BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!

(the amount of times Google tried to edit it this is insane. I KNOW WHAT I'M WRITING, GOOGLE!)

(art by Kevin Maguire)

This post is going to be relatively somber, in light of recent events, but I figured I’d start with something lighthearted and then get into the depressing shit.

As referenced to above, Keith Giffen, writer and artist of many comic book titles including LOBO, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, and, perhaps most importantly to me, JUSTICE LEAGUE (INTERNATIONAL). His partnership with J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire (later, Adam Hughes) on the title resulted in the title that, when you think about the time it was released, should have never hit when it did. In the wake of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, LEGENDS, the Byrne SUPERMAN/MAN OF STEEL era, the Perez WONDER WOMAN era, JLI was an outlier. But, then again, so was Giffen. I was fortunate to not only meet Keith a few times, but as the Events Coordinator of Jim Hanley’s Universe, I had him in the store for a few signings. The first one, which came about around the time that I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT THE JUSTICE LEAGUE debuted, I had to drive to New Jersey to pick Keith up with Kevin Maguire. And I’d love to tell you that the “road trip” we took had some kind of significance, and that he imparted some sage advice to a young writer.

I’d love to tell you that, but I would be lying. We basically just threw jokes around and carried on the whole way to Joe Rubenstein’s. It was fun, and I don’t remember the specifics of who said what to whom, but I just remember getting out of the car, turning to Mark (who was the manager at the New Dorp store at the time) and saying, “Holy shit, that was a helluva car ride!”

Giffen was also the co-creator of one of my favorite late 90’s comics, VEXT, which is something I never fail to tell Mike McKone whenever I see him. Folks throw around the word “curmudgeon” when they talk about Giffen, but I never had a bad experience with him. He was as funny in person as he was in the books, and I don’t have a bad thing to say about him. I mean, his last tweet is kind of everything you need to know:

(see, told you I spelled it right)

Keith was 70, which, as I get older, I see that and say, “Man, he was young.” He’d probably smack me for that.

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Speaking of Jim Hanley’s Universe, the Manhattan branch of JHU Comics (the successor of Jim’s store), closed late last month. Go read Ron Hill’s “exit interview” with Heidi McDonald on The Beat. I can’t think of a more accurate depiction of the state of comic books, comic book adaptations and the reality of selling periodicals in the 21st Century. For me, I can’t thank Ron and Nick enough for hiring me back in 2001. The story goes that Nick brought my application up to Ron and said, “Do we need to interview Vito?” and Ron said, “No. It’s Vito.” They gave me so much and I’m eternally grateful.

To be clear, the Staten Island location is STILL OPEN. I believe you can also do mail orders with them, as well. These are the guys that literally put LOVE AND ROCKETS and JIMMY CORRIGAN into the hands of many New Yorkers. Show them all the support you can.

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I am an anti-fascist. Take that however you like.

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Let’s talk about the podcast I keep promising. I did record one. I was still in the process of editing it when I realized that I shouldn’t release this yet. To clarify, the idea for the podcast was to show the life of a comic book, from inception to conception to collaboration to realization. As I was putting on the finishing touches with the music, I found out that title has been put indefinitely on hold. As a result, I’m going to go with another podcast idea, and I should be recording that this Saturday. Full honesty, this post was going to be a podcast, but as I sat down to record, I saw a blank screen and decided to fill it with words. Probably for the best.

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UPDATE on STRAY: REQUIEM #2 - Currently waiting for him to finish a cover and a necessary character design, but very shortly, MAT MAJOR will be taking on the color artist role. In fact, Mat is now officially the second chair of FULL COURT PRESS. This is going to streamline my operations a great deal; one of my biggest problems is I don’t know how to ask for help because I’m always sure the answer is no. Mat said yes. So much for tradition.

UPDATE on GOLDEN GUARD - Without overpromising anything, I do have an artist lined up for Issue 3, Edoardo DeSantis. Issue 4 is still pending, but we might have some news on that soon.

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Did I miss anything? Let me know and I’ll send out an update sooner rather than later. I have to admit, I have no idea what kind of schedule I’m supposed to keep. How often should I send these out? I’m not sure if there’s a psychological name for trying to be a people pleaser but also not trying to be annoying, but that’s me in a nutshell.

Take care of each other. Too many people are dying for all the wrong reasons out there.

-V