San Diego Surf Culture Makes Comic Waves

By Ken Lewis 7 p.m.July 21, 2014

original link is here:  http://www.discoversd.com/news/2014/jul/21/comic-con-surfing-wilber-kookmeyer/

Wilbur Kookmeyer cartoon by creator Bob Penuelas. — Courtesy Photo

Comic-Con week is here! Soon you will be spending countless hours wandering the convention center floor and will be bumping into your tubby neighbor dressed as Han Solo, or your buttoned-up receptionist walking around half-naked and painted blue like she’s in the X-Men. Yep, this week rules.
So how does the surf guy have anything to write about this week that doesn’t involve tubes, bros or sunshine? While I admit I don’t know what Mindcraft is or what a 20-sided die can do, I do know that surfing and comics are not as far apart as you might think.
Surfing and art are in the same grouping and one of the most famous surfer artists that comes to mind is the legendary Rick Griffin. Griffin garnered acclaim in the ’60s and ’70s for his “Murphy” comic, that ran in Surfer magazine and later gained mainstream popularity with his concert posters of rock ‘n’ roll greats Frank Zappa, The Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix. Decades after his death, Griffin’s art still can be found on t-shirts, posters and movie covers, and chances are Griffin’s influence can be found somewhere on the tradeshow floor at Comic-Con in 2014.

Local artist Bob Penuelas created Wilbur Kookmeyer. — Courtesy Photo

Another great surf artist is local Bob Penuelas. Penuelas is a well-known airbrush artist who has been coloring surfboards in San Diego for 35 years. At some point in the mid-’80s, Bob developed a character that became the wildly popular surf cartoon strip, Wilbur Kookmeyer, which was also featured in Surfer magazine. In the comic, Wilbur was like many young surf grommets: mouthy, dumb and full of himself. The gangly Wilbur always found himself in bad situations because of his attributes, but his exploits kept readers coming back each month to see what trouble he was going to get into next.

Many of the comics were great social commentary on how the beach was changing from a sleepy town to something bigger and with less soul. It was very much what he was seeing right in front of his eyes, in Pacific Beach at the time. Eventually the comic ended but Wilbur is alive and well and can still be found on Facebook at facebook.com/pages/Wilbur-Kookmeyer/110447028469
I could go on a bit about that obvious choice of the Silver Surfer and how he is drawn as both a goofy-footer and as a regular-footer. That may not mean much to you, but to a surfer, it is a glaring mistake. But he is an alien, so I wont complain much because we too have an alien in surfing; we call him Kelly Slater.

So there you go Comic-Con homies. We’re practically the same people! How about we make a deal, you let me roam around your convention in my flip flops and buy me a corndog and I’ll take you surfing and buy you a fish taco. Deal?

To see more from Bob Penuelas check out his website, wilbur-kookmeyer.com

The Lost Slides

In the late summer of 1992 my dad, Hal Lewis was in his last days with his battle with cancer eventually passing away on Aug 11. The lymphoma caused by long undiagnosed Melanoma had destroyed his once spartan physique and took him at the young age of 62. 

Before he passed he got to say his apologies, his goodbyes and tell countless stories about his lifes adventures and decades of spearfishing and body surfing in La Jolla from 1950-1990.

Pops partying in the Cove

After his death, I didn't keep very many things. The other family members sold the stuff that one collects over a lifetime and the haggling for big appliances and his car wasn't what I wanted to be involved in. All I wanted was what he and I spoke of before his passing. His wooden spear-gun and an old box of slides that were in his closet.

My dad with his world record Totuava

The teak wood gun was made by Riffe way before he had a factory. I remember going up there with my dad in early 1984-85 to pick it up from Riffes garage in Laguna Beach. It still hangs on the wall in my house by a picture of my old man.

The box of slides was more of a surprise. I had never seen them before. Ever. My dad had moved to Belize in 1980 after divorcing my mom and these must have made the journey with him.

Once in my possession, I opened the old weatherproof box and started to go through the slides. I thought they would be of old family events or your everyday run-of-the-mill pics of days spent at the zoo or park. What they were was a time capsule of La Jolla Cove circa 1964-1965. The majority documented body-surfing at Boomer Beach just around the corner from the Cove. 

The Box of slides

There were pics of my dad body surfing along with many others who names did not ring a bell. My mom said that Bud Miller was the one who took the photos but didn't remember when or where my dad may have come into possession of the slides. There are only a handful of the old LJ Cove crew around but im sure they can shed some light on this mystery.

One of the unseen slides

These have been in my possession now for 22 years and I have never showed anyone these images till last week when my friend PMK asked to see them. I hope people smile like I did when I first saw these. He will be sharing these this weekend at his new movie premiere "What the Sea Gives Me"

Lifeguard memorial at Boomers