Conchy Revival Spell, Amen

Occasionally I run across the one or two Conchy daily strips I've had to my name these many years. Although I collected the strips from newspapers from a very young age, I never saw a paper that ran Conchy, and aside from one or two paperback collections that passed through my hands I never knew much about the strip, except raves from others who knew it better, and the sad story that the cartoonist James Childress committed suicide. When I saw a slew of Conchy dailies on eBay I pawned my gold rings and snaped them up.

I've often wondered why these wonderful strips have never been reprinted in more than thirty years. Having had the chance now to read many of them I find that they hold up very well. Childress was cartooning in the 1970s about issues that will resonate with readers in this new Century. Read this: wiki/Conchy  and you will know about all I know about Mr Childress/Conchy. It's clear that the cartoonist's heirs own the copyright to the strip. I can't help feeling that the ghost is some impediment to Conchy's resurrection. It is a sad, terrible story that I cannot know; but that taps my shoulder and my empathy feels James Childress dancing to be remembered.

With enquiry I learned from Mr. Mark Evanier that the Childress family is planning to publish a complete Conchy volume. This is a good thing.

Comic Book Shaman conceived this spell of resurection of the work of a great talent so word may ignite an interest  that sparks a demand so that the rightful heirs to Conchy's creator may find peace and reconcilliation with the ghosts that may still haunt them. This strip is copyright 2011 the Estate of James Childress, all rights reserved. Used here without knowledge or permission from said copyright holders. Its use here does not assert any right or ownership by Comic Book Shaman, or permission from the true copyright holders to publish, promote or otherwise use James Childress work on the newspaper comic strip Conchy, it's characters, likenesses or cartooning in any manner or form.

Technology is here to help us keep the ghosts we love from slipping from our memory.