Matt Tauber

PASSAGES 2011 - COMICS, PART 2

2012-01-21T08:37:00.004-05:00

Here is the second half of my revue of those from the comics world we lost last year. Here's Part One.

Shinji Wada, 61 (7/5)
Manga artist
Creator of "Sukeban Deka" [Delinquent Girl Detective]
Deka has also been an animated series and live-action film franchise

Sam Norkin, 94 (7/30)
New York theater caricaturist for the New York Herald Tribune (1940-56) and Daily News (1956-82)
Recipient of the National Cartoonists Society Silver T-Square Award (1984)

José Sanchis Grau, 79 (8/2)
Spanish cartoonist, best known for his character Pumby the Cat

Del Connell, 93 (8/12)
Prolific writer/editor for Dell
Creator of Space Family Robinson/Lost in Space
Also created Super Goof, Wacky Witch
Writer, Mickey Mouse strip – 1968-84
Writer on “Three Caballeros”, “Alice in Wonderland” movies for Disney
Personal remembrance from Mark Evanier found here.

Francisco Solano Lopez (8/12)
Argentine writer/artist
Persecuted in Argentina for political views in his comic ‘El Eternuata’
Did U.S. work in the ‘90s for Dark Horse & Eros

Jean Tabary, 81 (8/18)
French comic strip artist
Known for his work in Totoche and Iznogoud

Vicco von Bülow aka Loriot, 87 (8/22)
German animator who created popular characters Wum (a dog) and Wendelin (an elephant)
Had his own 1970's show - "Loriot" which combined sketch comedy and animation
In Christmas, 1972, Loriot as Wum singing "Ich wünsch' mir 'ne kleine Miezekatze" ("I wish I had a little kittycat") was the #1 song for 9 weeks.

Dave Hoover, 56 (9/4)
Comic book artist
"The Wanderers"/"Starman" for DC (late '80s, early '90s)
"Captain America"/"Uncanny Origins" for Marvel (mid-'90s)

Cliff Robertson, 88 (9/10)
Actor, Uncle Ben from ‘Spider-Man’ (2002)

Tom Wilson, Sr., 80 (9/16)
Creator of “Ziggy” character and comic strip
Wrote/drew "Ziggy" strip - 1971-87

I had forgotten until doing this list that I was a big Ziggy fan in the early '80s. In addition to my paperbacks (pictured above), I had a couple of the figurines on my desk. No wonder I was such a popular kid!

Jack Adler, 94 (9/18)
Career at DC:
Colorist/Production Assistant (1947-1960)
Asst. Production Manager (1960-75)
Production Manager/VP of Production (1975-81)

Sergio Bonelli, 78 (9/26)
Italian comic book author & publisher
Creator of "Tex Willer", a U.S. Western-genre character famous in Europe
Also creator/writer of features "Mister No" and "Zagor"

Bil Keane, 89 (10/8)
Creator of "Channel Chuckles" (1954-76)
Creator of Family Circus (1960-2011?)
Co-creator of “Eggheads” (1981-83)
National Cartoonists Society awards
Best Syndicated Panel Award - 1967, 1971, 1973, 1974
Reuben Award (1982)
Elzie Segar Award (1982)
Silver T-Square Award (2002)

Kevin McVey (10/19)
Staff cartoonist for the Bergen, NJ Record (1963-89)
Theatrical caricaturist of Broadway & Hollywood stars

Alvin Schwartz, 94 (10/28)
Comic book/strip writer
Wrote most of the DC newspaper strips, primarily "Batman" and "Superman", 1944-52
Wrote 1940s stories for Superman, Batman and Superboy
Also stories about Buzzy, Congo Bill and Hayfoot Henry

Mick Anglo, 95 (10/31)
Creator of Marvelman (1954), which copied elements of the Captain Marvel comics
Reworked Marvelman stories as Captain Miracle for his own Anglo Comics in the early '60s
Revamped Capt. Miracle as Miracleman in the mid-'60s
Miracleman had a popular revival in the 1980s
Marvel bought the rights to Marvelman from Anglo in 2009 & began reprints of his work

Les Daniels, 68 (11/5)
Comic book historian/author
Comix: A History of the Comic Book in America (1971)
Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics (1991)
DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes (1995)

David Langdon, OBE, 97 (11/18)
Venerable British cartoonist
40 years with the Daily Mirror
50 years with the New Yorker
55 years with Punch magazine

Zdenĕk Miler, 90 (11/30)
Czech animator/illustrator
Creator of Krtek the Mole, beloved cartoon & book subject

Bruno Bianchi, 56 (12/2)
French cartoonist & animator
Co-creator of the "Inspector Gadget" animated series

Dugald Stermer, 74 (12/2)
Book/magazine illustrator
Stermer's website and a nice write-up by a friend.

Darrell K Sweet, 77 (12/5)
Sci-fi/fantasy illustrator
Sweet's website

Jerry Robinson, 89 (12/7)
Comics writer/artist
Batman (1940-46)
Co-creator of Robin and the Joker
Green Hornet for Harvey (1945-46)
Bat Masterson & Lassie stories (early '60s)
Comic strips:'Jet Scott', 'Flubs & Fluffs', 'Still Life', 'Life with Robinson'
National Cartoonist Society President, 1967-69
32 years as a political cartoonist
Author of ‘The Comics’, a seminal work of comics scholarship
Champion of creators' rights and free speech rights
Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award winner, 2002

Mario de Miranda, 85 (12/11)
Cartoonist for India magazines & newspapers

Joe Simon, 98 (12/15)
co-creator, with Jack Kirby, of
Captain America, Bucky and the Red Skull
Newsboy Legion
Boy Commandos
Fighting American
Boys’ Ranch
the Romance Comics genre
Won settlement in decade long lawsuit against Marvel Comics over ownership of Captain America

Eduardo Barreto, 57 (12/15)
Artist,
Mid-‘80s Superman covers
New Teen Titans (1986-88)
The Shadow Strikes (1990-91)
Marvel Knights (2000-01)
Cobb (2006)
Comic strip: Judge Parker (2006-11)
DC Retroactive: Superman - the '70s (2011)
Beau Smith remembers Eduardo Barreto

PASSAGES 2011 - COMICS PART 1

2012-01-12T22:45:00.022-05:00

Here is part one of my list of those we lost last year from the world of comics.
Special thanks to News From ME and The Beat for much of the original reporting on these deaths.

Susannah York, 72 (1/15)
Actress, Lara from ‘Superman: the Movie’ and 'Superman II'

Bill Justice, 97 (2/9)
Animator, Disney – Thumper in Bambi
Dayton, OH native; Chip ‘n Dale
Imagineer for several Disney attractions

Joanne Siegel, 93 (2/12)
Wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel
model for Lois Lane

Dwayne McDuffie, 49 (2/21)
Assistant Editor/Editor, Marvel Comics
Co-founder/Editor-in-Chief, Milestone Media
Writer - Marvel, Milestone, DC
Writer/Story Editor, "Static Shock" animated series
Writer, "Justice League" animated series
Writer/Producer, "Justice League Unlimited" animated series

Anant Pai aka "Uncle Pai", 81 (2/24)
Writer/editor - Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle

Bill Blackbeard, 84 (3/10)
Archivist/Historian
Edited, contributed, and wrote introductions and forewords to countless volumes of reprint comics
nicknamed "The Man Who Saved Comics"
Remembrance of Blackbeard by Dean Mullaney.
Article by myself.

Michael Gough, 94 (3/17)
Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman movies (1989-97)

Jim Roslof, 64 (3/19)
Fantasy artist/early Art Director for TSR, Inc (Dungeons & Dragons)

Jackie Cooper, 88 (5/3)
Actor, Perry White from ‘Superman’ films

Carlos Trillo, 68 (5/8)
Argentine comic strip/book writer
Best known for the strip "El Loco Chavez" (1975-87)

Bill Gallo, 88 (5/10)
Sports cartoonist for the NY Daily News (1960-2011)
National Cartoonists Society Awards
Elzie Segar Award (1976)
Silver T-Square Award (1978)
Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award (1988)
Hall of Fame Gold Key Award (2009)

Bill Rechin, 80 (5/21)
Comic strip cartoonist
"Pluribus" (1971-73)
“Crock” (1975-2011)
“Out of Bounds” (1986-?)

Lee J Ames, 90 (6/3)
1950's comic book artist, freelance
Series of Draw 50 books for Doubleday

Lew Sayre Schwartz, 84 (6/18)
"Ghost" artist for Bob Kane on Batman stories, 1946-53
Producer, 'Milton Caniff: An Armchair Marco Polo" documentary film
My remembrance of Schwartz

Gene Colan, 84 (6/23)
Legendary comic book artist
Marvel & DC crime, war & horror comics of the late'40s & 1950s
Hopalong Cassidy (1954-57)
DC Romance comics of the 1960s
Daredevil (1966-73)
Tales to Astonish/Sub Mariner (1966-68)
Tales of Suspense/Iron Man (1966-68)
Doctor Strange (1968-69, 1975-81)
Captain America (1969-71)
Tomb of Dracula (1972-80)
Howard the Duck (1976-81)
Night Force (1982-83)
Wonder Woman (1982-83)
Detective Comics (1983-86)
various DC Mini-series (1984-88)
My tribute to Colan from earlier in the year.

PASSAGES 2011 - TV

2011-12-30T15:59:00.029-05:00

Here is my annual list of those TV stars/contributors who passed away in the past year. As before, these are only people involved with work that I have seen, so some of your favorites may be missing. But don't worry, I've watched a lot of TV.

Aron Kincaid, 79 (1/6)
voices on "Batman: The Animated Series" (1992-94)

Del Reisman, 87 (1/8)
Story editor on "The Twilight Zone" (1960-61)

Bill Foster, 79 (2/2)
Director: “Benson” (1982-86), “Amen” (1986-89)

Peggy Rea, 89 (2/5)
Lulu Hogg on “The Dukes of Hazzard” (1979-85)
Cousin Bertha on 3 ep of “All in the Family” (1971, 1979)
four episodes of "I Love Lucy" (1953)

Len Lesser, 88 (2/16)
Uncle Leo on “Seinfeld” (1991-98)
Garvin on “Everybody Loves Raymond” (1996-2004)

Nicholas Courtney, 81 (2/22)
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart on “Doctor Who” (1968-2008)

Trevor Bannister, 76 (4/14)
Mr. Lucas on “Are You Being Served?” (1972-79)

Jon Cedar, 80 (4/14)
Cpl. Langenscheidt on “Hogan’s Heroes” (1965-70)

Sol Saks, 100 (4/16)
Creator of “Bewitched”

Elisabeth Sladen, 65 (4/19)
Sarah Jane on “Doctor Who” (1973-2010)

Madelyn Pugh, 90 (4/20)
Writer, “I Love Lucy” (1951-57)

Marian Mercer, 75 (4/27)
Nancy Beebe on “It’s a Living”/”Making a Living” (1980-82, 1985-89)

William Campbell, 87 (4/28)
Trelane & Capt. Koloth on “Star Trek" (1967, 1994)

Jackie Cooper, 88 (5/3)
Director, "M*A*S*H" (1973-74); "White Shadow" (1978-79)

Norma Zimmer, 87 (5/10)
Champagne Lady on “The Lawrence Welk Show”, 1960-80

Barbara Stuart, 81 (5/15)
Bunny on “Gomer Pyle, USMC” (1965-69)
Appeared on series television for 50 years

Jeff Conaway, 60 (5/27)
Bobby Wheeler on “Taxi” (1978-82)

Clarice Taylor (5/30)
Anna Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” (1985-92)

James Arness, 88 (6/3)
Marshall Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke” (1955-75); 5 "Gunsmoke" TV movies (1987-94)
Longest running character in series television

Leonard Stern, 87 (6/8)
Writer, “The Honeymooners” (1955-56); "The Jackie Gleason Show" (1953-56)
Writer/Executive Producer, “Get Smart” (1966-68)
Executive Producer, "Get Smart Again" (1989)

Paul Alter, (6/11)
Director, “Family Feud” (1976-85, 88-90), “The Price is Right” (1956-65, 86-00)

Bob Banner, 89 (6/15)
Executive Producer, “The Carol Burnett Show” (1967-70)

Don Diamond, 90 (6/19)
Crazy Cat on “F Troop” (1965-67)

Fred Steiner, 88 (6/23)
Composer, music for “Star Trek”, “Hogan’s Heroes”, “Twilight Zone”
Themes for “Perry Mason”, “Bullwinkle”

Sam Denoff, 83 (7/8)
Writer, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1963-66)
Producer, "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1965-66)
Supervising Producer, "It's Garry Shandling's Show" (1987-88)

Sherwood Schwartz, 94 (7/12)
Executive Producer/Creator – Gilligan’s Island” (1964-67)
“The Brady Bunch” (1969-74)
“The Brady Bunch Variety Hour” (1976-77)
“The Brady Brides” (1981)
3 "Gilligan" reunion TV movies (1978-81); “A Very Brady Christmas” (1988)

Christopher Mayer, 57 (7/24)
Vance Duke on “The Dukes of Hazzard” (1982-83)

Bubba Smith, 66 (8/3)
Bubba on “Blue Thunder” (1984)

John Howard Davies (8/22), 72
Director, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” (1969)
Producer, “Fawlty Towers” (1975)

Frank Potenza, 77 (8/23)
“Uncle Frank” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (03-11)

Charles S. Dubin, 92 (9/2)
Director, “M*A*S*H” (1976-83)

Frances Bay, 92 (9/15)
Grandma Nussbaum on “Happy Days” (1982/84)
Mabel Choate on “Seinfeld” (1996/98)

David Croft, 89 (9/27)
Writer/co-creator of “Are You Being Served?” (1972-85)

Charles Napier, 75 (10/5)
Duke Phillips on “The Critic” (1994-95)

Pete Rugolo, 95 (10/16)
Composer, wrote music for TV, including ‘Leave it to Beaver’; co-wrote theme to ‘The Fugitive’

Leonard Stone (11/2)
5 guest roles on “Barney Miller” (1975/77/80-82)
Judge Hanson on “L.A. Law” (1988-94)

Andy Rooney, 92 (11/4)
bitter grouch, “60 Minutes” (1978-2011)

Patrice O’Neal, 41 (11/29)
Comedian/panelist, “Tough Crowd” (2002-04)

Dan Mills, 80 (12/5)
Animator, “Jabberjaw”, “Godzilla”

Harry Morgan, 96 (12/7)
Bill Gannon on “Dragnet” (1967-70)
Col. Potter on “M*A*S*H”/”AfterMASH” (1974-84)
Leonard Blacke on “Blacke’s Magic” (1986)

Bert Schneider, 78(12/12)
Co-creator/producer, “The Monkees” (1966-68)

Edie Stevenson, 81 (12/13)
Ad writer, “Mikey” ad for Life cereal

TOP 10 COMICS OF 2011

2011-12-23T19:55:00.020-05:00

Here is my list of the top ten comics of 2011. Per usual, my guidelines are fairly liberal. It could be a new comic, a reprint or trade collection, or a specific creator's work. It just had to be released in 2011.

glamourpuss - Dave Sim has gone a little off-topic this year, it that's possible in a book that defies description. His fashion-magazine parody combined with an examination of comic strip illustration styles has always been a bizarre juxtaposition. This year he's left behind much of the fashion magazine motif in favor of other historical/cultural trips, including a romp through the early '60s with his signature character, Cerebus. Sim also continued his deep, deep dive into the day Alex Raymond died while driving with fellow cartoonist Stan Drake. Sim is examining this on the molecular level, and his conspiracy theories abound and expand. While his conjectures often bust the bonds of credulity, it's fascinating stuff.

Comics Revue Presents - I was originally buying this for the Steve Canyon reprints (dailies and color Sundays, currently in the early 1970s). Then I got hooked on the wealth of other comic strips being reprinted. Many I'd only heard about, while some I knew but never paid attention to. The strips are a who's who of illustrators from different eras - Dan Barry's "Flash Gordon", Bob Lubbers' "Tarzan", Al Williamson's "Secret Agent Corrigan" and Roy Crane's "Buz Sawyer". Not forgotten are the humor strips, represented by Hamlin's "Alley Oop" and "Krazy Kat" dailies by George Herriman. There's a beautiful color Sunday section with Mac Raboy's "Flash Gordon", Lee Falk's "Mandrake" and "Phantom" and Russ Manning's "Tarzan". Falk's dailies are in there, too, with the Phantom strips being straight adventure and something lacking in today's market. Their website is the pitts, so ask you comics dealer about this bi-monthly series.

Ed Brubaker's Captain America: Captain America/Captain America and Bucky/Steve Rogers: Super Soldier - Captain America is my favorite character, and Brubaker's among the best writers he's ever had. This was a big year for the character, finding Bucky Barnes (the new Captain America) out of uniform and imprisoned in a Soviet gulag. After the events of Marvel's big summer event - Fear Itself - Steve Rogers returns to the uniform as the original Captain America. That brought with it a relaunch of the "Captain America" series at #1, with Brubaker taking us on a thrill ride of old foes and new twists. The old series changed it's name to "Captain America and Bucky", but really serves as a Bucky origin/mini-series, which will lead in to his own "Winter Soldier" title in 2012. The "Steve Rogers: Super Soldier" TPB collects Brubaker's 2010 miniseries, in which Rogers, now acting as the U.S.'s top cop, tracks down those trying to duplicate the serum that made him Captain America.

Genius, Isolated: the Life and Art of Alex Toth - The first of three volumes, "Isolated" starts our journey into the career of the irascible, yet divine Toth. The Library of American Comics team of Dean Mullaney (editor), Lorraine Turner (art director) and Bruce Canwell (writer) take us further than anyone has into Toth's history and his resplendent growth as an artist. Toth begins as a major follower of Milton Caniff and Noel Sickles, quickly developing his own style that has been oft imitated, pursued and envied. This is no whitewash of a man who valued integrity and art, equated them, and suffered both professionally and personally to maintain his own high standards. Of particular note is the reprinting of Jon Fury, a weekly strip he did in the Army while stationed in Japan. What Turner has done with restoring those poor mimeographed camp newsletters is a combination of magic and talent.

Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom - I'm always a sucker for good time travel story. Tom must travel back in time to help his younger self thwart the creation of a Nazi utopia at the hands of his bastard son. This is a fun adventure which, while there are serious consequences involved, doesn't take itself too seriously. Kudos to fellow Ohioan Chris Sprouse who, in addition to being a terrific artist, is a heckuva nice guy.

Sergio Aragones Funnies - Sergio Aragones has been doing regular Simpsons work for Bongo since 2009, so I guess it's natural that his latest self-titled series would be here and not Dark Horse Comics, his home for similar work in the past. To me, this is Sergio at his finest, writing and drawing his own stories that are not locked into specific characters (e.g. Groo, the Simpsons) or format (e.g. MAD Looks At..., MAD marginals). Amusing biographical stories from his colorful life interspersed with his peerless pantomime comics. A master at work.

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol.1: The Race to Death Valley - While this once popular humor/adventure strip of the 1930s has been well-known to strip lovers, it's been more or less forgotten to the general public. Fantagraphics, which also brings us The Complete Peanuts, has launched an ambitious project to reprint the Mickey Mouse strips of Floyd Gottfredson. Gottfredson himself suffers from lack of general name recognition, overshadowed by celebrated Donald Duck artist Carl Barks (whose work is being revived as well). This was the most enjoyment I got out of a book in 2011. I'm surprised how prominent Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow are in the strip, characters little used or known today. Of special interest is a weeklong sequence in which Mickey repeatedly attempts suicide. It's done comedically, but it is jarring to see the world's most beloved character trying to end it all.

Milton Caniff - Caniff: A Visual Biography; Milton Caniff's Male Call - Ok, a self-aggrandizing plug, to be sure, with my role as Contributing Editor on "Caniff." But believe me, no one bought this 'cause I'm mentioned in the front (not even dear mother). It's the Caniff art, much of it seen for the first time, and most of it never before seen with this quality of reproduction. It's also the way Dean Mullaney uses the art to tell the story of the life of Milton Caniff, a man who drew professionally for nearly seven decades. What you get is a comprehensive look at a master and his craft, as well as an effective portrait of a man in love - with his wife, his characters, his alma mater, his hometown and his country.

That love of country comes through in "Male Call", a strip he did during WWII that was distributed to military newspapers. The strips featured Miss Lace, a suggestive coquette who generally flummoxes G.I.'s with her naivete. Caniff, who desired to serve but was 4-F, did the strip for free. The new background piece by Caniff biographer R.C. Harvey makes this book a standout from the earlier (1987) reprint.

Jordi Bernet - Jonah Hex; All-Star Western; American Vampire - A great year for Spanish great Jordi Bernet for those who love the Western genre. He drew three issues of "Jonah Hex" before the relaunch. I was hoping he's be Jonah's regular penciler for the new "All-Star Western" series. That was not to be, but Bernet has drawn the El Diablo backup feature. Mashing up horror and Western, he did a three-issue arc of "American Vampire", with the Native Americans reviving a mythological beast in hopes of driving out the Yankees, spelling disaster for all. A great storyteller in the vein of Toth, hopefully we'll see some of his native work (such as his Tex work) translated into English!

Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers/New Avengers - When the announcement came down that Bendis would be exiting the Avengers in 2012, my first and lasting reaction was "Thanks for the memories." In the past 5 plus years, he has made the Avengers the most successful franchise for Marvel Comics as well as a highly entertaining read. Bendis hurtles his heroes from one earth-shattering cataclysm to the next, without making it boring or tiresome for the reader. Say what you will about Marvel's obsession with "event" comics, Brian Michael Bendis makes it fun to ride along.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T07:44:00.004-05:00

Caniff's Christmas strips typically paid tribute to those who sacrificed so we could celebrate in peace. Here's the "Steve Canyon" Sunday from 1983 [click to enlarge] -

LICHTENSTEIN

2011-12-04T23:15:00.002-05:00

The fine art world and the world of comics converged in controversy recently when this painting by pop art icon Roy LIchtenstein sold for $43 million dollars. Sold by Christie's, it was a record high price for a Lichtenstein. His best known works are existing comic book or comic strip panels that he would enlarge on canvas, usually replicating even the small printing "Benday" dots on a grander scale. Here is the painting that sold...

Coincidentally, the source material for Lichtenstein's painting also recently sold, in an eBay auction. It was the original art for a Sunday page for the comic strip Steve Roper and Mike Nomad. The strip is dated August 6, 1961, with art by William Overgard, who I wrote about here for his short stint as a Caniff "ghost" artist and as artist of a Steve Canyon parody called Steve Crevice. The dialogue is by Allen Saunders, a writer better known for his decades writing "Mary Worth." The auction price? $431.

If you don't know the name Roy Lichtenstein, you know his work. The famous artist of the Pop Art movement is known for his recreations/adaptations of comic book panels on canvas. The worm has turned on Lichtenstein in recent years, seen less as an innovator with a unique point of view and more as a thief and swipe artist. Crediting the true artists of Lichtenstein's work has been the mission of David Barsalou. His goal is to link every Lichtenstein comic panel painting with its original source. You can view these on Barsalou's comprehensive website, Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein. Barsalou not only has the original "Nomad" comic panel on his site, he owns the original, as he told ArtInfo writer Judd Tully in this article, which highlights the disparity between how the fine art world views Lichtenstein and his "inspiration."

Here are a couple of different panels for comparison. The first, a panel from the cover of All-American Men of War #89 (2/1962) by artist Jerry Grandenetti, and the second is "Jet Pilot", a 1962 drawing by Lichtenstein, later made into a painting. Author Isabelle Deveaux certainly prefers "Jet Pilot": "Lichtenstein's reworking of the original panel on which the present drawing is based underscores his interest in formal concerns over narrative ones...he changed the orientation of the image from vertical to horizontal."¹ See the differences? No tear in the air hose, a change in the bullet hole pattern of the canopy, and more smoke (what Deveaux calls "clouds"). These alterations "contribute to a more unified and harmonious composition."² In other words, Jerry, you suck because your drawing didn't have "classical pyramidal construction" and Roy's did. So, if you copy a work and make some minor changes, then it's your work. Sounds more like the Rob Granito theory of art.

I enjoyed this one very much. The Lichtenstein copy (inset) shares many elements of the drawing by Joe Kubert, but he did not try to copy the linework. Apparently, when faced with aping one of the greatest artists to ever pick up a pen, he reverts to his own amateurish cartoon style.

This theory holds up with "Mr. Bellamy", a a 1961 painting that has been traced by both Barsalou and Lichtenstein scholars to Milton Caniff, though it looks nothing like Caniff art. According to one scholar, Lichtenstein did his best not to ape Caniff, finding it "counterproductive to impose his own freehand personality with the brush over the ineradicable personality that was already there."³ In other words, Lichtenstein had a enough trouble copying William Overgard, so it was beyond him to copy the master that Overgard was already following.

So, thief or artist? The debate goes unresolved. Just recently, comics journalist Rich Johnston called Lichtenstein's work a transformative artistic act. I agree part way with him, then go thief on the rest. I think he had an interesting concept that went too far. I think after he'd done a few Disney characters, he realized he was going to get in trouble. Why not, then, anonymous characters from Romance and War comics (notice it's not Superman and Galactus he's drawing). If he had done a few, then he's a guy who's saying something new. To do it again and again and again, I think, earns him the reputation as a fraud.

I'll leave you with a Lichtenstein that was not from a comic panel. It may not be my taste, or even comprehensible, but at least it's original.Brushstroke Head I, 1987, Painted and patinated bronze

Thanks to comic strip enthusiast D.D. Degg for breaking this story.
Thanks to David Barsalou for his invaluable site, Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein.

^1,²Dervaux, Isabelle, "Lichtenstein: The Black and White Drawings, 1961-1968," The Morgan Library and Museum, 2010.
³Hickey, Dave, "Roy Lichtenstein : brushstrokes : four decades", Mitchell-Inees & Nash, 2002.

TERRY TATTOOS

2011-11-20T07:20:00.018-05:00

From the archive of oddites, here are Terry & the Pirates tattoo transfers. They feature a nice array of 22 characters from the run of the strip, mostly from war years. 'Terry' was no stranger to merchandising, being not only a popular comic strip, but also adapted to comic book form and a long-running serialized radio show. I'm not sure of the origin of these. Online clues point to them being a cereal premium, but the packaging itself gives us little to go on. There's no name of a product to promote or name of the manufacturer or printed them. One gimmick I like is the way the envelope the tattoos come in can double as a mailer. What a nice gift!

The other intriguing thing to me is the designation "Pack no. 9." Hmmm, what are packs 1 - 8, or even 10+? A little digging and help from other comic fans led to filling in some of the gaps, but not all.
PACK #1 - CAPTAIN MARVEL

PACK #2 - CAPTAIN MARVEL

PACK #4 - FUNNY ANIMALS (all from Fawcett, publisher of Captain Marvel)

PACK #5 - DICK TRACY

PACK #8 - CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT (another Fawcett hero, mostly unseen since 1948)

Here are a couple more that do not have pack numbers and may or may not be related to the other series...
BATMAN

BLUE BEETLE

Q&A with DEAN MULLANEY

2011-11-06T22:12:00.013-05:00

I can't believe it's been three months since the release of CANIFF: A Visual Biography. It's about time I picked the brain of the book's editor, Dean Mullaney, to find out more about how the book came together. As I reported earlier, about a year ago I assisted Dean and Lorraine Turner in researching the book. But that was just one of the three days that they were at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. And that's not the only place they did research. Then the real trick is taking all of that art and turning it into a cohesive narrative, the story of master illustrator Milton Caniff and his six decade art career.

Matt: Dean, when we first spoke in 2008, I asked if there was any more Caniff that you'd like to do. You mentioned an art book back then. Was the final product close to your early vision?

Dean: It was, although that original vision was fairly vague. It started coming together in my head as we chose material for reproduction, but it didn't gel until I had all the scanning done and started organizing the art by period and category.
Matt: Originally I was not enthused about your decision to include story sequences. I thought the non-strip art should stand alone. Upon reading the book, I agree that it's an essential part in talking about "the art of Caniff". How did you choose the sequences that you used?

Dean: You simply can't have a book about a cartoonist without showing his cartoons! I asked my comrade Bruce Canwell for a list of what he considered "must-read" sequences. Most of them coincided with my choices, and he had a few that I didn't pick. I went with his longer list.
Matt: While the book is chronological, it's also thematic. For example, the 'You Are the Flag' piece from 1965 is on page 13. At the outset did you want to avoid a strict adherence to chronology?

Dean: I knew from the start that we couldn't organize it all in a strict chronological sense. For example, you can better understand the pubic service art Caniff donated throughout his career when you see that he was always available for a good cause, when you can see that continuity of purpose. If I had spread out those contributions chronologically throughout the book, it would have been too scattered to appreciate. My job as an editor and designer is to organize the material -- editorially and visually -- in a way that has the most impact on the reader. With his earlier work, I was struggling with how to organize it until I decided to call the chapter "The Buckeye Boy," which allowed me to run everything from his childhood drawings to his and Bunny's Ohio-born relationship. [Esther "Bunny" Parsons was Mrs. Caniff - M.]
Matt: There's quite a bit of material from his Ohio State/Columbus Dispatch days (nearly the first 100 pages!). Were you surprised by not just the quantity but the quality of the work? Much of his college age art is on par with more mature work.
Dean: Like most Caniff fans, I'd seen bits and pieces of this early work, but you don't appreciate how darned good he was until you see page after page of it. It's as close as we can get so many years after the fact of experiencing seeing this young guy's art day in and day out in the paper. The same thing is true of the "Gay Thirties" section. Many comics histories print one or two examples of this panel cartoon. I decided to run an entire month of the strip so readers could get a true feel for it. You need to read that many to get into the rhythm of why it worked.

Matt: What are some of your favorite finds that you didn't know existed?

Dean: Holding Noel Sickles's original art for the "Steve Canyon" logo was the biggest thrill. Others include seeing the poster announcing "Dickie Dare", and finding the rest of the collatoral material for Caniff's one-man show at the Levy Gallery in 1941.
Matt: How has the response been to the book?

Dean: I'm happy to report that I've only heard good things and that sales are strong and consistent. The response that's meant the most to me, though, came from Milton's nephew Harry Guyton. That Harry loves it is good enough for me!
Matt: What can you tell me about Contributing Editor Matt Tauber? He sounds like an awesome dude.

Dean: You may be thinking of his twin…Talk about a nice guy! Seriously, I've told you this before, but you were an essential part of researching the choices that went into the book. It's always great to do something worthwhile that's also fun.

Aw, Dean, I'm blushing. Thanks for the compliments. I will now stop blackmailing you.

MILTON CANIFF NEWS - DECEMBER 2011

2011-11-01T08:51:00.013-04:00

They're almost here. John Ellis of the Caniff Estate has announced that Volume 3 of the 'Steve Canyon' TV series on DVD will likely be shipped by December 20th, in time for Christmas. There is still time to pre-order your copy of volume 3 and receive the free slipcase that holds volumes 1-3. You can order it direct from Ellis here.

With the completion of that Canyon project, another begins next month. Steve Canyon Vol.1: 1947-1948 debuts from the Library of American Comics (LOAC), beginning a biannual reprinting of Caniff's classic strip. What a great way to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Steve Canyon! You can pre-order your copy here.

One of the LOAC's friendly rivals in the comic reprint biz, Fantagraphics, recently began their own monumental series, that of Carl Barks and his Disney Duck work. A recent Publisher's Weekly article by James Romberger reviews the first volume, and draws a connection between Barks and Caniff. You can read that here.

Comic book artist and cartoonist Jerry Robinson died this week, on December 7th, at age 87. Robinson is best known as the creator of two essential Batman characters - Robin and the Joker. Some also credit him for the look of the early Batman comics, having started drawing for Batman co-creator Bob Kane in 1939, vastly improving on Kane's limited drawing skills at the age of 17. Robinson went on to do several comic strips - "Jet Scott", "Flubs & Fluffs", "Still Life", "Life with Robinson". He was president of the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) from 1967-69 and won their Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. His collaborative biography - "Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics" - was published last year and is currently available at nice discount. Robinson was active up until his death. Last year he published an updated version of The Comics: an Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art, originally published in 1974. One of the early, and essential, works of comic scholarship.

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, which houses the Caniff Collection, was recently featured in this article by Stan Myers in the Repository, which serves the Canton, Ohio area.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) has an online collection of comic books done as a public service. Their Government Comics Collection, run by Prof. Richard Graham, is available online here. Graham has compiled a history of this type of comic into a new book:'Government Issue: Comics for the People'. Caniff was a very civic minded individual, and this is discussed in the book. One pamphlet he worked on - Bullets or Words, can be downloaded and read from this website.

MILTON CANIFF NEWS - NOVEMBER 2011

2011-10-30T09:11:00.005-04:00

On 10/26, Comic Book Resources (CBR) posted an interview with Dean Mullaney of the Library of American Comics. Dean discussed his exciting upcoming projects, including Steve Canyon, as well as recent projects, such as the Caniff art book.

CBR also has a fun feature called Comic Book Legends Revealed. It clears up the rumors of comics' past in an entertaining way. This latest post gets to what never seemed strange to me, but may be strange to some. Was a "Terry & the Pirates" Sunday page read into the Congressional Record the next day? Find out!

In celebration of the bicentennial of Columbus, Ohio, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum will show an exhibit dedicated to cartoonists associated with Ohio's capital. The exhibit will include artwork by Ireland, Milton Caniff and other luminaries, such as James Thurber. "Columbus Cartoonists: A Bicentennial Celebration" runs January 23rd through April 27th. More details here.

Caniff was the subject of a recent feature in the Columbus Dispatch - A Look Back by Jieun Kang. It's unclear what the motivation was for doing a Caniff article now, as it doesn't mention any of the several 2011 Caniff projects. It's nice to see them pay homage to someone who gave so much of himself to the Dispatch between 1925-32. Oddly, they didn't use any of his Dispatch art in the article. Fortunately, "CANIFF: A Visual Biography" has a copious amount.

Milton Caniff must be on the news brain, as he had another write-up in the Times Bulletin of Van Wert, Ohio. The article by Kay Sluterbeck is one of the few to note how important Caniff's theater training was to infusing "Terry & the Pirates" with drama, tension and suspense. You can read the article here.

And if you haven't already pre-ordered yours, volume 3 of STEVE CANYON ON DVD is due out November 14th!

WIZARD WORLD MID-OHIO COMIC CON REPORT 2011

2011-10-23T23:50:00.008-04:00

This was my 15th Mid-Ohio Con. Since I had such a great time at the '09 and '10 shows, I was concerned about what effect being bought by Wizard World would have on this home grown con. The trepidation started early, when I saw they were about doubling the prices for both convention goers, vendors and artists. At double the price, would it be double the fun. I had doubts.

First, the convention had moved within the Greater Columbus Convention Center from Exhibit Hall E to the smaller Battelle Grand ballroom. It seemed a strange choice for a con that promoted itself as being bigger and better than ever. While the Battelle is newly renovated, the con seemed very congested. Much time was spent just trying to make my way through bottlenecks. The Battelle has two floors and I'd heard a rumor that Wizard World had failed to sell out the upper floor, so then squeezed what they did sell into the main hall.

Aside from prices, the main fear about Wizard World taking over was that a comic book-centric show would now become a celebrity-centric show, the reputation that has been cultivated by Wizard World. True to form, the big guests were so-called media guests, that is, stars of TV and movies. Adam West and Burt Ward (Batman & Robin) were the marquee names, as well as Walter Koenig (Mr. Chekov), Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian).

I was interested in meeting Williams, having met several other Star Wars actors at previous conventions. He did a Q&A session, showing himself to be as smooth and cool as his characters and Colt 45. A word about the programming. First of all, there was only one slate of programming. Previous shows have had two or three different programs running simultaneously. Second, to accomodate this programming was a smallish room that only seated 160 people. Now, if you are expecting, nay trumpeting, thousands of attendees, you should have a larger room for fans to interact with the guests you've sold them tickets to come see. I was part of a standing-room-only crowd for Williams. I didn't even attempt the chaos that was West and Ward's panel. And as I left the con I looked at the future disappointees waiting in a long, long line to see the costume contest.

Back to Williams. Ok, so when these celebrities do a show, it's a moneymaker for them. They sell photos, books, memorabilia, etc., but especially autographs. It's expected, and if you check Ebay you'll see that their signatures do have a street value. To me, it's always been a trade off. You get to meet them, you get something from them (a signed 8x10 glossy), you can snap your picture with them. You get a story out of it. "Hey, look at me, I met Lando Calrissian." Ok, it's nonsense, in a way, but fun nonsense. Saturday is when I learned about the odious practice of the Photo-Op. Mr. Williams signed my poster (a reproduction of a French poster for his 1974 B-movie "The Take"). I thanked him and said, "Can I get a quick photo with you?" "I'm sorry, I can't," he said. "He's under contract," his assistant told me. So, here's how it works. Wizard World (and maybe other conventions, it's new to me) have divorced the autograph and photo into two separate money-making schemes. To get a picture with the celebrity guest, you sign up for a Photo-Op. Billy Dee, let's say, was signing autographs from 1-3, but then doing Photo Ops from 3-4. What's the price for this photo? Why, the same as an autograph, if not more. So, let's say the celebrity charges $30 to sign something. Then you want your picture with said celebrity. Now you're in for $60. Adam West and Burt Ward charge a combined $100 for their autographs, and then an additional $125 for photos with the not-so dynamic duo. I may be a crier in emptiness, Wizard World, but you got your last celebrity autograph money out of this sucker.

Now back to comics, because they were there, as well as several artists/writers I wanted to meet or see again. This is Ron Frenz signing a copy of a Thor comic he drew. I've never been a Thor reader or much of a Frenz enthusiast, but he's always done a solid, dependable job (pal Ted describes him as a J. Buscema/Kirby hybrid).

I challenged artist Chris Sprouse with another Caniff creation. Sprouse has previously taken on Steve Canyon and Dragon Lady. This time it was Miss Lace, complete with flowers in her hair. I also enjoyed revisiting artists Dave Aikens, Michael Golden, Tom Batiuk and having a nice chat with Gary Kwapisz. Gary is in the midst of bringing historically accurate comics to the masses with Civil War Adventures. Common pal Beau Smith missed the show due to health. Get well soon, amigo.

There were some surprises at the show, such as a bona fide tattoo artists doing actual tattoos. Talk about your impulse buys. I had a real friendly talk with the artist who drew this amazing piece of work. Traveling buddy Jerry Smith introduced me to the work of up and coming phenom John Tyler Christopher.

So, was it worth it? I think so. It's so close and I had a good time this year. A big thanks to my loving and amazing wife, who minded the fort and our wild kids while I went off on a selfish Quixote excursion. I didn't have twice the good time of previous years, but enough to bring me back. Especially if these gals go again (just kidding, honey!!)

(some of) The Making of 'CANIFF'

2011-10-13T21:07:00.011-04:00

For the past year I've been hyping CANIFF: A Visual Biography from the Library of American Comics (LOAC). The book's not just essential reading for every Caniffite, it's also a point of pride for me. I played a small part in its creation as a contributing editor. I'd kept in touch LOAC honcho Dean Mullaney since we met back in 2008. When he told me that he was doing research for the Caniff book at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, I asked if he needed any help. The Cartoon Library is only a couple of hours from me, and it's one of my favorite places to go.
Dean met me at the library in late November. He was accompanied by Lorraine Turner, Art Director for the LOAC. The three of us couldn't wait to dive into the carts of research materials that were waiting for us.

We donned our white gloves and began going through the materials separately, consulting each other on different finds. Here Dean and Lorraine discuss a piece of artwork (or what to have for lunch. I can't really tell what Dean's holding).

When I came across something that might be good for the book, I would ask Dean for his opinion on what we should ask the library to scan or copy for us. After awhile, I started selecting things using my own judgment. Hope that was okay, Dean! The artwork I'm looking at here would be used for this page of the book -

Lorraine is looking through the original art that was used for the Steve Canyon Tru-Vue slides. Here's the page from the book -

One of my favorite pieces. The note I'm holding his cropped in this picture. It's a handwritten note from Caniff to Lucy Caswell. I'm paraphrasing, but it's a casual note saying 'Lucy - Here are the first sketches I did of Steve Canyon. Thought you could use them. - Milt.'

When Caniff made public appearances, he normally did a "chalk talk," that is, character sketches on an easel to delight the crowd. Dean asked the library to pull this one, not knowing the massive size of it. Here he is with the library's own Susan Liberator unrolling a portrait of Steve.
I remember thinking when Susan brought out this large package wrapped in paper that she was working on something else. As she meticulously unwrapped it, I don't think any of us knew it until we saw Steve's hair. We all had a laugh, but Dean still had to ask, "Do you have a scanner this big?"

I told Dean and Lorraine several times that this research day was like fantasy camp for me. For them, it seemed like more fun than work and sometimes like kids at Christmas. The book itself shows the love and dedication that Dean, Lorraine and writer Bruce Canwell have not only for Caniff and his art, but for the excellent standards they've established at the Library of American Comics. For me, this dazzling look at the work of my artistic hero means more for the memory of a day shared with friends.

MATT'S MUSIC REPORT

2011-10-03T11:00:00.012-04:00

Recent Releases of Note

George Harrison - Living in the Material World [official book]
John Hiatt - Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns
Indigo Girls - Beauty Queen Sister
Jayhawks - Mockingbird Time
Allison Krauss & Union Station - Paper Airplane
Julian Lennon - Everything Changes
The Lonely Island - Turtleneck & Chain
Nick Lowe - The Old Magic
Paul McCartney - McCartney [reissue; 2-CD or 2-CD/1-DVD w/book]
Paul McCartney - McCartney II [reissue; 2-CD or 3-CD/1-DVD w/book]
Paul McCartney - Run Devil Run [reissue, no bonus tracks]
Paul McCartney - Driving Rain [reissue, no bonus tracks]
Paul McCartney - Ocean's Kingdom [Macca composed ballet]
Mike + the Mechanics - The Road
Morgan/Tandy - Earthrise [reissue; Tandy was keyboardist for E.L.O]
Willie Nelson - The Scientist [iTunes single]
Randy Newman - Songbook volume 2
Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
Queen - first 5 albums remastered/reissued with bonus tracks
Roy Orbison - The Complete Sun Sessions
Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What
Paul Simon - first 4 albums reissued; identical to 2004 box set reissues
Paul Simon - Live Rhymin' [reissue; remastered with bonus tracks]
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water: 40th Anniversary Edition [CD/DVD]
They Might Be Giants - Join Us
KT Tunstall - Don't You (Forget About Me) [charity single]
Loudon Wainwright III - 40 Odd Years [4-CD/1-DVD box set]
Wilco - The Whole Love
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Alpocalypse
"Weird Al" Yankovic - The Alpocalypse Tour [DVD]
Neil Young - A Treasure
various [Jeff Lynne/Ringo Starr/Stevie Nicks/Brian Wilson] - Listen to Me: Buddy Holly
various [Bob Dylan] - The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
various [Wilco/Elvis Costello/CSN] - MusiCares Tribute to Neil Young [DVD]
various - O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack [2-disc reissue]
various [Paul McCartney/Nick Lowe] - Rave On: Buddy Holly

Upcoming New Releases

Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions [11/1] [2-CD]
George Harrison - Living in the Material World [TBA] [DVD]
William Shatner - Seeking Major Tom [10/11]
Paul Simon - Songwriter [10/24]
Joe Walsh - TBA [early 2012]
various - The Bridge School Concerts 25th Anniversary Edition [10/24] [3-DVD or 2-CD]

On Tour in the Tri-State

Bangles - Indianapolis [10/9]
Adrian Belew - Covington [10/6]; Indianapolis [10/27]
Chicago - Louisville [12/7]
Iris Dement - Kent [1/6]
Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart - Madison [1/22]
Kathy Griffin - Cleveland [10/23]
Herman's Hermits - Newport [10/14]; Marion [1/13]
John Hiatt - Cincinnati [10/7]
Jayhawks - Athens [10/9]; Nelsonville [10/11]; Bloomington [10/12]; Louisville [10/14]
Huey Lewis & the News - Newark [10/23]
Manhattan Transfer - Carmel [12/3]
Willie Nelson - Akron [10/18]; Richmond, KY [10/19]
Maura O'Connell - Cleveland [10/14]
Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Bloomington [10/13]; Louisville [11/6]
Paul Simon - Columbus [11/19]; Bloomington [11/20]; Cincinnati [11/22]; Akron [11/23]
Franki Valli - Belterra [10/15]
Joe Walsh - Cleveland [10/26]; Cincinnati [10/27]

Reviews

Randy Newman - The Randy Newman Songbook volume 2 - I'm a Randy Newman fan. This year I fulfilled a dream by seeing him live in concert. But I don't get the point of this project. I understand that he's showcasing his songwriting by just using voice and piano, but these versions aren't that different from the originals. In fact, I'd say Newman is most known for his voice and piano. It's not like his albums have been overproduced. A nice listen, but something of pointless exercise.

Join Us - They Might Be Giants - I'm a loyal fan. If I like an artist, I generally stick with them, buying their new releases sight unheard. I was like that with TMBG, but after 1996's "Factory Showroom", it's been touch and go. I've enjoyed their children's songs, but avoided their rock albums. This most recent was billed as something of a return to form, to their alt-rock heroics of the "Flood" era. That it may be. It might be good, but I'm having a hard time getting into it. Thus the birth of my pet theory that there may be a finite amount of They Might Be Giants to be enjoyed. That after the first 10 years, you kind of have all you need. I hope I'm wrong and there are surprises to come. They just don't come in "Join Us."

And now, guest reviewer Jim Bates -
Neil Young - A Treasure - One of the nice things about live Neil Young is that it will strip away the artifice of Neil’s current project and return to a sound that is just pure Neil. In his latest Archives release, Neil returns to his 1980s International Harvester days. While it could be argued that there isn’t that much of a difference between "Harvest" and "Old Ways," at times it seemed like Neil was just posing as a country singer. With "A Treasure," Neil sounds like country-rock Neil with a kickass country band backing him up. Yes, there is banjo. pedal steel and fiddle, but it is clearly Neil Young...not some guy who sounds like Neil Young trying to hang with Waylon Jennings.

The album opens with the unreleased “Amber Jean,” a simple paean to his daughter. Other songs appearing on an album for the first time include the slashing “Grey Riders,” “Nothing is Perfect,” a wild west song about telephones “Let Your Finger Do The Walking,” and the ‘80s live standard “Soul of a Woman.” Also included is a rare Neil Young cover of “It Might Have Been.” The only "Old Ways" entries are “Bound For Glory,” much better with a full Neil Young vocal, and “Get Back to the Country,” which features some tasty banjo work by Anthony Crawford. We also get, for the first time, Neil singing his Buffalo Springfield standard “Flying on the Ground is Wrong” and Harvest’s “Are You Ready For The Country.” Finally, how can you not love an album with not one, but two songs from "Re-ac-tor"? “Motor City” sounds a little silly today with its 'Buy Detroit' theme, but it's still big fun, and “South Pacific” sounds great in this arrangement.

Overall, this is a great album. While I have no idea what the general opinion was in the mid-'80s...and I guess not so great, as Geffen Records sued Neil over his "Old Ways" album...in 2011 it sounds like just another brick in the wall of Neil Young.

P.S.: Please Neil, don’t make us buy this disc again when you get around to the 80s Archives box set! I’m still pissed and disappointed with Archives I for that reason.

OH, TO HAVE LIVED IN LAKE COUNTY

2011-09-23T22:42:00.006-04:00

If you lived in Lake County, Ohio in the 1970s/80s, then you had a real treat when it came to the Sunday funnies. The comic strips were packaged as a 32-page comic book. 38 strips in color, 22 of them full page. And what strips! This thing had strips I never knew about and some I'd only heard about. This week I've reproduced the strips that simultaneously had comic books on the newsstand. From the 25 MAY 1980 edition.

Hulk? Conan? All that's missing is Amazing Spider-Man, conspicuous in its absence.
A bit of a cheat, as Tarzan's Marvel comic ended in 1979. But worth including for the rarely seen Tarzan art of comics legend Gil Kane.
I always heard about this one and it's good to finally see it. Nice work by Tuska & Colletta.
Russ Manning still a titanic talent near the end of his career. Poor Luke and Han are in the same clothes from the movie!
There was a Star Trek comic strip?!? Surprise to me. A bit clunky, but still neat to see. Watch that fighting stance, Chekov!
Archie, of course, had more comics under his name than all the above combined!
OK, a total cheat, as there was no Steve Canyon comic book in 1980 (or more accurately post 1959), but it's my blog, darnit!

To correct or not to correct. Some of the strips I've left yellowed as they exist today. Others I fooled with in Photoshop. Which is more authentic? Which do you prefer? Let me know!

CINCINNATI COMIC EXPO REPORT 2011

2011-09-18T07:34:00.020-04:00

The second ever Cincinnati Comic Expo was held this past weekend. I was very excited for this show after the terrific time I had at the first one. At first I was concerned when they announced that the venue would be the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati on the same weekend as Oktoberfest, Cincinnati's largest public event. However, that event was several blocks away and had no effect on travel or parking. The Convention Center was ideal, and a marked improvement over last year's venue.
This year's guest of honor was Jim Steranko. I think of Steranko as the Buddy Holly of comics - minimal output with a strong legacy of influence. Steranko (pictured at right) is a delight; a raconteur who carries himself like a former matinee idol. He kindly signed my copies of his "History of Comics" and an issue of "Mediascene", both pioneering efforts in comics scholarship and reportage. His panel was very entertaining, with Steranko spinning tales of his upbringing and tantalizing, perhaps embellished, stories of his early years in comics.

Returning this year was guest Michael Uslan. Uslan is best known as a producer of the Batman movies, having secured the film rights in the late '70s when no one else thought a Batman movie was a feasible or sensible idea. He's had an interesting career, both in and out of comics, which he's put into an autobiography - The Boy Who Loved Batman. Caniffites may know Uslan as the writer/instigator of the updated "Terry & the Pirates" strip from 1995. Uslan told this reporter that he's very close to a deal on a "Terry" movie, with Gong Li in mind to play the Dragon Lady.
It's always good to see artist Chris Sprouse. At last year's Mid-Ohio, he drew a sketch of Steve Canyon for me. I asked him to try out the Dragon Lady, and below are the amazing results!

My pal Ted asked Chris for Dum Dum Dugan of the Howling Commandos.

Nearly every Thursday night, Up Up and Away hosts a comic book trivia contest at Maury's Tiny Cove, a westside landmark. Store owner Kendall Swafford presented a version of the regular game at the Expo. I'm proud to say my team tied for 2nd place!
Also returning this year was Golden Age artist Allen Bellman. Last year, Bellman told me a nice story about how he snuck into a Caniff radio show appearance. This year, he told me about how he attended a National Cartoonists Society dinner. He was there with his lovely date and his rented tux. Caniff entered and was walking by him. "Mr. Caniff," he began, hoping to engage his artistic hero. "Excuse me, I have some people waiting," said Caniff, walking on. "Caniff snubbed me!" Bellman told me, still stinging at the perceived affront.
I didn't meet Archie Comics legend Stan Goldberg, but my pal Ted did and he also got a sketch. Leave it to Ted to bypass the obvious choices and ask for a drawing of Midge, Moose's girlfriend.

There were lots of great costumes this year. Here I am with Wildcat and Power Girl (thank you, Wally Wood)!

All in all, a terrific show from top to bottom. There were some great buys in the dealers room and the whole event was bright with an atmosphere of optimism and camaraderie. Good luck topping this one, fellas!

* Steranko photo by Steven Thompson.

Steve Canyon color proof

2011-09-11T21:14:00.006-04:00

A 'Steve Canyon' color proof from February 24, 1952. I love that border on the bottom...

MILTON CANIFF NEWS - SEPTEMBER 2011

2011-09-06T21:45:00.001-04:00

STEVE CANYON ON DVD VOL. 3 RELEASE DATE. This week, John Ellis of the Milton Caniff Estate announced the release date for Volume 3 of the "Steve Canyon" TV series on DVD. The much-anticipated conclusion to Ellis' loving restoration happens November 14th. Volume 2 was released in May 2009, with Volume 3 originally slated for Spring 2010. Ellis has had to overcome numerous obstacles, both financial and technical, to bring these shows to we, the public. If you have not pre-ordered, order yours today by going here!

CANIFF AUGUST - In the most exciting year since the Caniff centennial, three important Milton Caniff publications came out last month. CANIFF: A Visual Biography - an oversize page turner breathless packed with artwork, most of it rare and much of it unseen. Steve Canyon, The Complete Series, Volume One - collecting the Dell Steve Canyon comic books of the 1950s. Male Call - a complete reprinting of Caniff's WWII strip done exclusively for Camp Newpaper Services. I reviewed the Canyon book here. I'll have more on the other two books in the coming weeks.

The big announcement at San Diego this year (for Caniffites, that is) was that Dean Mullaney and the Library of American Comics will be reprinting 'Steve Canyon' in deluxe hardcovers beginning in 2012. These will be in the same format 'The Complete Terry & the Pirates' and will fit alongside them nicely both on your bookshelf and in your brain. Uncropped dailies...Sunday strips in Color...read more about the visual spectacle from Dean himself.

The Shel Dorf Awards will be given out in a ceremony at this year's Detroit Fanfare. This is the second year for the awards, named for Detroit native Shel Dorf, honoring the best in comics and comic creators. Dorf is best known as a founder of the San Diego Comic-Con, but Caniffites know him as letterer for 'Steve Canyon' from 1975 to 1988. Find out more about Dorf from one of my old posts.

The Hooded Utilitarian, a blog of cultural criticism, took an informal comics poll in May and June to try and discern the answer to this question: "What are the ten comics works you consider your favorites, the best, or the most significant?". They received 211 lists back and got some very interesting results. While comic strip works did rank highly, "Terry & the Pirates" ranked at 28th, a bit low to my mind, tied with American Splendor. "Peanuts", "Krazy Kat" and "Calvin and Hobbes" were the top three, with "Little Nemo" and "Pogo" also making the top ten. I guess 28th's not bad in a poll that covers comic strips and books. After all, it did beat Spider-Man. Bruce Canwell, wordsmith for the Library of American Comics, posted his own list and rationale for each. You should read that here.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

2011-08-31T00:28:00.006-04:00

DC Comics is relaunching their line in September, starting over with 52 new #1 issues. It's a bid to attract new readers and invigorate older ones. To publicize this event, many retailers across the country were open at midnight for the release of Justice League #1.

My local comic store - Up Up and Away in Cheviot - kicked things off at 11:08PM last night with a 52 minute sale. It was better attended than I thought it would be, but then, maybe most of these folks didn't have their alarms set for 6AM. Oh well, what's a little lost sleep where funnybooks are involved?

Matt with Up Up and Away owner Kendall Swafford.

A pretty good crowd for midnight at a comic book store.

You can't sleep here...go home, Matt!

FOUR COLOR FANTASY

2011-08-17T11:45:00.011-04:00

Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon: The Complete Series, Volume: One (Hermes Press)

Steve Canyon appeared annually from 1953 to 1959 as one-shots that were part of Dell Comics anthology series known as Four Color. Wouldn't it be great, I once wondered, if somebody collected these in one book? My thought was not alone in the ether. Hermes Press has just released a beautiful reprinting of these comics in hardcover.

John Ellis of the Milton Caniff Estate writes the introductory essay that gives a nice overview of Steve Canyon's history in the comic book field. The first Canyon comics were reformatted strips published by Harvey in the late 1940s. This lasted only six issues, not faring as well as 'Terry & the Pirates', which ran 11 years in the anthology title Popular Comics, as well as 28 issues of its own title.
The Four Color comics were not strip reprints, but original stories which introduced new characters. For six issues, Steve is aided by Tuck, a young sidekick similar to the strip's Reed Kimberly. In two of the three issues that center on the Civil Air Patrol, a young Civil Air Patrol officer named Janice becomes Tuck's love interest. The main gist of the stories typically involves Steve's role as an Air Force troubleshooter trying to protect U.S. interests from the Commies.
Each issue, save the last, has a painted cover. It's interesting to me that Four Color issues featuring humor strip characters (e.g., Beetle Bailey, Little King) have cartoon line art, but the ones with adventure strip heroes (Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim) have stunning painted covers. Each cover artist is different, but they continue to remain anonymous. They each reflect a scene from the story, except for issue #939, which happens to be the best of the bunch and was used as the stunning cover for this collection. The seventh issue has a photo cover, which was a tie-in to the "Steve Canyon" TV series. Ellis is 2/3 of the way through releasing crisp, remastered episodes of the complete series on DVD.
Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon comics are, for the most part, not by Caniff. The art chores were handled by William Overgard and Ray Bailey, two veteran strip artists of the "Caniff school" who could do a pretty good impersonation of the master. Overgard did the first issue and Bailey the other six. According to Ellis, Caniff did the inking of the Steve Canyon faces to provide continuity between the books and the strip (and likely to keep his own stamp/brand on the character). The stories are by the prolific Paul S. Newman, though Ellis suspects Caniff had a hand in the first. All are Caniffesque adventures stories, though admittedly they lack the snap of Caniff's dialogue.

All in all, a dream project made true by the folks at Hermes, who deliver a first rate, faithful reproduction of the comics. A great example of both restoration and preservation of comics no longer scattered and forgotten.

CANIFF AUCTIONS - RARITIES EDITION

2011-08-07T21:43:00.002-04:00

DRAWING TABLET - You're not likely to find many 50 year old drawing tablets lying around unused. This "Newspaper Comic Strip Stars" Drawing Tablet was released in 1959 by HyTone, a trademark of the Western Tablet & Stationery Corporation. Western Tablet was headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, where Caniff grew up and did his first professional art. Sharing the cover with Steve Canyon is Li'l Abner, drawn by Caniff's longtime pal Al Capp. The other "stars" are Harry Haenigsen's somewhat forgotten "Penny" and Harry Hanan's "Louie", a pantomime strip so obscure that I'm surprised Dean Mullaney hasn't done a collection yet.

The inner cover had "how to" instructions for drawing the comic stars. How to go from an oval and square to a perfect 'Steve Canyon' face in two steps? I think we're missing something! This went unused and unbid at $19.95.

APRIL KANE PRINT
Unable to satisfy the demand for original drawings, Caniff had prints made of his best-known characters. He would then personalize them and often hand-colored them. They pop up on eBay quite frequently, but mostly of Steve Canyon, Burma, Terry, Dragon Lady and Flip Corkin. I've never seen the April Kane print before. The seller didn't know who know who she was, titling her "grouchy young lady." This made it onto somebody's wall for $203.50.

STEVE CANYON FLIGHT SUIT
I wrote last month about a rare child's Steve Canyon flight suit up for auction and going unsold. I no sooner mentioned that I'd never seen one before when this one comes up - the same product, only brand new and still in the box! It may be one of a kind, but it didn't move on the minimum price of $565.

WOMEN IN THE AIR FORCE RESERVE
Even before Terry Lee got in a cockpit, Milton Caniff was a booster for the US military. Here's one of the many (no doubt gratis) jobs he did for Uncle Sam. It's a recruitment sign for the Women's Air Force Reserve. It's not dated, but the art looks like '60s, maybe early '70s Caniff. A rarity, to be sure, but at $40 it found no recruits!

CANIFF NEWS - JULY 2011

2011-07-27T16:37:00.002-04:00

The most anticipated book of 2011 - CANIFF: A Visual Biography - is almost here! It's still due for August 2nd. Read more about it here.

Hermes Press gives a one-two punch to wind up summer. Steve Canyon: The Complete Series v.1, reprinting Steve's adventures in Dell Four Color, will be released a week after CANIFF on August 9th. Male Call, the collection of Caniff's wartime Camp News Services strips, is now set for September 15th.

Hermes Press has also announced a deluxe reprint project for Frank Robbins' Johnny Hazard. As far as artists of the Caniff school go, Robbins was top of his class. Hazard, about an aviating man of action, ran over 30 years. There were two separate reprint series in the 1980s, but those are hard to come by, so this project is welcome news. Johnny Hazard, Volume One-The Newspaper Dailies: 1944-1946 is also due in September.

The National Aviation Hall of Fame held their induction ceremony on July 15th and 16th. The Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to the advancement of flight, was given to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. It is the 65th anniversary of the Blue Angels, a Navy squadron known for their choreographed aerobatics in F/A-18 Hornets.

The National Cartoonists Society held their annual Reuben Awards in May. The awards weekend, held in Boston, were the Society's 65th. The Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to R.O. Blechman, a cartoonist and animator known for his squiggly line. His latest books are 'Dear James', his wealth of experiences presented as letters to a young cartoonist, and 'Talking Lines', a collection of his cartoon narratives.
Photo above by David Folkman. See more of Folkman's photos from the event here,

Finally, a humorous look at R.C. Harvey's 2007 biography of Caniff that was presented at the Reubens. Creator Tom Gammill follows "the Donner Book Party" on their harrowing journey through the 900 page tome.

CANIFF PANELS

2011-07-17T22:24:00.009-04:00

A new auction catalog by Heritage is up on their site for the comic & comic art auction they're holding in August. It contains a Caniff bounty of 17 original strips. Rather than post a few or them all, and to whet your appetite for the new CANIFF art book, I picked out some choice panels for reader enjoyment...

6/1/1939. A great thing about originals is seeing Caniff's strip titles in the upper right.

9/20/1938

7/6/1940

4/18/1946

2/9/1958

Something you don't see too often. Late-model Caniff from 4/25/1978.
7/27/47. Happy Easter stating a Caniff philosophy akin to the Pilot's Creed strip of four years previous.

ANDREW AT 5

2011-07-09T00:09:00.002-04:00

Many of you know my son Andrew passed in 2006 after living for only 65 days. I wrote about him on this blog last year. He died five years ago this week. It's getting harder and harder to put into words, so I made a video. Sadly, I only have an hour of video. I wish I had a hundred.

GENE COLAN (1926-2011)

2011-06-28T15:01:00.029-04:00

While preparing last week's article on the late Lew Sayre Schwartz I learned of the death of Gene Colan. Colan was a giant of comics art, and I regret that it took me so long to appreciate him. As a kid, I shied away from Colan's work. This was the early '80s, and I preferred the clean lines of a John Byrne or Mike Zeck. I didn't care for Colan's pencil work, which was too moody for my taste...shadowy, seemingly loose and muddy. And that wasn't just his contemporary work, which then was NIGHT FORCE for DC. Even in my quest to own every issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, I hesitantly bought issues from his two year run. Whatever it was that made him a Marvel Comics mainstay in the '60s and '70s, I wasn't seeing it. It only took me about ten years to appreciate Jack Kirby, but 20 for Colan.
Colan, like most artists of his era, was a devotee of Milton Caniff. According to Tom Field's biography of Colan, his favorite strips were Caniff's TERRY & THE PIRATES and Colton Waugh's DICKIE DARE. 'Dickie' was the strip created by Caniff before 'Terry'. "I can even remember the smell of the newsprint," he told Field, "I'd put the paper right up to my face."¹ In addition to Field's book, Colan gave several career-spanning interviews over the past decade. What follows are his salient remarks about Caniff...

Terry & the Pirates, 5/11/1937

Gene Colan's art is known for its use of shadows, inspired by film noir and Caniff's chiaroscuro. "[Caniff's] work always inspired me. I would go for the Daily News every week, the weekend edition with the full color page of his work and I was just drawn to it like a fly to flypaper. I loved his stuff. Just loved it. And I guess that was my biggest influence. There were so many other great artists like Alex Raymond and Hal Foster, and they were really fine illustrators, but Milton Caniff had a very solid black and white look and since I loved to do things so heavily in black I was attracted to it."²

Terry & the Pirates, 2/17/1945

"He used heavy blacks in the folds of the clothes. His room interiors, his exteriors I just loved his work. I never met him. The closest I ever came I saw a picture of him in the news paper and I’d imagined him not anything at all like the way he was. I pictured him like Terry."³

Terry & the Pirates, 5/24/1945

The work of Caniff and other cartoonists was a foundation, but Colan gradually developed his own signature style. "I always loved [Caniff's] work," Colan told the Comics Journal, "[I]t was loaded with shadow work. But you get your own ideas as you go along. Somehow or other, [my own drawing] glided into something else, unconsciously. Like handwriting. You don’t know why you write your name in a particular way. But that's the way you write it. You don’t know what brought that about."⁴

Some very Caniff-esque Colan panels from 'My Greatest Adventure' #74 (12/1962)

"He did everything within a border," said Colan of Caniff, "a straight border. Everyone in those years did it that way too. I started out doing it that way. After a while, I noticed that you could get more action in it if you changed the shape of the panel or eliminated them all together."⁵

Caniff was a "wonderful artist," Colan said, "very original. Several people have imitated Caniff's style to a 'tee'. Lee Elias drew very much like Caniff. Biggest compliment that anyone could give you." ⁵

The old man on the cover of the same issue is decidedly Colan

¹Field, Tom; Colan, Gene; "Secrets in the shadows: the art & life of Gene Colan", 1995, TwoMorrows; This book is rare and out of print, but can be read via Google Books. Field's comprehensive obituary of Colan is found here.

²Stroud, Bryan; "The Silver Age Sage Interviews Gene Colan"; The complete interview here.

³ Previews; "Gene Colan: Comics 'Iron Man'"; The complete interview here.

⁴Rodman, Larry, "The Gene Colan Interview", The Comics Journal; The interview is here.

⁵Neal, Raymond, "Comic Legend Gene Colan", UGO Entertainment; the interview is found here

LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ (1926-2011)

2011-06-21T11:58:00.031-04:00

Lew Sayre Schwartz died a couple of weeks ago (June 7th). Schwartz is best known as one of several early Batman artists who were anonymous to comic book fans for years because they did "ghost" work for Bob Kane. Kane, co-creator of Batman, outsourced his Batman work to other artists, but then signed his own name. Schwartz worked for Kane from 1948-53.¹ Schwartz moved on to ghosting a couple of comic strips before going into the advertising field and producing commercials. In 1982, he produced a documentary on Milton Caniff, but his association with Caniff started long before that.

TwoMorrows publisher Jon Cooke did a comprehensive interview with Schwartz for Alter Ego². Schwartz told Cooke that he grew up loving the comic strips, and got turned on to Milton Caniff's work at age 13. He began a youthful correspondence with Caniff, which evolved into Caniff being something of a mentor and father figure to Schwartz. Though Schwartz never made a name for himself in strips, he worked on staff at King Features both before the war and during the 1950s. Schwartz joined the National Cartoonist Society in 1946, in the first year of its founding by Caniff and others. To Schwartz, comic books were inferior to comic strips, and he didn't mind that his Batman work was anonymous. In Alter Ego, he and Cooke had this exchange:
SCHWARTZ: I didn't mind at all the fact that nobody knew about me. In some respects, I didn't want Caniff or Alex Raymond to know that I was drawing "Batman," and they were friends of mind.
COOKE: Really? You didn't even tell Caniff that you were drawing "Batman"?
SCHWARTZ: Never...I never told Milt.
COOKE: Were you ashamed?
SCHWARTZ: At that particular time it was beneath my status...or my objectives. Let's put it that way.

Even after Schwartz left comics, the two kept in touch. As told in the documentary, as well as the Cooke interview and R.C. Harvey's Caniff biography, Caniff helped him out of a non-comics jam. Schwartz and his production company were working on the title sequence for Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove." Fearing the film's sentiment, the military had cut off their cooperation. The problem was, Kubrick needed footage of the atomic bomb explosion for his ending. Kubrick asked Schwartz if he had any contacts, and Schwartz said "I only know one guy." Caniff, from his WWII work and post-war military boosterism, especially of the Air Force, was a friend of the military. "Why don't you ask me for something hard," Caniff said. He then a called a general who then talked to Schwartz and had only question, "Do you need 16mm or 35mm?"

Schwartz self-financed a documentary about Caniff in 1982. It includes Schwartz interviewing Caniff (see picture at top) as well as Noel Sickles, Mort Walker and others. It may be the only video interview footage of Sickles in existence. The documentary relates many interesting anecdotes and is a nice look at Caniff at age 75, still plugging away at his craft. The video is bookended by fellow Eagle Scout Walter Cronkite, giving due praise to Caniff as a national treasure.

I'm racking my brain trying to think of where and when I met Lew Sayre Schwartz. It was at a comic show in 2002. I'm not sure what we talked about as the memory is very fuzzy. He had a copy of his Caniff documentary, but none for sale. He said I could order one from him and he'd mail it to me. He sent me a postcard after receipt of the check, letting me know they were doing the transfer to VHS and would mail it out soon. Lew Sayre Schwartz was a very nice guy who led an interesting life.

The Caniff documentary was only sold briefly by Schwartz himself, but there was no commercial release. Schwartz followed up his Caniff documentary with one on Norman Rockwell. DVD copies are available here.

¹Schwartz's earliest Batman work has been collected in Batman Archives volumes 6 and 7. Volume 6 can be found for $25-40, but 7 is rare, going for around $100.

²Alter Ego #51 from TwoMorrows Publishing can be purchased here.

MEDIASCENE - COMICS NEWS OF 35 YEARS AGO!

2011-06-15T22:31:00.005-04:00

In anticipation of meeting comics legend Jim Steranko at this year's Cincinnati Comic Expo, I pulled out an old issue of Mediascene. Mediascene (formerly Comixscene and later Prevue) was Steranko's bi-monthly periodical that had features and news on comics and genre movies. It was a pioneer in the comic book news field, treating comics as a serious subject a decade before the Comics Journal and Amazing Heroes came around. The issue on hand is #19, from May-June, 1976. Here are some clippings that present an intriguing look at the industry of 35 years ago!

Mediascene was printed like a newspaper, in two tabloid-size sections. The picture above was the cover to the second section, cover comics news. I was shocked to see not only the picture but the article. The 'Superman vs. Muhammed Ali' comic¹ is a now-legendary art job by Neal Adams, in which real-life super hero Ali and Superman join forces. It was just reprinted last year in two separate hardcover editions. So, what happened to Kubert between the above blurb and the book's publication in December 1977?

Legendary letter, John Workman, told 'Comic Book Artist' magazine that Ali's people didn't like Kubert's art. DC Comics sent them samples of other artists to choose from, and the one they preferred was Kurt Schaffenberger. DC convinced them to go with fan-favorite Neal Adams over the dependable but less dynamic Schaffenberger.² Deferring to the master, Adams has obviously used Kubert's drawing as his cover layout.

Just a snippet of a long article on editorial changes at DC and their new royalty policy. 'Hey, comic creator, thanks for creating a new character that we will print and merchandise in perpetuity. Here's $10. Save it, and in 30 years buy a statue we've made of the same character. And hey, free cake beats profit participation any day.' Still, it was the best deal going. The "Colletta" referred to in the article is Vince Colletta, who had just been named DC's Art Director, a post he would hold for the next three years.Many may scoff at this praise for Colletta, generally derided as an inker, sacrificing quality in pursuit of speed. I've never been a Colletta hater, though his habit of erasing out some pencils was odious. A fresh look was taken at Colletta's work in this book from last year. What interested me is the idea that now that he wasn't on a deadline crunch, his inking would be better. Well, did it get better?

The rumored story was either heavily edited or went unpublished. The only romance book DC had in 1976 was YOUNG LOVE. At the time of this issue of Mediascene, Young Love was in the middle of an 8 month hiatus - 11/75 - 8/76. All the issues carried the code seal, and the book was cancelled the following April.

After DC stopped publishing Tarzan comics, Marvel started publishing them about three months later. So, what happened to the Burroughs' comics company announced in the article? According to a 2010 message board post from Evanier - "It may interest folks that when H-B took the rights away from Charlton, their initial plan was to start a new company called Hanna-Barbera Comics and publish books themselves. They went out and found that the major comic book distributors (mainly Independent, which was DC, and Curtis, which was Marvel) had such a lock on newsstand distribution that it was impossible to get space on the newsstands. A few years earlier, the Edgar Rice Burroughs company had the exact same experience when they took the rights to Tarzan away from DC and tried to start their own company. Like H-B, they ultimately had to admit there was no way to get their product distributed and they sold the package to Marvel...and regretted it."

This blurb mentions four DC books that have been shelved for the moment. MISTER MIRACLE and BLACK LIGHTNING did later appear, but what of the other two? I'm guessing PANZER was a war book, but what could SEXTET have been? The same article mentions a new Seven Soldiers of Victory title that never emerged, as well as the news that Detective Comics was going bi-monthly.

I hope "The Star Wars" works out for Roy and Howie. If the movie tanks, maybe they can make a go of the comic anyway.

In other movie news, Superman is in pre-production. According to Mediascene, Marlon Brando has been signed to play Jor-El. "[DC Comics President] Sol Harrison told us he would like to see either Telly Savales or Gene Hackman appear as Lex Luthor. Burt Reynolds is still not signed for the title role, and as more time passes, his possible involvement in the film diminishes." Oh, Burt and Telly...why oh why did we have to wait until "Cannonball Run II" until you found a project to do together?!?

Finally, the issue ends with a nice two-page spread detailing the opening and curriculum of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. The school recently celebrated its 35th year by changing it's name to The Kubert School. I'm guessing with all the work that went into founding the school, Joe wasn't too upset with losing the Muhammed Ali job!

¹Yes, the real title of the comic is "All-New Collectors' Edition" #C-56. But then, you knew that already.

²Workman, John, "Ringside Seat", Comic Book Artist Collection, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2000

MEDIASCENE 19, May-June 1976, published by Supergraphics. Jim Steranko, Publisher and Editor.

RECENT CANIFF AUCTIONS - UNBID EDITION

2011-06-07T22:11:00.002-04:00

watch auctions of Milton Caniff-related items pretty regularly. A majority of them go unbid, usually due to the seller's inflated expectation of what something is worth. For example, there are currently three separate auctions for Steve Canyon Magazine #18. The condition of the books are about the same, but the starting bids are $16, $20 and $35. A nice copy can be generally had for $7-10, so it's no surprise these auctions will likely come and go without a sale. This week we'll look at interesting items that weren't overvalued, but still went unbid.

The J. Halpern Company, also known as Halco, was one of the 'Steve Canyon' licensees during the time late 1950s television series. Halco was a Pittsburgh-based toy company that made, among other things, costumes and dress-up clothes for kids. This first item is a Steve Canyon Halloween costume, produced under the "Super Halco" brand hame. This is the only example I've ever seen of this costume, and it appears to be in terrific shape. It was a steal at $10, but was not bid on.

Also from Halco, this children's dress-up Steve Canyon flight suit. The seller noted how he had a hard time finding any information on it, and no wonder. This only other time I've seen one of these is in the database of the Cartoon Research Library. The seller thought it was from the 1940s, but it's from 1959. The seller was correct in describing it as "quite rare." Not bid on, but it was a good deal at $29.00

'Terry & the Pirates', like many comic strips in the '30s, was also a radio program. Every afternoon, millions of fans, including Milton Caniff, followed the 15-minute installments of Terry, Pat and company. One common gimmick involved sendaway premiums for the program's listeners. This one comes from late in the show's run, from the show's sponsor, Quaker Oats. The brass base has adjustable bands with small images of dragons and brass band holding the aluminum tube on top. The rest you must glean from the vintage ad. I'm not too sure what a colloid is, but I think it's a microscopic particle or something. Hake's price guide puts this item between $100-200, but it went unbid on at $40.00.

Most cartoonists who did speaking engagements would incorporate a "chalk talk," a drawing demonstration on a board or large sheet of paper. By the 1980s, when this piece was created, Caniff had five decades of chalk talk experience. According to the seller, this was done in Dayton, Ohio. Caniff must have been delighted to be in front of a hometown crowd. This was one of three sketches up for auction. This one of Steve Canyon went unbid at $400, though another 'Canyon' character, Cheetah, did sell at that price.

From our "half a Terry is better than none" department comes this partial Sunday page. This one is frpm October 4, 1942. According to the seller, it's from the estate of the late Marvel Comics great Don Heck. This one has been relisted several times, first for $1200, then $950 and $900. Now it's back to $1200!?! I did see another partial from '43 that sold for $820. This one is the victim of high expectations.
Minimum bid of $1200.

CANIFF NEWS - MAY/JUNE 2011

2011-05-31T22:51:00.000-04:00

CANIFF, the new art book from the Library of American Comics, will be released in July. Meanwhile, the book's editor and designer, Dean Mullaney, occasionally teases us with goodies from the upcoming tome. Here's a recent post.
Speaking of the LoAC, their recent book on Alex Toth has me paining at only being able to read a snippet before bedtime. "GENIUS, ISOLATED: The Life and Art of Alex Toth" is by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell. They've struck a goldmine here, presenting stories from Toth's career, often from the original art. Toth was a devotee of Caniff, evolving into mutual admiration. For more on the book, here's a nice review by fellow Caniffite Randy Reynaldo.

The tenacious John Ellis has just provided an update on the upcoming release of Volume 3 of the "Steve Canyon" TV series on DVD. You can find that on the official blog. One problem is that the deeper he digs, the more gold he finds. A good problem to have, Caniffites! Ellis thanks us for our patience, but I think for something unseen by most for over 50 years, we can stand the wait a little. Volume 3 is available for Pre-Order.

A new exhibit opened this month at the Reading Room of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. 'Dick Tracy: Chester Gould's Blueprint Expressionism' offers a fresh look at everyone's favorite comic strip detective. The exhibit was assembled by Museum curator Jenny Robb and Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman. The exhibit (details here), runs until August 19th.

Mark Ferenchik of the Columbus Dispatch tried to uncover the mystery of three intersecting roads named Caniff in this April 24th Article - Where We Live.

Steve Canyon is part of the montage in this George Perez cover for Comics Revue #300. The above was posted by Perez on his Facebook page, along with this description - "After experimenting on some private commissions, I decided to try my pencil tone-to color technique on a cover that would actually be published. On the left, is the original marker and pencil tone illustration I drew for the cover of COMICS REVUE #300. On the right is what it looks like after I digitally converted the grays to color. I think it makes for two very unique pieces. Hopefully the publisher-- and you all-- like the results."

We do, George. We do! "Steve Canyon" strip reprints have appeared in all but 32 issues over the magazines 25 year history. The strips currently running are from 1971 and include color reproductions of the Sunday strips. In addition to "Canyon", the magazine runs 18 other strips, including Alley Oop, Mac Raboy's "Flash Gordon" and Russ Manning's "Tarzan". It can be ordered from your comics retailer, Bud Plant or directly from Manuscript Press at PO BOX 336, Mountain Home TN 37684

WONDERFEST 2011

2011-05-16T13:00:00.020-04:00

On May 14th I attended my second ever Wonderfest, the show for model & toy collectors of the sci-fi, horror and superhero genres. While I enjoyed the show and hanging out with some compadres, the show fell short of last year's (read that report here). Two of the things I was most interested in didn't happen. SFX legend Richard Edlund was going to be a guest, but he cancelled earlier this month. A highlight from last year was the premiere of the documentary "The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped the World." This year Wonderfest promoted the premiere of a sequel - "The Aurora Monsters & Beyond". Well, it's not finished, so all we got was a sneak peek. While the overall presentation was entertaining, it was a disappointment. Fortunately, Bossk DID show up.

The model contest displays were the highlight of the show for me. I'm amazed by the creativity, dedication and skill it takes to make models like those below. Some of you may see these and think, "That person has too much time on their hands." I think the exact opposite is true. We live in an age of bountiful entertainment wonders. Even if you're just interested in a specific genre, such as science fiction, the availability of the new along with the archive of the past is staggering. There is no way to see, do, read, enjoy it all. Someone with the time and attention to make models like these is always thinking of his next dozen projects. All the things he'd like to do as well as the work of others he'd like to enjoy. There will not enough time for it all. That makes the hours spent on the finished product all the more impressive.
A snowspeeder from "The Empire Strikes Back".

A 1:1 model of Nomad from "The Changeling" episode of "Star Trek". Fortunately, as its mission is to destroy all life, it appears to have been deactivated.

One of my obsessions left over from childhood is "The Black Hole", Disney's plodding, haunting answer to "Star Wars". Brightening up the unusually grim affair is the shiny silver and red robot named V.I.N.C.E.N.T., the cleverest and most capable crewmember of the Palomino. Here someone has made a life-size replica. Could a working model be far behind?

That's about it from me. I recommend making plans for Wonderfest 2012. Where else are you going to get your Hannibal Lecter heads?!?

CITIZEN SUPERMAN

2011-05-09T22:31:00.014-04:00

With the above panel, from Action Comics #900, a media firestorm emerged. The news of Superman's controversial decision hit the mainstream thanks to Fox News, the Washington Times, the New York Post, becoming international news. Superman's words came from David Goyer, a writer best known for scripting the recent Batman films and the next Superman movie. Many fans saw the story as a smack in the face, and DC's co-publishers quickly backpedaled, stating that Superman "embodies the best of the American Way."

Here with a guest editorial is longtime comics fan Jerry Smith -

AN OPEN LETTER TO DC COMICS -

My first comic book was Superman #193. My mom bought it for me before I could read, but I knew who Superman was. I later found out the main story was an “imaginary” tale where Lex Luthor killed Superman and heroes were lined up for miles to pay their last respects to his dead body. That’s how I feel now.

I’ll save you the recounting of my Superman comics, statues, artwork, action figures, etc. Let’s just say I’m a devoted, long-term fan. I love Superman. And of course I am writing about the tragedy of Superman supposedly renouncing his American citizenship in Action Comics #900.

Let me get this out of the way: Superman would never, EVER renounce his American citizenship. Clark Kent was raised in Kansas in by decent, loving parents. By all accounts and Superman’s past actions, this led to a well-adjusted son who loved his (adopted) country. Such a person would grow up loving their country and would not renounce his citizenship under any circumstances.

I’ll be honest, it was hard to read, and harder to type, Superman saying “I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship.” Why would he do this? Because he is “tired of having [his] actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy?” Who thinks that and why would it matter? Superman doesn’t have the right to protest injustice without denouncing America? That’s a major part of what it means to be an American! That is the American Way. And he thinks that is a reason to turn his back on his country?

The language of Superman’s traitorous statement has obviously been carefully considered. Take the word “renounce.” To me, the word “renounce” means “I reject you. I reject all that you are and ever will be. I want nothing to do with you, your policies or what you stand for.” Is that DC Comics’ intention? If so, why? Do you hate America? I really have to ask the question.
This story was negative and ham-handed. Superman wants a more global focus? I thought he already had one. But considering that is true, why did he have to stop being an American? Why did he have to reject and spit on America? There was a great Silver Age story where the United Nations bestows on Superman honorary citizenship of every country in the world, unanimously voted on by those countries. Why didn’t you refer to or recreate that story? No, you had to “stick it” to America, not make Superman a citizen of the world. Why didn’t that even occur to the writer or editor of this story? It implies a real lack of love for the U.S.A. That’s fine if its how you feel, but why force that on Superman?

Like it or not, Superman is an American icon. I love the part in John Byrne’s “Man of Steel” where Superman talks about growing up in America and thinking of himself as an American. What is the problem with being connected with U.S. policy? Does Superman hate freedom and democracy?
Also, there is a concerted effort by DC to disavow the corny old “Truth, Justice and the American Way,” both overall and in this story. I love that saying, and take it for what it is; fighting for the idealized America of our founding fathers, not the imperfect America of reality. DC Comics and the Warner Bros. movie people are so afraid of that line, they’re afraid of people thinking they like their own country. What’s wrong with fighting for those things? Are American ideals of equality and opportunity so bad? Sure, sometimes that’s not reality, but no country is perfect. At least we try.

Like the writers and editors who came before you, you are stewards of the heroes you publish until the next generation comes along. You have failed in that stewardship. You let politics and anti-American prejudice infuse a story about your flagship character, Superman. You let us down.

Here’s what I plan to do about it. I am writing this letter to ask you to undo this story. My over 400 issue in a row Action Comics run comes to an end with #900 (I dropped Superman when JMS came on board, but I have a similar run of that book as well). No more new Superman for me. I was interested in the Flashpoint books with creative teams I liked, but I’ll be skipping the entire crossover now. I’m whittling the Batman books down to the eponymous one. Green Lantern is a bit diluted with all the GL books, I think I’ll drop a few of those too. I can’t say I’ll boycott DC as a company (nor am I urging others to do so), but I will drop things to the absolute bare minimum.

Yes, Superman is a fictional character and who really cares? I do. This story has rocked my world, and not in a good way. You’ve lost another long-time reader with an unnecessary story, using an iconic character as an anti-American political shill. Can you at least ask yourselves why you would do such a thing? And possibly explain it to me?

By the way, the “Evolution of the Man of Tomorrow” illustration by Brian Stelfreeze at the end of Action Comics #900 portrays the modern Superman proudly holding an American flag. Shouldn’t this be digitally removed from future printings?

Sincerely,

Jerry Smith

FOOTNOTES

Action Comics #900 panels - scan taken from the site that broke the story, the indispensable Bleeding Cool.

Funeral picture from Superman #159 - "The Death of Superman" by Jerry Siegel & Curt Swan; reprinted in Superman #193, 'The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told' and 'DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories'.

United Nations panel from Limited Collector's Edition #C-31, according to this message board post.

Superman 'Back to School Poster', 1988

BILL BLACKBEARD (1926-2011)

2011-04-25T16:35:00.018-04:00

The news that Bill Blackbeard passed away on March 10th led to an outpouring of accolades and remembrances on several comic sites, some from those who knew him. I didn't know Blackbeard. To me, he was a legendary figure, his name appearing as author, editor or contributor to almost anything I read involving reprinted comic strips. Like his pirate namesake, Blackbeard transformed from a man into a mythical figure. Indeed, his contribution to comics reflects a supernatural dedication.

I had written my own pithy backstory of Blackbeard, but this uncredited writer did it so well I thought I'd run it instead¹ -

Here was a man whose obsession for collecting provided a great boon for the rest of us. Researchers and publishers plumbed this most complete collection of comic strips. Strips that would be lost or forgotten, or mere footnotes, are known or collected because of Blackbeard. Yes, to some it may seem strange, that he had comics piled from floor to ceiling, in almost every room of his home, so that the world would remember Krazy Kat and his ilk. His contribution to the preservation of the comics medium is unmatched. Dean Mullaney is editor of the Library of American Comics, the premiere publisher of comic strip reprints. He put it the most succinctly on his heartfelt blog entry - "We owe it all to Bill."

For anyone interested in the life and work of Bill Blackbeard, I recommend this article by Jenny Robb, curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum (click on the .pdf file).

Meanwhile, here's what Blackbeard wrote of our favorite subject, Milton Caniff² -

¹ Caniff, Milton, 'Steve Canyon Meets Happy Easter', 1977, Comic Art Publishing Co., Concord, CA, p.3
² Ibid.
Top Photo - Blackbeard at his home, undated/San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection/Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

UNPUBLISHED TERRY

2011-04-18T14:55:00.023-04:00

A recent 'Terry & the Pirates' original art auction on eBay had a unique twist. Offered for sale was the strip that was published on January 14, 1942, as well as a heretofore unseen unpublished version! [click to enlarge pictures]

Above is the published version.

Above is the unpublished version. This was drawn first. Apparently there was some objection to the fourth panel and Caniff was asked to redo it. I'm sure Caniff being asked to redraw a panel was a rarity in itself, particularly at the peak of his career. It's not really a key strip and it has none of the main characters. It only has Sammy the Tapper, a minor villain who was getting his kicks blackmailing Terry's love interest, April Kane.

This was written at the bottom of the unpublished version. My best guess is "Kill this out for Herman", and then initialed EM. Perhaps some other Caniff scholars can give me a hand here? Another big curiosity is the date - 1/6/42. Was Caniff asked to make the change just eight days before press time?!? It seems like an unbelievable turnaround.

Now come the two biggest questions. What was wrong with the fourth panel. The auction seller speculated that it looked 'too official'. A collector friend of mine thinks they were worried the type would get muddied up in reduction. But wouldn't Caniff have foreseen that? Also, why draw an entirely new strip over just replacing the offending panel? The first three panels have minor changes, but it's the fourth that's completely different. A dealer friend of mine wondered if they couldn't get the original back to Caniff, or even a stat, and he redrew it from memory. I don't think that's the case, as we have both originals in hand today. I think Caniff was in a constant battle between deadlines and perfectionism. Perhaps he was always thinking of ways he could have done something better, and here he saw an opportunity to improve upon an already finished strip. See what differences you can spot in the panel comparisons.

Of the first three panels, I think this one is improved by the contrast of white paper against the waiter's suit.

Kudos to Caniff for obtaining what was likely an authentic New York rap sheet of its day. The real improvements in the new panel are (1) the use of Sam's mugshot in favor of all that type and (2) the cigarette now falling out of his mouth in shock.

CANIFF COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT: RON M.

2011-04-13T22:47:00.032-04:00

I've been intrigued lately by original Caniff strip art and those who collect it. When fellow Caniff fan Ron M. posted about art he was selling through Heritage Auctions, I decided to ask him about how he got into collecting. His experience is very similar to my own. "Like most of us," Ron told me, "I read the Sunday funnies each week as a kid. But I have to admit I read only the humor strips. I didn't care for the other genres, of course this was the '80s and most the classic strips were already gone.

Terry & the Pirates - 1/12/43

In the early '90s, I bought a lot of the various reprint books and, in a lot of the introductions, they would typically mention the all-time greats, and Milton Caniff's name always came up(along with Al Capp). Regarding Caniff, once I read some of the strips in various book collections, I quickly found I enjoyed both 'Terry & the Pirates' and 'Steve Canyon'. The storytelling ability was the main enjoyment for me, the historical appreciation for Caniff's artistic abilities came a few years later. I really love his pacing and how it made you want to read the next strip, also his various locations, and his expertise with shading."

Terry & the Pirates - 7/15/43

Ron began collecting original art in 2004, buying them at auction via Heritage, eBay and Russ Cochran. What does he look for in a strip? "I personally use how much I like the art as a barometer of whether I want to buy the page (assuming I have the funds). I dont like to buy pages with too much text or word balloons, so almost all my dailies I have bought I felt the art was really cool. I decided to only buy dailies , and avoid pages that have alot of whiteout. Of course, I love all original art, it's all one of a kind; I just narrowed my criteria so I wouldn't spend more than i can afford."

Steve Canyon 7/12/48

With the boom of reprint collections collecting classic strips, Ron has been getting more enjoyment out of reading than collecting. 'Terry & the Pirates', his favorite, has been reprinted by the Library of American Comics/IDW and is still available. New collections of 'Li'l Abner', another favorite, start this month. Also topping his list are Pogo (collections begin in October from Fantagraphics, Blondie (currently being done by IDW), and Krazy Kat (currently being done by Fantagraphics). This plethora of material led Ron to the decision to sell some of his collection.

Terry & the Pirates 4/23/49

I was intrigued that his collection includes 'Terry & the Pirates' pages by George Wunder. Wunder had the thankless task of not only following Caniff on 'Terry', but competing with Caniff's new creation 'Steve Canyon'. Wunder has been judged by some as little more than a serviceable practitioner of the Caniff school. Ron gave me his perspective: "I really enjoy George Wunder art, as the first Terry Pirates pages I read in the '90s were by Wunder, not Caniff. I've always liked his art, nice crisp lines, so I'm not sure why a lot of people feel the need to constantly say he's just not as good as Caniff. I certainly would not call him an also-ran. To me, Wunder was one of the top talents in cartooning. Put me in the camp that feels he is underrated. Theres a good percentage of people who's only recollection of 'Terry' is probably the Wunder version. I enjoy both artists' work equally, and have never been one to partake in the 'who's better' arguments. Caniff is one of the elites, and to me Wunder is right up there in the next tier as well."

Terry & the Pirates 10/23/67

I asked Ron if he wanted me to provide specific links to his auctions. He responded that I should promote the entire auction of comic book art, which can be found here.

MILTON CANIFF NEWS

2011-04-01T14:54:00.018-04:00

The solicitation for 'Caniff', the art book from the Library of American Comics, was in the latest edition of Previews and is also on Amazon. This is the book where I made a contribution to the research done by Lorraine Turner and the book's editor, Dean Mullaney. Dean wrote about that experience here. I asked him what happened to the earlier title, "The Art of Caniff"? "I decided on "Caniff"," said Dean, "because only in comics are art books called "The Art of…." You don't see "The Art of Van Gogh" or "The Art of Rembrandt!"

Also from the Library of American Comics are the volumes of The Complete Terry & the Pirates that have been out of stock. The rarest volumes (4 and 5) have been commanding $100 and up prices in the aftermarket. It's great to see this American classic remain in print. Ask your local comics dealer!

The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art - Jerry Robinson - This revised edition of Robinson's 1974 tome was released last month. I don't have a copy, so I can't confirm the Caniff content. But, not having Caniff would be like doing a Revolutionary War history without George Washington. Robinson, best known in the comic book world as co-creator of Robin and the Joker, was president of the National Cartoonist Society from 1967-69.

Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising - Fantagraphics will release this in July. According to publisher Gary Groth, some Caniff work is slated to be part of the book. I suspect it's the work he did with Noel Sickles under the pseudonym "Paul Arthur", primarily Mr. Coffee Nerves (which I wrote about here). The co-editor of the book is Rick Marschall, who reprinted the Coffee Nerves strips in 1990 in a Terry & the Pirates book.

Leif Peng - Peng is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator who also has a blog called "Today's Inspiration", which celebrates the work of cartoonists and illustrators through high quality scans of their work. In doing so, he has built up and shared what is likely the best online resource of Noel Sickles art. If you love the work of Caniff's pal Sickles as much as we do, Peng's site will amaze and delight. Today's Inspiration http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/search?q=sickles

Cartoon Limbo - The Prallsville Mills, an historic site in Stockton, NJ, is hosting an art exhibit called Cartoon Limbo. The theme of the exhibit is rejected drawings of famous cartoonists. According to the press material, there is a Caniff item, though I don't know what. Other artists represented include Carl Barks, Charles Schulz and Crockett Johnson.

notes on 'The Complete Peanuts: 1975-76

2011-03-22T20:39:00.016-04:00

1975 and 1976 were two exemplary years of the strip, highlighted by the introduction of some new characters. There was Truffles, a new girl who formed was stuck in two love triangles, one between Sally and Linus and the other between Snoopy and Linus (love quadrangle, maybe?). There was also a new school building for Sally to converse with. Two of Snoopy's siblings were revealed - his sister, Belle, and a brother named Spike. The latter quickly became a favorite of Schulz, carrying many of his own solo strips and storylines over the next quarter century. It's striking to me that the cover character is Frieda, who appears only a couple of times in the strips collected here. [the strips may be cut off, so just click on them to see the whole thing]

5/4/75 - The perhaps innovative touch of David Michaelis' Schulz biography was tying incidents from Schulz's life together with things happening in the strip. While I think Michaelis practiced some pop psychology and took it a bridge too far, the approach has it's validity. I can't help but believe that this rambling story of Charlie Brown's is taken from Schulz's own childhood.

7/22/75 - Lucy again trying to relate to Schroeder through his love of Beethoven.

8/14/75 - In an uncharacteristic bout of altruism, Lucy decides to take Spike home and fatten him up. I've always liked the simile "thin as a promise", and I'm sure when I was little I had no idea what "scarf city" meant.

8/20/75 - This reference is one I did understand as a kid. It struck me funny then and bizarre now that Schulz would have Spike watching a "Hogan's Heroes" rerun.

9/25/75 - A simple strip, but it showcases Schulz ability to put an odd spin on an everyday thing.

10/30/75 - It's Peppermint Patty's turn to join Linus in the pumpkin patch. He lays down the law.

3/25/76 - In one of Peanuts' longest storylines (six weeks!), Snoopy has tripped over his supper dish and is confined to a cast. Snoopy's cover story is that he broke his foot while rescuing three airline stewardesses on runaway horses.

5/10/76 - Charlie Brown's stubborness keeps him on the pitcher's mound in the middle of a rainstorm. Things take a surreal turn when the mound starts to float away.

8/9/76 - A pastor named Robert L. Short made a career out of exploring the Christian themes in Peanuts. Perhaps this is a reaction to that?

8/23/76 - I often think of this strip when I can't finish all the food on my plate.

10/9/76 - One for my attorney friends.

12/22/76 - This strip says everything to me about the purity of their unlikely friendship.

SPACE 2011 REPORT

2011-03-20T22:43:00.012-04:00

I was very excited for this year's Small Press Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE) in Columbus, Ohio. Not only was last year's show the best SPACE yet, but three friends were joining me on the fun this year. It was at the same venue as last year, the Ramada Plaza Hotel, which is beyond the previous venues: the school gym-ish fairgrounds building, the poorly lit Shriners center and the seemingly abandoned Holiday Inn.

The exhibit room was full and it seemed well attended. SPACE isn't like most comic shows. It's a place mainly for folks who put together their own comics, some for the shear joy of it, some looking for their big break. It's a wonderful hodgepodge of the indy scene, from award-winners with book deals to crudely drawn characters on homemade cut and staple jobs.
You know it's going to be a good show when early on an exhibitor asks if you'd like a free mustache. Then you see he's handing you a business card with a stick-on mustache glued to the back. I now only took the card, I put on the mustache. I kept it on until I was having a conversation with another person and felt completely ridiculous. The mustache guy was Ed Delaney of Peculiar Comics. He was also selling a black & white comic that came with free crayons. Kudos on the fresh ideas, Ed!

Pal Todd Fox had a couple of artists do sketches of his co-creation, Aym Geronimo. Here he is with webcomics artist Alex Heberling.

One of those SPACE surprises was happening upon artist Sandy Plunkett. Though his comic work is sporadic, Plunkett is known for his illustrative style, reminiscent of the Alex Raymond school. Last year he released a collection of his sketchbook drawings. It was nice to meet him and talk a little Caniff. Here's pal Lucas (right) with Sandy.
This is a little much, but it's Todd's picture of me taking a picture of pal Ted with Sandy.

One nice thing about SPACE is finding truly talented artists. One such is Robert Clare Forest. He's apparently so prolific that he was selling at originals for less than most people sell prints. The pieces below spoke to me...not comfortable what that may say about me, though.

Me with the lads at the annual SPACE Prize ceremony, hosted by show organizer Bob Corby. The prizes are for the best comics at the previous year's show. You can read about the winners here. All in all, we drove away making plans to come back again next year (as long as Wizard doesn't buy 'em out)!

RECENT CANIFF AUCTIONS

2011-03-08T21:05:00.018-05:00

Here are highlights from some recent Milton Caniff-related auctions on eBay. Click any picture to enlarge it. Let's start off with three strips, all from the 1940s:
This is the 'Terry & the Pirates' daily from June 27, 1940. Paper measures 8 x 24". In this sequence, the mysterious Hu Shee (on the right) has bluffed her way into a role as secretary for Raven Sherman, a philanthropist. The normally aloof Sherman is doing her best not to pine away for the heroic Pat Ryan. Shee gives feminine advice in what may be Caniff's longest word balloon!
Winning bid:$722

I'm struck by the moodiness and texture of this strip. It's the 'Terry' daily from February 17, 1945. The paper measures 22 3/4" x 7 1/4". This is the last storyline for Pat Ryan, in a sequence that punctuates his love/hate relationship with Caniff's uber-femme fatale, the Dragon Lady. Their sexual tension and repartee was a highlight of the strip's run. In the week leading up to the strip pictured, Ryan chides her, "Don't bite your lip, beautiful, you'll poison yourself!" Hu Shee shows up in the fourth panel, as well as in the strip title - "See me Shee; Then see Lee". I can almost hear Caniff's gleeful chuckle.
Pat, DL, last arc?
Winning bid:$2,245

From a late model 'Terry' to an early 'Canyon'. This is the 'Steve Canyon' daily from April 23, 1949 comes at an exciting time in the strip. Canyon has become embroiled in a fight over Communist control in the fictional Asian nation of Damma. Canyon's erstwhile employer/nemesis, Copper Calhoon, has been shot by a sniper. He's had to transport her to India, leaving his friends behind. Canyon sidekick Reed Kimberly and love interest Princess Snowflower have fallen in with Dogie Hogan, a mercenary and occasional Canyon foil.
Winning bid:$375

The piece is approximately 10 1/2 by 13 and signed by the legend "With all good wishes" Jan. 1954. This is a beautiful example of the hand-colored prints that Caniff would send out. Too often I see Caniff's prints on eBay where the seller thinks they are originals, but this seller had it right.
Winning bid:$105.50

I'd never seen one of these before. It's 'Steve Canyon’s Interceptor Station Punch-Out book' from Golden Press. It was part of the merchandising for the 'Steve Canyon' TV show in 1959. The other Golden Press item, the 'Steve Canyon' Little Golden Book, is fairly common and can be had in nice shape for about $5. The point of this Punch-Out book was to take it apart, so finding an intact one seems next to impossible, especially 50+ years after publication. There may be a little kicking of myself down the road for not bidding.
Winning bid:$65

TED'S SOUND BIT(E)S!!!

2011-02-24T20:49:00.015-05:00

I've been pestering Ted Haycraft for years to write guest reviews for my music report. This time he came through, and boy did he ever! I decided to make his "Sound Bit(e)s" a separate entry. Ted and I worked for rival comic book stores in Evansville, Indiana in the '90s. Our friendship started in 1996 when he invited me to co-write a comic book column for News4U, the local free entertainment monthly. Ted also had regular columns reviewing music and movies for News4U, and is the movie reviewer for WFIE-14, the NBC affiliate in Evansville.

the party ain’t over – Wanda Jackson
This the latest example of a younger producer of note producing an older musician of note, like Rick Rubin/Johnny Cash, Jack White/Loretta Lynn, Jeff Tweedy/Mavis Staples. The Party Ain’t Over’s combo is White (again) and the 73-year-old Queen of Rockabilly - Wanda Jackson. I always find these types of team-ups fascinating and a lot of fun, and this one is no exception. White starts out the proceedings with a searing “Shakin’ All Over” and the ‘party’ pretty much stays in high gear until the last cut. Jackson still has a lot of spunk in her voice and appears to be having a blast with the song selection that White has come up with. Of special note is a fast and furious cover of Bob Dylan’s “Thunder on the Mountain”, specifically picked by Bob himself (he referred to her on his radio show as “an atomic fireball of a lady”). My only reservation about the album is Jack’s enthusiasm almost gets the better of him with the instrumentation (especially the brass section) being a little too much in your face. In fact my favorite cut is the last one a nice low key cover of Jimmie Rodger’s “Blue Yodel #6” which brings the ‘party’ to a nice pleasant ending.

MONDO AMORE – Nicole Atkins
I recall Atkins’ debut album, Neptune City, getting a lot of critical buzz on its release but I was a little underwhelmed when I sampled it and skipped on purchasing it. But when sampling her latest one, it made enough of an impression on me to take it home with me. The album is chock-full of dramatic pop ballads, for the most part, with a lot of poetic, metaphorical imagery that will have you coming back again to soak in its meaning. Over on a Paste Magazine review of this album, it notes that, since her first releaase, Atkins “broke up with her boyfriend, her band and Columbia Records." This insight really helps to pinpoint the meaning and explain the mood of this particular collection of songs. I may now have to go back to Neptune City and give it another try!?!!

BELLA – Teddy Thompson
Okay, let me say right off the bat this is a tremendous album (his 5th release) and really deserves a lot more attention than it will probably receive!!! Here’s one of those albums lined up with songs dealing with the ups and downs of looking for, holding on (way too long), breaking up and relating to the opposite sex. Thompson’s overall mood with these subjects is melancholy and severely introspective, but it’s all cloaked in infectious songwriting with nimble arrangements projected beautifully with Teddy’s mournful, Orbison-like melodious voice. The album kicks off with the feet-tapping “Looking for a Girl” which, if there was any justice in this world would get a ton of radio airplay! “Over and Over” is an amazingly insightful song about one getting through life and “The Next One” will strike a chord with anyone fresh out of a relationship that has ended. This album was produced by David Kahne (Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, Regina Spektor…) and includes contributions from Teddy’s father, the overlooked and underappreciated Richard Thompson – go out and buy this album NOW!!!

LET ENGLAND SHAKE – PJ Harvey
The always intriguing, always evocative, always artistically evolving Polly Jean Harvey is back with a haunting and mesmerizing album that takes a penetrating look at her home country of England. Heavy themes abound, mainly focusing on the destructive force of war. Three of the songs specifically deal with the Gallipoli debacle of WWI. There’s no missing the intentions of Harvey’s viewpoint, but as usual her singing and musicianship – very beautifully stark and spare - pulls you in despite its downbeat feelings and messages. She herself in interviews has acknowledged how, with this album, she’s looking outward into the world as oppose to her usual inner musings. For my money, Harvey is one of a handful musicians that rewards constantly with each new album release due to her need for artistic challenges and changes.

MAGIC FACES – The Toddlers
The Toddlers are a local Evansville, Indiana band that I have followed pretty much since their beginning. They write their own songs, which of course is a nice diversion to the multitude of cover bands that populate my home town. Typically, their songs contain a mischievous tongue-in-cheek mode, with this new release being no different. Some of the subjects contained on this CD are: dropping kids off at a martial arts class, making the mistake of evoking the name of a dead person at the breakfast table, and being served lukewarm Kool-aid at Sunday morning church. They also can tone it down and be serious at times like with a melancholy ode to graduation day. Their sound is pretty unique which I liken to sort of a ‘60s vibe channeled through an ‘80s minimalist, DIY style (?!). Actually when seeing them play live, I also tend to see some Loudon Wainwright III characteristics permeating through them, especially when Eric Ridenour is singing! If you might be curious to check them out, their CD is available at CDBaby.com or in Evansville at Joe’s Records and Abyssco.

Beefheart on the Brain
Speaking of PJ Harvey’s "Let England Shake," it turns out that Captain Beefheart was a big fan of the album. As you may recall, the great Captain (aka Don Van Vliet) passed away on December 17th. I was disappointed by the one page nod that Rolling Stone Magazine devoted to this very sad event. Actually, though, I figured they wouldn’t spend that much space to his passing and figured the UK music magazines that I follow, MOJO and UNCUT, would more than compensate for this oversight. And boy, did they deliver! The March issue of UNCUT devotes seven pages to him and the March issue of MOJO contains a ten-page tribute. The MOJO tribute includes a guide to key recordings, an amazing full page epitaph written by Jack White, and comments from PJ Harvey. Harvey would send him her albums before releasing them to get his take on them! Certainly Captain Beefheart can be a very acquired taste, but if one is serious about rock and roll music and all of its vast tributaries, then you’ll have to confront the good Captain at some point. These two articles are an excellent starting point.

Bob Dylan at the Grammys
I hope none of you missed Bob Dylan’s wonderful, bouncy performance of “Maggie’s Farm” at this year’s Grammy telecast. He was backed by a phalanx of musicians consisting of his own road band, Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers. This whole thing of him standing stage front with only a harmonica & microphone in hand is something he’s been doing a lot more recently, and seems to be a rejuvenating factor on his Never Ending Tour. I’m just glad he didn’t trip over that bass fiddle that was laying directly in his path when he came out from behind the curtains!!!

MATT'S MUSIC REPORT

2011-02-17T11:05:00.009-05:00

Recent Releases of Note

Apple Records - Catalog reissues [available separately or 17-disc box set] (read Matt's review)
Beatles - now available on iTunes
Phil Collins - Going Back
Phil Collins - Live at Roseland Ballroom [DVD]
Elvis Costello - National Ransom
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Widmark Demos, 1962-1964 (read Matt's review)
Bob Dylan - The Original Mono Recordings [6-CD box]
Electric Light Orchestra - Live – The Early Years [DVD]
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass [vinyl reissue]
Indigo Girls - Holly Happy Days
Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall [CD reissue]
Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green Grass [2-cd reissue]
Jenny & Johnny - I’m Having Fun Now
Billy Joel - Last Play at Shea [documentary]
Elton John - Gnomeo & Juliet soundtrack
Elton John/Leon Russell - The Union
John Lennon - Solo reissues (read Matt's review)
Jerry Lee Lewis - Mean Old Man
Paul McCartney - Band on the Run [multiple reissue formats]
Monkees - Head [3-CD Rhino reissue]
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Classic Albums: Damn the Torpedoes [DVD]
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes [2 CD reissue]
Ravi Shankar/George Harrison - Collaborations [3 CD/1 DVD box]
Frank Sinatra - Best of Vegas
Frank Sinatra - Concert Collection [7 DVD box]
Regina Spektor - Live in London (read Matt's review)
Bruce Springsteen - The Promise [2 CD] (read Matt's review)
Bruce Springsteen - The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story [3 CD/3 DVD]
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band - Live at the Greek Theatre 2008 [CD or DVD, 7/27]
30 Rock - Soundtrack
K.T. Tunstall - Tiger Suit
Neil Young - Le Noise
Various artists - The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts [3 DVD]

Upcoming Releases

Johnny Cash - From Memphis to Hollywood: Bootleg Vol.2 [2/22]
Billy Joel - Live at Shea Stadium [2 CD/DVD][3/1]
Allison Krauss & Union Station - Paper Airplane [4/11]
Nick Lowe - Labour of Lust [reissue] [3/15]
Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams [5/3]
Roy Orbison - The Monument Singles Collection [4/5]
Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What [Spring]
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water: 40th Anniversary Edition [CD/DVD][3/8]
Joe Walsh - TBD [May]

On Tour in the Tri-State

Abbey Road on the River - Louisville – 5/26-529
Dan Bern - Cleveland – 3/2; Dayton – 3/5
Elvis Costello - Cincinnati - 5/16
Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart - Wapakoneta – 3/17; Cleveland – 3/18; Barnesville – 6/17
Colin Hay - Cincinnati – 4/27
Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen - Bean Blossom – 6/2
Davy Jones - Ashtabula – 3/27
New Pornographers - Indy – 4/22; Cleveland – 4/23; Cincinnati – 4/26
Robert Plant - Louisville – 4/8
Neil Sedaka - Cincinnati – 4/29
Jerry Seinfeld - Louisville – 3/11

GUEST REVIEWS!
JIM BATES of A Scale Canadian reviews LE NOISE by Canada's NEIL YOUNG...
At first blush, a Neil Young and Daniel Lanois collaboration sounds quite attractive, both being Canadians and all. Sadly, "Le Noise" doesn’t quite live up to what could have been. We start off with "Walk with Me" and "Sign of Love,” which are both sonically and lyrically connected. Slashing electric guitar chords and electronic atmospherics set off Neil’s whine about love and the passage of time. It isn’t till part way through "Someone's Gonna Rescue You" that it all becomes clear…these aren’t bad songs or performances…they just need a rhythm section. Neil has missed what the Black Keys and the White Stripes know…you can drop the bass, but don’t forget the drums. If only some of the electronic bleeps and blips were replaced with real percussion. "Love and War" rises out of the electric noise as a much needed acoustic respite. It also may be Neil’s most honest and autobiographical song in years. He sings “When I sing about love and war, I don't really know what I'm saying” over some vaguely “Eldorado” guitar. We return to songs in need of a rhythm section on “Angry World.” Not a bad song, and not a bad performance, but you can just imagine how much better it would be with Crazy Horse or Young and the Restless backing Neil up. Much the same can be said for the pharmacological travelogue "Hitchhiker." A very old song,…in fact part was cannibalized for use in “Like an Inca”…the version here is just muddled. "Peaceful Valley Boulevard" is another acoustic track that starts off as a Western allegory and then morphs into an ecological hymn without making much sense along the way. The album ends with "Rumblin'" another track in need of some percussion. This isn’t a bad album, but it sounds more like a sketch then a finished product. Neither great nor terrible, it is just another in a long line of average Neil Young albums. Maybe next time we’ll get another classic.

NEXT WEEK...Legendary Evansville reviewer TED HAYCRAFT returns to music criticism with SOUND BIT(E)S...

'CANYON' CAPTURES CASH

2011-02-10T12:57:00.010-05:00

A few weeks ago we reported on the 'Terry & the Pirates' teaser strip that sold for over $38K at auction. You can read about that here. Last month a significant 'Steve Canyon' Sunday page sold for 30,000 Euros at BRAFA, the Brussels Antiques and Fine Art Fair in Belgium. This was the first 'Steve Canyon' Sunday, as well as the first appearance of Canyon himself. Capitalizing on the hype surrounding the launch of his new comic strip, Milton Caniff used the six dailies leading up to Sunday to heighten the anticipation for the title character's debut. On January 19th, 1947, readers were not disappointed.

How this landmark original art ended up sold by a Parisian gallery at a Belgian auction is something of a mystery. I inquired to the gallery as to the provenance, i.e., where did it go after being returned to Caniff at his New York studio. The gallery responded that Caniff gave it to a "European friend", and that it has been on exhibit in Europe on several occasions.

Here is how the printed version appeared in color, as seen at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum's Cartoon Image Database.

This is a blowup painting of one of the panels by Caniff. It was on exhibt at OSU during the Caniff centennial in 2007.

Top photo of the original is courtesy of Galerie 9e Art, Paris

INSIDE PEANUTS

2011-02-01T12:52:00.007-05:00

It's kind of rude to write about an art exhibit after it has ended, but this one popped back on the radar at the last minute. "Inside Peanuts: the Life and Art of Charles M Schulz" is a traveling exhibit created by the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California. The exhibit focuses on Schulz's life and work as well as the Peanuts characters.

The exhibit also features memorabilia from the five decades of Peanuts. I like the added touch of the comic strip as part of the bag for the Charlie Brown figure. I've also always loved the Sally vinyl figure. She didn't stay a baby for very long, and it has a certain purity.

"Inside Peanuts" is one of five traveling Schulz exibits. The exhibit itineraries can be found here. The "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" exhibit is scheduled to appear at the Louisville Slugger Museum in November.

SUNDAY FUNNIES FDC COVER

2011-01-24T14:50:00.011-05:00

Here's some show-and-tell. Last year, the US Postal Service issued a series of Sunday Funnies stamps. The First-Day-of-Issue Ceremony took place July 16, 2010 at Ohio State, co-sponsored by the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. As I was leaving on vacation on the 17th, I couldn't make the ceremony. A couple of very thoughtful Columbus pals, Brian & Dana Mason, went to the ceremony for me and got the above First Day Cover (FDC) signed. After the ceremony, the guests signed autographs. They were:
David Failor - Executive Director, Stamp Services, USPS
Lee Salem - President and editor, Universal Uclick, the largest syndicator of comic strips. "Calvin & Hobbes" was developed and syndicated while Salem was then managing editor.
Greg Walker - co-writer, "Beetle Bailey" and "Hi and Lois"
Nancy Silberkleit - co-CEO of Archie Comics, widow of former Archie publisher Michael Silberkleit and daughter-in-law of Archie co-founder Louis Silberkleit
Craig Boldman - writer of the "Archie" newspaper strip (1992-present) and of the "Jughead" comic book. Resident of Hamilton, Ohio.
Marcus Hamilton - "Dennis the Menace" daily strip artist, 1993 - present
Ron Ferdinand - "Dennis the Menace" Sunday page artist, 1982 - present
Scott Ketcham - son of "Dennis the Menace" creator Hank Ketcham

The two names most people will recognize -
Mort Walker - creator - "Beetle Bailey" (1950-82), "Boner's Ark" (1968-82), co-creator "Hi and Lois" (1954-89), "Sam and Silo" (1977-86); founder of the International Museum of Cartoon Art (1974-2008). Not much to add about this living legend that I didn't say in this earlier post. Walker's 2008 decision to merge the collection of his museum with the Cartoon Research Library has enhanced the legacy of both institutions.

Jim Davis - creator - "Garfield" (1978-present), "Garfield" cartoon specials and series; "U.S. Acres" (1986-89). I haven't been a regular Garfield reader in years, but as a kid I was a Garfield fanatic. I remember being 8 or 9 on vacation with my family. We were in a bookstore and Dad told us we could get X number of books for the long ride in the car. I'm sure I bought all comic strip reprints, one of them being the first Garfield paperback. As I read it in the back seat, I would ask Dad for definitions of any word I didn't know or understand. Later on, I had Garfield bed sheets, probably into junior high. While Garfield probably peaked as a national phenomenon in the '80s, it's still a major concern. Kudos to Davis for keeping his base of operations in Muncie, Indiana.

Notably absent was Bill Watterson, creator of "Calvin & Hobbes". Watterson is well-known as a recluse who doesn't like his picture taken, so his absence at a media event is no surprise. I'm sure he was invited, but I wonder what his response was.

Many of the attendees were philatelists who collect First Day Covers. They were a little concerned that my friends had people sign on the actual FDC. The collectors had them sign the program card. Brian & Dana thought it looked cooler on the FDC, which has the stamps. They're right.

MILTON CANIFF NEWS

2011-01-18T14:16:00.024-05:00

The Library of American Comics, the arm of IDW that published 'The Complete Terry & the Pirates', recently unveiled plans to publish a Caniff art book later this year. As editor Dean Mullaney revealed to me two years ago in our interview, after 'Terry' he had an idea for an "Art of Caniff" book sometime in the future. With Mullaney, Caniff fan dreams become reality. Here is the official announcement. You may notice a photo of yours truly in the link.

Hermes Press has made a name for itself with classic comic strip reprints and reprints of comics based on beloved TV shows. Now they are turning to the Steve Canyon comic books printed by Dell between 1953 and 1959. Dell published seven new Canyon adventures as part of its long-running FOUR COLOR series. These were new adventures, ghosted for Caniff by William Overgard (two issues) and Ray Bailey (four issues). I've seen reference that one or more of the issues had Caniff drawing the Canyon heads only, but I lack the assurance to state it positively.

Hermes also announced plans to reprint Caniff's wartime strip, Male Call. The strip has been collected several times, most recently way back in 1987 by Kitchen Sink. It's great to see this strip back in print, despite the misguided jacket design. Ugh.

Steve Canyon on DVD update! John Ellis of the Milton Caniff Estate continues his monumental work on completing Volume 3. Here's his latest blog entry in which he's recruited Bob Burns, noted film prop historian and archivist. Volumes 1 and 2 are back in stock, so order today if you don't have them already!

The National Aviation Hall of Fame announced their inductees for 2011. The recipient of this year's Milton Caniff "Spirit of Flight Award" is the US Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team. The award will be presented by the NAHF in Dayton, Ohio on July 15th. Read more here.

OSU has revived their humor magazine - the Sundial. Here is their Facebook page. As a student in the late '20s, Milton Caniff was a regular contributor and art editor. Above is a cover he did in 1927. Founded in 1911, the magazine has been defunct since the early 19'90s. More information about the revival can be found here.

PASSAGES 2010 - THE COMICS

2011-01-06T15:33:00.029-05:00

Cartooning must be a good job to have if you want to live a long time. With a few exceptions, most of the guys on this list average out in their 80s. Not a bad run. Here we celebrate these creators and the work they left behind. Thanks to D.D. Degg who created the more comprehensive list on which this entry is partly based.

2/3 Barry Blair, 55
- independent comics publisher/founder of Aircel Comics (1985-92)
- writer/artist who did many of his own titles and later work on the Elfquest line of books

2/11 Marvin Stein, 85
- comic artist for Timely and DC in the ‘40s, Feature & Atlas in the ‘50s and Archie & Gold Key in the ‘60s
- comic strips: Funnyman (194http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2011/01/2010-comics-deaths-comic-riffs-and.html8-49), McGurk’s Mob (1965-68)

2/19 Jerry Grandenetti, 83
- assistant on “The Spirit” (1948-51)
- 17 years at DC, drawing for all Big 5 war titles
- Contributor to Warren magazines, 1966-72

3/6 Don Sherwood, 79
- assistant to George Wunder on “Terry & the Pirates” (1961-62)
- creator of “Dan Flagg” (1963-67)
- artist of “Dick Clark’s Rock Roll and Remember” strip (1994-95)
- artist on “The Partridge Family” comic for Charlton

3/27 Dick Giordano, 77
- DC: Editor (1968-71, 1980-83); VP Executive Editor (1983-93)
- Editor-in-chief for Charlton 1965-68
- Mainstay inker/artist for DC during editing tenure and as a freelancer
- Co-founder of Continuity Associates with Neal Adams

4/4 Henry Scarpelli, 80
- Artist for Archie Comics and the “Archie” comic strip
- Freelancer for other comic book companies (1960s/70s)

5/3 Peter O’Donnell, 90
- creator of “Modesty Blaise”, which he wrote 1963-2001

5/10 Frank Frazetta, 82
- fantasy artist who influenced all who followed him
- comic book artist in the Golden Age & 1950s
- assistant to Al Capp on “Li’l Abner” in the 1950s
- drew his own strip “Johnny Comet” (1952)
- move posters/book covers in the 1960s
- Album covers/fantasy art in the 1970s
- Will Eisner and Jack Kirby Hall of Famer

5/21 Howie Post, 83
- comic book artist: funny animal artist for DC in the Golden Age, Atlas in the ‘50s
- Harvey Comics artist, early 1960s
- Creator of “Anthro” for DC (1968-69)
- comic strip: “The Dropouts” (1968-81)

6/2 Tony DiPreta, 88
- comic strip artist: “Joe Palooka” (1959-84), “Rex Morgan, M.D.” (1994-2000)
- comic book artist: Timely/Atlas, Quality, Lev Gleason

6/12 Al Williamson, 79
- comic strip artist: “Secret Agent Corrigan” (1967-80), “Star Wars” (1981-83), assistant on “Rip Kirby” (1960-63)
- comic book legend: “Flash Gordon” for King/Whitman, science fiction stories for EC
- drew the comic book adaptation of “The Empire Strikes Back” as well as original Star Wars comics
- spent the bulk of his last 25 years as an inker
- a closer look at his "ESB" comic can be found here

6/23 Joe Messerli, 79
- designer of the “Twilight Zone” logo
- comic book artist for Western (1960s-‘80s), specializing in cartoon characters

7/12 Harvey Pekar, 70
- comic book writer; pioneer in autobiographical comics with American Splendor (1976-2008)
- subject of the film “American Splendor” (2003)
- frequent, contentious guest on Letterman

9/4 Paul Conrad, 86
- Editorial cartoonist for the L.A. Times (1963-93)
- Pulitzer prize winner 1964, 1971 and 1984

9/19 Howard Brodie, 94
- Combat artist from WWII to Vietnam
- Courtroom artist for the Manson, Ruby & Chicago 7 trials
- Illustrator for Yank Magazine during WWII

9/19 Stoo Hample, 84
- comic strip artist – “Inside Woody Allen”
- read Hample's story behind the strip here

10/19 Jonny Rench, 28
- colorist for Wildstorm (2006-10), including Welcome to Tranquility, Red Menace and Claw, the Unconquered

10/22 Alex Anderson, 90
- creator of Rocket J. Squirrel, Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right and Crusader Rabbit

10/23 Leo Cullum, 68
- Cartoonist who had 819 cartoons published in the New Yorker from 1977-2010

10/24 Mike Esposito, 83
- Mainstay Marvel & DC inker 1950s-2000s, primarily partnered with artist Ross Andru
- DC: Big 5 war titles, Wonder Woman, Flash
- Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man (1966-79)
- Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Famer

11/28 Jon D’Agostino, 81
- Comic book artist; drew from the Golden Age to 2010
- Best known as an inker, primarily for Archie Comics and Charlton
- Letterer of the historic Amazing Spider-Man #1

12/14 Adrienne Roy, 57
- DC colorist from the 1970s-‘90s; staggering 15 & 16 year runs on Batman and Detective Comics, respectively
- Also long tenures on Robin, New Teen Titans, Warlord

TV DEATHS 2010

2011-01-05T22:28:00.004-05:00

You start to feel old when the people who made the shows you grew up on are dying off in greater numbers. The '70s and '80s stuff is where my love affair with TV began. Here is a list of folks who passed last year that created the shows I've watched over the years. Mr. C, Trapper John, Arnold, Sgt. Dietrich...you were part of my strange family.

[click on "Fullscreen" or the "TV 2010 pdf" link to bring up a larger version of the document]

TV 2010 pdf

TOP 10 COMICS OF 2010

2010-12-26T13:19:00.018-05:00

Ok, so the rules are a little floppy here. These aren't strictly 10 different comics, but rather creators, series, or comic-related ephemera...

1. ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY 20 - Discontent, narcissistic and generally in over his head. While these traits apply to most of us, they are evident throughout the life of Jordan Lint. Cartoonist Chris Ware brings us the life of Lint, from conception to death, in 72 pages. Lint as a young man is frustrated by his surroundings and situation, yet humbled by the reality of being a dreamer with no ambition. In his journey he cyclically finds and loses love and fortune, all the time hanging onto regret and the childhood death of his mother. In his inadequacy, we see bits of ourselves. A narrative triumph.

2. CHUCK DIXON - Chuck Dixon, whose work is dependably entertaining, wrote the rough equivalent of 3-4 comics a month this year, and for him that's taking it easy. He continued his fast-paced run on the monthly G.I. Joe flagship title, as well as a three-issue arc in "G.I. Joe: Origins" (yes, he's managed to make Zartan cool). Editors know he's the go-to guy for action, tapping him for the comic prequels for The A-Team and The Expendables. I never saw the movies, but the books were a fun read. He managed to capture not just the flavor but the humor and Leone pageantry for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly series. Speaking of humor, his overlooked Simpsons stories rival the cleverness of the TV series. An avid history buff, he and artist Gary Kwapisz released a second volume of Civil War Adventure from their own History Graphics Press. He's also done a couple of snappy Airboy stories for Moonstone's Air Fighters anthology. If only they'd have Dixon do his own Airboy series so we wouldn't have to sift through the dreck that dominates Air Fighters.

3. WILL EISNER: PORTRAIT OF A SEQUENTIAL ARTIST - A two-hour documentary on the life of one of comics great innovators and the greatest champion of comics as an art form. From his early career running a comics "shop" operation, to his groundbreaking Spirit Section, to using comics educate, and then his last three decades as graphic novelist and elder statesman. Truly a career worth investigating and celebrating. The real treat for me, though, are the DVD extras which include the audio to his "Shop Talk" interviews from the 1980s Spirit Magazine. Interviewees include Phil Seuling, Harvey Kurtzman, Joe Kubert and some guy named Caniff. It's a comic book master class and historical treasure trove.

4. CAPTAIN AMERICA/CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN - The Reborn mini-series, which brought Steve Rogers back from the "dead", tumbled into 2010 in kind of a publishing snafu between the regular series as well as the Avengers titles. The Reborn ending, that Steve Rogers was back, wasn't spoiled, as that was the point of the series. The surprise, to some, was that Rogers decided to let his old partner, Bucky Barnes, stay on as Captain America. Writer Ed Brubaker then plunged him into a storylines where Barnes must confront his feelings about his past as a brainwashed assassin, and of being unworthy of being Captain America. First he must battle a true pretender, the 1950s Cap, who has been corrupted by militant terrorists. If last year's epic battle with the Red Skull wasn't enough, he must take on one of Cap's other great foes, Baron Zemo. The first Cap storyline I ever read that really thrilled me was the DeMatteis/Zeck run in the early 1980s that featured Zemo, so this brought me back home.

5. BACK ISSUE - Speaking of the DeMatteis/Zeck Cap work, it was featured in issue #41 of Back Issue, Michael Eury's magazine devoted to the comics of the 1970s/80s and recent past. This patriotic issue also covered the classic Roger Stern/John Byrne run on Cap. This mag consistently feeds my nostalgia jones, because its comics of yesteryear are from my yesteryear. Byrne's a popular topic of Back Issue, as his She-Hulk run was highlighted in issue #39. Byrne's long run on Fantastic Four was the main topic of issue #38, as well as everything you need (or don't need) to know about the Wonder Twins. Top ten list...activate!

6. COMICS REVUE - This feast for comic strip fans had all the trimmings this year. Great strips by some of the best illustrators to hold a pen. For most, this is stuff outside their best known work and rarely seen. The Phantom by Lee Falk (1941-43), Buz Sawyer by Roy Crane (1960-61), Alley Oop by V.T. Hamlin (1938), Flash Gordon by Mac Raboy (1956), Tarzan by Russ Manning (1973-74), Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff (1970-71), Krazy Kat dailies by George Herriman (1934), Tarzan by Bob Lubbers, Secret Agent Corrigan by Al Williamson, George Evans and Archie Goodwin (1976). Each issue includes eight slick color pages as well as Gasoline Alley and Steve Canyon pages in color.

7. COMPLETE PEANUTS 1975-1976, 1977-1978 - Of the two volumes, the first is the best. It has the introduction of new characters Truffles, Belle and Spike. It's chock full of classic sequences: Charlie Brown again tries to meet his hero, Joe Schlabotnik. Peppermint Patty tries out the pumpkin patch with Linus. Charlie Brown refuses to leave the pitchers mound during a rainstorm and ends up floating away. And Peppermint Patty utters her classic rejoinder to Charlie Brown - "Don't hassle me with your sighs, Chuck." Essential reading for all humans.

8. JOE KUBERT - Our greatest living comics artist had a vibrant year, both with new and reprinted work. On the reprint side, Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock Volume 3 reprints his Easy Co. stories from "Our Army At War" #149-180 in black & white. Getting the full-color treatment were his Viking Prince stories. These tales from the 1950s "Brave and the Bold" title are new to most comics fans, some not having been reprinted since the '70s and some never before reprinted. Kubert worked with son Adam on a new Sgt. Rock story for Wednesday Comics, the collected edition of last year's experiment where comics were printed on newspaper-style broadsheets. A simple request from a Vietnam veteran compelled Kubert to tell the story of the vet's unit in Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965, in which a small advisory force of U.S. faces an overwhelming hostile attack. The art is printed directly from Kubert's pencils, which not only evokes the rough realities but also the immediacy of the situation. A detailed account from the veterans depicted in the story complements the book.

9. RIP KIRBY V. 2, 3/X-9: SECRET AGENT CORRIGAN V. 1 - Three exquisite tomes from the Library of American Comics and Dean Mullaney. 2010 gave us a double shot of "Rip Kirby", Alex Raymond's sophisticated detective. Kirby solves his cases with his intellect, but don't count out those fists. We also got the first of what will hopefully be eight volumes of Secret Agent Corrigan. Kudos to Mullaney for not trying to go back to the beginning of the strip (1934), but rather focusing on the 1967-1980 run by Al Williamson, Raymond's artistic heir. Williamson was paired with writer Archie Goodwin. The two would later collaborate on the "Star Wars" comic strip and the "Empire Strikes Back" movie adaptation.

10. GLAMOURPUSS - Speaking of Rip Kirby, Dave Sim continues his examination of the story behind the strip in this bi-monthly series. Of concern lately is the fatal day that Alex Raymond was in a car accident with fellow cartoonist Stan Drake. Drake survived, Raymond did not. Sim has broken down the day, September 6, 1956, to the molecular level, providing an inspiring investigation of minutiae as well as subtly dark conjecture.

TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2010

2010-12-12T20:46:00.006-05:00

These will have to be short and sweet, as I'm running behind and Santa's on his way. Nothing stands out as a #1 pick, so these aren't in any order...

Live in London - Regina Spektor - Spektor's "Far" was my top album of 2009. Most of the songs of that disc found their way into her live set, making this a must pick for 2010. Her inclusion of older songs makes me feel guity for not having yet explored her back catalogue. Truly a treasure as a quirky vocalist and songwriter.

Croweology - the Black Crowes - A gift from a friend and my only Crowes album (no, I don't even have "Shake Your Moneymaker"). This album acts as a "best of", though re-recorded and unplugged. I'm really diggin' this groove. The packaging is funky, too, with weird pockets and a pop-up inside.

American VI: Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash - After he lost his wife June and was near death himself, Cash spent any energy and will in the studio trying to record as much as possible. Like "American V", Cash's ability to face his mortality through song is uplifting and inspiring. Producer Rick Rubin, who revived Cash's career with 1994's "American Recordings", honors his friend with this posthumous release.

Praise and Blame - Tom Jones - Yes, that Tom Jones. Forget about the repeated pop comeback attempts. This is an unexpected turn for the listener, Jones as gospel blues growler. When he sings about pain, self-doubt and being tested by God, we believe him.

Here's an abridged version of the review by my pal, Jim Bates. Reprinted and edited with permission, you can read the full version here. Mojo - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - In its heart of hearts, Mojo is a blue album. Yes there is some Zep rock (“I Should Have Known It”), a jam (“First Flash of Freedom”), some bubblegum (“Candy”), Mudcrutch influenced county (“No Reason to Cry”), a trippy story song (“The Trip to Pirate’s Cove”) and even a reggae-tinged stoner song (“Don’t Pull Me Over”), but the vast majority of the album is blues. There’s 'she’s so heavy' blues (“Good Enough”), slow lovesick blues (“Lover’s Touch”), fuzzed out blues (“Taking My Time”), traveling acoustic slide blues (“U.S. 41"), urban blues (“Let Yourself Go”) and even Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings blues (“Jefferson Jericho Blues.”) Who knew the Heatbreakers were a blues band? The songs are fun, but like many blues they have one weakness...the lyrics don’t make much sense. Tom is kind of cheating here. The words may sound good in the tune, but they don’t say anything. Heck I’m not sure what “Trip to Pirate’s Cove” is really about, let alone why Thomas Jefferson is driving to Jericho. Kind of a far drive from Monticello isn’t it? Especially as Henry Ford hadn’t invented the Model T yet, let alone a submarine car.

TOP 5 REISSUES/ARCHIVAL RELEASES OF 2010

2010-12-09T16:04:00.010-05:00

Before I reveal my top five new albums to a grateful public, I wanted to highlight some of the great old or previously unreleased material that came out this year:

LUNCH - RUTLES - The Rutles, the brilliant Beatles parody band, are back, but in an unofficial capacity. The Rutles, also known as the pre-fab four, were the comical '70s take-off on the Beatles music and colorful legend. The Beatles' own late '90s release of their "Anthology" sets inspired the Rutles to reform for a new album called "Archaeology". Now a fan has taken it upon himself to use music from both releases to create "Lunch", a response to "Love", the mash-up Beatles soundtrack to their Cirque du Soleil smash. The result is a satisfying, craftily engineered romp through a Beatlesque fantasy. It's available streaming online at RutlesLunch.net.

APPLE REISSUES - The Beatles launched Apple Records in 1968 as a label for both their own music and for artists that they would discover and produce. The results ranged from the successful (Badfinger) to the still obscure (Sundown Playboys). While their have been reissues over the years, this year's near wholesale remastering and re-release of the catalogue is unprecedented. Brought to you by the team that remastered the Beatles for 2009, the project includes 14 albums and a two-disc singles compilation. The CDs, almost all of which have bonus tracks, can be purchased separately or as a massive 17-disc box set (which is now under $200 on Amazon, which ain't bad). A nice overview of the CDs and tracklistings can be found here.

JOHN LENNON SIGNATURE SERIES - When these came out in October, I had a whole post about them, which amounted to something of a half-hearted recommendation. While I still have issues with specific aspects of the project, overall I think it's a good thing to have these in-print and all together. It's something we've seen for George, at least theDark Horse Years. We'll never see a complete box for Paul (too profilic) or Ringo (too much detritus). It's almost sad that we've got a complete box for Lennon, who never got the chance to be profilic. We've just got his eight albums, of varying quality, with the last one before he died kicking some major songwriting a**.

THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL.9: THE WITMARK DEMOS: 1962-1964 - BOB DYLAN - In 1962, a few months after singing with Columbia Records, Dylan signed a music publishing contract with M. Witmark & Sons. He would cut demos of his songs for them, which they could then try to sell to other artists to cover, such as Peter, Paul & Mary. The resulting tapes are a record of a young singer/songwriter who quickly transformed into a prolific genius. Most of the 57 songs found their way onto his live peformances and his first three albums. Some are heard here for the first time. This is essential listening for lovers of early Dylan.

THE PROMISE - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - I'm an odd Springsteen fan in that I came to him late (1995's "Ghost of Tom Joad") and have been remiss in picking up his back catalog. So, while it's a huge deal to Boss fans that he's reissued "Darkness on the Edge of Town" as a new box set, I've never heard it (or "The River" or "Nebraska", but shhhh...don't tell). So, in my backwards way I've bought "The Promise", a two-disc collection of rare tracks he cut when he was recording "Darkness" but never released. It's available as part of the box or, thankfully, on its own. Some artists record only the songs they'll need for the album, maybe a couple extra for B-sides. Springsteen, unsure of what he wanted, recorded 70 songs. The result is an interesting historical document, a peephole into the studio. It's a satisfying mish-mash of full on E-Street Band jaunts a la "Born to Run" to the more introspective "Darkness" (or so I'm told). Some of these we've heard already on Tracks, his 1998 four-disc box set of rarities, but now they're in context, reunited with brothers from their era. The real promise of "The Promise" may be that it shows "Tracks" was not exhaustive and there's plenty in those vaults for future reissues.