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More Interfan goodness, including a Don McGregor interview, in Woweekazowie 2!

Woweekazowie 2: 1976
Publisher: William Blyberg, Editor: Dean Mullaney

Woweekazowie! Who the heck would give that name to their fanzine? You can credit Willie Blyberg for that! With his rotating band of editors, Willie put out four issues (that I know of) of this nifty little zine. The fandom collective Interfan played a part in the contents of this fanzine in general, and this issue is no exception. Several artists I know were members. Above you see the cover by one of those members, Pete Iro. Iro was somewhat of a chameleon, an all purpose player, and always turned in professional grade work, as evidenced by the art above. The cover symbolizes and points to an interview inside with Killraven writer Don McGregor. The interview is over seven pages of great insights into some of the best titles of that time, including Killraven in Amazing Adventures, as well as Powerman (Luke Cage), and Jungle Action (with the Black Panther). Don worked with some of the best artists at that time, as well; people like Craig Russell, Billy Graham, and Rich Buckler. What might not be known is how much input Don had in the visuals in some of those books. You can find all this out and more by reading the interview, which also shows what a graceful human being McGregor was (and remains). Various artists illustrate the interview, including Iro, Jack Frost, Mark Gruenwald, Schindler (there is no mention of him in the table of contents), and Mark Pacella (I remember sitting next to Mark at a San Diego convention many years ago, a big friendly body builder of a guy, who was working at Image at the time). There is also a McGregor checklist included with the article.

Other articles include Feminism and the Ready Made Superwoman by (Mary) Jo Duffy, lamenting the state of female super characters at that time. Duffy went on to become an editor and writer at Marvel. Also in this issue is an article by Pete Iro that starts off a general history of comics (as he read them), and morphs into a Jack Kirby profile and an examination of mythology in comics. K. J. Robbins gives us a history of Marvel’s and DC’s forays into film and television up to 1976, and Jack Frost presents part two of an article on the history of the confrontations between Captain America and the Red Skull. Kim Thompson, who would later go on to be a major part of Gary Groth’s post Fantastic Fanzine publication, The Comics Journal, reviews a book by Mark Gruenwald called A Treatise of Reality in Comic Literature. Lastly, Bob Rodi writes and illustrates an article on X-men’s Storm.

There are several full-page pin ups in this issue. Above you see one by Bill Neville and Sam De La Rosa, and below you see a Superman piece by publisher Blyberg.

As for continuity features, Blyberg’s character, Victory, appears in another installment, of which you can see a two-page sample below. Note those energetic Gil Kane like stances, viewpoints, and hand positions!

Check out the pdf of the whole shebang here, where you will see more art by Iro, Blyberg, Frost, and Tim Corrigan, as well as the entire Victory story. Some of you may remember Ink Stains profiled this well made zine in the past. For two previous columns, please check out my website.

Thanks very much for tuning in, and if you made it this far, please leave a comment so I know I am not writing in a vacuum!

LAST MINUTE ADDITION! There is a current fanzine out there called Comic Fandom Quarterly from Robin Dale (you can find him here on facebook) worth checking out. See their page here. Issue one has an interview with Bill Sienkiewicz and issue two has an interview with Michael Golden! You cannot get a better start than that! Very limited print run, so go quick and get yours!

Ken Meyer Jr.
kenmeyerjr@yahoo.com