Video of Kim Thompson on 2001 SD Con Fantagraphics Panel

Remember in my previous post, on my memories of Fantagraphics co-publisher, Kim Thompson, who passed away last week, where I mentioned my first meeting with Kim?

Well, here's a segment of the "Origins Of Fantagraphics" video - featuring Mike Catron on your left, Gary Groth in the centre, and Kim Thompson on your right - from the 2001 San Diego Comic-Con.

The man manning the camera? A much younger version of me. It was right after this panel that Mike Catron (for whose camera I was manning) introduced me to both Kim and Gary.

Nice stuff. Haven't seen this since it was shot.

My Ditko article in San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Annual

I hate "sitting" on cool stuff. It worked for me when the editor of the Marvel Masterworks series couldn't get my Dr. Strange introduction approved in time for inclusion but, this time, I was on needles and pins for months waiting to spill the beans on the Ditko excitement found in this year's San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Annual. I was hired last November to write a 2000-word piece on Steve Ditko's contributions to the Spider-Man book and character for the Con's show piece publication. It's the 50th anniversary of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee's creation that first saw print in Amazing Fantasy #15, and the Con is all over it in their 80-page annual. (Perhaps prompted somewhat by the new movie starring the guy from Never Let Me Go, Andrew Garfield.)

The Annual has a print run of 135,000 copies (probably making it the most widespread publication I've been included within). The book is squarebound, on lovely matte-finish paper and shipped in a polybag. The Con introduced the publication last year and it was a great success. You can also read and download it online at the Con's website. The Annual also features a piece on the John Romita era by Tom Spurgeon, he of the super-blog Comics Reporter. If you see me at this year's Con, stop me and say hello.

(Thanks to Ben Towle - cartoonist supreme at www.benzilla.com - for the above scans.)