Santa’s Night Out
Dec27
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Hey, gang!
I’m back for another Flashback Friday featuring my trip to NYC and the Ghostbusters filming locations.
So far we’ve gone to the library, and firehouse– this time it’s another 1984 movie location. We’re visiting Dana Barrett and Louis Tully‘s Central Park apartment building at 550 Central Park West…
…the Shandor Building, also known as Spook Central!
Okay- who brought the dog..?
The exteriors of the building (and church next door) were shot in Manhattan at 55 Central Park West, between 65th and 66th Streets and directly across the street from Central Park. The building has 19 floors, is a housing cooperative, was designed by the firm of Schwartz and Gross and built back in 1929. It’s had some pretty famous tenants over the years, and the penthouse has sold several times for between $1-30,000,000. Don’t know how much orchestra musicians or C.P.A.s get paid, but let’s just say that in the movie Dana and Louis are doing fine for themselves.
In the movies it was designed and built by Ivo Shandor, an architect and doctor who lead a cult of around 1000 Gozer the Gozerian worshipers that performed doomsday rituals up on the roof.
The Gozer temple above the penthouse apartment and extra floors (as well as a gargoyle or two) were added with special effects. In the movie Dana and Louis live on the 22nd floor (Dana’s apartment is 2206, Louis’ is 2202).
The original building the producers wanted was 1 Fifth Avenue (near Washington Square Park). It was much taller (27 floors) and had a cool top that could easily double as a temple, but the residents of the building decided they didn’t want the movie crew filming there. The one on Central Park West was chosen instead and became the one Ghostbusters fans know and love.
The production also made another apartment building on the Columbia lot to shoot the finale scene where the road breaks apart. It’s seamless when you’re watching the movie- at least it is to me! Some GB trivia- there are two different doormen because one was filmed in NY at the actual apartment building entrance and the other in L.A. on the set.
While walking around the library, we spotted this spooky building from Bryant Park (see my Library blog post to learn more about it and the surrounding Bryant Park). This building on 5th Avenue wasn’t 1 Fifth Avenue, but would have worked well, too! It also would have made more sense why Louis was walking around Times Square– it’s just around the corner..!
Nicki and I got up early on Saturday morning and caught a subway to Central Park. I was a bit worried about the NY subways, not only because of potential crime or strange passengers, but because they seemed a bit confusing and I hate crowds and confined spaces. Luckily I had my wife Nicki with me to help navigate, and a couple Guardian Angels to help keep it safe. We really only had a could subway rides that were crowded. I could definitely see how the virus spread so quickly up there.
Like most we had that weekend, it was a short ride and we only had a few strange encounters the whole time we were there. We exited at the 72nd Street/Central Park West stop, and made our way up the stairs and back outside into sunlight.
Once we were above ground again we could immediately see Central Park across the street. We crossed there and began to explore the park. It’s strange to encounter so much green in the middle of NYC.
The weather was amazing, and we just kind of followed the trails that snaked through the trees. We found a great spot to sit and watch folks row around the lake (apparently there are 8 lakes and ponds in Central Park). We took lots of pics, and listened to a couple folks perform live/acoustic. Also saw a wedding party taking pics by the lake. It was kind of weird to feel safer walking around Central Park and Manhattan than I do in most of Memphis. If you ever want to visit Memphis, I’m more than happy to give you some tips on what to do/don’t do or see while in town.
After getting some more steps in we found an info booth, got a map and headed out to see Strawberry Fields.
We found the IMAGINE mosaic- which was a very popular spot for tourists. Was tricky trying to get a photo without someone sitting in the frame. We listened to a musician sing and play some acoustic Beatles tunes (including Imagine) and some of his own original songs. We heard a lot of live music throughout the park, and saw lots of folks biking, too.
Bit of advice- when crossing any roads or paths, watch out for anyone on a bike or jogging in the park…those folks are fast, serious, and crazy! Definitely keep your head on a swivel. The streets around the church/apartment building are very busy, too.
After spotting a snack cart, we got a pretzel and some water, took a breather while doing some people watching, and then headed off to find Tavern On The Green. It wasn’t too far of a walk from where we had stopped to eat and rest. It was a bit off the main road we were walking on but fairly easy to find.
The restaurant had closed for a few years, but was back open while we were there. Unfortunately it’s closed again due to COVID-19, as is a lot of New York. So thankful we went when we did.
I was really surprised at just how close the restaurant was to the apartment building, and how much bigger the building behind it was. You can see both behind me. Didn’t realize Louis didn’t really have all that far to run when trying to get away from the Terror Dog/Vinz Clortho.
The restaurant has changed a bit since the movie was filmed here. As we walked back up the road beside the restaurant it looked like this area in the movie was now outdoors.
We turned right and followed a paved path that curved back some and before we knew it we could see the apartment building and church to our left.
I have to admit, I completely geeked out. I love cool, Gothic architecture, and not only was I at Spook Central- an iconic Ghostbusters filming location, but the church was still standing!
In the movie the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man walks up Central Park West and steps on the church before scaling the apartment building next door and really ticking off Peter Venkman.
The actual church is the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, and is located at 3 West 65th Street at the corner of Central Park West. Construction on the church took almost 2 years and was completed in 1904.
The church was amazing to see in person. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to see inside, but I took a ton of photos with Nicki’s nicer Nikon camera.
Well, I also took a bunch with my iPhone, too! I’m not super religious, but love Gothic architecture and enjoy touring old churches. Definitely want to see the insides of this one.
When I walked next door to the apartment building I talked a bit with the doorman. It was obvious that I was a tourist and that he sees a lot of ghostheads at work each day.
I didn’t ask if there was a no pets policy. He was very friendly, but I didn’t want to push my luck to see if I could look around the lobby. I did get a peek as I walked by. 😉
Directly across from the apartment building is a yellow square on the wall where Louis climbed over while being chased by the Terror Dog/Vinz Clortho.
It’s a bit of a drop, but a quick run to Tavern On The Green- especially with a Terror Dog hot on your heels!
Again, it was so surreal to be there. I’d always wanted to go to NYC, but didn’t think I would get the chance, much less visit some famous movie locations like this. But with New York/Manhattan, there are sooooo many movie locations for sooooooo many different productions.
I really have to thank Nicki for making this trip happen, and being so willing to see some of my Ghostbusters bucket list locations with me. I’ve got a couple more locations to share with you, and one non-Ghostbusters bucket list location of Nicki’s that I was surprised to get to visit.
Hope you enjoyed reading this HGWT blog post on Ghostbusters locations and NYC.
We definitely had a blast being there at Spook Central!
Lin
If you’d like to explore more on your own, here are a few sites that might be of some help-
SoutingNY(dot)com – pt1
SoutingNY(dot)com – pt2
Hey, gang- got another Ghostbusters/NYC trip blog for you. Last week we checked out the NY Public Library.
This time Nicki and I visited the movie headquarters of the Ghostbusters which is an actual working New York City firehouse– Hook & Ladder Company #8.
It was built in 1903 and is located at 14 North Moore Street at its intersection with Varick Street in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan.
The building, which originally had two vehicle doors, was halved in size in 1913 after Varick Street was widened.
That’s the street the Ecto-1 turns onto beside the firehouse and screams down when they get their first call in the original 1984 movie.
Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters 2 (1989), and Ghostbusters: Answer The Call (2016) have all featured the exterior of the famous firehouse. It has showed up in other movies and TV shows, and there are several toy versions of it, too.
The interior of the Ghostbusters firehouse headquarters was shot in a Los Angeles studio and Fire Station No. 23, a decommissioned firehouse in L.A. It was built in 1910 and closed in 1960. The station was declared a Historic Cultural Monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1966. The first film shot there was Hammett (1982), then followed by Ghostbusters in ’84. The Mask, Flatliners, and Police Academy 2 also used that firehouse. Like the NY Public Library scenes, the Ghostbusters are in New York when they are outside, and in Los Angeles whenever they are inside. Cool movie magic!
We got up early and caught a subway down to the Franklin Street stop.
There were a few must see places on my bucket list while in NYC and the firehouse was definitely one of them.
Riding a New York subway was another one, and we got to do that several times while we were there. I enjoyed it and only had a couple strange encounters…
It was a quick and uneventful subway ride from Times Square to Tribeca and the subway let us off just down the street from the firehouse. We immediately saw it on our left after topping the stairs from the subway.
When we got closer we saw that the ladder truck was parked out in front of the firehouse’s truck entrance with its ladder extended all the way up to the roof.
Yeah, I totally geeked!
The crew were doing drills up the ladder to the roof and wearing their full equipment.
It looked like fun, but I’m sure looks are deceiving when you’re wearing all that gear!
I was lucky enough to get a lot of shots of the firetruck while it was in use. It was parked in the middle of the street that Louis and Janine are talking to each other in GB2 when he almost gets run over and then decides to direct traffic.
Here is the passenger side of the firetruck.
Front of the truck with some serious bling- which I’m guessing has holes like that to let air pass through and cut down on wind resistance. Firetrucks aren’t very aerodynamic to begin with.
I loved the Ecto-1 licence plate on the back of the firetruck. The Ghostbusters love was all over the vehicle!
The driver’s side of the truck had a mooglie ghost logo and a memorial bronze plaque for one of their own- Lieutenant Vincent Halloran. Hook & Ladder No. 8 were among the first responders to the 9/11 attacks and he was the only firefighter that Hook & Ladder 8 lost on 9-11.
Once they were finished training, we even got to watch the ladder lowered back down into its position along the back of the truck before putting it away.
It was amazing to watch them squeeze the large truck through the now small looking doorway..!
We and the small crowd that had gathered to watch were all astounded at how the driver and crew worked to maneuver back into its home.
That took some serious skill and obviously not this driver’s first rodeo- awesome parking job!
Before they parked the truck back inside the firehouse, Nicki and I were able to get a few shots of the interior.
It’s fairly open now, but once that truck is parked inside it’s a pretty cramped working space.
Oh, notice something familiar on that left wall..?
Yep- it’s the sign from Ghostbusters 2!
I love movie props and filming locations, especially ones as iconic and famous as these.
Some other interior shots…and there’s a fireman’s pole. Since it’s a working firehouse we didn’t get to try sliding down one of those. I’ve been a fan of those since the ’60s Batman TV show.
I really loved the logos painted on the sidewalk just outside the door. Not sure how long they’ve been there. I know we don’t see them in the movies and I have seen shots of them with some serious wear. I had heard that the firehouse had been renovated so maybe they got repainted then- not sure.
You can’t really tell in the movie but there’s a small alleyway that goes beside and around the other side of the firehouse. My friend Kevin asked me to be sure and get a shot of that for him, so there ya go.
Here are a couple shots of the street that runs behind the firehouse (it’s the one you see the Ecto-1 turn left onto after tearing down the street after leaving the firehouse for the first time) and the other is across the street and behind the firehouse about a block. You can see the Franklin St. subway stop entrance where we got off/on the subway.
Not sure what building this is down the street from the firehouse but think it’s a safe bet that it wasn’t built way back in 1903..!
While we were there I got to meet a fellow Ghostbusters fan- Nate! He and his parents Hannah and Mark were visiting from Liverpool. They were hitting all the GB movie locations, too- and had been here before back when Nate was 7.
Gave Nate a Memphis Ghostbusters pin, business card, and a couple of stickers. Nate says he wants to start his own Ghostbusters franchise when he gets back home, and Nate’s mum said that she’s going to make him his own Ghostbusters franchise patch. I told her I’ve be happy to trade patches when she does. They bought a firehouse patch, too. That reminds me- need to order more patches! Like me he wasn’t able to bring all of his gear and flightsuit, but he had his PKE meter with him and was wearing this awesome firehouse tee his mother made for him. “I like that shirt, friend..!”
I made sure to leave behind one of our Memphis Ghostbusters patch and sticker as a gift to the firefighters for their collection at the station.
Nicki bought a LADDER 8 tee and got patches for both of us to take home for our collections.
We had a blast visiting the firehouse, but needed to hop back on the subway and head down to the Financial District to catch the Staten Island Ferry. I’ll share that adventure next.
Can’t thank my wife enough for this trip. Hope we can do it again sometime. “New York, New York..!”
Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8
14 N Moore St, New York, NY 10013
(718) 999-2000
Need more info on the firehouse and other Ghostbusters filming locations?
Hey, gang- back for more of my trip to NYC. Last blog post was about Watchmen. This time it’s about Ghostbusters and the New York Public Library. I’ll be doing several Ghostbusters filming locations blog posts, so here’s the first of those.
If you’re a Ghostbusters fan (aka “ghosthead”) like myself, you probably remember the library’s exterior and iconic lion statues from the opening shots at the beginning of that 1984 movie.
Unfortunately when my wife Nicki and I stopped by last October we didn’t get to see them.
They were being cleaned and restored. Apparently the maintenance to the lions happens about ever 10 years, and just our luck it was that time again during our visit.
We did get to read a lot about the lions and the library from the walls they had constructed around the lions during the restoration process.
Pretty interesting stuff. (You can find out more about the history of the library by clicking here.)
Our hotel was just down the street from the library- about a block or so closer to Times Square, so we were able to walk over to it easily and got to see a lot of it. We noticed there were some restorations going on with the steps and main entrance of the library, too. With as many folks that enter/exit that building I wasn’t surprised.
We had been all over the outside of the library and the surrounding Bryant Park, but didn’t get a chance to go inside until our last day in New York. I do regret waiting until the last day to see inside it. The line to get in moved pretty quickly.
After going through the security check we made our way around the lobby and then upstairs to see some of the larger reading rooms.
The interior was gorgeous, and massive! There were amazing details everywhere.
The rooms were HUGE, and eerily quiet. I loved all the wood, high ceilings, and large windows. Like the interior firehouse scenes in Ghostbusters, the interior of the NY library wasn’t shot in NY.
It was actually filmed on the opposite side of the country at the L.A. library (the Los Angeles Central Library – 630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA to be exact) and was edited to look like the same location.
Ah, the Hollywood magic of being in two places at once..!
We had great weather while we were in town so we did a lot of walking and exploring inside and out. We shopped at the book store and souvenir stand inside the library before we left. Picked up some pins, postcards, stickers, and a book on the library. I always like to pick up a book about the town or something in the towns we visit- any interesting any history ones. I love any roadside attractions types of books, too.
One thing we found interesting outside the library was a gaming area with tables and a games carts.
Folks can enjoy board games, chess, checkers, and more in Bryant Park.
Bryant Park is small and only a few acres of public park (privately managed), but is jam packed with amazingly cool- and FREE stuff. It’s open to the public, has restrooms, free wi-fi, and even outlets so you can recharge your phone or laptop while you sit and recharge yourself.
The park is located around the library between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas, and between 40th and 42nd Streets. The library itself actually extends under the grassy area of the park and has escape hatches that lead outdoors to safety in case of an emergency in the library. (Check out this video for some more info about Bryant Park.)
We loved visiting the part of the park courtyard that was at back of the library. Again it was very close to our hotel and within walking distance of so many other great NY attractions. Inside the park there was an awesome fountain, carousel, landscaping, and great views of the city- both day and night. It was definitely was one of the places we saw most of while we were there. It was a lot more relaxed and less crowded than the time we spent on Times Square.
There was also a restaurant, bar, and a few places to get some coffee and deserts, and plenty of seating to just chill and take in the view of the surrounding trees and buildings. There was a Whole Foods store directly across from the park that came in handy for snacks for us that weekend.
One night got very chilly after dark so the coffee available in the park hit the spot for us. If you get a chance to try some Wafels & Dinges with your coffee I definitely recommend it. (So according to W&D “dinges” apparently is a Belgian slang word that means “whatchammacallit”, which is what Wafels & Dinges calls their toppings- of which there were several.)
The park workers were setting up a temporary outdoor ice skating rink and some seasonal holiday shops for the upcoming Winter Village. The ice skating rink is free and open to the public. We would have loved to have seen that operational and enjoyed some ice skating while we were there. We’ve enjoyed skating at The Mid-South Ice House near us and at the Bridgestone Arena– home ice of the Nashville Predators.
Can’t imagine what New York is like around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but would love to experience it at least once- although I’m not all that interested in being there for any New Years activities- especially around Times Square. Nope- WAAAAY too many people and tourists for me. I’m really not a crowds kinda guy. October was nice, and wouldn’t mind visiting in early November. I imagine spring in Central Park could be great, too.
I really enjoyed seeing the library lit up after dark. It had such a spookier feel to it. I honestly felt safer walking around New York than I do Memphis, which can be very scary at times.
The library building has so much character, and the lighting helped to bring out a lot of the details you might miss during the day.
I definitely want to see some museums and take a tour of the library the next time we visit NYC. Even though we weren’t lucky enough to see the lions in person, we were there before the pandemic struck, so we did get to at least get to visit some great places like Bryant Park and the library.
Check it out if you get a chance.
Lin
New York Public Library
5th Avenue and East 42nd Street
Manhattan, New York
Hey, gang-
As you probably know I’m a big WATCHMEN fan. I love the comics, the movie, the toys, the statues, the podcasts, cosplay, etc.
Well, now I’m a big fan of the HBO TV show as well.
While my wife Nicki and I were visiting New York City back in October I got to see a lot of Ghostbusters filming locations (lots of future blogs on those), catch our first show on Broadway (another future blog about that coming up), and eat some great cheesecake, pizza, and bagels. We also experienced some cool Watchmen related things. Right after we got out of our shuttle from the airport I immediately noticed a familiar yellow logo…
It was an HBO WATCHMEN TV show billboard featuring Regina King as Sister Night- near Times Square and our hotel. We walked by it at least a couple times a day while we were there. The last night we were there it was raining and I sooooo wished I had my Rorschach costume with me so Nicki could have taken some wet street pics of me.
I really got a kick out of seeing this billboard each morning and evening while we were there. As soon as I saw it on our way back to our hotel I knew we were getting close to being back in our room.
I was really looking forward to the new show, and was bummed I wasn’t going to catch it on TV that weekend. I was curious how much it was tied to the comics, if anything from the movie would be in it, who were the new folks in costumes/masks, why were the cops wearing masks now, and why was Watchmen set in Oklahoma..? I honestly didn’t know what to think from the trailers I had seen. Wasn’t sure if it was gonna be great, or a complete misstep.
I did know that Sister Night looked pretty bad-ass, though.
The show premiered that weekend and I finally got to watch that first episode when we got back home. The whole series didn’t disappoint.
It was really tough trying to avoid spoilers online. Thankfully we were busy being tourists so I didn’t spend much time online on my phone and they didn’t really give away too much in the ads and TV spots. “Tick-tock, tick-tock…”
Saw a smaller version of the billboard just off Broadway as we were leaving the Winter Garden Theatre after seeing the Beetlejuice musical there- which was an amazing show!
Even though this billboard was smaller it was on a wall across from a squid fallout shelter..! I was never a big fan of the big giant psychic squid in the comics, and I’m probably one of the few folks who preferred Ozymandias’ plan in the movie to frame Manhattan over the comics’ giant squid scare. The show finally made me love the squid idea. That Looking Glass episode blew me away.
In the “fallout shelter” there was a pinhole camera just above the squid logo on one side that showed what the street looked like on the other side of the bus bench.
From time to time it would go from the yellow shelter image to the live shot of the street. While it was showing the “live view”, a few seconds in it would look like it was raining squids! It was a pretty cool effect and totally unexpected. Had to watch it a few times.
One day while walking back from the Empire State Building I saw a bus with the HBO Watchmen promo art turn down a street in front of us. Luckily for me it got caught in traffic just long enough for me to catch up and take a couple shots of it.
Oh, while riding the subways we ran across a few countdown clock ads on 10/20/19- the day of the premier. These each were larger movie poster sized each, and there were a few smaller ones on poles as we entered. Would have liked to have seen if they did anything cool once it reached zero…
Since our trip I’ve gotten to watch the Watchmen series twice on HBO, plus now own it on BluRay. I really dig the show and thought it tied into the comics well. I would have liked to have seen at least a little bit of Dan/NiteOwl, but was happy to see Archie(Owl-ship) some. Was also amazed at how they tied real life events into the story and taught us some American history most folks just didn’t know about. I know I had never heard of “Black Wallstreet” or the “Tulsa Massacre“. As a Lone Ranger fan it was also cool to see Bass Reeves featured in the story, too.
Got the soundtrack albums on vinyl and was able to get some of the SDCC pins, but was hoping for more merchandise from the series- Funko POP!s, action figures, comics, or even an art book- but so far I haven’t found much.
Not even Watchman brand eggs or beans.
Hurm…
HBO WATCHMEN official site
HBO WATCHMEN Facebook page
Peteypedia Files
Some of my previous WATCHMEN blog entries:
“Rorschach’s Journal: April 1st, 2017. How I Created My Rorschach Cosplay- No Foolin’.”
Hitting The Pavement For Free Comic Book Day 2017 (Rorschach cosplay)
Rorschach’s Journal- Custom POP! Created By Me…Hurm.
My last HGWT blog post was a Flashback Friday on the Delta Fan Fest, so I thought I’d do this one on another backyard con I hadn’t posted about- the Memphis Comic Expo, AKA “DonnieCon” or “MCX“. The latest Memphis Comic Expo was held on October 20 & 21, 2018 at the Agricenter International out in east Memphis, TN. Saturday the show was open from 10:00 am-6:00 pm, and on Sunday from 10:00 am-5:00 pm. Admission at the door was $25 for a one day adult ticket, $35 for a two day adult + gaming priority admission, and ages 12 and under were FREE!
I’ve been set up as a guest artist at all of the past 5 DonnieCons, and all but one (which was downtown at the Memphis Convention Center) have been at the AgCenter. This year I was back in Artists Alley across the main aisle from where I was set up last year and the year before, and just up from where I was at the first MCX.
As usual, my wife and booth-babe Nicki was with me. I had some new mini-canvas prints, stickers, tees, prints, and some sketchcovers for sale.
I was also promoting the Memphis Ghostbusters group I helped co-found recently with my buddy Kevin L. Williams. Got to cosplay my newly finished Ghostbusters costume at the show, and at the Pink Palace Museum that month as well.
Also ran into the DeSoto County Ghostbusters, who were there with their Ecto-17 car and a fan group table. They had mini-pins for sale, and some of their props on display. We exchanged contact info, and I ended up going to a few of their upcoming Halloween events around DeSoto County, which is the county just south of Memphis across the TN/MS stateline.
Their member Cory Coffman did a mash-up cosplay of Friday The 13th and Ghostbusters on Sunday. My friend and toy dealer extraordinaire Eric Crimmins approved of it.
One of their other members, Andrew Highlander, was also there as the DeSoto County Spider-Man. At times he seemed to be torn between two fandoms as well…quite literally!
He had his custom Spider-Bike parked between the Ecto-17 and the Bluff City Batman’s Batmobile. You can occasionally see him riding it or the Ecto-17 crusing around DeSoto County.
The Bluff City Batman is James Fyke, and his car is based on the Batmobile from the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton films. It’s still a work in progress, but looks better and better each time I see it.
He and his crime-fighting partner Bluff City Iron Man/Jeremy Jones (not pictured) do many appearances around town, including helping out several charities. They also occasionally take the Batmobile out of town for other events like the Metropolis Superman Celebration. I’ll be doing a future spotlight blog post on them and their heroic efforts around the Mid-South. Jeremy just recently did a heroic action by donating over half of his liver to someone else! He and the recipient both seem to be doing fine after the surgery.
While at the con I was pimping the Rogues Radio Podcast that I was co-hosting (at the time) with comic artist Dave Beaty. After 13 episodes I decided to call it quits because of creative differences. We both seemed to want different things from the show, it became something different than what had originally been discussed, and was getting difficult to get together online to record (Dave’s out in Arizona). I thought he would continue on his own or find another co-host, but after episode 19 Dave finally pulled the plug on the podcast all together. I do think we had some good episodes, did some fun interviews, and shared some good info.
Dave was sick the weekend of DonnieCon and wasn’t going to be able to record on Sunday like we normally would try to do. I didn’t want to skip a week of recording the podcast, and since I had just gotten some new lapel mics in I decided to try them out that Sunday.
So I did a few quick interviews with the MCX2018 guests cartoonist Greg Cravens, comic book artists Mike Norton, Jenny Frison, Dietrich O Smith, our booth neighbors the Wade family, my wife and favorite fangirl Nicki Workman, James Fyke/Bluff City Batman, wrasslin’ historian and author Mark James, and wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler!- who has his own podcast, “Dinner With The King“.
My longtime buddy Greg Cravens was the first victim- uh, interview. He’s one of my oldest friends, and I don’t just mean age wise. I met Greg back in the early/mid ’80s when I was looking for advice on getting into airbrushing. We became friends and co-workers a few years later, and he introduced me to the Mid-South Cartoonists Association/MSCA. He’s done graphic design, cartoon illustration, comic books, web comics, syndicated comic strips, and more.
Greg was at the show doing caricatures as well as promoting his webcomic Hubris, syndicated strip The Buckets, and latest comic book Stoned Ninja creator/writer Gabriel DeRanzo (and son). You can find their comic at local comic shops and “smoking paraphernalia” shops across the country, and you can usually see a lot of Greg’s work in The Memphis Flyer newspaper each week.
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Another longtime friend of mine is Eisner Award winning artist Mike Norton. Mike’s worked for several comic book companies like Image, Marvel, and DC Comics, creator owned webcomics like BattlePug and Lil’ Donnie, as well as having done graphic design and advertising art.
I had a lot of fun catching up with Norton- he’s a podcast veteran and former MSCA member. We talked about pugs, bad movies, Memphis State/U of M, and the gun show going on next door..! He’s originally from the Selmer/Jackson, TN area (not too far east of Memphis) and got his start in comics when he lived here for a while during his college and advertising days. Mike moved up to Chi-Town to work for Devil’s Due Comics many moons ago and has lived there with his wife Julie and their pugs ever since. He gets back down to the M-Town at least once a year for DonnieCon. I would be hard pressed to name a comics company Mike hasn’t worked for during his comics career, and every time I turn around he’s got another great comics project going that’s getting rave reviews.
I had to have Norton sign my copy of his Lil’ Donnie book while he was in the M-town. Like I said, he puts out so much work it’s hard to keep up with it all, but I have managed to pick up his new comic book series Grumble. He’s working on it with writer Rafer Roberts, colorist Marissa Louise, letterer Chris Crank, and editor Danny Khazem for Albatross Funnybooks. Mike and Rafer are scheduled to be in town at Comics and Collectibles this Saturday, February 16th for a special Grumble sale and signing for their latest issue #3.
Another artist I was lucky to interview was Jenny Frison. She’s been doing some amazing comics covers and we talked about her creative process and her recent travels to Africa. She’s a fellow Chicagoan and former studio mate of Norton’s.
Nicki and I met her a couple of DonnieCon’s ago and hoped she’d make it back someday. We picked up some prints and sketchbooks. We also ran into cosplayer and con-volunteer Traci Brothers McDoniel. She was dressed as Wonder Woman and Batgirl during the con.
Both costumes were great, but I was partial to the Batgirl one- I’m a bit bat-biased.
And speaking of cosplay, there was plenty of that going on at Donnie-Con!
As usual there were several Harley Quinns in attendance. These days it’s not a con unless you see at least one Harley and one Deadpool cosplayer.
This was my favorite Harley, but this little Walking Dead kid cracked me up!
We saw some familiar “faces” including Marc and Marcy Meeker, and Nikkie and Garrett Dunnewold.
Also ran into Chris Jowers– AKA “Mr. J” who was emceeing the costume contest and was the voice of the Bluff City Batmobile’s security system and villain voices.
Lots of Spidey‘s this year, a Loki with a Tesseract/Cosmic Cube…
…a fellow Ghostbuster, a happy Buddy The Elf…
…a Fallout couple, and a MS./Captain Marvel…
Well, actually a few! Even some of the comics guests there were big fans and “MARVELed” at the cosplay going on! But, hey- this con is one where “Creators Come First“, so let’s get back to them. As per usual with a con of this size there were some cancellations: John Lucas, Kevin Maguire, Rafer Roberts, Darick Robertson, Ty Templeton, Chris Schweizer, Don Kramer, Drew Swift, and Taylor Sterry. Don’t worry true believers, this con was not lacking on creators.
One of the Guests of Honor was the man himself- Chris Claremont! He was the writer on the first X-Men comic I ever bought (far right) and I got Chris to sign my copy of “The Death Of Jean Grey” comic. I enjoyed hearing about how his SNL/Marvel Team-Up issue came about, his meeting John Belushi at the Marvel offices, and more.
Artist Jae Lee was sitting near Chris, and I got a signed Catwoman print from him. Kicking myself for forgetting to take my Before Watchmen: Ozymandias hardback trade with me..! I also ran into two other Jokers- well, artist who have drawn the Joker many, many times: Rick Burchett (L) and Joe Staton (R). They’ve been working for DC for years, and some of my favorite work of theirs was on the Batman Adventures comic book series based on the Batman: The Animated Series cartoons.
I’ve met Rick a few times, and this was the second time for me to meet up with Joe again. Hadn’t seen him since he was a table neighbor at the Memphis Fantasy Con when back in 1992..! I own original comic pages drawn by both of them. Got Joe to sign my Batman: Going Sane trade paper back.
Joe’s been working on the Dick Tracy comic strip for a while now, and my friend and fellow MSCA‘er Charles Ettinger (R) has filled in a few times for Joe when he needed a break. My artist buddy Anthony Biggers (L) also made an appearance at the con this year.
Charles, Anthony, Greg, and I all worked together for a screenprinting company back in the mid-late ’80s. Hadn’t seen Anthony for years. He’s legally blind, but amazing with markers, pastels, colored pencil and probably a lot more I don’t know about. He used to do the posters for WEVL‘s Blues On The Bluff posters- and I have one in my collection (which I need to get framed).
I love getting to catch up with folks I haven’t seen in quite a while, even though I get reminded of just how old I’m getting..! Between living a bit out of the city, work, and married life I just don’t see my friends like I used to. One of the great things about DonnieCon is being able to run into folks again and catch up at least once a year. Glad Donald Juengling and his crew put on such a fun show in our hometown.
No official dates or any other info on the next MCX has been announced- yet, but when it is I’ll be sure to share it. So until next time- Cheers and Wakanda Forever!
Lin
Memphis Comic Expo/DonnieCon/MCX
Memphis Comic Expo is the truest Comic Convention in the Mid-South area. Our motto is “Creators Come First”, because you don’t have a comic convention without COMICS and COMIC CREATORS! Come join us to celebrate the people that make comics happen with all their hard work!
Agricenter International
7777 Walnut Grove Rd, Memphis, TN 38120
You can hear all of my Rogues Radio Podcast interviews from MCX here: roguesradio.libsyn.com/episode-11.
