I go to too many funerals and memorials…but some you feel a genuine need to attend. Last night, there was a private, invite-only celebration in San Diego of the life of the much-beloved Batton Lash. Bat left us at way too early an age last month and I couldn't not be there for that one.
It was held in the mostly-empty museum in Balboa Park which will soon be the home of a museum dedicated to comic art and to the entity behind it, Comic-Con International. It consisted of several hours of people who loved the guy telling each other why they loved the guy. There were enough reasons that it didn't get too repetitive and even when it did, so what? I went fourth and I emphasized the organic nature of Bat's work; how the work was so likeable because the writer-artist was so likeable.
Also, I reminded folks that while Bat had studied the works of great comic creators and even studied with several of them, what he put down on the paper was uniquely his. He understood what they did and then did it his way…with a little help from his beloved spouse and partner, Jackie Estrada. And you'll be happy to know that Jackie, who did her usual superb event-planning, somehow managed to survive the evening without overdosing on hugs. If we must have people we care about die, they should all be sent off with an evening like that one.