Daily Phantom strip artist Keith
Williams and his wife Marjet welcomed a son into their family,
On july 25, 2002, Nicholas Williams
was born weighing in at 7 lb 1.902 oz.
Congratulations and best wishes to
the Williams family
Sardi's FOTP dinner may 29, 2002Dinner
May 29, 2002
above: front: Jim, Sy and Luke
back row, Ed Rhoades, Howard Gesbeck, Ed Szymanski,
Pete Klaus, John Rocca, Dominic Rocca
Also in attendance were Jim's lovely wife, Judith,
and Howard's lovely wife, Pamela
Once again, we had a great time and everyone came
away with warm memories and some cool Phantom souvenirs.
Jim Shepherd, the editor of Frew Phantom comics, was
in town for a quick visit and we arranged for a lunch at Sardi's
with special guests, legendary Phantom artist, Sy Barry
and DC Phantom artist, Luke McDonnell.
Sy and Luke made personalized sketches on the Sardi's
menus and graciously signed everything from comics, to posters,
to hardbacks.
Our discussions ranged from travel to art, but often
cerntered around happenings in the Phantom world like Pete and Ed
being guest villains in the Sunday story and the new
Mandrake/Phantom crossover.
Jim gave everyone skull rings, and we had some special
Phantom gifts made up especially for the occasion including Mr.
Walker skull glasses, and buttons, (beautifully crafted
by Pamela Gesbeck) and prints, but Sy kicked it up more than a
notch with a surprise original pencil drawing for
everyone.
The food was delicious ...especially "Shrimp Sardi"
the house specialty and the company was even better.
A comment was made that was fortified by the experience..."Phantom
people are nice people."
Sy Barry Chalk Talk
6/20/02
The library in Nassau NY is a busy place. The upstairs
has the usual fare of book offerings, and the downstairs rooms are also
put to good use.
When Sy, Simmy and I arrived. The downstairs rooms
A and B were hosting an adult exercise class called “Seniorobics” that was
just letting out.
Another community organization regularly schedules
lectures and events there and the day’s event was a big one for Phantom
and comics fans. It was a Sy Barry *Chalk Talk.
An hour before the show, we began to set up his displays
which included tables of framed original Phantom art, various publications
and a series of oil paintings.
In the center of the room was a podium and next
to it was Sy’s easel where he stood, made drawings, and showed examples
of his work while giving the audience background on the history of The Phantom
and insight into the process and technique he employed in his work. Topics
of interest included large drawing of the Phantom rings and the explanation
of details like why he now draws the Phantom ring in reverse so it would
create the typical goodmark image when applied to an arm or surface.
He also made an action drawing of the Phantom using effective foreshortening.
The audience sat in awe of his talent while watching his hands quickly creating
images on large pages on his easel.
Although his most famous work was on Flash Gordon
and The Phantom, two serious adventure strips, he showed his knack for humor
drawing as well and elicited roars of laughter from the audience with the
gags he infused in his demonstration making his presentation both informative
and entertaining.
Before closing, he fielded a deluge of thoughtful questions from the audience who wanted to know details about his process and his artistic influences.
Afterward he was met by a large group of friends and well wishers who complimented him on his talk and enthusiastically took souvenir prints he provided showing an example of his work on cardstock.
As the editor of Friends of the Phantom, it was
an honor to introduce Sy and a joy to attend the function. I wish it could
have been televised for Friends of the Phantom like his drawing demonstration
and interview when he was on Australian television.
Later in the afternoon, he and Simmy and I went for
a walk in the park after which I had an opportunity to visit his studio
and see work in progress of a new oil painting of a scene from his daughter’s
wedding.
It was a pleasant day.
*Sy is a member of the Berndt Toast Gang which serves
as the Long Island chapter of the National Cartoonists Society, a group
which contains a number of famous illustrators and cartoonist who provide
show and lecture/demonstrations called Chalk Talks.