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).

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.

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.

Iconic in the news

Hey there folks, Iconic just got a very nice write-up in The Sun Chronicle.

Yep, that’s right, I got Mike Gelbwasser, a reporter/columnist for the Chronicle (who once interviewed me) to chat up Iconic editor, Liam Webb about the project (you’re welcome, Liam).

Also, thanks to Mike for enjoying comics, listening to us, doing the interview, and helping us get some press in the mainstream.

And that, folks, is the way it is done.

On the Local Front

A month back, while at MoCCA, my good friend, collaborator, and client, Mark Mazz produced a limited edition “Script Book” for his Mark Twain story, Expressions of Bull-Frog Wisdom on the Lady Mississippi. The story was originally supposed to appear in the CAG-produced Graphic Album, Iconic, but due to creative differences (Mark wanted to be creative and the editor wanted something different), it was pulled. The good news is that the story will be re-released in a book entitled Literacy that is slated to come out from Atlas Unleashed.

My good buddy Chris Torres (who is drawing my own Springload & Renegade — also due out from Atlas Unleashed) illustrated it. Chris is a major talent, and seriously should be busier (and more well-known) than he already is. We sold the script book for a buck a pop, and it received some very nice comments.

The other very cool publication I recently acquired is the new issue of DitkoMania (#73) which is produced by Rob Imes. The issue is B&W and a buck-fifty. You can acquie your own copy by going to Rob's website and purchasing one yourself. This issue cover-features Dr. Strange, and is well worth the price.

You can also write directly to Rob at 13510 Cambridge #307, Southgate, MI 48195.

This is a must fro any serious Ditko fan.

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.