Now, I never got to work for Archie Goodwin. That is a large regret. But when we were doing the Power of Shazam!/Starman crossover, Archie called me out of the blue, just to tell me he liked the way I was drawing Starman!

In an industry where you might never hear from your own editor, Archie took the time to call an artist on another book that was using a character he edited.

I was fortunate to have a few meals with Archie and other editors at some conventions, and it was a wonderful boost to get Archie to laugh at one of your jokes.

Thoughts of Archie cross my mind with frequency, and those of us fortunate enough to have known him–even fleetingly–miss him so.

“Timmy” had been turning in rather loose pencils, and the inker had to do a lot of extra work to turn them into finished art. He pointed this out to the editor, and the decision was made to pay “Timmy” for breakdowns (less money) and the inker for finishes (more). “Timmy” didn’t like this, and trouble and the threats mentioned above ensued.

“Timmy” didn’t stop getting work, but they stopped letting him into the offices for a while — the editors would have their assistants meet him in reception and take delivery of artwork there.

Of course, it’s possible there are two such incidents — this one was in the 1980s, but Archie was definitely around for it, and would have known it well.

kdb

Let the speculation commence!