Spider-Man Debut Comic Book in "The Naked City" (1962)

 

 

Christmas in September? September 19, 1962? And Spider-Man?

Yup.

Below is an episode of the TV series The Naked City (1958-1963). It's the fourth season opener of the series.

"It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture The Naked City and mimics its dramatic 'semi-documentary' format. As in the film, each episode concluded with a narrator intoning the iconic line: 'There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.'"-- Wikipedia

Via Gary Dunaier:

"Most comic books fans are aware of the episode of the police drama "Naked City" that has a scene taking place in front of a newsstand, where an actual genuine real copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 is prominently visible.

 

"With a copy recently selling for a record-breaking $3.6 million*, it's fascinating to see Amazing Fantasy #15 presented as a current issue. Collectors will no doubt shudder at the sight of a mint copy being held aloft on a string by a clothespin, but the newsdealer would no doubt dismiss you as a loony if you were to tell him that someday that comic book would sell for over $397,000 (the 1962 equivalent of $3.6 million**).

 

"The scene is part of the Naked City Season 4 opener, "Hold For Gloria Christmas," and if you've ever wanted to see it in the context in which it originally aired, the complete episode is on You Tube.

 

"And there's no better time to see it than today, because "Hold For Gloria Christmas," season 4, episode 1 of Naked City, with the newsstand-fresh Amazing Fantasy #15 on the newsstand, was originally broadcast 59 years ago today - September 19, 1962.

_________

* Heritage Auctions, Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction #7246, lot #93001, September 9, 2021.

** Actually $397,416.36.

 

The appearance of Amazing Fantasy #15 is about 55 seconds into the teaser. Hat tip to Heidi MacDonald!

Some Favorite Quino Cartoons

 Argentine-Spanish cartoonist Quino's gag cartoon that's based on Picasso's Guernica is a favorite.

 

While best known for his "Mafalda" comic strip, Quino (1932-2020) also created many other comics. Here are just a few wordless sequential gags. 

Artists Draw Their Own Visions of Life at the Museum of Modern Art

 

The Museum of Modern Art has an online series "Drawn to MoMA," in which different artists draw their own visions of life at the Museum. Above is a panel from Roz Chast's "Museumland."

Participants in the series include Gabrielle Bell, Sofia Warren, Ben Passmore and others.  

Hat tip to Paul Gravett.

The Garden As of September 15, 2021

The garden as of September 15th. Pulled out the squash and tomatoes. The peppers an cucumbers are still doing well, as are the zinnias and runner beans. The trees are starting to turn in the last week, with little patches of red and orange. Should be a colorful fall.

 

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Gag Cartoons In Living Color 1949 - 1954

It's mid-September in New England, and just this week the fall colors are beginning to appear. Mostly reds, here and there, and a little orange. It will be a colorful Autumn season.

Here to bring color to your gag cartoon viewing experience, is Dick Buchanan, who, diving into his Cartoon Clip File like it's a big pile of fall leaves, has pulled out some wonderful vintage gag cartoons to share. Happy Fall and take it away, Dick!

---



GAG CARTOONS
IN LIVING COLOR
(1949 – 1954)

Tradition dictated that the single panel cartoon would be rendered and published in black and white. Both Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post would only occasionally publish a cartoon in color. After WWII, more gag cartoons were published but the simple black and white cartoon remained the standard.

That’s why color examples of the work of the 20th century’s leading gag cartoonist are few and far between. Luckily, your friendly Cartoon Clip File curator managed to find some of them. And so here, for the first time in a long time, are gag cartoons in living color . . .


1. BARNEY TOBEY. Collier’s May 10, 1952.

2. KATE OSANN. Collier’s February 19, 1954.

 

3. AL ROSS. Collier’s June 7, 1952.

 

4. GREGORY d’ALESSIO. Collier’s February 19, 1954.

 

5. DAVE GERARD. Collier’s March 26, 1949.

 

6. FRITZ WILKINSON. Collier’s February 5, 1954.

 

7. LARRY HARRIS. Collier’s February 19, 1954.

 

8. REAMER KELLER. Collier’s November 4, 1950.

 

9. CHON DAY. Collier’s April 5, 1952.

 

10. MICHAEL BERRY. Collier’s November 4, 1950.

 

11. MARTY LOWENSTEIN. Collier’s February 25, 1951.

12. CORKA. (Jon Cornin and Zena Kavin) Collier’s June 5, 1954.

 

13. GEORGE WOLFE. Collier’s March 28, 1953.

 

14. STAN FINE. Collier’s June 25, 1954.

 

15. HANK KETCHAM. Collier’s March 22, 1952.

 

From the Dick Buchanan Files: New Yorker Luminaries 1933 - 1942

I'm away from the studio, so it's great when it comes to blog-time, I can ask a friend to contribute. Dick Buchanan is such a friend. From his Greenwich Village apartment full of gag cartoons, he has assembled a generous sampling of seven great gag cartoonists. Thanks and take it away, Dick!

---

NEW YORKER LUMINARIES
      (1933 – 1942)

The Cartoon Clip File contains cartoons by the great, near-great and the not so great. This selection of cartoons is by the great . . . Charles Addams, Whitney Darrow, Jr., William Steig, Syd Hoff, Barbara Shermund and Richard Taylor. These were some of the artists who became identified with The New Yorker.  One may surmise The New Yorker was the first to look at their work, but it couldn’t publish everything.  Undaunted by New Yorker rejection, these cartoonists would proceed to submit them to other magazines, and the first in line would be Collier’s.  The second most prestigious cartoon market in those days was Collier’s, followed closely by The Saturday Evening Post and, while it was still publishing, Life. Most of these cartoonists continued to appear in Collier’s until its demise in 1956, albeit less frequently as the years passed. Here is an assortment of cartoons, from Life and Collier’s from the 1930’s and early 1940’s, by seven artists considered by most to be New Yorker luminaries.




1. CHARLES ADDAMS. Collier’s September 10, 1938.

2. CHARLES ADDAMS. Collier’s June 10, 1939.

3. CHARLES ADDAMS. Collier’s March 4, 1939.

4. WHITNEY DARROW, Jr. Life May, 1936.

5. WHITNEY DARROW, Jr. Collier’s July 19, 1941.

 6. WHITNEY DARROW, Jr. Collier’s September 4, 1941.

7. RICHARD DECKER. Life January, 1935.

8. RICHARD DECKER. Collier’s September 25, 1937.

9. RICHARD DECKER. Collier’s June 10, 1939.

10. SYD HOFF. Collier’s March 4, 1939.

11. SYD HOFF. Collier’s January 6, 1940.

12. SYD HOFF. Collier’s May 2, 1941.

13. BARBARA SHERMUND. Collier’s September 10, 1938.

14. BARBARA SHERMUND. Collier’s April 6, 1940.

15. BARBARA SHERMUND. Collier’s April 18, 1942.

16. WILLIAM STEIG. Collier’s January 28, 1939

17. WILLIAM STEIG. Collier’s April 6, 1940.

18. WILLIAM STEIG. Collier’s April 18, 1942.

19. RICHARD TAYLOR. Collier’s May 13, 1939.

20. RICHARD TAYLOR. Collier’s January 6, 1940.

21. RICHARD TAYLOR. Collier’s May 10, 1940.  

-- Edited from an April 22, 2019 blog entry.