Stan the Man is Coming to Cincinnati

Stan Lee Confirms Final Midwest Signing Appearance………Ever

Legendary Comic Book Creator and Famous Pop Culture Icon to Make Cincinnati Comic Expo His Final Midwest Show

CINCINNATI- Weeks after arranging legendary comic creator and artist and Stan Lee to come to the Cincinnati Comic Expo, we have been able to confirm that the 2016 Expo will be Stan’s last Midwest convention appearance. For the fans throughout this entire region of the United States, the Expo will represent one final and possibly, closest opportunity for them to meet, get a photo and/or autograph from Stan Lee at the Duke Energy Convention Center from September 23 to 25^th.

At the age of 93, Stan Lee has been attending conventions and shows this year, but has been cutting down on distances and travel. Stan ended traveling to Europe in 2014. He will make his last international appearance in Canada in early September. The Expo later that month will be his last Midwest convention. Following in October, he will visit his final New York Comic Con and in November he will attend his last New England show in Rhode Island. This December, Stan will turn 94 years old. For 2017 and beyond, Stan will focus on conventions and signing events closer to his home and offices in California and on the West Coast.

In his decades of work in the comics industry, Stan served many roles and is responsible for the creation and development of many popular characters. Stan has served as comic book writer, editor, publisher, as well as former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. Working with other artists, he has created Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and many more.

            After his comics career, Stan Lee became the public face of Marvel Comics. He would travel the world to attend conventions, college lectures, and to develop television programs and feature films. In addition to being listed as an Executive Producer on most Marvel film and television projects since 1990, Stan Lee has been a fixture and has had a cameo in most productions.

            Under Stan’s leadership, a shared universe of comic book stories and superheroes was created. Characters could crossover from story to story and interact with others. Above all, he took Marvel Comics from a small publisher to the large multimedia corporation it is known as today.

            Stan Lee is one of the most recognizable names and faces in the entertainment industry. His selection of the 2016 Cincinnati Comic Expo for such a historic milestone convention is just not an honor for the fans of the area, but for the city of Cincinnati. To celebrate this appearance, the organization of Stan Lee Collectibles has setup a very special package for those wanting to meet Stan at the 2016 Cincinnati Comic Expo. Tickets for the Expo are available at the website: www.cincinnaticomicexpo.com. Tickets for the Stan Lee Experience, which includes a professional photo with Stan, an autograph by Stan, and various additional limited edition keepsakes are available in the package, and also available for purchase through that same link.

In addition to Stan Lee, many more comic book artists and creators are attending the 2016 Cincinnati Comic Expo. Attendees include: Rob Liefeld (creator of Deadpool), Steve McNiven (Marvel: Civil War), Neal Adams (Batman), Eddy Barrows (Teen Titans), and many more. Various media and celebrity guests will also be in the Queen City for the Expo, including Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars), Lee Meriwether (Batman), Adam Baldwin (Firefly), John Barrowman (Arrow, Doctor Who/Torchwood) and several more.

Batman Premieres

It would be another few weeks before it was in wide release but the quickly shot and edited and now fondly remembered 1966 BATMAN movie premiered this date in Texas.

Meet Batman-May, 1966

With the arrival of the BATMAN AND ROBIN comic strip in newspapers , THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER ran a helpful 6 part series to bring readers up to date on the characters and their backgrounds.

Jack Davis R.I.P.

It was impossible to miss Jack Davis's art for the better part of the last century and once you saw it, it was instantly recognizable. If Davis's only contribution to pop culture had been his EC comic book work, we'd still be mourning his passing but he was so much more.

His horror work at EC gave way to humor, with Davis becoming one of the original contributors to MAD.

Although he followed Harvey Kurtzman to TRUMP and HUMBUG, he was welcomed back to MAD for literally decades.

But he also turned up often in CRACKED...

and even in SICK.

Dell even tried to give him his OWN personal humor mag/comic in the early sixties but for various reasons, it only ran two issues.

He did a lot of novelties for Topps.

For Warren Publishing, Davis created Uncle Creepy and the legendary Frankenstein poster.

He also worked on other Warren mags.

There were a LOT of TV GUIDE covers.

 

many, many movie posters for films both big and small. 

Network TV promotional artwork.

TV commercials.

Sports art.

Civil War art.

Mainstream magazines.

Record album covers for groups and performers whose music he perhaps never even knew.

More comic covers, posters, commissions, etc in later years.

So much success in so many fields but it always kept coming back to EC and MAD. Rest in Peace, Jack Davis.

 

John Barrowman Coming to Cincinnati

Gracie as Surrealist Painter

Surely even in the late 1930s, someone noticed something just a tad...off...about Ms. Allen's portrait of...Is that George Burns?

Ballad of a Man Called Yoe

 

After spending 26 years as a bookseller, librarian, or bookstore manager, my livelihood went away at the end of 2008 when the Airport closed an entire concourse while I was managing the Airport Borders. Naively, I assumed I could take a few weeks off and then get another job. I hadn’t yet realized just how much the US economy was suffering. There were very few bookstores left and soon enough, even most of those would be closing.

I spent months and months putting in for other jobs as the government kept passing extensions for unemployment payments due to the high volume of same. I rarely got so much as a nibble and even then, a couple turned out to be scams and others—such as the Easter Bunny’s helper—were temporary.

Then came Yoe.

Honestly, I can’t recall exactly how we connected but I’m sure glad we did. I knew the name from a wonderfully eccentric, illustrated column he did for the Comics Buyers Guide way back when. I remembered that he had introduced me to the great SPARKY WATTS cartoonist Boody Rogers through CBG and had, more recently, written and edited a book collecting some Rogers work. I had no idea of this man’s bizarre and fascinating background, however. That I would learn about later and I’m STILL learning new things about him.

Somehow, though, he contacted me about the concept of my writing back matter for a new book he was working on to be called THE GREAT ANTI-WAR CARTOONS. I was to research and write about the various artists reflected in the text and, as needed, he would augment with additional info he might have. It was a somber but fascinating and educational book, published by Fantagraphics, the first folks who ever paid me as a writer way back in 1987.

Craig was happy with my work and explained that he and his wife, Clizia Gussoni, herself a lovely and talented designer, had just been offered the chance to start their own imprint at IDW to be called Yoe Books. He also explained that this came after they had been forced to downsize their design studio because of the economic mess and asked if I would be willing to work with them on a freelance basis.

The first thing I did was research Craig Yoe so I’d have some idea of whom I was getting involved with. Turns out that Yoe is a surprisingly humble man, especially when you consider he knows just about everybody in and out of the comics field , once ran the Muppets alongside Jim Henson, hired Steve Ditko to draw BIG BOY Comics, has an incredible collection of original art, discovered Joe Shuster’s naughty secret, was one of the original “Jesus Freaks” in the seventies, attended school with  Pretender Chrissie Hynde, curated an exhibit at the Sex Museum, has saved countless lives across the globe with his and Clizia’s public service comics, and lives in a castle!

Okay, I was in.

For Yoe Books, I have worked as a writer, a ghostwriter, a researcher, a proofreader, a transcriptionist, a fact checker, a publicist, and I started and maintain the Yoe Books Facebook and Twitter pages. My association with Yoe has given me the skills and the connections to be able to work with a growing number of other writers, editors, and publishers as well. More importantly, it was Craig’s unending support in some of my darkest hours that helped me redefine myself in the wake of my economic crisis.  

I’ve worked on nearly all of Yoe Books’ publications since then as well as several Craig has done outside of his own imprint. Among others, I wrote a number of sections for THE OFFICIAL BARF BOOK and even more for ARCHIE-A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEENAGERS and ARCHIE’S MADHOUSE, two of my favorite projects. I even helped in the creation of horror host, Forelock the Warlock. Craig was kind enough to officially dedicate his book on one of my all-time favorite comic artists, THE CREATIVITY OF DITKO, to me!

One of my very favorite projects to have worked on behind the scenes for Craig and Clizia is 2015’s WALT KELLY’S FAIRY TALES, a beautifully designed collection of the POGO artist’s brilliant and long unavailable comic book stories done for Dell Comics in the 1940s.  

Last night at Comic Con in San Diego, WALT KELLY’S FAIRY TALES won the prestigious Eisner Award in the category of Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books. I am proud to be able to say I worked on the book and proud to continue my association with Yoe Books. I’m even prouder to be able to call Craig Yoe—a man whose name was for so long mere words on tabloid paper to me—my friend. Congratulations to Craig and Clizia!

Who knows? Maybe some day I’ll actually get to MEET him!