DICK GIORDANO, R.I.P.

Just over a week ago, Dick Giordano passed away. I've been meaning to write this ever since but haven't felt equal to the task. But it's time...

Dick was one of the all time great comic book inkers, but he was also the single individual most responsible for bringing me into the comic book business, which directly lead to me working in animation.

It's a story I've told many times, so feel free to skip down if you've heard it.

I was a nineteen-year-old college sophomore when Marvel Comics announced a New Talent Search. I was excited, but reasoned (correctly) that Marvel would be inundated with submissions. I also reasoned (rather cleverly) that if Marvel began a New Talent Search, DC Comics would too. So instead of preparing submissions based on Marvel characters, I immediately set to work, prepping stuff based on DC characters. Sure enough, DC announced it's search, and I immediately sent in my stuff. YEARS LATER, I saw the logbook that was used to log in each submission as it arrived. Mine was literally the second submission received.

It was duly logged in -- and then lost. (Likewise, years later, I found it in the DC offices in the back of a file cabinet.) DC still had my address in the log book. But not the submission itself. Because 70% of all submissions were artist submissions and only 30% were writer submissions, the person in charge of the talent search at the time took a chance and sent me a packet for new ARTISTS. I was OUTRAGED!!! Outraged, of course, in the way only a 19-year-old know-nothing can get outraged. So I sent a LETTER to DC Comics expressing my outrage. I said (lying) that I was a professional, and if they lost my submission, a simple admission of this fact would have resulted in me sending copies. There was no need to GUESS (incorrectly) that I was an artist and hope for the best. I stated that this was no way to run a business.

Somehow this letter found it's way to Dick Giordano's desk. Dick was at the time the EXECUTIVE EDITOR and head creative muckymuck at DC. Most guys in that position would have found a nice round file for my letter, but Dick was amused by it... and maybe a little impressed with (not the content) but the writing of it itself.

So sometime later, the phone in my dormroom rings. My roommate answers and says it's for me. "Who is it?" "Some guy named Dick Giordano." Now, I knew EXACTLY who Dick Giordano was and figured there was no way I was getting a call from him. So I got on the phone assuming it was one of my geek friends playing a prank. Nope. It was Dick. He wanted to meet me and asked if I had any plans to be in New York City. I (lied again and) told him that coincidentally, I was planning to be there over spring break. He invited me up to the DC Comics offices, and we set a date and time.

So I scraped the money together to buy a plane ticket, crashed at my cousin's apartment, put on a SUIT (what did I know, it was a job interview, right?) and headed out during a torrential Manhattan rainstorm to FIND A CAB to take me to DC. (Somewhere out there New Yorkers are laughing at the thought of me trying to find a cab in the rain.)

Ultimately, I found one, but not before I was (despite an umbrella) soaked to the bone in my stupid suit. I arrive at DC looking more like a drowned rat than a professional writer (which, of course, I was not), and met with Dick. And we hit it off. He was great. From Day One, he believed in me and tried to get me freelance work. He eventually gave me a job as an Editorial Assistant (read Xerox boy) and quickly promoted me twice over twenty-one months to Assistant Editor and then Associate Editor.

I was impatient, of course. I couldn't stick it out, and moved back to Los Angeles to go to grad school and eventually start a career in animation. I remember how disappointed Dick was. How he tried to get me to reconsider, but how he also supported my decision, when I made it clear it was final.

After that, every time Dick and his right-hand woman and good friend Pat Bastienne came to Los Angeles, they would take time out to meet with me. They met my fiancee Beth long before she became my wife. They were both always cheering me on. Eventually, Dick retired from DC and moved to Florida, and we lost touch. Which is on me. And I regret it.

When I heard/saw that he had passed at age 77 from complications from Leukemia (over the same weekend when my Grandmother turned 100), it was a real blow.

Dick was a terrific and extremely talented guy, and I owe him just... TONS.

Thank you, Dick. You will be missed.

Greg Weisman
April 2010

HAPPY CENTENNIAL GRANDMA SUE

Hey guys,

I've been on vacation (SPRING BREAK!) and busy with a bunch of stuff, so haven't been able to stop by recently, but I didn't want this major event to go by without notice. Last week, my Grandmother turned 100.

Of course, my brother beat me to it, writing more eloquently than I'd be able to, so I'm going to link to his website, which has neat pictures too!

http://bit.ly/b4GAI2

As my cousin pointed out at the LARGE family dinner we had this past weekend, when Sue Weisman was born, the Ottomans had an empire, as did the British and the Russian Czars, and Sue-Baby has outlast them all. The changes she's seen... living through World War I, the Depression, Prohibition, World War II, the invention of radio, television, computers, etc. It's a completely different world. And she's still sharp and funny and a joy to be around.

So happy birthday, Grandma Sue! Here's to 100 more!

Hermione R.I.P.

Our basset hound Hermione passed away in her sleep yesterday. She had a large inoperable malignant cancer tumor, so it wasn't a shock.

I know it must seem like we go through these dogs rapidly, but that's because my wife and kids always choose elderly dogs from the Basset Rescue Ranch, because they feel that everyone always wants the puppies and young dogs, and the old ones never find a home. So we get dogs. They're old. They die. My family grieves. And we start the process again... all too often, I guess.

We still have one basset left, Murray. Plus our cat Emmy. I'd like to put off getting any more pets for the time being, but it's never up to curmudgeonly me.

Hermione was a handsome girl, definitely the Alpha Female of our pets. Very common sense. We'll miss her.

Last Gathering

The announcement has been made that the current Gathering of the Gargoyles (the thirteenth annual) will be the last in this form. I'm saddened by this of course, but even more saddened by some of the vitriol I've seen toward the constaff. So I posted this at Station 8:

Hey folks,

Thought I should speak up. In part to defend my friends, I suppose, but also just to make my position on all this clear.

I'm the person who suggested we end the thing. Me. Frankly, I was simply horrified to discover how much of their own MONEY the con staff was putting toward the convention year after year... with it costing them increasingly more with each succeeding convention and with attendance falling at a steady clip. And that's on top of the incredible amount of hard work that these people put in. There have been other individuals and groups who have run individual Gatherings here and there, but most burn out after one year and don't do it again. This group volunteered their time year after year. Stuck with it when others wouldn't. They deserve praise, not scorn.

Are they my friends? Of course. Are they loyal to me? I think so. I like to think I'm just as loyal to them. Are they cliquish at times. Yeah. I've noticed that too. It happens with any group of people who work very hard together to do something and, frankly, feel largely unappreciated for their efforts. They get tight.

But I don't buy the notion that this is an impenetrable clique -- especially since new members join the group all the time. I've known some of these folks for over a decade. Others, just for a couple years. And even if you aren't admitted to this so-called "Inner Circle", what difference should that make? The Gathering is big enough for multiple cliques. Big enough for you to bring your own clique. The Gathering has interesting and informative events whether or not you're in ANY clique.

When someone asks "Why would I want to give any money to hang out with people who have no interest in including me?" I think the question itself is off point. They're throwing you a convention! They're including you! Does that mean they have to personally enjoy your company? Personally, spend time with you? That's unreasonable. You may be great. You may be annoying. I don't know. But they don't have an obligation to coddle you. Just to put on a great show, which I think they've done year after year.

And you're not paying to spend time with them anyway, you're paying to attend the con. Or not. No one's holding a gun to your head, but then don't complain if the thing isn't somehow able to continue indefinitely on SOMEONE ELSE'S DIME.

Don't get me wrong. No one is going to miss the Gathering more than I. I think there's some real truth to the accusation that the thing became Greg Weisman's annual ego boost. Because without a doubt it is a HUGE ego boost for me personally. Year in and year out, I have a blast. I'm treated VERY well, and I enjoy that treatment. I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

But it's not as simple as that. For starters, the reason that the con has consistently featured me and the various series that I've worked on is because I'm willing to do the work to help put the convention together. Frank Paur, just as an example, is ALWAYS welcome, but he doesn't always choose to come. I ALWAYS want to be there. So it's something of a not-so-vicious circle. I provide the convention with contacts -- and the convention uses those contacts to hold panels on Starship Troopers or WITCH or, this year, The Spectacular Spider-Man. All of which is an attempt to INCREASE the attendance by bringing in other fandoms and exposing them to Gargoyles. It's worked to some degree, but not enough.

I've also provided contacts for shows like Darkwing Duck and TaleSpin and Kim Possible, and we've had panels on those that I wasn't a part of because my involvement on those series was nearly non-existent. But I knew those guys, so I got 'em to come. I'm sure everyone would have loved it if I had gotten, uh, say, the Avatar/Last Air Bender guys to do a panel on that show. Trouble is, I don't know those guys. So no luck.

And, hey, I did create the show that we're theoretically celebrating. I am the guy who's fought to get the DVDs and the comics, etc. It's because of the fandom that I never gave up. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm the guy who never gave up. So maybe it's not SUCH a bad thing that I've been the primary beneficiary of the con. Or maybe it is. I'm not going to worry about it.

What I am going to do is enjoy the last convention. I really think we'll be going out with a bang with a ton of special guests. And, ironically, because of the low attendance the BEST FAN-TO-PRO RATIO you'll find at any convention EVER!!! If you can't afford to come this year, we're very sorry. We'll miss you. Really. But if you can, you should try, because once again, I think it'll be a great show.

But of course I'm biased. ;)

And as Jennifer pointed out, if anyone else wants to have a Gargoyles convention in 2010 or 2011 or 2198, no one's stopping you. I'm still willing to attend, still willing to help. Or willing to stay away, if that would be best. But I'd advise thinking long and hard about both the time commitment and the financial aspect of it before jumping in. Cuz it's tough. Not for me. It's easy for me. But for whomever happens to be the constaff in any given year, it's a lot of work and not cheap.

Now, I suppose for some people, all I've done in this post is prove their point. I'm tight with the constaff. They're tight with me. All true. But they've still put out an open invitation year after year to friends and so-called-foes alike. All they're really saying is that they're done. You think you can do better? Go for it!

Greg Weisman