April 2009
whole number 232
2009 pages 025-032
Stephen R. Bissette leads off the issue, with the long first part of his 3-part autobiographical essay "Moving Day", originally published on his blog in 2005 and a Center For Cartoon Studies commencement speech in 2008. It's about his journey to becoming part of the first class of the Joe Kubert School in 1976, and thus dedicated to Muriel Kubert. This chapter covers Bissette's background and how his time at Johnson State College led him to take a leap of faith on this fledgling new school opening up in Dover, New Jersey:
"In 1976, the thought of anyone, much less a hick from Duxbury and Waterbury, making a career in comics was a reckless, delusional undertaking -- I mean, comics weren't a profession, they were a hobby." -- S. R. Bissette
(said fledgling school is still around, now fully accredited, and having trained many professionals since the first class Bissette attended)
The on-going task of listing "The Works Of Carl Wessler" (later titled "Upon Reflection") hits part 24, and is only up to 1952, when he was writing a lot of comics for Timely, all over their crime, romance and horror lines. Also some work for Lev Gleason, including one amusingly titled "The End of Johnny Morrow", presumably no relation to the publisher John Morrow...
Long "Under The Gun" letter column, with Joe Frank, Mark Fuller, Matt Murphy, D. Fenton, Sandeep Atwal, Gavin Callaghan and Stan Goldberg.
