Some garden and yard photos. Putting in some alfalfa meal, bone meal, kelp meal and garden lime to refresh the raised beds. There will also be a couple of buried metal colanders with fresh compost in each bed all summer long. It was 29 degrees last night so too early to plant. The trillium and periwinkle don’t care since they are happily blooming away.
The view from the studio window:
Here are some otherworldly cartoons from the Golden Age of magazine cartooning courtesy of the one and only Dick Buchanan. Or maybe it's one of those Invasion of the Body Snatchers clones. Hmm. Anyway, if it is, this clone is just as terrific about sharing some of his gag cartoons from his tremendous Cartoon Clip File. Thank you, Dick/Clone!
--
THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE
(1950 – 1968)
Mid 20th century cartoonists were ready, quick and able to contribute
their two cents worth to the furor over Unidentified Flying Objects
which occurred after a flying saucer crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in
the summer of 1947. Of course, right away we knew cartoonists would be
on the side of the aliens.
Culled from the Cartoon Clip File, here
are just a few examples of how some of the day’s best gag cartoonists,
from here and abroad, covered the subject. Take a look . . .
1. ERIC ERICSON. American Magazine December, 1955.
2. GAHAN WILSON. For Laughing Out Loud November, 1964.
3. NED HILTON. Collier’s February 5, 1954.
6. BILL HOEST. The Saturday Evening Post August 28, 1965.
7. JOHN NORMENT. Collier’s October 30, 1953.
8. JOHN GLASHAN. Punch November 25, 1953.
9. BRUCE PATTERSON Pictorial Review June 21, 1953.
10. JAN van WESSUM. Punch Almanack November 8, 1968.
11. ALEX GRAHAM. Punch Almanack November 2, 1963.
"Lunnon folk, I expect."
12. GAHAN WILSON. For Laughing Out Loud July, 1964.
"Then it's all settled -- the entire planet for
twenty-four dollars worth of trinkets."
13. VAHAN SHIRVANIAN. The Saturday Evening Post. August 2, 1964.
14. ALEX GRAHAM. Punch December 30, 1952.
15. NATE COLLIER. Boys’ Life September, 1950.
16. GEORGE GATELY. American Legion Magazine July, 1960.
17. GEORGE SPROD. Punch Almanack November 3, 1952.
"Ah well, thank goodness we still have our sense of humour."
Underground Comix creator Frank Stack passed away on Sunday. He was 88 years old.
"Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the Bible Belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1964.[3][4]
"Stack's main artistic influences were Gustave Doré, Roy Crane, and V. T. Hamlin.[5] He is widely known as a printmaker, specializing in etchings and lithographs, and his sketchy comics style evokes Stack's background as an etcher."
-- Wikipedia
From cartoonist Michael T. Gilbert:
"RIP FRANK STACK...
"I
was very sad to hear of the recent passing of cartoonist and fine
artist Frank Stack (aka Foolbert Sturgeon). In 1964 Frank published what
is considered by many to be the first underground comic, The Adventures
of Jesus. He began serializing his satirical Jesus comics beginning in
1962 in the campus humor magazine The Texas Ranger and other
counterculture papers. He also illustrated the acclaimed nonfiction
graphic novel Our Cancer Year, written by Harvey Pekar and his wife
Joyce Brabner, which won the 1995 Harvey Award for best original graphic
novel. Frank earned an Inkpot Award in 2011 and was recently inducted
into the 2025 Eisner Hall of Fame.
"Frank's daughter, Joan Stack wrote:
"'One
of the greats has passed. RIP to my father Frank Stack. He passed
peacefully in his sleep just after 7pm central time on Sunday, April 12.
He was 88. I will post about a celebration of life soon. It will likely
take place in a few days so that my brother Bob can be at the service.
Bob came from Ireland on Saturday and was able be with him before he
passed. This photo was taken last spring.
— feeling heartbroken.'
"As are we, Joan."
From Danny Fingeroth's Facebook page:
Wednesday, April 15, live IN PERSON in NYC at the Society of Illustrators: SPOTLIGHT ON LARRY LIEBER: A CONVERSATION MODERATED BY DANNY FINGEROTH, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm [Reg link here]
Larry Lieber has been a creative force in comics since the 1950s. Best known as the co-creator of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, and Groot, Larry also wrote and drew many adventures of the Rawhide Kid and was the artist on the Spider-Man newspaper strip for 32 years. Larry has also been the editorial director of Marvel’s British division and of Atlas Comics. At 94, Larry is still going strong, and his debut prose novel, CHIRPS—written under his birth-name of Lawrence Lieber—was released in 2025 through Larry’s own Concourse Publishing. In this conversation with his former assistant, Danny Fingeroth, Larry talks about comics, of course, but also about the movies and books he loves, his new novel, and much, much more! [Please note: A book signing will take place after the talk. Larry will only be signing copies of CHIRPS.]
This travel book, Twelve Days on the Norwegian Coastal Steamer by Erling Welle-Strand, was originally published in 1956. The drawings and layout are by Twelve Days on the Norwegian Coastal Steamer. I have always been interested in Norway and the illustrations blew me away -- so I bought it.
The illustrations by Reidar Johan Berle (1917 - 1997) and J.W. Eide As makes this a standout book that was reprinted many times. Berle was a Norwegian graphic designer. I can't find anything much about Eide As.
This is a small hardcover, but when you take off the dustjacket, you get a lovely illustration on the front cover:
The list of places and coastal steamers makes this a very practical book for the 1,200 mile journey. Or at least practical for the 1950s. Here are more of the art pieces. These are interspersed with many B&W photos.
Sy Barry is profiled in the new issue of Andover (MA) Living magazine this month. Sy now lives in that area. Lovely to see this and great to see that Barry smile!
Writer Mark Evanier has had many valuable pieces of comic book original art by Jack Kirby, Sergio Aragones and Dave Stevens (to name just a few) stolen from his home. A full list is at the Bleeding Cool web site.
"Years ago, I did some comic books for Eclipse Comics featuring characters created by the talented Will Meugniot and myself. The two main ones were The DNAgents and Crossfire. I was fortunate to have along with Will, other friends who drew real well…like the late, great Dave Stevens. Dave drew several covers for us and was nice enough to present me the original art for two of those covers — Crossfire and Rainbow #4 and DNAgents #24. Everyone loved what he did — including, apparently, a construction-type worker who did some work at my house. Or at least, he loved those covers or maybe what he thought he could sell them for well enough to steal the originals and some other stuff when I wasn't looking. Yes, I know who he is. No, I don't know where he is although the Los Angeles Police Department says they're hot on his trail. If you see the originals to these — and some other pages I may list here soon — please let me know. Make the jobs of our hard-working detectives easier and make me smile."
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