Sinkevitch
by Dan Nadel
Monday, February 25, 2008
An anonymous source sent in the information below. Who knows why. Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics shill and dear friend was, as we all were, a young fan once. Why, I myself once waited in line for what seemed like hours to have a stack of comic books signed by inker John Beatty. Yes, we all have our secrets. I shudder to think what long lost letter/picture etc. someone might find of mine. Like the one I wrote to Jaime Hernandez when I was 15 explaining about this awesome band I’d just learned about: The Clash. That was in 1991. Oh boy.
Dear Mr. Goodwin, Elektra: Assassin is some of the finest (if not the best) work Frank Miller has ever done. It even topped his recent issues on Daredevil and Dark Knight for DC. The events dealing with Elektra’s birth were very shocking. I never knew the details of Elektra’s birth or origin, and this story gave me an idea. I was really glad you could fit Matt into the story (if only for a few panels).
As for Bill Sienkiewicz, (how does he get “Sinkevitch” out of that?), I’m not too sure about his art. His old Moon Knight stuff is some of the best I’ve ever seen, but this book looks like he drew while on acid. I’ll have to keep in mind that Elektra was drugged during this story, which I hope accounts for her abstract thinking. If she is sane and/or not drugged next issue, I hope the art will reflect Bill’s true talents. All in all, it was a great book and I’m looking forward to next issue.
Eric Reynolds
Huntington Beach, CA
Labels: Bill Sienkiewicz, Elektra, Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics, Frank Miller, Frank Miller Rulez, inside baseball, letters, loving jab, MOME
I hope this post impresses upon the younger generation that you can like all kinds of comics. Art comics, indie comics, mainstream comics, comics drawn on acid, anything. No, really, I really don’t think Dan posted this to poke fun at Eric (the editor of Fantagraphics’ MOME for those who don’t know) but really to make him proud. Younger comics readers didn’t grow up on books like Dark Knight or Watchmen when they were being published. For a lot of indie comics fans who weren’t around in the mid 80’s, comics history begins with Adrian Tomine. But for people like Eric and myself, we read these mags when they were coming out. Ah, the salad days. I know, I know, I sound like one of those old crusty punks who claim to have seen The Clash or something, but, it does sort of weird me out when I ask peers like Matthew Thurber if he’s ever read Watchmen and he says, “Um, no.” (sorry, Thurbs) Aren’t these books sort of like classic cinema? Don’t you watch “The Searchers” not because it’s a John Wayne movie, but because it’s an exquisite jewel of the form itself?
So to all you art comics, indie comics guys out there who’d never even look at a Frank Miller comic, just remember the editor of your favorite alt comix anthology really dug “Daredevil: Born Again” back in the day
Anyways, hats off to Eric, you made my day when I saw this letter.
But wait, did you like the rest of Elektra: Assassin?
p.s. This reminded me that a teenage Ed Brubaker had a letter printed in an issue of Firestorm.
God, how do I remember stuff like this? WHY do I remember stuff like this?
For what it’s worth, I used to stand next to Spider-Man artist Ron Frenz –FOR THE ENTIRE DAY when he would do conventions in Pittsburgh back in the mid-80s. There was a convention like every other month and every time I’d just stand there (after I got my sketch). For hours. Man. Whew.
Elektra: Assassin was on the highbrow side of my letter-hacking. Hell, I had a letter in G.I. Joe! And superhero pin-ups in Amazing Heroes.
P.S. And no, I don’t think I did like the rest. This was around the time Miller and Sienkiewicz were losing me. Stray Toasters? Blech. I became a full-on Alan Moore man and never really liked Miller’s work as much as I did his Daredevils or Batman: Year One. I was only 14 or 15 when I wrote that letter, maybe I would have liked Elektra: Assassin once I finally did drop acid.
I hope this post impresses upon the younger generation the importance of mail. Letters, postcards, notes!
It’s not just e-mail, people!
There’s a wealth of gold to be found in old letters pages. I believe Gary Groth had some fine letters printed in the late 1960s in Thor and the Fantastic Four.
I got the first issue of Elektra: Assassin when it came out. I think I was 10?
I carpooled to camp that summer with a couple kids who were older than me. We all read comics in the car, and I clearly remember being very very confused by this comic and this exchange:
Older Kid: Do you like that?
Me: Um. It’s weird. I dunno. No.
Older Kid: You will like it soon.
For some reason, this exchange has been scorched into my brain. His tone was very serious, like a prophet. He was right. By age 12, I was melting my brain to it on a regular basis.
This letter really cracked me up, especially because Eric’s such a nice guy, so imagining a 15-year old version of Eric Reynolds dressing down Archie Goodwin for “Sinkevitch”‘s art is hysterical.
The more you guys talk about famous types who have letters printed in old comics, the more a book collection of same, especially a well-designed one, strikes me as a good idea. Or maybe a blog/Flickr site, a la Leif Peng. Just a thought.
Elektra Assassin scared the shit out of me as a kid. It, like Ronin (about which Frank has written so well) still looks damn good to me. There was something so psychologically raw and fraught about it.
And, for some reason my “thing” back in the day was inkers. I guess I’ve always looked for the underdog or something, though that’s really retarded. I also loved this guy Michael Bair. I think he must’ve been a Maryland local or something. Inkers!
P.S. “Inside Baseball”?!?
“Inside baseball”, I dunno… isn’t that what something that only concerns a tiny insular group of people is called? Oh hell.
Wasn’t it a TV show with Johnny Bench on saturday mornings?
nope, it was “The Baseball Bunch” –that was the show. Somehow, I thought this is what Dan meant, like he used to watch this show and then get a ride to the convention from mom and get his comic books signed.
Wait, that’s what I did…. shit.
That’s what I did, too, Frank, but something tells me this is something Dan picked up recently at the local sports bar. Except, Dan, that wasn’t a sports bar, and “Inside Baseball” means something else entirely!
qdernf2er r4j0r g40u ]0 0 urg34f
shit, sorry, I was laffing too hard to type clearly.
I did wonder why Dan had been talking a lot about looking forward to Baseball season. He doesn’t normally like sports.
i had a gushy crap letter printed in weirdo # 10 which was brought up six years later in initial correspondence with adrian tomine (i was buying some early mini-optic nerves) much to my embarrassment… “are you the same tim danko that had a letter in…”
the onlt pleasure i get from it now is that it proves i was reading something halfway decent when i was eighteen.
Damn you Reynolds, wait’ll get my hands on you! You’re in trouble!
Dan, do you like to pitch inside or outside?
Hi Frank: I feel I must defend my pathetic comics cred. I solemnly swear to reading Watchmen in High School…while wearing a black trenchcoat…. I WILL fess up to never having read Love and Rockets…HISSSS BOOOOO!!! if anybody wants to loan me the issues….I want to read the letters pages….
M.Thurber
hey Matthew! dude, I’ll totally loan you the magazine size issues of Love n Rockets. I have doubles!
So, wait, I must have asked you “Have you read Palomar?” Not Watchmen, whoops, sorry, Thurbs, my bad.
p.s. do you like Boody Rogers? (look in other comments section –the poll on Whitney)
I remember buying the Elektra trade while on a trip to San Diego in 1990 I think it was (I was either a jr or sr in high school). I had a bunch of money to spend and spent an hour at the comic shop and finally settled on that for some reason. I read it on the plane and it blew my mind. I don’t even think I really understood it.
The only letter I ever wrote was to G.I. Joe but I don’t think it was printed. I was probably raving about that silent Snake Eyes issue.
And I really dug Ron Frenz’ run on Thor as he had a really nice, clean style and that was when they gave Thor a new outfit and maybe he was actually a younger dude too.
Boody Rogers
yeah! Haven’t seen enough.
Whitney….you guys got me into him….
yeah!!!
Speak of the devil –
yeah
MW, Kirihito, were Xmas presents.
yeah!!!
Amrican Flagg
????????????
BPRD-
nah
Roy Rogers
U.S. Highway
Vertigo, Booty Cell