TOP TEN(ISH) MOMENTS FROM PULPFEST 2025

PulpFest 2025 is officially in the books. Which means so are FarmerCon XX, ERBFest 2025, and DocCon 2025. I had a phenomenal time hanging out with old friends, making new friends, spending too much money, staying up too late, and driving to/from Cranberry PA … but it was all worth it. There were way more than 10 Top Moments of the Con(s), but here are a bunch of them:

BEING MISTAKEN FOR WIN ECKERT’S BROTHER

Win and I have known each other a good few years now. But this is the first time anyone seeing us next to each other has sincerely asked “are you guys brothers?” (In this case, our waitress at Primanti Brothers during our Wednesday night Pre-Con dinner). I, for one, took the question as a compliment. Check out my interviews with Win HERE and HERE to get a sense of why I consider it a compliment.

“Twins” Anthony R. Cardno and Win Scott Eckert

BEING A (SMALL) PART OF THE RETURN OF DOCCON

DocCon (the convention dedicated to all things related to Doc Savage) has a venerable history but has taken a few years off … until Jen DiGiacomo had the idea to revive it as the latest “mini-con” to happen under the PulpFest banner. I was a (very small) part of the planning committee (being perhaps the Least Knowledgeable Doc Savage Fan Ever), my main contribution being a marketing idea (that didn’t happen for this year but may be considered for 2026, so I don’t want to spoil it) and then being the “sub-in” guy at the DocCon tables when the other folks, mainly Ron Hill (who I interviewed HERE), needed to be on panels or introducing the film.

DocCon crew, L to R: Anthony R. Cardno, Anthony Rais, Bill Lampkin, Ron Hill, Scott Cranford

THE EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS INC PANEL

Okay, most of what Cathy Mann Willbanks (ERB Inc’s Vice President of Operations) and Christopher Paul Carey (Vice President of Publishing) announced on this panel had already been announced at San Diego Comic Con … but that didn’t stop me from being excited to hear the details in person. They announced upcoming novels (the next ERB Universe novel from the aforementioned Win Scott Eckert; a new Barsoom novel from Chris L. Adams under the “Wild Adventures” banner; new ERBU novels in the Land That Time Forgot and Monster Men series); a new John Carter and Woola action figure set from Frazetta Girls; and several new animation projects including a Victory Harben ERBU animated series in development! (My Interviews with Christopher Paul Carey HERE and HERE.)

Most of the ERB Inc panel. L to R: Christopher Paul Carey, Henry G. Franke III, Win Scott Eckert, Chris L. Adams, Douglas Klauba. Missing because my phone is a jerk: Cathy Wilbanks. SORRY, Cathy!

THE WICKER MAN

During a conversation with Craig McDonald during which I bought his used copy of the novelization of The Wicker Man, I discovered that not only is there a novelization of the film … the film was also based on a long out-of-print novel called Ritual by David Pinner (and that novel has a sequel, The Wicca Woman)! How out of print is it? So out of print that there’s no English language paperback edition (only a Spanish language version) and the original hardcover is going for over $1,000 on the secondary market. But there IS a reasonably priced e-book version of both of Pinner’s books. Which you know I’ve already ordered. (Interview with Craig McDonald HERE).

L to R: The copy of The Wicker Man novelization I bought from Craig McDonald, the cover to the e-book of Ritual, the cover to the e-book of Wicca Woman.

FLINCH-FEST

To say that I think highly of Jim Beard and John C. Bruening, co-founders of Flinch! Books, is an understatement. (And no, it’s not just because Jim included my essay on Jack Kirby’s short-lived 1970s DC Comics series The Sandman in his book Jack of All Comics! a few months ago. But why pass up a chance at a shameless plug? Also, HERE’s the Interview about the book with Jim.) Flinch! started ten years ago, and their panel at PulpFest talked a little about that history and featured reading from their new and upcoming releases (Jim’s fourth Sgt. Janus book, and John’s upcoming fourth Midnight Guardian book). These two have such an easy, funny, rapport. They are also great dinner companions and conversationalists. I also probably spent way too much time chatting with them at their table and lost them a few sales. (Kidding.)

L to R: Flinch! Books co-founders John C. Bruening and Jim Beard.

CHRISTOPHER LEE

During that conversation with Craig McDonald about The Wicker Man, our friend Kim Turk mentioned having seen some anthologies with Christopher Lee’s name on the cover as Editor, and I went to check out them out. Kim patiently waited for me to notice the real prize she’d already seen … a hardcover copy of Lee’s memoir … signed by the man himself! Reader, you know I bought it immediately.

MARK WHEATLEY AND DOUG KLAUBA

It is incredibly fun to sit in a room and watch two amazing artists, both of whom have drawn Tarzan and other Edgar Rice Burroughs characters, talk about all the great artists who have drawn the Lord of The Jungle over the years, including what they admire about those artists’ work. (Click on their names to find my interviews with Mark Wheatley and Doug Klauba.)

L to R: Mark Wheatley, Douglas Klauba

DOC SAVAGE, THE JLA, AND THE JSA

Did I mention that I spent too much money? I’m not going to post pictures of every book, magazine, and print I bought … but along with the Christopher Lee book, the other Most Pricey purchases including six original Doc Savage pulps (I’ll post 1 or 2 of their covers below) and four Silver Age Justice League issues featuring the annual crossovers with the Justice Society. (I was also eye-ing a Golden Age issue of The Black Knight, but it was way outside my price range.)

FARMERCON DINNER AND LOBBY HANGOUTS/CHATTING AT DEALER AND AUTHOR TABLES

The reason I started attending this convention was to meet in person my fellow Philip Jose Farmer fan friends, who had been so welcoming to me in various online forums, and hanging out with them at dinner(s) and in the lobby after even programming ends is always one of, if not THE, highlight of the weekend. It was no different this time, even though our numbers were slightly smaller than usual thanks to scheduling conflicts and other things. There is such a big overlap between PJF, ERB, and Doc Savage fans at this convention that most of the people I’ve mentioned above, and many I haven’t, were present at all times. And visiting with authors like Glen Held, Brian K. Morris and Charles F. Millhouse and artists like Don Simpson and folks like Henry Franke of the Burroughs Bibliophiles at their tables is always fun as well. (Interviews with Glen, Henry, Brian and Charles at the links; interview with Don coming soon!)

L to R: Anthony R. Cardno, Brian K. Morris, Charles F. Millhouse (The “Middle Initial Squad”)

For those interested, my report on PulpFest 2024 can be found HERE. And my interview with Mike Chomko of the PulpFest committee can be found HERE.

Interview: BRIAN K. MORRIS

Today, as part of on-going but soon-to-end series of interviews with various creative types attending PulpFest 2025, I chat with author Brian K. Morris.

Brian K. Morris is a freelance writer, independent publisher, occasional actor on stage and film, as well as a former mortician’s assistant. Originally from Illinois, Brian now lives in Central Indiana with his wife, no children, no pets, and too many comic books.

Adept in multiple genres of fiction and nonfiction, Brian’s work has been published by Stormgate Press, Flinch Books, Pro Se Press, BEN Books, Blue Planet Press, TwoMorrows Publishing, and Atomic Stories, among others.

Brian won the 2022 Pulp Factory Award for Best Short Story for “Snow Ambition” (BEN Books) and his novel, The Terrors, earned Jeffrey Hayes/Plasmafire Graphics the 2024 Pulp Factory Award. Brian also received a playwriting award in 1997 for not murdering his director.

You can find all things BKM at www.RisingTide.pub where you can sign up for his monthly Insider Information email and from there, join his Patreon account where you can read his twice-weekly blog, Every Blog Deserves a Name.

Hi Brian! Thanks for taking some time to chat.

Goodness! Thank YOU!

Be warned… I tend to talk at sixty miles per hour with gusts of 75. You ask me for the time, I’ll give you the history of clockmaking. Brace yourself…

Since this interview is intended for my series focusing on the creative folks attending PulpFest, let’s start there: what is your first memory of the Pulps or the characters that debuted in them?

I had no idea the pulps existed before I saw the early Doc Savage reprints in a local bookstore, which was also a tobacconist. I recall they had about four or five of them in a row on their shelves. I knew nothing about Doc and the Amazing Five, but I saw the cover of Curse of the Werewolf and I just about fell to my knees, begging my mother to let me buy it.

I started in on the book that night. The next day, I persuaded—if kicking and screaming and begging counts as persuasion—my mother to take me back to that store so I could buy all the others on the shelves.

Then I read the first volume of Jim Steranko’s History of Comics where I learned more about the pulps. Comics and pulps have become a passion that’s enriched most of my life.

And what influence did these characters/books have on you as a reader?

BKM: I loved these episodic adventures because they were like the comic books I loved, but I had to mentally supply the images. These carried me up to the early adventure series of the Seventies and Eighties: Mack Bolan, Remo Williams, The Penetrator, The Chameleon, The Death Merchant, Edge, etc. In a way, I saw these new series as successors to the old pulps. And I still love those books to this day, just as I do the pulps.

I have a reasonable background in reading many pieces of classic literature, mostly because my parents made that a condition to continue reading the material I genuinely loved.

I’m always interested in hearing about people’s creative process. What is yours like? And does it differ between short stories and novels, or when you’re working on your own characters versus somebody else’s?

My process is ever-evolving. Mine begins with the germ of an idea which becomes an “elevator pitch” of two sentences, along with a sentence of a potential plot. If I can boil a story down to that, I’m halfway home with coming up with a decent story.

Then I apply the Lester Dent Master Plot to the process to flesh out an outline. After that, I dive into researching what I need for the story, or I just make it all up out of my head and hope I don’t need to use any real history or science.

Then I take my outline, look at it before I start writing, and then ignore it as I type to allow sudden inspiration to take hold. Every now and then, If I get bored with my outline, I’ll toss a spanner into the works to make the protagonist’s life more hellish. It keeps things fresh for the reader, I hope, and definitely for me.

My process is pretty consistent across multiple word limits except I might add steps to my outline for a large novel or delete an incident or two for a shorter story, depending on the word count I’m allowed. And make no mistake, you give me a word count, I will push it until it whimpers.

As for working on characters for other publishers, I love when I’m asked. I love being told that my work sounds like the creator’s voice. I’ve had a great deal of fun doing the CNI: Classified stories for Robert J. Mendenhall. For those stories, I purposely selected the so-called “minor” characters because I didn’t have to worry about other writers’ ideas conflicting with my own. Plus, don’t those characters deserve some time in the spotlight?

I’m keenly aware that I have to use what Stan Lee called “the illusion of change.” I must leave the characters I’ve been given, pretty much in the shape they were given to me by the end of my story, no better nor no worse. I can’t make Captain Hawklin a cyborg, or force Conrad von Honig to undergo an amputation, or allow Abraham Snow to become the King of the Venusians. In fact, I tend to add secondary characters to whoever loans me their brainchildren, so my benefactors can have new toys to play with. Then they can abuse my brainchildren to their hearts’ content.

Last year at PulpFest, you debuted Quest for the Delphi Oculus: The Chronicles of Conrad von Honig, published by Flinch! Books and featuring a character created by Flinch publishers Jim Beard and John C. Breuning who had previously appeared in a short story anthology (Quest for the Space Gods: The Chronicles of Conrad von Honig). What was that process like in particular? And will you be penning more of Conrad’s adventures?

I want to go on record that this book was quite an adventure for Jim, John, and myself. They’d never worked on a full-length novel with a writer that wasn’t either of them. I couldn’t have asked for two more helpful, encouraging, and challenging editors than those two. I’m so very proud of the book and would love to see some comments on Amazon for it.

I want to say it took about three years to get that book into print because we were all kinda feeling our way in the dark thought the process. They’d never handled a full-length novel from an outside writer—i.e., not Jim or John. Also, I’ll take responsibility for any delays because at the time, I’d overcommitted myself to other publishers at several points in our timeline. But thanks to their patience and skill, the book was written and I’m very proud of what the three of us put together. And what about that Mark Maddox cover, huh?

But I loved, and still love, Conrad von Honig. Jim ‘n’ John were fantastic to work with and yeah, I might have another CvH book in me. So if you want to see it, call Jim and John at… let me get their home phone numbers for you, okay?

I might already have them. (Kidding, John and Jim! Kidding!)

You also last year released The Terrors, an update of a classic Golden Age comics character (The Black Terror). What inspired you to write the book and what changes did you make to the character (who is in the public domain)?

I am so proud of The Terrors. It started by letting my mind roam, which can prove hazardous to those around me. I’d just finished a book that mentioned the U.S. Government approached the various comic publishers to portray members of the Axis powers as less human, even sub-human, in order to destroy any empathy a comic reader might have for them. And given that a LOT of comics were sold in P.X.s at the time, this dehumanized our foes and made them easier for the soldiers to kill.

Not long after that, I sought an idea to write about for what proved to be my first novel for my Rising Tide Publications imprint in too many years. For whatever reason, I asked myself what if the heroes with the word “Black” as part of their name—Black Hood, Black Bat, Black Condor, etc.—were actually African American? How would that have influenced their acceptance by the public they first appeared in? How would that affect their relationship with the authorities? I started taking notes.

I loved the original Black Terror and thought he’d make a good subject for a novel. Then the idea of a clandestine government organization, based on my earlier reading, popped into my head. I applied the idea of a World War 2-based minority hero in my fictional Raceway City, and the rest just fell into place. The book practically wrote itself, and I’ve gotten some great reviews as a result.

And this hero’s “The Terror” because referring to his “blackness” would be as redundant as calling another hero “The White Green Lantern” or “The Orange Thing.”

Bob Benton and Tim Rowland—previously “Roland” in the original comics—were unaltered in personality, but I gave each of them a backstory and Tim got a mom. Jean Starr’s paramour was killed in his second appearance in the comics, but he was too good a villain to not use in these stories.

I also used a version of the Fox Comics public domain version of the Blue Beetle that I renamed The Cobalt Scarab. I also snuck in an appearance from the pulps’ Black Bat. All of this is wrapped up in the notion that the comic adventures DID happen, just not as they were portrayed in government-encouraged propaganda, namely the comic books that you and I know.

I kinda upped the Terror Twins’ power levels and gave the Scarab a means of flight that amused me, based on the old E.B. Stoner illustrations. Then everything fell together, I’m happy to say.

I believe you’ve been working on the sequel. What can you tell us about that?

OOOH! I’m quite excited about the sequel, tentatively titled From Dust ‘Til Dawn. I up the threat level and pretty much destroy any limits this series might have.

In a nutshell, an ancient sarcophagus holds wrappings that will soon prove to be a deadly threat not only to the Terror Twins, but to the world. Let’s just say today, Raceway City… tomorrow, everywhere.

And there will also be two spin-offs from this book that I’m having fun writing. All of them will have GORGEOUS covers by Jeffrey Hayes of Plasmafire Graphics. Jeffrey’s become one of my most enthusiastic cheerleaders for the series, I’m tickled to report.

I am a fan of fiction related to Christmas, especially genre stories connected to the holiday. Tell us about your short novel Santastein: Or, the Post-Holiday Prometheus.

BKM: Santastein, The Post-Holiday Prometheus, is my biggest selling book and probably was the most fun to write. My wife just shakes her head at what I think is amusing, but it’s sold on eight continents, and file-shared out of Russia and China. It does my ego good to know I’m worth stealing from.

Santastein was originally a ten-minute holiday play that I couldn’t convince any of my theatre peeps to produce. They loved it but found it a bit irreverent for the holiday. Can you imagine that? Irreverent? From ME???

This book came early in my full-time writing career. I wanted to put out something fairly quickly after a serious downturn in my daily employment, so I expanded on the script from the original play and it’s become my all-time best seller. This means a lot to me because Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was the first “grown-up” book I ever read and it might just be my favorite of all time.

And yes, I have plots for two more sequels.

You’ve also written a lot of essays for books and magazines about pop culture history, especially comic books. In fact, we just shared a table of contents, in Jack of All Comics! A Fan Conversation about the King of Comics. What is your process like for researching and writing these non-fiction pieces in general, and the piece on Jack Kirby’s run on DC’s Our Fighting Forces in the 1970s in particular?

BKM: I have so much fun working on this kind of book. It gives me legitimacy, at least in my own mind, when I tell my wife my “work” will involve reading my favorite comic books and watching classic television shows. It’s tough work, but someone’s gotta do it.

First of all, I keep my ears open for anthologies that explore subjects I’m reasonably familiar with, and passionate about. After I make my pitch for an article, and it’s accepted, I dive into the subject, whether it’s Batman ’66 or a specific run of a comic book. While doing the research, I find the “hook” that will make the article interesting to me, at least. It might be a creator’s approach to the material, or it might be a breakdown of what made me interested in the work initially, and to share WHY all this made me happy and why it was important to the medium in which it was presented.

The REAL reason why I enjoy doing articles on old TV shows, comic books, and other media of my misspent youth: I get to watch/listen/read material that makes me happy, then share that joy with the editor of the book.

And before you ask, YES, I do write with the reader in mind. But first and foremost, I write for the EDITOR. I figure it’s his/her job to know what their readers want, so I need the editor’s guidance to please their “customers.” I make the editor happy, the editor pleases the readers. It’s a kind of literary “trickle-down” theory.

What do you have coming up that readers should keep an eye out for?

Well, I’ve finally got a plot for the sequel to Vulcana: Rebirth of the Champion, so that’s in the queue. The following year, I hope to get the final Vulcana novel out, but you have to ask me about the title in person. It’s a bit irreverent…

I’m also working on the aforementioned The Terrors 2: From Dust ‘Til Dawn, as well as the REAL stories behind the Twin Terrors’ and Cobalt Scarab’s original four-color adventures.

I’ve been sitting on an anthology featuring my character Doc Saga, who appeared in Pulp Reality #2 from Stormgate Press. My anthology contributors have exercised superhuman patience with me, so I plan to get that out soon.

I’m also planning out a new version of an anthology that I recently got the rights to, but that’ll have to stay under my fez for now.

Thanks again, Brian! By the time this posts on my website, we’ll both be knee-deep in all things PulpFest!

Aw, thank YOU for letting me overshare my love of all things New Pulp.

Readers, as you read this, it is probably Day Two of PulpFest 2025. It’s still not too late to register for and attend the remaining two days of THE pulp magazine-focused convention in the Northeast and the other three conventions it hosts: FarmerCon (dedicated to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), ERBFest (dedicated to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and DocCon (dedicated to all things Doc Savage related). Check out the PulpFest website for registration and hotel information!

Interview: RON HILL

Today, I chat with artist Ron Hill, who is also one of the architects behind the revival of DocCon, which will be a part of Pulpfest later this week.

Ron Hill has been an editorial cartoonist, humorous illustrator, graphic designer, educator, author, armchair theologian, and video documentarian (not all at the same time, of course!) for over 40 years. Born in Cleveland, he graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and immediately returned to Northeast Ohio to begin working in advertising.

In the 1980s–90s, as part of the illustration team of Lombardo & Hill, Ron drew countless interior illustrations for role-playing games published by TSR, West End Games, Iron Crown Enterprises, and Chaosium, many licensed from The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. An accomplished quick-sketch caricature artist, he has drawn (to date) probably a quarter-million faces at thousands of private and public events from Chicago to New York. His editorial cartoons have appeared in the Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier, and West Life since 1999. In 2000, he started illustrating the popular “Armchair Theologian” book series for Westminster John-Knox; these 15 volumes have been translated into German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Italian.

From 2002–2015, he taught an Interactive Media College Tech Prep program at Alliance High School and has always conducted workshops at area art centers (including the Valley Art Center) since 1990. After co-founding Act 3 in 2016, a media company and indie book publisher in Cleveland, he has recently embarked (once again) on his solo career as a freelance artist, and has completed two personal documentary projects,

“Go-Kart Therapy” and “We Are Doc Savage: A Documentary on Fandom.” He has always lived in the Chagrin Valley of Northeast Ohio, and you can learn more at www.RonHillArtist.com.

Hi, Ron. Thanks for taking some time to chat!

You bet, Anthony!

Last year at Pulpfest (2024), you premiered your short documentary We Are Doc Savage, which is all about the influence this classic character has had since his debut in the pulp magazine that bore his name, in 1933. What is it about Doc Savage that first caught your interest, and what effect did that have on you?

The covers, hands down! In May of 1975, I was a geeky sci-fi kid, in seventh grade when I first saw a Doc Savage book. I was on an overnight school trip, and we stopped at a mall for lunch. I went to a bookstore and saw #74, The Derrick Devil, with Fred Pfeiffer’s funky artwork. That logo and the illustration and the back cover intrigued me – but I didn’t buy it! Instead, I went with a safer buy: James Blish’s Start Trek 9 and The Science Fiction Hall of Fame. But when I got home, there was a package of Bantam Books (I would order from the ads in the back pages with my lawn-mowing dough) and inside was a Bantam catalog. Inside was that awesome logo and the available books. I immediately ordered the first four books, and when they arrived a few weeks later, I was hooked. I think I read all four in one week. And the Man of Bronze was the movie edition, which is another story!

Can you talk about the history of the documentary project, its genesis and road to completion?

Hah! That’s a long and winding road. After art school, the first act of my professional career was working in advertising as an art director, illustrator, and graphic designer, and I also did caricatures and cartoons on the side, for ten years. When I turned 31, I quit the day job and went freelance, mostly doing caricature gigs and drawing for RPG publishers with a friend. We did dozens of books for D&D, West End Games, Chaosium and Iron Crown Enterprises. I was also trying to sell comic strip concepts to the newspaper syndicates; that was act two for me. Then at 40 I fell into a position as a high school career and technical Interactive Media teacher, while freelancing editorial cartoons, illustrating theology books and still doing caricature entertainment summers and weekends; I suppose this was my third work act. Anyway, since I like to do something new every decade or so, after 13 years I quit teaching and helped start a media company with an old friend (the RPG illustrator) and new friend: Act 3, LLC. Act 3 was formed in 2016, and we did websites, illustration, and video production. That is where I learned about video editing. We created lots of short films for non-profits, helping them tell their story. Well, we always wanted to do a documentary, something for ourselves. So, in December of 2021, I pitched the idea of “We Are Doc Savage: A Documentary on Fandom.” My partners greenlit the project in January. I was always a
Doc Savage fan. When the internet exploded in the 90s, I got to know the Doc Savage works of WWW fans Chuck Welch, Frozencat, Chris Kalb, Scott Cranford, Win Scott Eckert, Rick Lai, Will Murray… and contribute artwork, articles, and research of my own. But I never made time to go to the conventions. I would get the invites to the Doc Cons and say to my wife, “If only I didn’t have bills, or school, or work…” So I never dove into the con scene. But I had just turned 60 and suddenly wanted to see what it was all about. And why not document it? So I went to my first convention in spring of 2022, which was Windy City. That was going to be the test to see what kind of footage and assets we could gather. Well, by the end of 2022, Act 3 was doing OK, but not great, you know? The Pandemic really slowed us down. Again, I was 60, and not really that excited about the business side of owning a business, so I removed myself from my own company and went freelance again. My partners are all still my best friends. Part of my separation agreement was that I could take all the footage and documentary assets and finish it on my own. I bought a new computer system at home and spent the next almost two years finishing it.

Was there anything that surprised you as you compiled interviews and pulled the documentary into its final form?

I think the biggest thing that surprised me was that everybody in Doc Savage fandom is so nice, and generous and giving of themselves to each other —Doc fans really do take the Doc Savage Code to heart.

This year sees the return of DocCon, as one of several conventions that are hosted by Pulpfest. How did the return of this venerable fan gathering come about?

Jen DiGiacomo, who I got to know from two previous PulpFests and was a real cheerleader for the documentary project, said last year at PulpFest she was starting Doc Con again for 2025 PulpFest, and did I want to be on her committee? I said sure, I could certainly help with design. Jen is a powerhouse of energy and passion when she takes something on, and it is really infectious; I didn’t want to let her down. It’s too bad she ran into a conflict with her one-woman show when it got accepted overseas, so she won’t be here – this year! We will be talking about 2026 plans real soon. So, after never attending a Doc Con, I find myself right in the thick of things, with super-generous fans, like yourself. And I am told that of the three Mini-Cons at PulpFest, this year Doc Con has generated the most interest, according to a survey of PulpFest members responding. That is gratifying and a little scary – we want this Min-Con to be special!

What can anyone attending Pulpfest expect in terms of DocCon programming?

Mike Chomko was very enthusiastic from the start. When Jen told him she wanted to do this, he said yes, and she pretty much had the programming ideas – of course, the 50th anniversary of the George Pal’s “Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze” was a perfect theme to explore. Jen had recently acquired various ephemera from the movie production, and Chris Kalb had some other stuff, so one panel will cover that. And the Bantam Revival panel was Jen and Will’s idea, and I was happy to help flesh that out since that was my passion for 50 years – Bantam and illustration. I am really looking forward to sharing the stage with Will and Chris as moderator.

Let’s talk about your other creative endeavors for a moment. You recently provided the amazing cover art for Jack of All Comics! edited by Jim Beard and published by Becky Books (in which, full disclosure for readers, I have an essay). What was the process of creating that cover?

That was pretty much a straight illustration commission. Jim Beard is so much fun to work with. He hired me two years ago to do a cover of one of his Grown-Up Kids Remember books, about Start Trek TOS. So when he said he wanted to emulate the first issue of Fantastic Four, I saw the image in my mind’s eye immediately. Presto- bango and it’s done, Jim is happy. That’s always cool when that works out.

Does your process change at all from project to project? What is your favorite artistic medium to work in?

My favorite medium is pencil and ink. Old-school. But I do all my editorial cartoons on my iPad Pro. It is still drawing with the Apple Pencil. I even “pencil” the cartoons in a blue layer, and then “ink” over it in another layer. Then below that I do a “watercolor” layer. It is easier to edit, and when it’s done you don’t have to scan it. Of course there are no originals, but as many as I do, at least I save on art materials – pixels are free.

You’re also a caricaturist. How did your interest in that develop, and what’s your process like when doing caricatures at events?

I did not go to college. I did go to night school when I was 40, to get my Ohio Career- Tech teaching certificate, but I only have an associate’s degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. In 1980, AIP was a tech school, just commercial art skills. No math, science, humanities, whatever… build a portfolio and hit the streets as a commercial artist. Well, I took a 3-hour extracurricular class in caricature quick-sketch from an amazing artist named John Johns. He taught that a caricature is simply an “exaggerated likeness.” At the end of the afternoon, he engaged a dozen of us to draw at the Three Rivers Art Festival. That was a ten-day festival. We drew ten hours a day producing caricatures at

$2 a pop. It was so fun and immediate. In those ten days, I lived it up at night, six-packs and steak from the corner store, up the next morning and at it again. I earned enough to pay for the last quarter of school, my supplies for that last quarter, and an engagement ring! True story: a week after that first festival, when I was home for a couple weeks that summer, I said to my then-girlfriend, Margie, let’s go to the mall. And I bought a $1000 engagement diamond ring with crumpled up dollar bills. How cool is that? I thought to

myself this is how it feels to be a rock star on the road. Some musicians like studio work, some like being on the road. To me, one feeds the other. I go to a wedding and come home with $800 after drawing for a few hours, and everyone is happy. A couple gigs a weekend, adding up to 60 gigs a year means I can afford to work at home during the week, finding illustration his, creating editorial cartoons, illustrating books… and producing documentaries, hah ha. So ever since 1982, I kept doing caricatures at all kinds of events, eventually being able to go freelance because of my gig work. Almost 45 years later I still get that rush drawing for people. My process? After so many years and thousands of gigs and maybe a quarter million faces, it’s really all muscle memory at this stage. I mean, I see faces and immediately know how I would exaggerate those features, and how much. Oh, and Margie and I will celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary this October. So yeah, caricatures have been very, very good to me.

Do you have any other projects coming up that you’d like people to know about?

Not really. I just kind of grab what comes along and looks interesting. Something always comes along. I don’t think I would do another documentary unless I get a chance to do one about the history of comic strips in Cleveland. I just hope to keep drawing for another 25 years or so… and I hope that includes more cool pulp illustration projects!

Thanks again, Ron! See you in a few days at Pulpfest!

You’re welcome, Anthony! Can’t wait to see you.

Readers, it is not too late to register for and attend Pulpfest 2025 (THE pulp magazine-focused convention in the Northeast) and the other three conventions it hosts: FarmerCon (dedicated to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), ERBFest (dedicated to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and DocCon (dedicated to all things Doc Savage related). Check out the Pulpfest website for registration and hotel information!

Interview: JIM BEARD

I have my first new publishing credit in quite a few years in Jack of All Comics!, an anthology of essays about Jack “King” Kirby’s work for both Marvel and DC Comics in the 1960s-70s. My essay is about Kirby’s work on the woefully short-lived DC ‘70s series The Sandman. Rather than just blog about having a new book out, I thought I’d chat with the book’s editor/publisher Jim Beard about how it all came together.

IMAGE: Jack Kirby’s head and arms bursting out of an art table, from which an ink bottle is falling. He’s holding a paint brush in one hand, a lead pencil in the other, and the flame from his cigar looks like the Human Torch. He is surrounded by art pages. Cover art by Ron Hill.

First, a little about Jim:

Jim Beard is a writer, editor, and publisher of adventure fiction and pop-culture non-fiction. He is the co-founder of Flinch Books and the founder of Becky Books (which published Jack of All Comics!). His licensed works include Star Wars and Ghostbusters comics, a Spider-Man novel, and Green Hornet and Kolchak the Night-Stalker novellas. Jim’s original fiction creations include the Edwardian ghost-hunter Sgt. Janus and the 1970s globetrotters D.C. Jones and Adventure Command International. He lives in Northwest Ohio with absolutely no pets whatsoever.

Hi Jim! First of all, thank you for inviting me to be a part of Jack of All Comics!. It's both a pleasure and an honor to be a part of not just a book about Jack Kirby, but also a book in a really wonderful series of books on "Comic Book Culture." Can you talk first a little bit about the inspiration for the series?

Pleasure’s all mine. Always a good feeling to give a struggling young writer a chance at the big time 😉

“Comic Book Culture” is inspired by my own comic interests primarily, but also by the drive to inspire readers to pick up each volume. That means going places they might not expect, while at the same time appealing to their own interests and passions within the medium.

What inspired you to make this latest volume about Jack Kirby, and in particular his 1960s-1970s work at both DC and Marvel?

A Jack Kirby book needs no other inspiration beyond “Jack Kirby.” The length, width, and breadth of the King’s work is banquet enough for a thousand-thousand books, and I had always wanted to add my own to that stack. The key, as with all my non-fiction books, was to “do it my way,” i.e. come up with something that hasn’t already been said and done a million times over—and with Jack, that ain’t exactly easy, given that’s he’s arguably the most discussed comic book creator ever.

Part of that encompasses just what you say: the parameters of 1961-1978. It always helps me to set a framework down to fill up with thoughts about whatever subject I’m addressing, and the three eras of Jack’s work during that timespan worked perfectly for what I wanted to do, which was have a different writer talk about each one of the series Jack worked on at Marvel and DC during those years.

When putting together a book of essays like this, how do you as an editor decide which writers get which assignments?

Sometimes it’s the easiest thing in the world. Writers say, “Ooh! I want THAT!” and you know you’re gonna get magic. Other times, it’s the most challenging thing because you always have the essays no one really wants to write…but I’ve been lucky because when I’ve thrown down a gauntlet to a writer to challenge themselves on one of those topics, they always find they’re the right person for the job. And then you still get magic.

In particular with this book, was there anyone you immediately thought, “That person HAS to write about THIS series”? Conversely, was there anyone whose interest in writing about a particular series took you by surprise?

A few. Cliff Biggers had to write about Fantastic Four. Van Allen Plexico had to write about The Avengers. That said, many of the other topics just fell into place and in the end, nearly everybody got their first choices. This book in particular was so great in that way for me. It was almost an editor’s dream. The excitement was high across the board.

I surprised myself by being the exact right guy to talk about First Issue Special 😉

Your own essay in the book is about Kirby’s issues of DC’s First Issue Special series, and I won’t spoil here which of his FIS issues was your favorite. But what enquiring minds really want to know is: what is YOUR favorite Kirby series of all time, and why?

Hate to be so mundane, but it has to be the obvious choice: Fantastic Four. Stan and Jack just rocked it out on that one, and over a huge amount of time and issues. It still stands as one of the greatest achievements of a creative duo in comic books to this day. And there’s two reasons why: Stan and Jack. Say what you will, and many of you have, but that was some kind of perfection going on there.

Finally (for now, at least), is there anything upcoming from either Becky Books or Flinch! Books (which you co-run with John C. Bruening) that you’d like people to know about?

It’s Flinch Books’ tenth anniversary this year and we’re releasing the fourth volumes in our signature series, me with Sgt. Janus and John with The Midnight Guardian. Frankly, I’m more excited to return to Union City than Mount Airy….

Both settings, and both characters, are great, in this interviewer’s not-so-humble opinion! I’m looking forward to chatting with you more about Sgt. Janus in August, and with John when the new Midnight Guardian book bows in the fall. Meantime, Thanks again Jim!