Comics Comics #4

[wpbooks]

Hey Gang,
While scanning the racks at the local Comics Store on my way into work today, I came across a periodical I was totally unfamiliar with but feels like something folks on this board would be interested in.  It's titled Comics Comics #4 and is published by Picture Box Inc.  It is a large newspaper that is displayed folded, showing it's cover only partially.  I don't know what got my attention but the artwork on the front looked a little like Gary Panter so I pulled it off the shelf to give it a closer look.  At the bottom of the front cover were two words that pulled me right in: Woody Gelman.  I believe Mr. Gelman to be an unsung hero of the UG and to be as much an influence as Harvey Kurtzman, maybe moreso to me because by the time I was being influenced by the minutiae of pop culture and it's hidden verboten joys, Kurtzman was doing Little Annie Fanny in a magazine I couldn't get ahold of easily.  Gelman, on the other hand was the man behind Topps Chewing Gum and the array of bubble gum cards that all my nickels were being spent on in those formative years.  There is very little on this guy and once again it's Patrick Rosenkranz to the rescue with his notes from an interview with WG that is the centerpiece of this issue.  WG relates his history of collecting Pop Culture ephemera and then goes into relating his observations of R. Crumb, art spiegelman, Jay Lynch, Jack Davis and a new name - Tom Maher, whose work I have seen and collected, but was unaware of his name or his fate.  There is also a contribution from spiegelman on his relationship with Gelman that is pretty interesting.  There are other articles in this newspaper of interest, but it's really great to be exposed to this nice slice of WG and if you're reading this Mr. Rosenkranz, thanks for sharing!  Ever consider a book or an extended article on WG?  This is a newspaper worth looking for and they have a website if your LCS doesn't carry it: www.comicscomicsmag.com.  Article is profusely illustrated as well!  best $2.95 I've spent on a new mag in awhile!

[RebelVisions]

Glad to hear it's out finally. I gave Dan Nadel a transcript of my 1972 interview with Woody Gelman a few years ago. I haven't seen the latest issue yet, but I like Comics Comics a lot. Woody Gelman was a fascinating man. It was very exciting for me to visit the Topps offices and factory in Brooklyn 35 years ago. Woody gave me some bubble gum cards and toys and showed me his Windsor McCay originals. I bought several of the books he published through Nostalgia Press, and corresponded with him for a while. A book on Woody would be nice, but how many people would buy it? That's what my publisher always asks me.

[wpbooks]

I figured that would be the case, that's why I thought a nice article in an issue of Comic Art, say, would probably more realistic.  I know I'd buy a book about Woody Gelman and/or Topps, but you're right, or your publisher is right, and the financial incentive would not be there... but thanks for sharing what you had with Dan Nadel.  I'm glad it saw the light of day even in  a publication as obscure as Comics Comics. It will take a place next to my copy of Blab #2, with the interview with Len Brown of Topps, on my shelf of obscure Topps material.  Topps was my EC, in a lot of ways....much moreso than Marvel or DC ever were....Topps prepared me for Underground Comix in a big way, thank Woody!

[jaylynch]

Pat,
      Do you ever go to http://wackypackages.org  ?      The forum on that webpage is filled with people who think of Wacky Packages in the same way we thought of ECs.    Many of these guys are involved in media and publishing.  Go over there and mention it...and a publisher will come to you...that's my guess. 
Jay

[RebelVisions]

I visit them periodically. I like their obsessive natures. An article I wrote on Wacky Packages is listed in their "Wacky Pack Appearances in the Press and Media," item number 26. It was one of several I wrote for CounterMedia magazine in 1991 and 1992 about bubble gum cards and the people behind them, including Gelman, Brown, Saunders, Spiegelman, Lynch, Newgarden, Pound, etc. etc. I also listed the Wacky Packages Handbook in my RV bibliography.

I don't know what to say about Comic Art magazine. I'm beginning to doubt there will be another issue. It's just too much work to sustain something at that level of quality. The editor is holding an article of mine about autobiographical comics that got bumped from #9. I'd like it to see print, but who knows?

[50Cent #II (1st print)]

Picked up a copy of #4 yesterday.