and they didn’t do a very good job of separating this content from the rest of their material (which is decidedly NOT kid-safe), with the blog announcement appearing on the regular site. I read four separate posts before I knew that the site had its own URL (which redirects to a regular DC blog subcategory).

A major piece of the blog is aimed at promoting the Capstone contest I wrote about yesterday. (That promo page makes me wonder who put this subsite together, since it promotes the Warner Bros. studio in California, not the actual comic editorial office in NYC, as “where the DC Comics magic happens!”)

They’re also soliciting contact information for a sales newsletter, promising deals in return for building an avenue to sell directly to customers without having to go through direct market shops, which are stereotypically non-kid-friendly. That’s also in keeping with Warner’s increased emphasis on selling directly, with its WBShop.com and other sites.

While I support getting kids to read comics, this site simply reminds me of how little of DC’s current output is safe for younger readers. As Graeme points out, the “This Week in DC Kids Comics page … only features two comics, one of which — Superman Family Adventures — has already been cancelled.” That’s ok, though, because their DC Nation app offers five first issues for free of series like Tiny Titans and Superman Adventures. Once they’re published, online, it doesn’t matter how old they are.

Autoptic is a “one-day festival of independent culture featuring comics, zines, prints, posters, music, and art.” It will be held in Minneapolis, MN, on Sunday, August 18; it’s free to attend; and the special guest announced so far is noted comic legend Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets).

For their first show, they are jurying the exhibitor applications. Submissions are now open and will be accepted until March 31, with applicants notified by April 15. I want to visit, so I hope all kinds of terrific comic artists and publishers apply.

Children in grades 3-6 are asked to write about the “real” superhero in their lives.

Children enter the contest by describing the human powers, such as courage, generosity, or imagination, which make their selected hero special…. Entries will be judged on originality, creativity, and heroism. The top five entries will be posted online, where kids from across the country will vote to determine the grand prize winner!

Entry deadline is April 15. Voting for the grand prize winner begins May 15, with the winner announced at Book Expo America on May 30, 2013.

The top five win a set of Man of Steel chapter books, with the grand prize winner getting a trip for four to the DC Entertainment offices and Warner Bros. Animation Studios in Burbank, California, plus “a collection of DC Comics and Capstone merchandise”. The person written about will have $2500 donated to the charity of her or his choice.

I find it interesting that the NYC office of the actual comics isn’t included in this prize, nor do they seem to have been involved in the contest.

Saucer Country #14

Yeah, I know the news broke a month ago when writer Paul Cornell posted that his series Saucer Country would end with issue #14, due out in April, but I didn’t talk enough about this series when it might have done some good, so consider this a last apology.

I liked Saucer Country, and I’m surprised that more people didn’t. The biggest discussion in the U.S. over the past few years has been about politics and the idea that the wrong kind of people (however a particular group defines that) are affecting or controlling things. Cornell’s series tackles both, lightly fictionalizing conspiracy theories into the idea that a serious candidate for President of the United States has really seen aliens. That she herself is of Hispanic origin plays with another layer of national debate.

Ryan Kelly’s art was also excellent, somehow blending candidates and greys in such a way that they both seemed plausible. Then there was the professor, who knew all about UFO mythology while not being sure he believed it himself. Until the two naked people from the Pioneer 10 plaque (launched in 1972) show up and talk to him, a device I found wonderfully intriguing. Is he hallucinating? Seeing ghosts? Receiving alien messages warped into a form his brain can comprehend? The whole book was interpretable that way — which maybe answers my question about why people didn’t take to it.

More to the point, I think it’s that periodical comics are not a mass medium anymore. Those who follow monthly puzzles have wandered away — no more the newsgroup analyzing Sandman every time a new issue comes out — and the readers who would want to play along read in larger chunks. There was a collection, Run, out shortly before the holidays, and I suspect sales of that have factored into the decision to end the series. At least there’s enough notice to wrap it up in a hopefully satisfying way. Cornell is promising more of a conclusion to come sometime in the future, if he has anything to say about it, and depending on when the rights revert.

In part two of this interview with John Wells, comics historian and author of the new book American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964, Wells discussed his growing interest in comics as a child, leading him to discover all that he could about the world of comics.

In this final part, Wells reveals his tentative steps into writing for some historical comic book zines, leading to much bigger things after an eventful, unexpected phone call from his first fan.

When I started reading comics, I made lists of everything. Members of the JLA. Their secret identities. Real names of the LSH and their home planets. Lists of Flash villains. All the comics DC published and their frequency. Did you do the same?

Yep! I started off trying to create my own indices to every DC title, initially in an effort to figure out where a bunch of the unsourced reprints I had originally appeared. I scoured letter columns, house ads, and anything available to find story titles from comics that I didn’t actually own. Who knew that the Grand Comics Database would eventually make this all so easy?

I ultimately created my own DC reprint guide, which I still maintain to this day. And even with the GCD, there are STILL reprints that I’ve been unable to source. Every now and then, Mark Waid will find a source for one of those mystery stories and shoot me an email.

Somewhere along the line, I decided to create a chronological list of all of Aquaman’s appearances, and that evolved into my compiling actual appearance lists of all the Justice Leaguers.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

What made you want to “list/organize” the material in the comics, and how soon after you started reading did you start doing this?

I think this started in the early 1980s, initially as just a fun project. When Crisis on Infinite Earths came along, with all those cameos in every issue, I started to take my lists more seriously and began the process of creating checklists for every character that appeared in the series.

Did this become the beginnings of your DC database, which you ultimately shared with DC staff and writers?

That’s exactly what it was. The first time I ever did anything publicly with this was when I created a list of every character that had shown up in Crisis and what issues they appeared in. Not long after it ran in the Comics Buyer’s Guide, I got a phone call from a fan writer in Texas who’d tracked me down and wanted to compliment me on how well I’d done identifying everyone without access to George Pérez. His name was Mark Waid, and that call changed my life.

It was Mark who suggested I join Murray Ward’s group that was then publishing DC indices via Eclipse Comics. Since the indices tracked appearances of lots of DC characters, I started expanding on my DC hero lists as a personal resource, adding in villains and eventually supporting cast members. All of this was compiled in pencil on notebook paper, and I had several hundred pages of data by 1990.

Mark had prodded me a few times about transcribing my files to a word processor so that I could save them to disc. I finally took the plunge when I was hired by Mayfair Games to provide character lists for their companions to DC’s three-hole-punch version of Who’s Who. Anyway, Mark (as always) knew what he was talking about, because I was able to transfer my word processor disc data to my first computer in 2000.

Was this a hobby, or did you have bigger intentions for the material?

It was basically a hobby, but I did have aspirations of publishing the lists. CBG was going to serialize them at one point, but they never got past the first installment.

Can you share the secrets of your methodology about archiving data?

There really isn’t a lot to it. The major categories are separated into files by type (heroes, villains, etc.) and letter. The sub-categories, like alien races or news media, are single A-Z files.

In the old days, I just typed in character appearances each weekend after reading the latest comics. When my life got crazy with personal stuff in the past decade, I’d jot down the appearances on paper and transcribe it into my files every few months or when time allowed. At the moment, I’m back on a weekly schedule, adding new hero appearances first, then villains, and finally all my sub-categories.

Who did you share this material with? (If that’s not a secret…)

Mark, Kurt Busiek, Murray Ward, Mike Tiefenbacher, and Robert Greenberger have seen it in full. Mike, in fact, was instrumental in helping upgrade my lists, alerting me to several minor old series and characters that I’d missed, presciently lobbying to include every Quality Comics character that DC had not yet revived, and personally reviewing hundreds of issues in his own collection to give me data I lacked.

What happens more often, though, is that people contact me, and I use the lists myself to track down the info I need. Mark recommended me to Kurt Busiek prior to the launch of The Power Company a decade ago, and Kurt would often ask for character types or locales or whatnot. I’d then search my files for whatever might fit the bill. Questions like that directly inspired me to add several new sub-categories to my list, not to mention constructing a massive (and still far from complete) DC travelogue with details on every fictional locale in the DC universe.

I’ve continued to do something like this on a few occasions for Greg Weisman in relation to Young Justice. For instance, when he was looking for an established Chicagoan who could be John Jones’ neighbor, I tossed him several possibilities from books like Blue Beetle and Hawkworld. He ultimately chose Ida Berkowitz from Daring New Adventures of Supergirl.

When did you decide to write about comics? What is your earliest work (published or not)?

It was just a case of pure love of the characters and the form. In high school, I created my own fanzine for fun. I had a wonderful English teacher who actually encouraged me by printing a few copies on school equipment that I could pass out to friends. A couple years later, I wrote some long-winded articles on the history of comic books that ran in the school newspaper and actually appeared in the local paper.

Did you write “Hero Histories” for Amazing Heroes also?

Yep! A piece on Man-Bat comes to mind, and I also worked up a featurette on DC’s international heroes for AH #50. My big break, such as it was, came earlier, when Don and Maggie Thompson took the editorial reins of The Comics Buyer’s Guide and put out a call for material to fill the early issues. I submitted a piece called “The Super Friends Syndrome” that addressed comics stories that were later declared non-canonical. It was pretty amateurish, but Don sent me this wonderful, heartfelt letter suggesting changes and revisions that would bring it up to snuff, closing with the assertion that “I think you’re worth it.” With Don’s encouragement and editorial pencil, I wrote many pieces for CBG over the years, and I think I improved a lot in that time.

Aside from CBG, I’ve contributed regularly to Gene Kehoe’s Iowa-based It’s a Fanzine from the mid-1980s right up to the present.

You eventually wound up doing some work directly for DC. How did that come about?

It was a long and winding road. After I got my computer in 2000, I logged onto the DC message boards and, because I thought there was some sort of rule against using your own name, called myself Mikishawm (after a locale in the Golden Age Mark Lansing series that I’d recently read). It worked out, because the name gave me a bit of mystique as I started earning a reputation as a DC expert. Eventually, someone launched a thread on the Batman boards called “Mikishawm, I Think I Know Who You Are” in which I answered questions about Batman and wrote detailed histories about all sorts of characters in the series. On top of that, I was working up articles about and timelines for various DC heroes that were posted in Michael Hutchinson’s Fanzing. I look back in amazement that I was so prolific.

Meantime, I was a regular visitor to Bob Rozakis’ digital “Answer Man” column at Silver Bullet Comics, often e-mailing him answers to reader questions that he hadn’t tackled himself. Eventually, he asked me to sub for him for a couple summers while he took part in an annual teaching gig. That was a lot of fun, and I tackled arcane subjects like the history of kryptonite, Dollar Comics, and the Golden Age Daredevil, among other things.

At one point, Bob was asked by DC to write a couple hundred 200-word descriptions of various properties, and he recruited me to help. We had a four-day deadline so that was a wee bit stressful. I adored working with Bob and being his “official unofficial researcher”. I was really flattered when he offered the feature to me when he retired. Time was at a premium for me, though, so I had to pass. And I think all of Bob’s fans will agree that there’s only one Answer Man.

Unbeknownst to me, Bob Greenberger had been following all of my online activities and sent me a fan letter of sorts in 2002, inviting me to collaborate on an in-house DC Universe timeline that he’d been developing. We spent years working on that, but it never really got the use it deserved. Kurt Busiek was the only person who regularly inquired about the placement of past events when he was working on plots.

In his capacity as head of DC’s Collected Editions, Bob also indulged my love of great reprint collections. He would hit up Mark Waid and/or me for nominations on a lot of the anthology collections like Superman in the Eighties, DC’s Greatest Imaginary Stories, Batman Cover to Cover, and the Weird Secret Origins facsimile giant. I even got to write some historical essays in a few books, ranging from a reissue of Batman: Tales of the Demon to the lavish Crisis on Infinite Earths Compendium. I’m proudest, though, of Batman in the Eighties, where I not only got to select what stories were reprinted — including the cover art — but got to write the extensive bridging material between the comics.

I remember one insane deadline where Bob and I had to write something like 450 questions for a licensed Batman trivia game literally overnight. And then I had to go to my day job a couple hours later. Man… Those years working with Bob were a joy, and I rarely had as much fun as when we were collaborating on the timeline or creating fun reprint collections for fans like us.

Your character database came in very handy for helping writers researching older character appearances. Aside from Mark, Kurt, and Greg, are there any others you remember?

Bob Greenberger, Roger Stern, Phil Jimenez, and Peter David come immediately to mind. When Bob was at DC, I did a lot by proxy. Editors like Joey Cavalieri and Dan Raspler would hit Bob up with a question, I’d give him the answer, and he’d relay it back to them. I remember answering questions for Brad Meltzer about Red Tornado and Ronnie Raymond’s family when Identity Crisis was coming out. Kurt remarked at one point that he was referencing my files for Geoff Johns, too.

In 2006, Mark, Bob, and Kurt rallied behind an effort to sell or barter the database to DC, but the guy who ultimately responded declared that it didn’t fit their needs.

Beyond my database, I’ve had a lot of people hit me up with pure DC and general comics historical questions. Denny O’Neil was one of the first, and more recently, Marc Tyler Nobleman and Larry Tye have been in touch when they were digging into the creation of DC’s most iconic heroes. There’s even a book about women’s footwear and pop culture by Rachelle Bergstein where I’m quoted on the history of Wonder Woman’s boots.

You also frequently worked with the DC Licensing department. What kind of work did that involve?

Ultimate Wonder Woman Encyclopedia

While I was reviewing Bob Greenberger’s entries for the licensed Superman Encyclopedia in 2009, Steve Korte and Chris Cerasi at DC approached me about co-writing the Wonder Woman Encyclopedia with Phil Jimenez. Glutton for punishment that I am, I agreed to this assignment, too, and spent several months whipping out entries. My character lists were extraordinarily handy on this one.

Chris and Steve both continued to hit me up with various requests after that, including suggestions and art scans for The DC Vault and The Batman Vault. The culmination was a glorious assignment that required me to identify writers, artists, and dates on a couple thousand pieces of artwork for Taschen’s 75 Years of DC Comics. (I’m actually working with Taschen again now, identifying more pieces and writing captions for the new art that appears in their five-volume reissue of the book.)

Once the east coast licensing division closed down and Steve and Chris were gone, I figured there’d be no more DC projects in my future. Instead, Ben Harper in the west coast department surprised me. I fact-checked DK Books’ Ultimate Batman Guide last year and its Superman companion in the past few months.

Did you ever get the chance to travel to NYC to see the legendary DC Library?

I did not, although when Steve Korte took charge of the library this past year, he extended a standing invitation to give me the full tour if I’m ever there. Admittedly, this offer was made to someone who doesn’t drive, hates crowds, has never attended a comic book convention, and values solitude over all, so I don’t expect (or have the desire) to ever set foot outside Iowa. But I was genuinely touched by the gesture.

Thank you, John Wells! American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964 is in comic shops this week, as well as other fine booksellers, and both physically and digitally from the TwoMorrows website.

In part one of this three-part interview with John Wells, comics historian and author of American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964, he discussed the background and secrets of his new book. Today, we jump way back into his personal history to learn of his early interests in comics, strips, and collecting.

Everybody’s got a good story about why they started reading/buying comic books. What’s yours?

Batman #202

I actually don’t remember when I first started reading — well, looking at — comic books, but it must have been 1968, when I was four years old. In the mid-1970s, we discovered copies of Detective Comics #372, Batman #202, and Lois Lane #83 in our storeroom. I’ve assumed they were my first, even if I have no recollection of them. I do recall getting copies of the 1968 Gulf Oil Wonderful World of Disney comics/article ‘zine that was advertised on the TV show at the same time.

The turning point was in the wake of a family funeral in 1969. I was trailing after an older distant cousin and was awestruck by the number of books in his bedroom. One of them was a copy of Walt Disney Comics Digest (#11, I think), and I must have seemed so envious that he took pity on the little kid and gave it to me. It occurred to me that I had another book like this and, sure enough, I dug a battered copy of WDCD #4 out of our magazine rack at home.

Having grasped the concept that this was a regularly published series, I convinced my parents to buy each issue for me over the next several years (along with the odd copy of various traditional-sized Disney comics). Starting in 1972, I also regularly read a slim weekly Disneyland Magazine tabloid with two-page spreads featuring short stories and serials. They were Prince Valiant-style (i.e., captions beneath panels) but were still comics to me. Unbeknownst to me, my wonderful mother noticed an advertisement for back issues and bought the handful of early editions that I’d missed as a birthday surprise. She was the greatest!

In the summer of 1973, I was inspired to create my own newspaper on notebook paper and tore through recent editions of the Fairfield Ledger for raw material. This soon evolved into my creating comic books devoted to each of the four story strips that I was clipping from the Ledger: Buz Sawyer, Steve Canyon, Captain Easy, and Gasoline Alley. That last one, by Dick Moores, remains my all-time favorite comic strip, what with its small-town vibe and generally brilliant cartooning. As a humor-continuity feature, it was my bridge from the lighter-weight Disney stuff to more adult fare like Canyon and the superhero comics in my future.

Gasoline Alley by Dick Moores

By the spring of 1974, I’d starting watching reruns of the Adam West Batman show and — when I was stranded at home with chicken pox for a week — prevailed on my Dad to pick up a copy of Batman #256 that I’d seen at Batavia’s little grocery store a week before. That, along with rummage sale copies of Superboy #160 and Detective #413, was pretty much the extent of my superhero collection until an older kid on the schoolbus named Todd took me under his wing, showing me the issues in his collection and lighting the flame. I was particularly intrigued by his copy of Shazam #12, which I initially thought was a continuation of the late 1960s Shazzan cartoon. It was, in fact, so much better than that, and Shazam was indisputably my favorite title for the rest of the decade.

Todd and I eventually met for a swap meet and, like my older relative, he took pity on me and gave me a bunch of his beloved superhero issues in exchange for Disneys and Harveys that I’m sure didn’t appeal to him as much. Many of the comics I got in trade were practically new, and I was able to buy the next issues of several of them off the racks within a few weeks. (Eventually, to my enormous regret, I cashed in my unbroken runs of the Disney digest and tabloid at a rummage sale to finance my burgeoning superhero habit.)

What were your favorite books/characters when you started reading? Has that changed over the years?

Early on, I had a great fondness for the Barks Duck stories (though I wasn’t conscious of anyone creating them) and Al Hubbard’s Scamp. At DC, my big three were Shazam (a combination of the kids-turned-heroes concept and the outstanding 1940s reprints), Action Comics (with its appealing double-feature aspect of Superman and the alternating back-up strips with the Atom and Green Arrow & Black Canary) and The Flash (whose suburban backdrop and wife made him more recognizable and realistic to me than any other superhero).

Obviously, different things resonate at different ages, and a great creative team will always get my attention. If you’d talked to me in the fall of 1980, I’d have told you there were no comic books better than Claremont & Byrne’s X-Men and Stern & Byrne’s Captain America. Nowadays, Action Comics is once again one of my favorite superhero titles, thanks to Grant Morrison, and it even has great back-up stories courtesy of the underrated Sholly Fisch. Thom Zahler’s Love and Capes is the spiritual descendant of those mid-1970s Flash stories I cherished, though, with relatable human situations and charm. It’s easily the best and most realistic superhero comic published today.

You seem like a mostly DC guy. Is this an accurate assumption? What other publishers or characters do you read?

DC is my first love, and my specialty, but I read a little bit of everything. Back in 1974, I sampled some Marvels, but I got frustrated with never getting a complete story. Given the limits of a ten-year-old’s budget, it wasn’t hard to focus exclusively on DCs. I did get hooked on Spider-Man after the newspaper strip debuted in 1977, and I starting buying Amazing in 1978 when Marv Wolfman took over the book. As my funds increased, I kept adding Marvel titles to my regular purchases, and I was buying most of the major books by the end of 1980.

After that, I started sampling all the indy titles that exploded during the decade…lots of the early Pacific Comics. Fantagraphics. First. Eclipse. Renegade. And thanks to Gladstone, I resumed my love affair with Disney comics as an adult. These days, I don’t follow as many titles, but you’d never know it from the size of my to-be-read piles. The number of comic strip compilations these days has me in a state of bliss. There are too many greats to name ‘em all, but the collections of Mary Perkins: On Stage and Dick Moores’ Gasoline Alley are my favorites.

What was it in the comics that inspired you to discover the history behind the comics?

Before I could even read, I remember seeing this great image of the 1920s pie-eyed Mickey Mouse drawing a version of the next variation of himself who in turn drew his successor and so on up to 1968. Consequently, I understood the fact that comics characters change and evolve at a young age. After my parents bought a set of encyclopedias for us in 1973, I looked up “comics” and discovered the basic history of the medium, including short write-ups on both Steve Canyon and Gasoline Alley, strips that I was actually familiar with.

A similar Mickey Mouse drawing

My biggest thrill was finding a copy of Thomas Craven’s World War Two-era Cartoon Cavalcade at the Batavia (Iowa) Library. Basically, this was a history of the medium up to 1943, with hundreds of examples of most major comic strips and magazine cartoonists of the past fifty years. There were even samples of Gasoline Alley dailies that demonstrated how Skeezix had grown from infancy to adulthood over the span of twenty years. Before my tenth birthday, I had a basic familiarity with cartoonists as diverse as Frederick Opper and Charles Addams.

And I came into DC’s comics at the precise point that they were publishing their 100-Page Super-Spectaculars and Limited Collectors’ Editions, so I was automatically exposed to an incredibly diverse mix of characters and talent that enabled me to experience 35 years of comics history all at once.

Thanks to an exchange service with other facilities, Batavia’s library was able to get me all sorts of comics history books, whether Jules Feiffer’s Great Comic Book Heroes or Jerry Robinson’s The Comics, and that helped me get a better handle on comic BOOK history. And one of my Christmas gifts in 1975 was a pile of issues of The Amazing World of DC Comics, which was a big moment in my acquisition of info about DC’s own history. Once the comics pro-zines began to proliferate in the 1980s, I was in heaven. Zines like The Comic Reader, Amazing Heroes, and Nemo: The Classic Comics Library were a big part in expanding my knowledge of comics history.

When did you start recognizing the work of specific artists and writers, and who were some of the earliest you “discovered”?

That actually took place in Cartoon Cavalcade. I distinctly remember turning to the pages with samples of Terry and the Pirates and realizing that it was drawn by the same Milton Caniff who now did Steve Canyon. (The Ledger ran creator credits above each of its comic strips, which is when I first truly understood that people were writing and drawing them.) Once I moved onto my beloved DC titles with their detailed creator credits, I quickly developed an eye for recognizing favorites like Curt Swan or Irv Novick or Kurt Schaffenberger (to name three).

In Part 3 of this interview, Wells reveals details of his first tentative steps into organized fandom to his first published work — leading to the first of many behind-the-scenes assignments for major publishers. Look for it here tomorrow.

John Wells has been a “mystery man” in comics for more than two decades, working behind the scenes organizing and indexing the histories of comics’ four-color mystery men (as well as their friends and foes). You may have seen some of his public work in the pages of The Comics Buyer’s Guide, Amazing Heroes, Back Issue, Alter Ego, and many other places. Those of you who read indicias have also seen his name in dozens of books about comics, mostly for DC Comics, including the Superman and Wonder Woman Encyclopedias (he co-wrote the latter), the DC Vault and Batman Vault books, and most recently 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking and its spin-off volume The Golden Age of DC Comics. He has contributed extensive research on identifying writers, artists, and dates for thousands of pieces of artwork. Plus, as you’ll learn later, he also provides research and background material for many comic creators! In many ways, John Wells is one of comics’ biggest secret weapons.

This week, he steps firmly into the spotlight with the publication of his first solo-written history book, the simply amazing American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964, the first of a two-volume look at one of the most important decades in comic book history. It’s also the first volume of this new series from TwoMorrows Publishing, a series that over the next few years (and multiple volumes) will cover comics history from the 1940s through the 1980s, and maybe beyond.

I’ve reviewed the book itself, but now, here’s the first part of a far-ranging discussion with its author, John Wells, in what’s apparently his first major interview outside of his home state of Iowa!

You’ve been working with TwoMorrows for several years now. How and when did your association with Back Issue and TwoMorrows begin?

Ever since 1999, I’ve been a part of CAPA-Alpha, an amateur press association created by Jerry Bails whose members contribute ‘zines about comics. I’d been sending copies to both Roy Thomas (editor of Alter Ego) and Michael Eury (editor of Back Issue), and they each expressed interest in different articles I’d written. In Roy’s case, it was “Sort of the Atom,” a piece about tiny one-shot heroes that DC published in 1959 (reprinted in Alter Ego #40). For Michael, it was the story of DC Double Comics, recounting the fate of the lost 1984 Superboy-Supergirl comic (reprinted in Back Issue #17).

Since then, I’ve written a lot of stuff specifically for those ‘zines, although more regularly in BI than AE. In the midst of all this, Keith Dallas recruited Jim Beard and I as contributors to TwoMorrows’ Flash Companion, and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

How did the idea for American Comic Book Chronicles come about?

The ACBC is all Keith Dallas. He envisioned a series of hardbacks that would serve as a resource on the entirety of American comic book history and convinced John Morrow what a great project it could be. The next step was to find a writer to cover each decade, and Keith approached me about doing the 1960s edition.

I’ll admit that I was wary. I’ve specialized in DC, and this was outside my comfort zone (which is not to say that I hadn’t done it before, as in my overview of pre-1970 sword and sorcery in comics for Roy in Alter Ego #80). The 1970s was MY personal Golden Age, not the 1960s. And I knew that the research process would be long and time-consuming. My friend Mike Tiefenbacher (The Comic Reader) listened to all my misgivings and was sympathetic, but he also insisted that I was the right person for the job and that I’d regret it if I passed up an offer like this. With his encouragement, I said yes.

The thing that most impresses me most about the series so far is the detailed inclusion of publishers other than DC and Marvel. Your idea?

As editor of the series, it’s Keith’s intention to cover as much as possible in each volume, but my particular book benefited from John Morrow’s declaration that the 1960s was too big for one edition. Instead, I’d cover 1960-1964 first and write a sequel on 1965-1969 later. That doubled the space I had for each chapter, and the book is far, far better because of it.

That said, a discussion of the publishers was something that I felt was critical in distinguishing this from the scores of 1960s history books that revolve around Julie Schwartz’s DC revivals and the rise of Marvel Comics. The genres available in the 1960s extended far beyond superheroes, and the stories of other publishers’ attempts to find the Next Big Thing or explore new formats was something that engaged and excited me while I was writing this. I loved digging into subjects like Jack Keller and the Charlton car comics, Bob Bolling’s version of Doctor Doom in Little Archie, the ascent of Sad Sack at Harvey, Roy Lichtenstein, MAD, Moon Maid, and dozens of other arcane topics.

What are your goals in writing/researching for the series?

I’d like this to be the definitive source on comics of the 1960s, the book that people turn to when they’ve got a question about the era. Thanks to ‘zines like Alter Ego, there’s been a wealth of new information about the creation of the comic books of the Silver Age, and I’ve tried to integrate that into my text. And, as noted above, I want to represent the entirety of the comic book output of the times, not just the men in tights.

What did you draw on for research?

I have a pretty large personal library, not only of comic books but many of the major interview and article ‘zines of the past thirty-plus years, including a complete run of Krause Publications’ sadly departed Comics Buyer’s Guide. Alter Ego and Comic Book Marketplace were particularly useful, but also more obscure sources like Robin Snyder’s The Comics fanzine, William Gaines’ 1972 biography, and a few vintage fanzines such as Vanguard 1968.

I also turned up scans of a few pages from The Comic Reader circa 1963-1964, and those were golden! I’d kill to find more from the latter half of the 1960s for my second book. What I particularly loved finding here were comments by people like Russ Manning and Stan Lee when their memories of all this stuff was fresh. Too often, these stories get twisted and changed over time as details are forgotten. Most longtime fans are aware that DC wasn’t happy with Avengers #9’s Wonder Man story, but Stan’s original account in a 1964 interview is a bit different than the version that’s commonly reported today.

Beyond physical books and ‘zines, I also had a squad of expert beta-readers who were quick to point out stuff in each chapter that I’d missed or gotten wrong, as well as adding personal insight. Mike Tiefenbacher, Carl Gafford, Murray Ward, and Gene Kehoe, in particular, are all due a huge debt for keeping me from embarrassing myself with some silly errors, as is Keith Dallas for making sure my manuscript was as polished as possible.

Was there anything that you found particularly surprising?

That would probably be Mort Weisinger’s announcement that the Legion of Super-Heroes would have a three-issue tryout in Showcase during 1964. The implications could have been far-ranging, depending on how that played out.

I also took pleasure in finding a reasonable explanation for the simultaneous appearance of the Brotherhood of Evil in DC’s Doom Patrol and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in Marvel’s X-Men. I’m convinced the source for the name I discovered is the answer, but it’ll be up to individual readers to decide if they agree.

More generally, I was amazed at how aggressively publishers were exploring thicker formats in the early 1960s. Everyone fondly remembers DC’s 80-Page Giants and Marvel’s Annuals, but I hadn’t realized how heavily Harvey and Dell had embraced this alternative to the 32-page package. Whitman did some interesting stuff in the bookstore market at the time, too, but it failed to find an audience.

What are you looking for from readers?

American Comic Book Chronicles:
The 1980s

American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964 is what I’ve been describing as a “word-of-mouth book”, something that people are going to fall in love with as they read it and want to share with their friends. If you buy the book and you enjoy it as much as I think you will, please spread the word.

As someone who owes a big chunk of his early comics knowledge to libraries, I’d be delighted to hear of any lobbying to get your local branch to carry this book and the entire ACBC series. In years to come, these volumes are, I think, going to be regarded as an essential resource that any library would be proud to have.

In the immediate future, as I feverishly get to work on the 1965-1969 edition, look for Keith Dallas’ ACBC volume on the 1980s within the next few months. You won’t regret it.

In Part Two of this John Wells interview, coming tomorrow, we’ll jump back to tales of how his early interest in comic books and strips lead to his wanting to organize it all, something that for many long-time comics fans may sound familiar. Find out how he specifically dealt with it.

The difference was based around what the judges should consider in building their lists of nominees. When I served as a judge previously, in 2007, we reviewed the submissions but could also list works that hadn’t been officially entered. That’s also how the Eisners work — it’s part of a judge’s responsibility to bring deserving work to the attention of the others, or even advocate for it — so that was the assumption I made, based on other comic awards and past history with this effort. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to check that assumption until the submission deadline had passed.

Other judges for the Glyphs, and the official Awards committee, decided to follow a model more like that of the Pulitzers, where only submissions could be considered. That’s a valid way to do things — except in this case, because of the timing, I had issues with how the results would play out.

Due to the switchover in organization this year, where a committee has taken over from founder Rich Watson, there have been a number of growing pains and learning curves. It’s a tough challenge, and I admire those working through the situation. However, I didn’t feel that the submission period had been sufficiently promoted — mainly because the only comic media coverage I saw about the Awards were mentions at the Beat and Robot 6 only a few days before the deadline. (And I’m the one that reached out to those sites, which may have been outside my role.) I’m not sure where else the process was communicated, although I think there was some activity on Facebook.

If I’d known that the rules had been changed from the previous way of operation, I would have reached out to those works I wanted to nominate and made sure they submitted. (An activity that some other judges would likely object to, preferring more “dispassionate” judges. Again, an example of where comics apparently operates differently from other industries.) As it was, I didn’t know that we were restricted in our choices until the day before deadline, when I asked about it to confirm the process. I should have checked earlier.

The result is that, for example, in at least one category, everyone who submitted will be a nominee (unless I’ve lost count or mailed submissions arrive later), because there simply weren’t more submissions than nomination slots. I suggested in such cases, where my selection for Best wasn’t listed, I could enter “no vote”, but the Awards committee didn’t like that idea. Which is, let me reiterate, their choice and I have no objections to that. We mutually decided it would be best for me not to continue participating in the Awards. From my perspective, instead of picking Best of the year, we were really selecting “Best That Sent Material In”, and that’s not the same thing.

I wish the Awards the best and I’m sure that this is just one step on the path for them to continue to grow and improve. There’s a larger debate here, too, about the distinction between rewarding a work for good intentions and valuing it for craft. I’ve struggled with this as a critic. I’ve received pleas for coverage in the past from creators who are trying hard and believe strongly in what they’re trying to do as an independent artist, but whose work just isn’t of professional quality. I support their goals, but I can’t overlook cliched writing or dodgy anatomy or jumbled storytelling. Perhaps that’s my failing, or just another indication of looking for different things. It’s certainly not something that can be settled easily or quickly.