Monthly Archives: June 2009

Kim Bené sends this nice tale about John Broome, who's being honored (posthumously, alas) this year with one of the Bill Finger Awards for Excellence in Comic Book Writing…

I was a kid in elementary school when the second Green Lantern made his appearance in Showcase. I bought it as quick as I saw the cover, as I have indeed bought most of the Green Lantern books since. The character "spoke" to me. I loved the science fiction aspects of the story lines, it made sense that a test pilot would make a great super hero, and the idea of an intergalactic police force was just…well, comforting. Most of all, I liked the way Hal Jordan could train himself to focus his concentration since my inventive mind was constantly wandering off the subject at hand. His power ring was only as strong as his power of concentration was to control it. He could use it to move planets and fly through space and create huge green dragons and boxing gloves! So Hal was always an inspiration to me to concentrate and focus my mental energies on college tests, writing jobs, conversations; indeed everything about every day life.

So there I was in San Diego on the first Wednesday night preview of Comic-Con in the fancy lobby of the big curving hotel next to the convention center. I wasn't actually staying there due to monetary considerations, but I knew it would be a good, convenient, quiet place to wait for a friend to join me before walking over to the confusing masses at the nearby center.

I was sitting on a small sofa in the lobby when a thin, distinguished looking older gent in a crisp white shirt covered by a beautiful cherry red sweater sat down next to me. His sweater caught my eye, then I noticed he had a Comic-Con badge hanging round his neck. The badge was the green one that said "Professional." I'm not in the habit of bothering people in the media since I know they usually don't like it (I'm in the TV business myself) but the Con being much smaller then, it seemed appropriate to speak to fellow attendees, especially the one guy in the lobby not dressed in a Spider-Man or Batman costume or an appropriately themed baggy T-shirt and cargo shorts. He was quite dapper.

I turned to him and smiled and said: "Here for the Comic-Con?" "Yes," he replied. "There seems to be a lot of people here. Are they all for the convention?"

"Yes, and every hotel near the convention center is just like this filled with Con folks. It's the biggest convention of the year here, with 50,000 people wandering around next door for three days."

"My, the comic book business has sure changed since I left it."

At this point, my eyes searched out the name on the badge I read off the name: "John Broome." Hey, I remember that name…but it couldn't be that John Broome, my favorite writer and inspiration of my youth. He had to be dead. I hadn't heard a word about him since the early 1970's. But how many guys in comics have that name and would be at Comic-C? There he was, sitting, quietly looking slightly perplexed.

So I said, "Is this your first Con?"

"Yes, though in fact I haven't seen an American comic book in years. I've been out of the country. Do these people all read comic books?" he replied.

"Oh yes, they do. Comic books are big business now. What did you do in comic books?" I asked.

His modest reply was: "Well I wrote a lot of them, along with some teaching and such. When I got out of the business, I thought comic books would be disappearing soon."

"So you are the John Broome, one of the major creative folks behind the Hal Jordan Green Lantern series? The Atomic Knights? The Justice Society of America? Cool science fiction stories from the 60's? You're one of my all time favorite writers, Mr. Broome. Thank you for inspiring me when I was a kid, and for all those great science facts I accidentally learned through reading your stories." I could hardly contain myself.

He looked at me like I was one of the strange looking aliens in one of the stories; "Yes, I suppose I am that John Broome. I'm surprised one of the first folks I talk to in the U.S. actually knows who I am." Apparently, he was waiting for his wife and didn't know what to expect.

Fortunately, in my carry case I had some comics I hoped to trade next door…and one was a Green Lantern! And a Paper Mate sharpie, my preferred writing implement was in the pocket of my Hawaiian shirt! Reaching for them, I quickly but politely asked "Mr. Broome, I'd be honored if you'd sign my Green Lantern book. It's issue 63…not one of yours, but it's all I have with me and without you there would probably be no issue 63!"

Again, he looked at me like I was from another planet. Here was one of the greatest comic book authors of all time and apparently, no one had ever asked him to autograph anything! But being polite and well spoken, he smiled and nodded and signed it, just as a well dressed elderly woman came by and said: "John, I've been looking all over for you!"

He signed and then said to her: "Oh, I was just signing an autograph for one of my 'fans' and I swore he winked at me, took her hand and they vanished into the crowd. Later, I learned they had lived in Japan for many years where he taught English to Japanese diplomats, and that the Comic-Con had tracked him down and flown him in that night to honor him throughout the Con. Back when he was writing comics, you weren't allowed to sign your works, and there were no fan convention so apparently Mr. Broome thought he was still unknown and he apparently had no idea how much his work was remembered and appreciated. I like to think my little "welcoming committee" of one was the first of many surprises in store for him that week.

Needless to say,that issue has many more famous signatures on the cover page, all folks connected with Green Lantern in some capacity, everyone astonished at the first name at the top of the page, and every one honored to sign it, too. It hangs on my wall in a plastic case, still inspiring me to concentrate my will power on the job at hand.

Thanks for the lovely story, Kim…though I have a couple of corrections. As wonderful as the folks at the Comic-Con are, it wasn't one of them who tracked Mr. Broome down and got him to that convention. It was the late Richard Morrissey who not only arranged for Broome to be there but even paid for much of the air fare and passed the hat for the rest. The tale of Rich and the good he did with that effort is told over on this page. And a partial transcript of the great convention panel I hosted with Mr. Broome (probably my favorite of all the panels I've done) can be read through several columns beginning with this one.

Mr. Broome did have credits on a few of the comics he authored, and there were comic book conventions during the few years of his writing career. But he was travelling at the time and if he was ever in a city where one was being held, he didn't know about it.

But none of that changes the fact that it was, as Mr. Broome called it, the best weekend of his life. He not only got to be reunited with several old friends, he got to see how many new ones he had…how much his work was loved and respected. Too many folks leave this planet without ever grasping how much of a difference they made. I'm glad that John Broome was not one of them.

Keep an eye on things again, please. I'm heading off to see these people…

Last night, the Comic-Con International issued a press release announcing that this year's Bill Finger Awards are going to John Broome and Frank Jacobs, and I also posted it here. The press release was written by Jackie Estrada and me, and I'm responsible for the part that says Mr. Broome died in 1998 after attending his only convention in 1997. Actually, he died in 1999 after attending his only convention in 1998. That was my typo and I wish I had someone else I could blame it on. My thanks to Kevin Eldridge, who wrote this morning to let me know. At least, he agrees with the committee that Broome and Jacobs are great choices.

James H. Burns, who often sends me great things to share with you on this here blog, wrote a nice piece on our pal, Dave Simons…who is sadly The Late Dave Simons.

Hey, remember how I urged the folks at Turner Classic Movies to rerun Role Model, an original show they produced in which Alec Baldwin spent an hour interviewing Gene Wilder? Well, they inform me it will air again on July 18…and I wish I could take credit for getting them to put it on again but it was already scheduled. I'll remind you again when we get closer to the date. It really is one of the best interviews of this kind I've ever seen.

It's that time of the year again. Here's the official-type press release…

John Broome, Frank Jacobs to Receive Bill Finger Award

SAN DIEGO – John Broome and Frank Jacobs have been selected to receive the 2009 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The choice made by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by writer-historian Mark Evanier was unanimous.

The Bill Finger Award was instituted in 2005 at the instigation of comic book legend Jerry Robinson.

"Each year, we select two writers who favored us with important, inspirational work that has somehow not quite received its rightful recognition," Evanier explains. "The idea is that the award may go some distance to rectifying that, and I sure hope this one does. Because no one is more deserving than Frank Jacobs, for his past and current work, and John Broome for legacy he left behind."

Frank Jacobs was the first freelance writer hired by Al Feldstein when he assumed the editorship of MAD magazine in 1957, and his byline continues to appear in MAD more than 50 years later. More than 300 issues have featured his witty satires of movies and TV shows, but he is most famous as the magazine's poet laureate, filling its pages with his amazing poems and song parodies, many of which have drawn praise from the composers of the works he burlesques. MAD has published numerous original paperbacks of Jacobs' work, and in 1972 he authored The MAD World of William M. Gaines, the definitive history of MAD and EC Comics.

John Broome began writing for science-fiction pulps in the early forties. When his agent, Julius Schwartz, left agenting to become a comic book editor, Broome followed. From 1946 through 1970, he wrote for DC Comics, mostly for books edited by Schwartz. His work included The Justice Society of America and Detective Chimp, among other features, but his most notable scripts helped define the Silver Age of Comics with The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atomic Knights, and The Elongated Man. Broome passed away in 1999, only months after making the only comic book convention appearance of his life: at the 1998 Comic-Con International.

The Bill Finger Award honors the memory of William Finger (1914-1974), who was the first and, some say, most important writer of Batman. Many have called him the "unsung hero" of the character and have hailed his work not only on that iconic figure but on dozens of others, primarily for DC Comics.

In addition to Evanier, the selection committee consists of Charles Kochman (executive editor at Harry N. Abrams, book publisher), comic book writers Kurt Busiek and Tony Isabella, and writer/editor Marv Wolfman.

The 2009 awards are underwritten by Comic-Con International. DC Comics is the major sponsor; supporting sponsors are Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG) and Heritage Auctions.

The Finger Award is presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International: San Diego and is administered by Jackie Estrada. The awards will be presented during the Eisner Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con on the evening of Friday, July 24, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

Additional information on the Finger Award can be found at the convention website.

I am proud to be associated with this award…and even prouder that I got through this entire announcement without one reference to giving someone The Finger.

So, as I was just Twittering, there's something unfair about the funniest woman in town being a guy. Dame Edna Everage is on his/her "First Last Tour" at the moment. After the event, I overheard a die-hard Edna fan telling someone that they'd seen him/her a half-dozen times and this was the best ever. Since much of the show is improvised each night, that might not be the case tomorrow…but this evening was certainly smashing.

The fan also said that he believed that this might be Barry Humphries' last tour as the eccentric lady; that he's calling it the "First Last Tour" because he's not sure about that. Just in case it is, you owe it to yourself to see this creature at least once, live on stage. This may not be easy to do since he/she (I'm having what Daffy Duck would call Pronoun Trouble) is only in Los Angeles 'til the 21st, then it's on to Fort Worth for a week and apparently nothing is scheduled after that. Here's a link to the Dame Edna website in case you'd like to keep abreast of other possible wanderings.

The less I tell you about the proceedings, the more you'll enjoy them…but Dame Edna sings and chats with people in the audience and brings a few up on stage for more in-depth interviews. And basically, you just sit there and laugh 'til you can't laugh any longer. I can't give a comedy show a better review than that, can I?

Keep an eye on things around here for me, will you? I'm heading off to see this person tonight…

Every so often, you see a news item that just cries out to be a wacky comedy for a younger audience…like, say, this one. I'm thinking Jack Black and Paul Giamatti.

Joe Laredo writes…

I had the privilege of writing the liner notes for Burl Ives' Greatest Hits, which led to an incredible opportunity. Bear Family Records in Germany wanted to produce a multi-CD career retrospective, and Burl wouldn't submit to extended interviews via telephone. As a happy consequence, I got to spend two wonderful weeks as the incredibly grateful and excited house guest of Burl and Dorothy Ives in Anacortes, Washington, combing through his archives and chatting about his life and career on a daily basis.

In my mind, Burl belonged to a select group of entertainers (including Jimmy Durante and Louis Armstrong) who just had to be nice men in real life or the world would come to an end. I didn't need to worry. This Academy Award-winning actor and Grammy Award-winning singer (a real Renaissance man and genuine 20th Century pop culture giant) proved to be every bit as warm, charming and delightful as I could have hoped.

My visit was on the cusp of the holiday season, and the Ives had a huge inflatable display of Sam the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in their front yard. You had to buzz a security intercom at the front gate to gain entrance to the property. At least six or seven times a day, carloads of families would pull up and ask if their children could come in and meet Mr. Ives. Burl was in his late eighties and had mobility issues, so they were politely thanked for their interest and told he was on a concert tour. The reservoir of good will this man built up over the decades was something to behold. Thanks so much for mentioning him.

Thanks so much for telling us about that. Yeah, he seemed like a great guy…someone who really enjoyed performing for people because it made them happy.

Say, this isn't an example of that but I remember one moment when Mr. Ives was on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Ives had recorded a new song about the Comet Kohoutek. This was '73 or '74 when it was in the news and a lot of musicians were writing tunes about it. Anyway, Ives came on to chat with Carson and then the plan was for him to sing this new song. I suspect Carson planned this in advance. He wanted Ives on the show and he wanted him to sing…but what he really wanted him to sing was his big hit, "Blue Tail Fly." So Johnny decided to bait-and-switch or something.

He said, "You know, Burt…I'm sure the folks here would really love to hear you do 'Blue Tail Fly,'" and of course the audience clapped mightily. Ives was sitting there with the guitar in his lap as he smiled a wicked grin and said, "I'll be glad to sing it if you'll let me sing my new song first." Burl Ives was no dummy. He was there to plug the new song and he knew that if he didn't sing it first, it would never get on the air because Johnny would announce they'd run out of time. He also probably figured it would seem like a letdown if sung second.

There was an exchange of looks between Johnny and Burl. Each knew exactly what the other was trying to do…and Johnny knew that he wasn't going to win this one. So he said something like, "Well, we don't have time for both so promise me you'll come back some night and sing 'Blue Tail Fly.' Ives so promised and he launched into the new song, which I doubt anyone remembers. I barely do. But I sure recall the slightly-annoyed "good sport" look on Mr. Carson's face during it…and a slight, smug trace of victory on Burl's face as he performed.

Hey, would anyone like to hear Burl Ives sing? Of course you would. Here's an audio link to one of his records. I had this as a 78 when I was a kid and I played the heck out of it. If the player I've embedded ain't there, refresh this page a few times and it should appear. And when it does, you'll get to hear all about "The Lollipop Tree."