COMICS-RELATED DEATHS 2008

I've compiled a list of folks in the field of comic books, strips, animation, illustration, etc. who have passed this year. If you see that I've missed someone, please let me know and I'll update the list! The formatics is kind of goonie with pictures being separated from the obit due to conversion from Word to .pdf. I'm sure there's a fix, but I'm challenged in that area. Special thanks to Mark Evanier and The Beat who did the first (and best) reporting on a lot of these individuals.COMICS 2008 Update 2

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CHRISTMAS HAM 2008

I was pleased to be a guest on "Northern Kentucky Magazine" last week and play this song that I wrote ten years ago and first performed on the show in 2001. I hope I didn't make too many mistakes! Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

BOSTON TEA PARTY

December 16th, 1773, as seen by John Severin (from Cracked Magazine #230 (9/87)...click to enlarge

BETTIE PAGE (1923-2008)

Just a few words about Bettie Page, '50s pin-up extraordinaire, who died this week at the age of 85. Most of you know that revived interest in Page was the result of Dave Stevens including her in his 'Rocketeer' comic in the mid-1980s. I encountered her image frequently during my years working at Comic Quest. There was no end to folks capitalizing on her image, whether is was via trading cards or old burlesque films like 'Teasearama' -

Page was also a recurring subject of the artist Olivia, and during the non-sport trading card craze of the early '90s, her image was hard to miss. It didn't seem strange then, but looking back now it's interesting to me that Bettie Page was embraced and beloved by comic book fans moreso than any other model, even Marilyn Monroe. Her clean, girl-next-door looks mixed with the 'anything goes' style of her fetish pictures give viewers the idea that she can be anybody.

After a couple of decades of obscurity, poverty and mental institutionalization, the revival of interest caught up with Page herself. She submitted to interviews, but declined to be photographed and had her face blacked out for TV. She hired an agency to pursue remuneration for the myriad uses of her image. I was shocked to see her on "The Girls Next Door", showing up as a guest at a Playboy mansion party (she was a 1955 Playmate (NSFW). In her last years she was able to receive the respect and reverence given her work a half-century ago, giving the Bettie Page story a happy ending.

from Noah, too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

BYE-BYE, BOSTON LEGAL

I came in late to the "Boston Legal" tea party. Though I had never watched it’s parent show, "The Practice", I had always meant to watch the spinoff since I heard William Shatner talking about it on Howard Stern (when the new series had the working title of "Fleet Street"). I caught it midway through season two, and then it wasn’t for series stars Shatner, James Spader, but episode guest star Michael J. Fox. To my pleasant surprise, the series regulars included some old TV friends: Rene Auberjoinois (“Benson”), Candice Bergen (“Murphy Brown”) and the delicious Julie Bowen (“Ed”). So I stuck with it, and enjoyed the three seasons to follow.

“Boston Legal” ends Monday night with back-to-back episodes on ABC, ending an abbreviated fifth season. It’s a leaner cast, down to just six lawyers from last year’s nine. Cast changes were the norm, and the only survivors from season one are show stars William Shatner and James Spader. Their roles brought both actors their largest acclaim, with five Emmy nominations and two wins for Shatner as Denny Crane, four Emmy nominations and three wins for Spader as Alan Shore. My wife, Jill, always asked me while I watch this show. It's the polar opposite of my politics. In fact, it continually assaulted and insulted my beliefs and ideals. It went out of its way to make liberal ideas and causes seem like the obvious choice and those who do not agree are idiots. This was particularly on display when Alan Shore made his extensive closing arguments. I've fast-forwarded through most of them. The only right-wing character is Crane, portrayed often as a buffoon who's losing his mind.

That said, what keeps me watching are the people, not just the regulars but the recurring wacky judges (like Henry Gibson and Shelley Berman) and Betty White as a perpetual scofflaw. But "Boston Legal", for all it's in-your-face politics, is really the love story of two men, two friends, Denny Crane and Alan Shore. There friendship is implausible, unconventional, but honest and uplifting to both. It's also been a great showcase for Candice Bergen (Shirley Schmidt) and John Larroquette as the sane wardens of a bin of lawyer loonies. The best character, for me, is Christian Clemenson as Jerry Espenson. Jerry started out as a recurring character nicknamed 'Hands', because he was most comfortable always keeping his hands on his thighs (even while walking). He went from taking a senior partner hostage at gunpoint to becoming a partner himself with the firm. Clemenson's Emmy-winning portrayal of this sympathetic, troubled man gave us a character for the viewer to root for each week.

I'm glad we got a last chance with these characters. We even got the contrived TV Thanksgiving episode where the co-workers have dinner together, causing Shirley to exclaim, "Do we have to fight? Can't we just eat and make small talk and pretend we like each other?"