The Reign of Metal 1920s-1950s (2024) By Mark Kaufman

The Reign of Metal 1920s-1950s (2024)
By Mark Kaufman (1960-)
11 x 14 in, pen and ink

In his Kickstarter for “How Comics Were Made,” Glenn Fleishman offered an award level where a supporter could have their image integrated into the book. The illustrator, Mark Kaufman, did the honors for the chapter openers, and my portrait appears on p 51, the start of the second chapter, The Reign of Metal 1920s-1950s. I got the original art for the page, on which I was added in a separate drawing.

Glenn’s book is fantastic. He puts together a great practical history of how the artists’ works move from drawings to the newspapers, particularly before the time when digital and photographic methods were available. How exactly do you get the image from a Peanuts strip to be available for a metal etching at many different print shops? Learn about flongs. My reward level also netted a set of unused flongs from a 1974 Sunday Peanuts. So cool.

The book has been picked up for general publication, which is great. The publisher wanted one change to improve the marketing profile. The new title is “How Comics Are Made.” Available at Amazon.