6/21-6/22 GARAGE SALE UPDATE #3

My next Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale will be Friday and
Saturday, June 21-22, at 840 Damon Drive, Medina, Ohio.  Sale hours
are 9 am to 2 pm each day.

Here is today’s update:

The same damn thing happens to me before every garage sale and you
would think I’d have figured this out by now and not let it happen.
I guess we all have our blind spots.

I have years to sell off that portion of the VAOS I wish to sell.
Yet, every time I prepare for a garage sale, I get anxious and try
to do more than I can reasonably do for the sales.  I try to put
more into the garage sales than there’s room for...and then I beat
myself up because I can’t do it all.

What I can tell you is that a lot of great comics are waiting for
my customers in the quarter boxes.  What I can tell you is that I
added hundreds of issues of 2000 AD to the quarter magazine boxes.
What I can tell you is that I have two full boxes of suitable-for-
all-ages quarter comics.  I’ve also added dozens of $5 hardcovers
and $2 trade paperbacks to their boxes.  This stuff alone should
make the trip to this week's sale worthwhile for anyone.

What else will I have?  I’m still working on a full table of cool
Superman merchandise that’s at least 25 years old.  I still have a
good supply of rare Superman posters.  I still have copies of 1000
Comic Books You Must Read. 

What else I have for sale this time out will depend on the weather
- good weather means outside tables - and how much I can get done
between now and the start of the sale on Friday morning at 9:00 am.
But, as of right this moment, I’m very pleased with the selection
of items I know will be available at the sale.

Look for another update tomorrow.

Tony Isabella 

RAWHIDE WEDNESDAY 44

Previously in Tony Isabella’s Bloggy Thing...

The Rawhide Kid - the one created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, then
continued by Larry Lieber - is my favorite western character.  So,
inspired by Essential Rawhide Kid Volume 1, which reprinted all the
Lee/Kirby issues and then some, I’ve been writing about the Rawhide
Kid most every Wednesday.  When I ran out of the issues reprinted
in the book, I tracked down some owlhoots, brought them in and used
the reward money to buy more issues of the title.  Because that’s
what the Kid would have done.

See the desperate kid helplessly trapped by the deadly guns of “A
MAN CALLED DRAKO!”

The terrific cover of The Rawhide Kid #59 [August 1967] is by Dick
Ayers.  Though Dick didn’t always capture the short stature of the
Kid, he was and is a master at depicting gritty western action.  He
did a great job on this cover and on the interior story.

Digression. In case you’re wondering, Larry Lieber was on leave for
a few issues while he penciled over fifty pages of art for Amazing
Spider-Man Annual #4 [November 1967].  That annual is a favorite of
mine and, whenever my well-read copy surfaces, I’ll likely devote
an entire bloggy thing to the issue.

Written by Denny O’Neil, “A Man Called Drako” (17 pages) was drawn
by Ayers and unfortunately inked by Vince Colletta.  Unfortunate
because the Colletta line doesn’t convey the rough and ready world
of these western adventures.  I’d have preferred John Tartaglione,
who had already proven to be a fine inker for Lieber.

O’Neil’s story is a pretty good one.  The burnoose-wearing Drako,
who affects an Arabian sensibility and style, is a very different
villain for the Marvel western titles.  Having killed the owner of
a mine and claimed it for himself, he’s fired any workers who have
families and made slaves of those who don’t.

Seeking a job, the Rawhide Kid blunders into this situation.  He’s
manhandled by Drako’s foremen, manhandles them right back and gets
the job.  The usually savvy Kid doesn’t question the odd actions of
those foremen or that Drako makes surrendering his guns a condition
of employment.  I guess even my favorite western hero can have an
off day.

When the Kid gets between a co-worker and the brutal foremen, both
he and the other man end up in a metal cage.  Given only bread and
water, they are “sentenced” to several days of the blistering hot
sun.  A sudden downpour allows them to escape, but, in attempting
to lead the miners in a revolt, the Kid’s new friend is ruthlessly
murdered by Drako.  As you can imagine, this is highly motivating
to Rawhide and it doesn’t take him long to get that revolt going.

Once again armed, as are the miners, the Kid makes short work of
Drako’s cowardly foremen.  Drako tries to ambush Rawhide, but our
guy has anticipated that move and set up his hat behind some rocks
as a decoy.

Drako is a master with a gun, knife or sword, but the Rawhide Kid
is his superior in hand-to-hand combat.  Drako flees across a muddy
path to a bridge.  He has a horse on the other side and figures he
can reach it before the Kid can stop him.

Nature has a different plan.  The downpour has loosed the pegs that
hold the bridge tight.  The pegs pull free from the mud and Drako
is clinging to the fallen bridge.  The Kid yells that he can drop
a lasso to Drako, but Drako refuses.

No! I will accept nothing from my enemy...not even my life! What
fate has decreed...man must obey!

Man, what a gloomy son of a bitch.

Drako falls to his apparent doom.  The freed miners thank the Kid.
One miner has ridden into town to bring back the law.  Which means
it’s time for the Rawhide Kid to ride off into the sunset.

Why do western heroes always ride off into the sunset?  Don’t they
ever get to knock off a couple hours early?  Or maybe get a decent
night’s sleep and leave in the morning?  Why am I just now asking
these questions after 44 Rawhide Kid Wednesdays?

This issue’s “Marvel Bullpen Bulletins” page is a disappointment.
It leads with a plug for Brand Echh, which must have been a working
title for Not Brand Echh, then moves on to plugs for some annuals,
for upcoming Fantastic Four and Spider-Man cartoons and for a new
M.M.M.S. (Merry Marvel Marching Society) membership kit.  There is
a brief “Stan’s Soapbox” in which thanks Marvel readers for their
support, but none of the personal information about Marvel writers
and artists that I loved reading as a kid.  The page also features
“The Mighty Marvel Checklist” and the names of 26 more members of
the M.M.M.S.  An off-month for this page.

The non-series story this issue is a just-three-years-old reprint
of “The Winner” from Rawhide Kid #41 [August 1964].  This is what
I wrote about the story when I wrote about that issue...

The issue’s non-series story is “The Winner” (5 pages) by Stan Lee
(plot) and Larry Lieber (script and art).  Like their collaboration
in the previous issue, this one is also more serious than most of
these back-ups.

Frank Dawson, the fastest gun in the territory, rides into a town.
The citizens are terrified of him, even though he does nothing to
justify that fear.  It’s his reputation that has them cowering at
his presence.  He reflects on his life:

That’s how it’s been since I became the fastest draw! All these
years I’ve been shunned by decent folks...treated like a vile
animal! But I’m not! I’m a person and I crave the companionship of
other people! But it’s hopeless! My reputation cheats me of
friends! And surely no woman will ever love me! I’ll never get
married...never raise children! I’ll die a lonely unwanted old man!

Arrogant and brash Rafe Collins decides to make his own reputation
by outdrawing Dawson.  The older man tries to ignore him, but Rafe
keeps pushing Dawson.  A gunfight ensues and, much to the surprise
of all, Collins beats Dawson.  The triumphant youth takes his leave
of the wounded Dawson.

Dawson is amazed by the reaction of the townspeople no that he is
no longer the feared fastest gun.  One man even invites him to have
dinner with him and his wife.  Dawson thinks: They no longer fear
me! They’re even befriending me! My plan worked! I could’ve won
that gunfight, but I purposely lost it!

His thoughts continue into the next panel:

Now I’ll no longer be known as the fastest draw! My reputation was
a curse that deprived me of worthwhile human contact! But at last
I’m free!! I can have friends! Maybe some woman will even marry me!
My days of loneliness are over! After all these long years!

Now it’s Rafe Collins who carries that burden.  The townspeople are
afraid of him and even his friends shun him.

By beating Frank Dawson, I’ve made myself an outcast! I’m the real
loser! I’ll be alone the rest of my days unless–-unless I can get
beaten in a gunfight as he did! But if I deliberately lose, I’m
liable to get killed–-not just wounded! I can’t take the chance!
I’ve got to go on this way! I’ve got to give up everything and
forever remain...

...the fastest draw!

The reprint is followed by a page of Marvel merchandise.  The top
half of the page with its t-shirts, sweat shirts, and ever-present
stationery kit hasn’t changed.

The bottom half of the page is for the Super-Heroes Club.  As with
the previous issue, it offers a set of eight full-color, 12" by 16"
posters of Marvel characters for a buck.  But, this time around, it
adds giant-sized 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 foot posters of Spider-Man and the
Hulk for a buck each and also a set of five “batty bullpen booster
buttons” for two bucks.  The buttons read:

‘NUFF SAID!
BRAND ECHH!
HANG LOOSE!
SHEESH!
FACE FRONT!

This “Super-Heroes Club” seems to be a Marvel venture, but it had
a different address than the one for the top half of the page.  I
didn’t wonder about that back then, but it puzzles me now.  Can any
of you explain this oddity to me?

The “Ridin’ the Trail with Rawhide” letters page finishes up this
issue.  There are three letters.

Al Russell of Baltimore thinks Rawhide is too much like Kid Colt.
He suggests Rawhide clear his name and get a new job as foreman of
a cattle drive.  Marvel asks readers what they think.

Gilbert Romero of Dupont, Colorado doesn’t like Two-Gun Kid as much
as he likes Rawhide and Kid Colt.  He prefers seeing outlaws fight
for justice?  The Marvel response plugs Two-Gun Kid #89 wherein the
three heroes all appear in the same story.

Jimmy Wingfield of Washington, D.C. liked seeing the Kid fight the
Scorpion in issue #57, but also wants more “Indians, stage robbers
and gun-slinging pretty gals.”  The Marvel response plugs the next
issue which will feature General George Custer.

That’s all for this week’s Rawhide Kid Wednesday, partners.  Come
back tomorrow and I’ll have some other stuff for you.
    
© 2013 Tony Isabella

6/21-6/22 GARAGE SALE UPDATE #2

My next Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale will be Friday and
Saturday, June 21-22, at 840 Damon Drive, Medina, Ohio.  Sale hours
are 9 am to 2 pm each day.

Here is today’s update:

Thunderstorms last night and Casa Isabella had some minor flooding
- more like damping - of a small part of our basement.  Though it
was easily controlled by putting down newspapers, I had to spend a
back-breaking hours removing and bagging up those wet newspapers.
Which, of course, puts me behind where I had hoped to be with both
my writing and the garage sale preparation.

I won’t have as many quarter comic books as I usually do, but they
will have a lot of new comics.  I pulled all those back issues of
Isabella-written Hawkman and the various manga anthology titles to
make room for runs of books like: Strangers, Strangers in Paradise,
Impulse, Incredible Hulk, Infinity Inc., Baker Street, Marvel Saga,
Blood of Dracula, Jon Sable Freelance, the Official Handbook of the
Marvel Universe, Who’s Who in DC Comics, Mask, Lone Wolf and Cub,
Legion of Super-Heroes, Legionnaires, Superman: The Man of Steel
and more.  I’m already anticipating a Friday night trip back to the
Fortress of Storage for restocking.

Later tonight, I’ll do some straightening up of the quarter comics
tables to make room for between one and three boxes of magazines.
Then, tomorrow, I’ll be restocking and straightening the hardcovers
and trade paperbacks.  The plan there is to eliminate a couple of
trade paperback boxes to make room for the hardcover boxes, a box
or two of higher priced comic books, and 1000 Comic Books You Must
Read.  There probably won’t be a box of Isabella-written items for
this garage sale.

If all continues to go according to plan, I’ll have a full table of
Superman items.  Some very cool stuff has turned up.

I’m undecided about the table in the middle of the garage, which I
have been using for paperback books.  I may give those a rest and
use that table for odds and ends I think my customers will really
dig.  We’ll see how that works out.

Right now, the extended weather forecast is showing temperatures in
the low 80s both days, partly cloudy on Friday, and a possibility
of possible thunderstorms on Saturday.  Keep watching this bloggy
thing for more garage sale updates.

Tony Isabella 

I DO NOT CELEBRATE SUPERMAN

Nothing I’ve read about Man of Steel, even from those who appear to
love it, has swayed me from avoiding the movie until I can watch it
for free via my local library system.  Actually, I’m not even sure
I’ll watch it then.

Superman is one of the greatest characters in comics and, arguably,
the greatest super-hero of them all.  But that was then and this is
now.  Then he was a brightly-clad inspiration who spoke to all of
our better natures.  Now he is just another dark brawler, reduced
in spirit, more kin to the worst of our natures than the very best
of them. 

This is where someone out there will get all offended and proclaim
“He hasn’t seen the movie yet!” Correct, but I don’t need to have
seen the movie to recognize and comment on the debasing of
Superman.  That tragedy is all around us.

There are some very fine people in my birth town of Cleveland, Ohio
who have tried to honor Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators
of Superman.  Yet, even with the best groups and organizations who
have attempted this, the emphasis is overwhelmingly focused on the
corporate-owned creation and not his creators. 

The corporation savagely abused Siegel and Shuster and their heirs.
They sicced the most predatory of lawyers on the heirs while many
mewling fan-zombies applauded their despicable actions.  Neither DC
nor the lawyers nor those walking dead of heart understand the core
message of Superman. 

I have been invited on many occasions to take part in the various
local celebrations of Superman’s 75th anniversary.  I’ve declined
them all.  Show me a celebration of Siegel and Shuster, show me a
condemnation of DC’s heinous treatment of those men and their kin,
show me a lament for the debasing of their creation...and then I’ll
gladly be a part of the “festivities.”

Twenty-five years ago, I tried to honor Siegel and Shuster through
my involvement with Neverending Battle Inc.  That was ever my key
interest in that Cleveland organization.  To this day, despite what
ever else happened to me and others as a result of my involvement,
I’m proud NEB kept Siegel and Shuster from being the forgotten men
of that celebration and that the group managed to put on one of the
best conventions I’ve ever attended.

Everyone in the organization had their own reasons for being part
of NEB. A few were like me.  Some were Cleveland boosters.  A few
thought it would be their ticket to comics careers.  Two of them,
the worst two, were more interested in Superman as a stepping stone
to their hoped-for future careers as event promoters.  They didn’t
give a damn about the stated goals of NEB.

One of those men is now dead, the other has been reported to be in
a distant city.  Both were connected with the Cleveland elite and,
when NEB came crashing down around us, they were protected as the
local media laid all the blame on a board of trustees duped by the
two men.  The joyous birth of my son Ed was followed by an enormous
shit storm of condemnations and threats and financial loss so great
it still pains me to think about it.

This is not a plea for any kind of sympathy.  There was a time very
early on when I could have walked away from Neverending Battle and
spared myself much anguish.  I chose to believe those two men who
had already proven untrustworthy because I really wanted Cleveland
to celebrate Siegel and Shuster and because I arrogantly, foolishly
believed I could keep them in line.  That’s on me and no one else.
I ignored that these men were scorpions.

The damned Cleveland Plain Dealer published my business address and
phone number in their deceptive articles about the collapse of NEB.
While I was dealing with a failing business, failing to a certain
extent because I had paid for well over $50,000 in merchandise for
NEB to sell and for which I would never be compensated, I started
getting dozens of angry phone calls each day.

I learned that services the trustees and I were told were donated
by various companies and individuals were not and had never been
intended to be donations.  We were lied to and now those creditors
were demanding payment.

I learned that money collected at the International Superman Expo,
funds I calculated to be in the neighborhood of $150,000 had been
dispersed illegally to those two men and their cronies.  All that
remained in the organization accounts was enough to hire a lawyer
to handle the bankruptcy and dissolution of NEB. 

I learned of other questionable occurrences and deals done and made
behind our backs and in the shadows.  One recipient of these deals
bragged openly about his crooked score, though I’m pleased to note
he later ran into considerable trouble with the authorities in his
related endeavors. 

I lost a few friends in the aftermath of NEB.  I also received an
incredible nasty phone call from one of the celebrity guests.  She
had profited greatly from the Expo, but, because she didn’t want to
stay at the hotel that had donated rooms for her and others, ended
up having to pay her own hotel bill.  That bill could not have been
for more than a pittance of the tens of thousands of dollars that
she made at the show.  After haranguing me for a good 30 minutes,
she hung up when she finally realized her bullying wouldn’t get me
to personally to pay her bill.  Even if I’d wanted to pay her bill
- and I can’t imagine a world in which I would want to appease such
an awful woman - I couldn’t afford it and it would have set a very
bad precedent with other NEB creditors.  

Digression. The hotel in question would try to collect all of the
NEB hotel bills from me because I was the only NEB person available
to them.  They hired a sleazy lawyer to harass and then sue me.  My
own sleazy lawyer dropped the ball on this one.  I had to enlist a
second attorney to get the lawsuit dismissed. 

I never cared about the nasty celebrity, but other lost friendships
pained me greatly.  Over the years, I have been able to repair some
of those friendships as people realized I was one of NEB’s biggest
victims.  One man who lost as much money as I did never blamed me
and I remain eternally grateful for his friendship.

Cleveland had come to the International Superman Expo and some of
NEB’s other events and had a great time.  But the city’s movers and
shakers almost never opened their wallets or made time to help out
the organization.  I had signed on to the Board of Trustees on the
promise that other more connected Clevelanders would soon sign on
to add the clout needed to get things done in the city.  I waited
too long for that to happen.  It never did.

The next year was a struggle.  I lost my business, but I survived
due to the support of my wife Barbara and my true friends.  I took
some small comfort from having honored Siegel and Shuster, from my
part in a really great convention and from my being able to rescue
some treasured items to return them to their proper owners.  Small
comfort, but comfort nonetheless. 

Today.

The June 21 issue of Entertainment Weekly cover-features “75 Years
of Superman.” The biggest image on the cover is an incredibly
powerful image of the Man of Steel in flight as drawn by Curt Swan
and inked by Murphy Anderson.  The artists are not credited inside
the issue. “Comic-Book Superman” is copyrighted DC Entertainment as
if a corporation had the hands, heart and integrity to create such
a powerful image.

I’ve only skimmed the Superman material, but one sidebar caught my
attention.  It’s a “close-up” of DC Entertainment co-publisher Jim
Lee.  Asked to name “the best thing about drawing Superman,” Lee’s
response is disgustingly juvenile:

“All the incredible wreckage and rubble and destruction that a tiny
little figure can create on a page.”

It’s a child’s delight in breaking someone else’s toys and this is
one of three men charged with the care of Superman and other great
creations.  He doesn’t understand Superman.  DC Entertainment does
not understand Superman.  The arrogant and shallow makers of Man of
Steel don’t understand Superman.  

Why would I celebrate their Superman?

SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD

I have not hesitated to read spoilers about this movie.  Frankly,
when I watch movies or television shows, I can spot what’s coming
a good 70% of the time.  So it doesn't "spoil: the movie for me if
someone tells me DC’s new dark Superman fails to save many
millions of people from horrible deaths or that he kills the villain. 

Mass slaughter and destruction are Hollywood’s substitutes for
characterization, for entertainment, for inspiration...and the same is
increasingly true of super-hero comic books.  There are blessed
exceptions, but many of our current generation of comics creators
don't "feel" super-heroes and don't understand super-heroes and
don't seem to like super-heroes much.  They are poor imitations
attempting to destroy what they can never be and dismiss what
they can never achieve.  I can only hope their time passes.

I will always respect “my” Superman and I say that for the benefit
of the ignorant trolls who will try to frame my comments in their
irrelevant “he’s lost in the past” canards.  You see, part of the
greatness of Superman is that he can be updated again and again and
for generation after generation.  Part of the greatest of the Man
of Steel is that he can be as big an inspiration today as when he
was created.  Part of the greatness of this last son of the doomed
planet Krypton is that he can speak to all times...if his handlers
understand the character and the intent of his creators.

But they don’t and I doubt they ever will.  The current handlers of
this mythic creation are just creatures of mindless entertainments
and soulless corporations.  They are less real than Superman.

Overcoming them may well be Superman’s greatest challenge.

Siegel and Shuster created a legendary hero.  Any celebration must
start with them and continue with the determination that theirs is
the Superman that matters.
       
© 2013 Tony Isabella

6/21-6/22 GARAGE SALE UPDATE #1

My next Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale will be Friday and
Saturday, June 21-22, at 840 Damon Drive, Medina, Ohio.  Sale hours
are 9 am to 2 pm each day.

My son Eddie called me on his drive home for Father’s Day, asking
me what father-son thing I wanted to do this weekend.  I told him
I wanted to go to the happiest place on Earth.  His immediate - and
I mean not missing a beat immediate - response was “The Fortress of
Storage!” I am so proud of him.

My original intent was to focus on boxes of comic books that could
go into my quarter boxes...and we did find a bunch of those.  But
we also found some other cool stuff, including two giant boxes of
Superman memorabilia and some Marvel and DC super-hero role playing
games from the dawn of time.  Though this is the sort of stuff I
must look up on eBay to price, I’m anticipating having a full table
of the Superman stuff for this garage sale.

Time permitting, I hope to have two boxes of specially-priced comic
books, including issues from the first series of Justice League of
America and reduced prices on Miracleman.  I may also have a box of
Isabella-written material.

New to the garage sale will be “Tony’s Picks” racks.  When I went
through my trade paperback and hardcover boxes, I saw many terrific
books that no one seems to be noticing.  These will be given more
prominent display because I honestly feel that anyone buying them
will be very pleased with those purchases.

It’s too early to say what my magazine boxes will look like for the
show.  Magazines are tricky.  I never know when I’m going to come
across issues of 2000 AD, extra copies of TwoMorrows magazines like
Alter Ego and Back Issue, or the entire run of a great series like
Comics Revue.  Trade paperbacks are getting a little trickier, too,
because those have only become prominent in the comics industry in
the most recent decades. 

Comics suitable for all ages will fill at least two boxes.  Since
a customer bought all my available Archie digests at the previous
sale, I won’t have any of those.  But I will have dozens of those
great Garfield collections and specials at a buck each.

Weather permitting - and, at the moment, it looks like we’ll have
mostly clear skies for the garage sale - I’ll be able to set up 1-3
outside tables.  One of those will feature mystery boxes of comics,
trades, hardcovers and other items and those mystery boxes will be
sold at the ridiculously low price of $5 each.

As this garage sale comes together, I’ll post additional updates.
Keep watching the bloggy thing for those updates.

Tony Isabella

I’M GRUMPY AND I KNOW IT

I’ve worked very hard to create as stress-free a life for myself as
possible.  While I do my grumpy old man routine as well as anyone
and better than most, I’ve determined bugling veins on my forehead
are not a good look for me.  For the most part, you won’t see much
political commentary in this blog.  Those of you who agree with my
political views, marvelously intelligent beings that you are, don’t
need me as a cheerleader.  Those of you who disagree with my views
aren’t likely to achieve political enlightenment because I can turn
a mean phrase.  Comics is neutral territory.

But not always.

When I learned a higher court had overturned Marvel’s “Ghost Rider
victory” in the lawsuit brought against the company by Ghost Rider
creator Gary Friedrich, I was delighted for Gary.  Commenting on my
Facebook page, I wrote: 

I hope Disney/Marvel does the right thing. There is money enough in
these characters for the creators to receive a fair share. For good
will alone, Disney/Marvel should settle with Gary and recognize his
creative contributions with an ongoing commitment.

Yesterday, I posted this:

It took less than 24 hours for some ignorant, uninvolved so-called
fan to post the usual pro-corporation and anti-creator nonsense on
a mailing list of which I’m a member.

I told myself I wasn't going to comment, but the ignorance of the
uninvolved always gets my goat. So...

Just because a publisher claims something was work-for-hire doesn't
make it so.

In my case, my creation of Black Lightning was not work-for-hire.
I created the character and formed a partnership with DC Comics.
That DC violated that partnership agreement is the major bone of
contention between me and the company. Back in 1976, I thought the
agreement was fair for both DC and myself. I still feel that way
and would honor it today...if DC would honor it.

The next ignorant question, which I've answered many times before,
is “So why haven’t you sued DC?” That action is never far from my
thoughts. But any decision I might make has to be weighed against
factors like...

Do I really want to devote a significant portion of my life to such
a lawsuit?

Do I want to devote significant income to such a suit when I still
have a child in college and many other expenses?

Would my health permit such a lawsuit, given DC's blatant attempts
to wear out Joanne Siegel with frivolous depositions?

Putting aside the merits of my case, DC has thousand-dollar-an-hour
lawyers. It would be like my bringing a plastic knife to an atomic
bomb fight.

The courts, wrongly in my considered opinion, have been treating
corporations more fairly than they treat individuals. Corporations
aren't people. But some judges act like they are and, indeed, even
more deserving of protection than actual people.

It always saddens me when comics fans support corporations over
creators. Why don't such fans just admit they are pathetic junkies
and graduate to heroin?

Harsh words? They were and they were intended to be harsh.  When I
write about anything, I write from my heart, I write from my head,
I write from the fire in my gut that makes me take strong positions
when I believe strong positions are required.

This makes me more friends than it does enemies, but I’d be foolish
to pretend my manner doesn’t make me enemies.  It’s stressful, but
I think holding back would be even more stressful for me.  I gotta
blow off some steam every now and then.

Some people take pride in having enemies.  I’m not one of them.  I
am, by nature, a very forgiving man...if and when those who wrong
me admit their wrongdoing, make an effort to make amends for their
wrongdoing and honestly seek my forgiveness.  Even when they don’t
do any of those things, I don’t waste any time thinking about them.
Indeed, pretty much the only time I think about any of them is when
I’m writing about my career and my life.

If I’m writing about past wrongs, I will often soft-pedal details
to protect those who may have wronged me but towards whom I hold no
ongoing enmity.  Yes, they wronged me.  Even basically good people
do the wrong thing sometimes.  I try and usually succeed in getting
past such ancient wrongs to live my remarkably full, good and happy
life.  I don’t sweat the small stuff.

Are there “enemies” I can’t forgive?  I guess I’d find  out if they
were to seek my forgiveness.  I’d like to believe that forgiveness
is in me, but I won’t know for sure until I’m tested.

A couple times per month, I receive hilarious communications from
an anonymous coward who may or may not live in the Cleveland area.
Trolls like him or her are why comments to this blog aren’t posted
until I approve them.  Let them have whatever pleasure they receive
from trying and failing to get to me.  Maybe it’ll make up for the
obvious fear they have of me and envy of my life.

In one such communication, my devoted troll tried to ruffle me by
writing about how one of my “enemies” had turned around his life.
I confess that I would have a hard time forgiving this particular
individual as he was, hands down, the worst human being I have ever
known.  If I were to write my autobiography, it would take a full
chapter to cover the terrible things this man did to others and did
or tried to do to me.

I hadn’t thought about this guy in years until I came across thick
file folders filled with depositions, letters and threats from our
past association.  I moved those file folders to an inactive drawer
in my file cabinet and promptly forgot about him again.  Until the
troll mentioned him in one of his communications.

Did my “enemy” turn around his life?  I don’t know.  I could easily
verify what he was doing these days and, on the surface, yeah, it’s
possible he has.  But he was in positions of authority when I knew
him back in the day and abused those positions.

If he has, indeed, turned his life around, that’s terrific for him.
It doesn’t change what he did or tried to do to me, but I’m in no
need of closure.  If he’s no longer doing evil, the world is better
for it.  That’s good enough for me.

Getting back to Black Lightning - mostly because I don’t think that
I should be speculating on the Ghost Rider case at this time - one
of the other members of the list asked a question in a somewhat
challenging fashion, “So Trevor [Von Eeden] had nothing to do with
the creation of the character?”

My lengthy response to that question:

Everything important to the character was created before I brought
Black Lightning to DC.

In the past, I have very generously credited Trevor as the primary
designer of the original Lightning costume. However, his claim of
having come up with the costume on his own is false.

Trevor was one of five people in the room when the original costume
was designed. He was the one doing the drawing, but he was working
from group ideas. Some of the key elements of the costume came from
others.

Bob Rozakis, who was supposed to be the title's editor, came up
with the Afro-Mask. It should be noted that Trevor, who raised no
objection at the time, now claims to have always loathed the mask.

Joe Orlando opened up the shirt to show more skin. I thought that
was silly, but said nothing. I didn't think it was a big deal.

I specifically asked for the lightning bolts on the sleeves and
what I called the Captain America boots. I can't recall who came up
with the idea of extending the lightning bolts to the chest. It
might have been Trevor.

Save for Trevor, every still-living person in the room confirms my
version of the design process.

All other characters in the first series were described by me in
the scripts. In a couple cases, Cleveland friends did the original
model sheets and these were sent to DC for Trevor to follow.

I'm pretty sure Jack Harris came up with the design of the original
Black Lightning logo. I designed the logo of the second series,
which only used designs from the first series in its rare flashback
scenes.

 Eddy Newell designed the Lightning look in the second series,
working from nothing more than my wanting it to look like something
Jeff Pierce could make on his own.

The flashing lightning eyes were my concept. I'd read of a bank
robber who disguised his features with Hollywood-style scars and
boils and the like. All witnesses could recall was how ugly he was.
I figured people who saw Lightning in action would only remember
the lightning shooting out of his eyes. Nothing else.\

Eddy created the look of the second series and its new characters
from my brief descriptions. I credit him as the visual designer of
the second series and he remains my favorite Black Lightning artist
of all time.

My original agreement with DC - the one they have failed to honor -
recognized me as sole creator. This was several weeks before I ever
heard of Trevor. Indeed, DC assigning Trevor as the artist violated
my agreement with DC. I had been working to get one of the artists
I knew from Marvel. Perhaps I should have insisted, but Trevor was
so enthusiastic that I didn't object. But enthusiasm does not equal
co-creation.

DC didn't retroactively decide Trevor was a co-creator until a
couple of years after the first BL series ended and I inquired
about buying out DC's share of the character. That's also when they
started giving him half my incentive/merchandise/royalties money.
There have been incidents when they gave Trevor all that money.
When I found out about this, it took up to two years for me to get
my money from DC.

Currently, DC has not paid me anything on Black Lightning for over
two years. Despite my creation appearing on clothing, on other
merchandise and on TV. My e-mails requesting payment have been
ignored and remain unanswered.

I admire Trevor's abilities. I tried to work with him on a project
as recently as three years ago. That didn't work out and that was
more on him than me.

Although I still felt Trevor was getting half my money, I suggested
we share royalty statements to make sure we were both getting what
DC claimed we were entitled to. I suspected he hadn't received
payment for everything I had. Trevor took this as an insult.

I have stated in my blog that, should I ever regain Black Lightning
from DC, I would continue to pay Trevor what DC currently pays him,
if, indeed, they have continued to pay him. Trevor was insulted by
this statement as well.

I also stated Eddy Newell would receive equal payments to those
made to Trevor. I don't know how Trevor feels about that because I
haven't had any contact with him in two years. However, when an old
friend asked me about Trevor, I recommended him for the project
under discussion.

I’ve never wished Trevor less than the very best, but he is not and
never was a co-creator of Black Lightning.

 Another poster pointed out that, while my situation with Lightning
was not clear-cut, DC probably owns all rights to Black Lightning
art done by Trevor, Eddy and others.

My response to that polite comment:

If I were to regain control of Black Lightning, there's nothing of
Trevor's art from the first series that I would want to use.

Obviously, I'm much more fond of Eddy's work, but I never expected
to keep that look either.

No, if I were to regain Black Lightning and bring it to the current
marketplace, I’d reinvent it. Just as I reinvented the character
and concept for the 1990s.

This bloggy thing is way too long for a Monday morning.  However,
with my being a guest at this year’s Comic-Con International in San
Diego, I wanted to (once again) answer the usual Black Lightning
questions as thoroughly as possible in the doubtless vain hope that
I will not have to answer them (again and again) at the convention.

Keep watching the bloggy thing for updates on Comic-Con, my garage
sales and other Isabella appearances.  I’ll be back tomorrow with
another friend-winning piece on why I don’t celebrate Superman.  If
I have any readers left after that, I’ll get back to writing mostly
about things that delight me.

© 2013 Tony Isabella

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!

Hey, it's my anniversary...and they said it wouldn't last! Of course, some of "they" still say Sainted Wife Barb could do better. They're right, but I'm glad she married me and has stuck with me all these years. I love you, Barb, now and forever!