Benito JACOVITTI!

I'm back, folks!!
I apologize again, for the long delay between Postings.. But Life has become increasingly busy for me. The month of April saw me get married to the lovely Suzanne Dargie. Plus,-- my amazing 80 year-old Dad took a whole bunch of us to Holland with him, for an incredible 12-day vacation..
While in Amsterdam, I was able to visit the 'Lambiek' and 'GoJoker' bookstores.. And hunt down some albums featuring one of my favorite European artists: Benito Jacovitti!
This guy's work is astounding to me.. And even more astonishing that his work hasn't been reprinted for North American readers! I only have his work in foreign languages.. Mostly in Dutch, which I have a working comprehension of..
I only discovered his work in 1974, when my family first visited the Netherlands. Jacovitti's stories appeared regularly in the popular Dutch anthology: 'PEP Magazine'.. That publication featured many of his popular characters.
'Jack Mandolino' was a lot of fun.. Mandolino is a small-time crook that can't seem to get a break.. Despite the best efforts of his small Devil sidekick, who's constantly offering advice from his big book of "Dirty Tricks"..
'Cocco Bill' may have been his most popular character.. Jacovitti did quite a few stories with him. And from what I can gather, was propably his most-recognizable character. I have yet to see a 'Cocco Bill' story that lays out why exactly it's so necessary to always have a Set Square on his saddle. But it definitely fits into the absurdist worlds Jacovitti creates!
I already had a number of the 'Cocco Bill' books gifted to me by a good CFA-APA friend: Deiderik Van Rappard.. So instead, I bought a volume featuring 'The Zorry Kid'; Jacovitti's spoof on the famed ZORRO character..
I'm always at a loss, trying to describe Jacovitti's work to my friends.. Much of it, strikes me as reminiscent of Don Martin's MAD stuff. Especially the staging and the animated movements. Do I also detect a bit of Prohias' SPY vs. SPY here, too? Not sure. Some of the more grotesque surrealism, has something of a Basil Wolverton feel to it..
Either way, I really enjoy all of it!
Apparently, Jacovitti completed a very popular adaptation of 'Pinocchio'.. But alas, I haven't been able to locate that one. Instead, I lucked-into snagging another Jacovitti rarity: his 1983 'KAMA SUTRA' book!
Basic Blog decorum prevents me from sharing any of the bawdy/ribald pages from the interior of this remarkable volume.. But I can show you what the cover looks like:
Benito Jacovitti passed away at the age of 73, in December 1997. He created more than 60 different characters; and produced artwork & stories for more than 150 different books. He was easily one of the most prolific & original artists in comic-book history..
Why should it require taking a trip to Europe to get my hands on some of this stuff?!

That's all for now..See y'all, the next time!!

For Dave: IRMA The Body!

Heya!
Time for another of my Stripper/Burlesque posts, methinks?
If you're a comic nerd like me.. Then you already know that the San Diego Comic-Con 2008, has just ended. I didn't get to go, this year.. And I'm not that sure that I'll ever go, again. I keep hearing how crowded it is. And how it's changed for the worst, lately..
To be honest, my main reason for attending the convention in 1999, 2001, and 2003.. was to meet my favorite artist: Dave Stevens!
I had been e-mailing with Tom Ranheim for many years.. He's the webmaster of the official Dave Stevens website.. And, also a good friend! We decided we'd go make the trip to San Diego together, in '99. And again, in 2001..
By the 2001 trip, we'd gotten to know Dave quite well.. Gone out to dinner with him. And we were invited to his home/studio, too. It was quite a revelation, seeing all of his Original Art up close.. Intimidating, too!
In any case, Dave & I shared a passionate interest in 50's-era Striptease/Burlesque. And as it happened,-- I'd just acquired a slew of great stuff off eBay: the personal photos & scrapbook clippings of "IRMA The Body"; one of Burlesk's top performers, back in the day!
I picked them up in California, during the trip.. Fortunate for me, the Seller lived just north of San Diego!
Well, Dave couldn't wait to dig thru my cache of goodies.. And decided then-and-there, that he would love to do a painting of "Irma" (her real name was: Mary Goodneighbor). For reference, he borrowed the 2 candid photos, shown below:
"Irma" was a real looker, don'tcha think?!!
The one on the Left, was taken during a photoshoot celebrating her engagement to a man attending a Naval Academy. The relationship didn't last, and they never ended up getting married..
I prefer the photo on the Right.. I think she really looks great, in that pose! Hard to believe the photo was taken in 1970.. She still looks so young. And I'm pretty sure she had "retired" from performing, by then.
Dave sent me back the photos thru the mail, once he'd made copies.. I honestly dunno if he ever got 'round to painting "Irma". I guess we'll find out when his big 'Art Of' book gets published, sometime next year..

Today, would've been Dave's 53rd birthday.. When he passed away from Leukemia earlier this year in March.. It didn't hit me quite as bad, as it does now. I guess I associate him so closely to the San Diego Comic-Con.. A convention that he volunteered at long ago, way before he ever became a professional artist..
Here's one of the last illustrations that Dave completed before he died.. It was a commission for fellow CFA-APA member: Wally Harrington. A great guy & a personal friend of Dave's, over many years..
I've been trying to find some online reports about the "Dave Stevens Memorial" panel at SDCC '2008, without much luck.. If anyone knows where I can read about how that event went.. Please post a weblink, in my Comments section.. I'd love to see some photos & read what was said!
It's sad for me to think that there won't be anymore "new" Dave Stevens artwork to anticipate.. Hopefully, there'll be a ton of unseen gems in the Arnie Fenner -produced hardcover, due in 2009!
I picked up the most recent issue of 'The Comics Journal'.. There's an excellent Dave Stevens memorial piece in there, written by his dear friend: Bill Stout.. I was surprised to learn that Dave had been diagnosed with his cancer, back in 1999. A terminal diagnosis, that generally means the patient has only months to live.. Dave hung on, for a full 8 years longer!

I'll cherish the memories of "hanging out" with Dave, the few times I did. I'll miss his e-mails especially.. He had a very witty writing style, even when he didn't write often..
I hope that he's up there somewhere, without pain.. Sitting in the Front Row of the best dang Girlie-Show that ever was!!

Daniel Torres' ROCCO VARGAS!

Humble apologies, for my long absence.. I've spent the past couple of weeks, hurriedly completing my 'CFA-APA' contribution! The deadline was November 15th. And I only got it sent out via FedEx, this aft.. Fortunately, our Editors always afford us, a little bit of wiggle room!

For those that don't know.. An 'APA' is an 'Amateur Press Association'.. A kind of an old-school Fanzine, published by (and for) it's own Membership.. In our case, it's a sophisticated group of 'Original Art' collectors/enthusiasts. We only ever publish 55 copies or so, about 3 times a year.
Each issue, features a different "theme" for articles to follow. And this time 'round, it was: "International Comic Art".. So I chose to write about Daniel Torres. One of my favorite-est European artists!

Normally, writing my article comes pretty easy.. But truth-be-told, I knew very little about Daniel Torres.. Outside of the fact that he was from Spain; and that I liked his work a lot..
I found relatively little info about him, online. And what I did.. was all written in Spanish. A language which I am definitely not fluent in!
Last week (fortunately), I was able to purchase the new 'ROCO VARGAS Sketchbook' at my comic-book shop.. It's excellent!! I can't recommend it, highly enough! And that helped me sort out some of Torres details for my article..

I had a hard time just picking out a few JPEGs from the book to showcase here, on my Blog.. I only scanned the cover and a few interior pages.. It's a 48-page hardcover, that is loaded with conceptual sketches, color comps, vehicle & character designs.. And even storytelling 'page breakdowns' that you can compare to the finished books, if you have them..
The English-language translations were all published as: 'ROCCO VARGAS'.. with an added "C" to the name. The earliest stories started out as a kind of swashbuckling Space Opera.. But later issues, informed us that 'ROCCO' was in fact a mild-mannered Science-Fiction writer named: "Armando Mistral"; who just happens to get drawn into a lot of adventures, mystery, and intrigue..
I actually own relatively few of the books, myself.. As Torres' work is notoriously difficult to find on these North American shores! If you enjoy the 'Clear Line' style popularized by artists like Yves Chaland and Eddy Vermeulen.. Give Daniel Torres' work a look,-- you might really enjoy it, too!