Forry Ackerman Tributes
Jim Warren worked with Forest J Ackerman since 1958 and they founded Famous Monsters of Filmland together. They last appeared in public at this summer’s Comic-Con International but Warren flew west to see him one final time this month. He provided us with the following:
Forrest J. Ackerman was in a class by himself. You don’t have to tell this to anyone who knew him or his work. You don’t have to tell anyone Babe Ruth was a great hitter.
Our fifty-year relationship was also in a class by itself. I found Forry Ackerman the man was every bit as interesting as Forry ackerman the talent. Now he’s gone. But the talent still lives. The words he wrote for Warren Publishing will be read and savored for as long as memory and words exist.
The King is dead. No other King can take his place.
Harry Knowles, Ain’t it Cool News
Uncle Forry as many Ackermaniacs referred to him, was for me, my ghoulish Santa Claus. He didn’t live at the North Pole or even the South Pole, but at a magical place called the Ackermansion – and it was my visit there in 1993 changed the direction of my life. My father and I had been life long collectors and fans of all thing cinematic – but it was Forry’s Famous Monsters of Filmland issue 2 that forever put my father on the path to all things geeky cool. He found a load of 7500 issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland in San Antonio, that were in their original shipping bundles that the San Antonio PTA pressured the local distributor not to distribute. Well those 7500 issues were stacked against my far bedroom wall as a young child – the lurid photos convinced me that I had to know what the text said and my father would sit with me, reading Famous Monsters of Filmland to me as a child. Once I could read, I read every issue I could get my hands on. BUT it was that encounter at the Ackermansion that stuck with me. All at once I looked and thought… "What a life!" Looking at the ephemera, the mementos… this wasn’t a fictional Bat Cave or Fortress of Solitude… this was a truly real location, where I real life character invented wholly by himself created a lair more fantastic than any dreamt of in fiction.
I didn’t want to live in the Ackermansion, but I wanted to be in a lair of my own construction, surrounded by the sort of things I loved and I wanted to express that passion with the equal level of unabashed love that Forry did. I’m very different from Ackerman, and so not worthy, he is and always will be one of my fondest inspirations. That final conversation I had with Forry is a warm and sad memory that I will carry with me for the rest of my days.
Jessie Lilley, Mondo Cult
When I met Forry, back in 1990 or thereabouts, I was like a kid on Christmas Morning. Stammering and making a total ass of myself I’m sure. Over the years, he and I have laughed, chatted, sung duets at conventions, danced (!) and most exciting of all for me – we worked together.
I worked with Forry when I was still publishing Scarlet Street. When I left, he asked me if this was a Warren/Ackerman sort of thing, because if it was, he’d follow me and leave SS. I told him it was personal and between Richard Valley and myself and he should stick with SS ’cause it was a good book and had a damned good editor. He laughed and said, "Well, okay Wonder Woman. If that’s the way you want it." And he and Richard worked together for all these years. After one of his birthday parties, I went back to the house and schmoozed a bit with Richard and Tom and Forry beckoned me over after awhile to ask whether the hatchet had yet been buried…. "in Mr. Valley’s head?" I almost choked. "No Forrest," said I, "nor will it be. Richard only has one head and I think he should keep it whole and where it is." Or words to that effect. He patted my hand and said, "Now you know why I continue to refer to you as Wonder Woman. What is you name, anyway?"
I also have the good fortune to have worked with Forry on Mondo Cult. He gave Brad and me a wonderful piece on King Kong in issue 1 and of course, he’s all over issue 2 as well, in photographs from The Boneyard Collection and such.
Forry and I drove to Kelly Freas’ funeral together. We talked about everything under the sun there and back again. He asked me to lunch at the House of Pies and I had to decline as I was expected elsewhere very quickly. He sighed and said, "Jessie, you have to promise me something. When you drive home from my funeral, stop and have lunch at the House of Pies for me, will you? If you don’t I’ll come back and haunt you."
Other thoughts and comments can be found at the Classic Horror FIlm Board.
After her successful co-directorial debut on Superman Doomsday, Lauren Montgomery takes full command of the helm for Wonder Woman, the next entry in the popular series of DC Universe animated original PG-13 films. Warner Premiere. The video event is due out on March 3, 2009.
Yesterday, Tim Pilcher, author of Erotic Comics, talked about the research into the second volume, coming out here in March. Now we focus on the evolution. Speaking of sex, given the subject matter, we advise you that the art does the subject justice.
Warner Home Video has announced a March 3, 2009 release date for its direct-to-DVD Wonder Woman film. It will be released in what has rapidly become a standard pattern for genre offerings:a Single Disc DVD for $19.98, 2 Disc Special Edition DVD for $29.98 and Blu-ray Disc for $34.99. The animated original movie will also be available OnDemand and Pay-Per-View as well as available for download day and date. Originally, the DVD had been announced for February release but was delayed a few weeks for unspecified reasons.
Two more notable comic book celebrities will be joining the festivities at New York Comic Con (NYCC) this year as Guests of Honor. Affording thousands of fans the opportunity to meet them in person, Geoff Johns, who is well-known as a comic book writer of a number of DC Comics characters, including Superman, Green Lantern and the Flash as well as for his work as a screenwriter; and superstar artist Jim Lee, known for his acclaimed artistic runs on titles including BATMAN, ALL STAR BATMAN and WILDCATS, will be attending NYCC to help launch the new Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing game, DC Universe Online (DCUO), produced by Sony Online Entertainment for PLAYSTATION 3 in collaboration with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. 
Gene Colan’s artistic career will receive the retrospective treatment as San Francisco’s 
Some Wonder Woman news popped up over the weekend. First, there was Beyonce Knowles telling Geoff Boucher at the 
In keeping up with the comings and goings of DC’s comic book franchises that have plans to segue to the silver screen, here we have put together Warner Bros. more recent plans on making that adaptation for some of our favorite heroes, as well as some other characters and how close we are to seeing them in theaters.
Nate Powell hits upon some pretty heavy subject matter in his latest graphic novel Swallow Me Whole, now out frolm Top Shelf. We’re talking childhood schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, family breakdown, animal telepathy, and misguided love, just to name a few. The Indiana-based cartoonist traverses the familiar territory of teen angst and all the growing pains associated with it in his new work, but without the formulaic melodrama that so often saturates the topic. When he isn’t tackling the troubling madness of adolescence as an author and artist, Powell splits his time operating DIY punk label Harlan Records and works with adults with developmental disabilities. 
While The Dark Knight dominated the summer movie market, Marvel pulled off something incredible as well: creating the foundations for a Marvel movieverse. From Nick Fury mentioning The Avengers to Tony Stark’s cameo in The Incredible Hulk, Marvel Studios began a new era of crossover events that will culminate in The Avengers in 2011. Most fans are elated by this method, but there’s one guy who isn’t totally down with the concept, at least on his own franchise: Chris Nolan.
