The "waiting" matter was moot soon after I gave into pressure and declared another Josie-themed issue as I got more than enough contributions, both in text and art (one of which featured me being kissed by Josie! see left below). I also focused more on DeCarlo than the last issue and used some of his great pin-up art from his Humorama Magazine work and Millie The Model comics with Stan Lee.
It was also here that I gave the whole "unofficial" project its official name 'JOZINE!'
It was soon after this release that, through Mike Curtis of Shanda The Panda fame, Dan DeCarlo himself caught wind and copies of the issues himself and liked what he saw.
From there, I let the whole thing drift off into its own direction without me and, I, with my own. I still bought the issues and kept my ear into the ground, some of which was the consistent rumors of a Josie movie. Remembering the poisonous dimension called Hollywood Development Hell and after what they done with Howard The Duck, I gave not much thought of it.
Sure, what the hell, I ended up saying to myself. This should be reasonably easy, thanks to the now-wealth of (mainly correct) information on the comic from DeCarlo, Curtis and the movie from, of course, the now-bountiful internet. Little did I know what was going to happen....
Soon after the movie's announcement and just before I started to work on the history piece, DeCarlo's non-involvement and non-payment from the project was revealed, which snowballed to the size of a major blockbuster bomb and easily started off a chain of reactions: Archie management, mainly company chairmen Michael Silberkleit, snubbing the reactions and DeCarlo and later firing Dan for suing for a cut and ownership and counter sues him. DeCarlo taking his case to the court and press, Silberkleit snubbing while doing some behind the scenes bullying, etc., etc.,
I had my hands full with updates coming at me from all directions almost everyday. Despite the hectic background, Mike Curtis interviewed DeCarlo for a cover piece for Comics Journal, which made some of my research much easier.
Near the end of the project, I was fortune enough to meet the man himself and his wife who inspired this whole deal, the original Josie DeCarlo. It was at the San Diego Comic Con and Dan was there, selling a couple of prints of his new pin-ups at Dan Fogel's table.
As you might guess, I was a bit nervous meeting Dan and Josie (who was handling the paper work while Dan shook hands and signed autographs). Dan and I had a nice, but sadly, short talk (the line behind me was getting longer). Dan looked tired as he just got back from another convention from the previous weekend, but, still, he was happy to see me and thanked me for the "write ups". Our brief chat was done and I got out of the way of the line, figured I'd meet Dan later that weekend. Sadly, again, it was the last time I saw him as he left half way through the convention.
Once the movie bombed and rolled off into its grave, the dust began to settle and I managed to wrap up the project...only I had forgot about the cover. Since I couldn't find an artist in time to do a cover (much less a good idea of one), I ripped a satirical logo from the found-sound group Negativland (1) and plastered Josie's face in the center of it, thus my own satirical tribute to Archies preoccupation with their sacred pure American copyrights and "properties" which more or less started this mess in the first place.
Then in December of that year, just a few days after his birthday, Dan died from a heart attack.
...and aside from the memorial ad placed in the Comics Buyers Guide (one week after the issue announced the sad news and the tributes that flooded its letter page) and a small copy of it in their web site, Archies remained just as silent and stubborn as ever, hoping, I assume, the whole controversy will blow over and everybody will forget and, in their view, forgive them.
Well, that's what this site is about, not forgetting Dan's place in comic art and pop culture history and to keep an eye on Archie and their hopes of amnesia on our part.
No dice, guys. Dan gave too much to forget so soon...at least, not as soon as you want us to.
Don-O