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The Batman himself,
Michael Uslan is one of the super heroes of the comic book industry. Michael happens to be one of the nicest guys ever and
has an amazing creative output. In addition to his producing Michael's recent stories for Archie Comics have added
many new fans and brought back old ones. And his thoughtful and lively interview with Jerry Robinson of Batman fame
was one of my favorite panels.
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| Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson Brown with Michael Uslan |
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| The fans. They are the best! |
Like a crazed
fan I shrieked with delight upon finding Keith Knight of The K Chronicles. I love Keith's work. I always look forward
to his thought provoking and delightful strips. You can find them in the Funny Times and other places.
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| Cartoonist Keith Knight of The K Chronicles. |
This is my long time friend and talented artist Howard Cruse. He was a featured guest this year at Comic Con. His
wonderful graphic novel, Stuck Rubber Baby is being reissued by DC this year and he was in evidence everywhere, panels,
signings and my special date to the Eisners!
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| Cartoonist Howard Cruse |
Many thanks to Peter Coogan of The Institute of Comics Studies and the incredible Brad Ricca for their support in
helping to further information about the Major. Brad spoke from his extensive knowledge of Siegel and
Shuster and the character Slam Bradley in particular and I followed with some basic facts and specific information about Slam
and how he came to be a character.
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| Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson on the panel More Fun with Siegel and Shuster. |
The estimable Mr. Jones kept us all in line, Brad Ricca, Lauren Ambroise, NWNB and Mel Gordon. Lauren told a fascinating
tale of finding legal documents from the original Siegel and Shuster lawsuit.
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| Author Gerard Jones |
We were all spellbound by Mel Gordon's part of the panel. Mel, a professor at UC Berkeley and the erudite Tom Andrae
have just come out with a book called Funnyman, the series created by Siegel and Shuster. Mel brought up some amazing
facts about Siegmunde Breitbart, a vaudeville strongman who may have been one of the influences for Superman.
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| Mel Gordon |
Gerard is another of the super heroes of the comic book industry and a prolific writer. His book, Men of Tomorrow,
even with the bloopers about the Major is a classic and relied upon by us all.
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| Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson and Gerard Jones |
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| Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson with Jim Salicrup of Papercutz |
It was fun to be at Comic Con this time knowing many of the regulars and getting to meet people I've been corresponding
with about the Major and comics in general. Jim Salicrup, the publisher of Papercutz is also a board member of the Museum
of Cartoon and Comic Art in Manhattan founded by the heroic Lawrence Klein.
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