Superman (1978) Opening Titles

The original Superman movie (1978) was the most expensive film ever made to that point in time and had a five minute-long main title sequence. Five minutes is a long time. At least it is now.

I mean who has the time? Heck, some TV series don’t even have a title sequence and music, they're so afraid people will switch away. The most popular movie ever just shows you the title, a short crawl, and then on to spaceships and explosions. No more titles is the way things are going. No more, “It’s a story about a man named Brady….”

Like Fred Allen says to the audience as the titles in his picture “It’s In the Bag" roll, — “Who ARE these people? Who CARES?!”

The Superman movie, when it was released, was a big deal. But would today's audiences really stay in their seats for THIS?

It's the five minute opening title sequence. FIVE MINUTES. Sure, sure, it won a Clio Award just for the Robert Greenberg-designed slitscan motion control process.

Give it a whirl. Click the play button and force yourself to watch every name on there. Sure, these laser titles were a cool thing back then and were specially developed for the feature, but FIVE FRIKKIN' MINUTES of John Williams music telling you "this is exciting" while looking at name after name. "No, John, this isn't exciting. Get to the damn plot already." Try to force yourself to be in the 1978 mall multiplex movie theatre and watch. Pretend you are captive to them. It's a long time. And I bet today's moviegoers would walk out.

But to me it's still pretty and pretty exciting. 

Brandon Hicks: Alphabet

From my fellow cartoonist and animator Brandon Hicks comes this wonderful short that I laughed at several times. Colorful and ingenious.

Cartoons and Ads from Farm Journal September 1947

 

I would have had this up before now but when I updated my IOS, my Photoshop needed a newer version of Java, which I downloaded but it still didn't work. So I figured out another way to get scans done.

Honestly, anyone reading Farm Journal (or doing anything else) in 1947 would read that above paragraph as utter gobbledygook. But a lot has changed since then, huh?

Here are some illustrated ads and cartoons from the September 1947 issue of Farm Journal, the "World's Largest Rural Magazine." The circulation was 2,650,000. The magazine was published monthly out of Farm Journal, Inc., in Philadelphia. It's copyright by Farm Journal, Inc. It began publication in 1877 "for farmers in bountiful agricultural regions within a day's ride of the publication's office in Philadelphia." The magazine is still published today. I bought this at a small secondhand shop on the Maine/New Brunswick border, just south of Calais.

Robert C. Dell, who signed his cartoons "R.C. Dell." He lived in the Chicago area, and cartooned for pulp magazines (drawing some risque cartoons sometimes) and was also selling to major markets, including Esquire Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's.

Below is a cartoon by "Max." I don't know who a lot of these cartoonists are. A lot of them tended to specialize in these niche markets and never or rarely appeared in the major magazines. 

Cartoons make ads better.

Roy Carling: 

Some good movies are out!

W. Walter “Cal” Calvert was a Bucks County (PA) artist and illustrator. “Cal” Illustrated and created hundreds of covers for the magazines Saturday Evening Post, Bucks County Traveler, Country Gentleman, Sports Afield, Bell Telephone News, Pennsylvania Railroad, and others.

I can't see the artist's signature at all here.  Maybe it's Dwig? [Edit: It IS Dwig. Thanks to D.D. Degg for the information.]

The one and only Reamer Keller:

More R.C. Dell, who had a great signature, huh? 

Not from this issue of Farm Journal: here's a fun self portrait of R.C. Dell, drawn using the letters of his name:

Graham Hunter, a journeyman cartoonist whose clients included The Saturday Evening Post, Argosy and other markets:

Big pharma hates this idea I'm sure! 

Glueck (?) is a name I see in the smaller markets, but no other information is out there that I can find. 

[Edit: "Glueck" is Bob Glueckstein. Thanks for the ID Larry Rippee! Glueck was "a minor market whiz, was one of those capable knocking out a batch of 10 to 15 cartoons in a couple hours for an obscure trade journal and sell most of them," says Dick Buchanan. Dick shares scans of Glueck's "How I Create Humor?" column from The Information Guide, the trade journal for cartoonists published George Hartman in the late 1950’s and 1960’s at this link here. Thanks, Dick!]
 

A Steig ad:

Uncredited except for the "M:"

Looks like Billy Mumy from that Twilight Zone episode! 

A cartoonist named Dobbs, no other information:

It took me a couple seconds to "get" this R.C. Dell cartoon:

Sometimes cartoons are inadvertently scary looking:

-- Edited from a July 27, 2018 blog entry.

Happy Birthday Peanuts!

The first Peanuts strip: October 2, 1950.

The syndicate sales pitch for PEANUTS was that the strip was simple-looking (able to withstand shrinking and still be legible). It was also stackable. In other words, the layout person at the newspaper could run it as a strip, a tall column, or stack it.

 

Form aside, today it's PEANUTS 74th anniversary. A strip that is perhaps the most famous comic strip. It's all due to its creator, Charles Schulz, and his ability to draw warmth and humor from life. But you don't need me to say that. You already know. 

 

Happy birthday, Charlie Brown!

Ed McLachlan 1940 - 2024

 "One day, my son, you will be able to walk to America."

 

British cartoonist Ed McLachlan, best known for his cartoons in Punch, The Evening Standard, The Daily Mirror, Private Eye, and Playboy, as well as the children's book series Simon In the Land of Chalk Drawings, passed away on September 29th. He was 84. No other information is available at this time.

"Widely regarded as one of the greatest English cartoonists, Ed McLachlan offered a comical but often cutting commentary on modern life. From his gormless, baggy-suited businessmen to his ungainly bucktoothed women, his undeniably British sense of humour made him a master of the macabre with an eye for the ridiculous. In every cleverly observed image, he takes the mundane and delivers the hilariously absurd." - Chris Beetles Gallery

Lambiek:

"Early life and career
"Edward Rolland McLachlan was born in 1940 in Humberton, Leicestershire. Between 1956 and 1961, he studied at Leicester College of Art (nowadays DeMontfort University), while he published some cartoons in Lucifer, the College Rag Magazine. One of his fellow students was Graham Baker, who'd later become a film director, best known for the cult movie 'Alien Nation' (1988). Baker motivated McLachlan to make a career out of his drawing skills. Still, he felt reluctant to follow this advice. Years later, between 1967 and 1970, McLachlan would work as a lecturer for his old college.

"Punch
"After graduation in 1961, McLachlan got a job at a local printing company in Leicester. He was also a part-time lecturer in Graphics at his old college for three years. While designing some posters for a local youth center, people once again told him to submit his cartoons to Punch. To persuay [sic] him, they raised a five pound bet. McLachlan took the offer and sent a scrapbook of drawings to the editors. Much to his surprise, they accepted one cartoon and paid him much more than he earned in the printing office. He kept sending new cartoons and by the third week, Punch took no less than seven! From that moment on, McLachlan realized he apparently had talent for this profession. He'd remain a regular in the magazine for decades."

 

 

He would go on to work for other clients, creating advertising and illustration work. He had a series of gallery shows at Chris Beetles. There were also many honors.: Two awards back to back from The Cartoonist's Club of Great Britain ("Illustrative Cartoonist of the Year" (1980) and "Advertising Cartoonist of the Year" (1981)). The next year The Cartoon Trust called him "Gag Cartoonist of the Year." The Trust also gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. Five years later, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Leicester.

"Are we boring you, Mr. Etherington?"

 

The Garden As of October 1st

The garden as of October 1st. Only got a couple of tomatoes. Planting the tomatoes in big pots on the porch didn’t work out. The soil was good, but maybe not enough light. The zinnias in the raised beds are still doing well, and will bloom and bloom until the first hard frost. The trees are going from green to red, with yellows, oranges and browns coming out just now. It’s maybe two weeks until peak.

 

Johnny Thunder Comic Book Art by Mort Drucker and Sy Barry

Here is a copy of Johnny Thunder No. 3, the July-August 1973 issue. Johnny Thunder was a reprint book, with a standout group of comics artists. The cover is by Alex Toth (likely inked by Sy Barry). There are three stories here, and I wanted to share the last one since it's credited to both Mort Drucker and Sy Barry. Mort and Sy were my fellow Berndt Toast Gang members. Mort is best known for his Mad Magazine caricatures and Sy is best known for his run on The Phantom comic strip. I had no idea that they had ever worked together, but here they are, back in the early days of their careers, grinding out comic pages for DC.

 

The story is "Battle for Mesa City!" written by Robert Kanigher and was first published in All-Star Western #71 in 1953. It's copyright that year by National Periodical Publications. I've included a house ad for DC's new book "Prez," about the country's first teen president.