Art of Jack Davis part 2

During Jack Davis' long and incredible career as a cartoonist he has achieved success in almost every medium he's attempted, except syndicating a newspaper comic strip. It's not for lack of trying. Here are some of his attempts at syndication, and examples of comic strips he worked on as an assistant to others.

This is a chapter from the First Edition of THE ART OF JACK DAVIS by Hank Harrison. Another chapter is here.

Copyright © 1987 Stabur Press, Inc.

Copyright © 1987 Jack Davis

Forry tells his story

As a rabid fan of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND in my teens (and don't worry, I took rabies shots), I read this autobiography of FM creator Forrest J Ackerman with a lot of interest. I think Forry (or 4SJ, 4E, or "the Ackermonster," as he was also known) was an egotist, but it was that ego, injecting himself so heavily into the magazine, that created the reader's personal involvement. Forry's force of personality infused with the stories and pictures of monsters made his magazine successful while his imitators failed. Ackerman's autobiography follows the same pattern of familiarity, punning, creative spelling and stream of consciousness writing. It's like a letter from a friend.

In this excerpt from the book Ackerman explains the magazine's creation, his relationship to publisher Jim Warren, and earliest days of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND.

Forrest J Ackerman died in 2008 at age 92.

Copyright © 1986 IMAGINE, INC.

Life's Darkest Moments Part 2

More of those "you know this is going to be a bad day" moments from the pen of H. T. Webster.

These panels range in dates from the teens to the late 1940s. More can be found here.

From the book, THE BEST OF H. T. WEBSTER, published posthumously.

Copyright © 1953 Simon and Schuster

"The End Of An Era"

William Parente takes a nostalgic look at the EC Comics of the early 1950s in this slim fanzine from 1967.

THE ROCKET'S BLAST SPECIAL #7 Copyright © The SFCA

"The End Of An Era" Copyright © 1967 William Parente