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Evil Eye 1: 1974
Editor and Publisher: Alan Bradford

I recall seeing Al Bradford’s work in several fanzines of the past, but all this time, I did not know he did a zine of his own, Evil Eye! I am very happy to rectify my mistake and feature the variety filled zine in this installment of Ink Stains. When I asked why Bradford decided to jump in the zine pool, he told me he did it because, “Bob Cosgrove and Marty Greim were having so much fun doing it (it seemed), so it was sort of “monkey see, monkey do.” The fact that I never did a second issue should tell you all you need to know about that experience. I enjoyed putting the ‘zine together, but getting it printed, marketed, and sold, not so much.”

Above you see a Neal Adams (and Bradford) cover to start things off with a double super punch. After that, coupled with the editorial, we see an illustration by Al’s (ex) wife, Susan. Following that is a somewhat atypical barbarian illustration from Comic Crusader leader, Marty Greim (inked by Bradford). The general theme of this issue appears to be Jack Kirby, and more specifically, the Fantastic Four (there is an article later in the zine I will mention in a bit). Below you see an over the top illustration of a typically complex Kirby-like costume by Bob Cosgrove and Al…they went a long way for the joke!

The Kirby theme continues with the next article (an unused piece from Cosgrove’s own Champion zine), The Fantastic Years. The article is illustrated profusely by Cosgrove, Bradford, Bill Black, Greim (an impressive double page spread), Gary Kato (seen at left), and Steve Fritz, and features an issue by issue breakdown of The Fantastic Four up to issue 102, then 108, and, lastly, the specials. Below, you can see a smattering of the pin ups.

Al was nice enough to answer a few questions in the Book of Face, the first delving into his beginnings as a comics fan and aspiring artist.

I’ve drawn since I could hold a pencil or crayon, at about two or three years old. Everyone starts out drawing. Those of us who never stop are called “artists.” Though I didn’t know their names until much later, I have to say my earliest artistic influences were Al Plastino and Wayne Boring, the two major Superman artists of the 1950s. The first two artists of whose names I was actually aware were Gil Kane and Carmine Infantino, and it was about this time (the last few years of the 1950s) that I began to think that drawing comics was what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Next is a story by Gary Kato and his brother Bert entitled Fungus…you might say it has a somewhat magic ending. Below you can see a seed of the story, but you can have fungus leafing through the entire spore-y in the pdf. I’m here all night, tip your waitress.

Al continued illuminating, expounding on his discovery of fandom below.

It was in early 1969, I was 18, in my first year of art school. My younger brother, Pete who was still in high school, the captain of the rifle team (!) and definitely NOT a comics fan, was in the school’s shooting range one afternoon for target practice. A new member of the team was looking around at the walls of the range, which had a number of safety posters taped to them. He commented on the posters: “Oh wow, these are all by Will Eisner!” He expected NO flicker of recognition from Pete. But he was astounded when Pete casually replied: “Oh, yeah, the guy who created The Spirit.” “How did you know that? Are YOU a comics fan?” the kid (Bob Polio by name) asked. Pete assured him that he wasn’t but that his big brother WAS. Of course Bob had to meet me, so Pete introduced us. Bob showed me Stan’s Magazine Exchange in a nearby town, which had a loft filled with old comic books. I met Bob Cosgrove and Marty Greim at Stan’s, and the rest is history.

Al mentioned to me that Bob Polio went on to work for New England Comics, producing advertising and flyers for them and doing the lettering on the first round of Ben Edlund’s The Tick.

Al Bradford’s fantasy roots (ok, I will stop now) show in the next article (The Chronicle of the Black Sword), spotlighting Michael Moorcock’s character, Elric of Melnibone. A couple of really nice illos by Al grace the article, as well as one by his then wife, Susan. See one at left and another below.

We all had our favorite fanzines back then, and Al was no exception. He told me his list included Comic Crusader, Champion, The Collector, Batmania, The Buyer’s Guide, RBCC, Star Studded, and Squa Tront. He also said that “I did art for the first five and a few articles for the first two. In addition I was a member of CAPA Alpha, The comics APA founded by Jerry Bails, off and on from 1971 to about 1983.”

Fan fixture Tom Fagan enters with a short story called Spaced Out, illustrated (in a style somewhat reminiscent of Jeff Jones) by Gary Kato, left.

One great thing about fandom is the friends we made back then, in many cases, stayed with us our whole lives. Al was no different, saying, “besides the aforementioned Polio, Cosgrove and Greim, I was friends with Bhob Stewart, and Tom Fagan, and am still friends with Bill Black, Rich and Wendy Pini, and a bunch of people from CAPA-Alpha who are now Facebook friends.”

Al was very happy and surprised to get permission from author Harry Harrison to adapt his story, The Finest Hunter in the World. Below is a few pages from the somewhat EC-esque art by Al.

As much as we might have hated it, our time in fandom had to come to an end as our lives continued. Most of the time, it was after we graduated high school, maybe college…and “adulting” forced it’s way into our lives. Alan Bradford was, of course, no different. Below, he elaborates on his post fandom days.

I didn’t work professionally in comics, other than my ONE pro credit, thanks to Marty Greim and Bill Black. I inked a ten page Atomic Mouse revival story that Marty wrote and penciled, and Bill Black published in his Americomics, issue #4, in 1983. I did however go on to work as a commercial artist in the 80’s & 90’s, doing advertising art, newspaper paste-up (in the waning days of physical cut-and-paste, pre-computer, designing giftware and catalog and ad design for Spoontiques, which, at the time, was the world’s largest manufacturer of pewter figurines and gewgaws. Just before the turn of the millenium I quit Spoontiques to start my own giftware company. I was tired of being a wage slave for a multi-million dollar a year company, while getting no bonuses or recompense for my hundreds of design ideas beyond a weekly salary, and not a particularly good one at that. However, Although I had no problem coming up with ideas and handling the logistics of getting them produced as actual products, I was woefully undercapitalized and couldn’t afford to hire the necessary sales force or even office staff. After cleaning out my savings and getting into a certain amount of debt, I called it quits. I went into building backyard sheds for a number of years, and when the owner of the shed company died in around 2009, I worked for a roofing company that specialized in large industrial roofs (mostly sheet rubber) until I retired in 2015. I’ve gone back to drawing since then, mostly just fan art, though a handful of professional jobs, including several book covers and interior illustrations for my friend. Dwight Decker.

The issue wraps up with a few spot illustrations by Griem/Bradford, Bruce D. Patterson, and Bob Polio, and a backcover by Wayne Pond. I think this must have been before Wayne started doing a lot of comic character head shots in a cartoony style…and no noses! Check out the back cover below.

OK, we finally have the issue fully flowered, but to see Al’s vision come to fruition, you better plant the pdf on your computer! Sorry, I said I would stop.

Thanks this issue go out to the zine’s creator, Al Bradford, and Manny Maris for the scans! Come back next season, I mean, installment, for more fan fun!

Ken Meyer Jr.
kenmeyerjr@yahoo.com