NEWS RELEASE

EVER GREEN Benefits Widow

Richard "Grass[hopper]" Green was a man of firsts. Pioneer comic book fan, comics artist and writer, and musician, "Grass" Green died on August 5. To commemorate his talent and life, and to benefit his widow and family, two issues of Ever Green are being published by Blue Moon Comics in December and January.

Ever Green will re-release comic strip and book material that Green created with writer Michael Vance, some of which has not been seen outside of Oklahoma.

In the early '60s, Green established himself as a founding father of "fandom", a loose association of people who love the artform. As the first African-American artist to win popularity there, his work in early fan magazines like Alter Ego, The Comicollector, Komix Illustrated, Super-Hero, and Masquerader included his two most popular characters, Xal-Kor, the Human Cat" and "Wildman and Rubberroy".

"He was a real talent," wrote Roy Thomas, who was an editor and writer at America's two largest comic book publishers, Marvel and DC Comics. "And no less so because he worked in alternative comics instead of the 'pro' ones. Quality is quality, wherever you find it."

First praised for his 'cartoony' art on stories that parodied mainstream comics characters like The Fantastic Four (Marvel), his realistic art on Xal-Kor in the fanzine Star-Studded Comics (1964) also won him a fan following. Grass' art and story was published in newsstand comic book titles including Go-Go and Charlton Premier in early 1967.

Green became the first Aftrican-American cartoonist in Underground Comics beginning in the early '70s. Super-Soul Comix, an early entry, was a hard-edged expose of racism and bigotry in America at the time. His Wildman and Rubberroy stories would be published for twelve issues in the 1980s.

Beginning in the 1982, Grass also worked with Michael Vance on the comic strip, Holiday Out. Some of this work was also released through comic books including Holiday Out Comics (Renegade Press), Comico Primer (Comico) and Mangazine (Antarctic Press). It is this and previously unpublished art and related work that is being published in Ever Green. Blue Moon Comics is also reissuing The Complete Holiday Out that features more of Green's high energy, pun- and fun-laced art.

Vance wrote Holiday Out, and is compiling and editing Ever Green. Published in dozens of regional magazines and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers, his book, Forbidden Adventure, has been called a "benchmark in comics history".

Vance also has written the comic strip Alley Oop, and comic books including Straw Men, Angel of Death, The Adventures of Captain Nemo, and Bloodtide. Blue Moon Comics has found its niche in publishing digest-sized comic books like Blue Moon Superheroes, the Vault of Shadows, and All Smash Funnies. Publisher Lloyd Smith releases comic books that recapture the spirit of titles from the Silver Age of comic books, the 1950s and '60s. Information on Ever Green and how the two issues may be ordered is available at http://bluemooncomics.tsx.org.

A special section on Richard "Grass" Green will also be issued in the December issue of Alter Ego magazine. Information on that issue is available at http://www.twomorrows.com.

Shudder at Vance's Light's End horror short stories narrated by actor William Windom at www.plan9.org.
Questions? Comment? E-Mail Suspended Animation at vance@digitalwebbing.com

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