EXTRACTS: Brian Bolland (illustrators special issue) © 2019 Book Palace Books (144 PAGES in Full edition)

52 News .Through his contact withAmerican fan geek, Paul Levitz, he was able to publish news of what was coming up in US comics. There was a camaraderie between American comic people too, obviously. There was a comic convention in London at the Rembrandt Hotel. One of its guests was Joe Staton. Joe was famous for drawing E-Man and was currently the artist on DC’s Green Lantern . Joe was here in London but, always busy, he had to continue drawing. My wife, Rachel Birkett, also an artist, wasn’t at the moment using her drawing table. Richard was the go-between and he arranged for Joe to spend time with me in our London flat and meet his deadline. I’d been a Green Lantern fan since a child (it had been drawn by Gil Kane) and I was star-struck to be in the presence of GL ’s current artist. I intimated this to Joe and he got on my phone, rang his editor Jack C Harris in New York and said: Brian Bolland's debut with DC Comics was a perfect example of being in the right place at the right time when the, then, current Green Lantern artist Joe Staton was visiting London and ended up staying at Brian's flat in London to meet his deadline. Brian provided the cover and in doing so commenced a working relationship that continues to this day. BELOW: Brian's follow-up Green Lantern cover. Green Lantern © 1935-2019 DC Comics Imaged by Heritage Auctions (HA.com) Green Lantern © 1935-2019 DC Comics Green Lantern © 1935-2019 DC Comics