Search Results for “About ME”

It's All About me

Posted on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 9:31 AM

Thanks to Greg Hatcher over at Comic Book Resources who declared last Saturday "Mark Evanier Day" over there and wrote something nice about me. I was disappointed to find that the banks were all open on my day and the big parade was pretty anemic: Just a couple of homeless guys pushing their shopping carts down my street. But, hey, I'll take what I can get.

Also, there's a podcast online where you can hear me talk about myself for forty-one minutes and seventeen seconds, which is around forty-one minutes longer than the topic is worth. It's over at My Comic Crush, a fine new show to listen to, hosted by the delightful Vickie Sebring and co-hosted by her lucky spouse Scott Sebring. We spoke mostly about Groo the Wanderer and have I mentioned that the first issue of a new Groo mini-series will be out on or around the first day of Comic-Con in San Diego? If I haven't before, I just did.

Lastly: If you're anywhere near Pasadena, you might want to hustle over to Vroman's Bookstore the evening of June 24 — and this one isn't about me much. It's about my good buddy Paul Dini, who'll be there that evening at 7 PM to sign his new graphic novel from DC: Dark Night: A True Batman Story. It's a chilling (because it's true) story about a brutal mugging that Paul experienced and how the incident intersected with his then-current work of writing Batman. I have an advance copy and it's likely to be the most talked-about comic novel of the year. It's powerful, it's honest and it's a must-read.

What do I have to do with this? I'm the host/M.C. of the event and I'll be interviewing Paul there before he sits down to autograph copies of it. You'll want a copy and you'll want it signed by the guy who wrote the story and lived the story. See you there.

Stuff About me

Posted on Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 7:18 AM

As you may have read here, I'm appearing at the Miami Book Fair International, which runs November 16-23 this year. I'll be there the last two days and I believe I'm speaking and signing books at some time they haven't told me yet on Sunday, November 23.

The book I'm there to flog is a new one which is coming out officially on November 15, though they're selling some copies (I hope) today at the New York Comic Con. It's a collection of artwork from the operation run by two great men of comics, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. You can read about it and order a copy here. You can also be amused at my listing in the Miami Book Fair's authors list and the sizzling revelation it gives away about the book…

Comics/Graphic Novel
Evanier, Mark
The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio
A collection by the husband and wife team who created memorable characters such as Captain America and Sandman, invented romance comics, and raised the standard for the genres of western, crime, and horror comic books.

And you probably though Same-Sex Marriage was a fairly recent invention. My word, Joe and Jack were pioneers at everything!

In other news: If you're like me, you're interested in way more podcasts than you can possibly hear in eight lifetimes. Well, one that I've been enjoying lately is Man Vs. Art, hosted by artist and animator Raul Aguirre Jr. Raul speaks frankly and from experience about the problems and joys of creating the kinds of things he creates so well…the challenges that you face in this world of ours if you care about producing work of which you can be proud.

And since this posting is entitled "Stuff About me," it stands to reason that the guest on his latest edition is me. We had a nice conversation, much of it about that Kirby guy I used to work for. We also talked about Scrappy Doo and my work for Hanna-Barbera and other cartoon studios, as well as working with Sergio Aragonés on Groo the Wanderer. If you have time, you might enjoy it.

About ME

NOT UPDATED FOR QUITE A WHILE

Born 3/2/52 in Santa Monica, California. I'm one of those people who made the long, hard struggle to Hollywood all the way from West Los Angeles. "Evanier" (pronounced ev-uh-near) is not French; it was probably made up by some Immigration Officer at Ellis Island one day who said, "Hey, here come some more Jews! Let's give them real stupid last names!" I prefer being on a first name basis with everyone if only because "Mark" is easier to spell.

My father had the worst job in the world: He worked for the Internal Revenue Service. Hated it. As a result, he urged his only kid — m.e. — to do whatever he wanted to in life, as long as he loved it. At about age eight, I decided I would love to be a professional writer and that, by God, was that. Have never had a "Plan B" since. My decision was only reinforced when The Dick Van Dyke Show debuted and I jumped to the conclusion, sadly erroneous, that all writers get to sleep with women who look like Laura Petrie.

Started reading 'n' collecting comic books shortly after I got out of the womb but didn't figure on them for a career since the business, I thought, was wholly in New York and didn't cotton to outta-towners. It turned out that was only partly true — and would become even less true as the years went by. Graduated high school in '69, became a professional writer about a week later when I sold a mess of articles to a couple of local magazines, and have never been without work since.

The week after my first sale, I met Jack Kirby, one of the true geniuses of my lifetime. Soon after, he asked my pal Steve Sherman and me if we'd like to become his assistants. We thought it over for, oh, about three seconds before agreeing. There was never any great money in the job but to "apprentice" like that was invaluable, for reasons I am still coming to understand. You may too if you read a book I wrote, Kirby: King of Comics, which came out in 2008.

About the same time I started working for Jack, I started writing foreign comics for Disney Studios — that is, stories of Donald Duck and Goofy that were published overseas. This led to me writing stories for the American Disney comics, which were then published by Western Publishing Company, aka Gold Key Comics. This, in turn, led to me working on other Gold Key Comics — primarily the Warner Brothers characters (Bugs, Daffy, Porky, et al) but also Woody Woodpecker, Scooby Doo and others. It was on Scooby Doo that I was first teamed with one of my favorite artists, Dan Spiegle. Dan and I worked together for over a quarter of a century after that.

Around '74, I spent a year running an overseas comic book division for the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, writing comics of Tarzan and Korak (the latter drawn by Mr. Spiegle) and I also met a very fine writer from Pittsburgh named Dennis Palumbo, who'd moved to L.A. to try his hand at TV work. As young comedy writers tend to come in pairs, we decided to team up and try to get work. We wrote for The Nancy Walker Show (it was cancelled in 13 weeks), we wrote for The McLean Stevenson Show (it was cancelled in 6), we sold a series to CBS (it never got on) and then we got hired as story editors for Welcome Back, Kotter and wrote a few other things that did okay.

After Kotter, Dennis and I decided to go our separate ways, parting as friends. I began writing for (and eventually running) the Hanna-Barbera comic book division, where I again did — among other books — Scooby Doo, drawn by Dan Spiegle. I also began writing TV shows either on my own or in tandem with a clever lady named Marion C. Freeman. Anyone here remember Baby, I'm Back, starring Demond Wilson? Anyone remember Demond Wilson? I didn't think so.

Eventually, I somehow became typed as a variety show writer and wrote many a special or series in that dying genre, thereby hastening its demise. Most of them were for the legendary Sid and Marty Krofft and included the infamous Pink Lady and Jeff, which toplined two Japanese ladies who spoke almost no English, and a series with the Bay City Rollers, who spoke English but were no more intelligible.

I also started writing cartoon shows: Scooby Doo, Plastic Man, Thundarr the Barbarian, The Trollkins, ABC Weekend Special, CBS Storybreak, Rickety Rocket, Superman: The Animated Series and many others. I story-edited Richie Rich for a couple of years, wrote the pilots for Dungeons & Dragons, The Wuzzles and a few series from which I removed my name. Somewhere in there, I wrote That's Incredible! for three years and a whole lotta material for stand-up comedians.

Throughout all this, I dabbled in and out of comic books, including Blackhawk, which I wrote (and later edited) for DC and which featured spectacular artwork by Dan Spiegle. But I also started doing a lot of what we call "creator-owned" comic books. F'rinstance, my longtime pal Sergio Aragonés asked me to become his co-conspirator on Groo the Wanderer, which has become one of the longest-running comic books of those owned by creators and not companies. And my pal Will Meugniot and I created (I wrote, he drew at first) a super-hero book called The DNAgents. That led to a spin-off called Crossfire, which was drawn by Dan Spiegle and which is probably my favorite of all the non-comical comic books I've written.

My favorite animation project is Garfield and Friends, which was the top-rated Saturday morn show on CBS for most of its seven year run. A close contender would be Mother Goose & Grimm, based on Mike Peters' brilliant newspaper strip. I've also written for Pryor's Place, Bob (the series wherein Mr. Newhart played a comic book artist), The Half-Hour Comedy Hour, a couple of specials with Dick Clark, a script for Cheers which they bought but didn't film, a number of shows I wish they hadn't filmed, and a number of stand-up comedians. Until she finally won one, I told people I was becoming "The Susan Lucci of the writing Emmys," being oft-nominated but never a bride. Since 2009, I've been Supervising Producer on The Garfield Show, which is seen in darn near every country on the planet and in every language. I have no idea what a Supervising Producer is supposed to do but I write and story-edit and direct the voices. And I'm working on some other things, including this here weblog.

This has probably gone on long enough, especially since browsing this website will tell you a lot more about me than you could possibly care to know. Hell, there's more here about me than I want to know…

Some More Thoughts About Colbert…

Posted on Friday, July 18, 2025 at 12:57 AM

A lot of folks online seem sure that the axing of The Late Show is a case of CBS giving in to some demand by Donald Trump…and given some of the things CBS has done lately, that's an understandable suspicion. It could be that but the "financial decision" seems utterly credible to me. Colbert's show is expensive and even with it leading in the ratings of all late night shows, it's quite possible that CBS could put something else there that would be more profitable. Or at least thinks they can.

Networks have canceled profitable shows thinking that there's more cash to be made with something else. It's also not impossible that forces high up in Skydance Media, which is likely to merge with CBS/Paramount, don't like Colbert's politics (and recent criticisms of the "bribe") and decided to dump him without any pressure from the White House.

And of course, it's possible that there are more sinister doings here. One way I think we might know is if we see some of those Trump tweets where he basically confesses to his dirty dealings. A more likely way would be to see what Jon Stewart has to say. I don't believe we've heard from him yet but he has a very real interest in this. Colbert has ten more months of shows on CBS and may want to not get into too great a pissing contest with the network…for his staff's benefit if not his own. But Stewart doesn't have to get along with CBS until next May.

You'll Never Get Away From Me

Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2025 at 8:21 AM

If online forums are any indication, the Broadway community is quite surprised that the current revival of Gypsy starring Audra MacDonald is closing way sooner than expected. Its last performance will be August 17 and it will have played 28 previews and 269 performances. By contrast, the 2008 revival with Patti LuPone — which received less attention, less acclaim and which I thought was not very good — ran 27 previews and 332 performances. The Audra version had been expected to run at least until October 5 and there was much chatter about whether it would run longer than that.

Having not seen the new version, I have no guess as to why the shortened run. Well, I have one: Maybe Gypsy has just been revived too often. And come to think of it, I have two: Maybe audiences are getting less eager to shell out huge bucks to see huge stars. I think both these reasons are worth some consideration.

It's a show I think I love…and my hesitation to commit is because I never liked the movie or most of the live versions I've seen. My favorite, which I only saw on video, was the 2015 revival in London starring Imelda Staunton. (You can order a copy on Amazon or probably watch it on many streaming services including Tubi.)

My problem with many presentations of it — and I've discussed this here before — is that I see this as the story of a woman (Mama Rose) who had to make one or more of her kids into stars because she could never be a star herself. And there's something wrong with a production of it where the person on the stage playing Mama Rose is the one with most of the star quality and talent. (Or as in the movie with Rosalind Russell, comes across like a woman of wealth and breeding…and in Ms. Russell's case, an obviously-dubbed one when singing.)

I obviously never saw Ethel Merman in the part but she strikes me as the perfect Mama Rose. She was a Broadway star who didn't look like a Broadway star. But maybe I'm underestimating the suspension of disbelief an audience can muster for the right performance. I just had no interest in seeing Audra MacDonald, who I think may be the most talented performer in the business today, playing someone who could never be a star. Oh — and what you had to shell out to get good seats was also kinda discouraging.

me at Comic-Con!

Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2025 at 12:47 PM

Here is the complete list of what I'm doing at Comic-Con. Yes, I'm actually scheduled for all these things along with several business appointments and interviews. I'm having the guys who built the robot Walt Disney make one of me to handle some of these panels but I fear it won't be ready in time. And it'll probably be better-looking than I am…

• THURSDAY •

Thursday, July 24 – 10 AM to 11 AM in Room 9
GREAT CARTOONISTS AND COMEDIANS WE HAVE KNOWN
Film expert Leonard Maltin and writer Mark Evanier have thousands of years of show business between them and have met and sometimes even worked with some of the cleverest, funniest men and women. They'll be sharing their experiences with people like Groucho Marx, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and as many others as they can squeeze into the time they have.

Thursday, July 24 – NOON to 1 PM in Room 10
TALES FROM MY SPINNER RACK LIVE
It's the world premiere weekend for Fantastic Four: First Steps, and “Tales from My Spinner Rack Live!” returns to Comic-Con with Gary Sassaman (former director of programming and publications for Comic-Con) taking a nostalgic look back at Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four covers, alongside Kirby experts Mark Evanier (author, Kirby: King of Comics) and John Morrow (editor/publisher, Jack Kirby Collector). They'll each pick their top ten Kirby covers from Fantastic Four 1-101 and Annuals 1-7. Learn the secrets and untold tales behind some of these covers at this graphics-filled presentation! FREE limited edition Tales From My Spinner Rack booklet and button for each attendee!

Thursday, July 24 – 3 PM to 3:45 PM at Booth 1635
SIGNING
Mark and design wizard Chip Kidd will be at the Peanuts booth because of their forthcoming book, The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: The Greatest Comic Strip of All Time. They'll be signing free posters for the book and at some point, Chip will hold a football and Mark will try to kick it. Good luck with that.

Thursday, July 24 – 4 PM to 5 PM in Room 25ABC
ABRAMS COMICARTS: REDEFINING GRAPHIC STORYTELLING
Abrams ComicArts, a division of Abrams Books, provides an inside look at how they're reshaping the graphic novel landscape. Known for literary adaptations, curated collections of classic comics, genre-defying originals, and captivating manga, Abrams ComicArts continues to push the boundaries of visual storytelling. Panelists will share behind-the-scenes insights into the creative and editorial processes, talk through their approach to publishing and promoting diverse content, and give an exclusive preview of what's coming next. Featuring Chris Ryall (Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel), Charlie Kochman (editor-in-chief, Abrams ComicArts), Joseph Montagne (Abrams ComicArts), Chip Kidd (The Essential Peanuts, The Avengers in the Veracity Trap!), Nate Powell (Fall Through, Save It for Later, Run), John Jennings (Kindred, Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents), Grant Snider (Thinking About Thinking, The Art of Living, I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf), Mark Evanier (The Essential Peanuts) and moderator Jacq Cohen (director of marketing and publicity, Abrams ComicArts).

• FRIDAY •

Friday, July 25 – 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL
Since 1981, Groo the Wanderer — the creation of cartoonist Sergio Aragonés — has wandered from comic book to comic book, company to company, and weird adventure to weirder adventure. Where did he come from? What's he up to now? And most important, how do we avoid him? Sergio's accomplice Mark Evanier will tell you all about the stupidest character in any multiverse anywhere, aided by the comic's longtime letterer Stan Sakai (the creator of Usagi Yojimbo) and its newest colorist, Carrie Strachan. And they may even try to get Sergio on the phone.

Friday, July 25 – 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 10
SPOTLIGHT ON TODD KLEIN
Your favorite comic book would be nothing without a skilled letterer, and one of the most skilled (and most honored with awards) is Todd Klein, who is also an expert on all those who have plied his craft, past and present. Come hear Todd interviewed by Comic-Con Special Guest Mark Evanier and learn all about this too-often-unappreciated part of just about every comic book you've ever loved.

Friday, July 25 – 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM in Room 10
TWO MARKS EXPLAIN EVERYTHING
Do you have a burning question about the world of comics? About some character or writer or artist or publisher? Well, if writer Mark Waid doesn't know the answer…and if writer Mark Evanier also doesn't know the answer…then probably no one knows. The two of them fielding questions from the audience made for one of the most popular panels at WonderCon earlier this year, and they've agreed to give more of you the opportunity to get the answers you seek.

Friday, July 25 – 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
FOCUS ON DON GLUT
Don Glut is the writer/creator of the popular comics Dagar the Invincible, The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor, and Tragg and the Sky Gods. For Warren Publishing, he authored tales for Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella, and for Marvel, his writing could be found in, among others, Captain America, The Invaders, Kull the Destroyer, Solomon Kane, Star Wars, and What If…? Don also has more than 80 books to his credit, including The Dinosaur Dictionary and the authorized novelization of the movie The Empire Strikes Back. This year, he's receiving the coveted Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing, and he'll discuss his amazing career in this spotlight interview with Finger Award chairman (and Comic-Con Special Guest) Mark Evanier.

Friday, July 25 – 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY'S POGO
Walt Kelly (1913–1973) was one of the most honored cartoonists of his day, primarily (but not exclusively) for his popular newspaper strip, Pogo. He brought to life not only the highly quotable possum Pogo but also all the creatures Pogo fraternized with in the Okefenokee Swamp, including Churchy LaFemme, Howland Owl, Mam'selle Hepizbah, and Albert the Alligator. Walt Kelly was also a Disney animator, a writer-illustrator for Dell Comics, and a pretty quotable guy himself. His work and legacy will be discussed by cartoonist Liniers, writer Paul Dini, and the folks who bring you Fantagraphics' award-winning reprintings of The Complete Pogo: Maggie Thompson, Eric Reynolds, Jane Plunkett and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Friday, July 25 – 8 PM to Whenever in the Indigo Ballroom the Bayfront Hilton
THE WILL EISNER AWARDS
Sometime during the ceremony, Mark and Bill Finger's granddaughter Athena Finger will be presenting the annual Bill Finger Awards for Excellence in Comic Book Writing, which this year are going to Don Glut and the late Sheldon Mayer.

• SATURDAY •

Saturday, July 26 – 11:45 AM to 1 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
It's the battle you wait for every year, as three speedy cartoonists cross Sharpies to prove who's the fastest and the funniest. They create cartoons right before your very ideas, based on suggestions and challenges they've never heard before—suggestions and challenges that come from you in the audience and from your Quick Draw! quizmaster, Mark Evanier. Competing are Scott Shaw! (Sonic the Hedgehog), Tom Richmond (MAD magazine), Emma Steinkellner (Nell of Gumbling), and several surprise cartoonists. No Sergio this year, but he may try to phone something in. See why this is one of the most popular events in all of Comic-Con!

Saturday, July 26 – 1 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Once again, your host Mark Evanier has assembled a panel of some of the hardest-working folks in the colorful profession of speaking for animated characters. They'll show you what they do, tell you how they do it, and probably massacre a beloved fairy tale in the process. On the panel this year are Gregg Berger (Transformers), Audrey Wasilewski (Monster High), Fred Tatasciore (The Hulk), Jim Meskimen (Thundercats), Benni Latham (Transformers: Earthspark), and Dana Gould (The Simpsons).

Saturday, July 26 – 3 PM to 4 PM in Room 6DE
SPOTLIGHT ON FRANK MILLER
Comic-Con special guest and legend Frank Miller, one of the most important creators of the last half century, returns to San Diego for a career-spanning conversation with Mark Evanier. From Ronin Rising to Sin City, from Pandora to The Dark Knight Returns, this panel will give attendees insight into Miller's storied collaborations, the resonance of his work, and the highly anticipated projects to come.

Saturday, July 26 – 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE ESSENTIAL PEANUTS BY CHARLES M. SCHULZ
A distinguished panel of contributors to The Essential Peanuts (Abrams ComicArts, October 2025) offer a heartfelt and insightful conversation about the legacy of Charles M. Schulz. Panelists include Mark Evanier (author of The Essential Peanuts), Chip Kidd (graphic designer), Paige Braddock (creative director emeritus at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates), and Alexis E. Fajardo (editorial director, publishing & experiences at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates). Moderated by Charles Kochman (editor-in-chief, Abrams ComicArts), the discussion will explore Schulz's artistic genius, the enduring cultural impact of Peanuts, and how this landmark volume frames the iconic strip with fresh historical and cultural context.

Saturday, July 26 – 7 PM to 8 PM in the Marriott Marquis Grand 10 & 11
PETER DAVID: A CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE, WORK AND LEGACY
The comic book and science fiction communities recently lost a true titan when Peter David passed away. While Peter's works will be celebrated for decades to come, panelists invite you to join them for a lively celebration of Peter, the longtime convention presence, and amazing “Writer of Stuff.” Panelists will include comic legends, friends, and collaborators, including Paul Levitz, George Takei, Mark Evanier, Chris Ryall, and J. K. Woodward. Moderated by Peter's longtime Comics Buyer's Guide friend, Maggie Thompson.

• SUNDAY •

Sunday, July 27 – 10 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
It's a Comic-Con tradition to honor the man they call The King of the Comics, creator or co-creator of a staggering number of comic book characters, universes, and trends. If you don't know who he was and what he did, just look around the exhibit hall and you'll see his influence everywhere. Talking about Jack this year are Paul Levitz (former president of DC Comics), "Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity" curator Patrick A. Reed, attorney Paul S. Levine, Marvel editor Tom Brevoort, and Tracy Kirby and Jeremy Kirby from the Kirby family. Your host, as always, is former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 27 – 11:45 AM to 1:15 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
Yesterday's Cartoon Voices panel was such a hit that we're doing another one with more people who speak for some of your favorite cartoon characters. On the dais for this one are Michael Scott Action (The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse), Kaitlyn Robrock (Minnie Mouse), Vincent Martella (Phineas and Ferb), Abby Trott (Demon Slayer), Gabe Kunda (Barbie: A Touch of Magic), Maurice LaMarche (Futurama), and at least one surprise guest. Your moderator is, of course, Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 27 – 2 PM to 3 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY
Maybe you can't judge a book by its cover, but no book was ever harmed by having a great cover. So, what makes a great cover? Does the idea precede the interiors, or is it the other way around? And why have covers become more varied and artistic in the modern age of comics? These and other related topics will be discussed by a group of artists who've drawn some acclaimed covers in the last few years, including Rick Hoberg, Michael Cho, and Dan Jurgens. And it's all moderated by Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 27 – 3 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Are you considering (or maybe even actively pursuing) a career providing voices for animated cartoons, video games, and other related fields? You can find many people who will teach you — for a price. But how do you know who’s any good? And how does the business work? And what are the odds against you? In the interest of preventing wanna-be voice actors from being exploited, overcharged, or otherwise ripped off, this annual panel answers these and any other questions you may have for free. No one is going to try to sell you anything at this panel, which features voice actors Kaitlyn Robrock and Fred Tatasciore, as well as agent Julie Thompson of the prestigious agency, Sutton, Barth, and Vennari. The panel is moderated by Comic-Con mainstay (and professional voice director) Mark Evanier.

The time, place and/or personnel for all panels could change. That usually doesn't happen but that doesn't mean it won't. I suggest arriving early for the panels in the bigger rooms — the ones whose numbers start with a "6" — as they usually have the greatest number of turnaways. Apart from the one signing listed above, I will only be signing items after each panel, time permitting, and only for people who sat through the panel. I don't charge for a reasonable number of items but I'm going to start charging an unreasonable fee for an unreasonable number of signatures. The entire Programming Schedule can be accessed at this link.

ASK me: The H-B Shmoo

Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2025 at 6:10 PM

John R. Troy has the following question…

You've covered Li'l Abner, Al Capp, and a lot of Hanna-Barbera stuff over the years on your blog, but I've never seen this mentioned.

As a kid, I remember a short lived series featuring The Shmoo from the Li'l Abner comic strip, called The New Shmoo, and after that he also appeared on a show where Fred and Barney were cops and had him as an assistant. They sort of reinvented him as a shape-shifting blob and had Frank Welker do the voice.

I was wondering, do you know anything about how Hanna-Barbera got the rights to this character? It seems a bit strange that they got the rights to just that character and not the Li'l Abner strip, though I also know Shmoo merchandising was a big thing in the 1950s, so I could see a separate licensing deal.

And why would they call it "The New Shmoo?" I don't believe the character was ever shown in animation before.

You've come to the right place, John. I can answer everything except that last part. I was working at Hanna-Barbera at the time and though I only had one teensy-weeny thing to do with that program, I heard a lot about it. I can answer all your questions except one in two words. Those words are "Fred" and "Silverman."

Mr. Silverman was then the Programming Chief at NBC and because of his background programming Saturday morns elsewhere, he took a special interest in that daypart at NBC. One of his aides told me Fred would have been a happier man if all he had to worry about each day was his network's Saturday morning schedule.

He was, among his other contributions to that job description, the person behind the belief that the network should not trust the cartoon studio too much creatively. The argument for this was as follows: If Hanna-Barbera was producing shows for your network and also for another network — and they were always producing shows for another network — they might assign their best people to the other network's programs. Based on my observations, that was not an unreasonable concern. So you had to have someone who worked for your network supervise everything, approve scripts and storyboards and voices, etc. In other words, become the real Producer of the show no matter who was credited in that position.

Joe Barbera and others at H-B complained mightily about the networks tampering with their shows…and they were right to complain because sometimes, the network person in charge was a real boob. If the studio had only been concerned with selling shows to one network, that might not have happened. But only selling to one network was not going to happen because the firm that owned Hanna-Barbera — it was no longer Bill and Joe — loved the idea of selling as many shows as possible, preferably squeezing all the competition outta the way and outta the business.

When Bill 'n' Joe sold out, they stayed on to run the company that bore their names. The folks who took control loved it when at any given time slot on Saturday morning, there was a Hanna-Barbera show on CBS, a Hanna-Barbera show on NBC and a Hanna-Barbera show on ABC. Thus Joe Barbera's marching orders were pretty simple: Sell as many shows as you can.

So one day, Joe was over at NBC trying to sell them as many shows as he could…and Joe was a terrific salesperson. You might not like everything he sold. Joe certainly didn't like everything he sold. But he was there trying to sell, sell, sell — and Silverman had an idea. He remembered how popular The Shmoo was in the old Li'l Abner newspaper strip. People loved those little creatures and there was a brief merchandising boom for them. Fred suggested building a show around The Shmoo.

Reportedly, Joe said — this is what he later said he said — "You want to do Li'l Abner?" and Silverman (also reportedly) said, "No, kids today won't care about those hillbillies. Just get The Shmoo. If you do, I'll buy it." Following through on that was Joe Barbera's job.

So he went back to the office and told one of his business guys to buy the rights to make a cartoon show about The Shmoo. The business guy said, "Do you have any idea who I contact?" and J.B. thought for a second and he called in his secretary and said, "Call Mark Evanier and see if he knows who the hell owns The Shmoo." She called me in my office down the hall and I gave her the phone number of Al Capp's brother.

I had a telephone friendship with Capp's brother because of a couple of projects with which I was almost involved, most of them potential revivals which never happened of the Li'l Abner Broadway show. But as I'm writing this now, I'm not sure if the brother spelled his first name Elliot or Elliott, or if his last name was spelled Kaplan or Caplin. I've seen every possible permutation. But I did know his number and that he handled business dealing for the Capp Estate. I also knew that if he didn't control the rights to The Shmoo, he'd know who did.

And the next thing I knew, H-B was developing a cartoon show of The Shmoo. They turned it into one of their many knock-offs of Scooby Doo but I neither worked on nor ever watched the series. Supplying that one phone number is all I had to do with it. But hey, since I never saw it and you probably never saw it, let's watch the opening title together…

Okay. That was…well, interesting. I don't have any desire to watch an episode but if by some chance you do, someone has uploaded all of them to this page on the Internet Archive. My main reaction to the opening is to wonder howcome a character who can shape-shift into any form doesn't think to maybe grow himself a pair of arms?

As for how it wound up being connected with The Flintstones: Fred Silverman was a firm believer in the concept of programming "blocks." This is the theory that if you're putting on a half-hour Scooby-Doo show and a half-hour Dynomutt show, both will do better if you splice them into The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour…and it doesn't really matter if the two shows have anything in common or connect in any way.

He did this kind of thing often and because Fred was considered an expert at programming Saturday morning, others followed his lead. One problem with it for those of us who care about credits is that when they put two shows together in an hour like that, they merge the end credits and if/when the shows are later separated, the credits usually aren't.

(Which reminds me: If you watch the credits on The New Shmoo — I'll admit I peeked at them — you'll see the names of three great comic book artists — Mike Sekowsky, Dave Stevens and Jack Kirby. The way H-B did credits, all that means is that at the time the credits were made up, there was some paperwork somewhere that said those two gents had done some drawings that were intended for this show. I suspect Sekowsky did a fair amount, Stevens did a little and Kirby did almost nothing. At the time, Jack was under contract to the Ruby-Spears animation studio, which was literally across the street and owned by the same corporation that owned H-B. During times when Ruby-Spears didn't sell much to the networks — because, for example, Joe Barbera had done his job extra-well that season — Kirby's contract allowed Ruby-Spears to loan his services to Hanna-Barbera so he had stuff to draw to earn his salary. That's why Jack's credit was on a number of Hanna-Barbera shows, even some he only worked on for a day or two.)

Okay, this next part gets tricky…

In February of 1979, a new version of The Flintstones debuted on NBC's Saturday morning schedule and it was called The New Fred and Barney Show. Around the same time is when Mr. Silverman ordered Mr. Barbera to get the rights to the Shmoo and they also worked out a deal for a new cartoon show of The Thing, using the character from Marvel's Fantastic Four property but in a whole different concept. He became a teenager who turned into The Thing and there's a whole messy and convoluted story that I don't fully understand about how that deal was brokered. At the time, Silverman had canceled the Fantastic Four cartoon series that DePatie-Freleng — a rival cartoon studio which Marvel was in the process of acquiring — had produced for NBC.

Please don't ASK me to explain that. All you need to know here is that H-B was producing more episodes of The Fred and Barney Show to run as part of NBC's Fall 1979 schedule. They were also producing the new shows of the teen version of The Thing and what would be called The New Shmoo. At some some point, Silverman decided to marry two of those three shows together and they debuted in September as an hour series called Fred and Barney Meet the Thing.

The storylines of the two shows did not crossover. The characters only "met" in some short interstitial animated segments which had Fred and Barney dancing with The Thing. These were designed by my buddy Scott Shaw! who had the unenviable assignment of deciding how tall The Thing would be in relation to those guys from Bedrock and vice-versa.

The New Shmoo debuted as a standalone half-hour but after a few weeks, Fred decided it might do better as part of one of his "blocks." So there was soon a 90-minute show called Fred and Barney Meet The Shmoo. It featured a half-hour of Fred 'n' Barney, a half-hour of The Shmoo and a half-hour of The Thing, even though The Thing didn't get mentioned in the show's title. To make the 90-minute show even more disjointed, at one point they interpolated a special H-B had produced — The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White — cut into four segments aired over four weeks. Here's a promotional drawing of Fred and The Shmoo…and have you ever seen two cartoon characters who looked less like they belonged in the same drawing?

In his series, The Shmoo was much shorter than the teenage kids with whom he solved mysteries. In the promotional drawings, he was the same height as Fred Flintstone. This is the kind of thing that would have really bothered me if I'd been ten years old and watching all this. And even when I was ten, I don't think I'd have been watching all this. Or any of this.

So I think that answers all of John's questions except for "Why would they call it "The New Shmoo?" I dunno. Because it rhymed? Because Silverman thought it made the show sound more exciting? Because the people doing this thought they were reinventing Al Capp's character? A lot of TV shows have names that don't make sense. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is not live, The Daily Show is not daily and there were no laughs on any program ever called The So-and-So Comedy Hour. It's a strange business, it is.

me at Comic-Con!

Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2025 at 10:30 AM

And finally, here's my schedule for Sunday — two weeks from today! — at Comic-Con International in San Diego. If for some bizarre reason, you might want to attend a panel that doesn't involve me, the entire Sunday schedule you can be found here. And I should mention that what's left of the National Weather Service is predicting 75° and Sunny for the entirety of Comic-Con…

• SUNDAY •

Sunday, July 27 – 2 PM to 3 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY
Maybe you can't judge a book by its cover, but no book was ever harmed by having a great cover. So, what makes a great cover? Does the idea precede the interiors, or is it the other way around? And why have covers become more varied and artistic in the modern age of comics? These and other related topics will be discussed by a group of artists who've drawn some acclaimed covers in the last few years, including Jim Lee, Rick Hoberg, Michael Cho, and Dan Jurgens. And it's all moderated by Mark Evanier.

me at Comic-Con!

Posted on Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 10:19 AM

So…what are you doing two weeks from today? Here's what I'm doing two weeks from today. And here's where you can see the entire schedule for Saturday…

• SATURDAY •

Saturday, July 26 – 11:45 AM to 1 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
It's the battle you wait for every year, as three speedy cartoonists cross Sharpies to prove who's the fastest and the funniest. They create cartoons right before your very ideas, based on suggestions and challenges they've never heard before — suggestions and challenges that come from you in the audience and from your Quick Draw! quizmaster, Mark Evanier. Competing are Scott Shaw! (Sonic the Hedgehog), Tom Richmond (MAD magazine), Emma Steinkellner (Nell of Gumbling), and several surprise cartoonists. No Sergio this year, but he may try to phone something in. See why this is one of the most popular events in all of Comic-Con!

ASK me: Milton Caniff and His Assistants

Posted on Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 8:29 AM

J. Williamson sent this one to me…

On one of the Walt Kelly panels at Comic-Con a few years ago, you started to tell a story about how Milton Caniff was assisted by a letterer and I think another artist on his strip but you got sidetracked and never told it. Could you tell it on your blog?

Certainly. Here is how Milton Caniff "drew" the Steve Canyon newspaper strip for at least the last decade or two of its existence. Caniff would write it, lightly sketched, on ordinary typing paper. I don't know of him getting help with the writing but that's not impossible.

He would then send the script to the letterer, who for a long, long time was a gent named Frank Engli. Engli would have a supply of the art paper on which the strip was drawn and he'd cut the paper to size, rule off the image area, letter in the balloons that Caniff had written and then send the lettered (but otherwise blank) strips and Caniff's script on to the ghost artist. For much of that time, it was Dick Rockwell.

Rockwell would tight-pencil the art and ink everything except the heads of the main characters. Then he'd send the strips to Caniff who would ink the heads and he'd redraw anything he felt needed redrawing. Once upon a time, he had done everything on the strip himself except for the lettering, but this is the way he chose to work in his later years.

Then Engli died and Caniff gave the lettering job to a "kid" whose name is not known…and this is kind of interesting. Caniff was a staunch political conservative and Engli was pretty liberal. They remained good friends but Caniff, when he got into a right-wing preachy mood in the strip, sometimes enjoyed that he was forcing Engli to letter dialogue which Engli found repugnant. It was a friendly jab, kind of like a prank between buddies. Engli would sometimes call Caniff and debate what he was required to letter.

The unknown "kid" who succeeded him was someone Caniff found by asking at a local art supply shop. As I understand it, this was his only brush with the field of comic strips but he could imitate Engli's style. The problem was that he was even more liberal than Engli and he simply refused to letter certain speeches. When he tried discussing politics with the goal of changing of changing Caniff's mind, Caniff called Shel Dorf. Yes, this was the same Shel Dorf who was involved in the birth of the annual event we now call Comic-Con International and is sometimes — wrongly, I'm quite sure — treated like its sole founder.

Shel had no real experience lettering but this was his big chance to get involved on a professional level with his favorite comic strip and his favorite comic strip creator. According to him — and I didn't believe everything Shel told me but I believed this — Caniff said, "You've got to help me. I'm desperate!" I suspect Caniff was banking on Shel's personal loyalty, his longtime yearning to be a part of the creative side of comics and the fact that Shel had a pretty large collection of Steve Canyon originals lettered by Engli to study.

So Dorf made a series of field trips to visit various folks he thought could teach him how to letter. He spent an afternoon at my house looking at original art and having me explain whatever I knew about the craft. One thing I taught him was how to use an Ames Guide, which was a little tool that most letterers use to rule guidelines. One of them looked like this and you can still buy one at Amazon for under six bucks…

He spent some time with Alex Toth, which must have been odd because Toth had a frequently-voiced disdain for Caniff's work. This was not about the politics. It was more along the lines of "If he can't draw as well as he did in the forties and fifties, he should do the honorable thing and retire!" That's not a quote but it's close.

I forget who else Shel "studied" with. Maybe Mike Royer and/or Bill Spicer and/or Russ Manning. I think he may have even dropped in on Jack Kirby, which probably was of little help since Jack hadn't lettered a comic in thirty years. Then Shel lettered up some samples and Caniff awarded him the exalted (to Shel) position of lettering Steve Canyon.

Thereafter, Dorf was sent Caniff's handwritten/sketched script…and Shel was one of the laziest people I've ever known. Though not being paid very well for the job, Shel actually hired his own assistant to cut the paper to size and rule off the image area, paying a different "kid" something like fifty cents a strip. Then Shel would letter in the balloons and send the strips to Rockwell, who'd do the same thing he'd done when Engli was lettering the strip.

The strips then went to Caniff for finishing. He would sometimes change his mind about something in the balloons and reletter it himself, which was difficult. They did the strip in India Ink, which does not dry instantly. When a left-handed person letters with that kind of ink, he often drags his hand across the not-yet-dry lettering as he letters and smears it. Caniff was left-handed and when he had to letter, he would write the lettering out in pencil left-to-right and then ink it right-to-left.

That obviously is not a great way to work, which is why Caniff was so desperate. Eventually, he found a brand of markers which dried instantly and he was able to letter left-to-right with them when he had to letter.

He would also still ink in the faces of the main characters and do any art corrections or redraws he felt were necessary…and that's how a strip was done until Caniff passed away in 1988. Rockwell hoped the syndicate would let him continue it and Dorf really hoped they'd let it live on and he'd somehow be in charge of it. He kept asking me if I'd ghost-write it if that happened and I kept telling him no and that whenever Caniff passed, the syndicate would end it. It was in very few papers by then and because Caniff had a guarantee of a certain minimum fee, the syndicate was losing money on it.

As it turned out, I was right: They kept it going for the rest of Caniff's lifetime out of respect for the man and his long service. But once he died, they let Rockwell finish up the storyline-in-progress and then Steve Canyon received a decent funeral. I'm not sure very many people besides Shel noticed.

me at Comic-Con!

Posted on Friday, July 11, 2025 at 12:50 PM

Here's another day's worth of what I'll be doing two weeks from today. The entire day's schedule can be found here.

• FRIDAY •

me at Comic-Con!

Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2025 at 12:13 PM

Comic-Con International starts in two weeks and the convention has just posted the schedule for Thursday Programming. Tomorrow, they'll post the schedule for Friday Programming and on Saturday, they'll post the schedule for Saturday Programming and you might be able to take a wild guess and figure out when they'll post the schedule for Sunday Programming. The entire Thursday Schedule is here but if you're interested in the panels that really matter, here's what I'm doing on that Thursday…

• THURSDAY •

Thursday, July 24 – NOON to 1 PM in Room 9
TALES FROM MY SPINNER RACK LIVE!
It's the world premiere weekend for Fantastic Four: First Steps, and “Tales from My Spinner Rack Live!” returns to Comic-Con with Gary Sassaman (former director of programming and publications for Comic-Con) taking a nostalgic look back at Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four covers, alongside Kirby experts Mark Evanier (author, Kirby: King of Comics) and John Morrow (editor/publisher, Jack Kirby Collector). They'll each pick their top ten Kirby covers from Fantastic Four 1-101 and Annuals 1-7. Learn the secrets and untold tales behind some of these covers at this graphics-filled presentation! FREE limited edition Tales From My Spinner Rack booklet and button for each attendee!

Thursday, July 24 – 3 PM to 3:45 PM at Booth 1635 (I think)
Mark will be signing stuff at a booth but I'm not entirely certain of the number yet.

A Brief Comment

Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2025 at 8:21 AM

I haven't seen the new Superman movie. I seem to have fallen off the list of people who've worked for DC Comics — which I've only done since around 1970 — who get invited to premieres. So I can't say if it's "too woke," which is a complaint I see online a lot today. The actor Dean Cain, who once played Superman, said it's "too woke" and others have.

Frankly, I have a hard time imagining how you could do a movie about Superman — a character who is all about helping people who need help — and not have someone complain that's "too woke." That might apply to any super-hero who didn't charge for his services like saving lives or stopping the world from blowing up.

But I also don't understand what "woke" means anymore. It seems to have become for some, one of those insult words you hurl at anyone or anything you don't like…like "He's a Communist," "He's a Socialist," He's a "Pedophile," etc. Someone doesn't have to advocate common ownership of the means of production for you to call them a Communist. They just have to be someone you view for whatever reason as The Opposition.

You certainly don't need any evidence of any child being mistreated to call someone a Pedophile, either. A lot of folks are upset at the claim that there are no Epstein Files were hoping there would be and they would reveal that every single person in public life they don't like had committed Statutory Rape so they'd disappear in one swell foop.

Search Results for: About ME

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You'll Never Get Away From Me

me at Comic-Con!

• THURSDAY •

• FRIDAY •

• SATURDAY •

• SUNDAY •

Recommended Reading

ASK me: The H-B Shmoo

me at Comic-Con!

• SUNDAY •

Recommended Reading

me at Comic-Con!

• SATURDAY •

ASK me: Milton Caniff and His Assistants

me at Comic-Con!

• FRIDAY •

me at Comic-Con!

• THURSDAY •

A Brief Comment