Monday, October 27, 2008

Marvelous Tales: Halloween in the Comicbook Biz

I was going to get back to visual storytelling or design this time around. However, I ran across some old Halloween photos and since that time of year is upon us, I thought I’d share them now.

During most of my years at Marvel Comics, there would be a Halloween party in the office. Many of us would attend in costume. Mark Gruenwald was a major force behind these office events. The photo below is from either 1985 or 1986 when I was an editor. I’m in my Alien Legion costume. With me is my fabulous assistant editor at the time, Pat Blevins. Pat is dressed up as a bunch of grapes!

Pat Blevins, Carl Potts

Pat is the wife of the very talented artist, Bret Blevins. Both Bret and Pat are among the nicest people on the planet. I enjoyed working with both of them a lot.

During the ealry 1980s, when Bernie Wrightson lived near Woodstock, NY, he hosted an annual Halloween party. Much of the comics community attended.

The shots below are, to the best of my knowledge, from Bernie’s Oct. 1982 party.

Bill Sienkewicz and Al Milgrom

Bernie Wrightson

Walt Simonson, Roger Slifer, Marv Wolfman


Belinda Gruenwald, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio


Joe Chiodo


Carl Potts


Howard Chaykin


???, Al MIlgrom, Len Wein



Louise "Weezie" Simonson, Ann Goodwin, Judy Milgrom


Leslie Z., Brent Anderson, Bill Sienkewicz


Marv Wolfman, Jo Duffy, Dave Cockrum

6 comments:

Pj Perez said...

Carl, these are the 80s-est photos ever.

But, man, it makes me miss the days of the ol' bullpen, when it -- from a young fan's perspective -- felt like there was a genuine group of pals putting out great comics. And way back before the age of blogs, Twitter and Facebook, we still felt more in touch with you and your compatriots.

Thanks for posting. Mind if I share this post (and a photo?) with my readers?

Marc Siry said...

I recall John Byrne having some pretty awesome parties at his pretty awesome place up in Connecticut- that was probably around 1987-1988.

Unknown said...

Those photos were awesome. They are pure gold for someone who started reading comics in the early to mid 80s like me.

Thanks for sharing them!

Don Hudson said...

I used have so much fun back then!

Donovan Yaciuk said...

A fantastic glimpse at the 80's Marvel creators! Thanks so much for sharing - it's great to be able to put faces to the names!

Will Rosado said...

wow! these are great pics! man...