I hate waking up to sad news. Saw a mention on Twitter yesterday and
Mark Evanier confirmed it - Josie DeCarlo, the basis for her husband Dan's fictional comic-book rock band "Josie & The Pussycats", has gone to be with the Lord
My interaction with Josie was borne out of my desire to include her in my first book,
I Have To Live With This Guy!, published by Twomorrows in August 2002.
I was interested in lining up a diverse list of spouses, from all eras and walks of life, and wanted to feature Dan and Josie mainly because Dan's work was outside the superhero genre. In fact, you could make the argument that Dan's work had been seen by more people than any artist connected to the book.
Dan, of course, was the star Archie Comics artist for decades until 2000 when he decided he deserved a cut of all the money Archie Comics was making off his work (a
live-action movie of Josie & The Pussycats was released in 2001 - some projects
deserve to fail miserably) and went to war with the corporation.
After coming up with the concept for my book at the 2001 San Diego Comicon, I was able to close the deal with Josie and Dan at a November 2001 convention in New York City. You may not have guessed it from looking at her skinny frame, but that was one strong woman, filled with French passion and conviction...and a strong determination to support and further her husband's career and legacy.
How strong was she? A month after we all met in NYC, Dan passed away far too early, the added stress of a long, draining legal fight not helping. I still remember mulling over that next call to Josie about her participation in the book. Was I being insensitive even suggesting we continue? But, as I said, this was one strong lady and, when we spoke, she absolutely insisted continuing, again focused on continuing her husband's legacy.
And this strong lady had stories to tell! Not just about Dan, or her and Dan, but about an amazing life lived prior to their meeting that no doubt built that strong foundation that Dan so relied on throughout his life and career. Josie came out to the San Diego Comicon in 2002 and was on my panel for the book (a couple of months before publication) with Ann Eisner, Deni Loubert, and Jackie Estrada and Josie stole the show with her harrowing tales of growing up and her fabulous love story with Dan.
(Here's a pic for the ages: Dan on the left, flanked by Jeff Smith of
Bone fame, someone unknown over Josie, then Sergio Aragones and Will Eisner on your far right at the San Diego Comicon 2001. Click to enlarge.)
It's terribly sad to reflect on how many of these I am writing, having posted the
Adrienne Colan chapter when she passed away last year. We've also lost
Muriel Kubert in 2008, as well as husbands
Will Eisner in 2005 and
Ric Estrada in 2009. Praise God for those who remain in good health and we wish them long lives.
So let's celebrate Josie DeCarlo's life a little differently. Her story is so impressive, and I have 18000+ words (34 pages of single-space text!) from our conversations together, so I am going to publish the whole interview, versus the chapter in the book. Generally, I've preferred to go with a revised version of the chapter, because I added in a lot of context, but I so love Josie's story that we'll let her tell it, in three parts starting tonight. Lots of talk about Archie, of course, but also around Dan's time working with Stan Lee, and for Martin Goodman's Humorama magazine. Click on the "Read more" to view the entire text. RIP Josie...
Josie DeCarlo
taped March 17th, 2002, by phone from New York for
“I
Have To Live With This Guy!”
Blake Bell - I’m speaking to Josie
DeCarlo on Sunday March 17th from her home. Josie, I was first interested in
talking a little bit about your family background, where you grew up and what
it was like to grow up in Belgium, if that’s exactly where you grew up?
