Having One's Head Up One's --
I reckon I'm just too distracted with the house & moving chores to keep my own head straight. Ah, leave it to Bob Heer (thanks, Bob!) to remind me of the particulars of my own career:
"Actually, there's still the stories you wrote in ANNUAL #4, which could be in the next volume, plus the handful of pre-Alan Moore stories drawn by you and John Totleben that still haven't been reprinted. Plus the first Moore story without you but with Totleben. Not sure if those will ever see reprinting, but a few years ago I wouldn't have thought the Veitch run would be available again (I wonder if they've decided how to handle the end of Veitch's run)."
That's right, actually -- how is it I forgot completely the "Fungus Amongus" Batman crossover story (my sole Pat Broderick collaborative effort) and the rather sweet little backup story Mike Hoffman illustrated? Stupid, stupid Bissette creature! [Stupider still, I originally misidentified the artists in this post -- Bob cleared me up on that, too, see comments -- stupider, stupider Bissette creature!]
As for the earlier work -- I doubt any of that will ever see light of day, but you never know. Actually, John started working on SOTST with Yeates with issue #2 -- uncredited -- and did some later credited work on the series. I laid out SOTST #8 uncredited (though Tom snuck my signature under the tail of one of the battling dinos on the splash page -- turn it upside-down, and there's my sig) and worked on one later one (#13, I think), credited. John and I began doing the art chores from Marty Pasko's scripts with SOTST #16, and it was Dan Day who pencilled Alan Moore's first script with John T. inking (and redrawing) much -- all that in SOTST #20, which paves the way for the historic #21, "The Anatomy Lesson." (Alas, though there's some solid work there, those first 20 issues just aren't particularly good reads as a whole, but you never know what DC might decide to do down the road.)
Bob continues:
"On the other hand, next year they'll be reprinting their WHO'S WHO series, which will include most of the other stray published Swamp Thing drawings you did."
Cool, I had no idea that was coming up. Reckon that leaves our promo work -- just a couple of pieces, though those were solid (one of which I scripted) -- and our Comics Journal cover, which led to all the painted covers that followed.
Thanks for the corrections (and trip down memory lane), Bob!
posted by SRBissette at
7:19 PM
4 Comments:
No problem, Steve. Hopefully they do include ANNUAL #4 in the next book. The back-up (by Mike Hoffman, actually, not Yeates. And Pat Broderick on the lead story. You must really be distracted by the move) is a particular favourite.
By the way, Eddie Campbell just started his own blog, which you might be interested in.
I don't know, I always thought your first Swamp Thing issue, #16, "Stopover in a Place of Quiet Truths", was a pretty good comic. DC liked enough to include it in one of its' "Best of DC" annual digests. Marty Pasko was no Alan Moore, but who is?
I got my copy of that issue at Moondance, (after they had moved from that cool little Harmony lot space to their Elliot St. storefront, I believe,) signed by the artist. I had no idea who you were, but I was 12 and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I hope you inspected your colon while you were in there. You're over 50 now!
Hey, leave his colon alone!
Cole, that was my first Swamp Thing signing ever! Who knew what would eventually mature from that humble origin? I agree that Marty's script for SOTST #16 was a good one -- his affectionate ode to Rod Serling and THE TWILIGHT ZONE -- establishing a path Marty then intended to adhere to, though the subsequent jumbled attempt to tie up too many series loose threads (#17-19) and the scheduling problems immediately presented by Marty's overburdened freelance schedule (he was scripting TV cartoon series) put paid to that newfound narrative clarity. Indeed, DC did include #16 in their YEAR'S BEST digest annual, the sole reprint Marty's SOTST enjoyed over the years, sadly.
As I said, there was some solid work there; Marty and Tom created some great self-standing stories. Much like the final two seasons of X-FILES, though, Marty's overly convoluted plotlines became hopeless entanglements -- which Alan very neatly tied and severed in the unreprinted-to-date #20, and then dealt with in a proper manner in later issues (Abby and Matt, Liz and Dennis; etc.).
Moondance was a great comic shop, and I too have nice memories of both the Harmony Street and the Elliot St. storefronts. Thanks for the memories, Cole!
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