Three Minutes with CHRISTOPHER HERNDON...

What can I say about CHRISTOPHER HERNDON that hasn't been said already. A lot probably since his name is only muttered in hushed and silent half tones after midnight when all the pretty people have gone to sleep. The passing of time for me is measured by CHRITOPHER'S mutton chops...or is that a full beard...I honestly can't say anymore. CHRIS is the co-creator on LIVING WITH ZOMBIES! If you have never heard of it and are thinking to yourself, "Oh, great, another zombie book." Rest assured, Chris and the rest of his crew are not a group of fly by night poseurs jumping on the zombie train. They are firmly set in the drivers seat and have been madly shoveling the coal stoking the fire that all other zombie comics are currently illuminated. There aren't any pictures that I can post to go along with this entry. Chris and his crew have set the bar pretty low for what is now exceptable on the convention floor. Poke around the internet...you'll soon realize that they just ain't right....and we absolutely adore them for their brazen approach! Because with that level of insanity comes a great brilliance. Their humility and professionalism, even through the chaos, is always a welcome diversion.





Bill Wilkison: Chris, I have found a common thread among artists in many disciplines that Dr. Seuss had a big influence on them growing up and that influence continues today. What influence has Dr. Seuss had on your life, work or art?

Christopher Herndon: The greatest Seussian that ever did seuss. His verbage was spiffy and his scribbles did spruce. Have you ever flooced a more flabtasticle goose?

BW: Art is interpretive. What is this?



CH: New Mnt. Hood photo of Bigfoot.


BW: What makes a good zombie?

CH: Any cute lil' guy that doesn't make a lot of ruckus and doesn't piddle on the rug.














Hmmmmmm?
Next week: Who knows?


















©2006 B. Wilkison, of course!

TAKE NOTE (Do it for Dina!)

My dear friend Jacque Nodell (who I interviewed on this "glob" a few weeks back) alerted me to this most urgent of situations. I urge all of my colleagues to take note and respond accordingly then pass it on.



from the desk of
JOE KUBERT

Sept. 12, 2006


Dear colleague:

I don't usually get involved in international controversies. But I am outraged by the refusal of the Polish government to return artwork belonging to a fellow-cartoonist and Auschwitz survivor, Mrs. Dina Babbitt. And I am writing to ask you to join me in protesting this injustice.

Deported to Auschwitz as a teenager, Mrs. Babbitt's life was spared by the infamous war criminal, Dr. Josef Mengele, after he saw a mural of Snow White that she had painted on the wall of the children's barracks to soothe the children in their final hours. He then compelled her to paint portraits of Gypsies upon whom he was performing his barbaric "experiments."

After the war, Mrs. Babbitt relocated to California, where she worked as an animator for Warner Brothers and Jay Ward Productions. Among other things, she illustrated such characters as Wile E. Coyote, Speedy Gonzalez, Cap'n Crunch, Daffy Duck, and Tweety Bird for many years.

Some years ago, unbeknownst to Mrs. Babbitt, eight of the paintings she did at Auschwitz resurfaced and were acquired by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, a Polish government institution on the site of the former death camp. Mrs. Babbitt visited the museum and verified that they are hers (they are even signed "Dina 1944"), but the Poles refused to give them back, claiming they are legally the property of the museum.

Four years ago, when I wrote the book "Yossel," about a teenage cartoonist whose life was spared by the Nazis because they were amused by his drawings, I did not know that there had been a real-life case that bore similarities to my book. I was stunned to learn of Mrs. Babbitt, and even more stunned by the Polish government's position.

Together with officials of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, an organization with which I have been active, I have prepared a petition to the Polish authorities. It is intended to be signed specifically by cartoonists, animators, and comic book artists and creators. Adam, Andy, and I are very much hoping that you will join us.

To have your name added to the petition, please send an email to the Wyman Institute's director, Dr. Rafael Medoff, at: rafaelmedoff@aol.com

With thanks in advance for your support,

Joe Kubert

--------------------------------


DRAFT

(date)

Mr. Piotr Cywinski, Director
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Oswiecim, Poland
muzeum@auschwitz.org.pl

Dear Mr. Cywinski:

As cartoonists, animators, and comic book artists and creators, we are deeply troubled that the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum has refused to return the portraits that our colleague, Mrs. Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, painted in Auschwitz in 1944.

The fundamental principle that art belongs to the artist who created it is recognized everywhere except in totalitarian countries. One would hope that Poland, having been liberated from totalitarian rule, would not revert to the mentality that regards everything as the property of the state.

We agree that the display of Mrs. Babbitt's artwork is of great educational value, and we are pleased that the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum recognizes their importance. But that educational purpose could just as easily be achieved by displaying high-quality reproductions of the paintings, while returning the originals to their creator and rightful owner.

Mrs. Babbitt has suffered enough. We implore you to do the right thing and give her back her paintings.

Sincerely,

Joe Kubert
Adam Kubert
Andy Kubert

Stan Lee
Paul Levitz
Joe Quesada

Paul Abitabile
Charlie Adlard
Gerry Alanguilan
Jon Alderink
Óscar Camarero Alejandro
Scott Allie
Michael Allred
Bob Almond
Jim Amash
Sal Amendola
Brad Anderson
Renée Andriani
Vincent Andriani
Bill Angresano
Jesus Antonio
Brian Apthorp
Christophe Arleston
Scott Arnold
Terry Austin
Dick Ayers
Mark Bagley
David Baillie
Isabella Bannerman
David Baron
Donna Barr
Eduardo Barreto
Scott Beachler
Jeremy Bear
Gary Scott Beatty
John Beatty
Howard Beckerman
Kurt A. Belcher
Sandra Bell-Lundy
Carole Bender
Howard Bender
Jack Bender
Tony Bennett
Daniel Best
Franck Biancarelli
Jerry Bingham
Stephen R. Bissette
Patrick Blaine
Laraine Blauvelt
Sergio Bleda
Jon Bogdanove
Craig Boldman
Malcolm Bourne
Tom Boyko
Wil Branca
Ken Branch
Dan Brereton
Mark Brewer
June Brigman
William F. Brown
Chris Browne
Roger Philbrook Brunke
Frank Brunner
Stan Burdick
Kurt Busiek
Orlando Busino
Craig Butler
Buzz (Aldrin Aw)
Max Cabanes
Russell Calabrese
Mike Carlin
Sergio Cariello
Stefano Casini
John R. "Jack" Cassady
James Cassara
Michael Chabon
Cliff Chiang
Sean Clarke
Karl Cohen
Mort Cohen
Paul Chadwick
Kody Chamberlain
Keith Champagne
Thomas Chu
Matt Clark
Dan Collins
Daryll Collins
David Coulson
Jason Craig
Greg Cravens
Terry Cronin
Tony Cronstam
Dani Cruz
Doug Cushman
Farel Dalrymple
Rufus Dayglo
Nelson Faro DeCastro
Marc Deering
Gene Deitch
Jose Delbo
John Dell
J.M. DeMatteis
Jim Di Bartolo
Paul Di Filippo
John R. Dilworth
Jean Pierre Dionnet
Robert Donnelly
Colleen Doran
Roy Doty
Arnold Drake
Mike Dubisch
Michael T. Dugan
Jan Duursema
Tony Eastman
Josh Eiserike
Hy Eisman
Jan Eliot
Matthew Ellis
Steve Ellis
Judy Emerick
Luis Enciso
Rick Enright
Benita Epstein
Mads Eriksen
Gary Esposito
Andrew Farago
Mark Farmer
Tayo Fatunla
Jonathan D. Feldman
Al Feldstein
Sean Fernald
Retha Ferrell
Patrick Foster
Dana Fradon
Brian Fray
J. D. Frazer
Neil Gaiman
Sean Galloway
Isac de Menezes Galvao
Phroilan Gardner
Ron Garney
Drew Geraci
Donato Giancola
Anne Gibbons
Brad Gilchrist
Dick Giordano
Thomas F. Gibson
Michael T. Gilbert
Guy Gilchrist
John Gleneicki
Al Gordon
John Graham
Mick Gray
Harvey Green
Sanford Greene
Mike Grell
Peter Gross
Pia Guerra
Jackson Guice
Dave Gutierrez
Paul Gulacy
Brian Jon Haberlin
David Hagen
Bob Hall
Marcus Hamilton
Cully Hamner
Bo Hampton
Asaf Hanuka
Tomer Hanuka
Michael Harnisch
Joseph de Haro
Tony Harris
Sam Hart
Michael Hassett
Steve Haynie
Tom Heintjes
Donald P. Henderson
Bruce Higdon
Michael Higgins
Greg Hildebrandt
Ron Hill
Devon Hodges
Jon Hodgson
Brain Holguin
Matt Hollingsworth
Mark Irwin
Bill Janocha
James Jean
Håvard S. Johansen
Lynn Johnston
Richard Johnston
Jake Jones
Rob Jones
Steven Philip Jones
Jason Jourdan
Joe Jusko
Tim Kane
Ron Kanfi
Jeffrey Katrencik
Larry Katzman
Jeff Keane
Jim Keefe
Dan Kemp
Dave Kendall
Tom Kerr
Rick Ketcham
Lovern Kindzierski
Robert Knight
Stefan Kopiñski
Kari Korhonen
Aitor Kortazar
Ray Kosarin
Terry LaBan
Bill LaRocque
Lewis LaRosa
Batton Lash
Paul LeRoy
Mell Lazarus
KyongWon Lee
Steve Leialoha
Glen Le Lievre
John Paul Leon
Owen Leonard
Jonathan Lethem
Steve Lieber
Jose Luis Garcia Lopez
John Lotshaw
Frank Lovece
Nick Lowe
Jorge Lucas
Javier Lugo
Marc Lumer
John Lustig
Tom Luth
James E. Lyle
Kevin Mack
Dave Manak
Laura Martin
Pat Martin
Thomas Mason
MIke Mattesi
Thomas Mauer
Chris McDonnell
Patrick McDonnell
Garry McKee
Bob McLeod
Nick Meglin
Jack Mendelsohn
Ken Meyer Jr.
Arild Midthun
Tony Miello
Danny Miki
Zach Miller
Andrew Mitchell
Sheldon Mitchell
Jeremy D. Mohler
J. Ira Monroe
Michael H. Moore
Michael Moorcock
Romano Molenaar
Bill Morrison
Scott Morse
Dean Motter
Brian Moyer
Matt Murray
Jon J. Muth
Michael Netzer
Stephan Nilson
Graham Nolan
Chris Offutt
Jerry Ordway
Tsvika Oren
Tom Orzechowski
John Ostrander
Andy Owens
Mike Pascale
Jose Pardo
W. B. Park
Dan Parsons
Paco Rodriguez Peinado
Lincoln Peirce
Jamal Peppers
Don Perlin
Stephen Perry
Michael L. Peters
Scott Peterson
Rina Piccolo
Jack Pittman
Brian Postman
Joe Prado
Frank Quitely
Ron Randall
Masoud Raouf
Martin Redmond
Gail Renard
Adam Rex
Roy Richardson
Robin Riggs
Anna Rodriguez
Enrique Carlos Martín Rodríguez
Spain Rodriguez
John Romita
John Romita, Jr.
Alex Ross
Jeremy Ross
Robert Rowe
Alvaro Muñoz de la Rubia
Josef Rubinstein
Trina Robbins
Steve Rolston
Jason Roth
Robert Rowe
Greg Rucka
Ervin Rustemagic
Paul Ryan
Steven Sanchez
Nick Schley
Joe Schmidt
Diana Schutz
Gary Schwartz
Damion Scott
Bart Sears
Martha Seidner
Mario Sermoneta
Eric Shanower
Mike Shapiro
Marlin Shoop
Bill Sienkiewicz
Bruce Simon
Joe Simon
David Simons
Louise Simonson
Walter Simonson
Andrew Simpson
Tom Sito
Steve Smallwood
John Smallwood-Garcia
Andy Smith
Beau Smith
Cam Smith
J.D. Smith
Jeff Smith
Tom Smith
Ian Sokoliwski
Taki Soma
Aaron Sowd
Greg Spalenka
Art Spiegelman
J. David Spurlock
Rob Stolzer
Rick Stromoski
Dana Summers
Mark Szorady
Philip Tan
Lino Terlati
Greg Theakston
John Totleben
Jim Tournas
Tim Townsend
Albert H. Tudor, Jr.
Koi Turnbull
Colin Turner
Ron Turner
José María Varona
Brian K. Vaughan
Adrian Velez
Sal Velluto
Sam Viviano
Steve Voldseth
Mike Vosburg
William M. Vrscak
Lan Hoang Vu (aka VAL)
David Wade
Ches Wajda
Brian Walker
Mort Walker
Neal Walker
Liz Wassell
Bill Whitehead
Jim Whiting
Larry White
Malcolm Whyte
Bill Wilkison
Dwight Williams
Kevin L. Williams
P. Williams
Terry 'Wooket' Willis
Charles Paul Wilson III
Phil Wilson
Ilene Winn-Lederer
Barry Windsor-Smith
Walden Wong
Matthew Z. Wood
John Workman
Joe Wos
Dean Yeagle
Craig Yoe
Larry Zelen
Craig Zablo
Mark Zingarelli
Mark Zug
Jeff Zugale
Michael Zulli

Three Minutes with ???? (includes bonus interview)

First off let me apologize for not being up to the date on my "weekly" updates. As long as I do it once a week, I feel pretty good about it. I know a lot of you would visit more often if I were a bit more consistent. Well, the art world is anything but consistent. Given to fits of inspiration and procrastination we end up following deadlines more than anything. I'm lucky because people know that if they contact me and say they need another page for issue two...I'll be able to turn it around in a couple of days. That said...I had two such deadlines this week. One of which was an ad for INCESSANT YARNS #2. All I can say about it is that you'll have to pick up a copy of it from Hanging Chad Entertainment if you are into collecting every piece of WHA? art there is...not to mention I (Heart) Zombie!

©2005-2006 Warner/Wilkison

Next, let me send you over to my good buddy Paul Schultz who will conduct this weeks Three Minutes with...


But, wait...there's more! I want to conduct my own Three Minutes with... this week and I want to shine the light on a guy that I have seen at almost every show since I began...Andy Price! This guy is amazing! Illustrator, painter, kit-builder and the keeper of the cheese. He draws some of the best Universal movie monsters I've ever scene and does a lot of sexy superhero pin-ups and as you'll soon see...he's a pretty great cartoonist as well...

Bill Wilkison: Andy, I have found a common thread among artists in many disciplines that Dr. Seuss had a big influence on them growing up and that influence continues today. What influence has Dr. Seuss had on your life, work or art?

Andy Price: Other than selling his books for a living for 11 years, not much at all. Heavy influences are Don Newton, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Joe kubert, Steve Rude, et al...

BW: Art is interpretive. What is this?



AP: This is the broken and jutting edge of a cliff.



BW: Do you think your name "Price" helps with sales?

AP: Customers, I think, are a bit more cautious--thoughts of price tags make them nervous!


















Next week:


Christopher Herndon


STAY TUNED!










Oh, you might be curious about that second deadline this week...well, you'll have to wait...I won't be able to make any announcement until mid to late September. Let's just say the LUCIUS HEARS A WHA? train keeps a rolling.






©2006 B. Wilkison, of course!