Waiting is the Worst

In some ways, December is the worst part of the year for me. Because I work for USPS I can't take any annual leave (even if I had any left, which I don't). So basically I am stuck in the city for the duration of the month, champing at the bit to get the hell out of here while going stir crazy. In addition, the holiday season generally is not such for me. I get Christmas Day off, of course, but generally not any other day off on either side of that holiday. In addition, because no mail is delivered on Christmas, that means that the mail volume is off the freaking charts the following day. So the workload is at least doubled on the 26th.

Generally, I spend December planning my escapes from Charlotte, trying to decide where I will go hiking or camping or kayaking.

I really need to get outdoors and find some solitude. The mountains are calling.

Big time.

Using a recently fallen hardwood as a bridge in the South Mountains State Park.

Grayson Highlands area, Virginia.

 

Mill Creek Falls, West Virginia.

Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.

Middle Prong Wilderness (where I got lost).

Round Bald, at the NC/TN border on the Appalachian Trail.

Christmas Season

Hhere are some pop music, video, films, and experiences that make me think of Christmas, even though they're not actually Christmas-themed. I enjoy hearing and watching them during the Christmas season. Here are a few:

I do not know why I like listening to this song at Christmas, but I do. Maybe it's just because I find it to be a supremely sweet tune.

I do know why this one reminds me of Christmas. It's a film about redemption and coming to a sense of peace with the world. An appropriate Christmas message. (Although I do have to admit that the last line in the movie does give me a chill.)

ROBERT PALMER - EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE from Bruno Tilley on Vimeo.

Another great song with a sweet message delivered wonderfully by the late Robert Palmer.

Snow. Duh. I keep hoping to experience an actual white Christmas. So far...no luck. Maybe one day.

Selling Some Rare Comics on Ebay.

Did some horse-trading and picked up some books. One for my collection and three to sell. Three Kirby greatness and one Ditko genius.

This one just for me. Goes right in my collection.

One of the highest grade FFs I've stumbled across. Should keep it, but it's actually much higher grade than what I normally collect. Easily very fine to near mint. FF #35 on Ebay.

Another extremely high grade book. One to sell. Amazing Spider-Man #27 on Ebay.

Great Kirby cover, and in very high demand. Tales of Suspense #58 on Ebay.

Charlotte Comicon

I went to attend the local Charlotte Comicon today. I'm usually a guest there and I always get a kick out of attending. Lots of old comic books for me to look at, professional comic artists and writers to meet, and cosplay people to look at!

Today was typical for the show run by Dave Hinson and Rick Fortenberry: non-stop fun!

Early set-up. Only a few dealers and artist folk had arrived.

Artists and dealers begin to fill up the room.

One of my favorite people! Budd Root: creator of CAVEWOMAN!

Andy Smith, well-known professional inker at Marvel Comics.

My favorite back-issue dealer, Earl Shaw of Georgia.

Costumed cuties!

I ran into an old pal, Sean Conley. It was great to see him after a number of years.

Fresh Air Coming...

Normally, I love the holidays. Right now...not so much. I haven't been out of the city in a while. Under usual circumstances I can get out of the city and into the forests and mountains and relax. But it has been a while since I've been able to do that. As it stands, I will have several days in early January when I can go somewhere to enjoy the wilder places in the Appalachian Mountains. Until then, I stay here and grind my teeth and feel the old pressure building.

Just a few more weeks...

Well engineered trail in Virginia.

Appalachian Trail junction.

Large slide on a nearby mountain.

Summit of the romantically named Harkening Hill.

Aptly named Sharp Top Mountain, frosted in ice and sleet.

Evening mountain skyline.

Return to Peaks of Otter!

We're planning a trip back to the Peaks of Otter soon. The Lodge has reopened under new management. I wasn't sure that it would, but I was hopeful. There is still one National Park lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway that has not reopened due to the concessionaire walking away from the property. So it wasn't a foregone conclusion that this National Park tradition would continue.

I am glad to see it back in operation again.

Not sure what trails I'll walk once I arrive there. I've hiked all three of the major peaks right around the lodge, and some of the other ones in the vicinity. I'll just have to look over my National Forest maps and figure it out.

One of the major peaks around the lodge: Sharp Top. Once thought to be the highest mountain in Virginia, it isn't even close. Still an impressive southern summit.

The back of the Lodge. Carole and I love this place. Very quiet. We don't have to go looking for a restaurant because the one on site is excellent.

A winter storm was just hitting the area when I shot this video. We were getting ready to leave and the cold rain was beginning to freeze, and snow & ice were already mixing in.

Indie Crapper!

There's a term around these days that quite actually makes me ill. It's "indie writer". What it's supposed to mean are authors who have decided to self-publish their work, rather than go through the traditional method of publishing (hard work).

But what the use of "indie writer" tells me is that the author has no talent and has added another turd to the already clogged pipeline of the fiction marketplace.

There was a time when I actually supported "indie writers". I would let them promote their books on my various online community home pages. I'd link to their books if they requested it. I'd "re-tweet" their promotions for them. If it looked like they needed it, I'd give them a pat on the back and a word of encouragement.

Enough of that crap.

If you are a self-described "indie writer", what you truly are is either a misguided idiot foisting your putrid attempts at prose onto an already burdened marketplace, or you are an ego-mad dishonest asshole out to victimize both the customer seeking quality work, and the authors who actually deserve notice who are working hard to create decent fiction.

Indie Writer. Wearing that title with pride? Whenever I see anyone brag about their status as such, I see a jackass wearing a cap of turds on their skull.

Fuck the lot of you. And whatever you do...don't ask me to help you promote your indie piece of shit.

Remember this? ATLANTA NIGHTS by Travis Tea. It was created by a group of writers to show that anything would be offered a contract at PublishAmerica. It was intentionally awful and meant as a statement to expose a worthless outfit. Now...compared to what "indie writers" produce by the thousands every day, it's a sparkling work of art. Self-publishing has wrecked English literature and the legitimate fiction marketplace.

Warm weather.

A cold, lingering rain today while I sit inside and write. So...photos of warmth and sunshine.

Jenny Lake, Grand Tetons National Park.

Lunchtime on a float trip along the Yellowstone River.

Warm Spring day at the Dry Tortugas National Park.

 

Wakualla Springs State Park, Florida.

Egmont Key!

On the Chassahowtizka River.

De Leon Springs.

Andy and I, at a Hot Spring on the Yellowstone River.

BEWARE!

Of the two titles that Ditko took to DC, I think the best one (and the one closest to his heart) must have been BEWARE THE CREEPER.

To me, Ditko was obviously doing his best to recapture some of the imagery and power of his Marvel creation, The Amazing Spider-Man. But he was also doing his best to infuse it with parts of one of his personal favorite characters, The Question.

Like Spider-Man, The Creeper is an acrobatic creature comfortable with dancing along the rooftops and dropping into alleyways to kick criminal ass. Just as with The Question, the hero's alter-ego is an investigative journalist sniffing around for clues of criminal activity and political corruption. It actually made a pretty darned good combination. Unfortunately, as with THE HAWK and THE DOVE, BEWARE THE CREEPER suffered the same fate--cancellation after a mere six issues, with the last one mainly being illustrated by someone other than Ditko.

The Creeper is, as super-heroes go, not very super-powered. He has slightly superhuman strength and agility, combined with a puzzling electronic gimmick that allows him to transform instantly from civilian attire to the strange costume the hero cobbled together from bits and pieces found in a room during an investigation.

The iconography of The Creeper is pretty cool. He doesn't much look like any other superhero the fans had seen. And it's still almost unique nearly 50+ years later. Ditko later did at least a few stories featuring his creation for DC. And he has popped up now and again as a supporting character in other books.

He obviously is still a valuable commodity to DC, as I doubt they'd be eager to give him back to his creator at any point. Not that Ditko would even accept the offer if it was made.

Because...well...Ditko.

SHOWCASE #73, introduction of The Creeper.

Here, with less interference from meddling editors, Ditko could have a more human hero who does battle with human villains. This is the kind of thing he successfully did with the Spider-Man title at Marvel.

And whenever I see the action pages in BEWARE THE CREEPER it is obvious to me that either Ditko wanted to hang onto his Marvel fans with similar Spider-Man type antics, or DC editors had requested that he serve up the same type of stuff. This sequence could just as well have been Spider-Man and Kraven.

The first issue after the Showcase introduction. Ditko pretty much kept the villains in BEWARE THE CREEPER as close to human as possible. They just didn't have super powers. Even The Creeper's super powers were muted when compared even to Spider-Man. Slightly enhanced strength, and the ability to switch to his alter ego at will.

Ditko introduces Proteus, a villain who is, in pretty much every way, the Chameleon that he gave us in The Amazing Spider-Man #1.

Once Upon A Time...

There was a time when it took skill to sell a novel and see it meet the light of print. Once there were writers who earned their way to publication by learning to tell a story and honing their craft to a sharp edge. These folk did it the hard way, day by day, story by story, line by line.

This was, of course, in the times before ebooks and that most hideous of practices, self-publishing via one of several formats made far too easy and far too popular.

A case in point of the right way (the hard way) to do it is Gary Raisor's LESS THAN HUMAN. Back in the mid-90s, this book was something of a legend in my circles. Raisor--who had worked his way through the small presses and into professional magazines and anthologies creating and selling vivid and spectacular short stories--had sold this novel to Berkley Books. I had heard a great many good things about the book and went searching high and low for a copy. But no copy was to be found! For some reason, while the book had completely sold out its print run in quick order, Berkley Books did not see fit to order it up for a second printing!

Everywhere I looked I failed to find a copy. It was so popular with its readers that I couldn't even find one in the second-hand bookshops. (And let me tell you, I really tried to find one!)

Eventually, the book was reissued in hardcover in a limited edition format. I knew about it, but I was really poor at the time and could not afford one. So....I was at a loss.

Fast-forward 20+ years and Crossroads Press has finally reissued LESS THAN HUMAN in ebook format. As I've stated many times here (and elsewhere), I am not a fan of ebooks. I hate them, in fact. I just don't enjoy the experience of reading books on a glorified video screen and I rarely use my Kindle Fire device. But I made an exception for LESS THAN HUMAN and bought my copy  via Amazon and had it downloaded to my Kindle.

The praise for the novel was well-deserved. It actually never went far enough.

Technically, the book is about a vampire. But this ain't no sparkly, virginal Mormon vampire. This sumbitch is a monster, which is what vampires are freaking supposed to be. Raisor takes us on a trip from today (well, the late 80s, I reckon, but you know what I mean) back more than a hundred years to the Old West of the latter days of European expansion, back hundreds of more years to the reign of ancient pre-Colombian empires, and forward again to modern times.

And the author does this all the while following the conflict between a modern day pool hustler/psychic and an ancient evil that parades as a pool hustler but who is something far more monstrous than a cheating bastard after your stash of cash.

And you'd best pay attention. The novel juggles a boat-load of characters, all of whom are integral to the storyline and each whom is irreplaceable within the narrative.

It's not for your average dimwit out to read about cute, immortal boyfriends and friendly werewolves.

The sad thing about the overdue reappearance of LESS THAN HUMAN is that the book is getting lost in the enormous dumpload of crappy ebook releases and stinking, lousy, worthless self-published novels by every moron who can push the "publish" button at Amazon and Smashwords.

Gary Raisor did it the hard way. He learned his craft and practiced until it was sharp. This book found its way to publication through quality and not from some egotistical whim. So do the world a favor. Pass by the latest self-published piece of crap and buy Gary Raisor's LESS THAN HUMAN. It's from Crossroads Press and you can find it anywhere books are sold online.

LESS THAN HUMAN by Gary Raisor. From Crossroads Press.

Sincerest

Flattery be damned. In 1954-55, the hottest comic on the newsstands was MAD, from EC Comics. Almost everyone publishing comics books wanted to imitate it. And the ones who didn't want to imitate it, wanted to kill it off.

But I'm not here to talk about any of the villains who wanted to destroy MAD. I want to mention what EC Comics did to protect their extremely profitable spot on those newsstands. Since almost every publisher was trying like mad to imitate MAD, Bill Gaines and company just decided that the best thing to do was...imitate MAD!

If someone was going to steal some of their sales numbers, it might as well be themselves.

So what they did was create a companion book called PANIC. It had the same writers, the same artists, the same publisher, the same Jewish sense of humor. How could it miss? And the thing was, of course, to kill off the weakest of the imitators by causing the fans to buy PANIC instead of CRAZY or GET LOST! or FLIP or CRACKED or MADHOUSE or WHACK or EH! or...you get the picture. The imitators were out there in droves. Some of them were pretty good, too.

I haven't been concentrating on completing a set of PANIC, but I pick up copies when I see them at a good price. Despite the fact that they are, in essence, exactly the same thing as MAD from exactly the same creators at exactly the same publishing house, you can get these books for a LOT less than you can issues of MAD from the same period.

The last copy I picked up was #7. Sometimes the covers of both MAD and PANIC were kind of bland or uninspiring to me. Such is the case with this issue. But there was something about these special joke covers that seem bland to look upon that inspired the kids of the day to buy the darned things. I reckon they knew what they were doing.

Some day I need to write an essay of how Harvey Kurtzman was fucked out of his position at MAD. It was his baby all the way, and it ended up making the publisher, Bill Gaines, one of the richest men in comics. But for now I'll leave that where it is and save it for another time.

PANIC #7

An ad for MAD from Kurtzman and Elder.

Just as with MAD, much of the humor in PANIC was topical. Most people today have absolutely no idea who Joe Palooka was. Palooka is just a word they heard in PULP FICTION. But it was prime material for parody in 1955.

Jack Davis, one of the most popular comedy artists at EC.

THEM was a hot commodity and still new to the screens. Wally Wood has a go at it.

Wally Wood was a great caricaturist and nobody did women like Woody.

Everyone thinks Marvel was the first publisher to connect with the fans. How wrong those people are! EC was adept at making (and keeping) a connection with its fans. The editors printed fan mail, and they bragged about the men who were writing and illustrating the stories that the fans kept coming back to read.

The average American is introduced to Jewish and Yiddish humor. Nobody did that better than the guys writing MAD and PANIC.

Ditko Channeling Cole?

When it came specifically to Spider-Man and, to an almost equal extent, The Creeper, I always felt that Ditko was doing his best to equal, if not actually emulate the work of the late Jack Cole. Cole's work was often frantic and seemed to vibrate with animation. In the same way that some of Ditko's more creative covers were that way, and the way that many of the action sequences for Spider-Man and The Creeper were choreographed.

No one seems to have written anything about this possible connection. And the only times I've read any interviews with Ditko where anyone has asked him about influences, he has deflected the question (as he does many questions).

Even if it wasn't intentional, nobody in Silver Age comics could show action in simple 2-D the way that Ditko could. And I am always reminded of Cole's work from the Golden Age when I see Ditko's covers and action sequences.

One of Cole's simpler efforts. His more complicated bits were always reserved for the splash pages inside.

Again...Ditko channeling Cole? I think so.