Almost forgot to tell you about last night. That's not Batman in the above photo at left. That's me, listening as Comic Book Legend Jerry Robinson captivates a sellout crowd at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. People think you're a great moderator when the program is interesting but really, all you have to do is to get someone like Jerry talking about a subject that fascinates people. In this case, it was the early days of comics when he went to work for Bob Kane drawing some of the earliest Batman comics. Jerry told how he came up with the idea for The Joker and discussed the dozens of other things he's done in his career besides drawing great superhero comics.
Many folks who attended our little presentation went first to see the exhibit and loved it. It's there until August Something (the 9th, I think) so you have some time to get up there. Jerry, his wife and son and I had dinner first with the Skirball curators and they're thrilled with the turnout so far. If you'd like to be a part of that turnout, click here.
Anyway, a great time was had by all, as they say. Historians of such things might be interested, by the way, in a panel that I'm hoping to arrange for the Comic-Con International in San Diego this year. Jerry is probably coming and so are Sheldon Moldoff and Lew Sayre Schwartz. If we can arrange it then, I'll be interviewing en masse the last three surviving Bob Kane ghost artists…and darn near the only people alive who drew Batman comics prior to about 1962. (I get the feeling there's someone else but I can't figure out who it might be.)