HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK KING KIRBY

I met Jack once.

I was at the San Diego Con years ago, right? And I'm standing near a crowd that goes around the length of the room, they're all there to see Jim Lee. And I don't want to see Mr. Lee, but to each his own. Then over the hall loud speaker, a voice comes on and sez, "Jack Kirby will be signing at such and such a booth in five minutes", and I'm like, OH SHIT~! I wasn't too far from that booth, and so I booked over there. I'm gonna meet the King, or, at least I hope to meet the King, because I figure there'd be an even bigger crowd for him than for Jim Lee.

So, I get to this booth, and there's like five people in line. To meet the King. And there's Jack, this tiny little old man, cute as a button really. But five people? Jesus, this guy's responsible for....everything in this room! 

But really, I felt lucky, because I knew I'd get to meet and speak with him.

So, it's my turn.

And I tell him how much I love his work, and ask him if he really felt uncomfortable rubbing the hump on the kid's back (his only biographical work was about his days as a Lower East Side street tough, and all the kids on the block would go to this humpbacked kid to get a little luck off of him). And Jack sez, "yeah, I didn't want to do it. I guess I was sensitive, y'know?" Cute as a button, this little old dude.

So I said to him, "Look, I just want you to know how much your work has influenced mine", and he realizes I'm a pro, and he looks at my pro badge, glances at it, and says to me, "thanks. I like your work too."

Which struck me as hilarious.

Mr. and Mrs. THE MONARCH

Another VB commission I did recently.
And speaking of the Ventures, I wanted to clarify a bit about my last post. I described Siobhan's photo as showing "the people that make the show so good", when in reality, those are but SOME of the people that make that show so good. To suggest that only five people, as gifted as they may be, are completely responsible for a television show is kind of a nutty idea, really. In fact, the real-world Team Venture is staffed by some of the most talented folks in the New York animation community! I'll try and name all of them here for you, although I'm sure I'll muck up the spelling of their names, and I apologize for that.
On the design staff we have Martin Wittig, Matt Jenkins and Danny Hynes. Actually, on season 3 (remember, Jackson's in production on season 4 at the moment), the third designer was Douglas Lovelace, and then after Douglas was another Danny, "Kano" Kimanyen.
Danny Hynes was also on the crack storyboard revision team for season 3, along with Lauren Mondardo, Jon Roscetti and Rick Lacy, supervised by the always lovely Siobhan Mullen. The revision team was particularly heroic last season, at least in my eyes. Storyboards have only begun on season 4, so revisions won't begin for a month or two.
The color staff is lead by Liz Artinian, and working with her is Dayo, Chris and Lauren's twin sister, Carly Monardo.
Background design is managed by George Fort. George's team is Chris, Ray and Denny, super-talented all!
The timing staff is supervised by Nick Demayo, and features the talents of Jen, Kimson and Ian.
Rachel Simon is the producer, and Patrick "PeeDee" Shindell is the production manager. Adam and Alex were both on the production staff, and somehow managed to keep a straight face (and maneuver looming deadlines) while sitting next to the ever hilarious PeeDee. Originally, the production manager on season 3 was Cathy Kwan, but when she moved on to greener pastures, PeeDee stepped in and did an awesome job.
Lastly (as far as in-house staff is concerned) is show "editor" Tom Bayne, who I'm lucky enough to share an office with, along with Jackson himself. Tom is a great guy, just great, and killer talented (I do believe I referred to him as a "genius" previously on this blog).
If I've forgotten anyone, please give a shout. Really, you can see all of these names and more if you'll sit through the show's end credits. But then you'd have to squint really hard and read really really fast. And, seriously, all of these people deserve a big, big hand. If you're a Venture fan, give it up for these folks when feeling grateful for the show.
....
Other news:
MONDAY'S STRIP is kind of gone. Sorry. I've just got a bit too much on my plate at the moment. It was fun, and I'm glad everyone enjoyed it while I produced it. Thanks, really.
And about commissions, and the BLOGGIN' BASEMENT---those're not completely gone, but, again, I'm just a bit time-poor lately to pursue either. Still, I've found some pretty choice
stuff to entice you folks inclined to buy art right now. Pretty choice stuff....
later!