CAPTAIN AMERICA Movie Trailer

Here's the new trailer for the CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER theatrical movie. What I didn't know about it was that the thingis very much like the Simon & Kirby original story: Steve Rogers, a scrawny 90 lb. weakling is unfit to join the US Army, is transformed via some scientific hoo hah into a super soldier. Like the original comic book, the movie is a WW2 period piece. With a supporting cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci, this one bears a look.



Hat tip to John "Shep" Sheppard!

That New PEANUTS Special

Have they gone TOO FAR with this new PEANUTS special?!?!

No, just kidding.

The above image is a 1963 parody of Mr. Schulz's runaway best seller by the great Hank Ketcham, from the 17th Annual National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards newsletter.

Seriously ... there is a new PEANUTS special. But it won't be on TV. Not yet.

From what I have heard, this special is reverently done in the Lee-Melendez style and it's good. I haven't seen it. It comes out, direct to DVD, on March 29, 2011.

Titled HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN here is director Andy Beall talking about it and showing some pencils tests via Animation Brew:



The special is longer than the classic ones, 46 minutes, and the DVD has many special features:

• Deconstructing Schulz: From Comic Strips to Screenplay - How the Peanuts comic strip was made into a special
  
  
• Happiness is...Finding the Right Voice - Meet the stellar new voice cast (Peanuts Specials, for those who may not know, have always employed children actors for the voices)
  
  
• 24 Frames Per Second - Drawing and Animating a Peanuts Special
  
  
• Deleted Scene with an Introduction by Director Andy Beall

Related: the new PEANUTS graphic novel HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY, CHARLIE BROWN from Boom! Studios ships in April. The book is written by original creator Charles M. Schulz, adapted by Craig Schulz & Stephan Pastis, with art credited to Bob Scott, Vicki Scott and Ron Zorman.

Pop Culture Zoo has a preview.

Jerry Robinson: Life After Batman

Did you know there's a documentary about Jerry Robinson in the works? I didn't! Here's a great peek at Jerry, The Joker, Jet Scott and more:



This is from the Profession Cartoonist series -- the same team that gave us Will Eisner Profession Cartoonist documentary.

Related: Jerry's Lambiek page

Interview: David Boswell

The creator of Reid Fleming, The World's Toughest Milkman, David Boswell, is interviewed by Tom Hawthorn in The Globe and Mail.

David Boswell will be inducted into the Canadian Cartoonists Hall of Fame during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Reid Fleming has been around since 1978. He's an angry guy; a symbol for all the put-upon working masses. The character is

"... a misanthropic purveyor of dairy products, a rye-swilling, fist-waving, milk-truck-crashing trouble-maker who insists, 'I am not bald! I get my hair cut this way.'

"Fleming is the antihero of an epic series of illustrated tales written by David Boswell, a Vancouver artist who has laboured for decades in near-obscurity and near-penury"

The rest of the interview is here.

There will be two hardbound volume collecting the series, the first to be out later this year.

Above image from the ComicVine site.

Toilet Roll Comics

So many jokes can be made, but here it is: 1970s Marvel Comics printed on toilet paper. Yes, before the PDF or the iPad, there was the TP format!

And the story, "The Amazing Spider-Man & the Incredible Hulk" in "The Gamma Gambit," was co-written by my pal Jim Salicrup! Wow!

A tip o' the lid to Mark Anderson!

Video: Comic Book Artist Peter Gross and MIX

For a short video (about 3 minutes, plus a damn 30 second advertisement in the beginning), this Star Tribune profile of Peter Gross (LUCIFER, CHOSEN, BOOKS OF MAGIC) packs a lot of information about who he is, what he does, and how he draws.



The article then focuses on the cartoonists in the Twin Cities area, with the prediction that most will be female in the coming years. Well worth a read, and it makes me consider dropping in for the next Minneapolis Indie Xpo.

Below: a fun & informative short video from the gang behind MIX about the 2011 Xpo, to be held November 5-6, 2011 at The Soap Factory in Minneapolis, MN:

MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #15, August 1966

The Gold Key Comics Blog scans in an entire issue of MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER. With art by the late, great Russ Manning (and a script by Herb Castle), this was one of the MAGNUS comics I owned as a kid.

Magnus was a big beefy guy -- a square jawed hero-type who had a brilliant mind and a fierce uppercut. When the servant robots got out of control, which happened every issue, he was the man to knock 'em down.

Seeing this comic takes me back to growing up in Lawrence, Kansas and riding my bike (with parental permission - since I had to cross busy Route 40) to get to the local 7-11 store. Once there, I would ogle their comics rack, making judgments on what to buy based on the change in my pocket and the garish covers! Always a challenge!

Video: Jim Woodring's "Nibbus Maximus"

TREASURE CHEST Comics: "This Godless Communism" by Reed Crandall

TREASURE CHEST, the long-running Catholic comic book (1946-1972), began an ambitious three issue series in 1961-62 titled "This Godless Communism."



Illustrated by comics great Reed Crandall, it painted a potential future world where communists blew up the Washington Monument, outlawed home ownership and forced the women folk to leave home and work! The Easily Mused blog gives us "This Godless Communism" in its entirety.

Wonder Woman Original Concept Sketches

The above sketches, drawn by Harry G. Peter in 1941, were sold at a Heritage auction for $33,350. They are said to be early concept drawings by Peter, who was the primary WONDER WOMAN artist during the Golden Age of comics. There are comments by Peter and WONDER WOMAN creator William Moulton Marston. ComicBookMovie has the details.

Related: iconic Golden Age comic book art from the collection of Jerry Robinson now on auction block.

DC Annuals 1960-65

The Golden Age Comics Book Stories blog shares some classic DC Comics Annual covers from Superman, Batman, Secret Origins, The Flash and Lois Lane comic books.

When I was a kid, I loved those behind the scenes kinda stories , like "The Origin of the Batcave" or "The Origin of the Superman - Batman Team." And I loved the reprints of from the "Golden Age" of comics.

Big hat tip to The Comics Reporter.

Stan Goldberg Profile

Above: my friend Stan Goldberg and some of his work.

"'One day I was watching a documentary on television with my family,' [Stan Goldberg] said, 'and it showed [pop artist] Roy Lichtenstein holding up a comic and saying that it was an inspiration for his work – and I recognized it as one of my ‘Millie the Model’ books!'"

- Queens Tribune, November 4, 2010

One of the nicest buys in the business, Stan Goldberg, has been drawing ever since he was a kid. He started in comics as a teenager, taking the subway from the Bronx to the Empire State Building where he would assist Human Torch creator Carl Burgos in the Timely Offices (now called Marvel).

Flash forward several decades and Stan is still in the business, as the chief artist on MLJ's flagship character ARCHIE. His work on the ARCHIE GETS MARRIED books are now in a slipcased hardcover edition from Abrams. IDW will publish THE ART OF STAN GOLDBERG next year.

The Queens Tribune has a great profile of the prolific comics artist by Barbara Arnstein here.

Video: Bob Kane Interviewed by Stan Lee

From the series of Comic Book Greats videos, released by Stabur Home Video on VHS in the early 1990s.

Jerry Grandenetti 1926-2010

Comic book artist Jerry Grandenetti passed away on February 19, 2010. Cause of death unknown. Mark Evanier, who confirmed Mr. Grandenetti's passing, writes about the comic book artist's life.

Related: prolific writer Jim Amash reflects on Grandetti's career
Related: a 2008 interview with Mr. Grandenetti.

NY Times: The Last Days and Legacy of Harvey Pekar

The New York Times profiles Joyce Brabner, the widow of comics writer Harvey Pekar, as well as some of the conflicts between her and the artists involved in his work -- particularly Tara Seibel.

So much of this was news to me and I was uncomfortable reading about it. This is all so much dirty laundry. I wish all of these people well and I can only imagine what Ms. Brabner is going through what with Harvey gone and the race by others to cobble his legacy into a legend.

Video: Frank Cho's World

Above: a screen grab from the video.

The Washington Post shows us a great video, along with some informative links, all about Frank Cho's work and influences. Well worth seeing. The videos by Ben de la Cruz and Alexandra Garcia are expertly presented and made me want more.

A big hat tip to my pal Sean Kelly!

Video: The Adventures of Tiny Superman

Here is a super-low budget, super funny parody called Tiny Superman. It won an award so it's worth a peek.

Despite things like no budget and the camera's inability to macro focus on Tiny Supes, this is an example of what you can do with some fun writing and quick pacing. Big hat tip to the Forbidden Planet International blog for this!

The Adventures of Tiny Superman from Jake Thomas on Vimeo.

Video: "Premake" THE AVENGERS (1952)

Here it is, in all its mash-up, fan boy, nerdilicious glory: THE AVENGERS; a mashup preview trailer for a fictional 1952 movie about Marvel's superhero team.

Big tips of the Thor helmet to Anthony Taylor and Craig Yoe! And thanks to whoiseyevan for this bogglingly fun 3 minutes. Oh -- and here is "a frame by frame comparison of things you might've missed the first time you watched this fan-made trailer:

RICHIE RICH Artist Collaborates on Book with Daughter

Cartoonist Sid Couchey looks at some of his illustrations with (from left) daughter Laura Abate and grandchildren Lucas and Christian Abate. Photo by Alvin Reiner.

RICHIE RICH comic book artist Sid Couchey, along with Laura Abate, his daughter, has put together a new book that introduces fine art to children. Titled A CARTOONIST'S INTRODUCTION TO THE MASTERS, the book features Mr. Couchey's drawings of "Champy," the local legendary Lake Champlain sea monster. Suzanne Moore, writing for the Press Republican, has more here.

It's an art history book in simple language for ages 4 through 10 or so inspired by Sid's "Champy by the Masters" series — she [Laura] has written the text, and Sid contributes the illustration, showing how he brought the style of various master artists to bear on whimsical interpretations of the Lake Champlain sea monster.

Basil Wolverton's PLOP! Covers

Sam Henderson is digs through his old boxes of 1970s comic book goodness to give us all a peek at Basil Wolverton's grand PLOP! covers.