Finished With Plumbers

A year and seven months after my water disaster, the plumbers are at the house doing the last of their work, knock on wood. They tell me that my home is legendary in their circles, and a topic of frequent discussion at the restoration company. This morning, they snapped the head of a monkey wrench off attempting to open a stubborn galvanized clean-out pipe, so there are still surprises, but hopefully not too many more.

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The ‘Barrel Of Tears’ above was created by, and a gift from, comic creator Justin Green. It’s shown here sitting on my ice-covered kitchen windowsill, last February.

Jughead and Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #15

Jughead and Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #15 is in the stores currently, and for those who follow my work, this issue contains around eight of my Jughead stories — most of them illustrated by my trusty collaborator, Rex Lindsey, who always manages to get the most out of whatever humor is in the scripts with his linework.

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Please note, there are a couple of incorrect credits on the stories in this issue, as is often the case in these digests. One of my Archie stories, “Unbalanced,” is incorrectly credited to my friend George Gladir. Sorry to saddle you with that, George! This story was drawn by Stan Goldberg, whom I only got the chance to partner with on rare occasions, and that’s probably a factor in how the credit got mixed up. This story has to do with a large piece of artwork, a metal mobile of the type designed by Alexander Calder. In this story, the artist’s name is Wilder.

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And then I am credited with writing a story called “Showdown At the Mall,” which I did not write. The art on this one is by Doug Crane. To my knowledge, Doug and I have never been paired up on a story. I’m Guessing that George Gladir wrote this one. The title sounds like one of his.

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Also of note is a story of mine called “Pop Goes Jughead!” I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of stories I’ve written where the plot was dictated to me by my editor, Victor Gorelick. But this is one of those. Victor had somehow ended up with a gadget that was designed to eat popcorn with — It was like a modified set of chopsticks — and he decided that a Jughead story could be written around the invention. He actually sent me one of these things to try out, and here is the story that resulted. In the story, I called them ‘Popcorn Pincers.’ I forget what they were known as in real life. Anyway, the Archie characters are such that you can give them any object and they can get into trouble with it for at least five pages, so no problem there.

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Wes Craven

Wes Craven, director of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and so many other greats, passed away on my birthday, August 30. He was an Ohio boy,  born in Cleveland.

I got to meet Robert Englund, who played Nightmare’s Freddy Krueger, very briefly this year, in the green room of Motor City Comic Con.

Graphic Novel Lab


Good news! I’ve been given the opportunity to launch a graphic novel workshop, for aspiring or accomplished storytellers, at the Fairfield Community Arts Center in Fairfield, OH. I’m looking forward to seeing who comes through the door for this one. The idea is for people to bring in their work-in-progress, or ideas that haven’t launched yet, and we’ll bat them around a while and see if there’s some constructive input to be had. As such, the format will be very fluid, and shaped by who and what shows up. Should be fun!

Drop me a note if you’re considering joining, and are wondering if this is for you. Or contact the Fairfield Community Arts Center. There is NO ONLINE REGISTRATION. To join, contact the Community Arts Center at 513-867-5348.

Class times: Thursdays, Sept. 17- Oct. 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Fairfield Resident: $70, Nonresident: $75

‘Carol,’ and my Mad Foxtrot Skills

I’m an extra in the upcoming film, Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Here is the first trailer for the movie, which is scheduled to open 11/20/15. The back of my head can be seen in the quick glimpse of a foxtrot / party sequence, so I’m hopeful that I’ll get a little more screen time in the actual movie! Cate got the Best Actress award for her role here at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, so I’m happy to have done my part to have spurred her on to success!

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