Richard Gagnon
@gasp65.bsky.social
Translator, blogger, nature lover, occasional illustrator when the need arises.
Said blog is Who's Out There?, which you'll find at whosoutthere.ca.
Said blog is Who's Out There?, which you'll find at whosoutthere.ca.
Here's a potent double header of short Christmas-themed tales... not quite trading in the usual sentimental slop, so do thread lightly. 🎄💀 whosoutthere.ca/2025/12/20/c...
Christmases, Both Sour and Sweet
« In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,In the bleak midwinter, long ago. » — Christina Rosset…
whosoutthere.ca
December 20, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Here's a potent double header of short Christmas-themed tales... not quite trading in the usual sentimental slop, so do thread lightly. 🎄💀 whosoutthere.ca/2025/12/20/c...
Happy b-day to Kurt Schaffenberger, whose storied career took him from Captain Marvel (the real one!) to Superman, Lois Lane and ACG... and brief, unlikely flirtations with horror... and Archie comics! 🪰 whosoutthere.ca/2017/12/15/i...
« I’m going door to door to make you this incredible offer! »
Surprise! Happy birthday to Lois Lane artist supreme Kurt Schaffenberger (December 15, 1920 – January 24, 2002), here working under the alias of Lou Wahl, (he was also Jay Kafka, which would have b…
whosoutthere.ca
December 16, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Happy b-day to Kurt Schaffenberger, whose storied career took him from Captain Marvel (the real one!) to Superman, Lois Lane and ACG... and brief, unlikely flirtations with horror... and Archie comics! 🪰 whosoutthere.ca/2017/12/15/i...
On his birth anniversary, we recall the hypertalented -- but tragically woebegone -- creator of Plastic Man and early Playboy Magazine star cartooning (among other achievements), Jack Cole (1914-1958). 🎂
whosoutthere.ca/2017/12/14/t...
whosoutthere.ca/2017/12/14/t...
The Unforgettable Jack Cole
« What are you mumbling about? » « Oh, nuthin’! … just that my false teeth get loose an’ make a lot of noise! » Today marks the one hundred and third anniversary of the enigmatic Jack Cole …
whosoutthere.ca
December 14, 2025 at 7:23 PM
On his birth anniversary, we recall the hypertalented -- but tragically woebegone -- creator of Plastic Man and early Playboy Magazine star cartooning (among other achievements), Jack Cole (1914-1958). 🎂
whosoutthere.ca/2017/12/14/t...
whosoutthere.ca/2017/12/14/t...
The mushrooming season may be over and done for most of us, but we can already dream of next year's crop. Time for another Fungus Friday, this time featuring glorious watercolour portraits -- yes, portraits -- by Roland Sabatier! 🍄 whosoutthere.ca/2025/12/12/f...
Fungus Friday: Ah, the Bohemian Life
« Parmi les champignons se cachent d’ignobles individus, des espèces savoureuses et des sujets tout à fait pacifiques… » December may not be exactly the month one associates with mushro…
whosoutthere.ca
December 12, 2025 at 9:54 PM
The mushrooming season may be over and done for most of us, but we can already dream of next year's crop. Time for another Fungus Friday, this time featuring glorious watercolour portraits -- yes, portraits -- by Roland Sabatier! 🍄 whosoutthere.ca/2025/12/12/f...
On the anniversary of his birth, we salute the great Matt Baker (1921-1959), gone far too soon. Here's a look at some of his most striking, for lack of a better term, 'romance' covers. whosoutthere.ca/2023/02/24/m...
Matt Baker’s Disquieting ‘Romance’
« I can resist anything except temptation. » — Oscar Wilde A master from the Golden Age of comics, Matt Baker (1921-1959) is surprisingly well-remembered today. Part of it stems from his sing…
whosoutthere.ca
December 11, 2025 at 2:20 AM
On the anniversary of his birth, we salute the great Matt Baker (1921-1959), gone far too soon. Here's a look at some of his most striking, for lack of a better term, 'romance' covers. whosoutthere.ca/2023/02/24/m...
Here's my guided -- and illustrated, of course! -- tour of the finest of Belgium's comics frescoes. whosoutthere.ca/2025/11/30/t...
The Frescoes of Flanders
« The mind loves the unknown. It loves images whose meaning is unknown, since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown. » — René Magritte Last month, we flew off to explore the wonders of Be…
whosoutthere.ca
December 1, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Here's my guided -- and illustrated, of course! -- tour of the finest of Belgium's comics frescoes. whosoutthere.ca/2025/11/30/t...
Oops. I nearly missed the opportunity to salute Boris Karloff on his birthday! Here's a sampling of his --oversized, of course -- presence in comics! whosoutthere.ca/2017/11/23/o...
On This Day: Boris Karloff Crosses Over
« What’s that noise comin’ up from the cellar? It’s the restless bones of Boris and Bela* » It’s a cinch that William Henry Pratt, back when he was eking out a living in Can…
whosoutthere.ca
November 24, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Oops. I nearly missed the opportunity to salute Boris Karloff on his birthday! Here's a sampling of his --oversized, of course -- presence in comics! whosoutthere.ca/2017/11/23/o...
On this Memorial/Remembrance Day, here's a look back at some appropriately post-apocalyptic scenarios. ☢️
whosoutthere.ca/2025/11/11/i...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/11/11/i...
It Was… the Day After Doomsday!
« May the man who has his finger on the button have a lovely day today / Hope nothing hangs him up or ticks him off or bums him out in any way / Lord, help him keep his cool cause he could pull the…
whosoutthere.ca
November 12, 2025 at 2:17 AM
On this Memorial/Remembrance Day, here's a look back at some appropriately post-apocalyptic scenarios. ☢️
whosoutthere.ca/2025/11/11/i...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/11/11/i...
From eight years ago, my tribute to Steve Ditko on the last birthday he got to celebrate on this side of the veil. Sometimes I fear we'll never see the artistic likes of him again. 🎂 whosoutthere.ca/2017/11/02/h...
Happy 90th birthday, Mr. Ditko!
« Don’t be so sure! A guy that popular — he’d be a fool to fold up his act while he’s such a hot item!* » I’ve been a Steve Ditko fan for as long as I can remember. In fact, I was a fan even …
whosoutthere.ca
November 2, 2025 at 7:16 PM
From eight years ago, my tribute to Steve Ditko on the last birthday he got to celebrate on this side of the veil. Sometimes I fear we'll never see the artistic likes of him again. 🎂 whosoutthere.ca/2017/11/02/h...
Happy Hallowe'en! Here be some double-dealing, sharp-fanged and fiendish lycanthropes to celebrate improperly! 🎃🐺 whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/31/h...
Hallowe’en With George’s Cousin Emil!
« Before he can become a wolf, the lycanthrope strips naked. If you spy a naked man among the pines, you must run as if the Devil were after you. » — Angela Carter (1940-1992) First of all, H…
whosoutthere.ca
October 31, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Happy Hallowe'en! Here be some double-dealing, sharp-fanged and fiendish lycanthropes to celebrate improperly! 🎃🐺 whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/31/h...
Here's a heart-warming yarn of bitter revenge from the grave for all you merry spooksters! 🎃👻 whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/25/t...
Treasured Stories: “Silver From a Dead Man’s Eyes” (1975)
« Don’t pay the ferryman!
Don’t even fix a price!
Don’t pay the ferryman… until he gets youto the other side. » — Christopher John Davison Grimm’s Ghost Storie…
whosoutthere.ca
October 26, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Here's a heart-warming yarn of bitter revenge from the grave for all you merry spooksters! 🎃👻 whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/25/t...
How about a choice selection of classic 1950s horror comics covers? Here's one anyway! 🐈⬛ 👻🎃
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/19/n...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/19/n...
(Not Quite) The Most Uncanny Tales Ever Told!
« The sacred is found boring by many who find the uncanny fascinating. » — Mason Cooley I’ve expressed many a time my ambivalent affection for Golden Age Atlas horror comics: in short, …
whosoutthere.ca
October 19, 2025 at 10:23 PM
How about a choice selection of classic 1950s horror comics covers? Here's one anyway! 🐈⬛ 👻🎃
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/19/n...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/19/n...
To mark the birthday of my number one Archie artist -- and one of my very favourite artists, period -- the mighty Samm Schwartz (1920-1997), here's a lovely Hallowe'en yarn featuring the Riverdale gang. 🎂🎃👻
whosoutthere.ca/2021/10/13/h...
whosoutthere.ca/2021/10/13/h...
Hallowe’en Countdown V, Day 13
« How could you be so sure? … they could be real! » — Reggie Mantle, believer Sure, it’s a hoary ol’ plot, used both to comedic and dramatic effect a gazillion times, but… as is o…
whosoutthere.ca
October 15, 2025 at 9:20 PM
To mark the birthday of my number one Archie artist -- and one of my very favourite artists, period -- the mighty Samm Schwartz (1920-1997), here's a lovely Hallowe'en yarn featuring the Riverdale gang. 🎂🎃👻
whosoutthere.ca/2021/10/13/h...
whosoutthere.ca/2021/10/13/h...
Happy birthday to the perpetually underrated Bob Oksner (1916-2007). To properly mark the occasion -- and the season -- here's a small but choice gallery of his spookiest (and often goofiest) covers from back in the day. 🎃 👻 whosoutthere.ca/2020/10/14/h...
Hallowe’en Countdown IV, Day 14
« Listen, Angel! If they’re out of bananas… I’ll meet you at the corner fruit stand! » Today, let’s combine our general theme with a celebration of the birthday of one of comics’ great,…
whosoutthere.ca
October 14, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Happy birthday to the perpetually underrated Bob Oksner (1916-2007). To properly mark the occasion -- and the season -- here's a small but choice gallery of his spookiest (and often goofiest) covers from back in the day. 🎃 👻 whosoutthere.ca/2020/10/14/h...
It's October (as you've surely noticed)... and so here's a spooky story, "The Harmless Knife", to get things rolling in the right direction! 🎃 👻
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/01/a...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/01/a...
An Update and a Mission… accomplished
« True friends stab you in the front! » — Oscar Wilde First, the update: we’re off to Belgium for a much-needed vacation… which is frankly incompatible with our usual Hallowe’en C…
whosoutthere.ca
October 1, 2025 at 8:52 PM
It's October (as you've surely noticed)... and so here's a spooky story, "The Harmless Knife", to get things rolling in the right direction! 🎃 👻
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/01/a...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/10/01/a...
Half a century -- to the day! -- of the airing of Welcome Back, Kotter's pilot episode, here's my interview with Elliot S! Maggin, who wrote the first two issues of the comic book spinoff. whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/23/f...
Fifty Years of Kotter: A Talk With Elliot S! Maggin
« I think people will believe anything about someone they haven’t seen for a while. » — Gabriel Kaplan I’ve been meaning to do a Welcome Back, Kotter post for several years. But w…
whosoutthere.ca
September 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Half a century -- to the day! -- of the airing of Welcome Back, Kotter's pilot episode, here's my interview with Elliot S! Maggin, who wrote the first two issues of the comic book spinoff. whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/23/f...
Happy birthday to masterful Joe Kubert (1926-2012)! To mark the occasion, here's a gallery of his relatively little-seen -- but great, of course -- 'Son of Tomahawk' covers, circa 1970-72. 🦝 🎂
whosoutthere.ca/2020/07/18/h...
whosoutthere.ca/2020/07/18/h...
Hot Streak: Joe Kubert’s Son of Tomahawk
« Who are these men, Tomahawk? » « My Rangers! We fought against renegades… from Pennsylvania to Kentucky! When the country got too crowded, Moon Fawn and I moved out West… where a man …
whosoutthere.ca
September 18, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Happy birthday to masterful Joe Kubert (1926-2012)! To mark the occasion, here's a gallery of his relatively little-seen -- but great, of course -- 'Son of Tomahawk' covers, circa 1970-72. 🦝 🎂
whosoutthere.ca/2020/07/18/h...
whosoutthere.ca/2020/07/18/h...
Behold! Taking the grand tour through Philip Craig Russell's set of nine magnificent covers for DC Comics' fourth attempt at a Spectre solo title, early this century. 👻
whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/16/h...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/16/h...
Hot Streak: P. Craig Russell’s The Spectre
« Truly the universe is full of ghosts, not sheeted churchyard spectres, but the inextinguishable elements of individual life, which having once been, can never die, though they blend and change, a…
whosoutthere.ca
September 16, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Behold! Taking the grand tour through Philip Craig Russell's set of nine magnificent covers for DC Comics' fourth attempt at a Spectre solo title, early this century. 👻
whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/16/h...
whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/16/h...
Remembering, on this day, Walter "Maxwell Grant" Gibson (1897-1985), ultra-prolific chronicler of the exploits of that big-beaked guy who knew full well what evil lurked -- and yet lurks -- in the hearts of men. whosoutthere.ca/2019/09/12/w...
Walter Gibson and His Shadow
« The stranger’s face was entirely obscured by a broad-brimmed felt hat bent downward over his features; and the long, black coat looked almost like part of the thickening fog. » –Harry…
whosoutthere.ca
September 12, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Remembering, on this day, Walter "Maxwell Grant" Gibson (1897-1985), ultra-prolific chronicler of the exploits of that big-beaked guy who knew full well what evil lurked -- and yet lurks -- in the hearts of men. whosoutthere.ca/2019/09/12/w...
Born on this day: pioneering bédéiste Jean-Claude Forest (1930-1998), Barbarella and Hypocrite's daddy. 🎂
whosoutthere.ca/2019/09/11/j...
whosoutthere.ca/2019/09/11/j...
Jean-Claude Forest, ‘Father of Adult Comics’
« J’fais dans la bande dessinée, qu’est bien plus pop que le ciné!* » — J.C. Forest (Une chanson, 1973) On the eighty-ninth anniversary of his birth, let’s salute in passing one o…
whosoutthere.ca
September 11, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Born on this day: pioneering bédéiste Jean-Claude Forest (1930-1998), Barbarella and Hypocrite's daddy. 🎂
whosoutthere.ca/2019/09/11/j...
whosoutthere.ca/2019/09/11/j...
Presenting a selection of delightfully absurd cartoons by Henri 'Rik' Cursat (1928-2006), Lyon's pride and joy. Dig in! whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/03/r...
Rik Cursat, Yours in Absurdity
« Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. » — François-Marie Arouet Going back to 1975:. for a few years, I’d been buying Vaillant’s Pif poche (and sometimes i…
whosoutthere.ca
September 3, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Presenting a selection of delightfully absurd cartoons by Henri 'Rik' Cursat (1928-2006), Lyon's pride and joy. Dig in! whosoutthere.ca/2025/09/03/r...
Today, on the man's birth anniversary (he was born in 1918) let's peruse a gallery of Leonard Brandt "L.B." Cole's most eye-searing covers!
whosoutthere.ca/2018/11/04/t...
whosoutthere.ca/2018/11/04/t...
The Demons and Rockets of L.B. Cole
There’s probably no need to write a panegyric on Leonard Brandt Cole, 1918-1995. (But did you know he had a doctorate in anatomy and physiology?) The first thing that springs to mind is his u…
whosoutthere.ca
August 28, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Today, on the man's birth anniversary (he was born in 1918) let's peruse a gallery of Leonard Brandt "L.B." Cole's most eye-searing covers!
whosoutthere.ca/2018/11/04/t...
whosoutthere.ca/2018/11/04/t...
Fondly remembering the unforgettable Paul Reubens (1952-2023) on his birth anniversary. 🕺🚲 🍰 whosoutthere.ca/2022/08/27/p...
Paul Reubens at 70: ‘Fun’ Is Still the Secret Word
« I know you are, but what am I? » — Pee Wee Herman And they said it couldn’t happen! Today, Paul Reubens (born Paul Rubenfeld on Aug. 27, 1952) celebrates (in the coolest style, to be sure) …
whosoutthere.ca
August 27, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Fondly remembering the unforgettable Paul Reubens (1952-2023) on his birth anniversary. 🕺🚲 🍰 whosoutthere.ca/2022/08/27/p...
Yesterday came the news that we'd lost - far too soon - a vibrant iconoclast from the world of comics, Mort Todd. I had occasional dealings with him over the years and always found him a warm, generous guy. Here's a splendid colouring job he did on one of Steve Ditko's finest early 60s art jobs.
Hallowe’en Countdown V, Day 4
« She’s a haunted house / and her windows are broken. » — Scott Walker, “Big Louise” (1969) I’ve been wanting to share one of the all-time most beautiful art jobs Stev…
whosoutthere.ca
August 26, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Yesterday came the news that we'd lost - far too soon - a vibrant iconoclast from the world of comics, Mort Todd. I had occasional dealings with him over the years and always found him a warm, generous guy. Here's a splendid colouring job he did on one of Steve Ditko's finest early 60s art jobs.
While Jim Aparo (1932-2005) is chiefly remembered as a DC Comics mainstay, I hold the minority opinion that his earlier work at Charlton was superior, less formulaic. Because of his reliability and popularity, DC squeezed him hard. Check out this touching SF tale from 1968! 🤖🎂🚀
Treasured Stories: “The Imitation People” (1968) – Part 1
« You are not as strong as the Robots. You are not as skillful as the Robots. The Robots can do anything. You only give orders. You do nothing but talk. » — Karel Čapek, Rossum’s Universal Ro…
whosoutthere.ca
August 24, 2025 at 3:35 PM
While Jim Aparo (1932-2005) is chiefly remembered as a DC Comics mainstay, I hold the minority opinion that his earlier work at Charlton was superior, less formulaic. Because of his reliability and popularity, DC squeezed him hard. Check out this touching SF tale from 1968! 🤖🎂🚀