The Artist And The Island – Staten Island

The Artist and the Island

By Brian VanNostrand

 

Memory is a tricky thing; You might remember every detail of an experience as clearly as the ringing of church bells while simultaneously losing some of the key information. For example, I remember every moment of our interview with the legendary comic book writer and artist Howard Chaykin, but can’t remember the date on which the interview took place.

I know it was very early in our YouTube channel’s existence because we were amazed that someone with Chaykin’s reputation – longtime artist and writer at Marvel and the creator of one of the earliest mainstream, adult-oriented comics “American Flagg” – would take the time to talk to us when we had so few subscribers or views. It wasn’t only our novice status that had us nervous.

Along with his reputation for creating great comics, Chaykin was also known as a bit…um…gruff, especially when it came to some of his earlier work (particularly his work on the first year of “Star Wars” comics) and the comic book industry in general. We wanted to impress, so we went in overly prepared, with all of our questions and research meticulously typed out and organized, ready for anything. Well, almost anything.

When the Zoom meeting began, before we started recording, before we even said hello, Chaykin took a good look at us, the shelves of collectibles behind us, and said, “Who the f—k are you guys and what the f–k am I doing here?”

Not an auspicious start.

So began a verbal fencing match that was supposed to be an interview. For the first ten or fifteen minutes we asked our questions and got oppositional and occasionally combative answers. Chaykin seemed to resent the idea, possibly inferred from the shelves behind us, that we were two middle-aged men trying to recapture the fuzzy warm feelings of our childhood, and we were trying to convince him that we created the channel out of a genuine love of the comics medium.

Throughout the entire first quarter of the interview I had a sickening sinking feeling in my stomach that was trying to drag me into the floor. I thought, “I can’t wait for this to be over.”

Then, my partner Chad mentioned we were based on Staten Island. I don’t remember exactly how this came up (tricky memory, remember?), but I do remember the effect it had on Howard Chaykin. In a split second, his entire affect changed, and he began to recount his memories of spending time with his grandparents on Staten Island when he was a little boy.

He recalled an island that existed before the Verrazano Bridge, where he spent a Huck Finn existence running through the woods and having childhood adventures with old playmates. The prickly comic book maestro was gone, replaced by a man just reliving some fine moments from this island long ago.

After that, the interview went wonderfully. We talked for nearly an hour and a half about a multitude of topics. We even eventually returned to the subject of his comic work and he was much gentler and generous with his thoughts and ideas. In the end, it remains one of the best interviews we ever did at Collectors Confessions. We have even seen Howard at conventions afterward and chatted with him like friends.

So, yes, memory can be a tricky thing. It can also be a wonderful thing that connects us to times and places where discomforts fall away and we can experience the world with renewed eyes and a softened heart.

 

Banner Image: Interview screenshot. Image Credit – Collectors Confessions