Comic Book Creator # 45 September 2026 (magazine review)
There are always some surprises with ‘Comic Book Creator’, usually with creators I’ve never heard of like Carol Lay, who’s worked in various aspects of the American comicbook and animation industry as editor Jon B. Cooke goes over her career. Not sure if I like all of her art but at least has the right to show it.
Back in the late 1970s, Cooke looks at artist Mark Wheatley who worked on Myron Fass’ 7 issue run of ‘Gasm’ and, no, you’re not mistaken where this name came from. The covers look great and looking on-line, a limited number of pictures and only one inside, showing art in black and white. I suspect the covers would have been the key selling point.
There’s a lot packed into this issue. The second part of the interview with creator Jack Katz focusing on the latter part of his career where he did ‘The First Kingdom’ and other series. The small interview with comicbook artist Bob McLeod shows how difficult it was for him to break into the industry.
The second part of Joe Hill’s interview conducted by Glenn Cadigan explains a lot about the process of deciding which of his stories made better for comicbook and prose gives some idea of the thinking process involved.
Of course, as with the cover, the meat of this issue is a transcript of a celebration of Gene Colan’s 75th birthday at the 2001 San Diego Comic-Con, disguised as a lecture by him on erasers. Something that I ought to remind people here is Colan didn’t read all the plot before he started drawing but worked through it a page at a time. As a consequence, he was squeezing the story in towards the end.
Writer Tom Field wrote the book ‘Secrets In The Shadows’, the biography of Gene Colan. Here he goes over his friendship with Colan, highlighting some of his history and later life. There’s also a lot more of Colan’s art. No one has ever tried to copy Colan’s art technique, which the artist laughingly says no one has been good enough. Colan was also a firm film buff, especially for westerns, which explains his interesting angles within the panels.
I suspect the amount of Gene Colan material will get his fans buying this edition of ‘Comic Book Creator, so make sure you get a copy.
GF Willmetts
September 2026
(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=1853&zenid=2pv55m1tt5plhqr2fbjecegmk6
