I appreciate your continuing narratives about this era, Don, and I also value the way you set the record straight, again and again. Histories need to be doublechecked, verified, authenticated. That goes for all histories, big or small! It's necessary and needed, whether we are looking at the way the Trump administration removed documentation about Jackie Robinson and Harriet Tubman, or the obfuscations related to comic book publishing.
In thinking about the way your work supported the general output of Kitchen Sink Press, I'm reminded that something similar happened with Fantagraphics. Please note this is hearsay, or me trying to remember something without concrete documentation at hand! But I seem to remember that Fanta was on the verge of going under when their operation was saved by the Eros imprint. You know, the same imprint that published Anton Drek!
Hmmm... Kitchen Sink Press, Fantagraphics... what publisher are you going to save next?
I'm not claiming I saved Kitchen Sink Press; but the documentation I have suggests that the ten-issue run was clearly and consistently profitable. The Spirit and Death Rattle had started out profitable in color, but sales dropped -- Death Rattle may have never been profitable because the company had to offer a page rate reasonably closer to industry standard in order to attract contributors -- more than what my measly royalty on Megaton Man worked out to be.
I would assert that calling me a hack and sellout, a prima donna, a jerk, a punk, a spoiled holdout, a traitor who'd cheated the readers and publisher, and a quitter -- this immediately following 17 consecutive bimonthly issues, 10 of Megaton Man and 7 of Border Worlds -- was completely uncalled for and unmerited (see November 25, 1987 DK letter to DS).
Further, I can't go along with the argument that there was anything in my letter of November 18, 1987 or its tone that triggered such a response. What triggered the publisher was (a) the same bad year as everyone had been feeling in comics, magnified across the board by a decline in revenue; (b) a bitter divorce with his wife of seven years; and (c) the humiliation of seeing his most prolific and loyal cartoonist have to resort to freelancing for DC Comics' beginner page rates -- still five or six times what I was making on my creator-owned material for Kitchen Sink Press -- so that I COULD CONTINUE CREATING CREATOR-OWNED MATERIAL FOR KITCHEN SINK PRESS.
The assertion that Denis always pushed for me to produce more Megaton Man completely ignores the point that Denis's one-dimensional conception of both Megaton Man and my talents were completely at odds with his own editor, Dave Schreiner, who thought Megaton Man should be character-driven and regarded the superhero parody aspects as "maybe it's obligatory, I suppose, but kind of a drag." Whereas, Denis thought the parody elements should be foregrounded at the expense of my sudden and presumably insincere "bloodlust for continuity."
As late as 2023, Denis remarked, "In retrospect, it might have been better to ditch the convoluted ongoing MM plot lines and instead put out three or four annual MM “specials” where you focused on self-contained issues/themes and/or parodied a different superhero or company each time. I think each special would have had stronger numbers and perhaps been easier to write within the confines of single issues, but of course it’s all speculation.” (Denis Kitchen, email to Don Simpson, October 24, 2023.)
But this wasn't retrospective at all; it was the same broken record that had come through loud and clear for nearly forty years. The cognitive dissonance between editor and publisher could not be more clear, at least to me--at the time and to this day.
And no, Groundhog Day #1, Groundhog Day #1, and Groundhog Day #1 would NOT have been "easier to write." It would have been a drag, in the words of Dave Schreiner. Unless, perhaps, I had been Peter Gabriel.
Instead, I wanted to put out perhaps three or four issues of Megaton Man per year, consecutively numbered. Had that resumed in 1988 with Megaton Man #11, we'd be somewhere between Megaton Man #75 and #100 by now, maybe further--but the publisher belittled such a plan.
"But of course it's all speculation."
As I discuss in the Afterword of the Complete volume I edition (forthcoming), it always seemed to me that Denis's conception of Megaton Man was more like Al Capp's Li'l Abner or Harvey Kurtzman's Little Annie Fanny -- both or which were satires featuring an unchanging cast of characters. But I was neither a Capp nor Kurtzman, and the playing field of superhero parody was not as vast as the fields of politics, popular culture, and world events that Capp and Kurtzman could draw upon -- and, needless to say, it would have gone over the heads of comics readers.
I continue to believe, with Dave, that I was stumbling upon the right direction for Megaton Man but the acrimony that came to a head in 1987 never abated, and proved a hindrance to my imagination. When I was free of Kitchen Sink Press some years later, the Midwestern college campus storyline seemed rather quaint and dated, and I leapfrogged ahead in the narrative to the Bizarre Heroes megaclone storyline.
It wasn't until 2019, when I began the prose Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series that I began to see a way to circle back and redeem some of that promise using Clarissa's perspective. In the new comics material I have been crafting, I plan at least lengthy flashbacks to those "lost" years -- stay tuned.
For those who want to believe that 1980s independent comics publishers always offered a "safe space" for creator-owned comics, it is no doubt a shock to read that the publisher at Kitchen Sink Press was autocratically overruling not only a supposedly autonomous creator but also his own editor, and demanding made-to-order Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie parodies (believe me, the most literal-minded fan could make a better suggestion than that!) and dismissing character-driven development as "prima donna posturing."
But that's the way it was back in the twentieth century, kids.
Hey, Don, I want you to know I meant to be lighthearted and silly when I wrote that you "saved" KSP. It seems kinda true, but it's the kind of thing that should be expressed carefully.
I do want to apologize if you found that my remarks were provocative or offensive. My intention was to be a humorous but also supportive. It's clear to me from these posts that you actually were mistreated, and that your career suffered because of that mistreatment. In all seriousness, I grieve over the Megaton Man comics that we didn't get to see – all the comics we deserved, all the comics you deserved to make. It is really hard to believe the insults and the other problems that were directed at you.
The history of comics, as I understand it, has had a good share of awful people, perhaps especially the editors and publishers. My knowledge of that history is piecemeal (one reason why I find your essays to be so interesting), but I suppose the industry that treated Jack Kirby so badly just should not be trusted. Or at least regarded carefully, with appropriate skepticism.
I'm grateful that you found your way back to comics and were able to integrate your creative energies into further exemplary work.
I appreciate your continuing narratives about this era, Don, and I also value the way you set the record straight, again and again. Histories need to be doublechecked, verified, authenticated. That goes for all histories, big or small! It's necessary and needed, whether we are looking at the way the Trump administration removed documentation about Jackie Robinson and Harriet Tubman, or the obfuscations related to comic book publishing.
In thinking about the way your work supported the general output of Kitchen Sink Press, I'm reminded that something similar happened with Fantagraphics. Please note this is hearsay, or me trying to remember something without concrete documentation at hand! But I seem to remember that Fanta was on the verge of going under when their operation was saved by the Eros imprint. You know, the same imprint that published Anton Drek!
Hmmm... Kitchen Sink Press, Fantagraphics... what publisher are you going to save next?
I'm not claiming I saved Kitchen Sink Press; but the documentation I have suggests that the ten-issue run was clearly and consistently profitable. The Spirit and Death Rattle had started out profitable in color, but sales dropped -- Death Rattle may have never been profitable because the company had to offer a page rate reasonably closer to industry standard in order to attract contributors -- more than what my measly royalty on Megaton Man worked out to be.
I would assert that calling me a hack and sellout, a prima donna, a jerk, a punk, a spoiled holdout, a traitor who'd cheated the readers and publisher, and a quitter -- this immediately following 17 consecutive bimonthly issues, 10 of Megaton Man and 7 of Border Worlds -- was completely uncalled for and unmerited (see November 25, 1987 DK letter to DS).
Further, I can't go along with the argument that there was anything in my letter of November 18, 1987 or its tone that triggered such a response. What triggered the publisher was (a) the same bad year as everyone had been feeling in comics, magnified across the board by a decline in revenue; (b) a bitter divorce with his wife of seven years; and (c) the humiliation of seeing his most prolific and loyal cartoonist have to resort to freelancing for DC Comics' beginner page rates -- still five or six times what I was making on my creator-owned material for Kitchen Sink Press -- so that I COULD CONTINUE CREATING CREATOR-OWNED MATERIAL FOR KITCHEN SINK PRESS.
The assertion that Denis always pushed for me to produce more Megaton Man completely ignores the point that Denis's one-dimensional conception of both Megaton Man and my talents were completely at odds with his own editor, Dave Schreiner, who thought Megaton Man should be character-driven and regarded the superhero parody aspects as "maybe it's obligatory, I suppose, but kind of a drag." Whereas, Denis thought the parody elements should be foregrounded at the expense of my sudden and presumably insincere "bloodlust for continuity."
As late as 2023, Denis remarked, "In retrospect, it might have been better to ditch the convoluted ongoing MM plot lines and instead put out three or four annual MM “specials” where you focused on self-contained issues/themes and/or parodied a different superhero or company each time. I think each special would have had stronger numbers and perhaps been easier to write within the confines of single issues, but of course it’s all speculation.” (Denis Kitchen, email to Don Simpson, October 24, 2023.)
But this wasn't retrospective at all; it was the same broken record that had come through loud and clear for nearly forty years. The cognitive dissonance between editor and publisher could not be more clear, at least to me--at the time and to this day.
And no, Groundhog Day #1, Groundhog Day #1, and Groundhog Day #1 would NOT have been "easier to write." It would have been a drag, in the words of Dave Schreiner. Unless, perhaps, I had been Peter Gabriel.
Instead, I wanted to put out perhaps three or four issues of Megaton Man per year, consecutively numbered. Had that resumed in 1988 with Megaton Man #11, we'd be somewhere between Megaton Man #75 and #100 by now, maybe further--but the publisher belittled such a plan.
"But of course it's all speculation."
As I discuss in the Afterword of the Complete volume I edition (forthcoming), it always seemed to me that Denis's conception of Megaton Man was more like Al Capp's Li'l Abner or Harvey Kurtzman's Little Annie Fanny -- both or which were satires featuring an unchanging cast of characters. But I was neither a Capp nor Kurtzman, and the playing field of superhero parody was not as vast as the fields of politics, popular culture, and world events that Capp and Kurtzman could draw upon -- and, needless to say, it would have gone over the heads of comics readers.
I continue to believe, with Dave, that I was stumbling upon the right direction for Megaton Man but the acrimony that came to a head in 1987 never abated, and proved a hindrance to my imagination. When I was free of Kitchen Sink Press some years later, the Midwestern college campus storyline seemed rather quaint and dated, and I leapfrogged ahead in the narrative to the Bizarre Heroes megaclone storyline.
It wasn't until 2019, when I began the prose Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series that I began to see a way to circle back and redeem some of that promise using Clarissa's perspective. In the new comics material I have been crafting, I plan at least lengthy flashbacks to those "lost" years -- stay tuned.
For those who want to believe that 1980s independent comics publishers always offered a "safe space" for creator-owned comics, it is no doubt a shock to read that the publisher at Kitchen Sink Press was autocratically overruling not only a supposedly autonomous creator but also his own editor, and demanding made-to-order Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie parodies (believe me, the most literal-minded fan could make a better suggestion than that!) and dismissing character-driven development as "prima donna posturing."
But that's the way it was back in the twentieth century, kids.
Hey, Don, I want you to know I meant to be lighthearted and silly when I wrote that you "saved" KSP. It seems kinda true, but it's the kind of thing that should be expressed carefully.
I do want to apologize if you found that my remarks were provocative or offensive. My intention was to be a humorous but also supportive. It's clear to me from these posts that you actually were mistreated, and that your career suffered because of that mistreatment. In all seriousness, I grieve over the Megaton Man comics that we didn't get to see – all the comics we deserved, all the comics you deserved to make. It is really hard to believe the insults and the other problems that were directed at you.
The history of comics, as I understand it, has had a good share of awful people, perhaps especially the editors and publishers. My knowledge of that history is piecemeal (one reason why I find your essays to be so interesting), but I suppose the industry that treated Jack Kirby so badly just should not be trusted. Or at least regarded carefully, with appropriate skepticism.
I'm grateful that you found your way back to comics and were able to integrate your creative energies into further exemplary work.
I did save Fantagraphics with King Kong and Wendy Whitebread, absolutely. :)