Comic Book Creator # 39 August 2025 (magazine review)

This issue of ‘Comic Book Creator’ is labelled as the ‘Thomas Yeates’ issue, although there are also mostly many 2 and 4 page articles surrounding it so will pick what I think stands out.

Although I never really read ‘Ronnie Rich’, his main artist Warren Kremer (1921-2003), who also drew ‘Caspar The Ghost’ and drew most of Harvey Comics covers as writer Mark Arnold goes over his history. In later life, he and some of the other artists worked on Marvel’s ‘Star Comics’ and was one of the artists Marie Severin was impressed by his work.

Writer/editor Jon B. Cooke looks over the work of Errol D. McCarthy who designed the ‘Masters Of The Universe’ for Mattel. Although I have no love of the characters, had the licencing been possible, He-Man might well have been Conan. McCarthy also does some brilliant spoofs and his take on the Robin costume literally takes the beak.

Cooke also interviews comicbook writer Gregory Potter and how his career fizzled out despite a promising start at Warren magazines and later moving onto DC Comics with ‘Jemm, Son Of Saturn’ and the revised ‘Wonder Woman’ after ‘Crisis’. If anything, it proved the point at the time you had to live in New York to have a career in comicbooks at the time. When you consider his ideas were liked but pushed aside becomes a shame.

I like surprises. Cooke’s first part of an interview with cartoonist Steve Willis gives a detailed part of his early history which gives an insight into americana of the 1950s-1970s. It also gives some insight into the artist mindset where art is really all their good at. That isn’t true of all artists but none of us appear to be that good at sport except maybe Frazetta. The desire to draw all the time does seem to be compulsive when young as we ironed out our techniques.

The biggest part of this issue is devoted to comicbook Thomas Yeates who admits his best subject was art and it took a while for his reading ability to catch up. It has become a common theme over ‘Comic Book Artist’, that many young people who are perpetually drawing are the ones who found a career in the medium. Over the course of the interview, conducted by Cooke, I think the only one of his works I’ve read was ‘TimeSpirits’ and his work in Batman # 300, which a lot of artists did work for at the time. Yeats has done a lot of work over the years and has an amazing network of other artists whom help or he has helped when it comes to deadlines. Considering his meandering lifestyle, Yeates has managed to pull a remarkable career and this interview is well worth a read.

A heavy but fulfilling read.

GF Willmetts

December 2025

(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 401-783-1689. Direct from them, you can get it for $10.95 (US))

check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_132&products_id=1826&zenid=hk1gb2emvj49lpc74a1c1ip062