If you are reading this blog right now, it is likely that you did so at the behest of Fred Hembeck. He was kind enough to give me a plug on his blog, Fred Sez. If you didn't come from there, please go there and check it out. Check out all the neat features on the site. They are really delightful, and introduced by a charming cartoon version of Fred himself. I've loved Fred's work since I was a teenager. His love for comics is infectious. He's also a really nice guy with a marvelous personality. In the 1980s, when my store was new, I wrote Fred a fan letter. A week later, to my surprise, I got a envelope from him with two free drawings inside. One of them was of Jimmy Olsen. I told Fred in my letter that I always liked Jimmy Olsen comics better than all the other Superman titles. I thought that Jimmy was cool, and that a lot of comics fans just made fun of him. Fred drew a picture with the caption "Jimmy Olsen's Pal Lee Hester!" You can bet that I was absolutely floored. I put the drawings in frames, and had them on display in my store for years. Unfortunately they were drawn in felt pen, and they faded away to nothing over the years. If you were an early customer in the Alma Plaza days, you might remember them. I with I had thought to make xeroxes of them. One thing today's comics market needs is more Fred Hembeck, and we'll be getting it soon, and here it is:
Yes, that's right, over 900 pages of Hembeck goodness is coming at you from Image comics. It's a little late already, it was supposed to be out in February. I plan to keep this in stock at Lee's Comics in permanent perpetuity! It will help to introduce a new generation to the great Fred Hembeck.
