Back in 1972, I attended the first (and as far as I know only) EC Fan Addict Convention. Almost every former staffer or freelancer then alive was there, and publisher Bill Gaines, who’d retained all of the company’s original artwork, put on one of the greatest art shows I’ve ever seen at a comic book convention.

The program book was filled with Marie Severin’s caricatures of her coworkers, as well as the creators’ reminiscences of each other. Because Al Feldstein passed away the other day, I scanned the pages that pertained to him so you could all learn why he was a “reluctant dragon.”

You can find the spread about Will Elder from that program book here.

I learned a short while ago that the great EC Comics writer, artist, and editor Al Feldstein passed away yesterday in Livingston, Montana. I don’t think I have anything more to say about his influence other than what I already said when I presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association in 2011.

But since a picture is worth … well, you know … I thought I’d share thirteen of my favorite Feldstein comic book covers. Actually, I’d only planned to share ten of them, but there were so many which had impressed themselves on my memory that I ended up not being able to limit myself.

I feel privileged to have spent some time with him in 2008 at the San Diego Comic-Con and also to have had a story of mine appear in an issue of PostScripts which featured a recreation of one of his most famous covers as its cover.

Which happens to be the first one below …

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When I woke this morning, I found 185 new spam comments intended to go live on my blog which had instead thankfully been caught by my spam folder. That was an unusually large amount of spam to appear over one night.

And what was even more unusual was this—these weren’t just any spam comments, the standard random nonsense filled with embedded links to purveyors of payday loans, male enhancement drugs, and UGG boots. No, these were spam comments that could almost pass a Turing Test … filled with embedded links to purveyors of payday loans, male enhancement drugs and UGG boots.

To see just how close this spam appeared to real comments, check out these two computer-generated comments that were caught before they could appear on separate posts of mine which mentioned Connie Willis:

I’m confused. I bhougt doomsday book’ a few yrs ago; discovered it was part of an unfinished trilogy so decided to wait and not read it. i then bhougt To say nothing of the dog’ and again waited. the inside back cover strongly implied the final part was all clear’. now it seems all clear’ is the second part to blackout’. could someone please explain what belongs to what and if there is then still a third book to come or ???much appreciatedJeff

I’ve been a big Connie Willis fan for years, but there were several asepcts of Blackout/All Clear that I found confusing and dissatisfying. First, why does Mike think he has to fake his death to help Polly and Merope get out? It was not explained, and I can’t think of a good reason. (Maybe I’m just thick.) Second, where and when did Stephen Lang meet Polly prior to 1944? He’s about to tell her when he’s interrupted, and the topic is never revisited, even though enough time is spent on it to make it seem important. Third, who is the unnamed character who appears in the tube station at the end of Blackout? Colin? But I thought he couldn’t get through to that time. Any help clearing up these points would be most welcome.

And look how on target this one seemed that never made it through to litter a post I’d made about the Stoker Awards: (more…)

I don’t know what comes to mind when you read the headline, Parkinson’s disease sufferer, 54, held by police at Olympic cycling road race ‘because he would not smile’, but what popped into my head was … well, let’s read a bit of the newspaper report first, shall we?

A father with Parkinson’s disease was arrested as he watched the Olympic cycling road race because he ‘failed to smile or look like he was enjoying himself’.

Mark Worsfold, a martial arts trainer and former soldier, claims that he was thrown to the floor and handcuffed just as cyclists passed by.

If you’re a certain generation of comic book fan, you’ll certainly think of the classic EC Comics story “The Patriots,” written by Al Feldstein and drawn by Jack Davis, which first appeared in Shock SuspenStories #2 (April-May 1952). “The Patriots” tells of another former soldier who was punished for his insufficient exuberance … though in a far more tragic manner.

Wally Wood’s powerful cover to that issue drew its scenario from that tale. (more…)

Do you remember where you were over the 1972 Memorial Day weekend? I do!

I spent every hour I could at Manhattan’s McAlpin Hotel attending the 1972 EC Fan Addict convention. I paid my $7.50 entry fee and got to hang out with the madmen (and one crazy lady) behind one of the most amazing comic-book companies ever.

And I have the button to prove it!

Those of you who couldn’t make it to New York back then are able to catch up with a report in the pages of the September 1972 issue of Graphic Story World magazine, one of the high-end fanzines of the day. (And if that cover boy below puts you in mind of Watchmen‘s Nite Owl, well, that’s not him. It’s just … The Owl, a character created by Jerry De Fuccio and Mart Bailey for a potential newspaper strip in the mid-’60s.) (more…)

If I were to share with you exactly how I spent my Thursday at Comic-Con, you’d likely be bored out of your gourd, because I’m here on behalf of the SCI FI Channel, and so I’m spending almost all of my time working, which means that I’m wandering the exhibit hall researching upcoming movies, games, DVDs, books, toys, and so on, as well as strengthening my relationships with the PR reps and creators who work at those companies. But I did manage to have a few encounters which might be of interest to the friends who drop by here.

I had a chance to chat with legendary EC writer and artist Al Feldstein (there we are below), whom I last met in 1972 (gulp!) at the EC Comics Convention at Manhattan’s McAlpin Hotel. But this time I wasn’t just an annoying kid asking irritating questions. (Who knows? It might be that my only progress since that time is that I’ve now become an annoying adult asking irritating questions.) Since I have a story being published in the upcoming issue of Postscripts magazine for which he drew the cover, we were able to connect better than we did 36 (yikes!) years ago.

Another moment worthy of note Thursday is that in the midst of mining the exhibit hall for information on upcoming releases, I did take a break to sneak off to the panel on Golden and Silver Age comics, a photo of which you can see if you click through here. Not to be too maudlin about it, but considering the collective ages of Al Jaffee (87), Russ Heath (81), Larry Lieber (76), Jerry Robinson (86), and Al Feldstein (82), the time we’re likely to get to hear these guys spiel about the old days in the comics business is growing short, and I didn’t feel I could pass it up without regretting it.

Al Jaffee explained that he’d originally wanted to draw Superman and Batman, but “I could not figure out where the muscles were located.” Larry Lieber explained that his choice of drawing hand was based on forcing himself to follow his big brother Stan Lee’s example, and so, “I used my left hand and regretted it ever since.” Al Feldstein shared that Bill Gaines never wanted to go into the family business, that he hated it because he hated his father, and that, “He didn’t want to be a publisher, he wanted to be a chemistry teacher.” Interesting guys all, and you’d better track them down to chat while you still have a chance.

After the panel, I made these old guys feel even older by telling Al Jaffee about the time I got him to draw me a sketch in the midst of the 1974 Reuben Awards banquet, and Jerry Robinson about the sketch he drew for me during the famous 1972 Stan Lee at Carnegie Hall event.

At the Random House party later that night, I caught up with the gracious editors who’d invited me, as well as their authors Greg Bear, Connie Willis, David Williams, C. E. Murphy, and others. My last stop of the night was the IGN party at a restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel, where I remained until my body suddenly remembered the three-hour time difference, and told me to head back to my room.

If you’d like to see photos of any of this, all of yesterday’s Comic-Con pics are now online, captioned as well as I’m likely to get them before I return home Sunday night.