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: Douglas Klauba

Today I chat with artist Douglas Klauba. An award-winning illustrator, Douglas Klauba was born and raised in Chicago, and is a graduate of the American Academy of Art. His paintings have been included in the art annuals of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, the Society of Illustrators, and Imagine FX magazine. His artwork has graced the covers and interiors of books from Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. (Tarzan Trilogy, Untamed Pellucidar, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, The Girl from Hollywood Centennial Edition, and Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Flinch! Books (the Midnight Guardian series), and Craig McDonald’s Zana O’Savin Doc Savage pastiches.

Hi Doug! Thanks for taking some time to chat.

Thanks for thinking of me, Anthony!

First, I’d like to ask about your early influences. What are your earliest memories of really connecting with a piece of art?

Looking over my earliest childhood drawings that my family saved, you would see drawings of Batman and Robin, Superman, The Beatles, and lots of monsters. One of my earliest recollections of the visual world around me was movies and the magazine and comic racks at the corner grocery store. There I saw Famous Monsters of Filmland for the first time and my obsession with monsters began. Soon after, a newsstand/cards and gift shop opened next to the grocery store and that became my place to explore paperbacks, monster magazines, and comic books. I began collecting the Warren magazines, because the artwork looked the best to this 8-year-old developing artist. With the Frazetta and Sanjulian covers, and inside I found the Reed Crandall, Pepe Gonzales, and Richard Corben stories. And soon I would become obsessed with an artist named Wrightson. The artists that have influenced me the most is a long list. Some of them are: Frazetta, Basil Gogos, Steranko, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Barry Windsor-Smith, Franklin Booth, Joseph Clement Coll, Dean Cornwell, N. C. Wyeth, Roy Krenkel, J. Allen St. John, Hubert Rogers, Reynold Brown, Drew Struzan, Thomas Blackshear, and Alphonse Mucha.

What were your earliest creative outlets?

I was fortunate to be raised in a creative household. My father was a painter in the trades who grew up on EC and Classics Illustrated comics. His original career choice was to follow his older brother and become a Chicago illustrator. Instead, my father decided on marriage and starting a family. So he went into the trades. Our home was still decorated by oil paintings that my father painted. My uncle George was an illustrator at the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, and I would see his artwork every week in the newspaper. We would visit my aunt and uncle often and I got to hang out in his home studio. We would visit his gallery openings, and I always thought it was pretty cool that my siblings and I were the youngest in attendance. I would soak up each experience. George Klauba is an internationally recognized painter and is best known for his Moby Dick series. There was always some form of inspiration throughout my early years - and beyond. Drawing was pretty contagious, and I did it daily, for hours. I didn’t lack imagination and when I didn’t have anything to draw, I would copy the Famous Monsters covers by Basil Gogos. My mother would often ask me to stop drawing and go outside and play with the neighborhood kids. But, throwing rocks at passing trains, or getting into fist fights grew old fast. One memorable Halloween, I entered a contest to paint a Halloween scene on a store front window. I painted Lon Chaney’s vampire from London After Midnight. I didn’t win the contest, but all of a sudden, I had made myself known as the neighborhood artist - and more importantly I met this kid, John, who lived two blocks away on another street. Like me, John had the Aurora monster models, collected the Warren monster magazines, he was into old monster movies and John had a Super 8 movie camera and his own projector! It was pretty fortunate to meet someone else that shared my interest in movies, comics, and monsters. Over the years we made our amateur movies, we tried our hand at stop motion animation, I worked with make-up to transform ourselves into monsters. We soon found other like-minded creative kids and spent hours creating fanzines, reading monster magazines, comics and going to the movies.

I’m always interested in hearing about the creative process. What medium and materials do you work with most frequently (your “favorites,” I guess)?

I love to draw in pencil. I am happiest when I am sitting at my drawing table and working on drawings. The last few years, I have been drawing with black acrylic paint. It was a natural transformation of working on a pencil drawing or using a black color pencil and I have continued to explore and enjoy working this way. It’s similar to any illustrator or comic book artist working with brush and ink - only I am using acrylic paint. I have been using acrylic paints for my color work since my advertising years of working in a Chicago illustration studio. Originally, I was hired because I was able to work in a variety of mediums from pen and ink, markers, watercolor paint, etc. But eventually the air brush was forced upon me at the studio, and I soon acclimated myself to this new tool and form of applying paint. I began exploring all that I could do with it and developed a working technique that has evolved into how I work today with acrylic paint. My process when working on a color piece has its measured steps. I start with putting gesso on a Crescent illustration board, followed by transferring my drawing onto the gessoed surface. I sometimes tighten up the drawing with color pencils before painting with the brush. At some point, I soon break out the air brush and apply color. I then finish up with my lighter values, using opaque acrylic paint. That’s basically the painting process from start to finish. The only thing not mentioned is finding good music to accompany the session (or listening to an old time radio drama) to help capture the mood of the narrative, the back and forth wrestling the artist will go through with the painting, maybe some frustrations, but eventually emerging through the challenges.

Has this changed over the arc of your career?

When I entered the art program at The American Academy of Art in Chicago, I was mainly a pen and ink artist that emulated Bernie Wrightson’s style. I had some experience with watercolors, but I didn’t have any confidence with working in color. I was intent on developing my craftsmanship with black and white ink and becoming a comic book artist. However, the few years at the Academy was more than I could have asked for. The academia of figure drawing, oil painting, watercolor instruction, and commercial illustration classes formed me into a much more rounded artist. My pen and ink illustrations became more developed, but I soon realized my passion for painting. In particular, I was drawn more towards pursuing a commercial art path, than a comic book career. Those were exciting times, as a developing art student. I worked at a few Chicago illustration studios that serviced advertising agencies for the next few years. I worked in every medium: pencils, pen and ink, marker renderings, watercolor / gouache paints, pastels, oil paints, air brush, and acrylics. It soon lost its lustre and the many hours of work, switching mediums, being told which technique to do a project - soon burned me out. I fell into an awful depression because I had lost my path. I no longer knew what kind of artist I was or wanted to be. I thought that if this was what the rest of my life was going to look like, I didn’t want it. But, instead of quitting, I left my studio position. And, within days (literally) I packed up my things and moved to California. I enrolled at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco for a semester, and studied with my favorite illustrators: Thomas Blackshear, Kazuhiko Sano, and Drew Struzan. The program, the fellow students, and the art community opened my eyes to becoming a better artist. The work that I developed, the friendships I made, put me back on a better footing of the artist I wanted to be and goals to pursue. I eventually ran out of money and returned back to my hometown of Chicago and intended to save up funds to permanently move back to San Francisco. But I became a busy illustrator, and life took its course. I eventually returned to working in pen and ink and developed a painting style of working in acrylics. The technique has changed a little over the years, but the process is more focused.

Does your process change at all depending on the type of project you’re working on?

Deadlines can dictate a path for a project. Under tight deadlines, I might not develop tight sketches or studies - and go straight to board. Spend less time constructing the drawing, and do more work with the painting process. It has its advantages, and the work is more immediate, and have a certain impact. The most important part of working on an illustration is the thumbnail sketch. Very small sketches, maybe 1 x 2, or 2 x 3 inches a piece. And I’ll sometimes do endless concepts. Usually, every assignment gets the 12 to 36 thumbnail session. I’ll immediately rough out every idea that comes to mind. The thumbnails are very simple, just shapes and scribbles - until something catches my eye.

I know you primarily as the artist of so many amazing book covers. Can you walk us through the process of developing a book cover? How much input does the author or publisher have throughout the project?

Once I finish the thumbnail session, I’ll pick the best of the lot and narrow them down to the best four or five to present to the client. I like having a discussion. I like getting input and much information or thoughts during this stage. This has worked well for me, so I don’t second guess myself or over analyze during the next stage of drawing studies and the finished pencil drawing. Once this drawing is approved, I have all of the confidence of creating the finished painting. I’ll spend up to 10 hours developing the drawing onto the board. Depending on the design and composition, applying paint can be 12 to 16 hours over 2 days, and then approximately 12 more hours of finishing. Depending how much time the painting wants to wrestle with me. Then I scan it and send the file for its approval.

What projects do you have coming up that fans should be on the lookout for?

I am developing an original pulp, sci-fi book of illustrations. I have been talking about it for years and I am slowly going through it. I would love to work on it full time, but commissions and projects come in at their own timing. I started a personal project earlier this year of painting black and white portraits of the classic movie monsters, as I reconnect with my younger monster kid roots. I also would like to strengthen my pulp influence. So, I’ll be exploring ideas with color paintings and black and white illustrations. Even while teaching part-time, I am always open for more assignments. I enjoy working with new creatives, and I like working in a team setting to develop new ideas and concepts. It’s that work that opens my eyes and fuels growth. In the meantime, I’m working on ideas and sketches for The Land That Time Forgot from ERB Books, as well as an alternative movie poster for the film, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut. You can also expect more covers for Craig McDonald’s Zana O’Savin books, as well as John Bruening’s The Midnight Guardian. And I look forward to any upcoming project from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

Thanks, Doug! Looking forward to talking to you more in person at Pulpfest in a few weeks!

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!