The late Syd Shores was the mentor of my dear friend, Gene Colan, and this already makes him important to me, but Shores' work on such diverse features as CAPTAIN AMERICA, BLONDE PHANTOM and, his last feature as penciller, RED WOLF, which he worked on shortly before his passing in the early 1970's, are complete proof that Syd belongs on this list.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Saturday, June 2, 2007
SAM GLANZMAN!!!
Sam Glanzman is one of the nicest cartoonists I have never met, well, what I mean is, I "know" Sam via the internet, and he really is a very nice man on-line, and I am sure that he is equally nice face-to-face.
Sam's career has spanned over fifty years, and, while he does not seem to have any comic book assignments these days, he is available to draw commissioned assignments.
Sam's career highlight include drawing HERCULES for Charlton Comics, writing and drawing the autobiographical "USS Stevens" featurettes for DC COMICS, and writing and drawing A SAILOR'S STORY graphic novel, and it's sequel, whose name escapes me just now, for MARVEL COMICS, these last two also being autobiographical accounts of Sam's USS STEVENS days.
Sam also wrote and drew ATTU, a graphic novel series of his own creation, during the 1990's, and, also, Sam drew JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN, for Charlton Comics, which ran for five issues during the 1960's, a series that came out without permission of The Estate Of Edgar Rice Burroughs, when the Burroughs lawyers were apparently caught "napping".
Some people, including me, see Sam Glanzman's work as being inspired by that of Joe Kubert. I maintain that there is definitely a similar surface look to the drawings of both men, but there is some kind of "otherness" to Sam's work that dis-associates it from the work of Joe Kubert. I have never quite been able to pinpont exactly what it is, but I am sure that it is there nonetheless.
Sam, you are one of the top cartoonists out there, I am so glad you are still out there!!!
Sam's career has spanned over fifty years, and, while he does not seem to have any comic book assignments these days, he is available to draw commissioned assignments.
Sam's career highlight include drawing HERCULES for Charlton Comics, writing and drawing the autobiographical "USS Stevens" featurettes for DC COMICS, and writing and drawing A SAILOR'S STORY graphic novel, and it's sequel, whose name escapes me just now, for MARVEL COMICS, these last two also being autobiographical accounts of Sam's USS STEVENS days.
Sam also wrote and drew ATTU, a graphic novel series of his own creation, during the 1990's, and, also, Sam drew JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN, for Charlton Comics, which ran for five issues during the 1960's, a series that came out without permission of The Estate Of Edgar Rice Burroughs, when the Burroughs lawyers were apparently caught "napping".
Some people, including me, see Sam Glanzman's work as being inspired by that of Joe Kubert. I maintain that there is definitely a similar surface look to the drawings of both men, but there is some kind of "otherness" to Sam's work that dis-associates it from the work of Joe Kubert. I have never quite been able to pinpont exactly what it is, but I am sure that it is there nonetheless.
Sam, you are one of the top cartoonists out there, I am so glad you are still out there!!!
BILL WATTERSON!!!
The "father" of one of the best of the most recent, and _truly_ successful modern humor newspaper strips, that is, one that is really entertaining, as well as a moneymaker, is CALVIN & HOBBES. The many trade edition collections of this comic strip, as well as the luxurious, and expensive, slipcased editions that you can find in the bookstores, and on-line, are proof enough of the dollar value of the series.
Watterson, who is retired from producing comic strips, held for years that he would not get involved in allowing any animated cartoons, dolls, or what-have-you, being made from his series, which, while a very staunch and even admirable attitude, is certainly depriving the millions of "Calvin" fans from a lot of potential fun.
It is, however, Watterson's right to keep his stance firm, and, it is, after all, the strips that Watterson already wrote and drew that make him a topic of this blog.
Watterson's concept of a boy and his stuffed tiger, the tiger being able to communicate with the boy only when no one else is around, is charming, and "speaks" to many of the people who had "invisible friends", or other special companions when they were children. The idea may or may not be entirely unique, but it is that that makes it acceptable to us all, we can believe it, because it may have happened to _us_ as well.
Watterson draws the slightly "manic" Calvin as though Calvin is on a "sugar high", from eating too much of his favorite breakfast cereal, "CHOCOLATE FROSTED SUGAR BOMBS". As a person at nearly the age of 50 years, and one who ate way too much CAP'N CRUNCH as a child, and still eats that occasionally now, I can attest to the power that some cereals hold over today's children. First of all, we want that sugar high, and we want it badly!!! We also want any of the little plastic toys that come in the box, and we want more than one, just in case we lose the first one, or the school bully pries it from our fingers. Calvin has wonderful flights of fancy, with his few friends, and the school bully even, but mostly with that stuffed tiger, Hobbes.
Calvin's color adventures, in the Sunday papers, as "Spaceman Spiff" are wonderful, not only because of the great recalling of our own childhoods, but, also, because they allow Watterson to have more room, plus that famous "polychromatic effulgence" once spoken of by William Randolph Hearst, that makes them instantly recall our own childhood play times, and lends reality to the fantasy from watterson's pencils and brushes. We almost want to cheer, and maybe some of us do, when Calvin escapes from the monstrous aliens he battles as Spiff. We want him to succeed as much as we want to succeed, whether it is in school or at our office or store, or what-have-you, or with whatever endeavors our Calvin-loving offspring may be dealing with.
For it's immediacy in our own lives, and the way Calvin figures into them, I name Bill Watterson one of my favorite new strip cartoonist of the 1980's forward.
Watterson, who is retired from producing comic strips, held for years that he would not get involved in allowing any animated cartoons, dolls, or what-have-you, being made from his series, which, while a very staunch and even admirable attitude, is certainly depriving the millions of "Calvin" fans from a lot of potential fun.
It is, however, Watterson's right to keep his stance firm, and, it is, after all, the strips that Watterson already wrote and drew that make him a topic of this blog.
Watterson's concept of a boy and his stuffed tiger, the tiger being able to communicate with the boy only when no one else is around, is charming, and "speaks" to many of the people who had "invisible friends", or other special companions when they were children. The idea may or may not be entirely unique, but it is that that makes it acceptable to us all, we can believe it, because it may have happened to _us_ as well.
Watterson draws the slightly "manic" Calvin as though Calvin is on a "sugar high", from eating too much of his favorite breakfast cereal, "CHOCOLATE FROSTED SUGAR BOMBS". As a person at nearly the age of 50 years, and one who ate way too much CAP'N CRUNCH as a child, and still eats that occasionally now, I can attest to the power that some cereals hold over today's children. First of all, we want that sugar high, and we want it badly!!! We also want any of the little plastic toys that come in the box, and we want more than one, just in case we lose the first one, or the school bully pries it from our fingers. Calvin has wonderful flights of fancy, with his few friends, and the school bully even, but mostly with that stuffed tiger, Hobbes.
Calvin's color adventures, in the Sunday papers, as "Spaceman Spiff" are wonderful, not only because of the great recalling of our own childhoods, but, also, because they allow Watterson to have more room, plus that famous "polychromatic effulgence" once spoken of by William Randolph Hearst, that makes them instantly recall our own childhood play times, and lends reality to the fantasy from watterson's pencils and brushes. We almost want to cheer, and maybe some of us do, when Calvin escapes from the monstrous aliens he battles as Spiff. We want him to succeed as much as we want to succeed, whether it is in school or at our office or store, or what-have-you, or with whatever endeavors our Calvin-loving offspring may be dealing with.
For it's immediacy in our own lives, and the way Calvin figures into them, I name Bill Watterson one of my favorite new strip cartoonist of the 1980's forward.
Monday, May 28, 2007
RAMONA FRADON!!!
I was pleased to see a nice interview with Ramona Fradon in ALTER EGO, one of the best magazines about the history of comic books that is on the current market. Though I wrote the beginnings of this entry _prior_ to the release of the AE issue with the Fradon interview, I have added this small bit as an introduction to my blog entry, and will be adding more soon.
Ms. Fradon was one of the few female cartoonists working in the comic book business during the 1950's, 1960's, or 1970's, but she was one of the best cartoonists overall in the comic book industry.
Ramona worked primarily for DC/NATIONAL COMICS, drawing such series as "Aquaman", in ADVENTURE COMICS, METAMORPHO: THE ELEMENT MAN, first in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD< where he made his debut, and, later, in his eponymous title. Ramona later came back to DC during the 1970's to draw a new series of PLASTIC MAN issues, and, also, SUPER-FRIENDS, a comic book based on a Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera cartoon that featured such DC COMICS stalwarts as SUPERMAN, BATMAN, AQUAMAN, and WONDER WOMAN.
Ramona is married to cartoonist Dana Fradon, of THE NEW YORKER, and has been making the rounds on the US Comic Book Convention in more recent years, and has collaborated with Marie Severin on a couple of projects.
I will be posting some scans of Ramona's cartooning work here later, and probably fleshing out this post, so, this is...
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Ms. Fradon was one of the few female cartoonists working in the comic book business during the 1950's, 1960's, or 1970's, but she was one of the best cartoonists overall in the comic book industry.
Ramona worked primarily for DC/NATIONAL COMICS, drawing such series as "Aquaman", in ADVENTURE COMICS, METAMORPHO: THE ELEMENT MAN, first in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD< where he made his debut, and, later, in his eponymous title. Ramona later came back to DC during the 1970's to draw a new series of PLASTIC MAN issues, and, also, SUPER-FRIENDS, a comic book based on a Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera cartoon that featured such DC COMICS stalwarts as SUPERMAN, BATMAN, AQUAMAN, and WONDER WOMAN.
Ramona is married to cartoonist Dana Fradon, of THE NEW YORKER, and has been making the rounds on the US Comic Book Convention in more recent years, and has collaborated with Marie Severin on a couple of projects.
I will be posting some scans of Ramona's cartooning work here later, and probably fleshing out this post, so, this is...
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
JOHN ROMITA, SR.!!!.
It is difficult for me to write an entry about this man, and not refer to him as "Johnny", or as "Ring-A-Ding" Romita, names I know him by from reading MARVEL COMICS, but since he is one of the elder statesmen of the comic book world it seems foolish to think of him that way, and, there is a JohnRomita, Jr., so I guess it is more practical to refer to that "friendly neighborhood cartoonist" in a more serious manner.
Mr. Romita's journey as a cartoonist began with his work for ATLAS, the generally used name to refer to the 1950's incarnation of MARVEL COMICS. John drew a few CAPTAIN AMERICA stories in those days, but most people think of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN when John's name comes up.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Mr. Romita's journey as a cartoonist began with his work for ATLAS, the generally used name to refer to the 1950's incarnation of MARVEL COMICS. John drew a few CAPTAIN AMERICA stories in those days, but most people think of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN when John's name comes up.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
BARRY SMITH, now, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH!!!
Mr. Smith, whom I had the pleasure of meeting years ago in Boston, was an integral part of THE STUDIO, with his mates, MW KALUTA, JEFFREY JONES, and BERNIE WRIGHTSON (blog entries either here or being developed as of this writing).
Smith was virtually two different individuals, or it seemed so for a while. His inexpert work on the MARVEL COMICS titles NICK FURY: AGENT OF S.H.I.E.LD. and DAREDEVIL did indicate that there was talent there, but it seemed that Smith's forté was creating homages to other cartoonists.
Suddenly, however, Smith "set the {comic book} world on fire" with his stunning drawing on the licensed MARVEL COMICS series CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Famed comic book scribe Roy Thomas, one of MARVEL's first writers to work on writing many of the MARVEL titles other than Stan Lee, the great "face" of the company, and co-creator of many hit titles, took the pulp magazine creation of the late Robert Ervin Howard and teamed with Smith on 22 issues of the title. Howard's character had newfound popularity due to the 1960's best-selling reprintings of the Howard stories, by LANCER BOOKS, which had dynamic covers by legendary fantasy painter, FRANK FRAZETTA. Sadly,for the artistic end of MARVEL's early CONAN run,the non-Smith two issues were drawn by Gil Kane, and one issue was a partial reprint. I do not mean to dismiss the work of Kane, a brilliant cartoonist whose work on CONAN was embellished by RALPH REESE, but a new title should have more artistic continuity than that. It is unfortunate that Frank Frazetta did not paint covers for MARVEL's slew of CONAN-related titles.
In my opinion, the title lost much of it's lustre when Smith left the book, having outdone himself on the last few books, even though the new artistic choice was John Buscema, who knew how to draw as well as any of the best cartoonists in the comic book business. It is all relative, like how some film buffs will only accept Sean Connery as "the" JAMES BOND, or the way in which many other movie enthusiasts only want to see Basil Rathbone as SHERLOCK HOLMES, but I could never get into Buscema's CONAN.
Smith also drew a few beautiful atmospheric and stylish issues of THE AVENGERS, not to be confused with the television characters of that name from Smith's native England.
After Smith's departure from CONAN, and then MARVEL COMICS, his work began to appear under his own imprint, GORBLIMEY PRESS, and there was another burst of talent evident there, Smith now began to call himself Barry Windsor-Smith, and therein lies further reasoning behind my assertion that he almost seemed like two people.
Smith was not drawing his own comic books, but creating lavish "fine art" type works.
Oddly, though, the perception of there being "two Smiths" is not limited to my earlier points, as Smith went through other periods in his career, drawing other titles for MARVEL, like a revamped version of JACK KIRBY's character, MACHINE MAN, who was spun off from MARVEL's adaptation of the film 2001: A SPACE ODDYSSEY.
Smith also _wrote_ and drew "Weapon X", a chapter series that appeared in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS, a series about the origins of the very popular character "Wolverine", from the comic books about the X-MEN, which of course are now an immensely successful theatrical movie series, and some earlier animated cartoons.
Smith also re-invented himself again, drawing comic books such as ARCHER & ARMSTRONG and a new version of DOCTOR SOLAR, MAN OF THE ATOM, now simply called SOLAR, at VALIANT COMICS, for former MARVEL editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter.
These new works made Smith's drawing seem more homogenous, but, also, showed a more confident, less experimental _comc book cartoonist_.
I love the early Smith CONAN books, and much of his other comic book work. but the older Smith seems content to "just draw comics", rather than create artistic masterpieces, though I do believe that some of his fine art works truly _are_ masterpieces, within the world of fantasy illustration.
To make his career yet more innovative, though,Windsor-Smith also created the large format comic book BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH: STORYTELLER, for DARK HORSE COMICS, which carried three different BWS drawn features, and on of these begat the "spin-off" graphic novel. AD ASTRA IN AFRICA.
Barry also drew works for MALIBU and IMAGE COMICS, keeping his drawing visible in regular comic books, and then working with Gary Groth and Kim Thompson at FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS to collect examples of his work, with text, in two books called OPUS, not to be confused with Berk Breathed's comic strip penguin.
In any case, Smith's work is bound to be long-remembered, he is indeed a "cartoonist great", even though I am uncertain as to how the nearly sixty year old Windsor-Smith would feel about my calling him that.
;o)
Thanks to Wikipedia, th internet encyclopedia, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Windsor-Smith
for refreshing my memory on the career of BWS!!!
Smith was virtually two different individuals, or it seemed so for a while. His inexpert work on the MARVEL COMICS titles NICK FURY: AGENT OF S.H.I.E.LD. and DAREDEVIL did indicate that there was talent there, but it seemed that Smith's forté was creating homages to other cartoonists.
Suddenly, however, Smith "set the {comic book} world on fire" with his stunning drawing on the licensed MARVEL COMICS series CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Famed comic book scribe Roy Thomas, one of MARVEL's first writers to work on writing many of the MARVEL titles other than Stan Lee, the great "face" of the company, and co-creator of many hit titles, took the pulp magazine creation of the late Robert Ervin Howard and teamed with Smith on 22 issues of the title. Howard's character had newfound popularity due to the 1960's best-selling reprintings of the Howard stories, by LANCER BOOKS, which had dynamic covers by legendary fantasy painter, FRANK FRAZETTA. Sadly,for the artistic end of MARVEL's early CONAN run,the non-Smith two issues were drawn by Gil Kane, and one issue was a partial reprint. I do not mean to dismiss the work of Kane, a brilliant cartoonist whose work on CONAN was embellished by RALPH REESE, but a new title should have more artistic continuity than that. It is unfortunate that Frank Frazetta did not paint covers for MARVEL's slew of CONAN-related titles.
In my opinion, the title lost much of it's lustre when Smith left the book, having outdone himself on the last few books, even though the new artistic choice was John Buscema, who knew how to draw as well as any of the best cartoonists in the comic book business. It is all relative, like how some film buffs will only accept Sean Connery as "the" JAMES BOND, or the way in which many other movie enthusiasts only want to see Basil Rathbone as SHERLOCK HOLMES, but I could never get into Buscema's CONAN.
Smith also drew a few beautiful atmospheric and stylish issues of THE AVENGERS, not to be confused with the television characters of that name from Smith's native England.
After Smith's departure from CONAN, and then MARVEL COMICS, his work began to appear under his own imprint, GORBLIMEY PRESS, and there was another burst of talent evident there, Smith now began to call himself Barry Windsor-Smith, and therein lies further reasoning behind my assertion that he almost seemed like two people.
Smith was not drawing his own comic books, but creating lavish "fine art" type works.
Oddly, though, the perception of there being "two Smiths" is not limited to my earlier points, as Smith went through other periods in his career, drawing other titles for MARVEL, like a revamped version of JACK KIRBY's character, MACHINE MAN, who was spun off from MARVEL's adaptation of the film 2001: A SPACE ODDYSSEY.
Smith also _wrote_ and drew "Weapon X", a chapter series that appeared in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS, a series about the origins of the very popular character "Wolverine", from the comic books about the X-MEN, which of course are now an immensely successful theatrical movie series, and some earlier animated cartoons.
Smith also re-invented himself again, drawing comic books such as ARCHER & ARMSTRONG and a new version of DOCTOR SOLAR, MAN OF THE ATOM, now simply called SOLAR, at VALIANT COMICS, for former MARVEL editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter.
These new works made Smith's drawing seem more homogenous, but, also, showed a more confident, less experimental _comc book cartoonist_.
I love the early Smith CONAN books, and much of his other comic book work. but the older Smith seems content to "just draw comics", rather than create artistic masterpieces, though I do believe that some of his fine art works truly _are_ masterpieces, within the world of fantasy illustration.
To make his career yet more innovative, though,Windsor-Smith also created the large format comic book BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH: STORYTELLER, for DARK HORSE COMICS, which carried three different BWS drawn features, and on of these begat the "spin-off" graphic novel. AD ASTRA IN AFRICA.
Barry also drew works for MALIBU and IMAGE COMICS, keeping his drawing visible in regular comic books, and then working with Gary Groth and Kim Thompson at FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS to collect examples of his work, with text, in two books called OPUS, not to be confused with Berk Breathed's comic strip penguin.
In any case, Smith's work is bound to be long-remembered, he is indeed a "cartoonist great", even though I am uncertain as to how the nearly sixty year old Windsor-Smith would feel about my calling him that.
;o)
Thanks to Wikipedia, th internet encyclopedia, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Windsor-Smith
for refreshing my memory on the career of BWS!!!
Friday, May 25, 2007
SHELDON "Shelly" MAYER!!!
He was called "Shelly" by his friends, and, I'll bet you that just about everyone wanted to be friendly with this great writer-cartoonist-editor.
Sheldon Mayer created the comic book character SCRIBBLY, who appeared early on in THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMICS, then reappeared somewhat later, when Shelly moved over to work at an early incarnation of DC COMICS, the ALL-AMERICAN comics group.
SCRIBBLY later had his own hilarious title, for 15 issues, and they are wonderful and funny comic books.
While Shelly labored as an editor at DC/NATIONAL COMICS for years, he is probably best known for creating, writing, and drawing SUGAR & SPIKE for nearly 100 issues, from 1956 to 1971. Shelly would sign the stories with his initials, causing some readers to wonder who "S.M." was.
I'm telling you, no matter how bad a day I've been having, the antics of these infants can put a smile on my face.
With "Tomorrow's Teenagers", Shelly depicted a wild world, where the toddlers had their own language, one not understood by adults, and the poor little ones, who tried hard to communicate with their parents, just could not understand why their parents could not "speak perfectly good baby talk".
Shelly was forced to put his pencil down due to eye trouble, but later produced some new SUGAR & SPIKE material for the non-US market, and some of this material has surfaced in English language digest sized comic books from DC COMICS, but it does not seem that DC has any interest in reprinting this series, as of 2007, but I hope DC will some day.
DC did, however, produce a set of lovely, soft toys of S&S, which would really make good bookends for a set of reprint volumes of S&S.
As if his legacy of being an editor and writer cartoonist for SUGAR & SPIKE would not be enough, Shelly co-created the wonderful mystery character, "The Black Orchid", for ADVENTURE COMICS, during the 1970's. Further, Shelly wrote much of DC's intended series adapting THE BIBLE, but only one issue was published of this series, however, though it was in a glorious and beautiful "tabloid" format, and this was illustrated by Joe Kubert. I believe Shelly also wrote a similar project, KING ARTUR, and, more sadly, that never saw print at all, that project was partially illustrated, at least, by Nestor Redondo, a brilliant cartoonist from the Phillipine Islands. Shelly also wrote other stories for DC in that time period, and some of these were drawn by master cartoonist Alex Toth, who appears as another entry in this blog.
Of further interest, SUGAR & SPIKE appear in a toy ad,in the 1960's,in work produced on film strips that kids would have been able to project on the wall.
Sadly, the toy itself was not ever produced.
Also, many S&S fans believe that the S&S comic books are the inspiration for the long- running NICKELODEON acrtoon series, RUGRATS.
I do not know if there is any truth to this, but I would not be surprised.
One further thing is that, Shelly also tried to market S&S as a syndicated newspaper feature, which, alas, never came to fruition.
Shelly based S&S on the behaviors of his own children.
Talk about art imitating life!!!
Sheldon Mayer created the comic book character SCRIBBLY, who appeared early on in THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMICS, then reappeared somewhat later, when Shelly moved over to work at an early incarnation of DC COMICS, the ALL-AMERICAN comics group.
SCRIBBLY later had his own hilarious title, for 15 issues, and they are wonderful and funny comic books.
While Shelly labored as an editor at DC/NATIONAL COMICS for years, he is probably best known for creating, writing, and drawing SUGAR & SPIKE for nearly 100 issues, from 1956 to 1971. Shelly would sign the stories with his initials, causing some readers to wonder who "S.M." was.
I'm telling you, no matter how bad a day I've been having, the antics of these infants can put a smile on my face.
With "Tomorrow's Teenagers", Shelly depicted a wild world, where the toddlers had their own language, one not understood by adults, and the poor little ones, who tried hard to communicate with their parents, just could not understand why their parents could not "speak perfectly good baby talk".
Shelly was forced to put his pencil down due to eye trouble, but later produced some new SUGAR & SPIKE material for the non-US market, and some of this material has surfaced in English language digest sized comic books from DC COMICS, but it does not seem that DC has any interest in reprinting this series, as of 2007, but I hope DC will some day.
DC did, however, produce a set of lovely, soft toys of S&S, which would really make good bookends for a set of reprint volumes of S&S.
As if his legacy of being an editor and writer cartoonist for SUGAR & SPIKE would not be enough, Shelly co-created the wonderful mystery character, "The Black Orchid", for ADVENTURE COMICS, during the 1970's. Further, Shelly wrote much of DC's intended series adapting THE BIBLE, but only one issue was published of this series, however, though it was in a glorious and beautiful "tabloid" format, and this was illustrated by Joe Kubert. I believe Shelly also wrote a similar project, KING ARTUR, and, more sadly, that never saw print at all, that project was partially illustrated, at least, by Nestor Redondo, a brilliant cartoonist from the Phillipine Islands. Shelly also wrote other stories for DC in that time period, and some of these were drawn by master cartoonist Alex Toth, who appears as another entry in this blog.
Of further interest, SUGAR & SPIKE appear in a toy ad,in the 1960's,in work produced on film strips that kids would have been able to project on the wall.
Sadly, the toy itself was not ever produced.
Also, many S&S fans believe that the S&S comic books are the inspiration for the long- running NICKELODEON acrtoon series, RUGRATS.
I do not know if there is any truth to this, but I would not be surprised.
One further thing is that, Shelly also tried to market S&S as a syndicated newspaper feature, which, alas, never came to fruition.
Shelly based S&S on the behaviors of his own children.
Talk about art imitating life!!!
Monday, May 21, 2007
MURPHY ANDERSON!!!
I've been saving this one, not being exactly sure how I would start this entry off.
I mey Murphy Anderson a few years ago, it was a great pleasure for me, as I had gotten Murphy's frequent penciller-collaborator from the SUPERMAN titles in the 1970's, the late Curt Swan, to sign a page from SUPERMAN # 233, way back in 1977!!!
That page, from 1971, was part of a now legendary run of SUPERMAN, that not only saw the (temporary) elimination of Kryptonite from SUPERMAN comic books, but also introduced Julius Schwartz, already a legendary science fiction agent and comic book editor, as the new editor of SUPERMAN!!!
Curt Swan signed my page in 1977, as I already indicated, and it took almost thirty years for me to meet Murphy to have him add his signature to Curt's!!!
Let me tell you, though, it was worth it!!!
I not only got to chat with Murphy, thanks to my dear friend marc, who has known Murphy for years, but I got to question Murphy on a subject I had heard discussed on the internet, converning the 1950's PHANTOM STRANGER stories that Murphy had drawn.
What a great time it was to meet Murphy, who has been a hero of mine since I bought comic books he drew in the 1960's, fresh off of the newsstand!!!
These titles include HAWKMAN, THE SPECTRE, and SHOWCASE, what beautiful drawing Murphy did in these issues!!!
Not only did I love Murphy's pencil work, I was just in love with his inking of the pencilled pages of the great Carmine Infantino. The covers that Carmine pencilled, and Murphy inked, which came out for a long run from the 1960's into the 1970's, are gorgeous. Infantino's impeccable cover design, which pay more attention to design than most, and less attention to the finish needed to make a cover look beautiful, were fabulously complemented by the smooth inks of Murphy's magic brush.
The cover of a 1970's SUPERMAN, pencilled by Infantino, and inked by Murphy, with a black background, is one of my all-time favorite covers.
Besides work I have already mentioned, Murphy drew the syndicated newspaper strip BUCK ROGERS during the 1950's, and drew "The Atomic Knights", written by the great Gardner F. Fox, for Julie Schwartz at DC, and inked Carmine's pencils on various issues of THE FLASH, and also Carmine's pencils on "Adam Strange", in MYSTERY IN SPACE, reprinted later in STRANGE ADVENTURES, where I first read them.
Some of these are currently available in DC's ADAM STRANGE ARCHIVES, of which one volume is now in print.
Murphy was also involved in producing the advertisements for a number of Aurora Models kits that were in DC COMICS during the 1960's, including not only DC heroes, but, also television series like THE RAT PATROL
I am just remembering that Murphy drew a couple of the short-lived installments of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter Of Mars", for DC COMICS' WEIRD WORLDS, when DC had the comic book rights to the TARZAN and related caharcters during the early 1970's. Murphy's John Carter work was beautiful and literally breathtaking for me, and, while I am a big fan of Gray Morrow's, and admire the the experimental stylishness of Sal Amendola, Murphy was perfectly suited to drawing John Carter, and I prefer his work on the feature to when Dave Cockrum, Gil Kane, and Ernie Colon drew it for MARVEL COMICS' title JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS, though I enjoy the work of those cartoonists on the Burroughs characters as well.
Murphy is also well-known as a true comic book fan, having a good collection of certain key issues, and being a scholar himself about comic books and strips.
I cherish my meeting with Murphy, and will add more later, so, this is...
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
I mey Murphy Anderson a few years ago, it was a great pleasure for me, as I had gotten Murphy's frequent penciller-collaborator from the SUPERMAN titles in the 1970's, the late Curt Swan, to sign a page from SUPERMAN # 233, way back in 1977!!!
That page, from 1971, was part of a now legendary run of SUPERMAN, that not only saw the (temporary) elimination of Kryptonite from SUPERMAN comic books, but also introduced Julius Schwartz, already a legendary science fiction agent and comic book editor, as the new editor of SUPERMAN!!!
Curt Swan signed my page in 1977, as I already indicated, and it took almost thirty years for me to meet Murphy to have him add his signature to Curt's!!!
Let me tell you, though, it was worth it!!!
I not only got to chat with Murphy, thanks to my dear friend marc, who has known Murphy for years, but I got to question Murphy on a subject I had heard discussed on the internet, converning the 1950's PHANTOM STRANGER stories that Murphy had drawn.
What a great time it was to meet Murphy, who has been a hero of mine since I bought comic books he drew in the 1960's, fresh off of the newsstand!!!
These titles include HAWKMAN, THE SPECTRE, and SHOWCASE, what beautiful drawing Murphy did in these issues!!!
Not only did I love Murphy's pencil work, I was just in love with his inking of the pencilled pages of the great Carmine Infantino. The covers that Carmine pencilled, and Murphy inked, which came out for a long run from the 1960's into the 1970's, are gorgeous. Infantino's impeccable cover design, which pay more attention to design than most, and less attention to the finish needed to make a cover look beautiful, were fabulously complemented by the smooth inks of Murphy's magic brush.
The cover of a 1970's SUPERMAN, pencilled by Infantino, and inked by Murphy, with a black background, is one of my all-time favorite covers.
Besides work I have already mentioned, Murphy drew the syndicated newspaper strip BUCK ROGERS during the 1950's, and drew "The Atomic Knights", written by the great Gardner F. Fox, for Julie Schwartz at DC, and inked Carmine's pencils on various issues of THE FLASH, and also Carmine's pencils on "Adam Strange", in MYSTERY IN SPACE, reprinted later in STRANGE ADVENTURES, where I first read them.
Some of these are currently available in DC's ADAM STRANGE ARCHIVES, of which one volume is now in print.
Murphy was also involved in producing the advertisements for a number of Aurora Models kits that were in DC COMICS during the 1960's, including not only DC heroes, but, also television series like THE RAT PATROL
I am just remembering that Murphy drew a couple of the short-lived installments of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter Of Mars", for DC COMICS' WEIRD WORLDS, when DC had the comic book rights to the TARZAN and related caharcters during the early 1970's. Murphy's John Carter work was beautiful and literally breathtaking for me, and, while I am a big fan of Gray Morrow's, and admire the the experimental stylishness of Sal Amendola, Murphy was perfectly suited to drawing John Carter, and I prefer his work on the feature to when Dave Cockrum, Gil Kane, and Ernie Colon drew it for MARVEL COMICS' title JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS, though I enjoy the work of those cartoonists on the Burroughs characters as well.
Murphy is also well-known as a true comic book fan, having a good collection of certain key issues, and being a scholar himself about comic books and strips.
I cherish my meeting with Murphy, and will add more later, so, this is...
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
DAN BURR!!!
I know that Dan has not drawn anywhere near as much, at least that I am aware of, as the other cartoonists in this blog, but his graphic novel KINGS IN DISGUISE, with writer James Vance, is one of my most favorite books ever.
While "KINGS" was originally serialized in comic book format, the hardcover collection I have that reprints the comic book under one cover actually reads like a novel, albeit an illustrated one.
The dark subject matter, beautifully drawn and truly moody, is a terrific homage to the world of hoboes and of the past.
I will add in some illustrations later, but I did want to get this entry up, if only to let anyone who wants to read a really good book know that this one is out there!!!
While "KINGS" was originally serialized in comic book format, the hardcover collection I have that reprints the comic book under one cover actually reads like a novel, albeit an illustrated one.
The dark subject matter, beautifully drawn and truly moody, is a terrific homage to the world of hoboes and of the past.
I will add in some illustrations later, but I did want to get this entry up, if only to let anyone who wants to read a really good book know that this one is out there!!!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
DAN DeCARLO
Dan drew BETTY & VERONICA, and many other comic books, for ARCHIE COMICS for many years, and the title JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS he developed for the company was named after his wife.
"JOSIE" was the inspiration for two different Saturday morning cartoon shows during the 1960's, and a live action theatrical film very recently, as well.
Before Dan worked at ARCHIE, his work could be found in the pages of ATLAS COMICS' titles like MY FRIEND IRMA, and also adorned those of many "girlie" magazines and "joke books".
Besides the hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of comics pages Dan drew for ARCHIE, Dan's style has been imitated in the ARCHIE SERIES comic books by several other cartoonists, making Dan's work a permanent legacy to the comic book world, even though Dan himself is gone.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
"JOSIE" was the inspiration for two different Saturday morning cartoon shows during the 1960's, and a live action theatrical film very recently, as well.
Before Dan worked at ARCHIE, his work could be found in the pages of ATLAS COMICS' titles like MY FRIEND IRMA, and also adorned those of many "girlie" magazines and "joke books".
Besides the hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of comics pages Dan drew for ARCHIE, Dan's style has been imitated in the ARCHIE SERIES comic books by several other cartoonists, making Dan's work a permanent legacy to the comic book world, even though Dan himself is gone.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Sunday, May 6, 2007
BERNIE WRIGHTSON!!!
Bernie, the current spelling of this cartoonist's first name, is how he called himself when I first encountered his magnificent cartooning in the early part of the 1970's.
DC/SUPERMAN/NATIONAL COMICS, the company we know today as DC COMICS, began issuing the 100 PAGE SUPER-SPECTACULARS with "number 4", for reasons unknown. An apt choice, though, as the actual first issue in this format was entitled WEIRD MYSTERY TALES, and that's where I believe I "met" Bernie.
Bernie drew some fabulous, full page introductory pieces for each section of this groundbreaking comic book, one with a science fiction theme, one with a monster theme, etc.
I knew that the appearance of Wrightson work in DC COMICS would have a profound effect on the comic book industry!!!
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
DC/SUPERMAN/NATIONAL COMICS, the company we know today as DC COMICS, began issuing the 100 PAGE SUPER-SPECTACULARS with "number 4", for reasons unknown. An apt choice, though, as the actual first issue in this format was entitled WEIRD MYSTERY TALES, and that's where I believe I "met" Bernie.
Bernie drew some fabulous, full page introductory pieces for each section of this groundbreaking comic book, one with a science fiction theme, one with a monster theme, etc.
I knew that the appearance of Wrightson work in DC COMICS would have a profound effect on the comic book industry!!!
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
JIM MOONEY!!!
Jim drew sweet and lovely "Supergirl", the cousin of SUPERMAN for years, but there never was a SUPERGIRL title per se, at least in the time frame when Jim would have been available to draw one.
I love the Mooney SUPERGIRL stories, they are almost quaint in the way that they portray "The Girl Of Steel", and, I am sure, there were many young, female readers scooping them up when they were being published, but, unfortunately, something changed, and the demographics for female comic book readers must have dropped drastically, in the early 1970's.
Jim's SUPERGIRL, however, is only one of the many features he worked on over the years, and all of them have the Mooney "stamp" on them, whether you are talking about his early series TOMMY TOMORROW, or his SPIDER-MAN inking jobs at MARVEL COMICS.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
I love the Mooney SUPERGIRL stories, they are almost quaint in the way that they portray "The Girl Of Steel", and, I am sure, there were many young, female readers scooping them up when they were being published, but, unfortunately, something changed, and the demographics for female comic book readers must have dropped drastically, in the early 1970's.
Jim's SUPERGIRL, however, is only one of the many features he worked on over the years, and all of them have the Mooney "stamp" on them, whether you are talking about his early series TOMMY TOMORROW, or his SPIDER-MAN inking jobs at MARVEL COMICS.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is HERE for 2007!!!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is HERE!!! 2007
Well, it has really become an annual tradition!!!
Here in the US, and elsewhere, the first weekend of May is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, in which participating comic book specialty shops all around the world can get free comic books to pass out to their customers.
I love this, and it is a wonderful way to attract new customers and develop new audiences for comic books, when so much of unused potential for getting new readers is wasted.
I will be dropping by the shop my buddy Steve owns, in Waltham, MA:
THE OUTER LIMITS, now at a new location, at 437 Moody Street !!!
Here is a link to visit, maybe you will visit the shop near you!!!
http://www.freecomicbookday.com/
Here also is a partial list of retailers involved, from Diamond Comics Distributors FCBD website:
Alakazam! Comics
Atomic Comics (Arizona)
Cape (Dallas, TX.)
Captain Blue Hen (Newark, DE)
Chatuaqua Comics (New York)
Chucks Comics (Essex, MD)
Comic Book Ink (Tacoma, WA)
Comic Cubicle (Virginia)
Comic Fusion (New Jersey)
Comic Quest (Evansville IN)
Comics Cave (GREECE)
Comics Kingdom (Baltimore, MD)
Comics, Legends and Heroes (Arizona)
Earthworld Comics (Albany, NY)
Happy Harbor (Edmonton, AB)
Hobby Centre (Ottawa, ON, CANADA)
House of Heroes (Torrance, CA)
Krypton Comics (Omaha Nebraska)
Neptune Comics (Waukesha WI)
Rays Mini Video & Comics & VideoRays-ComicEmporium1
Readers Den Comic Shop (South Africa)
Richard's Comics and Collectibles (Greenville, SC)
Rookies Sportcards Plus (Phoenix, AZ)
Samurai Comics (Phoenix, AZ)
SpazDog Comics (Arizona)
Strange Adventures (Halifax, NS)
The Silver Snail (Toronto, ON )
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is HERE!!! 2007
Well, it has really become an annual tradition!!!
Here in the US, and elsewhere, the first weekend of May is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, in which participating comic book specialty shops all around the world can get free comic books to pass out to their customers.
I love this, and it is a wonderful way to attract new customers and develop new audiences for comic books, when so much of unused potential for getting new readers is wasted.
I will be dropping by the shop my buddy Steve owns, in Waltham, MA:
THE OUTER LIMITS, now at a new location, at 437 Moody Street !!!
Here is a link to visit, maybe you will visit the shop near you!!!
http://www.freecomicbookday.com/
Here also is a partial list of retailers involved, from Diamond Comics Distributors FCBD website:
Alakazam! Comics
Atomic Comics (Arizona)
Cape (Dallas, TX.)
Captain Blue Hen (Newark, DE)
Chatuaqua Comics (New York)
Chucks Comics (Essex, MD)
Comic Book Ink (Tacoma, WA)
Comic Cubicle (Virginia)
Comic Fusion (New Jersey)
Comic Quest (Evansville IN)
Comics Cave (GREECE)
Comics Kingdom (Baltimore, MD)
Comics, Legends and Heroes (Arizona)
Earthworld Comics (Albany, NY)
Happy Harbor (Edmonton, AB)
Hobby Centre (Ottawa, ON, CANADA)
House of Heroes (Torrance, CA)
Krypton Comics (Omaha Nebraska)
Neptune Comics (Waukesha WI)
Rays Mini Video & Comics & VideoRays-ComicEmporium1
Readers Den Comic Shop (South Africa)
Richard's Comics and Collectibles (Greenville, SC)
Rookies Sportcards Plus (Phoenix, AZ)
Samurai Comics (Phoenix, AZ)
SpazDog Comics (Arizona)
Strange Adventures (Halifax, NS)
The Silver Snail (Toronto, ON )
Friday, May 4, 2007
REED CRANDALL!!!
The late Reed Crandall drew gorgeous comic book stories, including the best of the Golden Age of Comics' BLACKHAWK tales, and drew more gorgeous stories all the way up to about 1970, unless I am mistaken, and I also like his WARREN MAGAZINES adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe works, which were written for the comic book format by the late Archie Goodwin, one of my favorite comic book writers.
I will be adding to this entry later on, so, it is...
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
I will be adding to this entry later on, so, it is...
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
JOHN & MARIE SEVERIN!!!
Thanks to My Pal Hoy Murphy, from the Yahoogroup DC History, for the scan to the KULL cover, originally published by MARVEL COMICS, (C) COPYRIGHT THE ESTATE OF ROBERT E. HOWARD
I would have put the lady of this brother and sister team first, but brother John started earlier in the comics industry than his charming sister Marie did, and, I initially contemplated giving them separate entries, but they worked together so beautifully I decided that I'd cover both of their careers in one entry.
John Powers Severin has been drawing comic books for about 50 years, yes, I do need to research his work more, but this blog is continually updated as I get more information.
John drew many different genres of comic book stories for years, including some beautiful westerns, featuring a native American character, "American Eagle", for WESTERN COMICS, a comic book title, not a publisher, that is.
John pencilled many pages that were inked by Will Elder, who will be the topic of a not yet written entry here later on.
Marie Severin, who pencilled the beautiful drawings on ten famous issues of MARVEL COMICS' licensed title, KULL THE CONQUEROR (in the 1970's),a creation of Robert E. Howard, the man behind CONAN THE BARBARIAN, is a brilliant humor cartoonist as well.
After Marie pencilled the KULL stories, Big Brother John added his beautiful inking touch to give the series an elegant, period atmosphere.
Marie, who began her comics career coloring the pages at EC COMICS, where brother John was doing some work, is also well-known for her cartooning for MARVEL COMICS' parody title NOT BRAND ECCH, one of my favorite comic books ever.
Brother John also inked Herb Trimpés work on a long run of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, also in the 1970's.
John Severin, however, has long been involved with CRACKED Magazine, one of the most successful imitators of MAD, drawing that title's mascot, Sylvester Smythe, the company janitor, as well as the strip SAGEBRUSH.
I did just hear that, as of May 21st, that DC will be publishing new stories of the great 1960's Western, BAT LASH, which will be illustrated by none other thatn John Severin!!!
It will be a field day for old fogeys like me!!!
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
BRUCE TIMM!!!
Bruce Timm helped, with his associates and friends, Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, to almost singlehandedly revolutionize the adventure cartoon for television, when he helped bring BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, as well as one of SUPERMAN, and others, to life in the early-to-mid 1990's.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
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