The Time Tunnel

"TWO AMERICAN SCIENTISTS ARE LOST IN THE SWIRLING MAZE OF PAST AND FUTURE AGES DURING THE FIRST EXPERIMENTS ON AMERICA'S GREATEST AND MOST SECRET PROJECT "THE TIME TUNNEL". TONY NEWMAN AND DOUG PHILLIPS NOW TUMBLE HELPLESSLY TOWARD A NEW FANTASTIC ADVENTURE SOMEWHERE ALONG THE INFINITE CORRIDORS OF TIME...."

THE TIME TUNNEL ran for 30 episodes, a full season, back in 1966. I have a distinct childhood memory of the opening credits, specifically that music, and the image of our two leads falling in slow motion against the woozy, sparkling lava lamp efx that signify ripples in time. John Williams, who was then billed as "Johnny," created the dissonant theme music. It alternately scared and thrilled me. When a CD was released in the 1990s with music from the series, I snatched it up. I still love it.

The show, however, was a typical Irwin Allen show of the 1960s. That is, the thing started off strong and then fell back on silly plots, clunky-to-non-existent characterization; with each episode full of running and jumping. Our two leads, Tony & Doug, were forever landing in Krakatoa, on the Titanic, War of 1812, etc. And they were always saying, "You might not believe me, but I'm a time traveler." And then they'd get beaten up. Ugh. Predictable!

I still like the IDEA of the program, but not the execution.

Below is a short documentary overview of TIME TUNNEL, with interviews with all the principle actors. I'm guessing that it was part of the larger documentary The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995). And below those vids are a series of YouTube links to a 2002 revamp of the series that I came across. Please watch it. I haven't. Tell me if it's good.







TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part One
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Two
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Three
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Four
TIME TUNNEL (2002) Part Five


Above photo from the highly informative Time Tunnel page here.

There are a lot of Trek links to the cast. We don't just like Trek here, we love love love Trek. Here are just a few:

TOS (STAR TREK:THE OLD SHOW): Lee Meriweather was in a third season episode , That Which Survives; Whit Bissell was Space Station K-7's Commander Lurry in The Trouble with Tribbles. James Darren was in eight episodes of DS9, as well as regularly appearing on The Shat's show T.J. HOOKER.

And there are more in the TT supporting cast. Of particular note is Lawrence Montaigne, who played "Stonn" in the TOS episode Amok Time (where Spock goes into heat) and then he repeated that same character in the 2007 Web series STAR TREK:OF GODS AND MEN.

Marie Antoinette Action Figure

And, on the heels of this morning's Death of Spock toy, comes this Marie Antoinette Action Figure, with Ejector Head! And Removable Dress! Yipe! A big tip of the hat to Ralf Zeigermann at his The Cartoonist blog!



"This 5-1/2" (14 cm) tall, hard vinyl figure features amazing “Ejector Head Action,” and comes with a removable plastic wig and dress."

Also worth a peek: the Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure ("... has a wild look in her eye and comes with six cats") and the Deluxe Jesus Action Figure ("... with eight amazing plastic accessories: five loaves of bread, two fish and a jug for turning water into wine (not guaranteed to work for real). Also features glow-in-the-dark miracle hands!")

This is no gag. This is toy licensing gone mad!

New Cartoon Poll

What do you like to use? Pen? Pencil? Brush? Wacom tablet? Please vote in the new poll at the top right of the page ....

Thanks!

"The Death of Spock" Playset

So, it's a generation after STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN came out. I did not know it, but Trekmovie reports that way back in 1982, there were no TWOK action figure toys. But, do not grieve, Admiral; Action Figure Express is churning out toys, including the Death of Spock playset which "includes a radiation version of Spock and a grieving Admiral Kirk." Plus three extra hands for Spock! See below!

ONE MOMENT, SIR!

Here's a selection of cartoons from ONE MOMENT , SIR!. a hardcover collection of Saturday Evening Post cartoons edited by Marione R. Nickles and copyright 1957 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.



The above cartoon by prolific gag cartoonist Tom Henderson is just as fresh as it was 51 years ago (no pun intended).

Jim Whiting with a funny take on marriage.


Don Tobin, with a gag on the then-small sportscar craze, provides the title cartoon. You could make the same gag today with those Cooper minis.


Above: Herb Green with a study in juxtaposition between the little girls simple smile and the tired, rapidly aging parent.

Yes, there was an Ed Sullivan who drew gag cartoons but it's not the "really big shoe" Ed Sullivan.


Joe Zeis reminds us all that when making a sale, consider your audience. Look buddy, floozies don't need to know this kinda thing.


Above is a wonderful switch of expectations from Bill Harrison.


Chon Day, one of the best, with his simple line & wash technique, coupled with a killer, hostile, funny line. I like how just the suggestion of the 2 car windows and the handle tell us that we're in the limo, post-ceremony.



The above cartoon by Frank Ridgeway is a successful puzzle. The puzzle begins with the drawing, and trying to understand why this slob of a guy is wearing mouse ears. The gag line, citing the then-phenomenal popularity of the Mickey Mouse Club, solves the puzzle.

Roy L. Fox with a reminder of that time when those ranchers were getting rich off of that Texas tea that was found on their land.

Orlando Busino shows us that even cold-blooded bank robbers need to let off a little steam now and then. I like their expressions.


Mary Blanchard with a nice anti-snob surprise gag line. A New Yorker regular, I wonder if she first had the above cartoon rejected by the New Yorker editors before selling it to the Post. Maybe the NYer eds. were too pro-snob to buy it. Hmm.


I wanted to close with another by Chon Day, who makes me laugh. Add Mr. Day to a short list of cartoonists who deserve more recognition.

Marion R. Nickles also edited the collection HONEY I'M HOME! There are selected gag cartoons here and here from the book.

Mailbag Q&A

I get mail. Below are a few of the questions I've gotten recently and my response. Most of these are good solid questions about making a living as a cartoonist and pricing your work.

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Question: I need some info on the top paying markets.

The best thing is to go out and see what mags are out there (or what Web sites) and gear your work accordingly. By doing this, you will begin to establish that ever-moving shark, proactive, market-seeking-out mentality that all freelance cartoonists need.

On a chatboard, one fellow who wants to be a professional cartoonist was asking me to describe the cartoons in Playboy to him. I don't think anything I would write would be as helpful as him seeing the cartoons they are running for himself.

So, yes, one must be self-motivated to see what's out there and persevere. I'm not sure if this is what you wanted to hear, but, for me, it's what works.

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Question: I'm an aspiring cartoonist with a weekly one panel strip that I'll be marketing to newspapers. I'm having trouble finding any information about pricing each strip. I'm self-syndicating. Can you help me?

My advice is not to do it, but I figure that you don't want to hear that.

First, you need a Web site. You really need an online presence. I don't know if you have a site or a blog, but it's necessary. [I had searched for a Web site for this cartoonist and not found one.]

Most newspapers pay $5 a week for a comic strip or panel. That's $5 for a week's worth. The bigger papers (Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, etc) pay up to $200 a week.

One of the most successful self-syndicated cartoonists is my colleague Chad Carpenter. I hope he doesn't mind me shining the Mike Lynch Cartoons spotlight on him. His cartoon panel TUNDRA is in about 200 markets and he self-syndicated his panel. I urge you to look at his site and consider creating something similar. Editors will want to see a lot of consistent output, that's why a site is crucial.

And let's keep in mind that Chad has been doing this for 15 years. A lot of success in cartooning is over the long haul.

I would also urge simultaneously submitting your package of cartoons to the major syndicates. Just let them see it and see if you get any comments or interest.

This is my 2 cents.

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You probably get this all the time, but I've got a great one box cartoon idea. What should I do with it?

Gee whiz, just one? Come up with 9 more and that'll make a decent batch, then mail them out to The New Yorker!

Then, do it again the following week!

Like they say in the Lotto commercials, Ya never know!

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That's all for now. My thanks to those who wrote. I appreciate! Feel free to add your own 2 cents in the comments section.

Kate Burton Parodies FBOFW

Nova Scotia cartoonist Kate Beaton, who, like so many of us, grew up with the newspaper comic strip FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, gives us her take on the Elizabeth/Anthony romance storyline.

Big hat tip to Brian Moore for this.

EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE Part 3

Here we go again with a selection of great cartoons from EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE, a book dedicated to the National Cartoonists Society by its editors Alfred Andriola and Mel Casson. It's copyright 1955 by them too.

EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE part one is here.

EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE part two is here.

"Enjoy yourself while you can, Bertram — I won't live forever!"

Some heavy hitter cartoonists contribute their take on the ongoing battle of the sexes. Al Capp "one of the few cartoonists who is as famous as his creation Li'l Abner," gives us a one-panel gag wherein hubby Bertram is not going to get away with an intimate moment with a devil girl.




Gregory D'Alessio, husband to fellow cartoonist Hilda Terry, draws his wife in this series of wonderfully observed sketches; braiding and washing her hair, drinking coffee, sketching, inking, sewing — ending bottom right with a final drawing of himself, reading the paper.


Otto Soglow is another cartoonist who is due for a big contemporary volume of his reprinted cartoon work. This man is one of the founding fathers of the NCS, and a New Yorker regular as well as a successful syndicated cartoonist. Above is a risque gag with his Little King character, which was syndicated by King Features (no pun intended) from 1934 until Mr. Soglow's death in 1975.


Harry Hanan drew the comic strip Louie from 1947 to 1976. Like The Little King, the character of Louie did not speak.

Allan Holtz at his Stripper's Guide blog gives us a 1952 feature article from Editor and Publisher on Harry Hanan.

Ger Apeldoorn at his All Things Ger blog gives us a series of entries about Louie, with some great insight by Ger.





Above: the one and only Noel Sickles, who will soon get a wonderful hardcover collection of his Scorchy Smith strip, contributes this ink & wash gag.



Rube Goldberg, the man who founded the NCS, is the only cartoonist whose name is in the Webster's New World Dictionary as something other than himself:

"Your mural dresses up the barracks, Killer — but where are the light switches?"

Above: Mort Walker shows us a little more than he can in his strip. Ger Apeldoorn has a great selection of Walker's gag panels.




The one and only Hirschfeld, the Line King, draws some dubious goings on under the dress. Here's a link to the NY Times Hirschfeld Archive.



"I left when he wanted to show me how his outfit in Korea captured Hill No. 234 and Hill No. 235."

Alex Raymond shows us why men go to art school: to draw pretty girls!




Nebraska-born Russell Patterson, who studied under the artist Monet, designed the original (and still in use) logo for the National Cartoonists Society (below):






Frank King draws Skeezix and Nina in separate beds, having a marital tiff. It looks like Skeezix is wearing a Where's Waldo? shirt.



And finally, here is a two-pager by Milton Caniff. From the book:

"Milton Caniff, superb adventure-strip artist, created a vogue as seen in Steve Canyon. Here he satirizes his owne style in which the hero, even in villain's disguise, must triumph."

How not to have an Olympic mascot nightmare

Above: 2008 Olympics mascots ready for merchandising: Beibei the fish, Jingjing the panda, Huanhuan the Olympic flame (because kids love playing with fire), Yingying the antelope and Nini the swallow.

BBC News reports on the history of appallingly designed mascots. The 2008 mascots -- yes, there are more than just one -- carry on in that tradition.

"In 2000, Syd the platypus, Ollie the kookaburra and Millie the echidna were not particularly well received. And the vaguely sinister-looking trio found themselves more marginalised as the games went on. There was competition from Fatso the wombat, a very unofficial mascot, who by the end of the games was the more recognisable figure for many."

The BBC requests that you please send in your designs for the 2012 Olympics mascots which will be lots better than any of these, you bet!

Chad Carpenter Interview

Above: Chad Carpenter, who now gets to eat at the Big Cartoonists table, with Lynn Johnston and Mike Peters at the 2008 Reubens.

Creator of the newspaper panel TUNDRA, Chad Carpenter, won the National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Panel Division Award at last month's Reuben awards weekend. Megan Otts, writing for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, interviews Alaska's hot cartoonist.

"After more than 15 years, Carpenter said new ideas don’t always come easily, but he finds he does his best work when completely relaxed.

"'I have to get in that zone where you’re half-asleep, half-awake and you just think of these funny situations like moose in hot tubs,' he said.

"Carpenter’s advice for aspiring cartoonists? Get into any publication you possibly can, build an audience and, most importantly, 'live at home at long as possible.'"

Hat tip to Megan for letting me know about the article.

Roy Delgado Shares Originals

Prolific cartoonist and friend Roy Delgado has a terrific blog that's worth a visit.

Recently, Roy's been sharing a lot of unseen originals by other cartoonists. Some of these were drawn at cartooning events and, as they talk shop, the cartoonist will draw in Roy's sketchbook Each original has a story that Roy shares with us:

Tom Gill "Lone Ranger" Sketch
Bud Grace "Ernie" Original
Patricia Roberts Original
Eli Stein WSJ Cartoonist
Fred Lasswell Snuffy Smith
Mort Walker Sgt. Snorkel
Orlando Busino 1979 Drawing
Jerry Marcus 1979 Sketch

Left: Tom Gill's Lone Ranger. Tom drew the Lone Ranger for decades for Dell Comics.

Kal Explains His Animation Process

Editorial cartoonist Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher of the London magazine The Economist talks about the process of his "motion capture" animation that he uses in his editorial cartoon animations:



A big hat tip to Comics Reporter!

MIMI'S DONUTS Wins Xeric Award

Congratulations to fellow New Hampshire cartoonist Marek Bennett upon his win of the prestigious Xeric Award for independent self-publishers.

"MIMI'S DOUGHNUTS" WINS XERIC AWARD
Prestigious Self-Publishing Grant Goes to New Hampshire Comic Strip

Henniker, New Hampshire -- The weekly comic strip "Mimi's Doughnuts" has won a coveted Xeric Grant for comic book self-publishing. With this award, creator Marek Bennett will self-publish a trade paperback anthology of the past four years of his comics.

The Xeric-funded anthology, entitled "Breakfast at Mimi's Doughnuts," will collect the best of the strip's first 200 episodes, plus several pages of original artwork and special features. Bennett plans to release the collection in Spring of 2009.

"Mimi's Doughnuts" follows the lives of an extended family that runs a small neighborhood doughnut shop in fictional Claymont, New Hampshire. Bennett bases the strip loosely on his wife's childhood growing up at family doughnut shops and diners in Claremont, New Hampshire.

"The characters and stories are mixtures of people and places we've known, people and issues I encounter in my teaching, and new ideas that come up every day," says Bennett. "It's the perfect setting to address so many of the issues facing small towns all over our country today."

Past storylines use humor to deal with serious topics like diet, politics, littering, real estate development, lung cancer, domestic abuse, and global warming. Often, real-life stories and adventures find their way into Bennett's comics. In 2007, while Bennett's family rescued over 30 stray kittens from an abandoned house in Henniker, his comic strip characters found themselves also rescuing feral cats.

Bennett has drawn "Mimi's Doughnuts" since 2003.

The strip currently appears weekly in New Hampshire and Vermont newspapers. Bennett also offers quarterly mail-order "zines" of his comics, with subscriptions available at his website. Bennett's popular Comics Workshop programs for elementary- and teenaged artists run all Summer long at several locations in New Hampshire. For more information, visit Bennett's website at: www.marekbennett.com

The Xeric Foundation of Northampton, Massachussetts, supports independent self-publishers in the comics industry through competitive grant programs. The Foundation was established by Peter Laird, co-creator of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." For more information, visit: http://xericfoundation.org

Busted for Doodle

From today's Boston Herald: Teacher files charges vs. kid over gun sketch

They're Just Not That Into You

There is nothing so wonderful/heartbreaking/thrilling as falling in love.

Just please oh please, don't fall in love with pens and paper.

The people who make the art supplies do not love you back.

And what do you do if the stop making you pen? Or, even worse, what do you do if they stopped making your pen over 20 years ago?

My brave cartoonist pal Stephanie Piro writes about her personal struggle over making the pen relationship work at the Six Chix blog here. (No permalink, but it's at the top of the page as of today.)

And my friend, cartoonist Sandra Bell Lundy, writes that her favorite drawing paper is going to be discontinued.

I got a call yesterday from a friend who was looking for the non-photo blue bristol with the pre-lined comic book and newspaper strip dimensions. I couldn't help at all.

When I show my cartoons in galleries, the medium is noted on that little card next to framed original as "ink and wash on typing paper." I could lie and just say that I used cheap materials so as to maintain a low overhead, but that's just a side effect to not being in love with any particular pen or paper. A blessing I never counted until I heard about my friends' agonizing ordeals from this past week.

Above photo: Stephanie's beloved 20+ year old Koh-i-noor Artpen taken from the Six Chix blog.

Tangentially related: the MY PEN!!!! film from Kids in the Hall. It runs just over 4 minutes and is one of the funniest things I've seen:



My other weird Bruce MacDonald fave short of theirs is Mr. Mann's Wig Shop.

Mike Lynch Cartoon in June 13, 2008 WSJ

Churchy La femme used to dread Friday the 13th, even if Friday the 13th came on another day of the week. This month, Friday the 13th comes on Friday and it's a pretty good one for me since I have a cartoon in today's Wall Street Journal.

The mental calisthenics that a cartoonist goes through, trying to come up with some interesting ideas for business cartoons can be exhausting. Most of the time, a business cartoon gag will have (a) a business person, and (b) a desk. If you are drawing business cartoons, you soon get tired of drawing board rooms, offices, buildings, ties, suits, briefcases, etc. Any chance to take a biz gag out of its office environment is welcome. And the reader appreciates the change in venue as well.

Above I have a gag that I thought up one time when I was reading about (you guessed it) a corporate retreat. I wondered what would happen if the Appalachian Trail (the 2,175 mile long footpath from Georgia to Maine) snaked through the retreat. The AT has, six months out of the year, many, many of these "through hikers;" people who dedicate themselves to walking the length of the AT.

It was a lot of fun drawing the foliage. But I feel sad the business people in the cartoon. Even though they're on retreat, they still sure look grouchy. OK, I guess I would be too if I my suit smelled of deet, or I had to swat a bunch of gnats while working my Blackberry, or if I got some Smore run-off in my laptop keyboard ....

I redrew this about 10 times before I was reasonably happy with it. Fitting five figures plus the woods was a challenge to show economically in the small WSJ cartoon space. It was a tough cartoon to draw a finish. It was a dreadful process of drawing and throwing away, until the right drawing finally came out of the pen. Maybe not as dreadful as Churchy feels about Friday the 13th, but close.

A big tip o' the cartoonist hat to my pal Dave Carpenter who alerted me to this via email, like an early NORAD warning, in the wee AM hours last night. While I sleep, Dave watches the cartoon markets!

UPDATE: Just got word from a cartoonist pal and WSJ subscriber that the cartoon is not in the print edition. Darn!

Shaenon Garrity on the 2008 NCS Reubens Weekend

Shaenon Garrity has a wonderful first-person account of the Reubens and her impressions of the NCS. She and her husband Andrew attended for the the first time. Here's a paragraph:

"It takes a while for it to sink in that the hands I'm seeing, folding napkins and raising glasses, are the hands that draw the comic strips I've been reading all my life. I taught myself to read with the Sunday paper—Beetle Bailey, Cathy, The Family Circus, For Better or for Worse—and here are all the people responsible. "It's like Battle of the Network Stars," says Andrew, "but for our interests." It's different from meeting comic-book artists I admire. It's almost like meeting your own ancestors. I'm not sure what this says about me, but the enormity of it doesn't hit home until I meet the guy who draws Ask Shagg."

Above left photo taken from her article. That's Shaenon in the NERD t-shirt. Andrew is to the left.

EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE Part 2

Above: Andriola and Casson collaborate on this pair of not-so-innocent cherubs for the frontispiece.

Here are a series of cartoons from the collection EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE. This is all just so much great stuff in this book, I'm scanning way too much of it.

EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE was co-edited by Alfred Andriola and Mel Casson, and copyright 1955 by those two great cartoonists as well. This collection is dedicated to and features a wide variety of National Cartoonists Society cartoonists. The first series of scans from the book are here.

Of the 11 images below dealing with dating and teen angst, five are drawn by professional women cartoonists.


Above: Hilda Terry sketches teenagers -- on the phone, talking, sitting, lounging, dancing, goofing -- for the "Jean, Janes, and Growing Pains" chapter. This looks so much like a page ripped out of her sketchpad. I don't know if it is, but it looks like it. I wish there was more Hilda Terry in print.

From the Mike lynch Cartoons blog:

More on her comic strip Teena.

Hilda Terry remembrance.

"He's ideal for Jane. He has all the qualities she likes to change in a boy."

Above is George Clark, with his dry brush on pebble board, giving us another deft look at middle America. One of my favorite originals that I won is a Neighbors panel by George Clark, that I got from Don Orehek.

Related: Some great originals by George Clark from the Mike Lynch Cartoons blog.

March 21, 1955 Time magazine on feature on George Clark.

"I'm trying to warn you about men, Alicia -- stop screaming 'How wonderful!'"

George Lichty is another cartoonist with a loose style. Don't you love Alicia's expression, and Lichty's choice to have her staring at the reader?! Another sly, smoky glance like those angels that open the book.

More from his Grin and Bear It panels.

"Well, there's one thing -- she certainly isn't controversial."

I like the soft, almost gauzy, wash that Barbara Shermund uses in this slice of teenage life from days gone by. There is little more than a few mentions of her here and there. The Internet needs to catch up on her.

"I think I oughta drop Hughie . . . . I'm learning too much about boys from him, and not enough about men."

Hilda Terry, who created the Teena newspaper comic strip, is neck-and-neck with Marty Links for her ability to portray gangly teens.


Above is a two page spread by Carl Rose. A name that's not familiar now, Rose had a long and prolific cartoon career. His clients included This Week, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New York Times Magazine, among others. His seminal New Yorker cartoon with the mother and little girl at the dinner table is a classic:

MOTHER: It's broccoli, dear.

CHILD: I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.

Actually, yes, Carl Rose drew it. As was accepted practice back in the early New Yorker days, a writer wrote the line. In this case, the one and only E.B. White.


Alfred Andriola shows he can draw lanky teens that out lank all others.

"No, this is not the home of Emmylou Merriweather -- this is Grand Central Station!"

Above is a cartoon by the creator of Bobby Sox, Marty Links, "one of the top teen-age delinaeators," so states the book. Her long-running comic outlived the bobby socks craze and it was rechristened Emmy Lou.

Related: More Bobby Sox

"Oh, Ronny, you shouldn't have. My father just planted that bush."

Here's the text that accompanies the above cartoon:

" ... Kate Osann, an equally deft artist, does Tizzy for Colliers."

I never heard of Ms. Osann! Perhaps I can find one of her Tizzy collections one day and share it.

"Nothing doing! If this is Dutch treat, I'm handing over my money to the waiter myself!"

Any chance to show more of Irwin Caplan's designerly work. These two are on their way to the getting hitched for life, don'tcha think?



And last, one of the all-time chap cartoonists: Henry Syverson, with a message of love and loss!