Todd Klein recently posted a wonderful report about a visit to DC Comics in the ’60s, which included a floor plan of the company’s offices at 575 Lexington Avenue, and made me realize—Hey! I have a map of Marvel’s 575 Madison Avenue offices from the ’70s.

A map unseen for more than 35 years.

And mine was drawn by Mirthful Marie Severin!

I can’t say for sure exactly when this map was sketched, but it was obviously begun when Roy Thomas was still Editor-in-Chief (since his name is visibly crossed out), but finished before Len Wein resigned and ceded the position to Marv Wolfman, which to me places it somewhere between late 1974 and early 1975.

This map was created to figure out where to put all the warm bodies, and not as a guide to the famous cover Marie drew around a year later for FOOM #16 (December 1976). (more…)

Steve Skeates—the comics writer responsible for the first Marvel/DC crossover, one that not only took place in the final issues of two titles he wrote, but was also basically done without the powers that be at either company being aware of it—turned 69 today. (Consider yourself awarded a No Prize if you know which two comics those were without having to look it up.)

Happy birthday, Steve!

Steve was of a previous comics generation than me—hey, he co-created Hawk and Dove with Steve Ditko!—so we never got a chance to work together professionally, but I did score an autograph from him during my snotty kid with a sketchpad phase of fandom.

The drawing below was probably done at a convention in 1971, but if not then, surely no later than 1972.

Want to prove yourself really worthy of that No Prize? Then explain the relevance of that rather anxious-looking fish without looking it up!

… I hope it’s with the same timing as shown by this couple, whose death notice I spotted in today’s Washington Post.

Considering the fact I spotted a similar story exactly two days ago, I wonder whether the universe is sending me a message that when the time comes, it intends to fulfill my wishes, and neither of us will be lonely for long.

It would be nice to think so.

Robert Hegyes, who played Juan Epstein on the ’70s TV series Welcome Back, Kotter, died yesterday of a heart attack. I never knew Hegyes … but boy, did I know Epstein!

In fact, because I grew up in Brooklyn, I felt as if I knew all the Sweathogs. (Which, for those of you who never watched the show, was the name for the gang of kids in Kotter’s class at James Buchanan High School.) And I’ve got a feeling that one reason I was given the assignment of writing a couple of issues of the Welcome Back, Kotter comic for DC back in the late ’70s was because Joe Orlando thought I was a Sweathog.

Oh, I know that the two issues I wrote list Larry Hama as the editor, but as I recall, all of my interactions on the title were with Orlando. I can remember him laughing as we worked out the plot for Welcome Back, Kotter #9 because I was embarrassingly just as ignorant as Vinnie Barbarino would have been about certain historical events. (And no, I’m not going to tell you what they were.) I think that tickled Joe. (more…)

I was saddened to learn this evening of the death of Lister Matheson, whom I’d met in 1999 due to his role as director of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop when I was invited to be Guest Editor that summer. He died on January 19 of complications arising from a form of aplastic anemia. I remember him as warm, witty, and generating an aura of amusement at life and all its pleasures.

An online obituary described him thusly:

Lister was a natural host whose large heart, expansive soul, and mischievous sense of the silly and ridiculous endeared him to those who knew him and made strangers feel immediately welcome and appreciated. He was a gifted raconteur, actor, reader of poetry, singer of inspired and inane songs, and connoisseur of haggis and single malt Scotch. He lived a full life, travelled widely, and absorbed everything. He cherished his family and friends and was always the animating spirit around any crowded table, sharing good food, drink, and lively conversation. His family and a very large crowd of admiring friends shall miss him terribly.

Yes, I thought, reading that. Yes.

But time has a way of getting away from us, and I regret to say that the last time I saw Lister in the flesh was probably at the 2003 Worldcon in Toronto, where I snapped this photo of him with Amelia Beamer as we chatted in the hallway outside some riotous party.

Remember the line from Auntie Mame that “Life is a banquet and most poor bastards are starving to death”? Lister knew that. Oh, yes he did.

He will be missed.

Comic books made an appearance on Alcatraz Monday night, and luckily, they weren’t as difficult to identity as the one that showed up on that 1975 episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show. Jorge Garcia’s character, Dr. Diego “Doc” Soto, owns a comic book store, so I assumed we’d see comics as stage dressing in the background, but in the latest episode, a couple of issues had starring roles.

In the opening scene of the third episode, “Kit Nelson,” a child killer sneaks into a bedroom and spirits away one of two brothers … but not before we see what the kid must have fallen asleep reading.

I couldn’t quite make out the pictured hero or the logo, so at this point I had no idea whether this was a real-life comic or one supposedly created by Garcia’s character, who in addition to owning the shop, also happens to be a writer and artist. But later on, after the kid is [spoiler alert!] rescued, Garcia visits him and brings along some comics to cheer him up.

“I saw you were missing 12, 27, and 35,” says Garcia, to which the kid replies, “No way! This is awesome!”

And Garcia hands him this. (more…)

Remember my mysterious October mission? We’re almost at the end game.

As I told you back then, Irene decided to sell her copy of Amazing Fantasy #15. You know … the comic that introduced Spider-Man. She got some wild idea in her head that she should sock money away for our retirement so we’re not forced to eat cat food a few decades from now. Crazy, huh?

Anyway, if you’d like a shot at a beautiful copy of the book, Heritage will be auctioning hers off starting on February 3, 2012. Check out more details about the auction here.

If Amazing Fantasy #15 is too rich for your blood … (more…)

I usually tweet my dreams, but I was visited by two last night which could not be contained in 140 characters.

First …

I dreamt I was in prison, presumably on some sort of cultural or educational visit, because when alarms went off and the place went into lockdown, I was hustled into a small library-like room, and once I got there I found the same had been done with Neil Gaiman and a woman I didn’t recognize.

As the three of us waited for the emergency to be declared over, a gate popped open, and I knew that wasn’t a good thing, because it would allow the rioting prisoners to reach us. But before that could happen, we were rescued by The Question.

After saving us, I showed him that I had a souvenir pen with his name on it in my jacket pocket. I told him I was a big fan of his. He said he was a fan on mine, too, and liked my zombie stories. I woke as we discussed the aftermath of what had occurred.

Then … (more…)

And now it can be told …

I’ll be one of the Guests of Honor at next year’s ConFusion, which will be held January 17-20, 2013 in Troy, Michigan. The GoH line-up for the 39th such gathering will be as follows:

Pro GoH: Charles Stross

Editor GoH: Scott Edelman

Special GoH: Mary Robinette Kowal

Fan GoH: James Nicoll

Additionally, a Science GoH will be announced shortly.

I look forward to seeing some of you there next year!

Steve Thompson, aware of my strong feelings about the paintings of Sharon Moody, alerted me to the comics-inspired art of Vin Vicini. Funny thing is, in spite of what could be seen as superficial similarities, the new images I saw didn’t bother me at all. So let’s take a look at a couple of Vicini’s paintings, and then I’ll explain why.

First, a 12″ x 12″ oil painting titled “Chapter 7: ‘Catch the Hero.'”

This first example includes details from the covers of Amazing Spider-Man #19 (December 1964), Batman #219 (February 1970), and Avengers #35 (December 1966), all of which I’ve rotated so you can more easily compare them to how they were used above.

Here’s one more, “Batman and the Crate,” an 11″ x 14″ oil painting. (more…)