Readers' Forum Friday

Bill K. of a “small town in Missouri”, (his description!), writes with the following inquiry:

“Greg, I know you obviously have a love for superhero comic books, and that you’ve mentioned a number of times in Kyle’s episodes how some of the guys are comic book fans. I wanted to ask what comic books and comic book artists were your favorite and most influential when you were growing up?”.

Wow, got a few hours? LOL. Seriously, this could take a while to answer. It may end up being the entire column this week, and that still wouldn’t cover everything. I’ll try to be brief.

As a kid, it was pretty much DC comics that held my attention. Marvel would come a bit later. My first real favorites were the Justice League, and the various solo books of the members, (Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, etc). There were a couple of years in the 70s when the penciller of the JLA, Dick Dillin, was being inked by Dick Giordano, and those books are gorgeous, my first real “swoon” moment with comic books. (OK, that’s arguable… perhaps it was Curt Swan who first really grabbed my attention). In any case, I would soon discover, thanks to DC’s penchant for reprinting 1960s comics in the 1970s, (and also, thanks to a used comic book store nearby my house when I was about 13 years old), the Teen Titans books of the 60s, with the amazing Nick Cardy’s lush illustrations. And then, of course, Nick Cardy was also doing tons of covers for almost every DC book back then, (including my beloved JLA, pictured at left). Something about his art had the most indefinable charisma to it. It still floors me.

This all lead up to what ended up becoming, possibly, my favorite comic book of all time… the Legion of Super-Heroes. That incredible teen-aged team, (23 members strong!), from the 30th century. At that point they were being drawn by Mike Grell, in what for me was the perfect marriage of artist and subject matter.
















Grell, also famous for some of his skimpy Legion costume designs, including what has probably become the most famously homo-erotic super-hero costume of all time, Cosmic Boy’s “barely there” 1970s, um… I don’t know quite how to describe it. Perhaps it’s better to just show you:
















I later discovered that Mike Grell had been preceded as artist of the Legion by the spectacular Dave Cockrum, (thanks to that used comic book store, I got to collect almost all of his back issues!). Now, this man was a visionary. Not only did he revamp and revive the Legion when they were really on life support, but the many costumes he created have become the template on which the Legion still bases their looks today. His art was dynamic, involving, incredible. Here’s just one sample:












I recently purchased the DC Archive Editions Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 10, which features all of Dave Cockrum’s Legion work in one high-quality volume. Here’s what it looks like:

It’s positively awesome to watch this artist come into his own during the course of all the issues contained in this volume. I highly recommend it, (and the volume after it, too, which contains Mike Grell’s first year or so on the book, which may be my favorite of all his work).

OK, being that I’ve now used up almost all of the space for this week’s Readers’ Forum, I’d better wrap up. I didn’t even get to mention Neal Adams, George Perez, and several others. And then… when I began reading Marvel Comics, a whole new set of favorites, including the late, great, John Buscema, who lived out here on Long Island, too. I was so fortunate to meet and speak with him several times when I was first trying to break into the comic book industry, myself. What a friendly, kind-hearted great man, and great artist, too.

Well, I hope that answered your question, Bill! And I promise, next week, I’ll answer lots of other readers’ questions!

And before I go, one more parting glimpse of the magnificent Dave Cockrum's work. Dave passed away in late 2006. I never got the chance to meet him and thank him for the great work he did, and for inspiring me with his visionary talent. I hope he's up there, somewhere, watching now.


















UPDATE: Writer/publisher Clifford Meth wrote to let me know he is in charge of selling off Dave Cockrum's personal comic book collection. (Clifford was largely responsible for helping Dave to get a financial settlement from Marvel towards the end of his life, when he was in a serious health & financial crisis. And also organized a fund-raiser involving a bunch of other big names in comics, to help Dave at that time). Proceeds are going to Dave's widow, Paty. Please click here to get more details, and to see the large trove of classic titles available.

B&B seein’ ya’!

Readers' Forum Friday

Jean-Pierre and Breyer?

Strangely enough, these two guys have a lot of things in common. They’re both tall, dark-haired, well-built, handsome guys. They both have brown eyes. They both have hairy chests. They both are not originally from the USA. In fact, they both come from countries where French is spoken widely. They both used to live at the B&B, and they don’t anymore. However, they both live nearby, and they both visit the B&B quite frequently. Wow, all these things in common! Yet… what’s the one thing that they definitely don’t have in common? (Hang on, I’ll get to that in a minute! First, though, some comments & questions from you, the readers!).

Jim from Florida, (the Sunshine State!), is curious how Dave is doing at his computer tech job at Lance’s firm. Well, looks like he’s hanging in there so far, Jim… as we saw in the recent Christmas episode, he’s still there and appears to be holding his own. I hope to get back to that soon, actually… there is a storyline coming up which will feature Dave in a prominent role.

Speaking of the Christmas episode, there have been multiple requests to show more of Steve, the Angel, who seems to arrive around Christmas time each year. And also, Jeanne from Pittsburgh, PA, would like to know the status of Steve’s own comic strip, An Angel’s Story. I’m afraid that’s still up in the air, Jeanne. The truth is, Kyle’s B&B is tremendously involving for me. Especially now with the strip going full color, (starting this coming Tuesday!). I’d love to be able to do An Angel’s Story, too, but practically speaking, it doesn’t seem possible at the present time. If I’m going to do it, I want to do it right, and give it the time it deserves to present a quality strip. Otherwise, there’s just no point. Am I saying it’s over for good? No. I would really like to get back to it at some time in the future. Just not right now. But I hope to, someday soon. I’ll keep you posted!

I enjoyed Stevie G’s recent comments on the blog about the various “ice skating moments” throughout the history of Kyle’s B&B episodes. Yes, I suppose I am a fan of the sport, (does that make me an “ice queen”?). Then, of course… as I’ve detailed on some other blog posts, I’m a big fan of several winter sports. And I’ve done a lot of skiing and skating throughout my life, (as well as watching on TV!). So, yes, I suppose you can expect to see more ice skating moments in episodes to come!

Lonnie from Ohio, (the Buckeye state. Ha! I think I’m going to do this with every state!), wants to know how I felt about last weekend’s Super Bowl win by the Giants. OK, well… this is a little complicated. First of all, despite my being from New York, I am a major fan of the New England Patriots. And not just because I travel to Vermont all the time. My friends Glenn & Pete, who live here on Long Island, are season ticket-holders for the Patriots, and travel up to Foxboro, MA, for many of the home games. Through the years, they’ve had some spectacular Super Bowl parties, and I’ve come to be a fan of Brady & co. as they’ve racked up their number of victories. But then…. I am from New York. I love how the Giants rose up from their underdog status this year. I was absolutely enthralled by their win against Green Bay, played in –3 degree weather! So, coming into this Super Bowl, I was a fan of both teams, and would’ve been happy with either of them winning. Although, I have to say, I was leaning more towards the Giants, improbable as their winning seemed. I guess I love the underdog! In any case, it was an amazing game, and I was thrilled with the results, (as well as a bit saddened for Brady & the boys. They’d come so far this year, in their quest for an undefeated season!). But then… there’a always next year to look forward to!

Jess from Washington asks a question which caught me completely off guard. He would like to know which guys at the B&B, (including the surrounding neighborhood guys), are cut, and which are uncut? (i.e., circumcised and uncircumcised). Oh, Jess… you really want me to do this, huh? I have to be honest… it’s not something I have actually considered for most of the characters in the comic strip In fact, there are only two characters I can say for sure what their… circumcision status is. And that would be, (drumroll, please!)…. Jean-Pierre and Breyer! Yes, yes… that’s the thing those two guys don’t have in common. It was established in a recent episode that Breyer is, indeed, circumcised. And Jean-Pierre? He is not, although, the reason why I know that is a bit more complicated. Suffice to say, it was written into the script for a strip that ended up not being used. But it is established, as far as I’m concerned. As for the rest of the guys? Well, I suppose you’ll just have to stay tuned. Perhaps that info will “pop up” at some point. (Ouch!). However, I wouldn’t hold your breath for an episode where the guys are standing around in the shower discussing their various circumcisions, or lack thereof. One more thought… I suppose it would be safe to assume that Richard is circumcised, too, as he is of the Jewish faith, and that’s pretty standard practice.

Several readers want to know what Kyle has against hockey player names! (as seen in the final panel of Episode # 223, Kyle puts one condition on Breyer’s naming of the Siberian Husky: “No hockey player names!”). OK, I don’t believe this is because Kyle has anything against hockey players, (he is dating one, remember?), or against hockey in general. I think this is about his fear that Breyer might pick an obscure, difficult-to-pronounce hockey player name just to make the Husky “unique”. But truthfully, I’m sure there are plenty of very suitable hockey player names that would satisfy both Breyer and Kyle. I actually like Gretsky as a name, myself! So perhaps the “no hockey player names” edict is not set in stone. Stay tuned!

Speaking of the Siberian Husky, reader-submitted name suggestions for the Siberian Husky continue to pour in! Here are some more from the past week, received by e-mail and in the blog comments:

Skye, from Paul
Blue, also from Paul, as well as Michael, (and several others, as you’ll see below)
Wolf, from DW
Hunter, from Spark, (actually, Spark’s not a bad one, either, Spark!)
Kodi, from ?
Boomer, also from ? (Boomer is my brother’s yellow lab’s name!).
Loopy, from Angelo
White Wang, also from Angelo
Timberwolf, from Sean
Ice Cream, from MN Dave, (Minnesota Dave?)
Winger, from ?
Rusty, from Nelson
Snowballing, from Carles
Turtle, from Paul

Timbo in Arizona, aka Canyonman, suggests Nanook, which is Inuit Eskimo for cute, kind. (and Phatchick96 concurs that it’s a good name!).

Rachel suggests “Smitten”, (she points out it was how Kyle described his feelings towards the Sibe in the first panel of Episode # 223. Good one, Rachel!).

Carlos sent me a whole bunch: Moose, Patch, Vanilla, Wolfgang, Fang, Harry, and the growing-in-popularity Blue.

Kate protests the ban on hockey player names, pointing out that her own dog, Simon, is named after hockey player Chris Simon, (Kate, I hope my explanation above was helpful! And I’m not ruling out Gretsky, or other possible hockey-player name suggestions, too).

Terry from Australia points out that there is an Aussie tradition where they would call a white dog Blackie, but with those Siberian Husky blue eyes, he would be called Red.
He also suggests Wolf or Blue.

An anonymous reader suggests Harvey, in homage to two very famous gay people: deceased political groundbreaker Harvey Milk, and the very much alive Harvey Fierstein.

Jilly makes the very hilarious, and appropriate suggestions of either “Captain” or Tennille”.

Finally, a rather brilliant suggestion from Paul V….. “London”. After Jack London, of course, writer of what may be the most famous wolf/dog story ever, White Fang. (One clarification, though… the Siberian Husky at Kyle’s B&B is NOT a wolf-dog hybrid. He is 100% Siberian Husky. They look a whole lot like wolves, probably more than any other dog, but they are NOT wolves. As much as I love wolves, I don’t think it would be a smart idea to have one as a pet, running around in the B&B!).

Well, that’s all for now. Come back here on Tuesday, for the official debut of Kyle’s B&B in color!

B&B seein’ ya’!

Readers' Forum Friday

Naming the Husky!

Wow, I had no idea how many dog lovers, (or dog name lovers), there are who read the comic strip! I've been inundated with e-mails this past week with name suggestions for the new Siberian Husky. Which is so sweet... the snow dog seems to have captured a lot of folks' hearts!

I actually already had several names picked out, and even had some of my friends vote on which ones they liked. (And of course, my friends then passed along to me their own name suggestions! More to consider!). So, I'm going to share some with you now, a mixed bag of name suggestions that were e-mailed to me by readers, that were posted on the blog comments board, and that my friends here on Long Island suggested. Some highly imaginative, some a bit unexpected, some downright bizarre... but all greatly appreciated! (If you did send me one, and I happened to leave yours out here, I apologize... I've been trying to keep track of all these names, but I may have not saved all of the e-mails sent).

• "Kudo" from Ken
  
• "Minnesota" from Dave
• "Wolfgang" from Allan
• "Snowcone" from both Melissa and Eric
• "Sergei", also from Eric
• "Fjord" from Kevin
• "Bear" from Leihzel
• "Tangerine" from Gerry (this one I don't quite get!)
• "Lobo" from Charlie
• "Neo" from Ben
• "Nikita" from ?
• "Polar" from Tom
• "Gilgamesh" from Erin
  
• "Snowflake" from Griffin
• "Ice Cube", also from Griffin
• "Tundra", also from Griffin
• "Romeo" from Andy
• "Valentino", also from Andy
• "Blanket", also, jokingly, from Andy, (I think I'll let Michael Jackson keep that one, Andy!)
  
• "Elio" from ?
• "Nitro" from Glenn
• "Blizzard" from Pete
• "Avalanche" from Michael
• "Teemu" from Anne, (this is Norwegian... what it means, though, I'm not sure)
• "Snowball" from George
• "Nevada" from Steven
• "Jinx" from Louis
• "Gleek" from Isaac (perhaps if he was a Siberian Husky from another planet!)
• "Jordan" from Jordan (OK, that's one way of getting yourself into the comic strip!)
• "Pepper" from NH
• "Leif" from Shelly
• "Whitman" from Peter (I considered this myself, as a tribute to the poet whose hometown I happen to live in. Lots of things around here are named after Whitman. Walt Whitman High School, the Walt Whitman Mall, Walt Whitman Road, etc etc)
• "Bosley" from ?
• "Morgan Fairchild" from Tommy, (maybe if he were a drag queen Siberian Husky")
• "Dakota" from Jonelle

And, in a rather bizarre series of suggestions, the following three:

• "Pizza" from Jimmy
• "Lasagne" from ? (UPDATE: This one was also sent by Teresa, from below. Thanks for pointing that out to me, Teresa. Kinda hard keeping track of all these names!)
  
• "Manicotti" from Teresa

I'm not sure where the Italian food connection is coming from, but being partially Italian myself, (25%!), I can appreciate it!

Well, that is all for now. If you happen to have a name suggestion of your own, feel free to post it on the comments board, or e-mail it to me at kylesbnb@aol.com

And thank you to everyone for all of your kind words and comments... it's always a pleasure to hear from you. Have a great weekend!

Readers' Forum Friday

TGIF, and another edition of Readers' Forum Friday! I’m happy to say that the latest episode, featuring the Siberian Husky guest star, has inspired a flood of e-mail. Many of which are offering name suggestions. Which is sweet & thoughtful, but…hey, folks, let’s wait and see if he’s actually going to be staying around first! (Uh-oh, I think that might inspire another flood….).

Randy S. of California implores me to increase the episodes to weekly, as opposed to every 2 weeks. This is something I’ve been asked quite a bit from readers over the past few years. Hey, I would love to, but schedule-wise, I don’t know if it would work. Most of the papers that print the strip are on a biweekly schedule, (some print even less frequently, monthly, or even bimonthly). It would make it harder for those publications to keep up with the storylines. And then, there’s the matter of my own schedule, and production time. Which has gotten more full now, with the strip going color starting in episode # 224. But, ultimately, weekly episodes are something I would like to do if possible at some point, so…. I’m not ruling it out. As always, stay tuned!

In regards to the growing number of residents at the B&B, I’ve gotten some mixed comments, largely positive. Most folks seem to like that Jeff Olsen is back, and T.N. of Baltimore, MD, urges me to have Nick move back in to the B&B full time. (T.N., he’s not too far away… the garage is only a 10 minute drive from the B&B!). But Peter of Phoenix, AZ thinks the supporting cast is too distracting, and would like everyone to move out, save for the “five stars”. (Even Dave, Peter? You can’t mean that!). And then there’s Rory of Fort Lauderdale, FL, who would like to see a reunion episode featuring EVERY guest who’s ever stayed at the B&B! (I don’t know if they’d all fit into one episode, Rory, but it would be interesting!).

Sam P. of Michigan and James of unknown origins both asked if I could show more of Eduardo’s nude figure drawing class modeling experiences. (It’ll happen, guys… just not sure when. But there’s definitely some storylines in the works). A. R. of Olympia, WA, wants to know if Jean-Pierre is still in Northport, or has he returned to France? (He’s still here, A.R.… living next door to the B&B, at Andrew & William’s house, working at an art gallery on Main Street in Northport, and also being a part-time nanny for Heath. I hope to show him soon).

Fred T. of Kansas City, MO wants to know the zodiac signs of all the B&B residents, and if possible, their exact birthdays, so he can do their charts. (That may take me a while to figure out, Fred, but I appreciate the interest, and the offer to do the charts. That’s really sweet! The only birthday I know of, at this point, is Brad’s, which I think is July 6th. Even that I’m going to have to check on to make sure. Eduardo’s is in December, but I don’t have the day. Everyone else? I think Kyle’s is in November. Sorry if I’m a bit vague on this, but in developing characters for the strip, I focus on their histories, personalities, geographic backgrounds…but for some reason, I haven’t really considered their birthdates. But perhaps I will from now on!).

Well, that’s all for now… thanks to everyone who wrote, and if I didn’t use your comment or question in this week’s edition, don’t worry… it’ll probably show up in an upcoming edition. I appreciate everyone who wrote, and by all means… keep those comments & questions coming. You can e-mail me at KylesBnB@aol.com

And please let me know how you’d like to be referred to in the column, as well as whether I can print your hometown. Stay tuned for a new episode of the strip, (the final one in black & white!), this coming Tuesday, and until then, enjoy the US Figure Skating Championships this weekend!

B&B seein’ ya’!

Readers' Forum Friday

Welcome to the second edition of Readers' Forum Friday! I got some tremendously positive feedback from readers on this new feature, and plenty of new questions & comments to address in this week's edition. I won't be able use all of the questions this week, but I will save them for future weeks. And please, by all means... keep those questions & comments coming. It's very cool! (Note to Bobby... yes, you were right about my grammatical error. I've changed the name of the feature from Reader's to Readers'. ).

Harold from London, (England, I'm assuming, although there is a London Ontario, and plenty of others, too), would like to know why none of the B&B characters have been married yet. Well, Harold... aside from the fact that gay marriage is still illegal in most of the USA, I don't think any of the characters feel they've reached that level of commitment yet. Except for Andrew & William, who live next door to the B&B, and probably would get married if it were legal. Perhaps there will be a commitment ceremony for them in the future?

Tom of Chicago, (is that a play on Tom of Finland?), wants the B&B guys to make a road trip to Chicago. Almost anything's possible, Tom... although it's not in the immediate plans. I do appreciate all of the loyal readers of the strip who see it in the Chicago Free Press, so... who knows? Stay tuned.

Speaking of road trips, several readers have asked if I've used that plane ticket to anywhere in the continental USA or Canada that I won in last summer's Lambda Legal cartoon contest. No, I haven't... I've been so busy, I haven't had time to travel anywhere, save for a quick weekend jaunt to Arlington, Vermont last October. Any suggestions on where I should go? I'm open to 'em. One slight downside of that prize I won, (and believe me, I'm not complaining here... I'm very grateful to Lambda Legal, and everyone who voted for me, for the win!), is that the prize is only a plane ticket... it doesn't cover lodging at all. So, wherever I do choose to go, I have to be concerned with lodging expenses. Who knows, maybe a gay B&B owner somewhere out there will invite me to come for a free visit! I'll keep you posted...

A reader simply known as "M" posted the following on last week's edition's comments: "I like it when you include details from Long Island. Are there gay B&Bs in Long Island proper or just in Fire Island? I would like to hear more about the community/town. What kind of people live there? What is their reaction, if any, to the B&B. Also, how is the couple who adopted a child doing?". Well, M, thanks for that. I actually don't know of any other gay B&Bs on Long Island, but I could be wrong. (I'm sure I'll hear now, if there are any). I do like to think that the town of Northport adds more than bit of character to the comic strip. What kind of people live here? Well, gosh... a whole range of folks, I suppose. Northport is a friendly town...despite being fairly close to New York City, it still has a smalltown feel. What is the reaction in the comic strip to the B&B? We haven't really seen much neighbor reaction, but... I would assume, at this point, they're pretty OK with it. Perhaps that will be explored in the future. And Andrew, William, & Heath, (who also happen to be next-door neighbors of the B&B), are doing fine. They show up in the strip as often as time, (and space) permits. William was seen most recently in the book group episode last summer; Andrew seems to be headed in an activist direction; and Heath & Brad are fast friends.

HKevyn, (no, that's not a misprint!), along with a whole lot of other readers, wants to know when the next volume of Kyle's B&B will be published. (Hopefully, in about a year.... I'm working on it!).

Finally, in light of the recent Siberian Husky appearance in the comic strip, Terese wants to know how my cat Ginger is doing. (She's fine... as much of a crazy green-eyed lynx as ever! Here's a pic of the wildcat, taken on January 2nd of this year. And no, that's not fat, that's just fluff. Her winter coat is thicker than ever this year, which seems to mean we're in for a cold, snowy winter. Click it to enlarge!):

Reader's Forum Friday!!!

Welcome to a new feature here at Kyle's B&B ... I was actually going to call this "Reader's Question of the Week", or something like that, but I thought that "Reader's Forum Friday" would open it up a bit more, and enable me to develop the concept as it goes along.

In any case, I thought it might be fun to use this one day a week to answer several random reader's questions, as I tend to get a lot of e-mails asking me all sorts of things about the strip. This way, y'all can learn a little something about the strip each Friday you may not know yet! (Or you can correct me if I'm wrong!).

Because this is the first week I'm doing this, I figured I'd use 2 questions from several regular readers: Griffin, (a frequent commenter on this blog), and Sean Sullivan, (who also happens to live nearby here on Long Island). Sean, never having a lack of questions for me about the strip, was glad to provide the following question:

"Is Dave still residing at the B&B, or has he moved in with Nick yet? And is Breyer still living in the apartment over Nick's Garage, or has he moved back to the B&B to be with Kyle? And what is the current official lineup of residents at the B&B?".

OK, that's actually three questions, Sean, but who's counting? Here's the answers:
1. Dave is still at the B&B, (although I'm sure he spends a fair amount of overnights at Nick's).
2. Breyer is still in the apartment at Nick's Garage, (although I know he spends a lot of overnights at the B&B, to be with Kyle. And, as we've seen recently, Kyle spends some overnights at Breyer's apartment, too, as when he came across Breyer's hidden CD collection).
3. The current lineup of full-time residents at the B&B is: Kyle, Brad, Lance, Richard, Eduardo, Matt, Dave, and Jeff. Which still leaves 2 rooms vacant for short-term guests and new arrivals. I do have to say, though... this current lineup, 8 guys, may actually be the all-time high for full-time residents at the B&B.

And here's Griffin's more succinct question:
"What is Eduardo studying in college?"
He hasn't declared a major as of yet. I think his progress in college is going slowly, as he's not attending full-time, and he's been working lots of hours at his job at the Thatched Cottage, (a local, real-life, very gay friendly catering hall that is known for hosting many glittering, high-profile Long Island gay-community events, as well as a bunch of gay commitment ceremonies). And then, he's also doing a fair amount of modeling for figure drawing classes, which I believe, at this point, has become more than just being a "fill in" for Jean-Pierre.

Well, there you have it! If you'd like to have a question featured in an upcoming week's Reader's Forum Friday, just e-mail me at kylesbnb@aol.com with your question. Please put Reader's Forum Friday in the subject line of your e-mail, and also let me know in the e-mail how you'd like to be credited on the website, (full name, partial name, pseudonym), and whether or not I can publish your hometown and/or country.