Caltex98

On last Saturdays visit to Orebro Comics Festival I got two great additions to my sketchbook: Lady Killer by Joëlle Jones & The Girls on the Hill (swedish humor strip) by Frida Malmgren. The 50-minute train journey (and modest admission fee) was certainly worth it! Click on the pictures to see them enlarged (together with pix of the creators holding them) in my CAF gallery.

This is a crossover I'd like to see happening: "Zatanna and Sabrina vs. the forces of evil" by Bill Galvan. Horror & monsters are two of his favorite subjects and I think it shows. A larger version can be seen in my CAF gallery by clicking on the picture.

Commission by Fernando Ruiz as a reward in the Die Kitty Die Kickstarter campaign: Sharry the Spy-girl (created by Tom DeFalco for the four-part "The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E." storyline which ran in Archie #610-613). Just about as sexy as a female character is allowed to be in a children's comic book, I suppose... (I would love to see her cosplayed. ) Click on the picture to see it in larger format in my CAF-gallery.

It will be some time before I will get my SDCC-loot scanned and properly displayed on CAF, but until then I think these photos will give you a general idea of what it looks like. I picked up my rewards from the Die Kitty, Die Kickstarter in person from co-creators Dan Parent & Fernando Ruiz: The actual hardcover book with Kitty-sketch by Dan. The Dippy the Dead Kid sketchcover by Rich Koslowski was not part of the reward but a nice addition anyway. A rather disturbing page by Dan from the webcomic Magick Chicks. Sharry the Spygirl from the 4-part "The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E." tale published in Archie #610-613 and later collected in a trade. I think Fernando outdid himself on this one. Yum! End Kickstarter rewards. In the same vein I got this really nice pinup: It is not often you get the chance to purchase a pinup page by Dan DeCarlo featuring Forsythe Pendleton Jones III's cousin Bingo Wilkin & his girlfriend Samantha Smith, so of course I jumped at the opportunity. According to Dan Parent (who must be considered an expert in these matters) it is inked by his son, James DeCarlo. I have yet to figure out where it was published. Judging from all the tiny holes which are scattered all over the image it must have spent some time on someones bulletin board... A really neat Johnny Hazard strip by Frank Robbins: Not only is it a perfect example on how to stage a fairly dull scene so it gets exciting, it also shows Robbins' expert craftmanship at inking and lettering (someone really should develop a font based on Robbins' letters). And it was published on my tenth birthday, June 14, 1972. But even so it has to take the backseat compared to this one: The magnificent Sunday page from the week before (published June 4th, 1972). One of the last really huge (26" x 18 1/4") ones before Robbins switched to 2-strip. The storytelling and attention to detail is incredible. In the early seventies I think there isn't much left of Sickles and Caniff in his style and he has come entirely into his own. As soon as I picked this one up I knew I had to have it. Never mind that is was something of a nightmare to bring along as an "extra additional item" on my flights back home. A rather good turnout, I'd say And on top of that the really entertaining OA dinner on Thursday.

About three years ago I got stiffed on some eBay auctions involving OA by Jeff Shultz. They were sold by a scoundrel who has the eBay ID captainnuclear (stay away from him) who never delivered and then quit answering inquiries (after the 60-day complaint period had ended). I decided to cut my losses since there were no large sums involved, but it was annoying nevertheless. One of the pieces of art that was lost was this Gil Elvgren-inspired Sabrina Spellman, riding on a broom in front of a full moon surrounded by streaks of mist: When I recently had an e-mail conversation with Jeff on a different subject I told him about the eBay fiasco and asked him if he remembered the picture in question? If that was the case, could he do a recreation? The answer arrived just minutes later: "I can do the Sabrina." He also managed to dig out the picture above from his files. But we both agreed that if it was to be recreated, it also had to be improved (the size should definitely be increased from 9"x12" to 11"x17"). After about a fortnight this arrived in the mail: 11"x17", full colour (Jeff is great with watercolours) with Sabrina in the middle but also her aunts, Zelda & Hilda, added to the scenery. The photo doesn't do the colors justice, but it will give you the general idea. When I told Jeff it was so great it almost made me happy I got stiffed on the eBay deal he responded "You're sure not the only one who's been stiffed by xxx. The rest just aren't happy about it." Click on the picture to see a larger scan in my Jeff Shultz gallery on CAF.

Fourteen pages from Robin Annual #6 (1997) arrived from Montevideo, Uruguay: Page 4 and page 6. Page 16 and page 20. Page 21 and page 28 (zipatone looks better IRL). Page 32 (masterful disposition & storytelling) and page 36. Page 42 and page 46. Page 47 and page 48. Page 49 and page 52 (tribute to The Lone Ranger). The music playing in the background is of course the theme from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" by Ennio Morricone. They are all by Eduardo Barreto, both pencils and inks. With this addition to my collection I now own 17 pages from this story, but they all represents Barreto on top of his game so why not? Click on the pictures to see them in larger format in my Barreto gallery on CAF.

John McCrea at London Super Comic Convention with the Hitman sketch I commissioned: Click on the picture to see it scanned in my CAF gallery More London pictures from the event appears in my twitter feed.

I have added some art by the very talented Joëlle Jones to my collection: A car chase scene from Lady Killer #4 p11. A magnificent two-page spread (shades of Hitchcock?) from Lady Killer #3 p14-15. Click on the pictures to see them in my CAF gallery.

What if the ladies from Archie Comics, Cheryl, Betty & Veronica, were femme fatales in a 1960:s noir paperback novel? This is how Bill Galvan interprets that assignment: More about it in my CAF gallery.

Tomorrow, December 13, St Lucy's day is celebrated all over Sweden. This is how the senior class at Riverdale High interprets it: Pencils by Bill Galvan. Inks by Johan Andreasson. I am quite impressed with how fast Bill grasped the essence of St Lucy in Sweden and transformed it to Riverdale. Click on the pictures to see them in my CAF gallery.

I have extended my collection of Eduardo Barreto OA. They all hail from Gary Dolgoff in Easthampton, MA, who always asks a decent price for the stuff he has for sale The Shadow Strikes! #6, page19 och Doc Savage #18, page 3. Doc Savage #18, pages 12 & 14. Doc Savage #18, pages 19 & 22. Doc Savage #18, page 23. To be able to fit twice as many pages in their schedule (this was at a time when delayed books were something scarce) Doc Savage artist Rod Whigham did the layouts, and Barreto finished the pencils and inks. And that's what he was really good at. I might have said it before but I think it runs a straight line from Caniff by Robbins and Jijé to Barreto? I am not complaining that Barreto is still very underrated, that means I can afford more OA by him (Click on the pictures to see them in my Barreto gallery on CAF).

When I saw the preview for the story in Archie #636 three years ago, I decided that those pages belonged in my collection. Thanks to the artist, the very understanding Gisèle Lagacé, this is now a reality: The OA for the entire issue (except the covers which only exists inside Gisèle's computer) can be viewed in my CAF gallery. Sometimes dreams do come true.

I got a somewhat belated delivery (he's a busy guy) of last years halloween-commission (it is starting to be something of a tradition) from Bill Galvan at SDCC in July: It is inspired by page 11 in Archie #649 and designed to be an alternate cover, an idea Bill (unknowing to me) had submitted to the people at Archie but never got approved. Members (Wendy "Double W" Weatherbee, Ethel Muggs, Trula Twyst, Sandy Sanchez & Debbie) of the organization "United Girls Against Jughead" are conjuring up some evil plan... Jughead beware! Click on the picture to see it in my CAF gallery.

I met up with Bill Galvan at Comic-con in San Diego and he delivered these two pages from the story in Archie #649: The opening splash hurls the reader right into the action and the second page explains what's going on. Click on the pictures to see them in a slightly bigger size in my CAF gallery.

I can't really say that getting on Terry Dodson's sketch list was the main reason for me going to San Diego this year, but I would lie if I should suggest that it had nothing to with it at all. Anyway, Terry managed to do something very difficult: Improve on Dan DeCarlo's cover for Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch #4 from 1971 (in my humble opinion one of Dan's very best covers, ever). Click on the picture to see it in my Terry Dodson-gallery on CAF together with some additional images. He has described what materials he used to create it on his blog.

Two more from this summer. Rich Koslowski made beautiful 4x4" watercolors of comic book characters in Artist's Alley at Comic-con i San Diego this year, so I promptly ordered "a mischievous Veronica" and this is what I could pick up when I went by his table the next day: Gisèle Lagacé added this beautiful portrait of Sabrina Spellman as a bonus in a recent deal regarding some of her (rather scarce) OA pages for Archie Comics. There are not many current artists that can make a satisfying rendering of my favourite teenage witch, but Gisèle is definitely one of them: I am very pleased with these additions to my collection. Click on the pictures to see slightly larger ones in my CAF gallery.

I have started to scan my acquisitions from Comic-con i San Diego (the large ones will have to wait until I get back to work on Thursday next week where I have access to a slightly bigger scanner which accepts 12x18). First Rich Koslowski had inked Bill Galvan's Sabrina sketch from two years ago: Looks really great, I think. Rich knows his stuff. Check out his embellishments over Fernando Ruiz pencils on Archie vs the Predator if you haven't already done so. Then Bill graciously made this contribution in my sketchbook: It is inspired by the sinister organization described i Archie #649, "United Girls Against Jughead" and shows part of its membership: Ethel Muggs, Trula Twyst & Wendy "Double W" Weatherbee. Bill drew as many girls as his busy schedule allowed him to. I'm considering asking Rich to ink this one too... Click on the pictures to see them in my CAF gallery.

I never thought that I would own a cover by Eduardo Barreto, but then this turned up on eBay: The cover for Cobb #1. A miniseries written by Beau Smith and drawn entirely by Barreto (both pencils and ink). The first issue can be read here (pdf-format). It looks better in black and white. (I wonder if the colors were meant to come out that muddy?) Click on the picture to see a larger version of it in my Barreto gallery on CAF. And if the rumours speaks the truth, Cobb is headed for television in the near future...

While waiting for Jeff Shultz to finish this commission I took the opportunity to snag his variant cover for Betty and Veronica #271: He was obviously inspired by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch. This is made entirely in pencil, scanned and computer colored. Looks a bit different. Click on the picture to see it in my comicartfans gallery. A nice addition to my collection of Jeff Shultz OA.

My latest commission from Jeff Shultz: The title of the piece is The Summer of' '69 and idea was to depict The Archies intense year of fame and fortune with an unfinished two-page-spread in Betty Cooper's scrapbook. I have written a small essay on its comicartfans page where I go into more detail about the process and the story behind it. Click on the picture to go there. It is my biggest commission so far. A whopping 28 1/2" x 22 1/2"!

I have started a knew sketchbook since the first one was filled up at Gothenburg book fair last September. So far there are four sketches in it which I now have scanned and displayed on CAF: Roger Rabbit (the civilian Captain Carrot) at the drawing board by Scott Shaw!, Tinker Bell by Shelly Block, "Don't mess with me"-Hopey by Jaime Hernandez & the mad serial killer from the swedish strip Bitter Animals by Johanna Kristiansson (who is based on me, BTW). Click on the image to get to the CAF gallery where they can be viewed in a larger format.

Thank you, too!

Thank you!

I have been on the lookout for a 1960's Dan DeCarlo pin-up page for several years, but it wasn't until Dan Forman made this page available I thought it was worth the funds and effort to add one to my collection: Most of the things I was looking for are here: * Dan DeCarlo's signature * It is from the mid sixties. * All of the "core five" (Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead & Reggie) are in it. * It is a scene straight out of a Beach-movie with Annette & Frankie. (Goes with this and this.) * Rudy Lapick is the inker (my educated guess). And on top of that there is the bonus of Moose and Josie, Melody & Pepper! When I showed it to Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez at Comic-Con in San Diego Jaime told me that he actually remembered when it was published in Pep #196 in 1966. He must have been eight years old at that time. He also said thet he didn't realize at the time that Dan had put Josie and her friends in it, that came later. They were both very enthusiastic about it (even though Harry Lucey is their favorite Archie artist). It is slightly oversized, approximately 19" X 13", so it didn't fit in my suitcase but fortunately I was allowed to carry it (in a mylar bag) as a "personal item" on the flight home. Click on the picture for a larger scan in my Dan DeCarlo-gallery on CAF.

This year Peter Maresca decided that he "only needed 20 good Johnny Hazard strips" in his collection and brought what was left to Comic-Con in San Diego. Since he wasn't really displaying them in his booth (Sunday Press Books) most of them were left on Sunday when I finally got around to ask him. When I had rummaged through them two stood out as (at least in my opinion) exceptional: This strip is from the episode "Wheels and Deals" and was published on May 19th, 1966. A lot of 60's feeling with fast cars, gorgeous broads and bad guys on the french Riviera. The size is a whopping 22 1/2" x 7 1/4" (approximately)! What I consider one of the most hilarious strips Frank Robbins ever drew. Johnny is on one of his first missions for WING and goes undercover as a pop singer (hence the mullet hairdo). Here he is using his bongos in a way that wasn't intended by the manufacturer. Madame Cobra and her all-female organization was probably inspired by both Milton Caniff's Dragon Lady and the female gangster queen from Ian Fleming's Goldfinger. The name of the adventure is "Operation Claw" and the strip was published December 30th 1966. Even though it is only six-and-a-half months later the size has shrunk to a more modest 18 1/4" x 6 3/4". A welcome addition to my Frank Robbins-collection (it will take a long time until I have "20 good strips"). Click on the pictures to see the strips in (almost) their natural size in my Frank Robbins gallery on CAF.