JayJay Here. Back in the Marvel days Jim frequently would give a gift box of Godiva chocolates to people for their birthdays, anniversaries, etc. It was a popular gift with the staff and even more popular when the recipient shared! One year Archie Goodwin made the birthday card below for Jim. […]
By J.C. Vaughn Back in 1999 along with my friends Mark L. Haynes (now a writer-producer living in Los Angeles) and Jim Kuhoric (now VP of Avatar Press), I took over a small press company called Realm Press, which had the license for Battlestar Galactica. This was about five or six years before it would […]
When I took over as Editor in Chief of Marvel on the first working day of January 1978, I didn’t know it, but the place was rife with corruption. Most of it was small-time, but some of it wasn’t so small. This is the tale of one of the smaller, but still very damaging instances.First, in […]
JayJay here. I was going through some old stuff recently and came across this Chicago Comicon program that Jim gave me back in 1984. It inspired him to write the following. Finally my pack-rattiness pays off! One day, I’m sitting at my EIC desk and my assistant says Mike Gold is on the phone. Mike, […]
(…that I can think of at the moment, in no particular order) 1. Bill Gaines’ opening remark to me, each and every time I saw him: “My ambition in life is to weigh less than my refrigerator.” 2. Editor Carl Potts to me: “The problem with you is that you’re stubborn.” Me: “Well, that’s the […]
JayJay here. Jim, co-writer J.C. Vaughn and Billy Tucci (in his own car) went on a signing tour of three comic book stores for the Free Comic Book Day event. Our friend John organized the tour and got a limo to drive us. A few friends came along to video and hang out. Here are […]
In 1992, not too long after the “Death of Superman,” I wrote the following piece for Diamond’s 1992 year-in-review issue of Dialogue: Dialogue Year In Review Questions What is the biggest challenge facing the comics industry today? The recent collapse of the sports trading card market presages the biggest threat now facing the comics industry. […]
Here’s what happened: Chris, X-Men editor Jim Salicrup and I went to lunch at the Ultimate Lotus, a Chinese restaurant that happened to be in the same building as Marvel (575 Madison Avenue) to discuss a new story arc for the X-Men. Freewheeling, I pointed out that while Marvel had many heroes who started out […]
After I turned in the first draft of my looong outline for my Legion of Super-Heroes mega-arc a few years back, I was called to a meeting with the editor and Dan DiDio. They asked for a rewrite—not because they didn’t like the story, but because they wanted me to add a part that would […]
Memorial Day put me in a “Tributes” mood. Here’s another one I came across today, written in 2007, my thoughts on why Jack Kirby was “King.” Jack Kirby was crowned King by Stan Lee when Stan gave Jack the Marvel nickname “King.” Did Jack deserve the coronation? Certainly. His creative record is not only unmatched in the comics field, […]