Toon Talk Sessions - Rich Dannys

A Belated HAPPY HALLOWE’EN !!

They recently staged a "Hallowe'en" -themed Art Show at the studio I work at.. I decided to contribute a couple of old EC Fanzine illustrations that I did many years ago.. Sadly, I no longer own the pen-and-ink originals.. But I'd always wanted to color these; and the Art Show finally gave me the chance to do so!  Both images feature all 3 of EC Comics' famed "GhouLunatics" characters, along with a lot of other creepy and gory stuff!

Lookee what I was able to snag at last weekend's 'Toronto Comic Show'.. A copy of "GAMUT #3"!!  This was a fanzine produced by Sheridan College's now-defunct 'Comic and Cartooning Course' in Oakville.. It was designed to showcase talent attending the school..

Apart from the rare (and funny) Berni Wrightson cover art,-- the main reason I bought it was for a comic story inside by: Bob Smith.. A very talented guy I once worked with at Nelvana, on a number of their action-adventure cartoon shows.. Later on, he went on to do storyboards for Bruce Timm on the WB cartoons..

When I published my sketchbook in 2003, I was invited to table at a few local Toronto comic-book conventions. I had a standing offer that if a customer paid a bit extra, he/she could get a finished drawing from me. Chris C of Hamilton took up the offer and asked for "Hannah Dundee" after I told him that I'd worked on the Nelvana cartoon.. Last night, I fixed a copy of his drawing in Photoshop and added some digital color. The hair is clearly over-done, but overall I still like the drawing!

A commission that I did back in 2004, for a Gordon K. (from San Diego).. He had a very unique request for a trapped Animé-style Mermaid.. Thankfully, he also provided me with a good deal of reference material..  I tried my best to incorporate everything he'd asked for.. Hopefully, he enjoyed the result?

Today’s mail was pretty exciting for me, because I finally scored a copy of “FREE SHIT”, which I was able to purchase via eBay France! I’m a huge Charles Burns fan and have met him a number of times over the years. I’d read that he'd often produce these small 8-page ‘zines called “FREE SHIT” and give them to his fans at signings? Despite this fact, he never seemed to have any copies, whenever I’d ask.. Pretty disappointing.

The book was produced by ‘Le Dernier Cri’ as a limited-edition (1000 copies) in September 2016. So, they’re rather hard to find in North America. And often, very expensive! They’re certainly never Free!! Anyways, this small book collects the first 22 issues of his ‘zine. And is a real insight into Burns’ process and how his creative brain works. Highly recommended!

This is the first sketch I ever commissioned a comic-book artist to do for me.. Back in '85, Mark Askwith invited me to see Mike Kaluta at the Hamilton 'SILVER SNAIL'.. A genuine thrill when one of your favorite artists impresses you even more as a person! He loved drawing this 'ROCKETEER' pinup too, and I think it shows..

I was fortunate this past weekend, to win a couple of nice items at Heritage Auctions.. Here’s one of them: a large mixed media painting, by Daniel Torres - the great Spanish illustrator/comic-book artist! This illustration was published in the December ‘89 issue of PLAYBOY Magazine, to accompany excerpts of “The Killing Man”; Mickey Spillane’s 12th MIKE HAMMER novel!

Li’l Hot Stuff

A lovely 50’s-style Showgirl pin-up, by my favorite artist & dearly-missed friend: Dave Stevens..

20 years ago, I self-published my sketchbook: “Wang-Dang-Doodle!” This was the drawing I used for the cover art.. Recently, I agreed to sell the drawing to a local Original Art collector/friend.. So, I thought I’d better make some decent scans of it, first. Hard for me to believe how quickly all of that time has passed!

A pair of freelance illustration jobs by artist/friend: Dave Stevens.. The 2nd one has been widely published, but has been rarely seen in it’s original context. These were ads for BOSS Audio products that appeared in GUITAR WORLD magazine, back in 1985. It took me years to locate the "Feedback Monster" version in the bad olde pre-eBay days!  Fortunately, Toronto had a number of good Used Books stores that carried back-issues of old mags.. Dave famously drew himself into the "Sampler Safari" one, as "Professor D. Sampler".. He’s sporting the jodphur pants that he'd already made famous in his ROCKETEER comic stories.. Intriguing to me, are the mail-in offers for larger 18" x 24" posters of these ads? I've never seen one. And it makes me wonder how many were printed, and if any of them are still around?