The man is a true cartooning legend. His work on MAD (both the comicbook and the magazine) and TALES FROM THE CRYPT, as well as the Harvey Kurtzman-edited EC war comics alone are an amazing accomplishment, showing how he was able to master three separate genres of comics. Yet he went on to become one of the top magazine cover and movie poster artists, also mastering the art of celebrity caricature. He also did a gazillion other things– everything from designing animated cartoon characters to tons of advertising work.

Anyway, I finally got the pleasure of meeting the man himself. It was at a signing event at the Strand bookstore for Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture – A Career Retrospective published by our friends at Fantagraphics. The evening started off with publisher/editor Gary Groth chatting with Mr. Davis, discussing the cartoonists’ long career. There was some Q&A afterwards, and then Jack proceeded to sign books. Of course, I had him sign mine! The event was held in the Strand’s Rare Book Room, and it gave the evening an extra touch of class. Mr. Davis is the sweetest man you’d ever want to meet– modest to a fault and kind to one and all. I’m very happy I saw him here, because even though he appeared the next night, on his 87th birthday, at the Scott Eder Gallery in DUMBO, and the next day on a panel, moderated by Drew Friedman and Garty Groth, at the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, those events were so jam-packed and crowded, they simply couldn’t be as relaxed and intimate as that night at the Strand.

When I spoke to Jack at the Scott Eder Gallery, after meeting his delightful daughter, I told him how much I enjoyed his talk the night before. He replied saying his family criticized his performance, and said he wasn’t a good public speaker. I disagreed and told him he was perfect! Everyone came to see Jack Davis, not to hear a fancy speech. He seemed to appreciate that, while he generously sketched a self portrait in my copy of TALES FROM THE CRYPT #7 “Something Wicca This Way Comes”– the only Papercutz CRYPT to feature an original EC story in it– “Lower Berth” by Al Feldstein and Jack Davis.

I also ran into a lot of friends at these events, and a few of them seemed shy about actually talking to Jack Davis. They asked, “What do you say to Jack Davis?” My suggestion: “Thank you.”

It’s been far too long since I’ve stopped in to share Papercutz news with you, and boy is there a lot! GERONIMO STILTON #7 “Dinosaurs in Action” and THE SMURFS #4 ‘The Smurfette” were the first two books released by Papercutz in 2011. This is all getting us ready for May 7th, 2011. Why this date, you ask? Because that is Free Comic Book Day — the day when you will be able to pick up your free copies of GERONIMO STILTON & THE SMURFS free comic! Visit the Free Comic Book Day website for more info. For now, here’s a sneak peek of our free comicbook cover:

We’re very excited about this comic! I love working with Ortho on Geronimo Stilton and Adam Grano on The Smurfs, so it should be pretty cool to see these two titles come together. Recently, The Comics Journal put together an essay on The Smurfs and their creator, Peyo. You can read the article here. It’s great if you’ve ever wondered where these little blue guys came from and how they’ve changed throughout the years.

Speaking of The Smurfs, THE SMURFS #4 was recently named a “Good Comic For Kids” by School Library Journal along with NANCY DREW The New Case Files Vol. 2 “Vampire Slayer Part II”, DISNEY FAIRIES Vol. 4 “Tinker Bell to the Rescue”, and CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED Deluxe Vol. 5 “Treasure Island”. A great start to the year, indeed! We’ve been getting a lot of attention, which is wonderful. However, I can’t write about this great start to 2011 without mentioning our parody titles, which are no exception!

TALES FROM THE CRYPT and PAPERCUTZ SLICES have both been in the news today. It seems that people’s interest in HARRY POTTY and WICKEDER have only grown with time. Over the last few weeks TALES FROM THE CRYPT has been reviewed and/or mentioned in the Comic Book Recourses and The Graphic Novel Reporter. Meanwhile, PAPERCUTZ SLICES #1 “Harry Potty” has popped up on Curled Up Kids and in The Miami Herald! With all of this news regarding books by Stefan Petrucha and Rick Parker, why not take a look back at our HARRY POTTY video?

I hope your 2011 has started out safely and that you are enjoying the Year of the Rabbit. Until next time, take care and thanks for stopping by!

-Mike

Papercutz Slices (C) 2010 Stefan Petrucha and Barking Dog Studios. All rights reserved.

If you frequent our blog, you know Stefan as the writer of PAPERCUTZ SLICES, NANCY DREW, and several stories in TALES FROM THE CRYPT, including “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid.” What you might not know is that aside from his work for Papercutz, Stefan has scripted comics for “Web of Spider-Man” and “What If?” (Marvel Comics), “The X-Files” (Topps Comics), and multiple titles for Comico Comics, Moonstone Books, and Dark Horse Comics. He is a novelist whose latest work “Blood Prophecy” was released to rave reviews (I highly recommend it), and who has appeared on the A&E television show “Paranormal State.” If that wasn’t enough, Stefan is also a musician and a fun person to be around. Why not check out his website to see more of his work and learn more about this very cool writer!

Stefan’s newest Papercutz graphic novel, PAPERCUTZ SLICES #1 “Harry Potty” has been turning a lot of heads recently.  It was no surprise to me that the Comics Waiting Room described Stefan and collaborator Rick Parker as a “demented dynamic duo” in a recent review, and that the website Artistic License described the work as “humorous in all the right places.” So, without further ado, here is the Papercutz Q&A with Stefan Petrucha. Enjoy!

PAPERCUTZ: What first inspired you to write such a book? [Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring]

STEFAN PETRUCHA: With two daughters, my wife and I had the pleasure of reading all seven “Harry Potter” books aloud twice.  Along the way, we’d enjoy making fun of certain things, using funny voices and so on.  Following the success of “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” (in the 8th issue of Papercutz’ TALES FROM THE CRYPT series, now in its seventh printing) I pitched publisher Jim Salicrup and Terry Nantier the idea of doing a parody series.  Harry Potter seemed the best place to start.

PZ: And, with regard the title, did you check into all connected-copyright laws and such beforehand?!

SP: Over the years I’ve done a lot of research into copyright and intellectual property (IP) law, even ghost-writing a book on the subject.  Unfortunately, many people misunderstand where the line is legally.  Parody is a protected part of copyright law, specifically mentioned in the “fair use” clause.  The rule of thumb is that you can use enough of the original material so readers know what you’re talking about, but not so much that people think they’re actually buying the original.  So, our title and cover suggest the series, but also clearly states that this is an unauthorized parody.  Though we think we’re the best, we’re hardly the first Harry Potter parody to see print.  For instance, there’s an entire book series published in the UK called Barry Trotter – the author’s website boasts 700,000 copies sold.

I look at it this way – from Siskel and Ebert on up, many people make a living critiquing film and books.  Parody is the same thing, only in a narrative form.  It’s also important to distinguish between parody (which makes fun of the original) and satire (which uses the original to make fun of something else).  MAD, Saturday Night Live and so on have been doing it successfully for decades.

PZ: How much fun did you have coming up with the character names?

SP: A lot, but ultimately the names JK Rowling came up with in the original are pretty strange to begin with.  Even more fun was coming up with the names of the spells – like rememberallthisstufficus, cappuccino vente, and gluteus maximus!

PZ: What’s your favorite part of the now-finished book?

That would have to be the giant Haggard’s fondness for stepping on mouse-elves because they make a popping sound just like bubble wrap.

I have to say, though, that artist Rick Parker did a fantastic job sticking in background jokes and fun stuff that I’m still spotting when I look at the book.

PZ: Once someone has read it, what thoughts would you like them to take away?

SP: I’d like them not so much to have any thoughts as to be completely seized with laughter.

PZ: Lastly, what’s next for you?

SP: In a more serious vein, I currently have a historical vampire novel out from Grand Central Books entitled Blood Prophecy.  As for our next Slices effort, we’ll be dicing up the popular Twlight series with Breaking Down, appearing in March 2011.  I’m pleased and proud to say the script was co-written with my daughter, Maia Kinney-Petrucha.  Rick tells us he’s bent on making the art even funnier than the first book!

[END]

I hope you enjoyed this Q&A with Stefan Petrucha. I’ll be posting a Q&A with artist Rick Parker soon, which is sure to be very entertaining. Until next time, take it easy, and thanks for stopping by!

-Michael

As I sit at my desk going through reviews of our new books, I can’t believe that so many of them have something to do with zombies! First, I looked at a review of THE HARDY BOYS The New Case Files #1 from sequentialtart.com and thought nothing of it (though the book did receive a great 8 out of 10). If you haven’t heard, Joe Hardy goes undercover in “Crawling with Zombies,” and you see him as you’ve never seen him before — check it out!

You can see another review of this graphic novel from Newsarama here. It sure has been popular!

Then, after reading the two HARDY BOYS reviews, I received a review about THE PURPLE SMURFS on comicsintheclassroom.net. The reviewer points out that the Purple Smurfs are a lot like zombies — they are transformed by a bite and act like the living dead. But then, more reviews came in! First, there was a review of TALES FROM THE CRYPT #9 “Wickeder” from paperbackhorror.com — this graphic novel stars Glugg, the Stinky Dead Kid who is… >GASP< — >CHOKE< — a ZOMBIE! Once I got another review from superheroeen.com, I thought zombies were taking over. I immediately crawled under my desk and hid, afraid to come out lest my brains be devoured by Smurfs, Glugg, or Joe Hardy!

It was then that Jim and Ortho came into my office. Ortho said “hey, Mike. Why are you under your desk”? “Zombies!” I yelled. “They’re everywhere!” Ortho and Jim laughed. “Don’t worry,” Ortho said. “I bet if you look around you’ll remember that not all Papercutz graphic novels are about Zombies.” I crawled out, checking to make sure that the zombies hadn’t gotten Ortho or Jim, and when I saw that they hadn’t, breathed a sigh of relief. When I got back on the computer, I saw that people were blogging about both PAPERCUTZ SLICES #1 “Harry Potty” and DISNEY FAIRIES #1, neither of which contain any zombies. It was a welcome relief.

“See?” Ortho said. “It’s all going to be okay, Mike. Just remember to wear a baseball cap next time you go out, because your brains look delicious.” >GULP!<

-Michael

The STINKY DEAD KID is BACK! If you haven’t seen it already, TALES FROM THE CRYPT #9 “Wickeder” is on sale now! Why not pick up a copy and curl up while watching Stefan Petrucha on Paranormal State this Sunday night? Sounds like a good night to me. The website morehorror.com has a nice article regarding CRYPT #9, which I highly recommend. In TALES FROM THE CRYPT #9, our friend Glugg returns in a new full-color story! Check it out!

Ahh, our friend Glugg looks very content to be appearing in color! TALES FROM THE CRYPT #9 “Wickeder” is in stores now! Just in time for Halloween

In other news, an aptly named blog “Better Late Than Never” posted a nice article regarding THE SMURFS #2 “The Smurfs and the Magic Flute”! It seems that people’s interest in the first two SMURFS graphic novels just won’t go away — and we’re thrilled! You can access the article here.

Stay Smurfy, enjoy all things dead and stinky, and have a great weekend!

-Michael

Associate Editor Michael Petranek here, very excited about this year’s New York Comic Con. We will be at booth #2304 and encourage you to stop by and see our new titles and say hello! Not only that, but Stefan Petrucha and Rick Parker will be signing books at the booth! Here’s our signing schedule:

Friday October 8th

10:00 to 11:00AM – Stefan Petrucha
11:00AM to 12:00PM -  Rick Parker
1:00 to 2:30PM – Stefan Petrucha
4:00 to 5:30PM – Stefan and Rick

Saturday October 9th

11:00AM to 12:30PM – Stefan Petrucha
1:30 to 3:00PM – Rick Parker
3:30to 5:00PM – Stefan Petrucha
5:00 to 6:30PM – Rick Parker

Sunday October 10th

10:30AM to 12:00PM -Rick Parker
1:30 to 3:00PM – Stefan Petrucha

We’ll have plenty of copies of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, PAPERCUTZ SLICES, NANCY DREW  and much more for Stefan and Rick to sign! NANCY DREW The New Case Files #1 just received a great review at comicsbulletin.com and the Comics Journal loves the Stinky Dead kid! It should be a lot of fun.

Another great reason to stop by our booth is to see all of the new graphic novels we have including THE SMURFS, THE HARDY BOYS The New Case Files, NANCY DREW The New Case Files, PAPERCUTZ SLICES, and TALES FROM THE CRYPT #9 “Wickeder” – featuring the return of Glugg, the Stinky Dead Kid! I’ve received so many reviews over the past few weeks I thought I should share them with you so you can see why we’re so excited about all of our new titles.

In the October issue of “Library Media Connection,” CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #7 “The Jungle” is praised for its use of color and text! Though the review isn’t online, I can tell you that the LMC says “Kuper uses dark tones to relay to the reader the visual hardships while lighter tones help the reader see what good can still happen.” You can see preview pages of “The Jungle” here.

THE SMURFS have been taking over a lot of the reviews I’ve received. For those of you unfamiliar with THE SMURFS, School Library Journal has a nice write-up to get you started. You can access the article here. The first two graphic novels have received glowing reviews from Antic Musings, Newsarama, The Celebrity Cafe , Comic Book Resources, Comics Comics Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, and Readaboutcomics.com.  WHEW! That’s a lot of reviews! If these reviews don’t make you want to at least take a look at our SMURFS graphic novels, you can join Grouchy Smurf over here:

In DISNEY FAIRIES news, “Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue” was recently released on DVD. I’m happy to announce that we’ll have copies of the official graphic novel adaptation at New York Comic-Con, and that School Library Journal just published a big article on the DVD, graphic novel, and more! Read the article here.

So if you’re going to be at New York Comic-Con, stop by our booth! It should be a lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by and have  a great weekend!

-Michael

I felt this was definitely worth sharing. Rick Parker did a little Photoshop work on a picture of me, Terry Nantier and Jim Salicrup at Comic Con. Enjoy!

-Michael

If you’re in the New York City area this weekend, why not stop by Mike Carbo’s Comic Book Marketplace on Saturday? Papercutz Editor-in-Chief Jim Salicrup will be there joined by Rick Parker and Steve Mannion who will be signing copies of TALES FROM THE CRYPT! Check out the website for the Comic Book Marketplace here.

The Marketplace will be open from 10:30am to 7:00pm and there will be plenty of signings and chances to pick up some cool comics! It should be a fun time and a great chance for you to pick up some of the rarer TALES FROM THE CRYPT comics that your comicbook store may be sold out of. We hope to see you there!

-Michael

It sure has been a long time since I’ve written, but I will try to make it up to you with a lot of links to some neat stuff going on in the world of Papercutz. 2010 is the 80th anniversary of NANCY DREW and we plan on celebrating in style! If you are a NANCY DREW fan and you have a facebook account, make it official! Go to this page, log in, and join! I’ll be posting previews and other cool stuff there.

If you haven’t yet noticed, TALES FROM THE CRYPT #8 “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” was a smash hit for Papercutz. We couldn’t be happier! On that note, if you are still not sure about this book and want more info you can ask Publisher’s Weekly what they thought, or perhaps Booklist. It seems like Glugg (the stinky dead kid) can be found here, there and everywhere! The same can be said for our good friend Geronimo Stilton. He’s popping up everywhere! Have fun surfing the web!

Speaking of young troublemakers like Glugg, if you haven’t checked out CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #5 “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” read this review:

“Tom Sawyer, that original American bad boy, returns in graphic-novel format. The manga-influenced, full-color illustrations bring a new level of dynamism to a text that is already quite dramatic, what with its murder, buried treasure, youthful romance, and presumed deaths. (Tom himself is thought dead twice.) This version doesn’t shy away from the culture of the time; Injun Joe is still Injun Joe and Tom’s bare backside still has many run-ins with Aunt Polly’s slipper. In regard to the latter, there is brief, occasional nudity as a result of the skinny-dipping and spankings, but nothing gratuitous. While the overall work is of a generally high quality, it is not perfect. Visually, it is often difficult to distinguish among the supporting characters. In addition, the speech balloons are occasionally confusing, leaving readers unsure of who is speaking. Despite those minor flaws, this volume serves as a fine introduction to the story, the author, and his time and place.”

–Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Wow! Thanks Mr. Davey! That’s all I have time for today but make sure you watch out for Papercutz! There should be a new blog contributor here soon that I think will surprise you!

-Michael