Chris Claremont, with whom I worked at Marvel Comics back in the ’70s, turns 58 today. Chris is perhaps best known for his 16-year run on Uncanny X-Men.

But Chris wasn’t always the trusted comics veteran that he is today. When I was editing the Marvel fan magazine FOOM, I asked Marie Severin to draw this image for the June 1975 issue just as Chris was at the beginning of that amazing run.

According to the caption, the image depicts “What the fans wanted to do to Chris Claremont, Len Wein, and Dave Cockrum for destroying the X-men before they saw the book. Once the finished product was in their hands, they quickly changed their minds.”

But as I look at the expression of agony on Chris’ face, I suspect that what this picture really shows is how he might be feeling inside today as the realization sinks in that another year has gone by.

Happy birthday, Chris!

As I wrote in my remembrance of Tom Fagan, who passed away last month, he often mentioned me in his con reports back in the day. I just came across one such report in a copy of the 1972 fanzine Ragnarok, published by my friends Mark Collins and David Simons. (Note the spiffy Marie Severin cover.)

The issue included (along with an extensive Marie Severin interview, the reason for the cover) Tom’s write-up of that year’s New York Comic Art Convention, organized by the legendary dealer and con-runner, Phil Seuling.

It was the first one of those cons for which I got a hotel room (along with Mark and David) rather than being a daytripper, and it seems as if, based on Tom’s report, that I took full advantage of my presence there, and acted like a wild man, for he mentioned my doings multiple times, at one point dubbing me “irrepressible.” (more…)

Instead of heading directly back home after the end of Irene’s romance convention, we ventured even further afield, out onto Long Island for a visit with old friend Marie Severin. Irene and I have known Marie professionally since 1974, dating back to when we started on staff at Marvel Comics, where Irene was lucky enough to have had a few more months of Marie than I did due to her earlier start date.

Actually, since the two of us were fans long before we turned pro, we both ran into her even before that. I know that I did, in my guise as annoying kid fanboy. Anyway you look at it, Marie has been in our lives for more than a third of a century.

For those who’ve never experienced Marie up close and personal, she’s always brought to mind the following equivalency: Marie was to Marvel Comics as Rose Marie was to the Dick Van Dyke Show. She’s a dame with a zany sense of humor.

She’s also the nicest person either Irene or I ever met in comics. Too much time has passed since our last visit with her, since we don’t get out to Long Island very often, so we were happy that Irene’s con got us within striking distance. (more…)

Will Elder, one of the founding artists of MAD magazine, passed away this morning. Though I attended the 1972 EC Comics Convention, as far as I recall, Elder did not, and so I never met the man and have no personal anecdotes to share. (I did, however, meet much of the rest of the EC crew, managed to get Bill Gaines, Joe Orlando, George Evans, Al Williamson, and Wally Wood to sign my program book, and even got sketches from the last three of those names, plus a caricature of me by Jack Davis that you see as the icon at left.)

But I’ve long admired his artwork, not just in those early issues of MAD, but also in the pages of Trump, Humbug, and Playboy. That last publication was where, with Harvey Kurtzman, Elder co-created the strip Little Annie Fanny at Hugh Hefner’s request.

I would have liked to have met him, because he was reported to be a wild and crazy guy, legendary in his zaniness. The caricature above, taken from that con’s program book, and drawn by Marie Severin back when she and Elder worked together at EC in the ’50s, gives a clue as to how he was seen by his coworkers. (more…)

As many of you have probably already read elsewhere, national treasure Marie Severin has been recovering from her recent stroke, and now that her health has improved, she’s just moved into an assisted living facility. All of us who love her look forward to her continuing with that recovery.

In addition to Marie quite possibly being the nicest person to have ever worked in the comics industry, she is also one of the funniest and most talented people I know.

Now, this might seem a rather strange and silly comparison, but back when I started working at the insane zoo that was the Marvel Comics of the ’70s, the wild and woolly Bullpen actually seemed like the Alan Brady Show to me (that fictional show within the Dick Van Dyke Show, remember?), and Marie was our Sally Rogers, the sassy wisecracking dame (a term I don’t think she would find objectionable) who always spoke her mind. She was one of the reasons it was so much fun to go to work each day at 575 Madison Avenue.

Marie is famous not only for her hilarious personality, addictive art style, and nuanced coloring, but also for her caricatures, going all the way back to her EC days. During my years on staff at Marvel, I was lucky enough to have had her draw my mug a number of times. (more…)