SOUL SUNDAY

Peek A Boo - Disciples of Soul

Trying again

 

This week entry into the Crackjack Pencil Contest. Having seen Skipworths entry, I almost didn't bother. (it's 110% brilliant).

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

Here is one for you to add to you to trip on and add to the collection.

RVCA

The homie Pat from RVCA came through to add to his collection..

From 1977: 25 Years of MAD Magazine

Above: a 1963 photo of Bill Gaines entering the MAD offices. Poking their heads out of the door are (from top to bottom): Nick Meglin, John Putnam, Al Feldstein, Leonard Brenner, Nelson Tirado, and Jerry De Fuccio.

I'm out of the office or away from the blog, so here's a rerun:

A heartfelt 1977 New York Times Magazine article about MAD's influence on R. Crumb, The Muppets, and the world at large.


From the July 31, 1977 New York Times: "THE 'MAD' GENERATION - After 25 years of perpetuating humor in the jugular vein, the magazine that wised up millions of kids is still a crazy hit" by Tony Hiss (son of Alger) and Jeff Lewis.

Below is page one, which should blow up nice and big for easy reading of the ol' pixels.



Like millions of other boys, I grew up with MAD. In the early 1970s, I distinctly recall making the decision to subscribe (when I realized I could get the mag for less than the cover price of 40 cents if I could save up the dollars), and walking down the shag-carpeted hallway to good ol' Dad, sitting in his chair in the living room, to ask him to make out a check to the good folks at E.C. Publications.


Above: a special painting by Norman Mingo done especially for the Times, so says the article. Let me know if that's not true.

I was pleased to see credit given to Harvey Kurtzman, and there is a hat tip to the circumstances of his leaving the mag after its first 22 issues.

I love the above photo, taken in 1963, of Bill Gaines, in what looks like full samba mode, and some of the MAD staff (from top to bottom in the doorway) Nick Meglin, John Putnam, Al Feldstein, Leonard Brenner, Nelson Tirado and Jerry De Fuccio.


The scan on this is not the greatest. The Times magazine, as of 31 years ago, was rather large and required multiple scans in my poky scanner.

By the way, last week, the Times cut the width of their paper by 1.5 inches. Shrinky, shrinky, shrinky! This makes the Times about the same width as the Wall Street Journal. And this is after raising its price from $1.00 to $1.25 per daily issue. My wallet is going shrinky too.

"Alfred E. Neuman was everything that parents prayed deep-down their kids wouldn't turn into -- and feared they would." Holy cow!


This article made me want to go and read a lot of old MADs.

UPDATE: Mark Evanier responds to this article here.

FROM ITALY TO L.A.

Our client just came through to get blessed with his piece right here in the heart of L.A. all the way from the Streets of Italy.

Serena Bramble's THE ENDLESS NIGHT

Via the Potrzebie blog:

Serena Bramble edited together a short homage to film noir on her Mac. Her

" ... short film tribute to film noir created a sensation at the Castro Theatre's 8th annual Noir City Film Festival last month. This is on several blogs, as Bramble's brilliance brings a luminosity to flickering frames in the dark balconies of memory. A 20-year-old psychology student at Santa Rosa Junior College, she created The Endless Night with iMovie on her MacBook, commenting, 'After many long hours, this is my tribute to my favorite genre, to the dark shadows and the profound despair of the soul.' The music is "Angel" by Massive Attack. (Control click heading at top for David Raksin's 'Laura.')"

I see clips like this, from these old film noir movies I've seen and some I haven't -- and I want to watch all of them.

I look at the movies that are playing now, or that are the most popular with the Netflix subscribers -- and I just am not interested. I mean, how many times can Ben Stiller go to a museum? Ugh. Give me Stanwyck and Bogie and Davis.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Here is a flick of a collab with Risk piece from 20yrs ago...

JET SCOTT by Sheldon Stark and Jerry Robinson

Dark Horse has collected the "lost science fiction masterwork" JET SCOTT comic strip, which was written by Sheldon Stark and with wonderful art by Jerry Robinson.

"In the 1950s, when the world was faced with strange or anomalous threats, there was one man who was called on to set the situation right -- Jet Scott of the Office of Scientifact! Whether it was tracking down deadly Banthrax germs, uncovering the source of strange ocean creatures, or discovering the cause of spontaneously combusting pipelines in Saudi Arabia, Jet Scott was the adventurer who could get to the truth!"

We live in such a time when a forgotten strip that lasted only 2 years, from 1953 to 1955, published by the New York Herald-Tribune (and seen in few markets) now sees the new light of day between hardcovers.

Allan Holtz has background and more samples at his Stripper's Guide blog.

Hat tip to Comics Reporter.

Virgil VIP Partch

Ger Apeldoorn shares some of Virgil VIP Patch's BIG GEORGE comic strips. Scroll down for a trove of VIP's gag cartoons from his tenure as cartoon editor at TRUE.

Vegetarian Recipe: Roasted Vegetables with Brown Rice

This is not cartoons. This is a recipe for Roasted Vegetables with Brown Rice, since Don and Suzanne Orehek asked about it. I took some photos of the dish thinking maybe someone else out there might be interested.

1 head cauliflower
red onion
sweet potato
3-6 cloves of garlic
1 1/3 lb. brussel sprouts (fresh, not frozen)

Cut up the cauliflower, halve the brussel sprouts, cut the potato into small sticks, spread onto a jelly roll pan. Place thinly sliced red onion and chopped fresh garlic over the top. Drizzle it with olive oil, put some salt and pepper on it. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees or until brown on the edges. I use the center rack of the oven.

After 15 minutes, the aroma of the garlic fills the kitchen.


Above: this is a photo of the roasted vegetables just out of the oven. I scoop up maybe 2 cups of brown rice on a plate and put the vegetables on top.

Try putting a little cumin on them as well.

EMPIRE STATE

Here are some more flicks of a remix on Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia while in N.Y.

Steve Brodner: The Vanguard at 75

Steve Brodner shares his sketchpad doodles along with his finished color drawing celebrating 75 years of the Village Vanguard.

Gag Cartoons Circa 1839

Via Yesterday's Papers, here is a collection of gag cartoons from the humorous weekly The Odd Fellow.

Although the context is lost on me (and pretty much everyone else who can't recall the issues of 1839), this is a splendid sampling of the quality of cartoon and caricature work.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS X HAITI BENEFIT

THE LOST ART OF "INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS" from SA STUDIOS on Vimeo.

Here is the artwork of The Inglorious Basterds x Haiti Benefit we had on Thursday 18th. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported.. The show SOLD OUT in one hour!

Video: New DOCTOR WHO Trailer

Via the BBC, just released this weekend. Some mild spoilers re: villains in the new series.

What are SORDID comic books doing to our children?

Via Sherm Cohen's Cartoon SNAP blog: from the April 24, 1954 Milwaukee Journal, a piece on Dr. Wertham: What are SORDID comic books doing to our children?

SOUL SUNDAY

Entertainers IV - Hey Lady

Being watched...

 

 This weeks' cartoon in the CCGB caption contest. We shall see if this cartoon is being watched.

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

Here is a trailer of a classic for all you corporate thugs.

Bombing the BX and Harlem

THE BIG BAD BX

East meets West, I joined up with Cope and Sen2 last night and bombed three MetroPCS stores in Harlem and the Bronx.
Check them out if your in town MetroPCS stores:
Spanish Harlem: 115th & Lexington
Bronx 1: 309 E. Fordham Road, Bronx (at Tiebout Ave) Bronx 2: 2901 3rd Ave, Bronx (at E. 151 St.)

Jim Tierney's Book Designs

Some knock-out book designs for some of Jules Verne's great works by Jim Tierney. Jim is studying illustration at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. This is all part of his senior thesis; a competition for the William H. Ely award.

"Being equal parts book-nerd and design-nerd, I naturally decided to re-design some classic Jules Verne novels. I‘m a big Verne fan, but a chance to re-design any classic book is always exciting. Classics usually allow for a more personal interpretation, since most people are already vaguely familiar with the premise of the books, and I didn’t have to compete with one well-known cover, as I might have with a more recent book."

Jim shares a lot of his process and sketches here.

Jules Verne cover designs by Jim Tierney from Jim Tierney on Vimeo.

Hat tip to my pal Sean Kelly. Thanks, Sean!

FROM THIALAND TO NY

Here is another one of our regular clients who came through to get a portrait of his pops.

Video: Tex Blaisdell on "To Tell the Truth"

Above: Tex Blaisdell's NCS bio.

Here's veteran cartoonist Tex Blaisdell, whose talents spanned DC Comics and many syndicated features, guesting on this 1970 episode of the To Tell the Truth game show.

At this time, Mr. Blaisdell had taken over LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE after creator Harold Gray's death in 1968.

Some members of the celebrity panel (composed of Tom Posten, Peggy Cass, Gene Rayburn and Kitty Carlisle) ham it up, reading a very early ANNIE strip aloud. Actually, one of the very earliest ANNIEs. It's the strip from August 14, 1924, the middle of the second week of the feature when Mrs. Warbucks takes Annie from the orphanage to the Warbucks estate. As Kitty Carlisle remarks, people have not heard of Mrs. Warbucks, the wife of Daddy Warbucks. The explanation offered is that she was an unsympathetic character and Mr. Gray wrote her out of the strip.

At the end of this clip, Tex live-draws a portrait of Annie.

DEDICATION

Another one of our repeat clients came through for an addition to his back piece that is dedicated to his family.

DICK TRACY Cards

Above: cover detail from DC Comics' Limited Collectors Edition of Dick Tracy (1975).

I was indifferent to DICK TRACY. I saw it in the newspaper growing up and I had read some of the old strips in those comics history books, but it wasn't until Blackthorne began reprinting the old TRACY strips in comic book and softcover format during the 1980s that I began to see why this highly stylized cops and robbers stories were so well regarded.

TRACY is a markedly narrow strip that leaves no doubt that evil men (and women) exist and good (through sweat and perseverance) will eventually triumph. But while its scope may be narrow, Gould mines deeply. Tracy is the bright light of justice in this dangerous comic strip world. His morals as solid as his chin, this cop is unafraid to use as much violence against the ruthless villains as they themselves dish out.

How grim is Tracy's world? As Don Markstein points out, within the strip's first week, Dick's girlfriend Tess Trueheart is kidnapped and her dear old dad is rubbed out. Mayberry this ain't!

DICK TRACY was created by Chester Gould (1900-1985), who was at the helm 365 days a year from October 4, 1931 to December 25, 1977. Dick Locher has been part of the team behind this Tribune Media strip for over 30 years now.

Here is a series of six cards from the Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum that were part of a goody bag of items from the 2006 National Cartoonists Society Reubens weekend that was held in Chicago. Each card reproduced some terrific TRACY collectible and then there are interesting facts on the other side of the card. This is the whole set:



Above is the front and back of the first card. These are all square, and about the size of a CD. The even came in a jewel box.












DICK TRACY is a registered trademark of Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Related: "Dick Tracy The Art of Chester Gould:" 200 characters from DICK TRACY 1931-1977