Jake "Buddy" Saunders (born 1947) is an American author and businessman, working in the fields of comic books and
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
.
Work
Saunders started out in the world of
fanzines
A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...
. As part of the "Texas Trio" (with Larry Herndon and Howard Keltner), Saunders published the fanzine ''
Star-Studded Comics
''Star Studded Comics'' is the name of three comics-related publications, including a comic from the Golden Age of Comics, a comics fanzine, and a modern comic homage to the previous.
Cambridge House Publishers title
The first publication to ...
'' from 1963–1972. It featured early work by
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
,
Grass Green
Richard Edward "Grass" Green (May 7, 1939Social Security Death Index. – August 5, 2002) was an African American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement. ...
,
Jim Starlin
James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, an ...
Dave Cockrum
David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Mystique, as well as the antiheroine Black Cat. Cockrum was ...
,
Mike Vosburg
Mike Vosburg (born July 23, 1947) is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the ''Tales from the Crypt'' TV series.
Biography
Mike Vosburg's comics career began in the 1960s, when as a 15-year-old teenager he started ''Mas ...
,
Biljo White
''Batmania'' is a term coined by Billy Joe (Biljo) White in the early 1960s and the title of his influential fanzine dedicated to the DC comic book character Batman. The name is "almost certainly" a nod to the then-prominent term " Beatlemani ...
, and Keltner, among others, and featured the early appearances of Dr. Weird, Xal-Kor, Wildman and The Eye.Bud Plant Comic Art /ref> Saunders' cover for its second issue won an
Alley Award
The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with th ...
in the amateur division in 1963. In addition, during this period Saunders was a regular contributor (as an artist) to the seminal comic book fanzine ''
Rocket's Blast Comicollector
''Rocket's Blast Comicollector'' (''RBCC'') was a comics advertising fanzine published from 1964 to 1983. The result of a merger with a similar publication, ''RBCCs purpose was to bring fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book co ...
''.
Saunders operated his own
mail order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
* Sending an order form in the mail
* Placing a telephone call
* Placing ...
service starting in 1961. He owned and operated Lone Star Comics, a chain of seven Texas
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
stores founded in 1977. With the sale of the Lone Star comic book store chain in 2013, Mr. Saunders and his family now operate the online Lone Star Comics www.mycomicshop.com
As a writer, he co-authored ''A Voice and Bitter Weeping'' with
Howard Waldrop
Howard Waldrop (born September 15, 1946) is a science fiction author who works primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021.
Personal life
Though born in Houston, Mississippi, Waldrop has spent ...
, later expanded into the 1974 novel '' The Texas-Israeli War: 1999'', as well as ''Time and Variance'', with Waldrop and
Steven Utley
Steven Utley (November 10, 1948—January 12, 2013) was an American writer. He wrote poems, humorous essays and other non-fiction, and worked on comic books and cartoons, but was best known for his science fiction stories.
Biography
Utley was bor ...
. Saunders' story "Back to the Stone Age'" was nominated for a
Nebula Award for Best Short Story
The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...
in 1976. Saunders' recent work includes two novels based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs: ''The Martian Legion'' (2014) and ''Tarzan and the Cannibal King'' (2017).