The industries of comics and related pop culture attract creative people who often have passionate interests across different genres and mediums. One such individual is Craig Yoe, an author, designer, cartoonist, and head of Yoe Studio, among other distinctions. Recently, Yoe talked to Overstreet Advisor and collector, Art Cloos, about the breadth of his career from reading comics as a kid to the line of titles at Yoe Books.

Scoop: Craig, it has been a bucket list item for me to have you sit down and talk to us at Scoop so, welcome.
Craig Yoe (CY): This is my great pleasure, Art!

Scoop: Now, I have been thinking about where to start. You have quite the résumé: an author, editor, art director, graphic designer, cartoonist, and comics historian, best known for your Yoe Studio creations and your line of Yoe Books. But let’s start at the beginning. What was your earliest exposure to art that you can remember? Was it comics?
CY: Well, I feverishly scribbled on my bedroom wall with my own creations. But I memorably experienced other’s art when I was 6 and my beloved and deeply appreciated mom got me a subscription to Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories. What a thrill it was to get those folded comics in a brown wrapper with my name in the mailbox every month! And an even bigger thrill to fall into the enthralling duck world of the master cartoonist Carl Barks.

Scoop: Were you a big comic book reader as a kid?
CY: Yes, I devoured those Bark’s Donald Duck comics and my mom bought me John Stanley’s Little Lulu, Sheldon Mayer’s Three Mousketeers, and more. I was so crazy in love with them. And what an honor it was to eventually meet all those creators I just named. I was especially close to John, he became like a father to me. I was his nearby neighbor as he found a house near his for me to buy when I came to New York to work for Jim Henson and his Muppets.

Scoop: Were you a collector who read them or a reader who wasn’t into condition or saving them?
CY: Well, as a kid I didn’t think about condition at all. I read them over and over until they were tattered. I still have some of my beat-up, in other words well-loved, comics from childhood. And when I became a reader and collector as a teenager in the ’60s I still didn’t think too much about condition, though fellow collectors and myself would get some basic bags from the grocery stores and try and protect our comics a bit. But as I started to go to the early comic cons if I could buy two or three reading copies as opposed to one Mint condition vintage comic there was never a question as to which way to go. Move over Mint.

Scoop: Did your family support your reading habits?
CY: Like I said, my mom got a subscription to Walt Disney Comics and Stories and she would buy me comics for other special occasions as well. There was a comic book rolled up in my Christmas stocking every year, I would get them for quiet times at camp, when I had the measles, for family vacations to keep me entertained in the back seat of the car, and so on. Plus, my dad would read me the Sunday funnies in bed, Peanuts, Beetle Bailey, Smokey Stover, before getting ready for church. Good times.

Scoop: And it sounds like you had a group of friends who shared this interest?
CY: In junior high, after drifting away from comics a bit, I had a close friend, Chuck Case, who told me that he and a couple of other guys were reading and collecting this new group of comics, Marvel Comics. So, I jumped in. We kept this on the down-low because of fear that the girls in our class might find out and we would be branded as hopelessly immature and not to be associated with. And the boys in the class hearing we were acting stupid by reading comics might beat us up. But we secretly read, collected, and talked about Stan Lee’s brilliance. My pals were what later became referred to as Marvel zombies. But I right away became interested in all comics, past and current, every genre (funny animals, horror, etc.) and New Yorker and other gag cartoons, and early comics strips, vintage political cartoons, and on and on and on. Dave Scroggy, formerly of Dark Horse Comics, and Jon Hartz of Valiant Comics were part of that junior high group.

Scoop: You went to college but did not stay long?
CY: Well, I went to Akron University for a short time supposedly studying art, but I dropped out before they kicked me out. My grades were horrible since I was pretty much majoring in organizing antiwar protests on the campus, getting my fellow students to march to the nearby draft board and pour blood on the draft files, that sort of thing. I did serve some time as a cartoonist on the student newspaper before getting canned for a cartoon I drew that made fun of the university president and his and Akron University’s complicity with the military industrial complex. So, I am proud of my school record as a protestor. But, it is not like they gave me honors and a diploma for my activities.

Scoop: Real blood? Not just ketchup, huh?
CY: Some of us used our own blood to pour on our draft files to protest the war in Vietnam. Some used cow’s blood as I recall. Later I serendipitously sat next to the woman who got my files at the draft board on a plane. She told me how she was impacted that day and quit her job and was now working for the peace activist group the American Friends Service Committee.

Scoop: You became part of the Akron Jesus People movement in the early ’70s and did a comic book. Would you mind telling us a bit about that?
CY: When I left college, I started a hippie nightclub. A very gifted singer performed one night and sang some songs about Christ and I soon had a spiritual awakening and became a Christian. The night club evolved into a church. The head shop where you would buy love beads and marijuana smoking supplies, we had attached to the club became a free store to help the poor by giving away food and clothing to the needy. And we had an in-house hard rock Christian band, The Peculiar People. A good number of us started living communally. We created and printed comic books to spread our message. Artists Rick Griffin and Jim Phillips were involved in our comics along with me and some others.

The church eventually broke up when as the leader I started trying to take small steps to move the group more into Christian feminism and to spread an anti-war doctrine from a Biblical perspective, that kind of thing. I wanted more of a push to identify more strongly with the poor and to also accept homosexuality as legitimate and as part of our mission. I wanted to, as part of our mission, to call out the government where they were lacking on these kinds of issues. I didn’t do a very good job convincing people to go in this direction. These ideas didn’t go over well with many of the members of our group and our very utopian community heartbreakingly broke apart. I’m sad about this to this day.

Scoop: And then you went in a different direction starting at Marvin Glass & Associates?
CY: Well, I started to use my creative props to make a living in Akron in advertising. Then a religious publisher in the Chicago area brought me there. They were a 100-year-old publisher and one of the things they did was comics. Some of the art of their past publications was by the likes of Lou Fine, Joe Kubert, and Charles Schulz. They didn’t pay [much] for my salary so I had to move on before becoming totally bankrupt. Influenced by Zap Comix and Christian artist Rick Griffin who I had become friends with, I had started collecting old toys. So, when a job as an art director for a toy company in Chicago came up, I took it. I eventually left that little toy company for the famous toy think tank Marvin Glass and Associates. They were renowned for Lite-Brite, Rock’em Sock’em Robots, the Simon game, Operation, etc. My dad was an inventor of sorts by trade and he inspired me, and I found I was good at toy inventing and got six patents while I was working there. I did toys and games for Mattel, Parker Bros., Hasbro, etc.

Scoop: Okay, that is something I totally did not know about you until now, and that I find totally cool. Allie, my better half, and I collect vintage toys too – Batman and Wonder Woman related. For us it’s the art on the package that is as important as the toy itself. So, what were some of the patents that you received while you were there?
CY: Oh, a variety of things, I liked to work on different kinds of toys, games, dolls, action figures. Being a toy inventor was like the movie Big, but I lived it. One day Stan Lee came to Marvin Glass to pitch us into developing the X-Men as a toy line. I think he and producer Margaret Loesch had tried to interest other toy companies, but weren’t finding a warm reception. So, they came to us to partner and create actual prototypes so maybe the toy companies would get psyched. Since I was the resident comic book nut I was in charge of schmoozing Stan. I did wow him with my knowledge and enthusiasm for Marvel and had him autograph old Timely funny animal comics with his caricature in them. We hit it off.

Ultimately, the owners of the think-tank didn’t get in bed with Stan because they thought the X-Men were too violent. A small company eventually made X-Men toys and those products became a ginormous hit dominating the toy industry for many years. I later did a little work for that company doing some packaging. And eventually Stan wrote intros to a number of my books including our latest, We Spoke Out: Comic Books and the Holocaust.

Scoop: You knew a guy named Jim Henson, right?
CY: Jim saw some Muppet stuff I had done in the toy field that he liked, and he had me come to New York to meet him and he made an offer I couldn’t refuse to come be a creative director for him.

Scoop: What was that like? I would think pretty awesome?
CY: Every bit as wonderful as you might imagine. Jim was a man of peace, love, and creativity.

Scoop: Any special memories that stand out for you about your time there?
CY: Jim eventually made me vice-president and general manager of the Muppets. As part of that role I was supervising the Creature Shop which made all the puppets. I remember once we had created a new Muppet and Jim came over to inspect it. He took this stitched bit of cloth and glued ping pong balls and feathers and stuck his large gentle hand into it and I swear to God that puppet came to life.

I once invited Steve Ditko to come over and see the Creature Shop and seeing him stand in this environment that looked like a scene from one of his pre-superhero fantasy comics was a mind trip. We broke for lunch and then Steve and I went back to Muppet headquarters so that he and Jim could meet. Seeing the hand that made Kermit come alive and the hand that visually brought Spider-Man to the world shake was the thrill of a lifetime for me. I don’t think Jim could care less about Spidey and I’m not sure Steve knew who Kermit even was, but for me I was beside myself.

Scoop: What an extraordinary moment to be a part of. I suppose there are no pictures of that day, huh?
CY: Only etched in my mind. I remember the receptionist calling me that morning and saying there was a Mr. Steve Ditko in the lobby waiting for me. I hurried down the spiral staircase in the Muppet headquarters which had been a stately Victorian townhouse on the Upper East Side. Steve was sitting in front of this mural on the wall of Kermie and company in a row of theater seats we had there. This set up made the visitors look like they were sitting with all the Muppets in a movie house. My eyeballs popped, Steve Ditko had become a Muppet!

Scoop: How did we ever survive without cell phone cameras?
CY: I don’t know, but Steve didn’t like his photo taken anyway. After that day Steve returned my invitation and had me visit him in his Manhattan studio. It was hardly any bigger than a closet and there were no chairs, just stacks of Ayn Rand fanzine-type publications to sit on. There were tied-up brown paper packages on the shelves. Maybe they were full of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange art – who knows? And Steve had a little drawing board from which all that magic happened.

I wouldn’t be in the entertainment or comics industry if I hadn’t seen Sturdy Steve Ditko’s signature on Marvel Comics and realized there could be some kind of related career path for meagerly art talented me, even if my talents were dwarfed by his. I’m stuck in this damn business and I blame Steve Ditko.

Scoop: Wow, just wow. But then Jim passed way too soon. What did you do after his death?
CY: I had lunch with Jim a few hours before he died. What a loss for the world, and, of course, for me personally. I was in shock. I left the Muppets and became a creative director for Nickelodeon. It was the beginning times of the cartoons of Doug, Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats and the Gak toy line with Mattel. Comics-wise I was part of the team that conceived Nickelodeon Magazine and I suggested the comic book insert and submitted a list of possible contributors. That became a terrific market for many cool indie cartoonists and their brilliant work for years to come.

Scoop: I watched every one of those Nick shows every night with my kid for years even missing Yankee playoff games for them. How does Yoe Studio fit into this?
CY: Yoe Studio was started after I left the Muppets, but Nickelodeon put us on retainer immediately, so I was mostly working for them and had an office at their headquarters. But I was doing other things, too, like a book called The Art of Mickey Mouse. Disney was buying the Muppets while I was with Jim. I was actually a Disney employee while working for Jim. So, I got to know the players at Disney like Michael Eisner and Jeffery Katzenberg and pitch them a book of Mickey seen by all kinds of unofficial artists from around the world. I commissioned Jack Kirby, Peter Max, Seymour Chwast, Milton Glazer, Charles Schulz, Mobius, a lot of fine artists, to do their interpretation of the world’s most famous rodent. John Updike wrote the intro and there were German, French, and Japanese editions. This was my first big hardback book. My books have gone downhill from there.

Scoop: Why do you say that? You have some amazing books in your catalog.
CY: Aw, go on. Anyhoo, after that Yoe Studio became very involved in the licensing industry. I look back at that as my whore period.

Scoop: In what way?
CY: Pimping Happy Meals for McDonalds for filthy lucre, that kind of thing, Art.

Scoop: Tell us about Yoe Books. How did that start?
CY: I had done a couple of high profile books, one being The Art of Mickey Mouse but also Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster. My good friend Greg Goldstein was aware of those books and when Greg got hired at IDW one of his first acts was to reach out to me to create my own imprint. We affectionately call Greg the Godfather of Yoe Books. Greg introduced me to the founder of IDW, Ted Adams, and their crew. IDW has grown a lot since then. Greg is now the esteemed President and Publisher of IDW and continues to be wonderfully supportive of what Yoe Books does. That was like 6 years and 100 books ago when Yoe Books started. Our first book was about Steve Ditko, which was appropriate since it was Ditko who inspired me to make being involved in entertainment and comics a career.

Clizia Gussoni, who I am the husband of, is my partner in Yoe Books. Clizia’s a brilliant editor, designer, comics restorer, and business person. Plus, Clizia is more a “glass half full” type person as opposed to me who is a certified glass half full and the water is stagnant-type. Her positivity tremendously helps us move forward. I met Clizia when I was a guest of the Lucca, Italy comic con. They had an exhibit of art from my Art of Mickey Mouse book. My first words to her were “Il mio destino” which means you are my destiny. She thought I was crazy, but I was right. And, come to think of it, maybe she was right, too. Many books, countless cats and two amazing kids later it’s still pretty crazy – but all in a good way.

Scoop: Love at first sight, very cool. Allie told me she was going to marry me on our first date. I thought she was crazy too. Turns out she was right. What are some of the Yoe Books that you are most proud of?
CY: Well, that’s a little like asking someone who their favorite kid is. The Complete Milt Gross Comics and Life Story is a good one. Super Weird Heroes has been our best seller and a second volume has just excitedly come out, those wacky bizarro superheroes of the Golden Age have been so very much fun to work with. I’m glad we gave Bud Sangendorf his due for his genius work on Popeye comic books. What a thrill for me, who did fanzines in my parents’ basement over 50 years ago to now be publishing Ditko, Gross, Kirby, Frazetta, DeCarlo, DeBeck, Crumb, Heck, Barks, Powell, Schulz, Herriman, and so many more.

We are especially proud to have recently published the debut graphic novel of the famed illustrator Dave Calver. Limbo Lounge is not only Dave’s first graphic novel but Yoe Books’ too. The rave reviews Limbo Lounge has received is a splendiferous start to our line of original graphic novels.

Now we’re working with the New York Times bestselling author Jim Benton for our next offering, Clyde which is geared toward the kids market. We contracted with famed Robert Grossman for his finished book Life on the Moon just before he recently passed. He was just as good a writer as he was an artist. I predict both Benton and Grossman’s books are going to be critically acclaimed and bestsellers.

Our latest book, We Spoke Out: Comic Books and the Holocaust is certainly one I’m proud to be associated with. The legendary Neal Adams, who drew famous stories that are part of the reprints we showcase and a special cover, and Dr. Rafael Medoff, an esteemed Holocaust scholar were my co-editors. Neal and Rafi started the book and really deserve the lion share of the credit for it. It is getting high praise and we think it could become a classic in the field.

I’m very proud of our Chilling Archives of Horror Comics line which shows that not only the brilliant EC Comics did cool pre-code horror comics. We do many of those with Steve Banes of the terror-ific The Horrors of it All blog, and the infamous horror comics historian Mike Howlett does some of the volumes, too. Many, many highly skilled people help us with our books, Justin Eisinger our editor at IDW, writers like Steven Thompson, proofreaders, fact checkers, artists, convention organizers who have me as a guest. We learn a lot from the Digital Comics Museum and Comics.org.

Coming up we’re back to a fifth book featuring Steve Ditko. He did the majority of the art in our book, The Unknown Anti-War Comics. It’s at the printer now and will debut at the first of the year. I’m back to my roots of being a peace monger. I feel this is one of the most fascinating and important books we’ve done.

Scoop: You were an Adjunct Professor of Art at Syracuse University. Are you still doing that? Which by the way, I think is a pretty darn cool thing speaking as a history teacher.
CY: I wish I was still there. Their post-graduate program ended though. I really love teaching. I’d like to get out of the publishing field full time and teach.

Scoop: I would imagine that there would be a fair amount of interest in someone with your background.
CY: I haven’t put my desire to teach again out there until just now that you brought it up. You have caught me at some unguarded moments here.

Scoop: I find your story so very interesting. Perhaps a Yoe biography is in your future? In the form of a graphic novel of course!
CY: It could happen. A creative idea on how to approach a graphic novel about my experiences hit me just the other day. Meanwhile, I am drawing a book of cartoons about a subject dear to my heart. I rarely in my life get free from my artist blocks, but right now the juices are flowing.

Scoop: And your kids are fantastic I might add.
CY: Thanks, Griffijn and Grace are the love of my life, and give me a wonderful reason to face each day. And they are stupendous creative artists. Their work inspires me.

Scoop: Craig it has been a real honor to have you sit with us for this interview. Thank you very much.
CY: The pleasure has been all mine Art. I’ve been a devoted reader of Scoop since it started. Scoop-types are my kind of people, so thanks very much for this.

To contact Craig and see his books visit the Yoe Books website and follow Yoe Books on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.