I’ve known writer/editor/artist Larry Hama for at least half a century now, but his career started long before that, when he sold his first cartoon to Castle of Frankenstein magazine in 1966. He’s probably best known as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro toy line, writing nearly every issue of the book’s 13-year run.

He’s also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He worked as an editor at both DC and Marvel, and at the latter edited the humor magazine Crazy, as well as Conan, The ‘Nam, and Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham. He co-created the character Bucky O’Hare, who not only appeared in comic books, but as a television cartoon. Last year, he was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.

We discussed how cataract surgery changes the way an artist perceives the page, what really happened at a mid-’70s penthouse comic book party, Bernie Krigstein’s anger at being asked questions about comics, why Wally Wood felt it was so important for his assistants to learn how to letter, what it was like being part of the famed Crusty Bunkers inking collective, why getting to edit Crazy was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream,  which Marvel Comics Bullpenner was the visual inspiration for Obnoxio the Clown, why getting his freelancers to hit their deadlines was never a hassle, the editing advice Archie Goodwin gave him early on, the real reason he needed to create that famous silent issue of G. I. Joe, the differing zeitgeists of Marvel vs. DC during the ’70s, his approach to taking over the editing of legacy characters, our joint confusion over memes of previous generations, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for lunch at New York’s Anjappar — (more…)

Join me as I look back at the trouble I had getting out of an elevator at the first Star Trek convention, what my ballot looked like when I voted for the 1968 Alley Awards, the composers who wrote the music to match the lyrics I had Rick Jones sing in Captain Marvel #50, what teen me got wrong (twice!) about Jim Steranko, the three comics characters I almost cosplayed as at the 1972 Rutland Halloween parade, the mystery woman who would have been my Beautiful Dreamer on a Forever People float, and much more.

You can eavesdrop on those memories via the embed below or download at the site of your choice.

Here are some images to accompany the listening experience —

The cover to my 1969 Poetry Journal

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If you’ve been following me on social media lately, you’d have learned that earlier this month while trying to verify some information I wanted to talk about on an episode of my Why Not Say What Happened? podcast, I discovered a box containing some early teen writing which had somehow escaped my previous purge of that work. And you’d also know that since my discovery, as of this date, I’ve shredded 1,850 pages of poetry, short stories, and a novel, too, written from 1971 through 1974 … that is, from ages 16 through 19.

Some of you are aghast, and we can discuss that another time, but for now, let me assure you it’s only my own unsatisfactory words which are being made into confetti, not any writing or documents created by others. All those have been saved and will probably be turned over to a university archive someday. One forgotten find within that batch — my invitation from Tom Fagan to the 1972 incarnation of his famed Rutland, Vermont Halloween parade, as well as our correspondence about my attendance there, all from two years before I began working professionally in comics.

When I posted the interior of that invite on social media, someone responded with awe that the 1972 incarnation of that event was the same one celebrated in a crossover commemorated in the pages of DC’s Justice League of America #103, and Marvel’s Amazing Adventures #16 and Thor #207.

Not quite. (more…)