The Art of a Svengoolie Public Appearance

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I  arrived at Chicago’s McCormick Place around ten o’clock Friday morning. Once again, my job was to assist the national MeTV horror host, Svengoolie, as he tackled the pop culture extravaganza C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo). This year’s entourage included Executive Producer Jim Roche, Director Chris Faulkner, Cameraman Patrick Payne, and MeTV crew members Briana Janczy and Bill Rieck handling social media. In addition to meeting and interacting with his fans, Svengoolie’s objective was to gather interviews and footage for upcoming shows. The event organizers do not assist with these latter objectives, making all his C2E2 appearances unpredictable. To help strategize, Jim compiled a list of interview hopefuls, and then it was a matter of whether they’d be willing to talk on camera and if their schedules clashed with ours. Tracking them down was another matter, but more on that later.

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Svengoolie Goes Back (45 Years) to the Future at C2E2!

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Svengoolie’s second day at C2E2 promised to be a long one. In addition to his scheduled photo op and autograph signing, he’d also participate in a special “45th Anniversary of Svengoolie” podcast panel hosted by John Siuntress from Word Balloon. When Svengoolie and crew arrived, we quickly went through security and up the escalator to the main hall. It was fun watching people’s reactions to him – especially since many initially assumed he was just a skilled cosplayer.

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Assisting Svengoolie & Waiting for Chip Zdarsky at C2E2!

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My anticipation for C2E2 (Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo) was elevated this year thanks to my renewed interest in comic books. Last year’s hunt for the “Svengoolie: Lost in Time” variant covers led to excavating my old collection and now taking regular trips to the local comic book shop. Instead of being brand loyal to MARVEL (as I was back in the ’80s and ’90s) I’ve now started dabbling with other publishers such as Image Comics, IDW Publishing, BOOM! Studios, to name a few. But more on that later. The main draw for C2E2, for me, was Svengoolie whom I’d been brought on to assist. Continue reading →

Celebrating “ROM Spaceknight: The Original MARVEL Years” Omnibus!

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Back in 2010, I talked about my favorite comic book back when I was a kid, ROM: Spaceknight. MARVEL’s Love Letter to ‘50s Science Fiction movies was solidly in my wheelhouse with nods to Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and even I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958). If you’re unfamiliar with ROM you can go back and read my aforementioned blog or the article I wrote for the September 2016 issue of Scary Monsters Magazine. The seventy-five issue (plus four Annuals) series ran from 1979 to 1986 before falling into obscurity a.k.a. Licensing issues. Although IDW had their own ROM series for a while, it bore little resemblance to the one I’d grown up with and didn’t resonate with me as MARVEL’s had. At the same time, MARVEL couldn’t legally mention his name and while most of their titles got collected in trade paperback or hardcover Omnibus editions, ROM was never given the honor. That is, until now. 

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The Svengoolie Comic Book and the “Innocence of Seduction!”

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Last weekend, my daughter and I saw the new play, “Innocence of Seduction” courtesy of the talented folks at City Lit Theater. The story revolves around the rise and fall of Horror and Science Fiction Comics back in the ‘50s and the birth of the Comic Book Code. I’m an enormous fan of EC Comics, having a small shrine of masks and reprinted hardcover editions in my apartment. Since  I’ve already discussed EC Comics in this blog (albeit nine years ago), I won’t delve too deeply into their history but, suffice it to say, when I learned of this play courtesy of John Siuntres’ Word Balloon podcast, I knew I had to see it. The timing couldn’t have been better.

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The 2023 Svengoolie/C2E2 Diaries Day 2 – Saturday!

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9:00 am: As soon as I walked onto the train station platform, I was greeted by a woman dressed as Princess Leia on Endor (holding a toddler dressed as an Ewok) and a sixty-something-year-old Brony. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one heading up to the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2).  I was also happy to see my son’s girlfriend, Rachel, who’d be taking the train a little further than McCormick Place to her job at the John G. Shed aquarium. There’s nothing like good conversation to make a ride go faster.

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