Weekend Reading: Avengers, Joe Simon, And Don Martin

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Marvel Comics,

Another sad week as noted comic book artist Ernie Chan passes away. As always, Mark Evanier has the best obituary, if ever an obit can be categorized that way.

Amanda Marcotte takes a look at The Avengers movie, specifically the male reviewers and their reactions to The Black Widow.

Another good catch by Daniel Best at 20th Century Danny Boy: a tale of stolen artwork involving Joe Simon and the FBI.

Comedy writer Paul Laikin (he wrote for MAD Magazine and was editor of Marvel’s Crazy) has passed away.

And speaking of MAD Magazine, I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like Don Martin’s work. Here’s a nice piece in honor of his birthday.

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Top Ten Things I’m Thankful For This Year

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,

Thanksgiving is that wonderful time of year where we celebrates parades, football, days off from school and work, and something else I've entirely forgotten about. Here are some things I'm giving thanks for in 2010.

Naturally, your list may vary, and be a lot less selfish than my own.

10. My TSA date, Officer Pat Downe, had soft hands.

9. The iPad. Is it wrong to want 2 of them?

8. Library Book Sales: I scored a Pogo book, Quincy’s World by Ted Shearer and Don Martin Grinds Ahead! All for less than a buck total.

7. The debut of Oh, Brother! by Bob Weber, Jr. and Jay Stephens. Funny, funny strip.

6. Five Guys Burgers & Fries: If you’re going to eat, Five it up.

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Al Jaffee’s MAD Life

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews,

“Is this a follow-up post about Al Jaffee?”
“No, it’s my grocery list. The internet will publish anything.”

In an earlier post about MAD Magazine‘s Al Jaffee, I reprinted a biographical piece he’d written in the early 1960s.

Jaffee wrote that he spent 6 years in Lithuania as a child with his Mom. His Dad stayed in the US but dutifully mailed Al’s beloved comic strips to him overseas. The story sounded like a fascinating morsel and I wanted to know more. And there is more. A lot more and it reads like a page-turning thriller.

Danny Fingeroth, the Senior VP of Education at MoCCA, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York, sent me a note about the post and told me about Al’s upcoming biography, Al Jaffee’s MAD Life. The book, written by Mary Lou Weisman, “covers the story of his chilling six years in Lithuania with his mother (as well as the rest of his life and career, of course),” says Fingeroth. And what a life that was (and still is, fortunately).

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