@’s by Colorist Moose Baumann!
Professor Challenger here. Moose Baumann is a longtime veteran of the comics industry. He stands as one of the great modern comic book colorists. His work is always vibrant, exciting, and unique. He can take an average line drawing and under his deft eye for color and talent for choosing just the right combination of colors and effects, Moose gives the art life and power. When he is coupled with superior artists, the combination of line and color reaches new heights. The coloring field is one that often gets overlooked or is not given its due by publishers who are content to let muddy, over-rendered, color by committee get the job done, so it is always a gift to grab a comic book and see the obvious hand of the individual digital paintbrush of the one and only Moose Baumann gracing the cover and interiors.Moose is a hard-working professional, but fans who may notice these sorts of things (such as myself) have noticed over the past couple of years that Moose's prolific work presence has not been as pronounced as it once was. Well, it turns out that this was for an important reason. Moose has been preoccupied by a family medical situation that has hopefully been overcome, but now he is dealing with the fallout. The crushing weight of incredible medical bills and loss of employment opportunities has reached the point of desperation as he and his wife are even facing the possible loss of their own home because of the aftermath of their experiences.
Recently, Moose's friend artist Simone Bianchi stepped up and offered for auction three amazing works of art from his work on THOR and ASTONISHING X-MEN to raise money to help out the Baumanns. Moose himself has set up a webpage selling 13 x 19 prints for $20 each, of dozens of covers he did the color art for. These covers include art by greats such as Ethan Van Sciver and Neal Adams!
I sat down with Moose the other night to visit with him about his career and the events that led him to this difficult point of asking for help. My hope is that when our vast Ain’t It Cool audience finishes reading this, they will be moved to help out by purchasing some of Moose's prints, spreading the word, or anything else that might come to mind that could be helpful for the Baumanns. Say hello to Moose Baumann, colorist extraordinaire.PROF CHALLENGER (PROF): First of all, Moose, I want to thank you for all your excellent work and let you know I'm not only praying for you and your wife, I did purchase one of your prints to help out (the Neal Adams DOC SAVAGE print). I hope to pick up another one soon.
MOOSE BAUMANN (MOOSE): Thanks man, you're the best.
PROF: So, help me and my readers out here. What's the background on your situation and how you got to be in this position of needing help?
MOOSE: Ho-kay, where to start...? August of 2007 my wife, Julie, was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was working full-time on both Green Lantern books (GREEN LANTERN and GREEN LANTERN CORPS) and she was working full-time at an insurance company.
PROF: At the time this first hit, were you freelancing for the GREEN LANTERN books or had DC put you on as an employee?
MOOSE: No, I was freelance. A contract was mentioned at one point, but that never materialized. [At that time] I was doing the two monthlies and roughly 4-6 covers per month.
PROF: The GL editor at that point was....Eddie Berganza, right?MOOSE: At the end there, yeah, before it was Pete Tomasi.
PROF: Okay. So after Julie was diagnosed with the cancer, what happened?
MOOSE: She had the initial lumpectomy surgery. The doctor wanted to try a different radiation therapy, a thing called mammosite. The mammosite therapy was five days total, as opposed to a six week radiation therapy. So of course we said yes. Our insurance company said great, so we moved ahead.
PROF: Of course you did. Anybody would do the same. My mother is in her 7th year fighting ovarian cancer. I've got an inkling of what radiation and chemo can do and how difficult that can be.
MOOSE: Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that. Hope she's doing well.
PROF: Better than you might expect, but it's still a daily struggle.
MOOSE: My heart goes out to you.
PROF: Thanks, man. But you and Julie discovered quickly the perils of the modern health insurance system, didn't you?
MOOSE: You're not kidding! Three weeks later we were told that the insurance company wouldn't cover the mammosite therapy (too experimental). So we had to pay out of pocket close to $17,000! And then, a few months later I lost my work with DC!
PROF: What happened?
MOOSE: While trying to support Julie through the cancer treatment and maintain my work schedule, I'd flubbed a few deadlines, and they let me go. Almost all of our savings were gone, having paid off the initial medical bills. It was rough.PROF: Considering the amount of books delayed by writers and artists on whims, it would seem to me that a colorist missing a few deadlines might be forgiveable...and in fact, fairly easy to sub another colorist at the last minute to fill the hole.
MOOSE: Yeah, you'd think. I mean, I missed deadline, but none of the books actually shipped late. I was the only one on the book not exclusive, so even though I'm sure it was just a business decision that had to be made, it really hurt us financially. It's not anything I hold a grudge about. Business is business.
PROF: That's rough, man. What happened after that?
MOOSE: It just gets worse. Three months after losing my job, Julie lost hers, and our health insurance was gone. A COBRA insurance plan was outrageously expensive because of her prior condition. We stayed on it for a few months until we couldn't afford it any more.
PROF: COBRA is a 1985 law that requires employers with group health plans to offer employees the "opportunity" to "temporarily" continue their group health coverage under the employer's plan after termination. COBRA is a ridiculous joke under the auspices of helping the people. A politician's shellgame for reelection.
MOOSE: Agreed. They wanted $2400 a month from us! I about had a fit when I saw that.
PROF: It is a joke. The only people who can afford something like that are people who can already afford to buy their own insurance, not someone in the middle class who's out of work.
MOOSE: We really didn't have much choice. I looked around, and nobody would touch us with the prior conditions (I'm diabetic, so that added to it a bit).
PROF: I understand. Fear of a "Prior condition" is probably the biggest reason folks avoid going to the doctor and getting routine examinations.
MOOSE: Well, about four months after that, we found that the cancer had spread and without insurance, finding a doctor wasn't easy. But we did it. She had a partial mastectomy. Went through the six weeks of radiation. After a month of recovery she was back at work (temping) and I was working on a few small projects. Little pay, or sometimes NO pay.PROF: Were any of those jobs still for DC or were you only scrounging up Indie jobs?
MOOSE: Indie stuff, a few things for Marvel. If you check out Rich Johnston's site, there's a story there about me fighting to get paid a lousy $1000! Late 2009 I sold off my comic collection and borrowed some dough from my family and moved to the Midwest here. Downsized everything, sold off one of the cars, and did everything I could to simplify our lives.
PROF: Simplifying is good and it sounds like it was the right thing at the right time for you and Julie.
MOOSE: Things were going alright, money was starting to roll in, she was working (still temp). But I had a few projects collapse last year, publishers deciding not to pay, and basically the bottom fell out.
PROF: Ouch.
MOOSE: The bottom line is that while I was waiting to get paid for two different projects (somwhere north of $15,000), I fell behind on my bills. My wife was able to buy groceries and pay to keep the lights on with her paychecks. But we fell six months behind on rent and payments to the doctor. Anyway, my initial offer of prints back in May has helped us to catch up on rent and bills, but we're still behind quite a bit paying the doctors.
PROF: Wow. It's really admirable the efforts you've made to pay your way and do what's right by your wife and in terms of your debts. How is your wife, Julie, doing at this point?
MOOSE: She's doing well. There are days of depression when worrying about bills (we both have them) but she's healthy. She's overdue for her six month check up by a few months now. We're trying to get that taken care of soon though.
PROF: So, what's the immediate concern? And what's the work situation looking like for both of you?MOOSE: Immediate concerns are trying to get caught up with the monthly payments to the doctors, before we're sued into oblivion. Julie's found temp work here; it doesn't pay much but it’s work. I'm picking up coloring jobs here and there. I'm currently coloring Neal Adams' BLOOD series for Dark Horse Presents. I've got a few other projects in the works, but to say that they're moving at a glacial pace would be generous.
PROF: Have you had any offers to help from the Hero Initiative to offset medical costs?
MOOSE: Not from Hero Initiative, no. I'm honestly not sure if this is the type of thing that they deal with. I've had a few friends donate art for me to auction off. You mentioned Simone Bianchi, who gave me two of the most beautiful X-Men pages I've ever seen. But more than that, Ethan Van Sciver donated two head sketches. Robin Riggs sent me a bunch of pages from the BLOODHOUND series we worked on together a few years ago.
PROF: That's really cool!
MOOSE: You know, when the shit hit the fan, it was really disheartening to see how few friends I actually had in this industry. But it's really good to know that there are a few great people out there.
PROF: Well, I hope that the more that your story gets out there, you will discover a lot more great people out there you can call "friend."
MOOSE: I've never in my life ever asked for a handout, so I'm really uncomfortable asking for their help. It isn't easy at all for me to ask for anyone's help. But I figure if I offer up these prints, everybody gets something out of it. The way I see it, I'm capable of working, I figure Hero Initiative could probably use their money to help someone who isn't capable.
PROF: It's okay to ask for help. To be truthful, a lot of people are out there suffering in silence and struggling. It's good to let people know they're not alone but also gives people a chance to really help in a real and meaningful way. Plus, like you pointed out, you're not asking for a handout, you're actually working and selling product with the proceeds earmarked to getting you out of this hole you were forced into. You want to give me info and the scoop on a any upcoming auctions as well as the prints? MOOSE: Well, the auctions are done, finished up a couple of weekends ago. I have a few other things from my own collection (not much left) that I might throw on ebay. A “Rocketeer” movie vinyl banner signed by Dave Stevens. Most of my collection I've had to sell off over the past few years.
The prints are $20 each, including shipping worldwide. Oversized paper (13x19). Archival paper and inks and you can check them all out here.
Folks can contact me through my email here.
PROF: The old cliche is that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. How strong is Moose Baumann today compared to 3 years ago?
MOOSE: Getting better. Three years ago was a different kind of angst. I'm not so worried about my wife's health right now, so I'd have to say I'm feeling a lot better. Was that your Barbara Walters question?
PROF: Nah! Here's my Barbara Walters question...
MOOSE: Uh-oh. If it's "What kind of tree are you?" Well, I am the mighty oak, that every dog in the neighborhood has pissed on!
PROF: ...since you'we alweady a Moose, I won't ask you what kind of animaw you awe and twees are so pwayed....
MOOSE: Baba Wawa! Love it!PROF: How about just this: What's your dream job? If you could take on one full-time project starting tomorrow?
MOOSE: Full time gig?
PROF: Yeah!
MOOSE: Something with CAPTAIN AMERICA, or something STAR WARS related. My dream project, which will NEVER happen, is to do a Treasury Edition-sized one-shot: ANT-MAN Vs THE ATOM! I wanted a 72 page epic battle between Ant-Man and The Atom in Times Square, stuck at tiny-size, beating the shit out of each other with cigarette butts and used chewing gum.
PROF: That would be all kinds of awesome. Maybe when you're Editor In Chief.
MOOSE: Fat fucking chance!
PROF: Har! Okay, who inspires Moose Baumann?
MOOSE: Moebius, Michael Whelan, Virgil Finlay. I really love Ken Steacy's work, I wish he were doing comics again.
PROF: Thanks for sharing with me and the readers here at Ain’t It Cool. I hope it was not a painful experience. I know I speak for everyone on the AICN Comics review team when I say although I may spout off with lots of opinions on everything comic-related, I'm first and foremost a fan of comics and love the medium and the people involved. Anything I can do to help a fellow traveler in this world, I will do my best...and I hope this is one of those opportunities.
MOOSE: Much appreciated! Talk to you later!
“Prof. Challenger” is actually Texas graphic artist and lifelong reader of comics Keith Howell. He really digs Green Lantern, most recently completed the cover art for the upcoming book THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER, and has contributed award-winning art, design, and editing to a number of books and magazines. He occasionally updates his website at at profchallenger.com and welcomes feedback from readers, both pro and con, but if female please include an attached pic in a tasteful state of undress. Thanks for all the fish.
