You get to read the article BUN TOON! YAY!

Is it JUST a coincidence that I’m ALSO a cartoon rabbit?

 

I was travelling to a convention in Memphis when Hugh Hefner died, and didn’t get a chance to BUN TOON about it.

I’ve asked a number of people if they ALSO opened Playboys from the back, and have met only two people who said they did….and they were ALSO comic book artists.  The whole “front or back opening controversy” was clearly a test.

I’m pretty sure I passed.

When I was in my early twenties, the FIRST places I ever sent samples of my work to, was Playboy and Mad magazine.  I was rejected, and kept the rejection letters pinned over my desk for years.

I still have since worked for Mad Magazine a number of times, but never graced the pages of Playboy.

Something to shoot for.

Ty the Guy OUT!

For those of you not born a male cisgendered hetero cartoonist-in-training in the 60s, here’s what you missed:

The fantastic pin-up art of Alberto Vargas.  Often MUCH better than the photo in the middle of the magazine.

 

B. Kliban- funniest cat cartoonist of an era.

The GORGEOUS paintings of Erich Sokol

The journeyman: Buck Brown

The always funny John Dempsey

The impossibly talented Doug Sneyd (it was hard to find one that was SFW, but you get the idea)

The casual skill of Phil Interlandi

The KING:  Gahan Wilson.

The magnificent Jack Cole (creator of Plastic Man!)

Little Annie Fanny was created by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder, with occasional help from Frank Frazetta, Jack Davis, Russ Heath, and whatever illustration genius was in the building with a brush.

Hefner himself started life as a cartoonist, and had he been more successful at it, he might never have founded a magazine that went out of his way to support the best and brightest of the field.

Hefner published the MUCH better version of Mad Magazine (called TRUMP), with the original gang of idiots.  It was so good, it lasted a whole two issues.  I have ’em both, and you can open Trump from either the front or the back, it doesn’t matter, there are no naked ladies cluttering up the front of the magazine.

this is the earliest version of the Playboy Rabbit.  It can’t be a coincidence that I turned out to be a relative of some sort.

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For last week’s BUN TOON, click here.

 

 

FanExpo report: First day.

Hectic.  Busy.  Exhausted.  And we’re only finished Thursday.

This FanExpo thing is getting bigger every time, and they’ve left the Earth’s orbit as of this year.  I didn’t get a moment to breathe, and for a Thusday, that’s a sign that this convention is rocking.  There were a thousand people to say hi to there that I don’t much get a chance to see, and for most of them, it was only a second I got as we were all swamped with fans.  I got maybe three seconds with Yannick Paquette, thirty seconds with Ken Steacy, forty five seconds with Salgood Sam, a few minutes with some of the guys from Heroes of the North, and a full five minutes with Richard Comely, creator of Captain Canuck.   I had a lovely SIX minutes with Playboy cartooning genius, Doug Sneyd, who I met last year, but it’s delightful to see him again.

This man introduced me to the art of cartooning, AND naked girls when I was a teenager. Beat THAT!

Many a former student was there, some of them in their own booths, pushing their own material, and this aging teacher couldn’t have been more proud.  I saw some of their portfolios that are being put together for a chance to meet Marvel and DC editors, and WOW!  these guys are all going to be MY boss someday.  I had the tremendous fun of leading many of the gang from Holmes Incorporated in their first big convention panel, talking about the process of creating comics, and we had easily a hundred some-odd people in attendance.  I hope I didn’t talk too much (I’m sure I did) but everyone on the panel had a ball taking questions and talking about the making of funny books.

Today, I’m hoping for a special treat:

Come to me, my child. I am your father...your FAAAATHER!

MARTIN LANDAU is a guest at THIS convention!  Long time readers of this blog might recall that Martin played my father, Charles Templeton, in a film about Billy Graham that came out a while back.  The film portrayed my father as, more or less, an agent of Satan, sent to Earth to tempt Billy into leaving god. (You can read the whole bizarre story HERE.)   So today, I’m hoping to get a moment with Mr. Landau, just to talk about the movie.  It’s pretty rare to see a blood relative portrayed by an Academy Award winning actor, and even more rare to get a chance to meet him….if I get a spare three minutes, that is.

Wish me luck.

Ty the Guy OUT!