Thursday, May 9, 2013

Stranger Than....F I C T I O N COMICS No.#1 is out and dedicated to the memory of Gene Gallatin

     After a great deal of waiting, number 1 issue of Stranger Than...F I C T I O N  COMICS is finished. the hold up was caused by not having the final six pages and inside back cover clearly defined till sometime around Thanksgiving (2012). We were waiting for John Kinhart's Sorry Guy story  "Dear Mr. Spiegelman" and John's Doc Film ad "Pigheaded". Don't ask why we did not know what we were waiting for, but we just did not know how it was going to play out. Once it dawned on us, we knew, ok this is it, time to run it !!!! Which we did after also adding Snappy Sammy Smoot by Skip Williamson. These seemingly last minute decisions were obviously divine interventions, imo, to add that missing dimension, make us all laugh, cry, scream and/or scratch our heads at the same time. 
     We have sent out Artist Proofs for reviews, one to www.legendsofbill.com and www.ripoffpress.com. If you are wondering what the critics are thinking, you might want to give the reviewers some time to write their reviews and post 'em up on their respective websites. Just added Michael Hamersky's blog review, Michael is an original San Diego Comic Con dealer/marketeer, here is what he had to say  http://makeitsomarketing.tripod.com/popularcultureblog/index.blog/2318139/my-take-on-stranger-than-fiction-comics-1/ .Till then we just start working on issue number #2. 
     May 7th 2013, Robert Crumb was in Oregon. Patrick Rosenkranz posted a link in an Oregon newspaper which mentioned Monte Wolverton was there. I shared the post on my Facebook Timeline. I eluded to Crumb speaking with Monte about what he thought about the book and Gene Gallatin's story The Bastard Sons of Harvey Kurtzman. Patrick commented that Gene Gallatin had died last year. I was stunned, no one posted anything, I had no clue till two todays ago. Gene's story was the impetus for the book, the creative spark. I never got an email  back from Gene after the Artist Proof's were done. I had no idea Gene had passed away. 
    Gene Gallatin was a child of the Underground comics scene, he grew up reading them as a kid. He aspired to be an underground artist/cartoonist. His comic The Bastard Sons of Harvey Kurtzman was as blunt and as honest as any comic of the genre ever was. I knew it would be controversial, but it had to be in the first issue. Now somehow we have to dedicate the 1# Stranger Than....F I C T I O N  COMICS to Gene's memory. If you get a copy you have to read it before putting in your closet for safe keeping. I implore you to take a moment to reflect, the odds are against you getting a copy, but if you do, you have to take a moment to reflect on your life for Gene's memory. You owe it to yourself. Thank you, Gene, for the courage to reach for your dreams, to keep trying, to keep going for it, R.I.P. brother, you will be remembered in 1# Stranger Than...F I C T I O N COMICS.........