TerrifiCon 2017 ~~ Part TWO of a Very Lengthy "Comical Wednesday" Post!

As you hopefully recall, last Wednesday was Part One of two posts concerning my experiences at TerrifiCon 2017, held at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

In Part One, I told how my friend John and I were only at TerrifiCon for a few hours, so I passed on meeting the various television and movie celebrities who attended, including but not limited to Burt "Robin" Ward, actress Lee Meriwether, plus Finn Jones and Jessica Henwick. The last two are currently featured on two Netflix series based on Marvel Comics characters, Iron Fist and The Defenders.

Nope. I was there to meet and get autographs from three comic book writers and one comic book artist whom I admire. Last time around, I talked about meeting writer Marv Wolfman and artist Jerry Ordway.

So here we go...

The fourth person whose autograph I obtained -- and no, I still haven't forgotten to tell you about the second, but I'm saving the best for last -- was writer Steve Englehart.

Starting in the early 1970s, Englehart wrote several titles, and I followed most of them. He wrote the solo adventures of the former X-Man, The Beast, in the appropriately-titled Amazing Adventures. He scripted some really good issues of Doctor Strange, with outstanding art by Frank Brunner. He co-created Peter Quill, a/k/a Star-Lord, who much later became a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. And for DC Comics, Steve Englehart wrote an incredible series of Batman stories in Detective Comics. This block of stories, most of which were drawn by Marshall Rogers, introduced Silver St. Cloud as a love interest for Bruce Wayne and included a hugely popular two-part Joker story.

Story by Englehart, art by Rogers.

I had pretty much given up on reading comics by the early 1970s, believe it or not. One night, however, a chance look at the comic book section of a bookstore renewed my interest in the little darlings.

As regular readers of this blog know, one of the superheroes whose adventures had always grabbed me was Captain America, whose title was then being published as Captain America and the Falcon. I'd always been a fan of Cap's origin, which had been told a few times since I first encountered the character in 1964. But one of the books I saw that night promised a different origin for Cap.

I "had" to buy it, along with a handful of other Marvel Comics. Issue #155 of Captain America and the Falcon was written by Steve Englehart, a new name to me.

Captain America was a big seller during the 1940s, published in several titles from Timely Comics (now Marvel Comics). In 1964's The Avengers #4, Marvel, saying he'd been frozen (and thought to be dead) in 1945, "thawed" the character, ignoring the fact that Cap's adventures in the comics had actually continued until the late 1940s, and also ignoring a brief revival of his title from 1953-54.

It turns out that the origin presented in Captain America and the Falcon #155 was that of the 1950s Cap, revealed to have been an impostor. Fascinating stuff.

Anyhoo... I told Mr. Englehart that Cap #155 was the first book by him that I'd ever read, and how he was my favorite comic book writer during the 1970s. I added that that was saying quite a lot, considering that Marvel had such stellar writers as Jim Starlin, Steve Gerber, and Don McGregor during the same period. I could tell that he appreciated the compliment.

Steve was also charging $1.00 per signature, which I more than willingly paid.

I was not present for this. Here's a photo of Steve Englehart with actor Sean Gunn

(known for Guardians of the Galaxy and Gilmore Girls, among other roles).

Okay, as I said earlier, I've been saving the best for last. The second comic book personality I talked to was none other than Roy Thomas. As I told Roy himself, I've been a fan of his since he started working for Marvel. ("That would be fifty-two years ago," Roy replied... not that either he or myself are anywhere near that old...)

Roy was a BNF (Big Name Fan) in the early 1960s, eventually taking over the editorship of the fanzine Alter Ego from another BNF, Jerry Bails. In 1965, he was a school teacher who became a comic book pro and worked for DC Comics for about an hour... Okay, okay, it was really eight days, which isn't much longer.

He then went to work at Marvel. His first extended writing job for Marvel was on Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, a title which I read, but admittedly, I didn't immediately notice that the book was being written by someone other than Stan Lee. From there he progressed to another of my favorites, the original X-Men title. He also wrote The Avengers for quite a while. He was the second person to write The Amazing Spider-Man, and the third to write Fantastic Four. He was responsible for Marvel's acquiring the rights to Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian in 1970, which began the "sword and sorcery" trend in comics. Thomas had (and has) a real love for the Golden Age comics he read as a boy -- he often revived or re-imagined Golden Age characters in the titles he wrote -- and he put that love to use in a series called The Invaders, which was set during World War II and featured 1940s Marvel characters such as Captain America (and Bucky), the original Human Torch (and his kid sidekick, named Toro for some unknown reason), and Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. In the mid-1970s, Thomas was instrumental in arranging Marvel's comic book adaptation of a new science fiction film... a little something called Star Wars. Roy wrote and Howard Chaykin drew the first six issues, which followed the plot of the movie. And I've left out a lot.

Okay, you can take a breath here.

This was the issue I almost had Neal Adams sign!

The issue below, What If #4, contains a story by Roy that finally explained how Captain America had appeared until 1949, since he was supposed to have "died" in 1945! Roy said that he himself had really enjoyed that story. I told him that I'd read it yet again the previous night, at which point he asked "Did it end the same way?"

I went on to tell Roy how much I loved his stories (for both Marvel and DC) about the Golden Age heroes. He answered that those were his favorite to write.

In the 1980s, Roy Thomas started writing for DC Comics. He wrote stories for such various titles as Wonder Woman, Batman, DC Comics Presents, Secret Origins, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, and created or co-created such series as Arak Son of Thunder and Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew... but his best work for DC was arguably his huge volume of work involving the Golden Age superheroes, particularly the Justice Society of America. The JSA appeared in All-Star Squadron (set in the early 1940s), the America vs. the Justice Society mini-series, The Last Days of the Justice Society one-shot, and in various issues of Secret Origins. All-Star Squadron birthed two spin-off series, Young All-Stars and Infinity, Inc. The long-running Infinity, Inc. featured children and protégés of the JSA members in modern times.

Perhaps one of my all-time favorite JSA-related tales was from the Infinity Inc. Annual #1. This was a story which largely concerned the Golden Age Green Lantern, a character whom I gush about here, and his daughter and son, Jade and Obsidian. That's the third comic I had Roy sign.

Roy (and writer Kurt Busiek) also appeared on a panel John and I attended later, where Roy talked at length about having taken over the scripting of The Amazing Spider-Man from Stan Lee in 1971. Roy also discussed the Spider-Man costume shown below, which he's owned since the mid-1960s. This was created for publicity purposes, and Roy himself used to wear it! (For an extensive article about the costume, its history, and numerous rare photos of Roy wearing it over the years, click here!)

This photo, taken by my friend John, shows Roy's Spider-Man costume. If you look closely, you'll note
that the legs of the outfit are purple rather than the proper blue that most of the rest of the suit is made of.

This photo, also taken by John, shows just a small section of the convention
floor. That's me on the far right, about three-quarters down. (Just kidding.)

Someone had the good idea to have Roy, who co-created the Iron Fist character

with artist Gil Kane in 1974, meet Finn Jones. Jones has the title role in Netflix'

Iron Fist series, and appears in The Defenders as well. I assume that something

was said to Jones along the lines of "If it wasn't for Roy, you wouldn't have a job."

Summing up (yes, finally!), I enjoyed this convention immensely, and only have two minor regrets, three if you count my not approaching Lee Meriwether (as mentioned in Part One).

The first is that I only had Jerry Ordway sign that copy of All-Star Squadron #20, considering that the damned thing was written by none other than Roy Thomas! I mean, just look at that cover, which has such a great place for Roy to have signed it.

And my second regret? Well, I kinda wish I'd met con guest Jessica Henwick, who plays Colleen Wing on Iron Fist and in The Defenders. I mean, just look at her.

And I see that Roy Thomas didn't pass up his chance to meet Jessica Henwick. Roy, you dog, you!

Thanks for your time, and your perseverance!

TerrifiCon 2017 ~~ Part ONE of a Very Lengthy "Comical Wednesday" Post!

This is the cover to TerrifiCon's guide and souvenir booklet. All of the
superheroes pictured are the property of DC Comics, except for the guy in the
red and yellow costume who's wearing shades and saluting. He's the official
mascot of TerrifiCon. Looking him up on the internet, I saw him referred to as
both Captain TerrifiCon and Colonel Terrific. Strange.

Friendly warning: Today's a long mofo.

Well, it had been approximately twenty years since I had attended a comic book convention, but on Saturday, August 19th, my friend John and I went to TerrifiCon 2017 in nearby (well, nearby to me, that is) Connecticut, where we spent a few hours making our way through huge crowds of people crammed into a set-off section of the Mohegan Sun complex in Uncasville, CT.

This year's TerrifiCon was planned to be an extravaganza celebrating the Batman television show of 1966-1968. As the following ad shows, TV's Batman and Robin, Adam West and Burt Ward, were scheduled to attend. Sadly, as you know, Mr. West died last June.

Instead, the con became a tribute to Adam West. Among dozens of celebrities from the entertainment field and various comic book creators, the convention was attended by Burt Ward and Lee Meriwether, the latter being an actress and former Miss America (1955).

By the way, this is totally off-topic, but I had to share this with you! The following is one page from a pictorial featuring a very Robinish-looking Burt Ward. It's from -- and you'd better sit down for this -- a 1984 issue of Hustler! This is one of the pages that I can show you!

Miss Meriwether is known for various acting roles, including her one-time appearance as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman film based on the TV series. Just for the record, she never played Catwoman on the TV show; that role was filled by Julie Newmar and later by Eartha Kitt.

 As Miss America 1955.

Personally, I'm a fan of Lee Meriwether's from her co-starring role on the 1966-1967 series, The Time Tunnel (a photo of which immediately follows).

You know, I always hate it when someone talks about an actress, singer, etc., who's in her sixties or seventies, and says "She still looks like she's twenty," or some similar remark. Come on, now. They never do. They may still be attractive, but people age, for cryin' out loud.

Having said that, take a look at the following photo, taken when Lee was eighty-one. I mean... Damn.

With Ben Mankiewicz and the late Adam West, in April of 2016.

Hm. After all those shots of Ms. Meriwether, you're probably wondering why I didn't meet her and get her autograph. So am I, now...

Moving right along...

In addition to those two, the convention also featured the original 1966 Batmobile (well, one of them), the Batcycle, the Batboat, and the Batcopter!

Among other guests, the convention also had Finn Jones and Jessica Henwick, both co-stars of Netflix' Iron Fist and The Defenders series, which both feature the Marvel Comics character who debuted in 1974.

There were a lot of movie and TV people, but contrary to what you'd expect of me since I'm such a celebrity nut, I didn't approach any of those celebs! No, we were only there for a few hours, so I planned to meet (and get autographs from) only three comic writers, and only one comic artist!

Of course, there were hundreds of costumed attendees (known as "cosplayers") all over the freakin' place. You know, the kind of people who get all the attention whenever a TV station does a short feature about the convention on the local news broadcast?

I must admit, some of those costumes are pretty impressive!

Anyway, I mentioned above that I had my sights set on meeting just a handful of comic pros. The first one I met (and the first one I'll tell you about, but I'm giving you a warning that this four-person list will not be in order) was writer Marv Wolfman. And to the non-comic-reading portion of my audience, I should point out that Wolfman is his real name.

Marv's been writing professionally since 1968. His multiple credits (in no order whatsoever) include the original Teen Titans, Spider-Woman, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, The New Teen Titans, Green Lantern, Batman, Omega Men, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the critically-acclaimed Tomb of Dracula (1972-1979). (And yes, there were a lot of contemporary jokes about a "Wolfman" writing about Dracula.)

Sorry about the photo which omits part of the text, but that's the way it appeared on the internet!

I had assumed that writers and artists would charge for their signatures, especially because so many fans get autographed copies of books and other materials just to resell them. Therefore, I decided to limit myself to one signed item per creator. I had Marv Wolfman sign Tomb of Dracula #69, perhaps my favorite issue of the seventy published. (Wolfman had authored the series since #7. During his run on the book, he co-created Blade with artist Gene Colan.)

As a brief explanation, here's why I think so highly of TOD #69. After a multi-part storyline where Dracula, Lord of the Vampires, had been turned into a mortal, Dracula has again become a vampire. However, he is not automatically returned to his position as the vampires' leader, so a large group of the undead creatures are chasing him, intending to destroy him. He seeks refuge in the home of a European family of children whose mother has had to leave them home alone in order to bring a severely ill child to a doctor in a nearby town. Dracula considers making a "meal" of the kids, you might say, but when the vampires pursuing him arrive and threaten both Dracula and the children...

I was quite impressed by this scene. Causing himself intense agony,

Dracula picks up a cross and uses it to chase the other vampires!

Anyway, that's the issue I handed to Marv Wolfman. And he signed it for free. I was hoping he'd make a comment about the issue in question, but he didn't. He just signed his hard-to-read name on it, and off I went.

The third person I got an autograph from -- and yes, of course I'll get back to the second -- was artist Jerry Ordway. 

Another unfortunately-cropped photo from the internet.
By the way, when I met Mr. Ordway, he did not have the beard.

I became a fan of Ordway's during the 1980s. He did extensive work on the Superman character, then recently revamped. During his involvement with Supes, Ordway took inspiration from this classic cover from 1942...

And gave us this!

He also did the pencils and inks for the adaptation of 1989's Batman movie starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. His talent for drawing recognizable likenesses is uncanny.

One thing Ordway did in this adaptation which I absolutely love is the following sequence from the film, which shows the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents. In the movie itself, they had actor Hugo Blick play Jack "the Joker" Napier as a young man, but instead of drawing Blick, Ordway simply drew a young Jack Nicholson.

Hugo Blick as the young "Jack Napier."

I decided to have Ordway sign All-Star Squadron #20. I've always been a big fan of the Golden Age (World War II era) DC characters, especially the original Green Lantern, as told here.

In this unforgettable issue, set in 1942 (as most All-Star Squadron issues were), Green Lantern has been placed in kind of a "dream state" and hallucinates that his friends and allies in the Justice Society and All-Star Squadron have all been killed.

The enraged "Emerald Gladiator" attacks the Japanese military...

He then follows by devastating the civilian population as well.

In short, his actions anticipate the destruction later caused by the atomic bombs the USA dropped on Japan in 1945. Pretty eerie. Luckily, before the remorseful superhero can harm himself, he is freed from his hallucination by several team members in the real world.

So, that's the reason I wanted Jerry to autograph this issue.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the sign on his table which charged one dollar for each item signed. "That's, like, free," I told him, and he replied that famed comic artist Neal Adams (who was also at TerrifiCon) had advised him to do that years ago. Y'see, comic artists often agree to do sketches for fans, and drawing and selling these sketches can be quite lucrative. The artists often work on these commissioned items during down-time at the cons. However, if an artist has huge stacks of things to sign for convention-goers, it basically takes time away from a paying job.

Jerry Ordway turned out to be a very nice guy, very easy to talk to. He talked about getting over a recent cold, and things like that. Not a lot of "shop talk," but that was fine with me.

Coincidentally, one of the comics I had with me that day was the 93rd issue of The Avengers, drawn back in 1971 by none other than Neal Adams. I considered having him sign it, until I saw that he charged $50.00 for his signature.

*  *  *  *  *

Let me interrupt myself here.

As I write this, the bottom of the "page" doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon. So I'm going to take pity on both you and myself and make my TerrifiCon post a two-parter. Part Two will appear next Wednesday, September 6th, and the "Superboy Meets Bonnie and Clyde" post I'd originally planned for that date will be shoved back by seven days!

Hope to see you then. Hell, you made it this far, didn't you?!?

Thanks for your time.