Stephen R Bissette

PS: One more installment of my TV westerns serialized essay to go—then, just accepted by ye editors of BARE*BONES, my next serialized in-depth Cryptid Cinema™ dive will cover the cryptid-centric adventures of... JUNGLE JIM!!! (I always dug the "Giant People" in JJ & THE FORBIDDEN LAND)

Bare Bones #23: Summer 2025 Amazon.com: Bare Bones #23: Summer 2025: 9798291443477: Enfantino, Peter, Scoleri, John, Schow, David J., Bissette, Stephen R., Winter, Douglas E., Bradley, Matthew R., Kuriawa, Bryan C.: Books

Hey, BARE*BONES #23 is now available! As promised, here's the link to order your copy: www.amazon.com/dp/B0FL2KHZ91/

IN HER BRAIN.

Whew. I was feeling soooooo optionaled-out!

Ya, I love Lynch's DUNE, too. I revisit it every couple of years (all and any version, including the infamous TV edit)

What's movie everyone hated that I looooove? CREATURE. I was the only person in the local theater opening night. Dragged amigo Denis St. John to see it 2nd night, & theater owner said, "YOU again?? Nobody is coming to see this!" I went back a 3rd time, too, & I still think it's the real deal.

Everything you draw is great, but this is really exquisite for a Monday morning, Blair.

Awoke 5 AM from a dream involving James Spader, very peculiar airplane seating arrangements (toilet seats for all), & Spader's craving to eat flatbread... oh, never mind. Awoke from that, got on BS, & this was the first thing in the 'feed.' Weird.

PS: We also let Leslie just keep the money we'd already paid her for including "Things Happen" in STICKS & BONES, as with other paid contributors. Wasn't their fault it hit the skids; one of the final nails in the TABOO™ coffin, though.

This was the comic project of Joyce's I was part of. Still proud of my respective contribution (collaboration with Alan Moore & John Totleben) to REAL WAR STORIES #1.

I can share more "Whisperer in Darkness" photos from this event, and of the film's miniatures, if anyone's interested...

Wash & ink portrait, by me, of a favorite 1960s George Pal film from a lifelong favorite novel by Charles Finney (find it, read it!)...
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©1980, 2025 Stephen R. Bissette

Pals I really miss: Les Daniels.

The late great Les & the late great John "Mad" Peck crafted what remains what of my all-time favorite "A History of Comic Books in America" hardcovers. Got to know Les well; to know Les was to love the fellow. R.I.P., Les & John.

My preteen reading was partially comprised of Jack Kirby 'Earth from space' panels, with overwritten purple-prose Stan Lee dialogue & captions.

A forgotten slice of TABOO™ history: "Things Happen" was to appear in print in a planned TABOO special, TABOO™: STICKS & BONES, dedicated to stories involving child abuse & survivors. When the project fell apart (Dark Horse promised, then ditched it), the creator self-published "Things Happen."

...and this. I don't have the rest on file, sorry, but hey, comicbook history, folks!

So, for those who "know how to read it," the full column; it'll take a few photos to offer it all:

It was a "Floodraiser" fundraiser event for David Fairbanks Ford's Main St. Museum in White River Jct. VT, with an auction of Lovecraft & "Whisperer" rarities, a full dinner, raffle, movie premiere, etc. Quite a night, and raised fair funds for the Museum!

I miss Harvey & Joyce; worked with/for Joyce on a project, & another that didn't see print. We used to spend time with them at comics conventions, too many tales to tell.

Almost a full decade ago, a handful of us curated a local VT 'premiere' for the Lovecraft Society's partially-filmed-in-VT film adaptation of Lovecraft's VT-set "Whisperer in Darkness"—that's amigo Joseph Citro at the podium, reading his meditation on the importance of "Whisperer" to himself...

Water Under Bridges: I'd worked with/for Eclipse Comics, & I knew the shit had hit the fan there, but this CBG 'Fit to Print' column (read the first letter of each line, down, to 'get' cat's secret message about the Eclipse split) was a surprise in its day.

SR Bissette's Brooding Creatures: Hardcover Edition SR Bissette's Brooding Creatures: Hardcover Edition [Bissette, Mr. Stephen R] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. SR Bissette's Brooding Creatures: Hardcover Edition

The second of my sketchbooks, now available in hardcover, is BROODING CREATURES (third sketchbook coming soon!). Cover art is the first published collaboration between my amigo John Jennings and myself (more to come, folks). You can purchase your copy here: www.amazon.com/SR-Bissettes...

S. R. Bissette's Thoughtful Creatures Color Hard Cover Edition Amazon.com: S. R. Bissette's Thoughtful Creatures Color Hard Cover Edition: 9798495572041: Bissette, Stephen R: Books

We've published handsome new hardcover editions of my sketchbooks (with a new one now in the works with designer/co-editor Mark Masztal).

The first is THOUGHTFUL CREATURES: www.amazon.com/Bissettes-Th...

Reckon I'll have to update my text-version of my MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL (1957) commentary track.

Radioactive wasp nests found (!) in Amerika, not Africa, but... where are the wasps???

The serialized chapters in BARE*BONES showcase work-in-progress on the most extensive, exhaustive volume in the series, slated for publication sometime in 2027. Serializing the TV westerns chapter in B*B is invaluable, to be followed by my Sam Katzman/JUNGLE JIM chapter serialization. Stay tuned!

Designer/co-author Tim Paxton & I are currently completing the 3rd book in the series, comprised of genre filmographies, 1896–1972 (again, that cut-off year!), cover art by me & co-author Jolyon Yates, guest authors include Mark Morris, Stephen Laws, Brian Albright, Greg Goodsell, & more! Out soon!

CRYPTID CINEMA™: A Boggy Creek Primer - Chapter One Chapbook: Paperback Color Edition CRYPTID CINEMA™: A Boggy Creek Primer - Chapter One Chapbook: Paperback Color Edition [Bissette, Stephen R, Paxton, Tim, Hack, Robert] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. CRYPTID CINEMA™: A Boggy Creek Primer - Chapter One Chapbook: Paperback Color Edition

The most essential volume of CRYPTID CINEMA™ is the 2nd volume, with a compact, heavily-illustrated overview of the as-yet-undefined genre up to 1972 (for reasons the book details, 1972 is a major breakthrough year), I highly recommend the color edition: www.amazon.com/CRYPTID-CINE...

Cryptid Cinema: Meditations on Bigfoot, Bayou Beasts & Backwoods Bogeymen of the Movies Cryptid Cinema: Meditations on Bigfoot, Bayou Beasts & Backwoods Bogeymen of the Movies [Bissette, Stephen R, Paxton, Tim, Fenton, Steve, Coleman, David, Mougin, Lou] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Cryptid Cinema: Meditations on Bigfoot, Bayou Beasts & Backwoods Bogeymen of the Movies

The first volume of my CRYPTID CINEMA™ book series is available only as a black-and-white paperback, and it's here: www.amazon.com/Cryptid-Cine...

Bare Bones #22: Spring 2025 Amazon.com: Bare Bones #22: Spring 2025: 9798281159371: Scoleri, John, Enfantino, Peter, Schow, David J., Bissette, Stephen R., Blamire, Larry, Burwell, J. Charles, Deveau, Robert, Schoell, William: Books

2nd installment, now in print in BARE*BONES #22 (I'll post the link to #23, the issue I just posted about, once it's up & available): www.amazon.com/Bare-Bones-2...

Bare Bones #21: Winter 2025 Amazon.com: Bare Bones #21: Winter 2025: 9798304529662: Enfantino, Peter, Scoleri, John, Schow, David J., Bissette, Stephen R., Bradley, Matthew R., Deveau, Robert, Haase, Holger, Kuriawa, Bryan C., Schoell, William: Books

OK, first installment of my serialized essay is the cover story for BARE*BONES #21: www.amazon.com/Bare-Bones-2...