Cartoonists Demand Action

Bronx Kids Con 7

Last Saturday I spent the day (once again) in the Bronx. This time I was attending Alex Simmons’ Kids Con. While there I was at the Pronto Comics table selling some of my books First in Flight and Iconic), where I again turned a bit of a profit. (Hey, that’s three weeks in a row! How cool is that?) Both of my recent comics First in Flight (about Gustave Whitehead, who flew before the Wright brothers), and Hot Girl and Totally Hot Girl) were published with Pronto.

Anyways, here are the pics I took at Kids ComicCon

First up, welcome to the Con.

  Who is that shadowy figure?

Why it is our host, Alex Simmons

Ray Felix and his Bronx Heroes!

East Coast Black Age of Comics

Pronto Comics

Jim Salicrup & Adam Post

And now, for the Cosplay folks

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

OK, I'm in!

Batman the Prankster

Having been bested (yet again), by Superman,

Batman tries to pick on Spider-Man...

And loses once again!

More Iron Man 3 From Subway

Two more Kids Meal Bags from Iron Man 3 Subway tie-in:

Oh, and here is my review of the film:

Spider-Man Fury Knife Set

We’re not entirely sure who approved this particular item, but we totally want one.

Also, just so you know, we've seen it on ebay for around $60.00, the link above gets it for you from the manufacturer for half that.

I totally want one!

Oh, and here it is in Black!

Now that I’m thinking about it, I just might have to get one of these in black as well.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

More from Bronx Heroes Con 5

When I was at Ray Felix's Bronx Heroes Con #5 I received this very cool Spidey con sketch from my good buddy, Chris Buchner:

Thanks Chris.

Bronx Hero Con 5

Spent the day at Bronx Hero Con 5. Always enjoy this show, and I want to than Ray Felix for inviting me. Once again got to exhibit my stuff (sold some books!), and hang with some of my very good friends, including Ray, Gary Cohn, JM DeSantis, Mark Mazz, and others.

Here are some of the photos from that event.

Iron Man 3 is at Subway!

Yep Iron Man 3 comes out this weekend, folks and there is a promotional tie-in at Subway. They are offering Iron Man lunch bags with their kids meals.

Image from Subway's website.

This is the customer courtesy card that allows you to accumulate points towards free food

The contest where you could win tickets to see Iron Man 3

An Iron Man sticker that comes in the Kid Meal food bag

And here is one of the kids' meal bags.

Oh, and here is my review of the film:

First in Flight

OK kids the other day you read about my latest comicbook, First in Flight, a short story about Gustave Whitehead, the German immigrant who lived in Fairfield, Conn and flew two years before the Wright brothers.

Well I want you all to know that the book is now available through Pronto Comics via IndyPlanet. That's right, kids, for a mere $2.00 (+P&H), you too can have your very own copy of First in Flight.

We debuted the comic this past Saturday at an Earth Day ceremony at Fairfield Ward HighSchool where I spent the day with Andy Kosch and the guys from the  aeronautical museum.

It was a great day (we sold 16 copies of the comic!). This coming Saturday we'll be at the fifth annual Bronx Heroes Con which this year is being held at the Bronx library.

It is out hope that we can not only raise awareness of Gustave’s flight, but raise funds so that we can publish a longer-form comic about the actual event.

So if you missed us at Earth Day, come on out to the Bronx this saturday and see what all the excitement is about!

Gustave Whitehead flew first!

Forty-three years ago in 1970, we celebrated the first Earth Day, This past Saturday (April 27), I participated in my first Earth Day celebration event. I joined my former high school teacher Andrew Kosch at Fairfield Ward High School, where he was there talking about (as he is wont to do) Gustave Whitehead, a local resident who in 1901 — two years before the Wright brothers — flew a motorized air craft.

Andy has always been a parachutist and ultra-light plane enthusiast. Back when I was still in high school, Andy first began talking about Gustave, who flew in the Bridgeport/Fairfield area a full two years prior to the Wright brothers. Andy has spent most of the years between then and now attempting to get Gustave his proper credit for this magnificent feat.

Andy even constructed a replica of Gustave’s “Old #21” and flying it way back in 1986. Andy has done a great amount of research about Gustave, even interviewing someone who (as a young lad) worked with Gustave on the plane and witnessed it flying. For my own part, I recall, back in high school, talking with Andy about Gustave and saying that it would be cool to produce a comicbook about Gustave. Well, it took me 36 years but I finally was able to write a short story about Gustave Whitehead. It appeared in a a graphic album called Iconic that was published by The Comics Arts Guild. that graphic album is still available for sale (it also contains short stories about a number of historic, legendary, and/or mythic figures).

Well, recently an an Australian researcher who works in the aviation industry in Germany named John Brown was doing some research for The Smithsonian Channel was commissioned to research flying cars. During that research he came across Whitehead’s name, and descriptions of his craft — as well as of his flight and after investigating the matter came to the conclusion that Gustave Whitehead actually did fly prior to the Wright Brothers. Brown then went on to publish his research in the 100th anniversary edition of Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, one of the foremost publications about aviation in the world. In the March 8, Brown acknowledged that Whitehead flew his No. 21 aircraft more than two years before the Wright brothers left the ground at Kitty Hawk.

Needless to say this greatly pleased Andy. When I spoke to him after the story broke in the local press he told me that he was going to be exhibiting his replica of Old #21 at Ward and invited me to join him and sell copies of my comic. So I then pulled my Gustave Whitehead story out of the Iconic graphic album and turned it into a stand-alone 8-pager that we are going to use to help promote Gustave's accomplishments, and (hopefully) turn it into a full-sized 32-page comic which we want to then distribute to schools in Conn.

One of the reasons that Gustave’s accomplishments have not been recognized is because of a long-standing contract between the Smithsonian and the heirs of Orville & Wilbur Wright (all of which was reported in the book History by Contract), by William J O'Dwyer). Well, I (with the help of my buddies over at Pronto Comics — who published my first stand-alone comic, Hot Girl and Totally Hot Girl) was able to publish First in Flight, my 8-page comic story about Gustave Whitehead and how he flew Old #21. The art on the Whitehead comic is by Rick Lundeen, and that book will also be available on IndyPlanet ($2.00).

Well, the books made it in time (I wasn't sure they were going to make it, so I produced a smaller B&W version that I’m selling for $1.00), and I made it to the Earth Day event. In addition to Andy and several members of the Connecticut Air & Space Center in Stratford, CT there was also Anne Fiyalka, a local woman who — as a teen — got the opportunity to fly with famed aviator, Amelia Earhart.

Needless to say, the day was glorious (one of the first really nice days we’ve had around here all year thus far), and there was a very receptive crowd that was amazed that the history that we all learned, wasn’t quite true. Anyway, we had a great day, I was able to sell quite a few copies of my comic, and Andy informed me that he’ll be doing another “green” event with Old #21 in August here in Norwalk at Taylor Farm Park and invited me to join him for that event as well.

Next weekend, I’ll be at the Bronx Heroes Comicbook Convention which will be held at The Bronx Library Center (310 E Kingsbridge Rd Bronx, NY 10458;
718.579.4257) on Sat. May 4^th through Sun. May 5^th, 2013. I also hope to be attending the Kids Comicbook Convention on Saturday, May 11 at Bronx Community College (the show runs from 10 a,m to 6 p.m.) and have copies of the comic there as well.

Now, here are some photos from Earth Day at Fairfield Ward High School:

Anne Fiyalka and Andrew Kosch and at Earth Day, Fairfield Ward High School, standing in front of a replica of Gustave Whitehead's "Old #21"

Anne Fiyalka who actually flew with Amelia Earheart as a teen, inside Gustave Whitehead’s Old #21.

Gustave Whitehead exhibit at Earth Day at Fairfield Ward High School, April 27, 2013

Gustave Whitehead’s Old #21

Gustave Whitehead’s Old #21