Before there was a
hayfamzone, there was "
Comic Art Entrepreneurs" ( and yes, as you probably figured, I'm the one that also concocted
that name).
A couple of comic book buddies (Hi
Rick T! Hi
Mark S!) and I banded together to form an economic partnership revolving around comics. We would pay $15 to rent table space at
The Old Comic Book Club of Chicago's monthly conventions held each third Sunday in the second floor ballroom at the
Wabash Avenue YMCA (now shuttered). Sometimes we even sold enough to cover that $15 fee, but usually not. One month I bought the original artwork to a
Flash splash page by
Carmine Infantino for $10 and then, deciding I didn't like it so much, turned around and sold it the same day for $11 (Hi
George H!).
Maybe you've seen one of the many movies in which
Mickey Rooney and
Judy Garland say "Let's put on a play in the barn!" Well, one day one of us three Entrepreneurs (yes, it was me) said "Let's publish a
fanzine!"
There was no particular focus on what would comprise this fanzine other than it would showcase drawings both by comics professionals and by comics fans. I commissioned a crisp and sharp
Captain Marvel pinup from the wonderful
Kurt Schaffenberger, and you can view that beautiful drawing if you click right
here.
I also put a classified ad in
Alan Light's Buyer's Guide inviting comics fans to submit their drawings for publication in this unnamed fanzine. We received a handful of submissions. One of them was from
David Mazzucchelli (and I think it featured the
Silver Surfer).
Unfortunately,
Comic Art Entrepreneurs dissolved and no fanzine was ever published.
Fast forward about one decade.
David Mazzucchelli becomes a professional comics artist and makes quite a name for himself with his excellent work on both
Daredevil and
Batman (click
here and
here for refreshers).
Fast forward once again, this time to the year 2009.
Asterios Polyp by
David Mazzucchelli is published. It's a hardcover book touted as a "graphic novel" (and we've certainly heard
that phrase bandied about often enough). I kept it on my
Amazon Wish List for two years but there had been no particular spark to get me to pull the trigger and actually buy it. One day out of the blue I asked my guy at
Atlas Comics in Norridge Illinois (Hi
John S!) what current comics he felt were remarkable. John couldn't vouch for any monthlies but he gave his highest recommendation to
Asterios Polyp and that was exactly the spark I needed. I found a great deal on
ebay and read it immediately. I hereby add my chant to the chorus of high praise.
Here and
here you can read other reviews of the book.
In comic book circles there is a lack of consensus as to whether
Don McGregor's Sabre or
Will Eisner's Tenement Stories was the first Graphic Novel. Both of those are excellent comic books in long form and upscale packages, but I am here today to proclaim that
Asterios Polyp is the FIRST GRAPHIC NOVEL THAT HAS EVER BEEN PUBLISHED. It is so much more than a comic book! Its non-linear story masterfully weaves together strong characters and strategically placed foreshadowing and a spiraling of thematic elements and stop me now before this run-on sentence slows down the entire internet! Particularly amazing to me is the way the color palette is used to advance the story. And I was also very impressed with a lettering innovation
Mr. M used to great effect in the closing pages of the book.
Twenty-some years ago when I saw
Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing at the Lake Theater, I consciously thought to myself "I don't want this movie to end." Likewise when I was reading
Asterios Polyp I was hoping the experience could go on and on. You can live this experience yourself if you click
here.
My
hayfamzone hat is off to
David Mazzucchelli. I had no inkling what a mastepiece would be forthcoming from him when I opened that envelope containing his drawing 36 years ago.