Two of the recent comic books that I bought were Mark Hazzard: Merc #1 and PowerLine #7. They both had artwork by Gray Morrow. I always liked his artwork because I tend to gravitate towards more realistic art styles. I am also a big fan of people like Alex Raymond, Alex Toth, Gil Kane, Steve Rude, Adam Hughes, Mike Deodato and Stuart Immonen’s early work. They all have a sense of the fantastic to them, but the basic figures are more realistic than someone like Kelley Jones, Keith Giffen’s later work or Humberto Ramos. (This is not an indictment of their work because I know for a fact that I could NEVER do what they do. I just however happen to prefer a different style.)

After I realized that I knew next to nothing about Gray Morrow, I decided to find out what he had been up to recently. Trying to find out whatever happened to creators who are no longer working on mainstream books on a regular basis is a crapshoot. For every Mindy Newell (who left comics to become a full time nurse) or Steve Bissette (who teaches at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont), there is a sadder story like John Totleben (who is legally blind due to a condition called retinitis pigmentosa) or Gray Morrow.

Gray Morrow was despondent over a long running illness and took his own life on November 6, 2001. According to Wikipedia, the illness was some form of palsy but it is the only place with that detail, so I am taking it with a grain of salt. To make matters worse, his website became defunct and is now one of those link/placeholder sites that scumbags put up when they want to be scumbags.

Tags: adam hughes, alex raymond, alex toth, center for cartoon studies, gil kane, gray morrow, humberto ramos, john totleben, keith giffen, kelley jones, mark hazzard: merc, mike deodato, mindy newell, powerline, retinitis pigmentosa, steve bissette, steve rude, stuart immonen, suicide

I have a very short list of creators I want to interview for Comic Book Noise:
Tom Beland (done)
Gil Kane
Steve Ditko
Jack Kirby
Jim Aparo
Marshall Rogers

Beyond that, I really don’t have time to waste (either mine or theirs).

Tags: gil kane, interviews, jack kirby, jim aparo, marshall rogers, steve ditko, tom beland

As long time listeners of Comic Book Noise know, one of the recurring themes of the show is when I find another long box that I thought was long gone. I have moved a LOT in my adult life and I have made the mistake of leaving long boxes at one place or another. Now that I have been living in my own homes (as opposed to living with family or renting from friends), I have slowly been reassembling my comic book collection. Since I have started the podcast, I have found comics at my mother’s house, at the house of my ex-wife’s mother, in my best friend’s basement and in the garage of my sister’s ex-husband (also my former housemate).

Some times, long boxes just appear. I’m not sure where they come from, but I know they are mine. I recognize some of the comics. For some reason, those familiar comic books are not in my database (which is Comic Collector 4.2, for those of you wondering), which means that in the grand scheme of things, they don’t exist. I even have piles of loose comics in the database as Location: None.

There has been a long box sitting near my desk for a while now and I have never really paid attention to it. I have always meant to put it with the other boxes, but it wasn’t in the way, so no big rush. Today I decided to take a look at it and discovered that it is not in the database. And like I said, if it isn’t in the database, it doesn’t exist.

Hurray for free comics that spontaneously exist.

I’m not sure what is in the box, but just quickly looking in the box shows:

• a lot of American Flagg (including most of the DeMatteis/Badger run and the Time Squared special),
• Grendel #1 (featuring Christine Spar),
• all twelve issues Howard Chaykin’s Amerikan Flagg,
• Infinity Gauntlet (the entire mini),
• Infinity War (just the first issue),
• Infinity Crusade (just the first issue),
• Infinity Inc (including the annuals),
• Invaders (including the battle against The Crusaders and the return of Union Jack)
• Invasion (the entire thing),
• a bunch of old Iron Man issues (Layton artwork. The stuff around the Sunturion times),
• Judgment Day Aftermath (by Alan Moore and Gil Kane),
• the first 30 issues of Nexus/Nexus Legends,
• Starman Secret Files and Origins (which I didn’t even know I ever bought),
• a bunch of the Millennium Giants crossover issues,
• Superman Red Superman Blue with the 3D glasses and the other Superman reprint issue,
• Superman Forever with the Alex Ross cover,
• Trinity #1 (Green Lantern, The Darkstars and L.E.G.I.O.N.),
• A long run of Walter Simonson’s X-Factor (very underrated stuff),
• The first five X-Factor annuals,
• X-Force #1 (I wonder how much this is worth now),
• Two copies of X-Men #1 (ditto),
• and a lot of grass clippings in the bottom of the box.

It looks like I have to do a lot of bagging because none of the Iron Man or X-Factor issues are in bags and they look like it. The issues are readable, but they feel dirty. I also need to confirm their existence by adding them to the database.

Who knows, I might even get a chance to read some comic books. If I do, then I will shamelessly steal from Just Bill and talk about what I enter into the database.

Tags: 3d comics, alan moore, alex ross, american flagg, bob layton, christine spar, comic collecting software, crusaders, darkstars, database, finding old stuff, gil kane, grass, green lantern, grendel, howard chaykin, infinity crusade, infinity gauntlet, infinity inc., infinity war, invaders, invasion, iron man, james robinson, jm dematteis, judgment day, L.E.G.I.O.N., mark badger, mike baron, millennium giants, nexus, spontaneous generation, starman, steve rude, sunturion, superman blue, superman forever, superman red, trinity, union jack, Walter Simonson, x-factor, x-force, x-men