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Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Harlan Ellison & Argo
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Marvel Comics,
I am shocked - shocked, I tell you - to discover that the movie Argo (about how Jack Kirby’s designs for a screenplay based on a Roger Zelazny novel helped rescue hostages in Iran for the CIA) is playing fast and loose with history.
Michael Sporn has a long post with some nice artwork by Playboy cartoonist Rowland B. Wilson and some rare artwork by Alex Toth.
Down The Tubes interviews Paul Scoones, author of the new Doctor Who book: The Comic Strip Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who in Comics: 1964 — 1979.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Harlan Ellison & Argo
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Weekend Reading: Smallville, Big Nate and Star Wars
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews,
I know that we’re all thinking the same thing: how great it is that Michael Rosenbaum is coming back to Smallville for the big series finale. I’m stocking extra Doritos for my goodbye party.
Now that you’re sitting down, why not read a few things:
England: I missed this end of the year interview with head of brand marketing for DC Thomson John Paul Murphy. DC Thomson publishes, among other things, the British comics the Beano, the Dandy and Commando.
Art: After looking at these paintings from Britain’s War Picture Library, I can only conclude two things: (1) Giorgio De Gaspari is a terrific painter and (2) I want to see more!
Nate: Comic Strip Of The Day takes a look at Big Nate. “It is self-deprecating, self-reflective humor delivered on an adolescent level. And it works.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Smallville, Big Nate and Star Wars
Weekend Reading: Joe Casey, Thor, Dr. Spektor and Drew Friedman
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics, Dynamic Forces, IDW Publishing, Independent, Marvel Comics,
The War on Christmas is nearly done for another year, and there’s just enough time left for the War on New Year’s. Let's see what you should be reading this week:
Joe: This is simply a great, honest and open interview with Joe Casey, comic book writer/creator and co-creator of Ben 10. Perfect holiday reading from interviewer Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter.
Thor: So there’s some controversy from an all-white group that’s upset that Marvel has cast an actor of color to play a Norse God in Thor. Ricky Sprague at Project Child Murdering Robot has a thought or two.
Polly: Animator Michael Sporn is happy that Dean Mullaney’s new book has arrived (as am I). Polly and Her Pals: the Complete Sunday Comics 1925-1927 comes from Dean’s The Library of American Comics via IDW.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Joe Casey, Thor, Dr. Spektor and Drew Friedman
Weekend Reading: Stephen J. Cannell, Shel Silverstein And The Flintstones
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, Television,
Sad news in the world of television and novels. Stephen J. Cannell, one of Hollywood’s legendary writers has passed away. The list of shows he worked on and created is legendary. Comic fans might know him best from The Greatest American Hero. He mentored a number of famous writer-producers, much like Roy Huggins had mentored him. When he got tired of television, he reinvented himself as a novelist – the ones I’ve read are quite fun – and actor (he had a somewhat recurring role on Castle). Jaime Weinman has a nice appreciation of one of my favorite writers.
The Flintstones: Now that they’ve turned 50 years old – yikes! – the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon show has attracted a lot of media attention this week. Jerry Beck at Cartoon Brew noticed the coverage…particularly how stupid the Christian Science Monitor was about it.
Appy: It’s not too late to check in with the Appy Entertainment blog and see what I and two friends have to say about the digital age of comics.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Stephen J. Cannell, Shel Silverstein And The Flintstones
Weekend Reading: Julie Newmar, Doctor Spektor and Popeye
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
A lot has happened internetally while I took my afternoon nap, and there’s good stuff from old-school fan favorite Catwoman Julie Newmar, Tom Richmond talking about caricatures and Jesse Santos’ Doctor Spektor. Dig in:
Catwoman: No getting around it, to men of a certain age, Julie Newmar was the Blake Lively of her day. Now she’d like you to talk dirty to her. She’s putting together a book of confessions from men proudly unashamed to admit that she created a stirring in their Batman underpants when everybody was much younger. Says Newmar to the Globe and Mail: “Suddenly, walking straight to me was the grandfather, his voice and eye seductively nailed to me. ‘Miss Newmar. You were my first turn-on.’ For the father, it would be improper, and the boy hadn’t reached the age where it was of interest to him.” No doubt Diana Rigg, Yvonne Craig, Joey Heatherton and Nancy Sinatra have similar stories. Although you probably stood a chance with Heatherton. The interview is a lot of fun, and Newmar is looking for stories just like yours. There’s an email address at the link for you to participate.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Julie Newmar, Doctor Spektor and Popeye
Weekend Reading: Atlas/Seaboard, Gene Deitch and Jonny Quest
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent, Marvel Comics,
Lots of great stuff all over the internet this week, including a nice piece on Martin Goodman’s Atlas/Seaboard comics of the mid-1970s, a lost cartoon by Gene Deitch and a little piece of Jonny Quest/James Bond trivia. Let’s click:
Atlas/Seaboard: If you remember Howard Chaykin’s The Scorpion, Larry Hama’s Wulf The Barbarian or Steve Ditko’s Tarantula, then you’re old. And that means you remember the Atlas/Seaboard comics that Martin Goodman published after Cadence bought him out from Marvel back in the 1970s. What you may not know is that their comics were also published in Australia. Oh Danny Boy has a detailed and well-illustrated account of their adventure down under.
Gene Deitch: Over at Cartoon Brew, Jerry Beck posts a note from acclaimed animation director Gene Deitch about his first (and lost) animated cartoon. It starred Howdy Doody, and the cartoon so enraged Buffalo Bob Smith that he had it destroyed.
John Kricfalusi: Over at John K Stuff, the animator has a hilarious post about amateur artwork and some ideas about how not-yet-professionals can still find outlets for their art.
Tom Richmond: The great MAD Magazine artist and caricaturist recently remodeled his studio and put up before and after pictures. We should all work in such a great environment. Warning: safe-for-work shelf porn ahead.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Atlas/Seaboard, Gene Deitch and Jonny Quest
WEEKEND READING: Green Lama, MAD Magazine, Dollhouse, and Blazing Combat!
Lots of great stuff this week on the internets. Here’s a few things to occupy you ‘til Monday.
THE GREEN LAMA: The Green Lama was created as a Shadow imitator in a story for a 1940 pulp magazine called Double Detective. It was written by Kendell Foster Crossen. The character made the leap to comics later that year in Prize Comics #7, then jumped to his own title in 1944, still written by Crossen. One of my favorite blogs, Killer Covers Of The Week, has a terrific overview of Crossen’s work and his pseudonyms, and his career as a detective novelist who also wrote for the TV series’ 77 Sunset Strip and Perry Mason. Now that GL is in the public domain, he’s currently appearing in Project Superpowers, from Dynamite Entertainment, courtesy of Jim Krueger and Alex Ross.
MAD MAGAZINE: Senior Editor of MAD, Joe Raiola, recently made a stop at the Everett Public Library (Washington) to talk about “The Joy Of Censorship.” HeraldNet – the online news service for Snohomish County has the details.
Click to continue reading WEEKEND READING: Green Lama, MAD Magazine, Dollhouse, and Blazing Combat!
WEEKEND READING: Todd Klein, Carl Potts, Dave Olbrich, Gerard Jones and Tom Richmond
Well, of course, we all know that Warren Ellis, Mark Evanier, and Neil Gaiman have blogs (and all three are highly recommended), but there are some other blogs by comic book professionals past and present that are worth a look as well. Here are some of my favorites – check ‘em out this weekend and see what you think:
CARL POTTS is a former Editor-In-Chief at Marvel Comics during the go-go 1990s. He’s also the co-creator of Alien Legion. At his blog, General Eclectic, he writes regularly about his days at Marvel (with a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff about the business), creates well-illustrated essays on visual storytelling, and more. Favorite recent post: Marvel Tales: Making Comic Book Editors.
DAVE OLBRICH is a good buddy from my Ultraverse years. At his blog Funnybook Fanatic he posts regularly about the comics of his youth, his Ultraverse years and his adventures in comic book land with guys like Marv Wolfman, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Favorite story so far: freezing at a luau in Hawaii with Stan.
GERARD JONES was a writer for DC Comics, Epic, Malibu Comics and the Ultraverse and Dark Horse during the aforementioned go-go ‘90s. At one time a writer for National Lampoon, he was also the co-creator of The Trouble With Girls with writing partner Will Jacobs. He has since become a writer of more serious fare, including Men of Tomorrow. He’s also occasionally posting his novel-in-progress, My Pal Splendid Man, that he’s writing with Jacobs. It’s about a would-be writer who befriends a superhero. Gerard doesn’t post that often, but he’s still worth a visit if only to read chapters from his upcoming books.
TOM RICHMOND got his start at NOW Comics working on their Married…With Children licensed comics. He has since become a mainstay at MAD Magazine, among other places. At his officially unofficial MAD Blog, he posts regularly about MAD, his illustration assignments, the business of cartooning and caricatures and highlights a lot of his wonderful artwork, taking the reader through his process from concept to sketch to pencils/inks/color. Tom also blogs about his non-publishing-related second career, as a caricaturist. Favorite Post: Reviewing The Cintiq 12wx (Seriously, it’s a great review.)
TODD KLEIN is one of the most in-demand letterers in the comic book business. He currently letters Fables for DC, Nexus for Mike Baron and Steve Rude and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. Most recently, he did the cover lettering for Amazing Spider-Man #583, the Obama issue. On his blog Klein Letters he posts regularly about the business, does logo studies of long running comics like Fantastic Four, House of Mystery and Justice League, reviews comics and books, and highlights classic lettering samples from DC’s files. Occasionally he throws in some nifty bird photos and vegetarian recipes. Best post: Celebrating Gaspar Saladino, the legendary DC letterer. It’s a 3-part post and worth every second you spend reading them.