Upcoming shows: We're off to Seattle Book Fair next week, then later this Fall we'll be in Houston and then Boston for the Antiquarian shows there in November. Then back home and a zip up to Portland to do my first comic show there in oodles of years, on November 21.
Buying has been good at the last shows we've done earlier this month. I was pleased with a nice batch of old comics (Dell Zane Grey's and Zorros, Terry and the Pirates and the Siegel & Shuster Funnyman #1, 1946!) that turned up at the Sacramento show. This is just an hour away for us. Plus several batches of vintage 1940s and 1950s paperbacks were there, which I also both collect and sell at book shows.
Attendance was strong in Sacramento. The promoter did 50 spots on the local NPR station. His next show will be in the Spring, March 27. Santa Monica was rather less successful, the exhibitor count was down and it may not continue in the venue, just off the beach by 2 or 3 blocks. Customer count was okay though and we sold some rather big books to make the show a success for us.
On the way home, we stopped off to visit Howard O'Donnell, who recently contacted me to help him sell two wonderful Alex Toth pages from the early 1950s romance comics, a Rip Kirby strip inscribed to him by Alex Rayond, and a nice Milton Caniff Steve Canyon original.
The two Alex Toth pages were given to Howard by Frank Frazetta in 1958! Howard was an active comic book artist for Stan Lee (about 28 Atlas/Marvel stories) and also for Lev Gleason, mostly for their romance titles, from 1956-58. He also was a studio-mate with Gray Morrow and became good friends with Al Williamson, Angelo Torres and others, when they were all living in New York City. He has some great stories about playing baseball (with Frazetta and Williamson, of course) and practicing fencing moves in Central Park. They used to have pick-up games with actors who were working on Broadway at the time.
You'll find several pictures of him sword-fighting and carrying on with Gray and others in the intro the the Gray Morrow biography, Gray Morrow Visionary, Insight Studios, 2001.
Howard also inked a story or two for Joe Orlando for EC comics.
One day Howard was visiting Frazetta in his Brooklyn apartment. Frank asked Howard if he'd like any original art. Rather than thinking Frank meant his own work, Howard chimed up with his favorite artist...Alex Toth. As luck would have it, Frank and Alex were both working for Standard Comics in the early 1950s and Frank happened to have the splash and last page of this romance story, which he gave to Howard. Howard's had it ever since, along with a thick clip file of Alex's work, who he became friends with also. Howard left comics to work in advertising and today is retired, painting fine nautical scenes and landscapes in water color.
Howard still has the original artwork to several complete stories he did for Stan Lee in the 1950s. I've contacted Jim Amash, who does all the fine interviews of comic book artists for Alter Ego Magazine. I hope that Jim will do a feature on Howard, who has a many great anecdotes from his days in comics.
One day Howard was visiting Frazetta in his Brooklyn apartment. Frank asked Howard if he'd like any original art. Rather than thinking Frank meant his own work, Howard chimed up with his favorite artist...Alex Toth. As luck would have it, Frank and Alex were both working for Standard Comics in the early 1950s and Frank happened to have the splash and last page of this romance story, which he gave to Howard. Howard's had it ever since, along with a thick clip file of Alex's work, who he became friends with also. Howard left comics to work in advertising and today is retired, painting fine nautical scenes and landscapes in water color.
Howard still has the original artwork to several complete stories he did for Stan Lee in the 1950s. I've contacted Jim Amash, who does all the fine interviews of comic book artists for Alter Ego Magazine. I hope that Jim will do a feature on Howard, who has a many great anecdotes from his days in comics.
Later,
Bud
