Date:     Thu, 14 Jul 1994 07:02:18 -0500
Subject:  COMICS-L Digest - 13 Jul 1994 to 14 Jul 1994
To: Recipients of COMICS-L digests <[COMICS L] at [UNLVM.UNL.EDU]>
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Date:    Wed, 13 Jul 1994 16:46:47 CDT
From:    James Drew <[j r d] at [frame.com]>
Subject: Obituary Thoughts: Neal Pozner

Neal Pozner died on June 21, of AIDS-related complications.

It has taken me this long to accumulate my thoughts sufficiently to write
them down.  Among other things, I've had to deal with a cross-country trip
and another, even more personal death in the interim.

For those who aren't familiar with Neal, a summary:  Neal came to work
professionally in comics via the world of fanzines, a common-enough route
twenty-plus years ago (check out the pasts of Roy Thomas, Paul Levitz, and
Don & Maggie Thompson, for example).  At DC in the early 70's, Neal was the
editor for the in-house fanzine, The Amazing World of DC Comics; Legion fans
will certainly recognize this title, given the almost legendary status of
AWoDCC #9.  In the mid-80's, Neal wrote the Aquaman miniseries (with art by
Eric Shanower), best known for introducing the "camoflauge" costume.  More
recently, Neal was the editor of the recent Showcase revival (and of New
Talaent Showcase before it, I think), and he also filled the role of Vice
President of Creative Affairs (I think that's the right title), acting as a
liason between the managerial and creative facets of DC Comics.

(Please feel free to correct anything I've mangled here.)

I first met Neal two years ago, at the San Diego Comic-Con, due to the
efforts of Sharon Cho; Sharon organizes an annual outing to Kickers, a
local gay country-western bar.  That year, she recruited two of her personal
friends, Neal, me, John Dennis, Craig Hamilton and Jody Haynes, and  P. Craig
Russell.  We all had a blast.  I was dancing up a storm, and Neal convinced
me to shed my shirt (which was soaked through anyway).  All the guys later
gathered out on the Hamburger Mary's patio to chew the fat.  (You can only
imagine the mind-wrenching that was going on for me that evening, struggling
to not be a gushing fanboy around some of these people.)

I next saw Neal at WonderCon in April of 1993.  He had grown a vanDyke
beard, as I recall.  He recruited me to sponsor him for DC's contingent in
the New York AIDS Walk that year.  It somehow seems appropriate that, as I
write this, I'm wearing the DC "Be A Hero" AIDS Walk t-shirt that he sent me
for sponsoring him.  I'll never be able to wear the t-shirt again without
remembering Neal, and that's a good thing.

The last time I saw Neal was at last year's San Diego Comic-Con.  Neal was
walking with a cane at the convention, and everybody knew what that must
mean, but nobody was talking about it.  Neal seemed as active as ever,
though, although I saw him in an exhausted state at the Gays in Comics
panel.  The key thing I remember from that convention, though, was watching
Neal do portfolio reviews at the DC booth.  I always love listening in on
portfolio reviews (especially from Neal, Sharon, and Fabian Nicieza, because
they come across as extremely competent).  In the midst of one review, Neal
happened to look up and saw me; his face immediately brightened as we
exchanged a few seconds of pleasantries before I left him to get back to
the reviewing.  Neal caught up with me later at Kickers (Sharon, Neal, me,
Craig Russell, David Sexton, Steven Howearth, and a couple others whose names
I don't want to mention) and told me that I really should have stuck around
so that we could have talked.  I hadn't wanted to interrupt what he was doing,
but he said (I don't recall the words, but the gist was) that friendships were
more important.  If he didn't review those portfolios, someone else would,
but *he* was the only one who could talk with me about whatever might need
saying.

This is an attitude which I will do my best to remember wherever life takes
me: people are more important than portfolios.

Now what the hell do I do with this business card in my files?  I can hardly
just throw it away, can I?

Jim Drew
[j r d] at [frame.com]

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End of COMICS-L Digest - 13 Jul 1994 to 14 Jul 1994
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