(BILL) MORRISON MONDAYS!
It’s the second installment of MORRISON MONDAYS, a new, weekly feature spotlighting the far-out work of cartoonist extraordinaire Bill Morrison — particularly his cover homages/parodies. (You can click here to read more about this grooviness.)
And what do we have this week? Why 1995’s Bartman #4, from Bongo Comics:
… which of course is Bill’s riff on 1967’s The Amazing Spider-Man #50, by the late, great John Romita:
What did Romita think of the satire? Here’s Bill:
“When I was the creative director at Bongo, I drew this Bartman cover which paid homage to John Romita Sr’s cover to The Amazing Spider-Man #50,” Bill sez. “A few years later, Wizard Magazine published a special issue titled something like ‘The 100 Greatest Comic Covers of All Time.’ The Number One spot went to Amazing Spider-Man #50, and they interviewed Romita Sr. about the cover. In the article, he is quoted as saying (I’m paraphrasing): ‘The Simpsons did a parody of this cover, and it was the biggest thrill of my career.’
“I read that and thought ‘Wow, he’s talking about my cover to Bartman #4! I gave one of my greatest heroes the biggest thrill of his career!’ I was thunderstruck! A few years after that I was going to have the opportunity to meet John at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, so I decided to do a recreation of my Bartman cover and present it to him.
“When I did I told him, ‘Reading that I gave you the biggest thrill of your career has given me the biggest thrill of MY career!’ It was an amazing moment for me, and one I will never forget. But did I have the presence of mind to get a picture of myself with John? Of course not.”
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Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below!
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MORE
— BATMAN STRIKES AGAIN: What if JACK KIRBY Had Never Left DC Comics in 1958? Click here.
— Introducing… MORRISON MONDAYS! Click here.
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Eisner winner Bill Morrison has been working in comics and publishing since 1993 when he co-founded Bongo Entertainment with Matt Groening, Cindy Vance and Steve Vance. At Bongo, and later as Executive Editor of Mad Magazine, he parodied the comics images he loved as a kid every chance he got. Not much has changed.
Bill is on Instagram (@atomicbattery) and Facebook (Bill Morrison/Atomic Battery Studios), and regularly takes commissions and sells published art through 4C Comics.
