Mr. Media Interviews Ray Billingsley

A great interview with Ray Billingsley in today's Mr. Media entry. Bob Andelman does a terrific job of interviewing Mr. Billinglsey.

On racism:

" ... An editor once told me that it was thought that blacks don’t read and what white person would buy this [a "Curtis" collection] for their kids? And I mean, they said this right to me, so it’s just been a thing that I’ve been living with all these years."

On Will Eisner:

"Oh, I can tell you this: Will was a tough MF’er! (Laughs.)"

On Jay Kennedy:

"Sometimes, even during the worst controversial ideas that I put out there, Jay was always on my side. He would tell me different ways of handling the media and all that, because, actually, I am a very sensitive person, and when people say that they don’t like my stuff, it bothers me. Jay would just calm me down and send me on the right path."

On Al Capp:

"You know, all those people who may be scratching their heads, they need to pick up some of those books and read them through. If you really want to see a fine example of good characterization, good artwork, check out 'L’il Abner.' It’s really incredible stuff."