{"id":4957,"date":"2018-12-02T21:33:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T03:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/?p=4957"},"modified":"2018-12-23T13:58:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-23T19:58:04","slug":"doris-danger-vol-1-chpt-7-page-050-51-double-page-splash-russ-heath-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/archives\/4957","title":{"rendered":"Doris Danger (vol. 1, Chpt. 7), page 050-51 Double Page Splash RUSS HEATH \u2013 Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ah, the saga of trying to get a pin-up from Russ Heath!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here I am with my best friend, Russ, at San Francisco’s Wondercon 2006.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\nAnother photo with my best friend, Russ, this time at San Diego Comic-Con 2007.\u00a0 He’s holding a print he colored of the giant monster pin-up.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nHere I am with my best friend, Russ, at the San Diego Comic-Con 2009.\u00a0 You may notice in his portfolio, he has a print of the giant monster pin-up: a giant hand reaching at an airplane.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The adventure of getting this commission took a lot of years of persistence.<\/p>\n

As I peek back through old diary entries, there are a lot of holes in what happened, but you’ll get a feel for it.\u00a0\u00a0Here’s a diary entry I found from Wondercon 2004:<\/p>\n

I bugged Russ Heath again. A younger woman (daughter?) was sitting with him. I think she was shocked when I let drop I commissioned him a year ago, and the check I sent him had expired. She sounded like she would help me hound him to get the goddamn thing taken care of. I planned to call and bug him some more, now that I had support from inside his fortress. <\/em><\/p>\n

Here was a diary entry from Wondercon 2005:<\/p>\n

As usual, I popped over to Russ Heath, beginning to suspect he would never draw something for me, and had just been giving me the run-around all this time. To my shock, he said he was finishing up all his projects, and would probably have some free time for a pin-up in a month or so. He said someone who\u2019d been calling him for two and a half years called recently, and Russ actually told him he\u2019d do the sketch for him. The guy couldn\u2019t believe it. I told Russ, well I\u2019ve been bugging you for over two years, so maybe I\u2019ll be next in line. He smiled. I didn\u2019t want to get my hopes up, though.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here was a diary entry from early 2006<\/p>\n

I approached Russ Heath for the God-knows-how-many-eth time. This con was a good sign, though. He actually said, he thought he\u2019d have some time for a commission right now, and to get in contact with him. When I saw neither of us had anything going on at our tables (he sat directly behind me), I showed him the Doris book. To my surprise, later he popped over to my booth, and showed me a commission he\u2019d recently done, in the EC style. He said that\u2019s the closest he\u2019s come to doing giant monsters lately.<\/em><\/p>\n

All right, enough teasers.\u00a0 Right after Wondercon 2006, I made a diary entry to re-hash the entire, start-to-finish process of getting this pin-up from Russ:<\/p>\n

I first propositioned Mr. Heath for a pin-up at Wondercon, April 25th 2003. I was new at asking, and hadn\u2019t streamlined my technique yet. I also hadn\u2019t yet built up such an impressive list of cool artists, and I only had a few stories inked by Dick Ayers to share. I timidly said, \u201cI\u2019d be interested in commissioning you for a pin-up, \u201d and he made some mumbling insinuation about how busy he is and who knows how many years he\u2019s got left, and he doesn\u2019t even know if he\u2019ll be alive long enough to finish the ones he\u2019s committed to. All that said, he gave me a card with his address and phone number, at which point I told him it would be for a giant monster pin-up, and showed him the stories. He hadn\u2019t smiled yet during our entire exchange, but now that he heard and saw the subject matter, he literally rolled his eyes. But he knew it was too late for him. He had doomed himself by giving out his contact info before asking the subject matter. <\/em><\/p>\n

I had been contacting all the other artists up to that point by email, which felt much easier, more comfortable, and less intrusive. I was a little reticent about bugging him by phone, and I didn\u2019t get the impression he particularly wanted to do this at all, so that made it tougher to make the call too. Add to that, I\u2019m always pacing myself asking artists for pin-ups, because I can only afford so many at a time.<\/em><\/p>\n

Summer\u2019s San Diego 2003 rolls around, and I haven\u2019t called him yet. I find him and reintroduce myself, and remind him of our meeting a few months before, who I am and what I\u2019m looking for. I ask about his schedule, and he tells me I should call him to set something up right away, because DC was wanting him to do a book, and that would keep him pretty busy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course this time, I contacted him immediately like he asked, after getting home from San Diego.<\/em><\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t sound particularly excited I had called. I re-explained my project, and he listened as if he didn\u2019t remember our talking at the previous conventions, and was hearing it all for the first time. He said it would help if I send him a letter with a sketch of what I\u2019d like. Now he gave me his address. So I sent him a letter dated 7\/23\/03, with ideas and a few sketches for possibilities. I wanted it to be fun for him, and I wanted to give him plenty of options to find a subject he might enjoy. My contact info was in the letter, but I didn\u2019t hear from him. I gave it a month or two, to make sure he received the letter, and had time to look it over and think about it. <\/em><\/p>\n

I called him again, and once again, I explained who I was and what I was calling about, and once again, he listened as if this was all new to him. I asked if he received my letter, and had a chance to flip through it. He vaguely says he thinks he remembered it. I go into greater detail with what exactly I had sent him. Finally, he said, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve got that letter here somewhere.\u201d He fumbled around a little, for quite some time. I could hear papers being riffled through. While he searched, he said how things get piled up on his desk. Finally he said, \u201cOh yeah, here it is.\u201d He was quiet for another moment, I assume while he looked over the letter and tried to refresh his memory what it was all about. Then he said, \u201cI\u2019m pretty busy right now. Call me in a month.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So I do, and we go through the same process of him seeming not to remember me, and my explaining the project I have in mind. He says he still busy, and to call him in a few months.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, on this next call, after months of going through all the same introductions and reminders of who I am and what I want, he suddenly says, \u201cYeah, I never really cared for those monster comics. They were really popular, to have the armies go back in time and fight dinosaurs or whatever, but I always thought they were terrible. I never enjoyed doing them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So I explain, look, you can draw whatever you like. Draw what you love. Draw a tank. Draw a plane. And then just include some hint of a monster. For example, a gigantic hand reaching down. Or a foot stomping down. Or a shadow of a monster falling over the tank. Or an eye peeking through a hole in a wall. Or a creature peeking around rubble. Other artists have done this kind of thing.<\/em><\/p>\n

So he ask, \u201cOther artists do just hints like that?\u201d Yes. Well could I send him some samples of what other artists have done? I\u2019m thinking, Jesus Christ, how long is this dance going to play?! So I put another package together for him, with copies of other artists\u2019 pin-ups. I send that with my contact info, give him some time, and again don\u2019t hear back from him. <\/em><\/p>\n

I call again. I explain the project again. To my amazement and out of the blue, he suddenly gives me a price that he would charge me. I\u2019m shocked. This means, after months of what seemed like pretty hard work wearing him down, I can now send him a check, and he\u2019s ready and willing, at last, to take my money and do a pin-up for me. I\u2019ve finally worn him out and gotten him to commit. I tell him I\u2019ll send him a check immediately, and I tack on twenty extra dollars for shipping, which he didn\u2019t ask for. The check was dated October 18, 2003. I include a note with the check asking him to give me an idea when the pin-up will be finished, and letting him know there\u2019s no hurry.<\/em><\/p>\n

I wait awhile, because I don\u2019t want to crowd artists. But now it\u2019s into December, and the check hasn\u2019t cleared. I once again call and explain who I am and what the project is, and he once again gives the impression he\u2019s hearing it all for the first time. He says he doesn\u2019t cash checks until a job is finished, and I shouldn\u2019t have sent a check so early. As to when he\u2019ll get to the project, he says he has to send out Christmas cards or something, and he\u2019s going to be busy for a month.<\/em><\/p>\n

Come January, he tells me he\u2019s busy for another month, because he has to get his taxes together.<\/em><\/p>\n

Come February, he say\u2019s he\u2019s busy for three months, because he needs to put together some new, nude prints of his girlfriend to have ready, I assume, for Wondercon. So this \u201ccall me in a month\u201d variation has gone on for a year now, and I see him at 2004\u2019s Wondercon, and presumably his Christmas cards went out okay and he got his taxes squared, and there are finished nude prints of his girlfriend at his table.<\/em><\/p>\n

I remind him I\u2019ve been bugging him for a year. He says to just keep calling. So I call again. <\/em><\/p>\n

Right at this time, I\u2019m getting ready to release my first comic, Tabloia #572. I\u2019m just sending an advertisement\/poster to the printer to have sent to shops. Since we had discussed the price and my usual terms (I\u2019d like to keep the piece, I\u2019d like to advertise the pin-up is included in my book, I\u2019d like the payment to be one-time), and since I\u2019ve sent him a check, I include his name in this ad, and list him at my website as a pin-up contributor. The ad is shipped and visible around May 2004.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, on the phone, he has a \u201cbreaking the bad news\u201d tone to his voice. DC just hired him to do four prestige-sized (48-page?) comics written by Howard Chaykin, and every time I call he\u2019s busy and behind schedule with that, and he can\u2019t even guess when it will be finished or when he\u2019ll have time for a commission, but maybe he\u2019ll be able to squeeze something in, so keep calling. <\/em><\/p>\n

After a few calls like this, he finally admits the DC book will most likely keep him too busy for a year or more, and so naturally the check I\u2019ve sent him expires. He was professional enough not to cash it, and even called me one day at my request to tell me he found the check and voided it.<\/em><\/p>\n

With all these phone calls, I would occasionally ask how the Chaykin book was going. At one point, he said he has to draw a kid growing up, and it\u2019s always a challenge to get the proportions right. Because if you make the head too big, it can change the kid\u2019s age by ten years.<\/em><\/p>\n

I continue to see him at conventions, and every time I see him, he says how busy he is, and I just naturally begin to assume I\u2019ll never get a pin-uup from him, and this is just his way of blowing people off.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m just checking in with him out of habit, not because there\u2019s any hope of actually getting a pin-up from him. Until San Diego 2005 \u2013 over two years after first asking him for a pin-up. Out of nowhere, my hopes are aroused when he confides to me that he just told someone who\u2018s been bugging him for two and a half years that he has time for their commission. And I tell him, that\u2018s good news for me, because I\u2018ve been bugging you for two years and three months.<\/em><\/p>\n

The breakthrough comes Wondercon 2006. I tell him it\u2019s our three year anniversary since I first started bugging him. He says (I gasp with surprise) he should have time to do a commission now! Then HE actually comes over to MY table, and brings a commission he did for someone in the old EC style, and tells me that\u2019s the closest he\u2019s come to doing a giant monster. I introduce him to my wife, Elizabeth. I pop over and buy a couple of his prints. He tells me to call him and we\u2019ll work out the details for the commission.<\/em><\/p>\n

I call him two days after the con and leave a message. He calls me back the next day. I remind him what I have in mind for the pin-up, and check on the price. <\/em><\/p>\n

Of course there has to be another hitch, because why should something go smoothly trying to get this pin-up?<\/em><\/p>\n

He says he doesn\u2019t know where the numbers I give him came from, but he thinks he should charge about five to eight times more. I ask if he could work smaller, or do less detail. We agree on a plane in the sky, so that there\u2019s no background. He ends up charging me slightly less than double the original check I had sent him. Because it\u2019s more than I had anticipated, I tell him I\u2019ll have the money together in two months.<\/em><\/p>\n

In a month I get a call from him. It\u2019s done. I can\u2019t believe it! I remind him I don\u2019t have the money yet, but will try and get it earlier than promised. He just says, when he never knows what his schedule will be, he gets the work done whenever he can fit it in.<\/em><\/p>\n

I had asked at Wondercon if I could pay him then, but he wouldn\u2019t take my money at that time. He said, at his age, you never know if he takes the money, if he\u2019ll pass away without finishing the piece. He said what he likes to do is, when he gets the check, drop the piece in the mail on his way to the bank. That way both of us are sure to be taken care of.<\/em><\/p>\n

I sent my payment out last week. I can\u2019t wait to see what he\u2019s come up with.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/a>
\nChpt. 6<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0CHPT. 7<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Chpt. 8<\/a>
\nSPLASH PAGE ($4 Patrons):\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY: Ah, the saga of trying to get a pin-up from Russ Heath! Here I am with my best friend, Russ, at San Francisco’s Wondercon 2006.   Another photo with my best friend, Russ, this time at San Diego Comic-Con 2007.\u00a0 He’s holding a print he colored of the giant monster pin-up. Here I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doris-danger"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"woocommerce_thumbnail":false,"woocommerce_single":false,"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"cwisnia","author_link":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/archives\/author\/cwisnia"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"COMMENTARY: Ah, the saga of trying to get a pin-up from Russ Heath! Here I am with my best friend, Russ, at San Francisco’s Wondercon 2006.   Another photo with my best friend, Russ, this time at San Diego Comic-Con 2007.\u00a0 He’s holding a print he colored of the giant monster pin-up. Here I am…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chriswisniaarts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}