Scarlet Returns to Chicago Today!

CHICAGO, IL – In 1955, the last comic strip of Invisible Scarlet O’Neil was published by the Chicago Sun-Times. Now, 53 years later, the character returns to the Windy City to celebrate her re-birth as a comic book icon at the Wizard World Chicago comic convention held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center June 26 - 29.

Invisible Scarlet O’Neil has been referred to as comics’ “First Leading Lady with Superpowers”. Scarlet was the creation of Russell Stamm, who had been an assistant to such giants in the field as Sidney Smith (The Gumps) and Chester Gould (Dick Tracy). In addition to the newspaper strips, she also appeared in Famous Funnies magazine and had her own short comic book series in the early 1950’s. The strip ran for fifteen years before ending in 1955, and the character was not seen again.

Starting in 2007, Russell Stamm Jr. determined to bring his father’s character back into view and wrote a modern version of Scarlet which is currently in production by Atlantis Studios for release in Fall 2008. Artist, writer, and comics historian Trina Robbins has consulted on Scarlet’s new look, in a graphic-novel length action-adventure designed appeal to fans of the original strip and modern readers.

Scarlet O’Neil will be visible again at Atlantis Studios booth #943. Russ Stamm, Jr. will be available to discuss both old and new versions of his father’s creation. Also scheduled is Michael A. Gordon, writer of “The Untold Origins of Invisible Scarlet O’Neil,” a comic-sized history of the character and the creator.

Atlantis Studios will be performing portfolio reviews of artists interested in illustrating future Scarlet projects. A brand-new comic book trailer will premiere, and through the magic of digital technology you will be able to get your picture taken with Invisible Scarlet herself!

For more information, please visit www.InvisibleScarletONeil.com.

Panel of the Week- Whoa Nelly!

Well, Big Brown failed to win the Triple Crown, but now maybe Scarlet's got a shot! Something tells me she's gonna need another horse... Lesson for all you readers, if someone suggests you ride a horse named "Dynamite," you may want to return to the stables.

Panel of the Week - Scarlet Goes Ape!

Apes and comics go together like damsels and distress, and this panel from 1941 is an example of both. Scarlet's sudden encounter with "Ping Bong" was obviously inspired by the 1933 film King Kong, but gorillas would always be a popular attraction to lure readers. In an interview with DC executive Irwin Donenfeld in Comic Book Artist # 5, he was of the firm belief that by "placing a gorilla on a comic book cover, regardless of the context or relevance, would automatically correspond with an increase in sales for that title." Thus, Stamm's aggressive ape was just one of the first in a long line of comic book primate characters - Beppo, BrainiApe, the Gibbon, Gleek, Gorilla Man, Grease Monkey, Sam Simeon, Konga, Mojo Jojo, Sky Ape, and Titano to name but a few. For more monkey madness, check out Comics Gone Ape from Twomorrows publishing and the Gorilla Age of Comics website.

Sad News - Chester Gould Museum Closed

We are very sad to learn that the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum in Woodstock, IL closed its doors on June 1st.

E&P reported that the 1991-founded museum shut down for economic reasons.

The museum's collection included original Dick Tracy comics by Gould, some of which probably featured assistant work by the creator of Invisible Scarlet O'Neil. Russell Stamm was an assistant to Gould from 1935 to 1940. Even after he left to create his own character, the two remained friends and Gould was very supportive even though the two were working for rival Chicago newspapers.

Some items from the Chester Gould collection will continue to be displayed in Woodstock, and a virtual museum is still online at ChesterGould.org.

Panel of the Week - Happy Birthday to Me!

In 1946, Scarlet celebrated her birthday with a trip to the Everglades for some much needed rest and relaxation after a long and stressful romantic entanglement. Rest while you can Scarlet, you've no idea the adventure you're about to have in the swamps! At least she does not have to worry about sunburn - one flick of the wrist and the rays pass right through her!

Panel of the Week - The Perfect Plan

This week's panel is from September 26, 1946 and illustrates a plan to murder cartoonist Stussell Ramm, the creator of the popular comic character "Crimson O'Dare." The girlfriend of Ramm's assistant means to do away with him using the device above. "The end of the trigger passes through a hole made by shooting pane with BB shot. Closing the window pulls the string and the gun is fired. The blast parts string passing over end of barrel and shatters window. All attachments being freed, the entire mechanism is pulled aloft by the balloon which is carried out over Lake Michigan by the south wind...and rises until it bursts. Of course the sawed-off shotgun is a deadly weapon and kills the person who shut the window. Stussell's shot gun which was fired the night before will be left on the fire escape to mislead police." Sounds like Eve thought of everything... everything except being caught by an invisible gal!

NYCC 2008

I think I've finally started to recover from this year's NYCC! The Big Apple really knows how to show someone a good time! This year's NYCC was fantastic and I had a great time promoting The Untold Origins of Invisible Scarlet O'Neil. I'm very proud to say we sold a fair number of books and gave away all our promo cards. I also spoke with a number of folks who stopped by and couldn't take their eyes off the cover image of Russell Stamm's signature character! Many fanboys love to challenge the idea that Scarlet is the first leading lady with superpowers to appear in comic form, so it makes for some interesting discussions. I'm just so glad to see the character getting attention and there is some great news to come!

However, I was not alone in the booth! Others included a couple of "old friends" - Kathy Messick who is still hard at work promoting Cyber Angels. A great concept and I am amazed that some company hasn't signed her to develop it as a series yet. Also in attendance was Scott Ham of Buckeye Comics, creator of Blood Sentence. Scott's got some great ideas for other horror titles and I'm looking forward to his next project which takes place in the Old West and WWII.

This year we also had a newbie in the booth, Terrance Bernard who was there to introduce the world to Sophia: Awakening and 8-part comic series that takes place in the distant future. The preview book and promo cards and posters did attract quite a lot of attention, thanks in no small part to the gorgeous artwork by Andres Guinaldo! I strongly recommend checking out a preview of the first issue at Parasite Publishing.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Rafeal Navarro, the artist who sent us a very nice image of Scarlet to our MySpace page. I gave him a copy of "Untold Origins" for his effort and he honored us with another beautiful Scarlet sketch:
NYCC 2008 was a terrific show and I can't wait to do it again now that I'm rested up! Look out, Charlotte - you're next!