Wells Beach, ME

Roy Thomas: Looking For Frankenstein

From Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing:

A recent e-mail request from Roy Thomas...

PS Artbooks and I are still looking for hi-res scans or loaned copies of PRIZE COMICS #16-18 & #32 for the Dick Briefer Frankenstein stories therein.  For some reason, these seem to be rarer than it makes much sense for them to be.  Does anyone have any facilities for spreading the news to Facebook or other lists, or some such?  PS Artbooks in England will give out copies of the $50 forthcoming ROY THOMAS PRESENTS FRANKENSTEIN, VOL. 1, in exchange for this, as well as other expenses.  (Please don't send me any hi-res scans, though, as I'm not on broadband and hi-res stuff causes me horrendous problems with my server.)  We can't put out that volume until we get hold of these four stories, though otherwise everything is all set for printing.

You can contact Roy through Tony here.

Rina Piccolo: TINA'S GROOVE Hidden Life

It's always fascinating to see behind the scenes of the creative process.

Rina Piccolo shows us some unseen roughs from her TINA'S GROOVE (and talks about techniques she has to deal with writer's block) comic strip here.

Short Spoiler-Free Review: PROMETHEUS

Finally saw PROMETHEUS. Great visuals, design, terrific acting -- but -- uh -- the script? I mean, I was laughing at how silly it was. It was also relentlessly, sadly, violent, pretty much toward everyone -- but especially the lead.

Above: from top to bottom, land vehicles from the movie DAMNATION ALLEY (1977), the Saturday morning CBS TV live-action show ARK II (1976) and PROMETHEUS (2012).


But, really, just look at these guys and their spacesuits inspired from MAN FROM PLANET X and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES. It's not like the movie was culling inspiration from the Great Important Works of Literature. The ship still has the Ron Cobb influence from the 1979 ALIEN film. (Ron Cobb went from editorial cartoonist to movie designer, don'tcha know.) But some of the land vehicles look like they are straight outta DAMNATION ALLEY or ARK II.

Anyway, it's Ridley Scott so it's a spectacle and worth a view if you like space movies. But if you do not like blood and guts, avoid it.

Anyone know if it was a specific reference to DOCTOR WHO to have the lead scientist named Liz Shaw?

EDIT: My pal Mark Anderson points out this (very spoilery) video from CinemaSins listing the many sins in the movie. It's very funny and is a lot more entertaining than PROMETHEUS! Thanks, Mark!

Herblock Award Acceptance Speech: Matt Wuerker

This Herblock Award acceptance speech by editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker was just posted.

Newspaper Crossover: DICK TRACY and the JUMBLE

DICK TRACY and JUMBLE, THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME! are copyright Tribune Media Services.


Hey! You got your JUMBLE in my DICK TRACY! You got your DICK TRACY in my JUMBLE!

Here's a rarity: a newspaper syndicated feature crossover between a comic strip and a puzzle. Current DICK TRACY writer and illustrator Mike Davis and Joe Staton have DICK TRACY encounter the real-life team that produce the daily JUMBLE puzzle, Mike Argirion Hoyt (puzzles) and Jeff Knurek (pictures).

Likewise, the JUMBLE has guest appearances by Flat-Top and Sam Catchem

The Off-Topic'd blog has the whole story. 

Photos of Betty Swords

Some photos of Denver cartoonist and humor writer Betty Swords.

Betty Swords was a fashion designer. At least, that was the plan. But it didn't work out that way.

They say travel broadens the mind, and during a trip to Texas she saw a very different world -- a very male world, one the was echoed in the popular media. She was both repelled and fascinated by the discriminatory nature of the male-dominated world of humor. She decided to do something about it.

Above: her 1959 cartoon speaks to the power that a woman may administer if she so chooses. Not at all a typical male point of view, huh? You can see it in context with some other 1959 gag cartoons here.

R. C. Harvey has the story: "At Sword's Point: Humor As Weapon"

Meanwhile, here are some newly discovered old photos of Betty Swords, from 1961 to 1985.

Betty Swords 1961

May 19, 1973: Colorado Authors Have a Vested Interest: Betty Swords, left, Albert Fay Hill, and Armand Reeder, right, admire president's vest of the Colorado Authors League. She won a prize for nonfiction technical article writing, and the Rev. Mr. Hill was installed as president of the group at a dinner at Denver Country Club Saturday night. Reeder is outgoing president. 

Betty Swords and her lightbox, 1969

Betty Swords writing, 1969

Betty Swords, 1972

Betty Swords signing the "Male Chauvinist Pig" calendar, 1973

Betty Swords, 1976

Betty Swords 1985

Betty Swords, 1985

R.C. Harvey "At Sword's Point: Humor As Weapon"

DOCTOR WHO "Weeping Angel Cat"

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH Documentary

The children's book THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH is celebrated in a new documentary. 

Scheduled to be released this summer, THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH TURNS 50, is produced by Freckless Productions and directed by Hannah Jayanti. The funds were raised via Kickstarter The new film features author Norton Juster and illustrator Jules Feiffer.

Here's the trailer:

Margaret Thatcher: Divisive Creative Inspiration

Margaret Thatcher, an inspiration to creative minds? After her stand against the creative arts?

Say wha -- ?

Yes, according to this British news report. Here are clips of Gerald Scarfe, along with "The Young Ones," and "Spitting Image," and many more, talking about channeling their outrage at her policies through parody.

Gerald Scarfe: "I did not like her policies and I did not particularly like her, but she inspired good drawings."

Related: Gerald Scarfe on how he loved to loathe Thatcher.

Related: PRI The World: Cartoonists Remember Thatcher

Video: STAR TREK Bad Days Season 2

Ed Fisher 1926-2013

Ed Fisher, whose cartoons appeared in The New Yorker from 1951 to 2000, died on April 3, 2013 in Canaan, CT. He was 86.

His son, Mark Fisher, said his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2000.

Despite this, I saw Ed routinely on The New Yorker "look day" in the early 2000s. He would be sitting on the couch, in the cartoonists' waiting room, with his portfolio, ready to chat. I introduced myself and was really glad to meet him. More than once he pulled out his roughs and showed them to me. Ed treated me like an equal.

His style was stunning. Halfway between illustrative and cartoony, it relayed an assured knowledge of form and mass, and how to play with it. His writing was erudite as well.

Like Bob Mankoff wrote:

"Ed was also an inspiration to my generation of cartoonists, and his work will continue to inspire cartoonists for generations to come."

Born in the Bronx on October 26, 1926, to a chiropractor and a professional singer, Mr. Fisher sold his first cartoon while attending Antioch College. Interrupting his studies, he served in the Pacific Theater in the Army Air Force. Returning stateside, he completed his degree and came back to New York home with a new wife, Ann Sharp. The young couple settled in Upper Manhattan.



From the NY Times obituary by Bruce Weber:

"'He had the same phone number for 60 years,' his son [Mark Fisher] said. At first he tried to find work at graphic design studios, telling potential bosses that he’d sold cartoons to The New Yorker, after which, according to family lore, he wouldn’t be hired because, he was told, he was overqualified."

His cartoon collections include ED FISHER'S FIRST FOLIO, ED FISHER'S DOMESDAY BOOK and MAESTRO, PLEASE. He also wrote a satiric novel in 1960 about ancient Rome titled WINE, WOMEN AND WOAD.

If you look at the cartoons in the books, you'll see why I like him. It looks like he just picks up whatever drawing tool is closest to his board -- a brush, a ball point pen -- and goes at it with skill and energy.


From the NY Times obituary:

Mark Fisher said that years after his parents’ marriage ended in divorce, they remarried when his mother was ill with cancer; she died in 2000. In addition to his son, Mr. Fisher is survived by a daughter, Nancy Rupert; a sister, Carol Romano, and two granddaughters.

The cartoons reproduced here are from ED FISHER'S FIRST FOLIO and are copyright 1959 by Mr. Fisher.

Read: Michael Maslin on Ed Fisher.

“American Sky-Scraper” by D. McCarthy, 1898

From the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Blog, here's an amazing find from their archives: a gull Sunday page of an American Sky-Scraper by A. McCarthy, New York World, February 20, 1898.

Video: LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND (1911)

Today in history: April 8, 1911: the animated adaptation of Winsor McCay's LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND premiered.



Hat tip to Hogan's Alley and John Platt!

Cartoonist Photos Part 10

Here are some photos of cartoonists, so you can put the face with the inky line. I tend to come across a lot of relatively unseen photos of cartoonists of all ilks (magazine gag cartoonists, comic book artists, newspaper comic strip cartoonist, editorial cartoonists, web cartoonists, etc.).

These are in no particular order. Links to the previous entries are below.

Magazine gag cartoonist Betty Swords 1976

Bill Mauldin 1962

Bill Mauldin 1978

"Ding" Darling 1965

Jim Unger 1979

Tom Batiuk

Bill Hoest: two photos of Bill in his Long Island studio, 1978.

John Reiner still uses that "traveling easel" set up today when drawing THE LOCKHORNS.

Bill Plympton

Jeff MacNelly 1973

Jimmy Hatlo with wife Eleanor, 1942

Charles Schulz 1966

More Cartoonist Photos:
Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four
Part five
Part six 
Part seven 
Part eight

Part nine

Flash Mob Recreates Rembrandt's "Night Watch"

via Calvin's Canadian Cave of Coolness.

Carmine Infantino 1925-2013

Comic book artist and editor, and later, DC Comics publisher, Carmine Infantino, died April 4, 2013. He was 87 years old. No cause of death reported.

A "Golden Age of Comics" practitioner, the Brooklyn-born artist began his career in the early 1940s. He was a freshman at the High School of Art and Design when he began working for Harry "A" Chesler.

From an interview in The Comics Journal #101:

"I used to go around as a youngster into companies, go in and try to meet people — nothing ever happened. One day I went to this place on 23rd Street, this old broken-down warehouse, and I met Harry Chesler. Now, I was told he was a mean guy and he used people and he took artists. But he was very sweet to me. He said, 'Look, kid. You come up here, I'll give you a dollar a day, just study art, learn, and grow.' That was damn nice of him, I thought. He did that for me for a whole summer."

He worked for many publishers during the 1940s;  Hillman, Holyoke, Fawcett, and, finally, National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). At DC, he drew the Golden Age Flash, Green Lantern and the Justice Society of America. 

But, the sales of superhero titles slumped after the war. The Senate hearings and Wertham study combined to demonize comics as accelerants to juvenile delinquency. During this time, Mr. Infantino continued to freelance.

He worked for Simon and Kirby's Prize Comics line, drawing the Charlie Chan book with a heavy Kirby/Caniff ink line. He then worked on DC westerns and science fiction titles. His Wikipedia entry notes:

As his style evolved, he began to shed both the Kirbyisms and the gritty shading of Caniff, and develop a clean, linear style.

Within a few years, DC cautiously reentered the superhero format. Infantino brought this style to the reimagined Flash superhero in 1956. As superhero sales began to pick up, Infantino was assigned to revive Batman. His other DC work at this time included Adam Strange, The Elongated Man, and many others.

In 1966/67, Infantino was asked to create the covers of the entire DC superhero line. Stan Lee heard about this and offered him $22,000 to work for Marvel. DC could not match that, but DC Publisher Jack Liebowitz, proposed the title of art director to the veteran artist. Infantino accepted.

Infantino was promoted to editorial director, and began hiring new creatives (Dick Giordano, Neal Adams, writer Denny O'Neil), as well as promoting veteran artists to editorial positions (Joe Kubert, Joe Orlando, Mike Sekowsky). He also hired Jack Kirby, who had hired the teenage Infantino decades before. Kirby would  create his Fourth World series.

He was promoted to DC Comics Publisher in 1971. Charged with creating more revenue for DC corporate parent The Kinney National Company, DC Comics' cover price was raised from 20 cents to 25 cents. The extra nickel had its impact. Sales declined, while rival Marvel held its price at 20 cents for a year. Infantino also created the 50 cent 100 Page Super Spectacular" format, which all of the major DC Comics titles followed in the 1970s. Each issue would have 20 pages of new content, with the rest reprints from its DC and Quality Comics backlog.

He consulted with Mario Puzo on SUPERMAN; THE MOVIE. He collaborated on the first historic DC/Marvel crossover SUPERMAN VS. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

With DC Comics sold to Warner Communications, a corporate decision was made to replace Mr. Infantino with Jenette Kahn in January 1976.

Seemingly without a break in his stride, he returned to being a freelancer. His art appeared in Warren Publications, Marvel Comics (Star Wars, Spider-Woman and Nova). In the 1980s, he returned to DC to draw a series of titles, including The Flash. He also worked on the Batman comic strip revival.

The 1990s saw him teaching at the School of Visual Arts. He retired during this decade, but was an active convention guest.

In 2004 he sued DC for rights to characters he created as a freelancer (Wally West, Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd, the Elongated Man, Batgirl, among others).

A giant in the industry, whose career spanned the Golden Age to today, this creative force worked for every publisher in the industry. A true giant, he left behind a seminal impact on generations.

----

There are a lot of tributes on the Web that are easily looked up. I heartily recommend my friend Ger Apeldoorn's generous sampling of many, many pages of Infantino comic book art. 

Video: DOCTOR WHO "P.S."

In Rory and Amy's last episode this past fall, we never got to see this final scene.

This scene was scripted, but not filmed. Here's an animatic -- a camera panning over the storyboards -- of what would have been the last couple of minutes of "The Angels Take Manhattan," that originally aired on September 29, 2012.

It's a fitting conclusion with one of my favorite supporting characters.

Video: Walt Disney Home Movies

April 4, 1948: Here's Walt Disney, trying to be an train conductor on a 1" scale toy train, in this short color home movie by Ward Kimball.

Miriam Katin's Journal

When Miriam Katin visited NYC to launch her book, LETTING IT GO, she wrote and drew this report of her visit.

When You Go Out To Eat With Mo Willems, Make Sure the Place Has Paper Tablecloths

Mo Willems shares some dining room doodles.

Update: Bil Keane Statue Now Over Goal

Above: the "Giddy Yup Daddy" maquette model of the proposed statue, co-designed by sons Glen and Jeff Keane.

A statue to commemorate Bil Keane, creator of the long-running newspaper panel FAMILY CIRCUS, has been proposed in Bil's home of Paradise Valley, AZ.

This 14 minute video has a lot of great vintage photos of Bil through the years.



You may make a tax deductable contribution to help the project here.

UPDATE April 3, 2013: Long Family Gift Puts Funds for Bil Keane Stature Over Goal of $75,000.

The Blue Funties by Bill Greenhead

Here's the one-man animator/cartoonist/writer Bill Greenhead with his latest fun animation "The Blue Funties."

Bob Clarke 1926-2013

Above: Bob Clarke's 1967 self portrait from MAD #111.

Bob Clarke, who contributed to MAD Magazine for six decades, died March 31, 2013. The cause was complications from pneumonia. He lived and worked in Seaford, Delaware.

From the MAD Magazine site:

“We’re sad to announce that on Sunday, legendary MAD artist Bob Clarke passed away at the age of 87. 

“Bob was with MAD nearly from the start — first contributing in 1956 and continuing through 2010. 

“During his amazing career as one of ‘The Usual Gang of Idiots,’ Bob was one of the magazine’s most versatile artists, illustrating everything from covers, to articles, to Spy vs. Spy, to bonus inserts for MAD specials [including the MAD Zeppelin paper model and the MAD mobile]. Bob’s contribution to MAD’s legacy is massive, and he’ll be greatly missed.”

From the Seaford DE Statesman Journal:

Clarke had fun being part of the MAD staff – self-proclaimed as “The Usual Gang of Idiots” – and did his share of pranks and jokes, his nephew said. 

When publisher Bill Gaines took artists and writers on yearly adventures, one of Clarke’s pranks was a classic. 

Their hotel had a room behind the registration desk with banks of lights to show when room doors opened or closed. “Bob, whose first wife was Lithuanian, convinced the fellow Idiots to wake up throughout the night and open and close their doors a dozen times or so to keep the KGB on their toes!” his nephew said.

Tom Richmond remembers Bob Clarke

Video: The Life of Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast self portrait from the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum.


Fiona Deans Halloran recounts the life of political cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902). She teaches history at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There is no direct link, but you can see her presentation on YouTube here.

She has written a new biography, published by UNC Press, THOMAS NAST, THE FATHER OF MODERN POLITICAL CARTOONS.

"A regular contributor to Harper's Weekly, Nast made popular the donkey and elephant as symbols of the Democratic and Republican Parties. Ms. Halloran examines the role the cartoonist played in Gilded Age politics and his many detractors, William "Boss" Tweed, and friends, Mark Twain that he accrued throughout his career. Fiona Deans Halloran speaks at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky."