Cartoon & Comic Book Industry Obits for the Past 12 Months

Hey ! It's spring! It's all sunny and beautiful!

And the National Cartoonists Society is having its convention in a couple of weeks. One thing that happens over that weekend is the Reuben Awards show.

It's like the Oscars. There's an emcee (in the past years it's been Dan Piraro), there are prizes, a live band, and I have to wear a tux.

One of the events that Reubens evening is a slide show of cartoonists who have passed away since the last Reubens. And so, today, for some reason (i.e., work aversion), I was counting up the names -- all of that I could think of, from the comic book industry to comic strips to animation (as well as a couple of seminal editors) -- and writing down names in a little pad. A couple of these names are industry legends, others are less known.

I thought I'd share the names and some links and graphics. I don't know if it's a complete list, but I hope there are no more names (but please correct me if I missed anyone).

Big hat tips to Mark Evanier and Tom Spurgeon for their blogs!

Here's a list of some of the tremendous talent that's left this Earth in the past 12 months, sorted by the date they passed away:

UPDATE: D.D. Degg let me know there were a number of cartoonists I missed (see his comment below). I can't believe that I missed people like Hilda Terry and Irwin Caplan -- and I even blogged about them. I've added the names to the list and stand, sadly, corrected.



Alex Toth 5/27/06, comic book artist & Hanna Barbera character designer


George Kashdan 6/3/06, writer & editor DC Comics

Tim Hildebrandt 6/11/06, Terry and the Pirates, comic books

Mickey Spillane 7/17/06, comic books, Mike Hammer

Bob McCausland 7/21/06, Hairbreadth Husky, editorial cartoonist

John Bush 7/23/06, Bush League

Bob Thaves, 8/1/06, Frank & Ernest comic strip

Bob Cordray 8/2/06, Smidgens, Alex in Wonderland

John McLusky 9/5/06, James Bond

Ed Sullivan 8/26/06, Priscilla's Pop, Out Our Way


Jerry Belson, 10/10/06 comedy show and comic book writer

Hilda Terry 10/13/06, Teena, magazine cartoonist

Michelle Urry 10/15/06, Playboy magazine cartoon editor


Don R. Christensen 10/18/06, animator & comic book artist


Dave Cockrum 10/26/06, comic book artist

Jack Williamson 11/10/06, Beyond Mars author

Paul Rigby 11/15/06, editorial cartoonist



Jerry Bails 11/22/06, father of comics fandom

Fred Schmidt 11/23/06, Appleton Post-Crescent cartoonist and illustrator

Ben Knight 11/28/06, Newbury News cartoonist

Bill King 12/7/06, Asbury Park Press cartoonist

Martin Nodell 12/9/06, Golden Age comics artist & Green Lantern creator


Robert Schaefer 12/14/06, comic book writer


Joe Gill 12/17/07, comic book writer


Joe Barbera 12/18/06, Hanna Barbera


Jack Burnley 12/19/06, DC artist & Starman creator

Sam Burlockoff 1/3/07, comic book and comic strip artist



Iwao Takamoto 1/8/07, Disney & Hanna Barbera artist


Joe Edwards 2/9/07, Archie Comics Li'l Jinx creator


Bob Oksner 2/18/07, DC Comics artist

Irwin Caplan 2/22/07, magazine cartoonist, newspaper panels

Thomas Stockett 2/21/07, editorial cartoonist


Arnold Drake 3/12/07, DC Comics artist



Jay Kennedy 3/15/07, King Features Editor-in-Chief

Clyde Schmidt 3/20/07, Daily Review sports cartoonist

Marshal Rogers 3/24/07, comic book artist



Johnny Hart 4/7/07 , B.C and Wizard of Id

Frank Chillino 4/9/07, comic art production supervisor at KFS from ca. 1945 - 1990 (retired)


Brant Parker 4/15/07. Wizard of Id

Art Saaf 4/21/07, Golden Age comic book artist

Spring in Brooklyn

A tree grows in Brooklyn and it's blooming pink! This is the front of my place with what we call the "carnation tree" outside. The blooms will be off by the end of the week, but for now, it's beautiful.

1958 Leave it to Beaver Letter

Take a look at this: Beaver's brought a letter home from school. Sine the photo above of Ward's hands was a short insert shot, the letter did not have to register as anything more than a piece of paper with typing. Thanks to today's flickerless DVD freeze frame, you can read what was really written on this letter from Beaver's principal at the "Shorpy" blog here.

The Shorpy blog has a lot of great photos from the past.

Huge hat tip to Johnny C. and his Hole in the Head blog.

Lost Sci Fi Comedy Pilot: Galaxy Beat (1994)

In 1994 a pilot for a sci fi comedy show titled GALAXY BEAT was made and not picked up. The first part is here, and the remaining chunks of the pilot can be found there too. As we all know, YouTube has a rule that all of its videos have to be under 10 minutes in length so we all have to deal with it.

The cast is full of actors like Gregory Harrison, Tracy Scoggins, RoddyMcDowell, Michael Dorn who were in other sci fi-themed shows (Babylon 5, Crusade, Logan's Run, Star Trek:TNG & DS9, Lois and Clark, Planet of the Apes, The Fantastic Journey, The Colbys, Trapper John M.D., Manimal -- OK, so maybe not Trapper John) and there are more gags per square inch than Quark. Some are clunkers, but a couple I laughed at. The cast is enthusiastic, and the leads are actually pretty funny. It was produced by Alan Spencer, whose SLEDGE HAMMER! I have fond memories of. Actually, I don't have to rely on those memories since the first season of SLEDGE is now out on DVD.

Maybe when they come out with the second season of HAMMER!, they could add this pilot too.

Kids' Comic Convention

Above: Logo designed by Akinseye Brown.

Workshops, exhibits and lotsa comics pros to meet at this weekend's Kids' Comic Convention!

Looks like it's going to be a great event. I won't be there, but a lot of great professionals will be. Alex Simmons deserves massive praise for putting this together!

Tip o' the hat to Jim Salicrup!

Berndt Toast Gang Meeting April 26, 2007

Above: Detail from a 1980s cartoon map drawn by Bill Hoest showing his creations. The map shows the way to the Hoest home -- or, as it's called, the Hoest Castle, on the Long Island Shore. Bill drew it as a handout to cartoonists who wanted to attend the annual Bunny Bash. Even though the map's over 20 years old, it still works great!

OK, where was I?

So, I drove to Long Island from Brooklyn yesterday. It felt good to get out. I've been working hard this week. I got off on Woodbury Avenue, and I hardly recognized the streets. The trees are in bloom.

Art Cumings, Sy Barry, Sandy Kossin, Mike Lynch

It's the last Thursday of the month and that means it's time for the National Cartoonists Society Long Island Chapter (the "Berndt Toast Gang") to have its monthly lunch. Over thirty cartoonists, their friends and loved ones gathered for shop talk.

Above: a Sandy Kossin illustration.

Sandy Kossin was kind enough to share some of his original illustrations from books and magazines. Sandy has the easy balance between fine art and cartoon in these illustrations.

Detail from the illustration. I love that satisfied expression on the dog!


Don Orehek, Jeff Fisher, Art Cumings

Don has a great cartoon in this month's Playboy mag. It's a wordless, color 2 panel cartoons. It's not, so far as I can tell, online.

Dan Danglo, Marty Macaluso, Tony D'Adamo

I've never told Tony this, but 20 years ago, when I first moved to NYC, I'd hang out at the Associated Press building in Rockefeller Center waiting for my then-girlfriend to get off work. I'd hang out and read Newsday until 1am, when her shift was over. Tony was one of its stable of artists and I always admired his vervy ink line.

Ernie Colon, Greg Fox

Ernie's "one of the most versatile artists ever to work in the comics field. A master of all genres .... " so writes Jon B. Cooke in the forward to an interview with Ernie in Comic Book Artist #19, June 2002.

Greg draws Kyle's Bed & Breakfast. He has a freshly minted blog too. And he always wears a DC Comics t-shirt.

Sandy Kossin, Joe Vissichelli (partially obscured)

I think he's taking it away from Joe until Joe washes his hands.

Bunny Hoest, Helen Murdock-Prep, Jeanine Manheim

Bunny was on her way out when I asked if she would pose, hence the coat and cool shades.

NYC NCS Get Together 4/25/07

Tony Murphy, Rina Piccolo, Sam Viviano

The Metro chapter of the National Cartoonists Society got together Wednesday night. It was a grand time, despite the rain outside, and there were so many cartoonists that the restaurant's waiter suffered from cartoonist overload.

It was great to see David Hill, Francesco Marciuliano, Bill Alger, Flash Rosenberg, Evan Forsch and his lovely bride, Lovely Andy Eng and his lovely girlfriend, and a number of others whose names I am blanking on. There was not enough time to say hello to everyone -- a good reason to return next month.

Tony Murphy and Rina Piccolo and I talked about gag subjects that were now old and worn out. Terms like "feng shui" and "blog" are over. They're tired. It's like jokes about Dolly Parton's breasts. It's over! Tony added that "blogosphere" is not passe.


Mort Gerberg, Arnie Roth and Anne Gibbons

I don't know why Mort gave that goofy grin. Arnie was late coming and I asked his wife why. She said he was at home, doing crossword puzzles! But he did show. I think he was waiting to see if the rain was going to stop.

Dan Piraro started the meeting by asking us to identify ourselves. When it was Arnie Roth's tune, he pointed to Larry Katzman, magazine cartoonist. Arnie said that there was a time, the late 1980s, when the NCS was in dire straits, and Larry Katzman was the fellow who untangled the group after the deaths of then NCS president Bill Hoest and, soon after him, NCS super-secretary Marge Devine. Larry got a round of applause.

Larry Lieber, Stan Goldberg, Sal Amendola

Or, to put it another way: the Spider-Man comic strip, Archie and Batman. I remember that Stan and Larry were talking, for some reason, about the old Paddy Chayefsky MARTY play -- the original play on TV, not the movie. I'd seen it repeated on PBS in the 1990s and I thought that the version with Rod Steiger was much better than the movie. They agreed (or they were just being nice to me). Future mother of Tony Soprano Nancy Marchand played Marty's date in the TV version.

"Ruben Bolling," Mike Lynch

"Ruben" (not his real name) draws the Tom the Dancing Bug strip. I don't know if I can say his real name here. Is it a secret? Anyway, a heckuva nice guy, but I want to keep his ID private. I'm not gonna cheese off the Tom the Dancing Bug guy, OK?

Mad Magazine's Sam Viviano draws caricatures of ...

... Mike Lynch and Rina Piccolo, despite their protests!

The evening closed around 9:45. And Rina and me and Tony and Trade Loeffler and Marc Bilgrey all made our way home in the mist ....

CBLDF NYC Benefit Thursday

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is having a benefit. It's going to be a launch party for Nick Bertozzi's THE SALON graphic novel and it's tomorrow night at the Village Pourhouse. Press release here.

Nice graphic taken from Nick Bertozzi's site.

Islamic Comics

Good article by Megan Wong in the Christian Science Monitor about a new Islamic superhero comic book.

"The series is inspired by Islamic culture and history – the title refers to the 99 names and traits attributed to God in the Koran – and aims to spread a universal message of teamwork along with plenty of action, adventure, and 'kapow!'"

But since when did a comic book superhero need "$6.8 million from 54 investors in eight countries" in start up money?

Newsrama has a preview here.

Hat tip to Journalista!

Mike Luckovich Video Interview

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Pulitzer and Reuben Award winning editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich talks about his job, the administration, the joy of working with pen and paper (No Wacom tablet for him. He uses ink and Wite Out.), and the future of the form.

I met Mike at last year's Reubens and he introduced me to his family. He's a very down to earth guy.

What he doesn't touch on in the interview is the amount of work that he does. It's deceptive to some people how hard cartoonists work. Sometimes people think the ol' drawing hand is just a faucet that pours out drawings. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Case in point: Mike and his family flew to NYC a couple years ago to attend Bunny Hoest's annual cartoonists' bash. The Bunny Bash draws a couple hundred cartoonists, editors, family and friends. Once there, Mike spent the bulk of his time there in the Hoest/Reiner studio, which is in a turret on the second floor. While he drew and faxed a cartoon, his family played in the Long Island sound!

Postscript: unfortunately, winning all these awards does not guarantee that the people who produced a video about Mike Luckovich can spell the guy's name correctly -- hence making the video hard to find!

Free Comic Book Day/Cartoonist Day

I've been keeping my eye open for some news about this event, coming the first Saturday in May. Here's a good article from the Honolulu Advertiser by Caroline E. Toth ....

Free Comic Book Day is coming. And, if you are lucky enough to live in Hawaii, then you have the coolest library; 6 libraries are participating in Free Comic Book Day, giving away Archie, Transformers and Peanuts comics. This is way, way cool of these librarians, and the Hawaii public library system, to actually support comics!

May 5 is also Cartoonist Day.

Hat tip to once again the informative Dirk Deppey at Journalista!

Brendan Burford Appointed Comics Editor of King Features

Editor and Publisher has the story.

Brendan is a very knowledgeable guy whose love of comics runs from the old time comic strips to today's indy cartoonists. He's just the guy to move King forward.

Congratulations, Brendan!

Brendan's Syncopated Comics site.

Hat tip to Journalista!

Mike Lynch Cartoon in April 23 Brandweek

"Oh, that one. That's one of your weird ones."

I like ALICE IN WONDERLAND. OK, more than "like." I went thru a period in my 1970s teenagehood where I carried the book with me to high school every day. Go ahead, make fun. People have carried weirder things in their backpacks.

I'm not a fan of the Disney version. My man is Tenniel. Seminal Tenniel. I have a number of books with different illustrators doing their take on the Lewis Carroll story (including the author), but Tenniel is above the rest. They're dark and realistic and it makes me believe the place. Everyone else follows in his wake.


When I was a kid, my folks bought a Caedmon LP of ALICE with Joan Greenwood (photo above) in an audio adaptation of the book. Greenwood has a smoky voice, and probably sounded way too old and sexy to be a little girl. But I grew up with this recording, and accepted the thing. Although it's been years since I listened to it, I still remember passages.



This cartoon doesn't work if you don't know the above floating head of the Cheshire cat drawing. And, obviously, the pros at Brandweek did!

To draw it, I looked at the Tenniel art and then drew the cat. I drew it fast and freehand, without pencils. It has the spirit of Tenniel, but it's not an exact copy.

Image of Ms. Greenwood from this tribute site to her and Margaret Lockwood.

Joe Simon on CNN

Here's a video clip of Joe Simon on CNN talking about creating CAPTAIN AMERICA with Jack Kirby in 1941, and reaction to his death in 2007. Or should I put quotes around "death?"

Hat tip to Mark Evanier.

Photo of Irwin Hasen and Joe Simon from the Diamond Web site.

Quark

So, less than a year after STAR WARS was released, NBC bought a science fiction comedy show created by Buck Henry. It was called QUARK and it was about trash collectors in outer space. There ... I've ruined the first joke in the pilot for you! Sorry about that, chief!

It lasted 8 episodes. But the Web, in all its infinite diversity in infinite combinations, has some QUARK Web sites where people recall this show, whose pedigree was that it was produced by the GET SMART producer.

There's a site that explains all here. And there are some episodes you can choose to view or download there.

It was silly, but if you liked SPACEBALLS, you might like to watch this -- even though it looks like an aged third generation video dub. Until the series is released on DVD, this is your only chance to see it. The cast is appealing, but the pace is a little poky. Hearing a laughtrack again is off-putting. (I've heard that the M*A*S*H DVDs allow you the option to watch episodes without their original laughtrack. A nice feature!) I like Richard Benjamin -- it's too bad that he's underused since he's basically a straight man for the oddballs here. I have to admit I laughed at some of the robot gags.

Literary Digest Cartoons and Ads Late 1920s Part 2

More Literary Digest cartoons. The first part is here.

Oh those kids! Here are some cartoons from Literary Digest circa late 1920s with some little wisenheimers! Above: a cartoon by Steve Rass.
TOMMY: "Hey, pa! What you doin' with my water pistol?"

A lovely painted cartoon, from the old Life magazine, back when it was full of cartoons. This wash was done by Nate Collier, more of him and his work below.


"See what the boys in the back room will have."

So, there's this grouchy old guy telling this young maid to quiet the kids. He looks pretty old to have 'em, but maybe this is his second family. Cartoon by Paul Reilly.

PILOT: "It's a good job you kissed your muvver 'fore you came out, Nick."
PASSENGER: "Why?"
PILOT: "Cos I can't stop it."

The above cartoon by Alex Oxley is reprinted from Everybody's Weekly, a UK publication. Literary Digest tended to only reprint cartoons. There's a possibility this was inspired by similar conversations between Skippy and Sooky in Percy Crosby's comic strip SKIPPY. Joan Crosby Tibbetts, Mr. Crosby's daughter, is alive and well and runs the SKIPPY site, full of work by one of my favorite cartoonists -- and least known.

And, yeah, Calvin & Hobbes used to have wild wagon rides too -- but Bill Watterson says he never heard of Skippy.

PROFESSOR (taking his little boy for a walk): "I wish those kids would stop yelling. I can scarcely keep my mind on this Einstein theory."

OK, another really old guy with a little kid! I love how the car in the background emulates its surprised driver. The art is, once more, by Nate Collier, who would create a comic strip titled THE PROFESSOR in the 1930s. Collier was also known as "the guy who illustrates Will Rogers' books." He also influenced Woody Guthrie's cartoon work. More Nate Collier work at Stripper's Guide, including a magazine column about cartooning, advice to amateurs, and rambling philosophical essays.

Tommy flies his airplane model by fastening it to Dad's coat-tail when he runs for the train.

Another Nate Collier cartoon; this one reprinted from Judge. One thing bothers me: where's dad's briefcase?!

When I pulled these cartoons for scanning, I could not tell that the 3 of them were by the same guy! It was a surprise to me.


Above: an ad for a Ditto machine from the May 11, 1929 issue of Literary Digest. I remember the test sheets that the teachers handed out in Deerfield Elementary, back in Lawrence, Kansas, circa 1970. You could always tell when your purple test sheet (yeah -- dittos were usually purple) was fresh off the ditto machine by the probably-toxic, not altogether unpleasant aroma of the duplicating fluid.

If you wanted to self-publish, this was how you made comics back in the day. It was invented in 1923.

I recall using it when I was in school in the groovy 1970s. That's almost 60 years that the Ditto machine was in force. Cool! Mod! Freak me out!

I think it would be cool to have 'em come back as a retro alternative to desktop publishing or lulu.com publishing -- or maybe that idea's borne from the aftereffects of the mix of methanol and isopropanol purple haze I sniffed.

Captain Kirk Returns

J.J. Abrams. the director of the new Star Trek movie that will premiere at the end of 2008, confirmed to Star Trek Magazine that William Shatner will reprise his role as Captain Kirk. Trekmovie has the news. Plot details are under wraps, but I keep hearing it's going to be a reimagining of young Kirk's formative years. Shatner's role will be more of a stunt or cameo role.

Makes me wonder if this is going to be like Lynn Johnston's upcoming FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE hybrid strip this fall -- with the Patterson family reminiscing. Maybe Shatner & Nimoy will be sitting around saying, "Remember our first meeting at Starfleet Academy? It seems like yesterday .... " Dissolve to dashing young actor (rumor: Matt Damon) playing a young Kirk.

It sounds scary to me.

Charley Jones Laugh Book

I was watching the Richard Schickel documentary of Charlie Chaplin's life (Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, 2003). Chaplin lived in fear of losing his ability to make people laugh. Charley Jones has nothing in common with Chaplin, except that he too tried to make people laugh. Unlike Chaplin, Jones has not aged well.


I don't know if there really was a Charley Jones (maybe he was a corporate style logo ala Tipsy McStagger, Mr. Peanut and Big Boy), but there WAS a Charley Jones' Laugh Book. It had color covers and a B&W interior. Here's the June 1949 issue and some gag cartoons from same. The cartoons are all, well, painful.


"The moving van's here, Dear. Are you sure we packed everything?"

"Walsh & Posner" contribute a number of cartoons, including this one. Not a bad gag, but a bit silly. If these people lived today, you'd have to draw more weight on them. And they'd have more stuff. We all have more stuff.


"Darn that coffee and wedding cake -- I can't sleep a wink! "

See? She's reading her secretarial school instructional manual to know what to do here.

Some beautiful brushwork and dynamic layout showcases a rather lackluster (even for this time) boss-chasing-secretary gag. More than one cartoonist I know will tend to overdraw a weakly written cartoon to overcompensate for a poor gag. Maybe that was the case here.

"I hate to do this, Junior, but I gotta show this painter the shade of 'Spanked-baby-pink!"

There are levels of meaning here, I'm sure. None of them I want to get into.

"Our complaint department is on the third floor, Mr. Jones!"

The imagery here is pretty offensive. Maybe that's why it's unsigned. Even the layout is wonky; it appears that the child is next to the guy's head instead of several feet behind him. Included below are some jokes that are, at best, obtuse.

A worldless cartoon. Took me a couple of seconds to understand exactly where we are. It's the line for the bathroom in a boarding house. But I still don't get it. Sure, you can meet a mermaid in a river or lake -- but in a bathroom??? Where could she get in? Did she just appear in the shower? The toilet??? OK, I think too much about this.

Well, this was back when there were so many markets that even a mediocre cartoonist could make a living.

Was Charley Jones, real or not, ever funny? Maybe he was to some, but he aged like moldy cheese as opposed to Mr. Chaplin's fine wine.

Brant Parker RIP

"Wizard of Id" co-creator Brant Parker died April 15, 2007 at the age of 86. I had heard the rumor on Sunday, but then the person who told me was interrupted by someone else told me that it was just a rumor -- one that had made the rounds before. Sadly, this time it was true.

Editor & Publisher's Dave Astor writes about him here.

Tom Spurgeon gives a good bio at the Comics Reporter.

Craig Yoe dips into his amazing collection and shares some terrific vintage photos of Parker and Johnny Hart, along with the first week of the "Wizard of Id," at his Arf Lovers Blog.

Above: a 1971 photo of Rod Serling, Johnny Hart and Brant Parker from, of all things, Mr. Serling's site.

Jay Kennedy Memorial

I want to share some of my impressions from this past Sunday's well attended memorial service for Jay Kennedy, the Editor-in-Chief at King Features, who died suddenly on March 15, 2007.

I'm not going to be able to talk about everything. This has been a sudden loss that many felt deeply. I'm skipping over some of the more personal, heartfelt remarks that I thought were meant to be private.

There were 250 people (maybe more) that got together Sunday, April 15th, for this memorial service. It was held at a favorite restaurant of Jay's, The Park, in the Chelsea section of New York City.

The city was getting hit with a spring Nor'easter. Rain was pelting down and everyone who arrived was wet, even if they had an umbrella, and all were glad to get inside. I'd taken a car service from Brooklyn, along with Stephanie Piro and her husband John Nolan. They had come down from New Hampshire for this.

There was some general milling around in the bar area, which was framed by the long bar on one side and a big open hearth on the other. The room filled up quickly with dripping friends and colleagues, who were shaking hands and hugging. I chatted with Bunny Hoest and Charlie Kochman and John Reiner and Sam Gross.

After a half hour, we were ushered into a large bar/restaurant area. The Park has a series of rooms, each different from the other. Off of this cozy bar area was a large atrium with a glass ceiling, and plants and trees all around. In one corner, there was a display of dozens of drawings Jay had made, as well as photos of some of his sculptures. His drawings reminded me of a couple of underground cartoonists -- Crumb and Jay Lynch (no relation) maybe. His painted sculptures were of Fred Flintstone, and there were some other animated characters. Great attention to detail, proportion and expression. I had never known that Jay was an artist. There was a slide show of photos from Jay's life -- from school photos to present day.

I chatted with Amy Lago, and saw Lee Salem as well. My friend Tony Murphy was there, as were Jules Feiffer, Mort Gerberg, Hilary Price, Isabella Bannerman, Rina Piccolo, Irwin Hasen, Jim Salicrup, Maggie Thompson (of the Comics Buyers' Guide) and many others, including, of course, King Features president Rocky Shepard.

I stood in line to to write a note in a remembrance book. I chatted with Chris Browne, who was ahead of me. We were interrupted several times as Arnie Roth, Dan Piraro, and others walked by and stopped to talk. And then I met so many people; colleagues from King, some cartoonists I knew and some cartoonists I was meeting for the first time.

There was a small program book titled "Jay Kennedy 1956-2007: Celebrating a Creative Life," listing the baker's dozen of "colleagues and cartoonists, friends and family" who were going to speak about him. There were also the lyrics to "Forever Young," by Bob Dylan, "one of his favorite artists."

The atrium had been set up with chairs and tables. There were several trees growing out of the terra cotta flooring, and sparrows were chirping and flitting from tree to tree. Little gourds had been hung in the trees to encourage roosting. After an hour, we were all asked to take a seat in this atrium.

Bruce Paisner, Executive Vice President of Hearst Entertainment, was first to speak. He recalled hiring Jay, who, at the time, had appeared for the job interview in jeans and a ponytail. Despite the inappropriate attire -- and a very challenging interview where Jay pelted Mr. Paisner with questions -- he was hired at King Features.

Brendan Burford, Associate Editor at King, spoke about his job interview with Jay. "Can you write?" asked Jay. Brendan said he could. "Everyone THINKS they can write!" said Jay, and he gave Brendan an exercise: write a fictional press release about a Roy Crane retrospective at the Society of Illustrators. And so, Brendan was sent away.

Brendan did not reveal that he was a big fan of Mr. Crane's work. He went home and wrote up the best release he could. The next day he faxed it over. Within thirty minutes, an impressed Jay Kennedy phoned him. Brendan COULD write! Like Mr. Paisner did with Jay, Jay now took a chance on a young man just starting out.

And I agree with Brendan's comment that if anyone ever wants to mount a REAL Crane retrospective, please do it! After all, the release is all ready written.

Close friends and members of his family spoke, including Jean Kennedy, Jay's mom. She related a number of stories, including the one about the Monet painting that was written in the New York Observer:

"Mr. Kennedy’s mother, Jean M. Kennedy, said she noticed her son's 'sharpness' on his first visit to the Museum of Modern Art, when he was 6 years old. Young Mr. Kennedy, arms folded, stood looking at Monet’s Water Lilies, then said, 'It’s all pretty good, except for that mistake over there in the corner.' The rest of his family strained to see what Jay was getting at—then a stunned security guard admitted that the painting had been retouched after an installation mishap."

I felt a lot of what was said was personal, so meant for the gathering of people in the room, that I didn't want to share everything. Anyway, I want to acknowledge the kind words and I don't want to give short shrift to them.

Friend and colleague Eric Himmel, Editor in Chief at Harry Abrams, said that thru the years Jay would come up with ideas for books and he would always do his best to see if they could see print. I got the impression that when Jay got an idea, Abrams listened.

Jerry Scott was unable to attend, but Jim Borgman spoke for the both of them. It's strange. I can't recall what Mr. Borgman said. By this time I had moved from my seat to standing in a doorway. There were several leaks in the atrium, not the least of which was over my head. I remember laughing, and then the whole room kind of sighing a bit. ZITS, along with MUTTS, are two of the big mainstream comics successes that were helmed by Kennedy.

Mort Walker talked about sexism in Beetle Bailey. Back in the day, General Halftrack was openly lusting after Miss Buxley, and that was a no-no after women's liberation. There was talk of writing out the General from the strip. A Walker family member suggested Halftrack go to sensitivity class -- and when the idea was related to Jay by Mort, he heartily agreed. The General would go through rehabilitation and survive.

Patrick McDonnell spoke about the time that Jay tried to talk him out of the comic strip business. McDonnell was, after all, a very successful illustrator. What did he need with a comic strip? Patrick explained that he had ALWAYS wanted to do a strip. With comic strips, warned Jay, there are never ending deadlines; you don't want to shackle yourself with so much work for something that may not be successful. Obviously, Patrick didn't listen to his friend's advice.

Matt Groening talked about Jay contacting him way back in the early 1980s. But it wasn't to talk about Matt's underground strip LIFE IN HELL. Jay knew that Matt was friends with Lynda Barry, and Jay wanted to buy some Lynda Barry comics from Matt. This was back when she printed her comics herself, with a piece if yarn to bind them. In other words, Jay liked Matt's comics, but he loved Lynda's. Jay was prepared to offer $2 apiece.

Matt was appalled at the low price for this rare item. "Two dollars?!"

Well, Jay pointed out, that is, after all, the established price in the Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide.

"But, Jay, you WROTE the Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide!!"

Jay paid $4 apiece.

So many of Jay's friends spoke. So many were people he had known for decades. A couple of people who talked had been friends with him since grade school. Even then, you could tell, that Jay was a bright and stubborn guy who was intent on figuring out the world. He was a true pal who kept his friends.

Particularly moving was Jay's old high school girlfriend. They reconnected after all these years. They were dating at the time of his passing.

This was a moving ceremony, and I hope some other people that were there add a note here or on their Web sites.

I didn't bring a camera, but at after the presentations, the crowd was breaking up and I saw Joe Giella, Matt Groening and Bill Griffith chatting together. In my mind, I took a picture of them. Matt bowed his head, and Joe was leaning in close, talking. Bill, still holding his umbrella, was smiling and listening. I couldn't hear what they were saying.

But I was wondering how many people have just these three cartoonists entertained? Let's see, these are the people behind BATMAN, MARY WORTH, THE SIMPSONS, FUTURAMA and ZIPPY THE PINHEAD. The number of readers and watchers must be in the millions at least.

And Jay Kennedy was woven through all that.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth,
And see the lights surrounding you.

-- Bob Dylan, "Forever Young"

Out

Where could I be? Believe it or not, I'm not writing the blog today.

I'm doing my taxes.

Until then, this message from George Costanza.

Creig Flessel Interview

Another good interview!

The local Marin (CA) Independent Journal's Joe Wolfcale interviews golden age comic book artist Creig Flessel. Creig's also the former chair of the Berndt Toast Gang. I hadn't seen this interview before Creig brought it to my attention.

It's a short look at his career, and what he's doing now. Creig was born in Huntington, Long Island 95 years ago. He was in comics since the beginning, and also did strips, advertising, and ... well, go ahead and read the interview.

"When The Redwoods needed artwork for its Senior Prom event March 16, Flessel volunteered to illustrate the flier. The Hawaiian theme poster featured an amply endowed woman in a hula skirt and a man with hairy legs in shorts playing a ukulele.

"'They were a little concerned about the big boobs,' Flessel jokes. "Cartoons are about getting people's attention.'"

A big hat tip to Creig himself, who mailed me the clippings. (Creig doesn't do the Internets.)


You know, Creig Flessel's name is in the Pulitzer prize winning book about the comic book business THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY several times. When the book came out in 2000, someone, somewhere at Random House (probably just a standard issue spell check program) zapped his name, changing it from "Creig" to "Craig."

Author Michael Chabon, who had done his research and knew how to spell Creig, apologized to Mr. Flessel and promised that his name would be corrected for the paperback version. This was very nice of Mr. Chabon.

However, since Mr. Chabon was not personally there when the spell check happened for the Picador paperback, the misspelling reoccurred in the softcover as well.

Mr. Media Interviews Ray Billingsley

A great interview with Ray Billingsley in today's Mr. Media entry. Bob Andelman does a terrific job of interviewing Mr. Billinglsey.

On racism:

" ... An editor once told me that it was thought that blacks don’t read and what white person would buy this [a "Curtis" collection] for their kids? And I mean, they said this right to me, so it’s just been a thing that I’ve been living with all these years."

On Will Eisner:

"Oh, I can tell you this: Will was a tough MF’er! (Laughs.)"

On Jay Kennedy:

"Sometimes, even during the worst controversial ideas that I put out there, Jay was always on my side. He would tell me different ways of handling the media and all that, because, actually, I am a very sensitive person, and when people say that they don’t like my stuff, it bothers me. Jay would just calm me down and send me on the right path."

On Al Capp:

"You know, all those people who may be scratching their heads, they need to pick up some of those books and read them through. If you really want to see a fine example of good characterization, good artwork, check out 'L’il Abner.' It’s really incredible stuff."

Ripping Off Artists: The Shepards v. Rosie O'Donnell

What with the Todd Goldman stealing from cartoonists story, I was reminded of the Rosie O'Donnell/Shepards case ....

Nice to see that everyone agrees how wrong Goldman is. I agree. But there are precedents for a "reimaginer" like Goldman. If the original creator(s) of these images sue Goldman, they may not win a lawsuit.

Case in point: Rosie O'Donnell and the mother and daughter team of courtroom artists, Shirley and Andrea Shepard. Some of you will recall that the Shepards sued O'Donnell when she (Rosie) used their art work in collages. Rosie's "art" was part of a Rosie art show at a Manhattan gallery. (Yeah, in between her magazine failing and her Broadway show tanking, Rosie was an artist for a time.)

The Shepards sued and lost. Rosie, who had torn up hi res images of their drawings to make her collage, had created what the court called a "new work." It was not plagiarism.

And, to quote Montgomery Scott, if my grandmother had wheels, she's be a wagon.

Literary Digest Cartoons and Ads Late 1920s

Here are some cartoons and ads from a couple of Literary Digest magazines circa late '20s. Yeah, OK, so they're a little creaky and old. I was just going to reproduce a couple of cartoons, but had to show some ads too. It was a nice time to be alive, what with all the illustration going on in magazines. And except for the smoking and asbestos. Read on!


Fair Eloper: "Oh George, we'll have to go back! I've forgotten my powder-puff."

A lot of the gags are kinda weak, but this one is pretty good. Such nice perspective in those windows. These guys knew how to draw. This is the sort of cartoon that the taller the building is, the better the gag. Sure, maybe it's not so fresh a gag for 2007, but it's one of the better ones that I saw.

Plumber: "Pipes burst?"

Young Bride: "Y-yes, b-but some of this is t-tears!"


A lot to like in this painterly illustration. The gag is OK, but the real pleasure is seeing the body language here -- and the cat in the background. And it's got the old fashioned 2-part gag line: the set up and the punchline. The New Yorker, then in its 4th year, was to change that.


And here's one of the ads that caught my attention. There are a couple of ads for things that are now known to be bad for us. When was the last time you saw an ad promoting asbestos? Look, it's the ad that launched a thousand cases of mesothelioma. Yikes! Love that evil snowman!



Look, here's Florsheim Shoes! They're still around in every mall in the US. But it's more than $10 a pair. And, moving down to our next ad for something that is we know is just so wrong today -- the idea that if you're feeling sick and ostracized, then go somewhere by yourself and smoke like a chimney! Aaugh! That's just wrong in so many ways.

And, hey, go ahead and be careless with those matches. You can afford to be since you bought all that Asbestocel!

Funny to think that in 1929 there was a threat to live musicians from recorded music! Who knew?! Can you imagine the size of a 1926 iPod?! Another wonderful illustration.

And when was the last time you saw an ad for a pencil!? You are known by your, uh, pencil, m'lad!


And, lastly, an ad for Higgins Ink -- still around after all these years. And there are a few more ads underneath the Higgins one as well, just for fun.

Free Hogan's Alley

May 5th is Cartoonists Day -- and it's Free Comic Book Day. And who don't like FREE, huh?

And you can get a copy of HOGAN'S ALLEY, the pro cartoonist mag, FOR FREE on May 5th!

But it won't be in comic book stores. You gotta email the HOGAN'S ALLEY people on MAY 5TH and they'll send you a copy (their choice) of this long-running magazine about the comics and cartoon biz.

Here's HA writer Bob Buethe to tell all:

*** *** *** *** *** ***

FREE HOGAN'S ALLEY DAY: In observance of Free Comic Book Day (Saturday, May
5), Hogan's Alley will mail a free copy to whomever requests one on that
date. So mark your calendars and remember to drop us an e-mail on May 5, and
we'll mail you an issue of our choosing.

READ THIS NEWSLETTER ON THE WEB:
http://groups.google.com/group/hogans-alley-newsletter?lnk=srg

Website: www.hoganmag.com
E-mail: hoganmag@gmail.com

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Above: a late 1990s cartoon by Steve Greenberg that originally appeared in Editor & Publisher. Yes, everyone loves cartoons. Sadly, this is apropos even now, a decade later. Steve also writes for HA.

Todd Goldman Scandal

Clothing designer Todd Goldman has apparently taken a cartoon that was on the Web (left) and redrawn it (right). Mr. Goldman is now making money selling "his" design on t-shirts. And this isn't the first time he's plagiarized other people's work.

I don't know very much about either of the people involved in this, beyond reading THE BEAT's succinct retelling.

Copying someone else's work is wrong (a HUGE no no that I learned waaay back when from Mrs. Berg's first grade class at Roosevelt Elementary in Iowa City). Saying what you did was a "legitimate reappropriation" is just so much baloney. Mr. Goldman is not an artist (OK, maybe a "rip-off artist"); he's a THIEF.

Comic Strips: Art and/or Commerce

In the shadow of Johnny Hart's passing, Tom Spurgeon writes a thoughtful essay on the subject of legacy comic strips -- comic strips that continue long after the original creator has gone elsewhere. The Hart family will continue Mr. Hart's work on B.C. and Wizard of Id.

Is this the right thing to do?

I wish that the comics page in the newspaper was more vibrant, and that there were more comings and goings. I still remember reading those special Christmas newspaper strips that Disney would do every year. They'd run for maybe 6 weeks until Christmas and then disappear. Those were fun.

Comparing strips to TV is easy to do. TV series tend to have their runs and then they disappear. But a strip is the vision of one or two people. And a strip, or a panel, is, after all, just a wee little dinky panel or couple of panels for people to read, and they have to keep coming back everyday, over time, before they get a sense of the strip. It can take years for a strip to grab hold of an audience.

TV shows are mounted by many people. I think of strips -- the ones I really like (Barnaby, Pogo, etc.) -- as idiosyncratic whisperings between a cartoonist and his or her readers. And, unlike the TV, there aren't a lot channels; just the one comics page. Space is limited.

But I talk about strips like an artist. Strips are a business. And there are strips -- like Popeye, Dick Tracy, Blondie, Mary Worth -- that still do good business. They are commodities that readers want to have in a newspaper.

So, I throw my hands up, and seek guidance from the masters: Rube, Sparky and Mort --

No one knows what works. In an interview, Mort Walker confessed that he thought hi friend Charles Schulz had lost his ever lovin' mind when he put Snoopy in his World War One flying ace outfit, climb his dog house and engage in air battles.

"Especially when he showed bullet holes in the dog house. I thought, 'Good golly, this has gone beyond the tale [sic]!' Then, when it became so popular, I said, It just shows you ... comics, as Rube Goldberg used to say ... they are an individual effort that is so beyond explaining that nobody could ever mastermind it. And anybody who tries to do it is mistaken." -- from Mort Walker Conversations.

OK, I can't top that. Good night everybody.

Johnny Hart and His Wham-Wham World

Charles McGrath has written an appraisal of Johnny Hart and B.C. and The Wizard of Id in the April 10th NY Times.

Gag Cartoonist Jonny Hawkins Interview

One of the best interviews with the prolific Jonny Hawkins was written by Lori Holcomb on Monday for the Battle Creek Enquirer. OK, it's also the only interview with this cartoonist whose work I have seen EVERYWHERE. I enjoyed his realistic answers!

"I sent to 'Woman's World' magazine for 10 years and they always rejected me. But I finally broke through about 10 years ago and now they buy from me consistently. Be persistent."

You can see his cartoons at the Humorous Maximus site.

Hat tip Journalista!

Mike Lynch Cartoon in April 2007 Harvard Business Review

Blogging may get you into trouble. Nothing is secret on the Web. As if no one knows that!

I have a cartoon in the April 2007 HBR (above).

Over the weekend, I watched a guy on C-Span talking about privacy and e-mail. You just don't have privacy on the Web. Well, big duh!

STAR TREK: NEXT GEN's Marina Sirtis was unhappy that her "private" comments appeared on the Web. She thought she was giving a chat on her own little fan site Web chat board. Ms. Sirtis, who played a kind and peaceful 24th century starship counselor, says felt "betrayed" when she found out that the negative comments she made about Paramount and J.J. Abrams and Shatner appeared on an easily available transcript on the Web:

"I have always thought that the chats I have with my fans are private to us and I never imagined that anyone would then take any information I divulged and post it on another site. What I tell you guys is for us only. My feelings on certain topics such as Shatner were never intended to be made public. To be honest I feel utterly betrayed."

(Source: Trekmovie.)

I feel bad for her. She was naive.

As for the cartoon, I got the idea for it before I read about the Sirtis incident.

(Above left: Sirtis as counselor Troi from a 1991 TNG episode realizes she's in command of the Enterprise.)

Hey, as long as we're at it, let's look at a few other blogging cartoons that I've done. I figure blogging is probably on its way out as a cartoon idea. It's day is done. I retired my feng shui cartoons last year. And, like jokes about Dolly Parton's breasts, the sunset clause should be activated on this topic as well.

So, before it's too late, here's a batch of them and a few comments.

Above, obligatory desert island cartoon. Status: unsold.

Above, a cartoon that was held by the National Lampoon cartoon book people (but not sold due to a contract dispute). It originally appeared in the UK magazine Prospect.


Above, a silly cartoon that was held and then returned by Playboy. Status: unsold.


Above, people are getting fired via email. This cartoon was in the sister publication to Adweek, a magazine titled Brandweek.

Above, I was thinking of Bob Newhart's "Retirement Party" routine. Sold to an online business site.

Above, from Prospect magazine. Now, this is what it's all about! I like that wonky purple couch.

"B.C." Cartoonist Johnny Hart Dies at 76

Just heard the sad news. He died the day before Easter. Link to Washington Post here.

Recently, he occasionally made his strip a Christian pulpit, polarizing readers. His legacy: B.C. was one of the funniest strips when it debuted.

According to his family, he dropped in the saddle, dying at his board. I never met him, and I regret that.

Funeral arrangements to be announced.

(Above: the March 25, 2007 B.C. Sunday strip.)

Just heard about this from Rick Kirkman on a chat board.

George Takei

It's George Takei's world. You are just living in it.

A couple of interviews with the man:

Here's Takei and Masi Oka talking about the NBC show "Heroes." It runs under 4 minutes.

And here's Takei on on the Web program "Geekza." It's about 25 minutes and contains some bawdy talk! But it's great fun. Takei talks about the upcoming STAR TREK NEW VOYAGES fan film "World Enough and Time." It'll have its Web-only premiere soon. For now, an updated preview is at YouTube.

Big tip of the geek chapeau to Mark Anderson! Thanks Mark!

Star Trek Apartment For Sale

So, a guy divorces his wife and decides that instead of spending all his time and money drowning his sorrows down at the pub, like a real man would, he builds a STAR TREK flat. Yes, the neighbor's think he's mad, but the ex-wife is glad to see him excited about something.

The guy's name is Tony Alleyne, and now he's selling the place for US$200,000.

Video here.

UPDATE: Found this 2003 article wherein the flat is selling for $2,000,000. I believe he posted it on eBay. Tony, it's a buyer's market!

STAR TREK: The Immunity Syndrome

"Shut up, Spock! We're rescuing you!"

"The Immunity Syndrome" gets its efx remastered this weekend. Video preview here.

A couple of other items:

A short, funny mash up video for those who get the reference.

And, in honor of that TREK episode, there's a little something called STAR TREK AFTER DARK which is R rated. The poster of the vid, Kelvington, says:

Well Spockboy and I were at it again this week, this is one of those videos that came from a single statement. Spockboy said, "You know 'The Immunity Syndrome' has a lot of very 'odd' lines in it." Well, that's all it took, I loaded it up and started hacking. What you have here is the final edit of a new feature on Cinemax, Star Trek After Dark. This video is so odd, it has TWO versions. One that reasonably suitable for family viewing here, and this one. Make sure you watch the commercial at the end of the video, they are our new sponsor... kinda.

Readers Want Superman to Spank Lois?!?!

Holy sexual anxiety! From the TCJ Message board, a couple of letters from some old LOIS LANE comic books:

Click below to supersize these letters:
Hat tip to Journalista! who linked to Ami Angelwings' blog.

1970s TV

Hey, it's time for some fun 1970s clips for no particular reason except this is my blog and I get to share what I want. So there.

Friday night is family night on ABC. Video promo here. It's kinda stupid and repetitive -- but so were the shows. And there's more than one college thesis out there that says we all love our comfortable, boring sitcoms.

Room 222 promo here. Hey -- where's that school's metal detectors?! Maybe one day they'll put this out on DVD.

For some reason, I remembered this whole title sequence from the 1970s Ghost & Mrs. Muir show, despite not seeing the thing since 1970. Scary. And, of course, Charles Nelson Reilly is ALWAYS scary.

And speaking of Reilly -- here's an amazing devotional site dedicated to the Match Game TV quiz show. It's all Match Game, All the time. More here.

But Johnny C.'s blog Hole in the Head takes the cake with these clips from 1973. I bow in the face of your awesome 70s coolosity, dude!

(Art from The Partridge Family, Vol. 1, No. 2, written and illustrated by Don Sherwood, Charlton Comics, May 1971 -- taken from this Flickr set of fun images.)

David Pogue: No Tech Support/No Humor

David Pogue had an item yesterday titled "When Tech Support is Outsourced - and Common Sense is Dead." Although a couple of people don't believe the reported exchange between a Dell Computer customer service rep and a real person (scroll down below the article for the comments) -- it sure sounds real to me. And this guy's trying to help this company out -- telling them about a fraud -- and he just gets ignored!

And take a peek at the video "Can Gadgets and Humor Mix?" on the right side of that same Web page. David's had criticism over his sense of humor, and takes it to heart, willingly censoring humor from his presentation.

You see? You put stuff out there -- cartoons, words, video, etc. -- and EVERYONE just (*sob*) tramples over you and your creation!

Mike's caveat: I went to high school with David and I always thought he was funny. He could do this trick where he'd slam his locker door on his head so it looked like it really, really hurt! That's good enough for me. Now ... you critics ... it's like you are really slamming that door on good ol' David Pogue. Stop it!

PS I love the note above from his site.

April's 16th Birthday

Happy belated birthday to the youngest Patterson kid. She was 16 on April 1st!

Click here and you'll hear "April's birthday song." It's all from the For Better or for Worse Web site.

Doctor Who "Smith and Jones"

The third season opener of DOCTOR WHO premiered in the UK this past weekend. There are viral videos of the premiere on YouTube. These are being taken off of the Google-owned site by its administrators almost as fast as people put them up.

As of this moment, these links work:

Doctor Who SMITH AND JONES Part 1

Doctor Who SMITH AND JONES Part 2

Doctor Who SMITH AND JONES Part 3

Doctor Who SMITH AND JONES Part 4

Doctor Who SMITH AND JONES Part 5

Of course, if the links are dead -- ("This video has been removed due to terms of use violation") then try typing in:

doctor who smith jones

And maybe you can find a link that works.

UPDATE April 6, 2007: Yes, all the links were zonked. YouTube user LSMURF has posted the first part of the episode (with a prologue that I hadn't seen). The other bits are easily findable. Who knows? It may stay up for the weekend.

Mr. Media Interviews Drew Friedman

Mr. Media has posted an interview with artist Drew Friedman. You know Mr. Friedman's work from off the radar publications like RAW -- as well as Time, the NY Observer, and other publications.

You can read the interview or listen to a podcast of it.

I want to hat tip the blog where I read about this, but I can't remember! Anyway -- THANK YOU, Mr. Media, for this!

Brian Duffy Video

"The Des Moines Register is the only daily newspaper in the country with an editorial cartoon on its front page," so says the beginning of the video that shows you more about the editorial cartoon process but Brian Duffy, its editorial cartoonist. The video begins as soon as you click on the page.

You get to see the process that Brian uses to create his cartoons -- a combo of old (ink on paper) and new (coloring via computer). If you check out more of the paper, then you can see that every day he'll have a sketch to finish video of that day's cartoon. Always worth bookmarking to see something like this, huh? Fun stuff!

And check out the AAEC/OSU link to the Opper Project ("Using Editorial Cartoons to Tech history") and Toon-o-Matic (cartoons for the classroom).

Big tip of the cartoon hat to my pal Dave Carpenter. Thanks Dave! Great things come from Iowa -- like Dave, Mark Anderson and me (born Iowa City, IA)!

Steve Canyon Original Art Trove Found

The ASIFA site has it all here. And the Caniff family has allowed them to scan these originals and share them.

Hat tip THE BEAT.

Loans for the Working Poor

Cleansing the cartoon talk palate ....

Nicholas Kristof's "You, too, can be a banker to the poor" in the March 26 NY Times (available online only to Times Select members) details micro-loans to small businesspeople in Samoa, The Ukraine, Ghana, etc. Kristof's blog entry has some links.

What drove my interest was Kristof's column. Too bad it's sitting behind a firewall. I hope that his blog is not.

If you are developing a small business in these parts of the world, you have no access to credit. There are money lenders, but the interest charges are usury (kinda like the credit card companies or payday loan companies here -- but worse). Sites like Kiva.org have been set up so that you can loan a minimum of $25 to someone who has a small business. Kiva's site lets you see each individual's business needs and the loan that they are seeking.

This kind of personal, small scale helping appealed to us, and we wanted to share it here.