Support JOE FRANKENSTEIN by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan

JOE FRANKENSTEIN, created by comics pros Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, is for someone who likes the classic Universal monster movies. Chuck and Graham have a publisher for the project (IDW - one of the best in the biz), but are asking their fans, monster fans, people who love those old Aurora model kits, and good fun comics fans for their direct support here.

"Comics have really changed in the last 20 years. They've gotten darker and humorless. We want our project to reflect a time when comics were not only exciting, but fun to read. JOE FRANKENSTEIN is an all ages graphic novel in the same vein that Harry Potter was an all ages book. Kids and adults can read it and enjoy it on different levels."

Please take a look and consider supporting this project.

Scholarship: David Wasting Paper 2013 Young Cartoonist Contest

If you know cartoons then you know David Paccia's "David Wasting Paper" blog site. David has been interviewing cartoonists for years and you can spend a lot of time at the site soaking up the interviews and photos there.

In the spring of this year there was a tragic, personal event: David's Mom died. To remember her life, David has introduced the "David Wasting Paper 2013 Young Cartoonist Contest."

This contest was established in 2012 to honor the memory of my mother, Patricia Petrone, who passed away suddenly in May. My mother had a sincere appreciation for artistic talent…even the novice talents of her son…and would be very pleased that her memory lives on through this inspiring event.

All of the guidelines are here. David sought advice in forming the competition from cartoonists across the country: syndicated cartoonists, National Cartoonists Society members, New Yorker cartoonists and others.

Highlighting the submission eligibility:

ELIGIBILITY
Open to artists between the ages of 13 and 16 years old.

DEADLINE
January 31, 2013

ENTRY CHECKLIST

1) Comic essay: A two to four page comic story, starring yourself, that explains why you would like to pursue a career in cartooning or animation. Comic must be original and legible.

2) 3 additional work examples: May include character designs/studies, comic strips or single panel cartoons.

3) Brief biography: A short, one paragraph biography of the applicant.

4) Consent to participate: All applicants must have parental/guardian consent to participate. Submissions must include a note from parent/guardian 1) confirming participant’s date of birth, 2) certifying that entry is the original and unassisted artwork of the participant and 3) providing their consent for the child to participate in the contest. This note must be signed and include the parent/guardian’s address and phone number. Winner’s parent/guardian will be notified by phone and prizes will be shipped to address provided. 

SUBMISSION FEE
None


PRIZES

• A subscription to Stay Tooned! Magazine subscription generously provided by the publisher of the magazine, John Read.

• The Mad Art of Caricature!: A Serious Guide to Drawing Funny Faces by Tom Richmond (Paperback) generously donated by author and president of the National Cartoonists Society, Tom Richmond.
• Art supplies including pens, mechanical pencil and storage, generously donated by Jetpens.com
• Sketchbooks generously donated by Karen Doherty at Exaclair Inc.  (6 Exacompta sketchbooks which contain heavyweight 100 gr. cream-colored paper made by the Schut Paper Mill in the Netherlands which was founded all the way back in 1617.
• Bristol paper pads generously donated by Strathmore Artists Papers - 3 pads: WindPower Bristol Smooth, 11x14 7 pads: WindPower Bristol Smooth, 9x12 5 pads 300 Series Bristol Smooth 9x12 5 pads 300 Series Sequential Art, Bristol Vellum, 12x12 7 pads 300 Series Bristol Smooth 11x14.
• Cartooning the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm (Paperback)
• Big Book of Cartooning by Bruce Blitz (Paperback)
• Drawing in 3-D by Mark Kistler (Paperback)
• How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way by Stan Lee (Paperback)
• Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist (Will Eisner Instructional Books) by Will Eisner (Paperback)
• Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud (Paperback)
• Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics: Manga, Graphic Novels, and Beyond by Jessica Abel (Paperback)
• Cartoon Animation (The Collector's Series) by Preston Blair (Paperback)
• Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures by Walt Stanchfield (Paperback)
• Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 2: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures by Walt Stanchfield (Paperback)
• The Simpsons Handbook: Secret Tips from the Pros by Matt Groening (Hardcover)
• Character Mentor: Learn by Example to Use Expressions, Poses, and Staging to Bring Your Characters to Life by Tom Bancroft (Paperback)
• Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet – includes Autodesk Sketchbook Express and ArtRage software.

In the event any of the books listed are no longer available, David Wasting Paper reserves the right to substitute titles. Total value of prizes to be awarded is over $600.

MAIL SUBMISSIONS TO:
David Wasting Paper, c/o David Paccia, PO Box 579, Raynham CTR, MA 02768

QUESTIONS?
SEND ANY QUESTIONS TO: David Paccia c/o dmp1234@yahoo.com
 

THE QUESTOR TAPES (1974) Now on DVD

For the first time, Gene Roddenberry's 1974 TV pilot THE QUESTOR TAPES is available on DVD. It's part of the manufactured-on-demand series from the Universal Vault.

QUESTOR has been a favorite of mine since I was allowed to watch it way back when it was first aired. Since I was a wee tot, I had to go to bed in the middle of the movie and it wasn't until a rerun years later that I got to see the whole thing.

Slated to go into production for the following season, QUESTOR was bumped for another sci-fi series THE PLANET OF THE APES.

[Mild spoiler alert]

THE QUESTOR TAPES pilot echoed a lot of Gene Roddenberry's favorite ideas: an android trying in a Pinocchio-like way to understand what it is to be human, searching for its creator, and we even touch on a superior benevolent alien race that's attempting "to prevent Earth from destroying itself before it can mature into a peaceful society." (A theme of the pilot-within-a-series STAR TREK episode "Assignment: Earth.")

Plus the QUESTOR has Dean Wormer (John Vernon), acting as bad guy, so it's got that going for it. Not to mention the ever-so-likable Mike Farrell and the commanding presence of Robert Foxworth as Questor.

The series, if it had been made, would have been a buddy series with Mike Farrell helping the android become a bit less of a fish out of water.

The best of the post-TREK pilots, QUESTOR's themes were woven into the next 2 Roddenberry produced projects; principally the characters of V'ger from STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE and, I know you all ready know it: Data, from NEXT GENERATION.

Richard Colla, the director, is quoted in Retrovision Magazine's fond and thorough overview of the pilot titled Gene Roddenberry's The Questor Tapes: The Unfulfilled Promise:

"It was a wonderful experience for me," he says. "We were kind of reinterpreting Spock and Kirk, because that's really what it was -- the emotional side of man and the intellectual side of man and they come into conversation with each other. So what you really have is a character talking to himself, and that's delightful."

Above: the cover to the novelization by D.C. Fontana.

A note on the Gil Melle music that's heard at a minute plus in: yes, that theme is the same music that Melle used for the later 1970s NIGHT STALKER series. Melle was so fond of that cut, that rather than see it forgotten in this unsold pilot, he played it for STALKER's producer Dan Curtis, who agreed and used it in the main title for the short-lived series. This is all from my memory of reading TV’s Biggest Hits (Schirmer Books, 1996) by Jon Burlingame.

-- Above edited from a March 13, 2008 blog entry.

An excellent overview of the production by John Kenneth Muir here. 

My thanks to Christopher Mills.

Cartoonist Mary Gibson's Sketchbook

Above: a self-portrait of Mary Gibson, her cartoon portfolio in hand, from BEST CARTOONS OF 1944.


I received an email from a fellow named Chris about a cartoonist named Mary Gibson.

"My mother, Mary Gibson, was a fairly well known cartoonist during the 1940s and 50s. Her work appeared in several national publications, The New Yorker, Esquire, Collier’s, etc. Your blog shows one of her cartoons. Mary died in 2007. I am currently in the process of scanning her cartoons to create an archive of her work."

This was terrific news and I wish Chris all the best with scanning in years of national and local cartoons that his mother drew. 

 

Above: a sketch of Mary Gibson drawn by fellow cartoonist Kirk Stiles.

Chris sent on a few scans from Mary Gibson's sketchbook. I expected to see some interesting doodles from Ms. Gibson. But I was in for a surprise. She was not the only person who drew in her sketchbook. There are drawings by other cartoonists of the period. She must have passed it around when she and other cartoonists were getting together or doing the rounds of the gag cartoon markets.

Kirk Stiles sketches a boxing match:

Looks like cartoonist Eric Peters was there too:

Salo drawing more of the same:

An unsigned sketch of that man with the hat:

George Wolfe with a (self?) portrait of a man who appears to have cut himself shaving:

This sketch is signed "G.H. Greene" and I am sorry to say I do not know who he is:

An unsigned drawing -- but it looks a little like Al Ross drew it:

 

Here's a drawing by Al Ross:

My thanks to Chris for letting me share these.

Andy Broome: COLLECTING THE COLLECTOR

If your two lifetime passions are cartooning and collecting, then you should meet Andy Broome.

Andy works for the sports card company Beckett's, which is great since he has loved baseball cards since he was a kid. He's been the Senior Vintage Card Grader for Beckett Grading Services for six years. He's been a consultant to the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW TV program.

Andy is also a cartoonist. Maybe it's part of the make-up of a cartoonist to make fun of the types of people that you know and love. At least, that's the way it is with Andy. His new collection of cartoons about the people who are driven to extremes collecting stuff is titled COLLECTING THE COLLECTOR. It's all about those crazy people (like Andy and l am that way as well) who want it graded, stuffed in a mylar bag and put it in a special climate-controlled environment. And "it" is anything that you collect: comics, cards, etc.


If you like this, or know someone who is, please consider buying a copy of COLLECTING THE COLLECTOR by Andy Broome.

Mort Drucker Promo Postcard

Here's a promo postcard of Mort Drucker's. I don't know how old it is. My guess is it's several decades old, just based on the look of the people. Other than the fact that it was drawn for State Farm, I don't know the context.

 The funny thing about this drawing is that it is atypical Drucker: no caricatures of famous stars or politicians -- just a collection of specific types of people.

 Look at the action here: everyone is involved, actively watching and reacting to the offstage game. It's pretty much impossible not to want to stare at this.

Six years ago, I was the ringleader for a couple of cartoonist panels. Mort was one of the participants. During the Q&A, an audience member asked what he liked to draw. Mort said he liked to draw anything alive and dynamic. You can see that energy in his pen line.

Comics and the 1950s

Your hero of this blog talks about comics and cartoons of the 1950s at the Long Island Museum on Sunday, October 21, 2012 in this photo by Ed Betz for Newsday.

I gave a presentation on the anti-comic book crusade, and the magazine gag cartoons of the 1950s this past Sunday.  I had a terrific time and I think the audience did as well. I'm grateful that many of my cartoonist friends were able to attend and, during the Q&A afterward, contribute their take on that time.

Newsday has an overview of the 1950s exhibit at the Long island Museum in "Exhibit recalls postwar Long Island" by Nicole Fuller.

Thanks for Coming to My Talk on 1950s Comics and Cartoons

The talk on comics on the 1950s that I presented Sunday at the Long Island Museum went over very well and we had a terrific crowd for it. Thanks to Lisa Unander, Assistant Director of Education at the Museum for asking me to do this in the first place.

So nice of my friends to show up and support me -- friends like Tony (NEWSDAY) D'Adamo, Stan (ARCHIE) Goldberg, George (NEW YORKER) Booth, Bunny (THE LOCKHORNS) Hoest, and Adrian (childrens book illustrator and exalted leader of the Berndt Toast Gang) Sinnott. You guys are the greatest.

Back home later today. Looking forward to returning to hearth and home -- catching up with my routine and seeing my studio cat "Dropcloth." 

Talk soon,

Mike

Binders Full of Wonder Woman!

Related: Come and see my talk on comics at the Long Island Museum, Sunday, October 21 at 2pm.

Mike Lynch Cartoon in Mad Magazine #517

I have a cartoon in MAD Magazine #517.

You can see it if you buy the magazine.


It was a real pleasure and surprise when, this past spring, I got the "OK" for my cartoon. Getting into MAD has been on my list of things I want to accomplish. So ... this is my first time in MAD. It won't be my last. All I can say is WOW.

1950s Gag Cartoons

This is the run-up week to my talk about 1950s comics and cartoons at the Long Island Museum. The talk will be about the anti-comics crusade (bad) and the golden age of gag cartoons (good). So, I am looking at a lot of gag cartoons from that time. While I'm busy practicing the presentation in front of my cat "Dropcloth" today, here are a few 1950s cartoons full of manual typewriters, drive-in burger joints, drive-in movies, malt shops, and life before the TV remote.
.

Long Island Museum, Sunday, October 21: Cartoon Talk

I was teaching some cartoon classes at the Long Island Museum this summer. I've been doing that for about six years now. Great kids. Great people. Anyway, someone at the Museum asked if I would give this talk on Comics and the 1950s Suburbs. The Museum was going to do an exhibit of 1950s suburbs. I said, sure, that sounds good and fun and, like I said, these are really great people.

So, on the drive home, I'm muttering to myself, What have I gotten into?

I usually sit alone in a room and draw. Even writing the Mike Lynch Cartoons blog is a solitary affair.

And what do I know about the suburbs?

Then it dawned on me that that the great migration to the suburbs was all about families and decency and morality ...

... All those things that comics and cartoons love to make fun of.

And that can rub people the wrong way. And that, as you may know, would lead to the national anti-comics crusade of the 1950s.

A bad time for comic books. It gutted the industry.

Conversely, it was the golden age for gag cartoonists, with gag cartoons in many magazines.

So, it'll be a fun chat this Sunday at 2pm. The talk is free with Museum admission.

And it gets me out of the house.

The Garden As of October 15, 2012

The garden is spent. It's done its job. Soon, we'll put it all to bed and plant winter rye to replenish the soil.

Hmm ... let me clean the lens here. Its not THAT foggy outside.

Here's where the sweet potatoes were. They were harvested on Friday. so ... yes, this is just a photo of a box of dirt.

Above: what''s left of the tomatoes and peppers. 

The remains of the tomatoes. The green kale likes the colder weather though. 

The cucumbers are gone, but the lettuce in the background is doing OK.

No Scool

The sign in front of my local high school. It lingered for several days before "No Scool" was taken off.

Maybe they shouldn't have closed after all.

See You Soon

I'm away from the Internet for a time ...

Mike Lynch Cartoon in the July-August 2012 Harvard Business Review

Above is my cartoon from this summer's issue of HBR.

You can see my salute to Jack Kirby's machinery in the inking of that helium canister, right?

This one sold very quickly and I was told how much "everyone liked it." Always nice to hear that. This was part of a batch of 10 or so cartoons I had sent. I thought it was maybe "medium funny," but HBR differed.

Fine by me.

CUL DE SAC Spoof: Mr. Danders Comic Book Covers

Above: my sketch of Mr. Danders from the comic strip CUL DE SAC. Everyone knows Danders: he goes on wild adventures sometimes and he really just wants to stay home (which is a cage and an exercise wheel at Blisshaven Primary). The premise: "What if Me. Danders' adventures chronicled as comic books?"

I don't know how Richard Thompson got himself born the same week that the NYC Comic Con starts, but the lucky fellow did. So ... happy belated birthday to my friend!

Now, speaking of his CUL DE SAC comic strip and one of the biggest comic book conventions ... here are some doodles from the back pages of an old sketchbook wherein I imagined the reluctant hamster Mr. Danders on the cover of some comics. I pretty much forgot about 'em!

So ... since we're all friends who share our love of cartoons and silliness, here are some doodly (very) rough sketches of our reluctant hamster here on some comics -- with apologies to Mr. Thompson:

I would sketch some comic book logos and see what happened. Here are a few: VAULT OF DANDERS and VAULT OF HAMSTER.

If nothing sreuck me, I would move on and draw some more logos like DANDERVANTURE COMICS and V FOR VERMIN:

Here's a parody cover of Dell/Gold Key's comic book SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON, except it's now SPACE FAMILY DANDERS. The Robot says as he is wont to say, "Danger!" And Danders responds by trying to run out of frame and replying, "I hate danger."

Okay, you get the idea. Here is Danders on the cover of DETECTIVE COMICS #27, the famous Batman debut comic. Word balloon (for those who cannot read my scribbles): "I say! Is this rope OSHA approved?"

Here's DANDERS OF THE MOUNTIES (a spoof of the TV series and Dell comic SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON; click here to see my blog entry about the wonderful Giolitti art) where he is on horseback, clothed in full Mountie regalia, imploring the reader, "No! No adventure!" The bit of color is from a watercolor sketch of a vomiting cat bleeding through from the opposite side (see Last Night's BLAARGH!, March 10, 2011).

And sometimes I went off-character, such as Danders as a demanding zombie:

Below is a PHANTOM LADY cover spoof --

And a RICHIE RICH take with Danders as "The Poor Little Rich Rodent" in "Money Can't Buy Happiness," and that's supposed to be Danders in a pool of coins ala Scrooge McDuck. 

 And here's the actual page from the sketchbook:

The sketchbook is now full of drawings (every page front and back) and will be shelved now. Thanks for letting me share these. They were fun to draw and deserved a little sunlight. Hope you enjoyed them.