Where to find me at San Diego Comic-Con 2019

I’ll be doing signings each day at the giant Prism Comics booth #2144 (in Hall C.) Last Kiss merchandise will be on sale at the booth during the entire con. But I’ll only be in the booth for an hour or two a day. So, if you want to chat, here’s my schedule at Prism:

Thursday, July 18: 4 – 6 pm, (plus probably 6-7 p.m.)
Friday, July 19: 1 – 2 pm, 6-7 pm
Saturday, July 20: 12 – 2 pm
Sunday, July 21: 1 – 3 pm

You can also find Last Kiss products at the south end of the hall at the World Famous Comics booth—#5560. I won’t be at the WFC booth much, but many of my newest and best Last Kiss fridge magnets will be for sale there.

Hope to see you at the con!

My Life as a Duck Brain

 

“Seafood Blues” from Donald Duck #268, 1988. Art by William Van Horn. Script by John Lustig & William Van Horn. ©Walt Disney Company

 

Although I concentrate on Last Kiss these days, I spent decades writing Disney comics—mostly Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories. For Disney, I started out doing one-page gags, then graduated to two-page stories and then finally stories that ranged from 10 to 28 pages.
The one-pager pictured here is one of my first and is from 1988: “Seafood Blues.”

 

The art is by my pal—the great William Van Horn. Bill—who was already established as a Disney artist and writer—provided me with invaluable advice and help on this script. We teamed up on many stories over the years and remain close friends.

 

 

Stan Lee, Me…and The Virtue of Vera Valiant

I only met Stan Lee once.

I was at the San Diego Comic-Con years ago and I spotted my friend John Petty and went over to say “Howdy.” It turned out John was with Larry Lieber—Stan Lee’s brother as well being a long-time Marvel artist. So, I’m talking to them and I said that I’d be interested in interviewing Larry sometime. And Stan spots us and walks over to chat.

I’m still a little dumbfounded by this. (Imagine a time when Stan Lee could walk the convention floor—without a security detail—and not be mobbed by fans!) It was one of those weird and wonderful things that used to happen at the con. (Weird and wonderful things still happen there, but not quite as often. And sadly bumping into Stan won’t be one of them.)

Stan was every bit as charming and friendly as he you’d hope. So, after a couple of minutes I get up the nerve to mention that I do a funny romance series called Last Kiss. And then I add that I’d recently discovered the tongue-in-cheek romance comic strip The Virtue of Vera Valiant that Stan and artist Frank Springer did in the 1970s. Obviously inspired by the TV show Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, it was over-the-top soap opera. Although it varied in quality, at it’s best it was pretty darn funny.

Reprint of the daily strip from the Signet paperback The Virtue of Vera Valiant #2, ©1977 Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

It seemed perfect for Last Kiss fans and I wanted to introduce them to this mostly forgotten series. So I asked if I could reprint a few panels in my next issue of Last Kiss. Stan said, sure. So, I was thrilled. (I was gonna publish (sorta!) Stan Lee!!!

Not knowing how to contact Stan (or Larry)—and being too shy to ask for their contact info— I said that I’d send John Petty copies. (My thinking was that John seemed to know both of Stan and Larry that he could pass copies onto them.) Before I could explain, Stan chips in with something along the lines of “What am I chicken soup? I want a copy too.”

Unfortunately, I never published a fifth issue of Last Kiss. So, this blog post showing of Vera Valiant will have to do for now. Stan, I assume you have heavenly access to the Internet. And that the connection is very, very fast!

 

Last Kiss Goes Hollywood—Again


So, Shelagh and I were watching Mom—one of our favorite shows—last week and saw a Last Kiss tote bag in the above scene.. Much screaming (for joy) ensued. My thanks to the amazing John Fluke of Placed4Success Product Placement. This is just one of dozens of times John’s gotten Last Kiss on TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory; Mike and Molly; and Scream.

By the way, Anna Faris (Christine) didn’t really say anything about the tote bag behind her on the show. That was just me having some fun. (But I’m sure she was thinking it.)

 

The Last Kiss Caffeine tote is available in my Etsy Store.

 

Interview with Last Kiss Creator Launches Romance Site

To read the interview with John Lustig, go to https://www.romancedailynews.com

I’m head-over-heals in love with the fact that I’m the first person to be interview by RomanceDailyNews.com
 
The new site (launched July 17, 2018) features all things romantic. And what could be more romantic than me and Last Kiss? In fact, in addition to the interview, my Last Kiss comics are a regular feature on the site.
 
In addition to romance in general, the site will also act as a review and news site for the romance novel industry. Free romance e-books, interviews with romance writers, horoscopes (with a romantic emphasis), romance news events, and more are all featured on the site.