News & Appearances

JUN 08, 2001 - THE GRAPHIC ALBUMS TRIUMVIRATE SALE AVAILABLE ONLY HERE!

Here's the deal! It's been my thought that if writers could sell their books directly through the Internet, especially on titles that regular comics outlets often do not support enough that they can survive, they aren't the only game in town.

And for those who don't have stores that either carry the books, or no comics oriented stores near them, the Internet is a perfect support system to hopefully make it possible to sell the books directly to you! There are a lot of people who have told me how much SABRE and DETECTIVES INC. have meant to them over the years. I'd love to do new ones.

I believe that once folks believe they can order safely over the Internet and find the books they want, we are all liberated.

And if there is enough readers coming through the Internet, they cannot only help a series survive, they can make new books on those characters possible.

I am not cutting out any Distributors, but let's face it, in the comics world of today, there are less shops, many stores stay with only the major companies, and while I will always do book signings, and work with the Distributors, I know creative freedom is promised by not staying reliant on outside sources to survive.

So, at the Cyberstore, I have the three Signed and Numbered DETECTIVES INC and SABRE GRAPHIC NOVELS at a sale price, and since I personally send them out, I always make sure that the folks who order from here, get some extras in their packages!

So click here and check out our Internet special.

And as I've written somewhere, sometime, "Hang in there!"

JUN 08, 2001 - ZORRO NEWSPAPER STRIPS HELL BENT FOR UNCUT IMAGE VOLUME

For all you Zorro fans who couldn't find the newspaper strip adventures of their favorite masked hero during its two months run, there is cause for you to leap into the saddle and ride hell bent for leather!

Anybody really know what that phrase means?

Anyhow, I've recently finished discussions with Sandra Curtis of Zorro Productions on a COLLECTED VOLUME of the first year complete, Dailies and Sundays, of the strip. I'll be working with Brent Braun at Image, who was the point man at Image when I did the DETECTIVES INC.: A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS graphic album, the man who helped me oversee the re-shooting of Gene Colan’s art for that book.

We will be working to make this an unusual book for reprints of a newspaper strip.

When I was writing the strip, I was always concerned with three factors.

The first was to keep aware that some people would only see the Dailies of the story, and that while the story would propel continuously from day to day, if you didn't see the Sunday that reader wasn't ignored.

Some folks would only see the Sundays, and while it was daunting at times to figure out how to make it so those folks could track the story, and play with the visual arrangements, including turning some Sundays on their sides, I kept that challenge forefront every week.

The third challenge was that I did not want any recap strips.

One day, there might be a book like this.

One day, you might be able to read the story from start to finish in one volume.

The challenge was to make it flow naturally, so that you never had the feeling the story was stalling, or repeating stuff you already knew.

But there's another addition here! An important one! And I know it has seldom ever been done!

The first two stories should be reprinted in their entirety, TUSK ENVY, and DEAD BODY RISING.

DEAD BODY RISING suffered because the motivation behind the murder of the body found in the La Brea tar pits became impossible to do half way through the strip.

Now, for the FIRST TIME, I will write the missing strips; they will be drawn by Tod Smith, inked by Tom Yeates and lettered by John Costanza.

Now, for the FIRST TIME, you will learn what Solares whispers in Zorro’s ear in that printed silent panel!

Now, for the FIRST TIME, you will see what happens when Eulalia interferes with Capitan Monasterio’s attempt to shoot Zorro!

This is a rare edition, indeed!

I’ll keep you posted as to when you can expect to see this book appear, and as I learn more about it!

JUN 08, 2001 - RAGAMUFFINS RUN RAMPANT THROUGH VANGUARD NEIGHBORHOOD

WATCH OUT, MR. ROGERS!

One of my personal all-time favorite books I've ever done is RAGAMUFFINS!

I waited years to do it, until Gene Colan was free to illustrate the series, even though Eclipse Comics had suggested some mighty powerful names as possible artists for these stories about little kids growing up in the 1950s. There were Flash Forwards to the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc.

Now, you never saw my further intent, because we didn't get to tell enough RAGAMUFFINS stories to get there, but eventually it was my plan to do stories that would have sequences that showed the kids parents when they were in the neighborhood of five years old, covering the decades of the teens, 20s, 30s, etc. In other words, when the parents and grandparents were RAGAMUFFINS.

These further stories would show what shaped them individually as well as be a tapestry of America, what changed, what didn't, what seemed to change but only evolved and often called itself by another name.

The hard-to-find RAGAMUFFINS COLOR ONE-SHOT is, I am told, the first book to print color over pencils.

It certainly wasn't an easy book to do, to figure out how to do it, without losing the integrity of the art.

I lobbied for printing Gene's pencils.

Dean Mullaney, the publisher/editor of Eclipse, found the people who could figure out how to do it.

For years, I thought only Steve Oliff was involved in figuring out how to use the color without losing the fine texture and shadings of Gene's pencils. It wasn't until I was working on THE MASK OF ZORRO that I found out that Tony Kelly was involved in the computer side of the process. And when working on ZORRO: MATANZAS! with Sam Parsons, somehow in one of the many discussions on the approach to the coloring in that pivotal Zorro series, Sam told me he had worked with Steve on the coloring since he was rooming with Steve at the time RAGAMUFFINS was being done.

Goes to show how much the creator/writer can know even about a book he was intimately involved with, and who viewed every final page before it went into print.

Yet, since I was in Brooklyn, and the actual coloring was done on the West Coast, I only saw the finished product, and the finished credits readers saw in the book.

Now, for the first time ever, in a permanent bookshelf type edition, all the RAGAMUFFINS stories will be printed, including KITTYCATS AND BOOGEYMEN.

There's even the hope that the LONG-LOST, written and drawn and lettered THE PACK RAT INSTINCT may, in some shape or form, be a part of THE ESSENTIAL RAGAMUFFINS!

Here’s what Dave Spurlock of VANGUARD PRESS has to say:

VANGUARD STATEMENT

There are ongoing discussions between Vanguard and the Ragamuffins creators. Vanguard is very interested in adding Don McGregor & Gene Colan to the stellar list of talent which we publish. McGregor & Colan would be a great addition to Steranko, Infantino, Barron Storey, John Buscema, Bill Sienkiewicz, Wally Wood, Jeffrey Jones, M.W. Kaluta, Hal Foster, Nick Cardy, John Romita, etc.

At this point, it's a question of assessing the production work necessary, scheduling and final contract negotiations. But we hope to have the Vanguard Definitive Ragamuffins out in 2002. We hope to including a limited edition hardcover signed by McGregor & Colan.

J. David Spurlock Publisher, Vanguard Productions

JUN 08, 2001 - DON PROWLS GOTHAM CITY WITH THE BATMAN

He is the Batman.

He is one with the night and the shadows, with the neon glitz and dark revelations.

His blood pulses with the pulse of his city.

Glitter and gore, pain and pleasure, joy and despair, he knows them all intimately.

And I get to write the Batman for the first time in one of the BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE 8 page stories.

Mark Chiarello, the Batman Black and White editor, gave me a call about writing one, and joining a talented cast of comics creators on this little sanctum of the Batman, not knowing that I was in the process of putting together a big The Batman piece of Bob Schreck.

Mark was a pleasure to work with. It's been odd being up in the D.C. corridors. I hadn't been there since meeting with Archie Goodwin. It all seems so different from what I remember.

Times change. Memories are tricky.

But Mark certainly made me feel welcome, and I thank him for all his courtesy.

The story's called THIN EDGE OF A DIME.

When I know more about when it is being released, I’ll put it out right here in a new bulletin!

Some come on back to Website and check us out. You never know what might be new.

JUN 07, 2001 - DETECTIVES INC MOVIE INVADES SAN DIEGO COMIC CON FILM FESTIVAL

Okay, so I get asked all the time, "Don, when can we see the film version of DETECTIVES INC - THE MOVIE?"

There’s a question that doesn’t often get asked aloud, but you can see it in their eyes. "What's a guy, who mostly writes comics, doing writing and directing a movie?"

Well, they can get the answer to that in the back of the graphic album, DETECTIVES INC.: A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS, but the answer to that first question now has an answer.

That time looks like it is finally drawing near!

Yes, I showed 21 minutes of the film at last years Annual James Bond Weekend festivities headed by Matt Sherman, and the audience response, the gasps at shots I had thought would provoke gasps, the enthusiastic vocal concern to what happens to our intrepid trio of Denning, Rainier and Deirdre, convinced me I should go forward.

So, with the invaluable help of Paul Scrabo I was able to finish the film I'd begun long ago.

And...at the 2001 SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

On JULY 20th

At 4:30

You can see the PREMIERE PRESENTATION of DETECTIVES INC., starring Alex Simmons, Richard Douglass and Marsha McGregor.

And afterwards, because Gary Sassaman, the Program Coordinator at the Con has given us a 21/2 hour time slot, there’ll be time for a Q & A.

I'll be as tense as a blood-hound on a greased slanted metal roof.

And just about as excited!

So join us, please! Fill up that auditorium, and be among the first to see the completed film.

Don’t start without me!

And share the popcorn!

LAURA BATES is the HOPPY FAN EXTRAORDINAIRE who puts this whole shebang together and you can reach her at (740) 826-4850 or by e-mail at Lbates1205@cs.com.

I hope some of you can make it.

Adios, amigos, amigas!

Okay, so we all know that a couple of decades ago the Big Apple held the biggest Annual comic convention in New York City.

It made some sort of sense, what with the major comics companies having their offices in Manhattan.

And then somewhere along the way, sunny San Diego seduced the crowd, and comic fans from all over the world rushed there. No one attending the con got a tan. But the weather was always nice at night when one went out for dinner.

But now a comics dinner has come back to New York City, and to do something the city hasn’t recognized much as an art form in recent years: an evening with comic writers and artists to help raise money for a NEW YORK CITY COMIC BOOK MUSEUM!

And being a part of comic strips, Don would persuasively argue for COMIC STRIPS, as well.

So, on SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2001 you can join Don and Marsha and break bread with them all for a cause that comic lovers can support enthusiastically at

THE COMMONWEALTH GRILL AND BREWERY
10 Rockefeller Plaza
35 West 48th St.
(Bet. 5th and 6th Ave.)
N.Y.C. 10020

Somebody remind Don not to talk with his mouth full, although such a thing probably would be de rigueur for the informality of comics brethren, especially when passionately moved to expound on favorite comics!

Sure, verily, sayeth the master of ceremonies.

So, where can you get your tickets?

You can call
          (212) 712-9454
or you can e-mail for tickets at:
          tickets@comic.com

If you want to know what other comics people will be attending the festivities, or learn more about the Museum, go the web-site link posted right here, and you’re off to see the cyberspace wizard!

          http://www.nyccomicbookmuseum.org/special_event.htm

And Mom, I’m sorry I’m going to miss Easter Dinner, the first time in years, but I’ll see you the week after!

And if they make these dinners an annual affair, hopefully they’ll schedule around the holidays next time!

For those of you who can make it, who visit the site, or participate in the Discussion group, if any of you can make it, I look forward to seeing and talking with you!

I just hope I don’t get any soup stains on my shirt!

DON TAKES A CHOMP OUT OF THE BIG APPLE CON
MARCH 9th & 10
(AND AS FAR AS WE KNOW, HE DOESN'T SPIT IT OUT!)
Okay, so it's been awhile since Don's done a convention, but when GENE and ADRIENNE COLAN make a rare guest star appearance at the Manhattan con, it doesn't take organizer ALAN ROSENBERG much cajoling to get Don to agree to appear alongside one of his idols.

In fact, Don and Gene will do a panel together for the first time in New York, New York!

And unlike their pairing at the San Diego Comic Con last year at an exciting panel, Don will take dynamic DWAYNE McDUFFIE's advice, and this time have some DETECTIVES INC.: A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS books to sell with him!

Thanks, Dwayne! Now how come I never thought of that?

So, if any of you are going to be in Manhattan on MARCH 9th or MARCH 10th, the convention's being held at the ST. PAUL CHURCH AUDITORIUM, COLUMBUS (9th) AVE & 60th STREET.

Come on over and let's talk!

MAR 01, 2001 - SABRE: AN EXPLOITATION OF EVERYTHING DEAR comes closer to reality.

The release of the 2nd SABRE GRAPHIC NOVEL: AN EXPLOITATION OF EVERYTHING DEAR that gathers SABRE issues #3 through 9 is gathering momentum.

I've been on the search for ways to reproduce Billy Graham's art for this series, and collect it in a volume that would match the 20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of SABRE: SLOW FADE OF AN ENDANGERED SPECIES.

Well, with the help of contentious Jon Cooke, of COMIC BOOK ARTIST MAGAZINE fame, and infamous in his home state of Rhode Island, to boot, it's close to happening.

Jon has completed much of the work, and we are searching for possible Black line art for SABRE #3, which was originally published on newsprint.

Once we overcome this obstacle...and we are closing in on it!...the book should appear in 2001.

I will also write a tribute to Billy Graham, who drew the series, my good compadre taken all too soon from us.

The comics world seems to have barely made mention of his passing, his talent, the fact that he was the first black Art Director in the field, but most his passion and energy, the great and good friend that he could be.

I'll write a Memorial Tribute to Billy as I take you behind the scenes in the series that rocked a lot of people because it was one of the first comics to show childbirth and to have two gay characters as a major part of the regular cast.

Find out what went on behind the scenes, when the birth was shown, and Deuces Wild and Summer Ice kissed!

Stay tuned for further developments.

Okay, folks! This is late! It should have been up long before. I could blame it on the NAVIDAD VIRUS. Well, that certainly didn't help things, but our intrepid webmaster Kevin Hall pulled Don through the tortuous maze of computer wizardry to get him operative.

The book signing is SATURDAY - DEC. 9, 2000
Where: SARGE'S MEGASTORE
124 STATE STREET
NEW LONDON, CONN. 06320
(860) 443-2004
The Time: 1:00.

But you won't know if you're not there. So this is late, but if you're in the New England area, stop on by, say hello, buy some books if you don't have them. Let Don and Alex sign the books for you!

They won't stay until the cows come home, cause then they're heading up to Don's moms for some home-made pie.

But we will be there for most of the afternoon, so get 'em up and move 'em out!

And hope Don gets up in time in the morning!

AUG 28, 2000 - TOM PALMER JOINS ZORRO NEWSPAPER TEAM

TOM PALMER
JOINS
THE ZORRO NEWSPAPER STRIP TEAM!

You read it right!
The illustrious inker TOM PALMER joins the creative team for our Hero who rides out of the night into the morning newspapers and to the anytime internet! Tom is well known for his incredible inking talent, commercially and in comics, from Marvel Comics to D.C. His inking on Gene Colan is legendary.
The last time Gene worked with Don was on PANTHER’S QUEST, the 25 Chapter series in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS that detailed the Black Panther’s efforts to find his mother in apartheid ruled South Africa!
Don gets asked all the time which Black Panther series he wishes were collected into one big permanent volume, and while he loves PANTHER’S RAGE, and is glad so many readers have fond memories of it, it would be PANTHER’S QUEST, since it was smuggled into the middle of 25 different comics! Try finding that complete!
Now, Tom Palmer and Don are back together, this time with Tod Smith!
Tom’s inks start on 8/28/2000! Monday!
Check it out!
And our other Thomas, the Thomas who might one day be exposed as the real Fox (that is, if Don isn’t)…Thomas Yeates will still be kibitzing with Don and inking and coloring the Zorro Sunday strips!
With talent like this, and John Costanza doing the lettering, this is going to continue to be one helluva newspaper story strip!
Take the ride with us! And get your papers to pick it up, so you can be with us!

JUN 14, 2000 - BACK TO BACK WITH BOND, JAMES BOND

So, Don's going to make an attempt at a cyberspace "appearance"! Check out the Appearances page to get all the juicy details!! Make sure & stop by this first "live chat" with Don & get a virtual, vicarious, vivid view of what Don has to say about any number of topics. In fact, since you'll be there, you can help call the shots as to what gets talked about!!

Apr 15, 2000 - SPEND 3 HOURS WITH DON EVERY WEEK AT THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS!

So, you want to write for the comics! You want to know what different kinds of writing you have to do when you do a comic script! You want to write your OWN comic!

Well, Don's classic class confab on comics writing at the School of Visual Arts starts its summer session on JUNE 1!

Until Don starts a correspondence course on WRITING FOR THE COMICS up here on the Internet, here's your chance to learn about plot proposals and finished scripts. It's three hours of stand-up a week, unless he falls down, with Don answering all your questions, and talking about everything from getting a first gig to surviving in this crazy business that we love: comics!

You want to be there?

All you have to do to enroll is call (212) 592-2050 and tell them you want to take the ART OF COMICS: WRITING THROUGH COMIC HISTORY - Course #CIC2060A - Don McGregor.

Oh, but don't ask Don why the school calls it that, because you'll actually get to write your own script, your own proposal, and every week have your own Q & A sessions about whatever aspect of comics you want to discuss.

It's a one-of-a-kind class! Ask any of the students who have taken it!
And some have taken it TWICE!

You can't get a higher recommendation than that!

Feb 01, 2000 - BLACKJACK AND DETECTIVES INC. GO BACK TO BACK AT JIM HANLEY'S UNIVERSE!

It makes a whole lot of sense that those two stalwart friends, ALEX SIMMONS and Don would get together in public, after all their private adventures. After all, Denning and Rainier were originally created lo! many years ago for the two of them to play off of each other on 8mm film.

Now, Alex has put together an immense signing at Jim Hanley's, one of the biggest comic book stores in MANHATTAN! But this is NOT Jim Hanley's Manhattan, it's Jim Hanley's UNIVERSE!

And Alex, the creator of BLACKJACK (and you can LINK onto his DARK ANGEL PRODUCTIONS site at http://www.DAPOnline.com), asked Don if he'd like to participate in the promotion of the new Blackjack graphic album, BLOOD AND HONOR!

So, if you're in the neighborhood, you ought to stop on by and see these two guys together, along with all the other talent Alex has lined up for this mammoth get-together!

So, when is it? Click on over to our APPEARANCES page, and check it out. It'll be somewhere under the image of Lauren McGregor as Lady Rawhide beckoning you to see where Don's been and where he's going. On a day to day basis, believe it, Don can't answer that question! But seeing Lauren any day of the week is worth the trip! So, what are you waiting for? Your invitation to Jim Hanley's Universe awaits.

Dec 24, 1999 - JAZMA ON LINE JAZZED OVER DETECTIVES INC AND SABRE

Right now, if you go up on Paul Dale Roberts' JAZMA ON-LINE site, you'll get music to go with your interview reading. Yeah, this time Don is talking about his personal life, but only because Paul's probing for the rumors of some sort of sex-change. Does Don really answer this question? Well, you have to check Jazma out to know, and you can click onto it right here: http://www.jazmaonline.com/interviews/mcgregor.htm.

Lil' Monty has done some nifty graphics to go along with stories about RAGAMUFFINS: NUNS, BONDAGE AND RECESS and JAMES BOND: THE QUASIMODO GAMBIT. And can you believe, Paul asks Don to "Please tell us something about DETECTIVES INC." You know Don's gonna do it! And it won't be anything that's in those interviews. Plus, you'll lose track trying to keep count of how many times Don manages to mention this site.

Go for it!

Dec 18, 1999 - TONY'S TIPS SHOOT STRAIGHT AT DENNING & RAINIER

As the holiday season rushes toward us, with urgent lights and hernia-heavy newspapers with Christmas ads, you might need a pause, just to take another look at the brilliant world of comics on the Internet. Well then, you need to stop by Tony Isabella's world famous (You know, he IS the world's most beloved comic book writer!) column, Tony's Tips, appearing in the Comics Buyer's Guide and on the Internet every day (EVERY DAY! YIKES STRIPES! I near had seizure even contemplating such an accomplishment.) at http://www.wfcomics.com/tony. The column on Denning & Rainier can be found by clicking here. It also appeared in the COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE (Tony is not unlike SuperChicken [HE'S EVERYWHERE! HE'S EVERYWHERE!]) # 1365, or also known as, TONY'S TIPS #424. Tony's written an indepth review of A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS that gives an intense look at the book. And he shoots staight for the heart when he says, "Colan is the soul to the writer's heart..." The rest you can read for yourself.

And I'm hoping Tony's right, that his wish will come true, that there will be more pages to read.

And hopefully worth the wish...and the wait!

And Tony's opening on New Years columns in general, had me laughing out loud. Yeah, I know there's a symbol in Internet language for that, but I don't know how to do it. Even if I do have a cyberpad! And I told Tony, he's absolutely hit it square when he writes about those who would clobber us like Ben Grimm with the Yancy Street Gang with their resolutions and overviews of the year! "They should just be happy they got out of 1999 alive!"

I'll settle for that. I think Denning & Rainier would, too!

I'll have to ask them.

Dec 15, 1999 - Detectives Inc. probes Thrillling Detective!

Ted Denning & Bob Rainier have shown their sleuth spotlight on the biggest private eye site on the Internet. Yes, that's right, our private detectives are probing the front page of the best, most informative, most stimulating, most comprehensive place in cyberspace to find private eyes: Kevin Burton Smith's Thrilling Detective website.

And here's what you'll see, when you zip on over to Kevin Burton Smith's fabulous site. One of the lead features this month is on DETECTIVES INC.: A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS!

You'll get to see the actual MOVIE SCRIPT pages for TERROR, showcasing the sequence where Denning explains his past, traumatic experience with guns to Deirdre Sevens. BUT...IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! Then, you can click onto the COMIC SCRIPT VERSION of the same scene, and compare how the two match...and how they don't! It's the only time Don has shown any of this! And after you read both scripts (including all the typos and plain all-out mistakes!), then you can see a page of Gene Colan's finished art for TERROR.

So, what are you waiting for, THRILLING DETECTIVE is waiting for you!

---

You may have seen our link to THRILLING DETECTIVE on our LINKS page. I've been meaning to write more about the site, and why I personally find it so thrilling. The neat thing about Kevin Burton Smith's site is that when it covers private eyes in novels...in film...on television...on radio...you name it...he also includes COMICS! So, for all of us who love comics, Kevin's site does not treat our beloved medium as second rate. If you go to his alphabetized listing of private eyes, you'll find not only STUART BAILEY and SAM SPADE and EASY RAWLINS, included with them are BOB RAINIER, TED DENNING, NATHANIEL DUSK and ALEXANDER RISK. In fact, I can hear some of you now, that I haven't yet put anything up on Alexander Risk on the site. I'm working on it! I'm working on it, I promise you! Still, you can find material on Risk on the Thrilling Detective site. So, you can check that out, among many of the sites other treasures, while you're there.

And Kevin also has a feature this month called ...BESIDES MY TWO FRONT TEETH wherein he states he'd like to find A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS under his Christmas tree. Well, for those of you who feel like him, don't forget to go to our TERROR page or the GIFT SHOP, because it isn't impossible to get any of our books under your tree before Santa arrives!

Dec 04, 1999 - Detectives Inc. Detect the Museum of Black Superheroes

No, Denning and Rainier haven't turned into costumed superheroes in spandex tights, with masks, but the Museum has just added them to their ever-growing list of characters in the Museum section, so if you want to see some commentary on our detecting duo, not to mention Sabre, as well, or our favorite 1930s adventurer, BLACKJACK, by my good amigo, Alex Simmons, check it out at http://www.blacksuperhero.com/detect.htm. And thanks, Omar, for helping get the word out that our private eyes...uhhh...in deference to Ted Denning...investigators...exist!

Dec 03, 1999 - Absolutewrite Interview

We're not just in comics cyberspace, folks, were also in writer's cyberspace. Take a click on over to one of the top sites on the web created especially for writers: http://www.absolutewrite.com and you'll find a mammoth interview with Don. You just know he can't answer any of these short questions with a monosyllabic answer.

If you want background on writing comics, on behind the scenes tales of the making of many of the books we're offering in our Gift Shop, well, you'll find it here with Don's interview with Jenna Glazer, the founder and keeper of the flame for writers on the Net.

Check it out.

But don't forget to come back and visit us here, amigos!

Nov 27, 1999 - Jon Cooke vs. Don McGregor in a verbal battle of witty repartee

Up in the Q & A section, right now, is brand new, controversial and provocative combat correspondence between Jon Cooke, editor of Comic Book Artist Magazine and yours truly. What you are about to view is classified TOP SECRET in the Comics Combat Arena. Every issue of Comic Book Artist Magazine reveals comics history through the mouths of subjective writers and artists who come into battle with Jon Cooke. Now it can be revealed, here and only here, the letters Comic Book Artist Magazine dare not print! These are for I.E.O.

Oh, what does I.E.O. stand for?

Very select, very discriminating group: Internet Eyes Only.

Just a small audience. I mean...like who will notice?

And now...on with the un-official correspondence.

Oh, and stay tuned for our regular letters after all the craziness.

And if you want, don't forget, you can even buy some books!

Hang in there!

Oct 20, 1999 - Comic Book Arist Magazine #6 & Big Apple Comic Book Show news

COMIC BOOK ARTIST MAGAZINE #6 - Editor Jon Cooke swears this is the issue where I'm not officially or unofficially bumped. He swears you'll see a massive interview with me, discussing the Black Panther, Killraven, Billy Graham, Craig Russell, and who knows what all, that'll have people probing about what the hell was going on, as if this was a Farrah Fawcett interview on the Letterman show. The only question will be, who's more Loony Tunes! Or the question might be, "Which one of is us Farrah?" Although, neither one of us can keep nipples erect as long as Farrah.

Jon Cooke's reply to this is: Really liked the Farrah Fawcett analogy...or is it simile? You're the right nipple and I'm the left -- two boobs on a bimbo.

This is gonna be some interview!

But honestly, Jon has a great love of comics and it shows in his exquisite magazine. I think you'll find it provocative, visually stimulating, with unpublished art by Billy Graham, and Craig Russell, and Rich Buckler, plus photos that should never have been seen! Oh, and for you Black Panther fans, pages of art from the UNPUBLISHED PANTHER VS. THE KLAN SERIES! Yeah, much of the next book, DRAGON SOLDIERS MARCHING AS TO WAR, with the Panther and Wind Eagle, was actually drawn, and Jon is printing pages of it there.

So, when can you see it?

Start scouting those comic and book store shelves on OCTOBER 27th for COMIC BOOK ARTIST #6.

You hafta read this one, so you'll know what all the shoutings about in the letters page in COMIC BOOK ARTIST #7!

Of course, as all of you know, this is a bland interview, sure to raise no one's hackles.

Well, except for the above shouting their letters of protest.

THE BIG APPLE NATIONAL COMIC BOOK SHOW. I'm going to be there, along with DENNING & RAINIER and SABRE! I swear, I'm not going to jump up on any tables at this con...at least, not more than once. Having just had hernia surgery, this may actually be true.

Now, you want to know when it's happening?
NOVEMBER 12, 13 & 14!

But where, you ask?
At the METROPOLITAN PAVILION at 125 W. 18th St. (Between 6th Ave. & 7th Ave.) in the city plagued by malevolent mosquitos, MANHATTAN.

Although, let me state, in being in Manhattan for 30 years, I don't believe I've ever encountered a mosquito, so come on out, stay out till after dusk, and if it's November, all those mosquitos'll be hybernating anyway. Waiting for spring. Waiting to strike! Yikes! Sorry, got carried away. Thought I was writing a comic.

They're billing it as THE LAST GREAT SHOW OF THE CENTURY!
Hope they don't drop a crystal ball or Dick Clark on our heads!

OCT 18, 1999 - Dwayne McDuffie "To Be Continued" column

DWAYNE McDUFFIE, who created ICON, HARDWARE, and was one of the Founders of MILESTONE COMICS, has written an evocative piece on PANTHER'S RAGE in his weekly column for PSYCOMIC.COM called TO BE CONTINUED.

And you can reach it at:
http://www.psycomic.com/columns/tobecontinued/archive/tobecontinued_3.shtml.

I've just read it, and I've just written Dwayne about the feature. I still have anxiety, to this day, every day I write, about facing that blank sheet of paper and keeping it important what I put down there and not getting lost in what this is all about: telling stories that mean something, to me, to others, hopefully.

I'm like you, I've spoken ad nauseum, on certain subjects. I tell each class I teach, only you can decide what kind of story-teller you're going to be. And don't think you just have to make that decision once. You have to make it again...and again...and sometimes it costs...not only you...but your family. But it can cost a lot damn more if you don't keep it in focus, why you started doing this crazy, damn-fool thing in the first place, cost you your love for it, cost you the sense of who you are and where you're at.

We reach people everywhere.

I recall a passage from Kaffir Boy, how comics helped him as a boy survive Apartheid. I remember a lesbian writing to say Detectives Inc. helped her make the decision not to commit suicide. There's a guy who worked with terminally ill patients who said sometimes he found it hard to go back and keep doing that but that Sabre gave him the strength to continue. I told him I didn't have the guts to do what he does, but if what I do as a story-teller helps him do that, than that makes all the anxiety I faced writing it worth-while.

Thanks, Dwayne.
Please know, your words mean a lot to me.
And you can reach Dwayne's own site at:
http://www.dwaynemcduffie.com.

Check him out!

Sep 28, 1999 - THE FIRST ALL-NEW DETECTIVES INC. STORY IN YEARS MAY HAPPEN SOONER THAN YOU THINK!

Big news for all you Denning & Rainier fans, I'm in the process of discussing doing a Detectives Inc. short story with Jeff Vaughn. A cover painting of our Favorite Two-some is already underway! WATCH THIS SPACE for the FULL STORY!

Okay, you don't have to keep an eye on it ALL the time, just come on back, check in, and when I have all the firm details, so will you!

DETECTIVES INC.: A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS JOINS A REMEMBRANCE OF THREATENING GREEN. In our most ambitious GRAPHIC ALBUM yet, somewhere in the vicinity of 100 PAGES, there were a few stumbling blocks along the way.

I wanted the book done right. I wanted all the mistakes that had appeared in the mini-series version of TERROR corrected! You won't see anymore balloons lettered TWICE, among other things! You will see Gene Colan's pencils reproduced in GRAPHIC ALBUM SIZE, in crisp, noirish B & W. The book was re-shot from Gene's original art onto thick, white paper to capture all the subtleties of Gene's shadings. Check out the TERROR page on the site, or the GIFT SHOP, for background on this book, or how to get it if your local comic book shop DOESN'T have it, or doesn't plan to get it!

You can find pieces on TERROR at Beau Yarbrough's COMIC WIRE at http://www.comicbookresources.com for AUGUST 22, 1999. And a piece on THREATENING GREEN on MARCH 4, 1999.

http://www.comics2film.com also has a lengthy piece on DETECTIVES INC. Our guys are all over the Internet.

Check out http://www.fanuniverse.com for a lengthy interview with a number of visuals. It travels from DETECTIVES INC. to NATHANIEL DUSK to LADY RAWHIDE, among other stops along the way! It's called DANGEROUS STUFF - From Sabre and Detectives Inc. to Lady Rawhide...and Beyond!

TONY ISABELLA'S JOURNAL, dated APRIL 21, 1999 looks down the dark alleyways of the first DETECTIVES INC. Since Tony has his finger on the comic book industry pulse every day, we figure he's got to be aiming at TERROR some time soon.

Don will be appearing on a radio show in New York Friday Sept 24 to discuss his favorite Wakandan leader, the Black Panther. Check out the Appearances page for details!

COMIC BOOK ARTIST MAGAZINE #4 - SPRING 1999 This magazine is the class act of presenting the oral history of comics! Okay, so I've been unofficially bumped from the magazine about a skillion times, I believe there's an Don McGregor Officially Bumped issue coming soon. That Jon Cooke's one tough cookie! Meantime, though, if you want to see the first page of comics I ever had bought, pencilled and inked by Billy Graham, they've got it reproduced in their Warren Publishing Issue. And it's never seen print before! Anywhere! It's the splash page from the only 8 page Warren Horror story I ever wrote. So, ask for it at your favorite comic store. Tell 'em Don sent you! But don't tell Jon. He'll never let me live it down.

COMIC BOOK PROFILES #6 - SPRING 1999 - The SPOTLIGHT is on my good friend and the man who helped bring many of my favorite stories to comic book life GENE COLAN! I have the honor and privilege of remeniscing about working with one of the comics greatest legends!