July 2008
comic-con kick-off
party
!
Thursday, July 24, 2007  7:30 -
10:30 PM
Buster's BeachHouse and
Longboard Restaurant
(air-conditioned!)
807 W. Harbor Drive, San
Diego
Food, fun, drink
All just STEPS from the
Con!!
$15 + no-host bar
Comic-Con by Karyl Miller
        Comic-Con = Halloween in July
                              by
             Karyl Miller, prez SCCS
                          6/24/08
 As everyone knows, the Con offers some of
the finest people watching anywhere!  Comic-
Con is a show and so are the people who go to
it.  It’s a feast for the eyes but not for the faint-
of-heart.  At Comic-Con, anyone with spandex
and a sewing machine can turn himself into a
human conversation piece.

 In fact, Comic-Con attendees can be divided
into two distinct categories:  those taking
pictures versus those posing for pictures.  All it
takes is a costume to switch sides. Why wait for
October 31 when you’ve got an overwhelming
desire to parade around in a 5-inch thick foam
rubber Incredible Hulk outfit?  Who cares if it’s
a blazing 98 degrees?  The show must go on –
and you’re it.  

 It might be fun to have everyone want to take
my picture.  If my costume was good enough, I’d
be hounded by the Con – erazzi all day.  I’d get
to experience what it feels like to be Paris
Hilton, only likeable and not rich.  Who knows?  I
could become the next YouTube sensation.

  What costume would I make for myself?  Yes, I
said make.  For some of us, simply donning
some flammable Wonder Woman get-up bought
off the rack at WalMart just doesn’t cut it.  Of
course, making a costume is like making soup.  
Success depends on what ingredients you’ve
got on hand.  I’ve got the perfect Daisy Mae.  All
I need is a Wonderbra and some Kleenex, a torn
skirt and I’m good to go.  I’ll be a sensation!      

 BUT WAIT:  Does anyone really want to see a
woman - old enough to remember Elvis as a thin
man - dressed in a mini-skirt?

 FACT:  The Con is like a Star Trek convention
and Halloween all rolled into one.  It attracts a
certain high-ish percentage of borderline out-of-
touch thespians (often in costume) that I don’t
want to see.  Like the 300 lb. Spidey or the
equivalent.  I’m sorry that dude’s now etched in
my memory along with the other horrible images
- like pictures of Auschwitz I wish I hadn’t seen.  
So do I want to become one of them?
 
 Maybe I’d be more credible if I chose a more
age-appropriate character like Mammy Yokum.  I’
ve got a corncob pipe and combat boots, but
how would I make myself look that old?  Rubber
cement?  What if I dressed as Mammy Yokum
and nobody knew it was a costume?  I would
die.  Really, I’d have to race to the back of the
Convention Center and throw myself into the
Bay.

 POSSIBLE IDEA: Blondie is older than I am (How
does she do it?).  All I’d need is a Wonderbra
and some Kleenex (same as my old Daisy Mae
outfit, but not torn).  Okay who am I kidding?  I’
ve got to get real.  I’ve got to pick a character
with my similar body type.  

 LIGHT BULB!  Mutt and Jeff!  (I LOVE the
classics!)  I own both a vest and a high silk hat.
All I’d have to do is let my moustache grow out.  
I’d like to be Mutt (the taller of the two), but
because I’m 4’11,” I’d have to find someone
shorter than me to be Jeff and that might limit
the casting possibilities.  So I’ll be Jeff.  And all I
need is a partner 5’ 4” or taller.  So, hello all you
Mutts out there.  I can’t do it without you.  
Please send me an Email stating WHY you want
to play the part of Mutt to my Jeff along with a
JPEG of you in your costume.  The winning Email
gets the job.

                           -30-
SCCS Comic-Con Connections

Lynn Stedd will be in charge of the Comic-Con San Diego
Blood Bank donation center again for this,  its 31st year!  
Blood Drive is open every day at 10 AM upstairs in the Sails
Pavillion (11 AM Sunday).  It only takes 45 minutes and you
get a goody bag, a raffle ticket with prize donated by top
exhibitors, a fabulous commemorative T-shirt and more!

Archie's George Gladir can be found and will be
participating in all things Archie.

Luann's Greg Evans will be signing autographs at the  
National Cartoonist's Booth along with Cagle (editorial)
Cartoon's
Darryl Cagle.   

Marge Holland will again be serve as videographer for the
Comic-Con Masquerade.  Daughter
Sonja Holland will be
displaying her fabulous art at the Con Art Gallery.

Jackie Estrada  is the Eisner Awards Administrator, a
mover shaker behind the scenes, planning and coordinating
many Comic-Con comittees and activities and is an editor the
official Comic-Con catalogue.

Jorge Pacheco will be gracing Artists' Alley for the 34rd
year!

Batton Lash will be hawking his latest edition of his
fabulous, quirky "Supernatural Law" comic book.

Michael Aushenker will be at the WildCard Ink booth this
year as a guest, signing his POKEY books (He's writing the
GUMBY'S GANG miniseries and the first of the four issues is
about POKEY).  He says, "Drop by and visit! It's gonna be fun."

Stan Yan will be selling his latest Squidworks books.


Stay tuned for updated SCCS and Comic-Con info!
Comic-Con's creator SCCS' own Shel Dorf
                                        Thanks Shel !
                            by Charlie Roberts
As a collector living in Pennsylvania in the early 1980's, I'd heard
of the San Diego Comic-Con but had never been able to attend.
I'd also read pieces by Shel and seen photos he'd taken, but
never met him.
In April 1983 my wife Joan and I drove from Pa. to the "Cartoon
Museum" when it was still in in Connecticut for a chalk talk by "
Terry and the Pirates" and "Steve Canyon" comic strip creator
Milton Caniff. The presentation was excellent, and Caniff was
incredibly gracious, signing autographs and talking to everyone.
During the chalk talk he had done an incredible "Dragon Lady" in
color. When we got home I wrote Caniff, inquiring about
commissioning a color "Dragon Lady" for the collection and
sending him the incredible amount of $ 40 (well, $ 40 in 1983
would be equal to $ 42 today!). A few weeks later we received a
great specially done "Dragon Lady" original  from Caniff, and
within a day or two Shel sent us a superb color photo he'd taken
of Caniff with our drawing. It turns out Shel and Tom French
happened to be doing a video interview with Caniff in Palm
Springs when Caniff received our request . The video actually
shows Caniff doing our art (Ta Daa !).
MORE   
San Diego Union Tribune
July 16, 2006

When the San Diego Comic-Con International opens its annual
run at the Convention Center Wednesday night, Shel Dorf won't
be there.

The man widely considered the founder of the convention is 73.
The last time he went, several years ago, he was in a wheelchair
because of diabetes and he couldn't make his way through the
throng.

LAURA EMBRY / Union-Tribune
A drawing of Comic-Con founder Shel Dorf is on a wall of fame at
the Palm Restaurant in downtown San Diego.
“We had no idea it would get this big,” he said in a recent phone
interview. “To me, it's just become an ordeal. I don't know of any
way to make it smaller, though. I guess in some ways it's become
too much of a success.”

He isn't bitter, not publicly anyway. He figures he had his run. He
was actively involved in the convention for the first 15 years,
using contacts he'd built from a lifetime of loving the comics to
bring some of the industry's biggest names to San Diego.
The convention also helped him get more work as an artist and a
writer and enhanced his reputation as a historian of comics.
When Warren Beatty turned Dick Tracy into a movie in 1990, Dorf
was a consultant.

But now, being in the background is fine with him. He declined to
be interviewed in person at his Ocean Beach home. “I'm not
seeing people,” he said. He didn't want his picture taken, either.
He suggested using a caricature that hangs on the wall of a local
restaurant – a cartoon for one of cartooning's ultimate fans.
MORE
      2008 MEETINGS
July 24, Thursday
SCCS-NCS Comic- Con kick-off
party.
Busters BeachHouse

July 23-27
San Diego Comic-Con
Convention

August - vacation!
No meeting, no Slice of Wry
monthly mag

September 10, Wednesday
Jorge Pacheco - artist,
cartoonist, caricaturist

*Nominations 4 prez
SD Blood Bank

October 8, Wednesday -
Andrew Mitchell -
artist, cartoonist, author
*Elections for prez
SD Blood Bank

November 12, Wednesday-
TBA
- SD Blood Bank

December 10, Wednesday
Holiday Party
Jack White's Magic Museum
                                         SHEL DORF
                                       By Jim Whiting
                                       June 20, 2008
Hard to believe, but when we first moved to California from
Watkins Glen, New York I'd never heard of the San Diego
Comic-Con. Nor of Shel Dorf, for that matter. Later of course, it
would be impossible to think of one, without the other coming to
mind.

I did know San Diego Union staff artist Bernie Lansky from our
Cartoonists & Illustrators School days in New York City and when
I told him about a small group of cartoonists having lunch
together once a month, he said, "You should talk to Shel Dorf.."  
Bernie knew that Shel knew cartoonists downtown, uptown, all
around the county. Heck... around the country.

Well, I intended to get in touch with the cartoonist catalyst, but
before that happened, Shel happened. He got in touch with me
via telephone on March 16, 1986 and on the 18th. I drove him and
Steve Schanes to the third meeting of the Southern California
Cartoonists Society in Vista, CA.

It seemed as if every meeting following that one, a new face in
the crowd would appear due to the diligence of Dorf. The
consummate networker, Shel introduced a great number of
aficionados of the art - neophytes and old pros alike - to our
growing group. His personal contacts have resulted in many
outstanding programs presented by stars of the cartoon industry
at our monthly dinners. I often consider: if it were not for him,
Bernita and I would have missed attending a CAPS banquet not
long after we'd arrived in San Diego. It was there in Los Angeles
where it was my pleasure to become acquainted with so many of
our brothers and sisters in the cartooning world. And I can't
begin to number other individuals who have enriched my west
coast experience because of Shel's introductions.

No one person can assume credit for the fine club we have
today, but certainly, if we had such award, Shel Dorf would be
deserving of an MVP cup. (Most Valuable Promoter)  
                                                 ***
Shel by  Lynn Stedd
from National Cartoonists Society
In preparing for our NCS tribute to Frank Frazetta in
late August, we will be presenting him with a
scrapbook of original art and well wishes.  If you
would like to contribute to this endeavor, whether
or not you are able to attend, please send your
drawing/note to Jack Pittman at the address below.  
Art should fit on an 8.5 by 11 sheet.  It would be
helpful to receive these no later than August 1 to
allow for assembling the book.

This will be a memoir the whole Frazetta family will
cherish and a wonderful addition from the National
Cartoonists Society to the Frazetta Museum.

And, as a reminder, if you do plan to join us for this
event, please email me with the total number of
people attending, including yourself as soon as
possible to help expedite the preparations.  The
celebration is tentatively planned for a Saturday,
most likely August 23 or 30, from 12 to 5 at the
Frazetta Museum in East Stroudsburg, PA.  Costs
per person are not finalized as of this writing, but
will be somewhere in the neighborhood of a modest
$40-50 per person, which will include a light lunch
and admission to the museum.  If you plan to spend
the weekend in New York City, the drive to East
Stroudsburg, PA is about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  There are
also accommodations in or near East
Stroudsburg--Quality Inn, Hampton Inn, Shannon Inn,
Budget Inn & Suites, and Best Western Pocono, to
name a few.  Further details are coming soon.

Thank you for your generous assistance with this
tribute to one of our most esteemed colleagues.

Fraternally,

Jack

J. Pittman, Illustrator
1740 Brooks Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27607-6618
www.jackpittman.net
jack@jackpittman.net
919-785-1966
Shel & Sergio Arigones
Sergio, movie producer Jack
Cummings, Shel, Burne Hogarth
Shel at 1986 Comic-Con
Shel's caricature at a restaurant