2/11/06
At WonderCon, I had approached Thomas Yeates, and actually purchased a second pin-up from him. Part of my logic with this was my overwhelming guilt for I singling him out in the collected Doris Danger treasury that contained his first pin-up. The title page discussed how to make the comic “appropriate for all ages,” and I joked at great length and in obsessive detail about all the creative ways the reader could edit Thomas’s gorgeous pin-up (containing a nude) so that the book would still be “all ages friendly.” But rather than just be upfront with him what I did, and then apologize, I wanted to get another pin-up from him. He did this gorgeous jungle piece, so now I wanted him to do a jousting, knights of the round table type thing.
I’d been thinking about re-approaching a couple other artists, who I’d already gotten pin-ups from. John Severin was the first who got my juices flowing. I thought he did such a great Western pin-up, but he’s also known for his war comics. Wouldn’t that be fun to re-commission him for a war pin-up with a monster in it? And then I thought, well, since I can’t afford to keep paying Dick Ayers to ink the stories, maybe I could get a few pin-ups from him. I could get a Western pin-up, and then something else of his choice. Make him special, by including multiple pin-ups by him.
So I was on this kick of artists who do different genres, and having them do different genres of monster pin-ups.
This sparked my imagination of other artists from the first volume who I’d love to get second pin-ups from. Of course I’ve always fantasized about asking Gilbert Hernandez to do a full five-page story for me. Then I pictured Tony Millionaire doing an intricate architecturally involved giant monster, since he does gorgeous architectural line drawings.
And this brings us to this week. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. I realized, Shit! If I’m going to ask other people for pin-ups, ask your favorites. What do you have to lose? They’ll just say no, and I can move on, knowing at least I asked.
I immediately sent emails to Mike Mignola and Mike Allred. I’ve been calling Sam Kieth as well, but haven’t heard from him yet. Mike and Mike got back to me immediately, and shocked me.
Mignola said no way… … he’s way too busy… and he can’t believe my boldness… but he REALLY wants to do another! Check with him in a few months! Fuck me! What a fucking thrill!
I had hoped to see Mike Allred at Wondercon, but we didn’t hook up. His wife Laura had seen Mario Hernandez sitting at my table, so I was able to give Mike a copy of my oversize treasury through her, with his previous pin-up in it. He was real sweet emailing a reply. He said what a great format it was, and that he thought the book was great. So I felt hopeful about a response from him regarding another pin-up.
Allred writes back the next day, saying I caught him in a good mood. He wrote, quote: “Too much fun to pass up. The format is swell and the company is super cool.” Bless you, Mike Allred! He’s says he’s currently working on a Madman monster story, so he’s in the right frame of mind.
Hot damn! DAMN! Here I am, just throwing out maverick invites, because I’m an invading, annoying little punk with no boundaries, assuming these guys will simply not bother to write back at all, and what happens? I learn a valuable lesson. Be audacious, rude, and brash, because it PAYS OFF!
Editor’s note: I only moderately, jokingly believe in this. Don’t be rude to your idols, fans! Use tact and common sense! Otherwise, people will just think you’re an asshole, and word will spread in this tiny community!