On Friday at the San Diego Comicon, the moment I've waited for, two years in the making, was having Wendy Everett (Bill's daughter) arrive at the Con. The picture to your right is me handing her my book on her Dad, her first time holding and seeing it. Thankfully, she was extremely pleased with how it turned out. We spend a great day together at the Con, visiting the various publishers and original art dealers, looking at her Dad's original art that was on sale and hearing everyone gush about their love for her Dad's talents. I can't imagine being in her shoes, her father passing away 37 years ago, and here is all this attention pouring down on him and on Wendy.
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HERE to view all the pictures from the day, one of my favourites being of Wendy holding a slabbed copy of her Dad's first cover (Amazing Mystery Funnies #1 from 1938). To make the day even more special, my good friend (and Timely-Atlas expert) Dr. Michael J. Vassallo brought Nancy Maneely to our signing at the Fantagraphics booth. Nancy is the daughter of Joe Maneely, the Jack Kirby of the 1950s at Marvel who passed away suddenly just before the end of that decade. He was Stan's right-hand man in those days, but Nancy was only two when he died. It was great to listen to Wendy tell Nancy that she knew her Dad (Wendy would have been around 13 when Joe passed) because Bill and Joe worked together from about 1955 to 1957 in the Marvel Bullpen.
I also met up with UK superstar television personality Jonathan Ross (the picture has me holding a piece of Bill Everett's work that's in my book). Jonathan is a huge Ditko and Everett enthusiast and it was great to finally shake hands after quite a while of phone and email correspondence. Jonathan is famous in the comic industry for his BBC documentary "In Search Of Steve Ditko".
I did by accident happen to run into my name sake, actress Lake Bell on the 5th Avenue after dinner with Wendy, and Jonathan wasn't the only celeb to buy my Everett and Ditko books. Who knew that Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons loved Ditko and Everett so much?
Take a stroll through the above pictures if you are a lover of comic-book original artwork. I'm off to a 11am signing at the Fantagraphics booth, then an interview at the hotel across the street (press on the Everett book begins now!), and then join Wendy Everett and me in Room 9 at 5:30pm for our panel on her Dad.
