tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17513369.post115763281306832293..comments2023-12-28T22:53:34.119-08:00Comments on Fred Schiller: Demon Days...Fred Schillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01888771079495878583noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17513369.post-30664801433970007702011-07-01T19:54:20.921-07:002011-07-01T19:54:20.921-07:00Thanks a bunch, Kevin. Compliments don't have ...Thanks a bunch, Kevin. Compliments don't have an expiration date, so yours is very welcome and appreciated.Fred Schillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01888771079495878583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17513369.post-68228669360949912972011-07-01T13:18:13.828-07:002011-07-01T13:18:13.828-07:00I was a fan of Rust back when you were writing it....I was a fan of Rust back when you were writing it. I had to haunt spin racks to find it, since there was no comic shop within 100 miles of me. I still have about half the run in my collection, and getting the issues I am missing is on my wish list. Rust never got the traction it deserved, in my opinion. Consider this the long-overdue fan letter I should have sent back in 1988. You guys did great work. Hope you do comics again.Kevin Birgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07484175041579090772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17513369.post-1157788786718147932006-09-09T00:59:00.000-07:002006-09-09T00:59:00.000-07:00Right you are. I rarely mention Steve Miller when ...Right you are. I rarely mention Steve Miller when talking about Rust. Aside from being introduced to him at a comic convention once and shaking his hand, I’ve never had any interaction with the fellow. He seemed nice enough.<BR/><BR/>It had always been my impression that Miller and Now Comics publisher Tony Caputo were friends and had perhaps hashed out details of the Rust book together. Tony was a creative fellow, having written and drawn comics on his own.<BR/><BR/>I certainly did not create the character of Scott Baker a.k.a. Rust, and I’ve never claimed to have. I did cook up a cast of supporting characters for the issues that wrote. One of my favorite characters was a retired porn actress who strikes up a friendship with Scott and joins him on the road for some adventures. <BR/><BR/>I remember the famous Now Comics bankruptcy. I was living and working in NYC at the time I received the paperwork. In exchange for monies owned me I was invited to return to Chicago to pick up a couple crates of Astro Boy #4. At the time it didn’t seem worth the effort. It still doesn’t today.Fred Schillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01888771079495878583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17513369.post-1157743095189965082006-09-08T12:18:00.000-07:002006-09-08T12:18:00.000-07:00You guys don't talk about the guy who creted the c...You guys don't talk about the guy who creted the character Rust, Steve Miller. Tony Craputo stole him from him and he only got the character back when Now went bankrupt.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17513369.post-1157716747275894932006-09-08T04:59:00.000-07:002006-09-08T04:59:00.000-07:00>Is it something in my voice? Is it what I put on ...>Is it something in my voice? Is it what I put on the page?<BR/><BR/>Tony, it's not what you put on the page that makes us stand a few steps away from you at all times--it's what you're NOT putting on the page that worries us. <BR/><BR/>We all know that you're humoring us, drawing funny people doing funny things, but it's clear that you're holding back.<BR/><BR/>If you ever got the chance to really let go and show us no-holds-barred what's going on inside your head, you would blow our tiny little minds. We would all be so affected by what we saw that we would evolve and look like John Hurt did at the end of the movie Altered States.<BR/><BR/>Please congratulate Shelly Bond for spotting what we were doing in the chaff that was clogging comic shelves back in the mid 80s.Fred Schillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01888771079495878583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17513369.post-1157686783648675712006-09-07T20:39:00.000-07:002006-09-07T20:39:00.000-07:00Man!What tapes were those?Better not have been my ...Man!<BR/>What tapes were those?<BR/>Better not have been my HackMix #2...Romeo Void, U2, the Cure.<BR/>Fred, you have such astounding recall of those events. I tend to block out the things which are the most troubling about those days. Hell, I can't recall anything about high school. I come across Nexus fill-ins that 24 pages of my art INCLUDING cover, and I don't recall doing it. <BR/>I do know that RUST stands out. Always will.<BR/>I miss rattling around in your head. <BR/>It's completely true that our state of mind is reflected in those pages.<BR/>I'm recalling that I have something of yours that I need to read. You really have to remind of these things; I'm still flaky, juust not as manic as I used to be (250 mikes of Luvox daily helps).<BR/>There are still demons, though. You just have to learn how to ignore them, I guess. Though sometimes ignoring them is the last thing they'll let you do. So maybe I'm a little crazier and sadder than in those days. But age and perspective really help. My first love is my craft. The Craft. If I can quiet myself long enough to work well, I find that that's reward and sanctuary enough. Sometimes that's all I expect out of this life.<BR/>My editor Shelly Bond (who was a HUGE fan of RUST) calls me "CrazyAkins" or Crazy8's, which is fine. <BR/>Is it something in my voice? Is it what I put on the page?<BR/>Who knows...<BR/>Thanks for this, for lack of a better word, Valentine, Fred. I feel the same way about those horrible, fantastic days and the wonderfully terrifying work that we put to page.<BR/>Again! Again!Tony Akinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02477324248773506362noreply@blogger.com