Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner

[Alan Page]

Without trying to sound like some cranky interviewer, would you like to talk a little about these guys?
What was Kurtzman like to work with? He is often portrayed as being profoundly energetic yet also very certain of what he wanted and ruthless with staff who didn't agree. Did you experience any of that?
Eisner is a relatively new discovery for me. His "New York" and "Dropsie Avenue" Trilogy having (by accident, presumably) landed on a shelf in a bookstore over here. Yet they have made a profound impression on me and the people I have shared them with. Did you get to meet him?

[Alan Page]

How do you feel about the upcoming movie of "The Spirit"? Or shouldn't I ask?
http://thespiritmovie.com

[Alan Page]

Great News!! Fantagraphics have announced on "Facebook" that their edition of "Humbug" is finally being issued.Have left an "alert me" message on Amazon for my copy. The MONTHS of waiting!!

[Alan Page]

Have just (finally) received my copy of the complete "Humbug" which I will explore in greater depth. Looks fascinating though.

Also arrived is the complete "Panic" the orgins of which have always puzzled me. By having Feldstein edit "Panic" in competition with Kurtzman's "Mad" and then giving Feldstein "Mad" on Kurtzman's departure, it almost seems that Gaines had it in for Kurtzman from day one and was trying, deliberatly, to scupper him. Are there any grounds for believing this? It seems eccentric to compete against one's own product in such a way as Gaines seemed to do.

[Skip Williamson]

I think the print that I did with S. Clay Wilson was a fairly decent collaborative effort (See the attached jpeg). It would have been interesting if we could have collaborated on something that had more than a single image. I tried to talk Wilson into doing a complete story with me but I couldn't get him interested.

[Alan Page]

Hi Skip,
With all the links you had to people like Crumb and Wilson, how come you never got involved with "Zap"? Was it a geographical thing? I only ask because of the number of jams in them and you could have collaborated with Wilson and the others there .