Larry Blake and Little Lulu

Larry Blake has long been a fan of cartoonist John Stanley (1914-1993) and his work on the Little Lulu comic books of the 1950s. In 1999, Larry inked and colored a page penciled by Stanley, one of the last drawings completed by him before his death in 1993. Both pages were published in HoLLywood Ecelectern, the Little Lulu fanzine, John Stanley's in 1993, Larry Blake's in 1999. This year, Fantagraphics Books published a biography of John Stanley, and it includes images of that same penciled page and Larry's inked and colored version:

The Fantagraphics biography is called John Stanley: Giving Life to Little Lulu, and is was written by Bill Schelly, associate editor of Alter Ego. Congratulations to Larry Blake for once again having his artwork published hardback.

Text copyright 2017 Five Star Comics

Mothman Welcomes You to West Virginia!

There is, as far as we know, only one Mothman, and he is from West Virginia.

There is also only one Mothman Museum, and it's in West Virginia, in Point Pleasant to be exact.

There is of course only one West Virginia, and that is West-By-God-Virginia.

And there is only one Gary Gibeaut as far as anyone knows. He's from West Virginia, too, just like Mothman.

So when you come into West Virginia and stop at a welcome center, like the one on Interstate 68 near Hazelton, you might find an advertising card about the world's only Mothman Museum, located on the opposite end of the state in Point Pleasant. And if you look closely at that brochure, you will see Gary Gibeaut's Mothman artwork, which is on prominent display at the museum.

Now if you want any of Gary's artwork, you don't have to settle for an advertising card found at a welcome center. Instead, you can go to the Mothman Museum where you will find Gary's posters, comic books, postcards, stickers, and pins. They don't have to be Gary's, though. They can be yours, too, for the right price. Better yet, you can go to the Mothman Festival, this year on the weekend of September 16-17, and meet Gary Gibeaut in person, talk to him, and ask him to sign his artwork for you.

Even so, you might hang onto that card you found at the welcome center. After all, it led you to Point Pleasant, home of the world's only Mothman. (We think.)

Text copyright 2017 Five Star Comics

Mothman Books on YouTube

A YouTube user named Mothman Historian has posted a video showing his collection of Mothman comic books and other books. In his video of almost thirteen minutes, Mothman Historian reads Gary Gibeaut's story "The Abridged Mothman" from Mothman #1, published in September 2015. He follows that with a look at Mothman 'Toons, a series of cartoon books by Jason Gibeaut and Larry Blake. Jason and Larry have three collections of Mothman 'Toons and are working on a fourth. Finally, Mothman Historian looks at two coloring books by Terence Hanley with not only Mothman but also the Flatwoods Monster, the Men in Black, and Indrid Cold, all of West Virginia. Here is the link to Mothman Historian's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMOo5IeE2fc&feature=em-share_video_user

 Text copyright 2017 Five Star Comics