1. WELCOME (AGAIN)
Thanks again for subscribing. It’s been a crazy month finishing up my Kickstarter and adopting a kitten. This newsletter has a Kickstarter wrap-up, thoughts about Jack Kirby, and a bit from my class. In future newsletters, I’ll talk about sneaking in to meet Steve Ditko, filming someone stealing my catalytic converter, hustling scammers, writing an opera, and playing a cartoonist on Portlandia.
2. KICKSTARTER
The Kickstarter, reprinting TMCM 1-9, met and exceeded its goal. Making the book was a trip. I made the book I wanted. I got to retell stories that I usually only recount at conventions, like dealing with Hollywood and shooting comics with guns. I also explained inside jokes and gags no-one seemed to get. Steve Martin said explaining jokes is like dissecting frogs. You learn how it works but the frog dies. Maybe it was E.B. White.
Creating a book and dealing with the mechanics of Kickstarter is consuming. Running a campaign is 10% legitimate work and 90% neurotic compulsion. I checked the campaign every 5 minutes. All said and done, the faith and generosity people extended to me warmed my heart. For a brief time, I had the illusion that I wasn’t alone in the universe.
3. JACK KIRBY
When I was a kid I took some comics to a local convention to get them signed by Jack Kirby. While in line, some guy cut ahead of everyone. He had a giant stack of comics. Everyone was pissed but no-one said anything. Kirby was a gentleman and patiently signed each and every one. I got self conscious and only had Kirby sign a couple of mine.
The next time I met Jack Kirby was years later at the world’s largest comic convention in San Diego. I was making my way across a crowded dealer floor and I saw a cool comic out of the corner of my eye. I made a sudden turn, knocking into an old man. He fell back, pinwheeling his arms. Thankfully, his wife caught him. I started to apologize and then I read his name tag. It was Jack Kirby. Oops. He said not to worry about it. Once again, he was a gentleman.
Sometimes famous people end up lonely and surrounded by sycophants. Not Jack Kirby. Years later at another convention, my friends and I were night-exploring a hotel and we stumbled on a party in a small ballroom only half-full with 30-40 professionals. Everyone was chatting and laughing. They were celebrating Kirby’s birthday. They all liked him. It wasn’t idolatry. It was genuine respect. We hung out for a few minutes, taking it all in. It was cool but we felt like kids in a room full of adults. We ducked out. That was the time I got to see him.
4. VISUAL QUILTING
Occasionally I teach a comics class at Portland State U. Old Kirby books are great teaching tools. He told functional stories even without dialog and descriptions. For a class exercise I stripped the words from one of his comics and I noticed visual elements of a character were picked up in an adjacent panel - either before or after. It created the feeling that the two characters were close to each other. It worked as connective tissue, tying panels together and creating a narrative thread for the page. I called this trick Visual Quilting (until I think of something better).
Till next time.
Your Pal,
Shannon Wheeler
Amazing stories 👏