Rummaging though a stack of mid-’70s memos has me remembering the time I attempted to convince Stan Lee to adapt Joseph Heller’s novel Something Happened, who was responsible for mutilating the contents of Marvel’s 1975 line of Giant-Size Annuals, how I repurposed a Winnie Winkle comic strip to resign from my staff job in the Bullpen, the day comic book fans ran a Baskin-Robbins out of ice cream, the meeting in which Stan Lee had a problem with Iron Man’s nose, Gerry Conway’s complaint to the Comics Code Authority about an Inhumans innuendo, and much more.

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

Here are are a few memos which I reference during the episode —

My Marvel Comics resignation memo

Stan Lee’s Marvel Triple Action advice

Staring at the hole in the ground which used to be NYC’s Statler Hilton Hotel, home to my first comic book convention in 1970, has me remembering the time I heckled publisher Jim Warren (and what he shouted back), the original art I bought for a buck a page, why the National Lampoon‘s Michael O’Donoghue doused me with a pitcher of ice water, the reason I was locked in a dealers room overnight, the early morning I was stopped by two NYC police officers while wandering Penn Station in a Mister Miracle mask, and much more.

Listen to my reminiscences of cons more than half a century old via the embed below or download at the site of your choice.

Here are are a few images which I reference during the episode —

16-year-old me at the 1971 Comic Art Convention
I’m on the right in the second image

(more…)

Mulling over whether 2024 me agrees with what 1984 me thought about 1974 me reminded me getting the gig to write Marvel’s Bullpen Bulletins Page was both the best and worst thing that ever could have happened, why my willingness to burn bridges by writing an Ethics column for The Comics Journal shouldn’t be confused with bravery, which comic book art recently caused me to reach out to Robert De Niro, Stan Lee’s all-caps cover critique, the day Larry Hama verified Tony Isabella was right and I was wrong, and more.

Listen to my meandering via the embed below or download at the ear candy site of your choice.

Plus here are a few things which should enrich your listening experience —

Captain Marvel and Black Bolt in Cape Fear

(more…)

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to list the many things I have to be thankful for, such as being born at the perfect time to witness the birth of the Marvel Universe, what happened the day in 1963 the first issue of both The Avengers and The X-Men were released and I could afford to buy only one,  how my belief in anti-nepotism scored John Romita Jr. his first Marvel Comics art assignment, the magical night I raved to Brent Spiner about Stan Lee (and what “The Man” himself had to say about it), the first and last Incredible Hulk sketches Marie Severin drew for me 52 years apart, how the most important lesson I learned from being in comics was that I wasn’t meant to be in comics after all, and more.

And here are a few things to help illuminate the anecdotes I shared with you in this episode —

Marie Severin’s first sketch for me in 1972

Marie Severin’s final sketch for me in 2014

Marie Severin at work in 2014

The splash page to John Romita Jr.’s first Marvel story

And you can find all the Ethics columns I mentioned having written for The Comics Journal here in reverse chronological order.

A regrettable reminder to wish a dead comic book friend happy birthday sent me down a Marvel memories rabbit hole, reminding me of what it was like to know Stan Lee before he had hair, the cherry pie that almost got me fired, the day Archie Goodwin did parkour across Bullpen furniture, Len Wein turning us into a Mickey Mouse operation, Marie Severin’s most inventive prank, my faux fight with Don McGregor, performing Time Square guerrilla theater with Steve Gerber, the time I was on Candid Camera (or was I?), and more.

And here are a few things which will illuminate the anecdotes I share in this episode —

A mid-’70s Marvel Bullpen pic
with Irene Vartanoff, Chris Claremont, Bonnie Smith, and Roger Slifer

Here’s Len’s full story of why I’m wearing a Mickey Mouse hat in the photo above.

Giant-Size Defenders #5 (July 1975) credits box

With the future seeming bleak, I felt the need to gaze into the past instead, sharing about the day in 1970 I met Jim Steranko, the reason I continually cause archivists to cry, my day trip to see Steve Ditko’s pre-Marvel sketch of Dr. Strange, my night at a highly redacted 1978 DC Comics poker game, which writing of mine Barry Malzberg immediately suggested I burn, the thickness of time at the 1979 Clarion Science Fiction Writing Workshop, why, when, and where I intend to destroy fifty years of journals, and more.

Here, however, are a few journal entries you can read.

As well as a couple of images related to the episode —

My autographed copy of the Steranko Portfolio

A surreptitious 2018 photo with Jim Steranko

Join me as I demonstrate the limits of my memory by telling tales of why my first Worldcon was supposed to have been my second Worldcon, the question I never got around to asking my cousin, the actor Herb Edelman, which song I sang while dancing across a Manhattan rooftop with Larry Lieber, what Fantastic Four moment motivated the first letter I ever wrote to a comic book company, the string of serendipities which led to one of my DC horror stories being adapted as an episode of Tales from the Darkside, how the Washington Post got me a job editing Science Fiction Age magazine, and more.

And to illustrate a few of the topics touched on during this episode —

My membership card in the Merry Marvel Marching Society

My appearance in Tales of Suspense #69 (September 1965)

Carl Gafford, Paul Levitz, Steve Gilary, and me during the 1974 D.C. Worldcon

And head here if you’re in the mood to subscribe.

It’s time for another trip back to when teen me strode through the Marvel Bullpen like, well, a big teenager, as I share what I remember (and what I’ve forgotten) about writing the Avengers, what Marvel’s paying Assistant Editors these days vs. what I was paid in 1975, why Steve Gerber called me the most violent man on Earth, the way Conan caused me to write my first short story, the embarrassing cover letter I wrote at age 16 to accompany my first short story submission, how I unwittingly destroyed my comic book collection, what Dennis Etchison wrote in an acceptance letter which made me cry, and more.

I hope you enjoy my meandering!

I kick off Episode 3 by sharing a regret about Episode 2, which leads me to rattle off a list of regrets about my early days in comics, including being forbidden to attend what should have been my first convention, the questions I never thought to ask the giants on whose shoulders I stood, the missing paperwork which could have taught me lessons about my past, and the immaturity which got me removed from writing Captain Marvel — as well as why I’m fine if I end up being forgotten.

And here’s the photo in which I’d have appeared if only my parents had allowed it!

I posted a second episode of Why Not Say What Happened?, and this time around, my upcoming Guest of Honor appearance at next year’s StokerCon causes me ramble about the night in 2004 Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, George Saunders, and I were all up in the same Bram Stoker Awards category (and all lost), how I used my cousin Herb Edelman to break the ice when chatting with Hollywood stars such as John Astin and Jeff Bridges, why I dragged a fan kicking and screaming from a 1975 comic book convention (which I mistakenly refer to as 1976) while wearing face makeup painted on me by Jim Starlin, and more.

Plus I explain the meaning of these two photos from the 1976 Comic Art Convention!

The first one’s me. But you can tell that by now, even with the intervening 48 years, right?

And the second features Bernie Wrightson, Howard Chaykin, Jim Starlin, Steve Gerber, and Mary Skrenes.

If you want to know why we’re all dressed that way,. there’s only one way to find out.