Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 16:29:21 -0400 From: [g--l--n] at [bgnet.bgsu.edu] (Metroplex) Subject: FTP 544 ==== FIT TO PRINT by catherine yronwode for the week of November 6, 1995 THIS IS FIT TO PRINT NUMBER 544: On Saturday, September 16th, the employees of Bud Plant organized a picnic party to celebrate Bud's 25 years in the comics industry. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the business side of comics, i probably ought to explain that over those years, Bud has had a hand in every major segment of the market, from wholesaling undergrounds and main stream comics to retailing back issues and selling one-of-a-kind collector books. He has even taken a turn at publishing. These days Bud is best known for his mail order business in graphic novels and art books and for his partnership with Jim Vade-boncoeur in Bud Plant Illustrated Books, which deals in rare, out of print antiquarian volumes. To habitual San Diego Comicon goers, Bud and Jim are celebrated for running the single most amazing on-site retail area (one can hardly call it a "booth") that a drooling graphic novel or vintage art book fan could ever hope to wander into. Bud's 25th anniversary party was held at a streamside forest glen park near Nevada City, one of those very Western park sites with a massive stone barbeque pit and serving counter and half a dozen rustic redwood picnic tables that had been provided by local service organizations. The tables were decorated with photocopies of illustrated greetings and warm congratulations to Bud, which his employee Alberta Severino had covertly accumulated from a host of comic book professionals and industry big wigs. Bud may be embarrassed to see this in print, but what struck me as i read the yards and yards of testimonials was that the most commonly expressed sentiment was respect for his integrity and honesty. In a field that has seen far more than its share of broken promises, personal vendettas, and outright fraud, Bud Plant stands out as living proof that being courteous does not mark one as a weakling and that being ethical and keeping one's word is not a ticket to the poor house. Quite the opposite, in fact. There were about 100 folks on hand for the festivities, including numerous kids. Among the guests were Bud's parents and his close family, his current employees and associates, and his long-time friends and past partners in various ventures. Al Davoren, who designed the first Bud Plant mail order catalogues that i ordered from (but not the very first ones) was there, as were Kate Crabbe, Jim Vadeboncoeur, Bob Beerbohm, Roger Mays, and Richard Dix. As at any gathering comprised of people who have long worked with and competed with each other, there were a few folks who were not speaking to a few other folks, but to every one's credit, nobody made a big deal out this, and the mood was one of happy nostalgia and reminiscence. As a band tuned up to serenade us from across the creek, we ate hamburgers and fruit salad. We drank sodas and beer. We caught up on each other's personal lives and we talked of the remembered past, of Phil Seuling and the Print Mint, of Jesse Clement Coll and The First Kingdom, of Rick Griffin and the Telegraph Avenue Air Freight Wars, of Star*Reach and The X-Men. There was a lot to remember, and all around the picnic grounds Alberta had set up posters and binders filled with photos. Those who know Bud and his wife Ann know how typical it was of their lifestyle to be feted beneath the redwood trees by their own employees rather than playing "Mein Host" in some faceless hotel ballroom where the bar does a brick business in vodka and the cigarette smoke leaves everyone gasping for air. It was also typical of Bud to cut out from the party at one point to take some old friends up to see his warehouse in Grass Valley and grab some catalogues. We all laughed at that: it was so...Bud Plant-like. I can't begin to count how many comix, comics, and books i've bought from Bud over the years - or how many he has bought in which my name appears somewhere. I think if he and i were to stand together beside the pile of paper that has changed hands between his several companies and my several employers, we'd both be stunned. I know that i would probably want to rush right out and plant a tree or two. And so would he, most likely. ==== Fit to Print appears in print each week in Comics Buyers Guide and is available via e-mail. Tell your friends! To subscribe to Fit to Print via e-mail send a request with the words "Subscribe FtP" in the subject header and your address in the body of the message to [g--l--n] at [bgnet.bgsu.edu.] You will be added to the list and receive the next available issue. Back issues are available. FTP to cerebus.acusd.edu and look in the Comics/About Comics/Comics News/Fit to Print directory. FtP is also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.scar.utoronto.ca/~91mithra AND http://www2.csn.net/~searls. Responses are welcome and should be directed to [g--l--n] at [bgnet.bgsu.edu.] Fit to Print is Copyright Cathrine Yronwode. All rights reserved.