by John | Apr 19, 2012 | Blog
Clint Neilson was the first reader to submit a gag in my most recent dialog contest. There were approximately 50 other submissions after that from other people. But when the dust settled, Neilson was the clear winner with nearly twice as many votes as anyone else. (See above for his dialog.)
His prize—10 Last Kiss note cards.
(Okay, it’s not as grand as winning a new car and a smile from Vanna White, but hey—they’re nice cards!)
Runners-up in the vote count included…
Richard Gretsch (14 votes): “Dear Madam, We thank you for your suggestion, but we believe our Maidenform Bras should be worn under the clothes, and not over them.”
Schuyler Corson (13 votes): “Sexting and off color emails are nice, but nothing shows respect like a good old dirty letter!”
Nikolai Garcia (13 votes): “What happened at Comic Con was a one-time thing. Please stop stalking me. Sincerely, John Lustig”
Jim Guida (11 votes): ”Oh, isn’t that cute. Another restraining order. I’ll put it with the others.”
Morten Haugen (10 votes): A restraint order? From my hairdresser?
Great job, folks!
by John | Apr 13, 2012 | Blog
NobleWorks is having a sale on all its greeting cards—including the Last Kiss cards. Discount expires April 15. Just enter the coupon code (see image above) during checkout. All the Last Kiss cards are here!
by John | Apr 10, 2012 | Blog
Okay, we’re going to have a real contest this time. The person who submits the winning dialog or caption receives 10 Last Kiss notecards.
Submit your caption via comments on my Last Kiss Facebook page. Instead of me picking a winner, let’s try something different. The submission with the most Facebook “Likes” wins. In case of a tie, my vote will be the tie-breaker.
The contest ends at noon (P.D.T.) on Wednesday, April 18.
by John | Mar 25, 2012 | Blog
Last Kiss will have a booth (#708) at The Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. I’ll be there all three days (March 30-April 1) with some new, astonishingly cool Last Kiss goodies. Come by and say “Hi!” Otherwise, I get lonely and cry.
by John | Mar 21, 2012 | Blog
NobleWorks is having a 25 percent off sale on all its greeting cards—including the Last Kiss cards. Discount expires March 26. Just enter the coupon code “SPRING25” upon checkout. All the Last Kiss cards are here!
by John | Mar 20, 2012 | Blog
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a contest. Too long for Last Kiss super fan Jim Guida.
Jim saw this 1960s romance panel that I posted recently and e-mailed me, “The woman’s response in the original art just screams for a caption contest. C’mon!”
Okay, Jim. Here’s the contest that I posted on Facebook.
This time, though, let’s keep it low key. I’m not going to pick a winner. (Hey, that means you’re all winners.) But if you’ve got a great caption or bit of dialog to add to this art, let’s hear it.
by John | Feb 29, 2012 | Blog
I’ve decided to expand my blog and talk about whatever interests me at the moment. Humor. My life. Politics. My life.
My opinions about other people. My opinions about my opinions…about my life. And, of course, my opinions about other people’s opinions about my life.
And—for today at least—new conspiracy theories which must be true because I’m making them up and I would never lie to you.
The Republicans are right. The poor economy is Barack Obama’s fault. Where the GOP goes wrong is in just blaming him for problems in the last three years.
Think deep, guys. The economy is recovering. And Obama is starting to get credit for this. So maybe this whole economic crisis was just a hoax—engineered by Obama to make himself look good.
Sure, Bush was in office when the economy tanked. But how can we be sure that Bush wasn’t being controlled by Obama? Wouldn’t that be perfect? If you blame Obama for Bush, all your problems disappear.
(By the way, just to get ahead of the curve, why not start blaming Obama for Mitt Romney now?)
by John | Feb 21, 2012 | Blog
Above is the original romance art from First Kiss #26 (Click to enlarge.) that I used for my gag “Smooch Emergency.”
I had Allen Freeman draw in the bottom right of the Last Kiss version. The space was originally take up by the second panel of the story—which delivers a double-dose of heartache.
Oh, man. I hate when one of my siblings marries my sweetheart!
by John | Jan 31, 2012 | Blog
Roy Thomas’s Alter Ego magazine is always a great read. But the current issue (#106) is a tribute to the late and very great comics artist/editor Dick Giordano. Download preview here.
It’s a must read if you’re…
—a Giordano fan.
—a Charlton Comics fan.
—a Last Kiss fan with a keen curiosity.
In addition to being my favorite artist from Charlton’s First Kiss (the source material for much of Last Kiss), Dick Giordano was Charlton’s editor for several years in the 1960s. More importantly he acted as mentor and occasional cheerleader to me after I started Last Kiss.
The issue features transcriptions from two comic conventions panels. The first a very entertaining 2009 panel about Charlton Comics featuring Giordano, Roy Thomas and Steve Skeates. The second from the Giordano Tribute panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con–featuring comic luminaries Mark Evanier, Bob Layton, Joe Rubinstein, Pau Levitz, Pat Bastienne and numerous others. (I must admit I was one of the others.)
This is a great issue about one of comic’s best-loved and most influential artists/editors. Dick was one of the kindest and most inspiring people I’ve ever worked with. I strongly recommend this issue!!
by John | Jan 15, 2012 | Blog
My sister Lisa (left) and my mom (right) were travel agents together. Here they are a lifetime ago during a trip to Peru.
My mom (Nina Lustig) always had a plan. She was determined to do things her own way. And in her own time.
For instance, she went in for a mastectomy even though it seemed hopeless. Her doctors told her she had only three months to live. They were only off by…29 years.
On the morning of Jan. 13, 2012 (Friday the 13th) she finally lost her battle with the Big C. But she didn’t give up without a world-class, kick-death-in-the-teeth fight.
She was an incredibly tough and private woman. (And I wouldn’t even dare tell you that much if she was still with us.)
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