And now we are 100! And who better to be a guest on Eating the Fantastic’s 100th episode than writer/editor Mark Evanier, who as this episode goes live, is currently taking part in so many panels at San Diego Comic-Con he should earn a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Evanier started his comic book career way back in 1969, and over the years has written issues of Blackhawk, Groo the Wanderer, DNAgents, and (like me) Welcome Back, Kotter. He worked as Jack Kirby’s production assistant, which eventually resulted in his award-winning book Kirby: King of Comics. He’s won multiple Will Eisner Awards, as well an an Inkpot Award and a Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award.

But Mark has also led a whole other life writing for television, working on live-action shows such as The Nancy Walker Show, The McLean Stevenson Show, and Welcome Back, Kotter, plus animated series like Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Thundarr the Barbarian, Dungeons & Dragons, and The Garfield Show.

Our meal took place at Canter’s Delicatessen in Los Angeles, resulting in a sense of terroir greater than any other episode. As you’ll hear, he’s eaten there with both Jack Kirby and Stan Lee over the years — though not together — and he has plenty to say about both of them.

We discussed the lesson he learned watching Stan Lee write one of his famous Bullpen Bulletins pages, how his first sale to Laugh-In magazine led him to believe he could make it as a professional writer, the lunch at which Jack Kirby swore him to secrecy about quitting Marvel, the inker Kirby would have chosen if he was allowed to choose only one (and why it wouldn’t be Vince Colletta), his stupefied reaction when Sergio Aragonés placed the original art for the first issue of MAD in his hands (and how Mark later stupefied Jerry Lewis), whether he can imagine a world in which Stan Lee and Jack Kirby could have ironed out their differences, and much, much more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop on our conversation at Canter’s Deli —

1) Subscribe at the iTunes store — where I hope you’ll be tempted to download some of the 99 previous episodes.

2) Listen using the RSS feed of http://eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com/rss on the device of your choice.

3) Or check it out via the embed below.

Oh, and if you’ve listened to the podcast before, did you notice anything different about that embed? You might remember the icon representing the show was previously based on a photo of me holding out a hamburger. But to celebrate Eating the Fantastic’s 100th episode, that’s been replaced by this beautiful image created by Chris Kalb, with whom I worked on SCI FI magazine back at the Syfy Channel.

Ain’t it beautiful?

It’s elegant, beautifully designed, far more professional, and better at telegraphing the podcast isn’t only about fantastic food, but about the worlds of the fantastic as well. Besides — that mug of mine was likely scaring away potential new listeners! I hope you love it as much as I do.

Here’s what Mark and I shared as we spoke (well, except for the stuffed derma, which was devoured so quickly no picture could be taken) —

Matzah Ball Soup

My Pastrami Sandwich
you can see Mark’s brisket sandwich above

If you enjoy this episode and want to support my mission of breaking bread with creators of the fantastic while letting you listen in, there are several ways you can help bring this podcast to the attention of potential new listeners looking for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comics ear candy —

One is to rate Eating the Fantastic on iTunes and like it on Facebook.

Also — you could tell your friends about the show by sending them a link to your favorite episode and letting them know what I’m doing here.

Finally — because of Eating the Fantastic’s unique niche — that is, on-the-road restaurant interviews — there are expenses beyond the usual ones for studio-based podcasts. I sometimes use ride-sharing services to carry me and my guests from convention centers to restaurants and back, or I gas up to drive them myself — and then there’s that food I used to entice those guests to wander off and share of themselves with you, food which loosens their tongues, relaxes them, and — counterintuitively, because we are after all out in public surrounded by other diners — results a much more intimate environment than if we were alone together in a sterile studio.

So I hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter of the show, and help fund this mission of mine.

You could make a small recurring monthly donation over at Patreon, where there are various perks involved depending on your level of support, such as access to a patrons-only blog, getting a shout-out on the show, stickers, postcards, and more.

Or if an ongoing level of commitment’s not for you, or if Patreon’s just not your thing, then consider tossing a couple of bucks in the tip jar instead and making a one-time donation of any size via Paypal.me.

Or you could head on over to https://ko-fi.com/eatingthefantastic and send me the funds to cover the cost of a cup of coffee.

I hope you’ll come back in two weeks when my guest will be Rachel Swirsky, who won the 2010 Nebula Award for her novella “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” and the 2013 Nebula Award for her short story “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love”. Please join us!