Rustaq I’ve posted some of the clippings that John saved from the Point Pleasant flap; I’ll post some more. First, though, I thought you might be interested in the cover sheet of his file.
That’s Gene Duplantier’s rendition of Roger Scarberry’s original sketch.
And here’s the introductory note. Apparently John circulated this photocopied file to other researchers. I’ve enhanced the faded original for legibility.
Yes, that is Gene Duplantier’s famed drawing of Mothman. I obtained his permission to use it, mostly in talks, and then I saw what happened next, down through Mothman publishing history. A red glow was placed in the eyes during a slide show I did, and then other researchers would use it, credit me or credit Gene or credit no one. Today, Gene’s drawing, sometimes with the red, sometimes without, is all over the Internet.
When I did my book in conjunction with and at the request of Sony/Screen Gems to help out John’s “based on a true story” movie (as he was ill), I got Bill Rebsamen to do the cover. He based it on the witness drawings and Gene’s interpretation. I figured it was time to add a new, colored, more complete version of the Mothman to the mix – and move on from Gene’s b&w imagery.
But John and Gene are to be credited with getting the original iconic image into the minds of so many researchers.
Doug, thank you for the trip down memory lane.
Comment by Loren Coleman — April 19, 2012 @ 10:59 am
Roger Scarberry’s original sketch sometimes gets lost in the shuffle; it’s true that Duplantier was a better artist.
I’ll be posting more of this file. Many people interested in Mothman probably haven’t seen the local press coverage, and the clips give a sense of what it was like to be in Point Pleasant as the story unfolded.
Comment by Doug — April 19, 2012 @ 12:07 pm
5/11/2017
Gene,
Found your art of the Mothman, and would like to request permission to use your mothman image in my upcoming book. Wish that Rogers original was available, but I haven’t seen it anyplace that I’ve looked, not sure that its public domain. So yours would be highly appreciated
I’ll be happy to give you full credit.
Thanks,
Steve Pearse
Comment by Steve Pearse — May 11, 2017 @ 4:36 pm
Steve — Gene Duplantier is now over 90, I believe. I doubt he reads this site, but I don’t know how to contact him. I posted Roger Scarberry’s sketch here: http://www.johnkeel.com/?p=685 I don’t know if it’s in the public domain.
Comment by Doug — May 12, 2017 @ 9:49 pm
Good morning,
I work for a company who is filming a television pilot centered around the Mothman myth. We’re hoping that we might be able to use the photo of Gene Duplantier’s mothman drawing from this article.
Are you willing to license us the photo for use in our program, or do you have any helpful information on that subject? Thanks in advance!
-Rob
Comment by Robert Thurston — June 14, 2017 @ 12:21 pm
The rights, I’m sure, belong to Gene Duplantier. I’ve heard that he’s still alive and living in Canada, but I’m afraid I don’t know his address.
Comment by Doug — June 15, 2017 @ 12:31 pm