With the 135th anniversary of the first flight of Gustave Whitehead fast approaching (August 14, 1901) I want to remind everyone that Gustave flew two years prior to the Wright brothers).

I learned about Gustave through my high school science teacher, Andy Kosch, who went on to build and fly a replica of  of Gustave's Old #21 back in 1985. He is currently building a couple of other replicas in order to duplicate his (and Gustave's) successful flight(s).

In 2013 historian John Brown researched and coorberated that Gustave did indeed fly two years prior to the Wright brothers. His findings were subsequently published in Jane's All the World's Aircraft.

When I first heard this story from Andy (when I was still in high school) I thought that this would make for a great comicbook. Well, it took me 35 years, but I finally published that comic. So, if you are at all interested, here is a comicbook that I wrote about Gustave Whitehead.

You can purchase copies of the comic from IndyPlanet.

Three from Pronto

OK Kids, here is my latest comic from Pronto Comics, it is a B&W short entitled Perceptions, with art from David Quiles!

It joins my other two Pronto Comics, Hot Girl & Totally Hot Girl, and First In Flight (the story of Gustave Whitehead). I’m really very excited about this comic especially as it has now joined my other two books (alongside the rest of the Pronto line) up on IndyPlanet.com.

The Cinema Couch

A couple of weeks back, while I was attending Ray Felix’s Superhero comic con (once again in the Bronx) I was interviewed by Dana Gallagher from The Cinema Couch. here is that interview.



Truthfully, this was a tad odd for me, as I am usually the one doing the interviewing, not being interviewed (as you can probably tell from the clip).

Let's hear it for Connecticut!

In 1901 (2 years before the Wright Brothers flew at Kittyhawk) Gustave Whitehead built and flew a plane in Fairfield, CT. I learned about this event some 40 years ago from my then science school teacher, Andy Kosch, who (in ’86) went on to build and fly a replica of Gustave's “Old #21.”

Andy has been actively attempting to get this fact acknowledged for years, He even operated a small Gustave Whitehead museum at Captain’s Cove in Bridgeport for a number of years, and the replica he had build has been on display over at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport for several years.

Well, a couple of years back I wrote a short story about that event which appeared in an anthology of historic, mythic and legendary characters entitled Iconic. I have since had that short story — First in Flight —reprinted through Pronto Comics and that comic is now available as an 8-page stand-alone comicbook. The comic was illustrated by Rick Lundeen.

On Earth Day this year Andy invited me to join him for an event at Fairfield Ward high school where Andy's replica of Old #21 was on display. There I sold several copies of the Gustave Whitehead comic I produced. Later on this month (June 15thI'll be appearing at an aeronautical museum on Long Island with Pronto Comics selling more copies!

Recently a gentleman named John Brown wrote in Jane’s all the world’s Aircraft (the foremost authority of all things aeronautical) that, yes, Gustave flew first. Yesterday, the Connecticut state Senate passed a bill acknowledging that historically provable fact. This is so cool!

The Connecticut Senate passed a bill just after midnight on Wednesday that would delete the Wright brothers from history, explicitly stripping recognition for the first powered flight from Orville and Wilbur and assigning it to someone else.

“The Governor shall proclaim a date certain in each year as Powered Flight Day to honor the first powered flight by [the Wright brothers] Gustave Whitehead and to commemorate the Connecticut aviation and aerospace industry,” reads House Bill No. 6671, which now sits on the Governor’s desk awaiting passage into 

(Via Fox News)

Yeah, I’m pretty excited about all of this, and am looking to secure funding to produce a longer-form comic about Gustave and his magnificent event, which I want to make available to students in the Fairfield and Bridgeport school systems (indeed, throughout all of Connecticut).

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

Hey, check this out!

This article contains a review of the CAG comic, Iconic which contains a very review of a short story of mine (illustrated by Rick Lundeen) about Gustave Whitehead, who flew before the Wight Brothers.

The Rusties

So, I was recently informed that (for the third year in a row), I’ve been nominated in the “Best Writer” category for a CAG Award (Now renamed “The Hallers” in honor of Rusty Haller). Once again I’m honored to be considered, and well it would be great to win (finally).

The story is my contribution in Iconic, entitle First in Flight, which is a story about the real-life Gustave Whitehead, who flew before the Wright Brothers, but has long been denied his rightful place in History.

I'm also told that others can vote in this poll even if you are not a member of CAG, so here is a link to the poll. vote away!

PollPub.com Vote

Best writer.

Robert J. Sodaro - "First in Flight," Iconic

Everett Soares - Sky Pirates

Steve Kanaras - Only In Whispers #2

Jesse Toves - "John Henry," Iconic

Scott Sheaffer - Hell's Blood #1

Joe Sergi - "The Return of Power Boy," A Thousand Faces #10

Carl Herring, Jr. - Crime Wave

Dwight Baldwin - "Repercussions," Iconic




   View Results

Poll powered by PollPub.com Free Polls

I



Thank you all in advance. I'm also told that that the deadline for votes is Sept 18th at 11:59 PM.

Feel free to re-post this on Facebook or where appropriate!

Meet Rick!

As you all know I was recently interviewed by Jazma online, Well, as was scrolling through the Jazma site, I happened to notice that my buddy (and new artist on Wülf Girlz) Rick Lundeen has also been interviewed on Jazma online. Well, as I’m now working with Rick on Wülf Girlz, I want everyone to see what an amazing talent that Rick is.

Rick and I worked together on my story for Iconic, about Gustave Whitehead, the first man to fly (yes, even before the wright Brothers). I had such a swell time working with him on that project that when the artist position for the Wülf Girlz came up, I offered it to Rick, who jumped at the opportunity (apparently he enjoyed working with me as well).

Anyway Rick is a very talented artist, and I’m looking forward to working together for a long time to come. The Page of art on this page is a sample of Rick’s work on the Girlz, that is slated to appear in Atlas Ujnleashed’s initial newsletter.

Reviewing Myself (sort of)

While I know that we can all agree that it probably isn’t entirely kosher to pen a review your own product, so let’s not call this a “review” but rather some some soft-sell marketing spin. Last weekend I received my copies of the CAG graphic album Iconic and I just have to tell you how excited I am about the book. Yeah, yeah, admittedly I contributed a story to the project, but mine is only one of the 10 stories that appear in the tome. Having just read the other nine stories I really have to say that I very much enjoyed them as well. (There is one about Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper that offers us a new take on these two characters that is positively chilling.)

Also of note are the John Henry story, plus the “sequel” to A Christmas Carol. As a long-time fan of the legend of Prometheus, I was drawn to the re-telling of that legend in it’s Sci-Fi setting. The re-telling of the story of Robin Hood took me a bit of time to get to patch into the legend on which it was riffing, but again, a fine tale.

Not to go all “Hey this is the best thing since sliced bread” route, I’ll talk a little bit about the parts of the book where I had a (small) issue or two.

On the “less than completely glowing” side, while the most excellent forward by comicbook author and high-school teacher Gary Cohn served as a very fine overview of the genre and hopefully will help “legitimize” the book to our potential audience, it was (for some reason) written in white text on a gray patterned background which made it a tad difficult to read. Then (a personal peeve of mine) due to the square-bound binding, the center of the pages tend to disappear into the interior margins. This is actually a common production error that many production folks fall into when moving from saddle stitched magazines (which can lay flat) to square bound books (which can’t). Thus they need to leave a slightly larger interior margin to allow for the binding. (I recently read a very good — square bound — Graphic Novel which suffered from the same problem.)

Then, of course there is the (slightly smaller) size of the book (9" x 6"), which really isn’t a negative, but given that CAG is targeting young readers with the book is actually a positive thing, as it is CAG’s intention that this more compact format makes the book more accessible and less formidable to this market segment, than would the traditional larger-format GN.


Anyways, if you you want to get a very cool gift for a young reader (or yourself) who wants to learn some history, be entertain, and perhaps explore some classic (dare I say “Iconic”) themes, follow this link and score yourself a copy (or three).

The Perfessor

Wülf Girlz: Resurrection

OK, perhaps that is a bit more dramatic than required. My Wülf Girlz haven’t really gone away, as much as have metamorphed. The last time we all saw them, they appeared in the Guild Work Production comicbook, Psychosis!, as illustrated by the incomparable Matt Ryan. Well, Matt is the heart and soul of MattsMineStudio, that produces the most excellent line of Free Lunch Comics. So, as you can probably expect, Matt is wicked-busy these days producing some of the finest Indie comics to come out of New England, so he really hasn’t had much time to devote to the Girlz.

And well, I really want to continue their adventures. Still, as much as I wanted to wait for Matt, I really couldn’t, so (with his understanding) I have engaged the services of the very talented Rick Lundeen, who as you all recall, illustrated my Gustave Whitehead story which appeared in the recently-published Iconic graphic album from CAG.

So, Rick has finished his first installment of Wülf Girlz (and agreed to do more), so I’m currently writing a new Wülf Girlz script for him, but the really big news is that I just finished my very first Wülf Girlz prose story. Yep. That’s right, prose (some 6,500 words long, I might add).

Needless to say, I’m really very excited about it and I can’t wait to tell you more about it (including where and when it will be released). Suffice it to say, that it (along with the first illustrated story by Rick, and perhaps even the second) will all be out sometime this year under the Atlas Unleashed banner.

Here is a sneak peak at Rick’s take on the Girlz...

Stay tuned.

Iconic is the Word

This just in, I’m part of a new graphic album of short stories featuring new/different spins on mythic, legendary, historic and/or fictional characters entitled Iconic, which is being published by the Comicbook Artists Guild.

Iconic is a 120-page, square-bound volume featuring the talent of some 30 writers, artists, and creators who developed 10 short stories revolving around such mythological characters as Prometheus, Talos and Cuchulainn; legendary literary characters as Ebeneezer Scrooge and Sherlock Holmes (each appearing in slightly altered narrations), the triumphs of heroes from folklore like Robin Hood and John Henry, and not to leave great historical figures behind, they also included Mark Twain, St. George, and Gustave Whitehead (mine).

All of the stories are tied together by the appearance of a fictional grandfather who shares the stories with his beloved grandchildren. The book was the year-long product of the membership of the Comicbook Artists Guild and is a weighty tome that is being targeted to be marketed to Book stores, libraries, schools, and to fans of historic and mythic fiction all over.

The Guild is planning to release Iconic at MoCCA Fest, being held June 6 and 7, 2009 at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City. MoCCA Fest is a popular comic art festival sponsored by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and members of the Guild will be appearing to celebrate their special release. This appearance is the Guild’s first time exhibiting at MoCCA Fest.

As stated, my story is about Gustave Whitehead, a man who lived in Bridgeport, CT, and flew before the Wright Brothers (In fact, as legend has it, Gustave actually sold the Brothers a pair of his engines). My story is beautifully illustrated by Rick Lundeen. This is the first time Rick and I have worked together, but certainly not the last, as Rick has since picked up the art chores on my Wülf Girlz property which is soon to be published by Atlas Unleashed.



On a personal note, I learned about Gustave from my High School science teacher and Judo instructor who interviewed a guy who — as a young boy — worked for Gustave, and saw him fly. My Science teacher was an avid flier and went on to not only build a replica of Gustave’s plane, but ran a Gustave Whitehead museum at Captain’s Cove Marina in Bridgeport for may years. For years, he and I talked about the possibility of producing a comic about Gustave that could be distributed in Bridgeport schools. I hope that this short story leads to a longer-form story that can fulfill that dream.