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| THE FANDOM REUNION LUNCHEON 1997 |
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In 1997, Fandom historian Bill Schelly (The Golden Age of Comic Fandom), with an able assist from Chicago fan Russ Maheras, organized an amazing luncheon with the purpose of bringing together as many of the active fans from '60s fandom as humanly possible. These were the folks that pioneered comic fandom, from its inception in early 1961 with the almost-simultaneous release of Alter-ego #1 (edited and published by Dr. Jerry G. Bails, with an able assist from a young fan named Roy Thomas), and Comic Art #1 (edited and published by Don and Maggie Thompson). Although I had not been an active participant in '60s fandom -- and indeed, had not even known of its existence until reading Bill's wonderful Golden Age book, I was thrilled at the prospect of meeting so many of the people whose talent and fortitude I had come to admire. Via e-mail, I asked Bill if myself and my traveling companions (former Man of Steel Magazine editor Jon Park, and ubercollector John Canfield, both long-time pals of mine) might be allowed to attend the luncheon (which was timed to coincide with the '97 WizardWorld convention, although it was not officially tied in with the con), and kibitz. Bill graciously agreed, and so we set off for Chicago. |
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Bill Schelly |
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The Unusual Suspects: (l to r) Jon Park, JE Smith, John Canfield) |
The tone of the afternoon was set just
moments after we arrived at the Pine Grove restaurant, when someone asked us us
to smile for a snapshot. After the flash died down, we realized that the
photographer was none other than Jerry Ordway, ace Superman/Power of Shazam
artist. Waitaminnut -- Jerry Ordway was taking our picture? Shouldn't that be
the other way around -- ?! (Okay, okay, we weren't the only ones Jerry was
snapping a photo of, but you take my point.) That was the feeling that prevailed
throughout the entire luncheon: the boundaries of age, geography, and
professional status seemed to totally vanish; 
everyone was tied together by their love of comics, and their enthusiasm for the
fandom that had exploded during that formative period in the '60s and early
'70s. We three visitors thought that, at best, we would get to say hello to some
of the people we admired, and maybe listen in on some interesting conversations,
but in fact, we were totally accepted into the group, and made to feel
completely welcome. Here is some of the cool stuff that went on:
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| Jerry Bails (l) and Roy Thomas (r)) |
Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas, the pioneering editors of Alter-ego, sat next to each other, flanked by their lovely wives. Jerry's encyclopedic knowledge of obscure Golden Age artists, and Roy's "inside" stories of his years in pro comics thrilled everyone within earshot, and the easy rapport between these longtime friends was fun to watch. Naturally, these two legendary figures were in high demand, with almost everyone wanting to chat with them, but I was able to get a few words in edgewise. I had Jerry (who likes to call me "Not the BONE Guy") sign my copy of the All Stars Archives hardback (he wrote the introduction), and I talked with Roy about our mutual alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University. And I'm proud of the fact that I seem to have been the only photographer there to demand that they stand side-by-side for a photo! I'm happy to report that, in the years since the luncheon, I've remained friends with both Jerry and Roy, and we still swap the occasional e-mail (in fact, Roy paid me one of the best complements I've ever gotten when he told me he thought that Bulletproof was "better-written than many pro comics"!). Having both of them together in the same room was a magical moment for this giddy fanboy.
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The late Howard Keltner (l) and Grass Green (r) buddy up. |
Howard Keltner, of the famed Texas Trio (who, along with the late Larry Herndon, and Buddy Saunders -- now head honcho of the famed Lone Star Comics -- published the premiere original-strip zine of the ear, Star Studded Comics), and his charming wife Reva had made the trip from the Lone Star state to attend the luncheon. Howard manned the sign-in book, and had copies of his essential Howard Keltner's Index to Golden Age Comics on hand. One of my favorite moments was getting Howard and Grass to pose for a picture. It was, I believe, the first in-person meeting of these two longtime friends and collaborators (Howard has commented to me that he considers Grass his greatest influence as an artist, and credits Grass with training him to be a better inker; in fact, Grass recruited Howard several times over the years to ink his Xal-Kor and Wildman & Rubberoy strips). Unfortunately, Howard, who was fighting illness even at the time of the luncheon, and walked with a cane, passed away about a year after the fandom luncheon, and is sorely missed today. I am very grateful to have cultivated a friendship over the last few years of his life, and in fact was able to accompany Buddy Saunders and Don Maris to visit Howard just a few short months before his passing, an opportunity I will always be grateful for. Howard was truly one of the sweetest people I ever met, and I miss being able to chat with him. The eternally-young Grass Green, happily, is still alive and kicking, and in fact is gearing up to relaunch his classic Xal-Kor character in an all-new trilogy. At the luncheon, Grass maintained his reputation as the clown prince of comicdom; his raucous laughter could often be heard above the din, and at one point we noticed someone at the window -- it was Grass, who had run outside and was now peering into the room, as if to say, "let me in! Let me in!"
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| Jon Park (l) and Jerry Ordway (r) ) |
The presence of Jerry Ordway -- who had contributed to several of Bill Black's early-'70s, as well as producing his own zine called Okay Comics -- meant that the afternoon was made for my cousin/pal Jon Park. As a Superman fan in good standing, Jon respects virtually everyone who has contributed to the Superman mythos, but Ordway is one of his all-time favorites. Much to our delight, Jerry also turned out to be an extremely nice and down-to-earth guy as well. We had actually run into Jerry briefly the day before in the hotel lobby, where I had admonished him to start drawing interior pages again (at the time, he was mainly scripting Power of Shazam, and doing the covers -- I take full credit for the fact that, not much later, Jerry did return to drawing interior pages, and is now doing a lot of work for Marvel), but I don't think we were expecting him to show up at the luncheon. Jon got to sit across from Jerry at lunch, although he was a bit too starstruck to say much. Fortunately, Jerry was more than willing to chat with us. I was so pleased to watch Jon's interaction with one of his heroes that I only fleetingly expressed to Jerry how much I enjoy his work as well. In fact, it was this first meeting that led to my long friendship with Jerry, and his able assistance on the covers of Bulletproof #3 and Complex City #1. He really is just about the nicest guy in comics...
Meanwhile, John Canfield was enjoying talking to Mark Heike, publisher of AC Comics, who reprint a lot of Golden Age stories as backups to their Femforce Comics. Big Bang Comics honchos Ed DeGeorge and Gary Carlson arrived somewhat late, but immediately joined in the festivities. Ed and Gary own the copyright to Doctor Weird, a classic fandom character created by Howard Keltner. Getting Howard to pose with Doctor Weird's successors was a nice moment at the luncheon.
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(l to r) Ed DeGeorge, Howard Keltner, Gary Carlson ) |
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(l to r)
John Canfield, Bob Butts, Mark Heike (hidden) |
Possibly the most magical moment, however, came when we were able to examine near-mint copies of many classic fanzines, courtesy of Ken Tesar (contributor to Super-Hero and Fighting Hero Comics), including pristine copies of Alter Ego, The Comicollector (before it merged with Rocket's Blast to become the long-running RBCC), and many more. Likewise, Mike Tuohey (whose dapper appearance made it hard to connect him with the grinning teenager standing outside Jerry Bails' house on Alley Tally weekend, as pictured in Bill Schelly's Golden Age book) popped a few eyeballs by pulling out the actual ditto master (i.e. the original art) to the cover of Alter-ego #3 (Jerry Bails' excellent Green Lantern cover). These kind gentlemen actually let us touch these rarities! For those of us who weren't there in the '60s, getting a close-up look at these rare treasures was a heady experience. I enjoyed talking to Jim Rossow and Bob Butts, two long-time buddies who had published the zines Countdown and Fan-To-Fan (respectively). I had to grin at Bob's recollection of how the two of them would spend hours in Jim's basement, cranking out fanzines, and how they sometimes -- because of the limited ventilation -- got a little punch-drunk off the ditto ink fumes! (But no permanent brain damage, right Bob?)
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Maggie Thompson chats
while Jerry Ordway (r) |
Other attendees included CBG's Maggie Thompson, a sweet friendly lady who I only got to meet briefly; Joe Sarno, owner and proprietor of Joe Sarno's Comic Kingdom in Chicago (one of the longest-running comic stores in the country), and one of the originators of the Chicago Comicon; Tony Isabella, longtime Marvel writer and CBG columnist; Bob Beerbohm, whose articles on the history of the direct market, now being published in Comic Book Artist, are among the most fascinating comics-related material I've read lately.
As you might expect, through it all, Bill Schelly was in perpetual motion, moving from fan to fan and group to group, the whole time grinning like a Cheshire cat -- Bill was obviously tickled pink to have so many of fandom's finest together in one room and (like all of us) tickled to have the chance to interact with so many of these fascinating people. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet everyone, or even talk as extensively as I'd have liked with those I did meet, but on the whole, the luncheon was a transcendental experience. I think everyone who was there would rate it as a smashing success.
Big thanks to Bill Schelly for inviting us to the luncheon, and also for some post-production assistance with this write-up, helping me identify people in photos, sending me the guest-list, and other assistance above and beyond the call of duty. Bill, you're a beautiful human being.
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Roy Thomas and his lovely wife Dann. |
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Here is a
list of all 33 attendees: Jerry and Jean Bails; |
| Complex City © 2002 | Last Update: Friday, July 25, 2003 |
