tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65823128313915817392024-03-12T17:33:47.295-07:00The Comics BinEverything I know, I've learned from comic books...Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.comBlogger171125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-30393291711591565602020-07-16T19:25:00.002-07:002020-07-16T19:25:48.962-07:00Experience - Casper's Uncle Slowman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. - Heraclitus, circa 500 BC</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>It pays to be prepared. - Aesop</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></blockquote></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">I was going through my coverless comics and found this old copy of <i>Casper the Friendly Ghost</i> published by Harvey Comics with the story <a href="https://www.comics.org/issue/204129/#1530521" target="_blank">The Abominable Slowman</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a beat up copy that I read as a kid and kept in boxes and closets ever since. I probably tore the cover off as a kid during one of the occasional re-reads. The comic may have been disrespected, but I never forgot the story. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In summary, it's not much: Casper's Uncle Slowman visits him, and after a while he decides to head home. But there's something about Slowman that is memorable. As Casper mentions, "He's got the slowest, most forceful mind I ever heard of in a ghost!" There are a couple gags that show how Slowman reacts to things (sat on a tack yesterday, yelled "Ouch!" today), then Casper decides to see him home. On the way they have to pass through "the weirdest part of the Enchanted Forest."</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYvK2Z27a38Iu5BvhtKSLBs2hkjG2NE13xWeykG5QwaJjts8TVP92qPQYiz9Yi168bYQE8IAemFQ5yVL1bR6B0vTFl-6z4Ddqh8fAJbZbrfPeREjEYGqc2RiRRaxbGS7sbjWbu275YDE/s1600/IMG-0708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYvK2Z27a38Iu5BvhtKSLBs2hkjG2NE13xWeykG5QwaJjts8TVP92qPQYiz9Yi168bYQE8IAemFQ5yVL1bR6B0vTFl-6z4Ddqh8fAJbZbrfPeREjEYGqc2RiRRaxbGS7sbjWbu275YDE/s640/IMG-0708.jpg" width="438" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nTRp6b4-RAtsjoDqoljb7gNkOm7fvUW9uZ1dhNl34bN-kz5ESQnv04wT0GMOcECsS6dhVvNdbyhI5qM2zb-6h9_y1ZobsCJGtXz1nqd6GfS_BoK391uM24_vn6vzOC73FWYXX5Yoh1Y/s1600/IMG-0709.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nTRp6b4-RAtsjoDqoljb7gNkOm7fvUW9uZ1dhNl34bN-kz5ESQnv04wT0GMOcECsS6dhVvNdbyhI5qM2zb-6h9_y1ZobsCJGtXz1nqd6GfS_BoK391uM24_vn6vzOC73FWYXX5Yoh1Y/s640/IMG-0709.jpg" width="420" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div><div>The weirdest part includes encounters wit a giant Frankenstein's monster, a vampire, and a giant ape, and Slowman reacts quickly to each of the threats, scaring them away immediately. Casper asks, "Tell me, Uncle Slowman! How did you remember to Boo those characters as soon as you saw them?"</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbHleq7_QNgswft3zskb-fzaGDIzFwuY7tjKnl3LGzqiK6P3DT9xhW2sbbsccFwswiqssZPjMFR2Lmm4ayc2RWgMDlA_Z4l4m9dJ0HlGQbp_yBlyNP97ix52RQdu3aJdO4DkgJJEDWqs/s1600/IMG-0710.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbHleq7_QNgswft3zskb-fzaGDIzFwuY7tjKnl3LGzqiK6P3DT9xhW2sbbsccFwswiqssZPjMFR2Lmm4ayc2RWgMDlA_Z4l4m9dJ0HlGQbp_yBlyNP97ix52RQdu3aJdO4DkgJJEDWqs/s640/IMG-0710.jpg" width="442" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGzBtguKrYNdSY6sokUPy3eZzeDHblE_tZU2BEcJGwH65FHqnIz-QliZF07z397mrLBvav2JP1PLhwGw9dseHyLo0Shr90-M3afgwrijHvh9e0dVqlqbHDL3oieQ1YmuK-Ye-TNTN-K0/s1600/IMG-0711.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGzBtguKrYNdSY6sokUPy3eZzeDHblE_tZU2BEcJGwH65FHqnIz-QliZF07z397mrLBvav2JP1PLhwGw9dseHyLo0Shr90-M3afgwrijHvh9e0dVqlqbHDL3oieQ1YmuK-Ye-TNTN-K0/s640/IMG-0711.jpg" width="432" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzW-maFb8b3rJSew4OBLDaiS0jq03P3kaidLiv9Z8sjvqqnhrsRw0X0-boH4_Ajzj_oZBirj9sXL2tqgQSUWGUWvj6dVvcTIM6x2K8UrLyXAXWHJmMY9dk6o9sgnZy9oMI3aYneJcRZ0/s1600/IMG-0712.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzW-maFb8b3rJSew4OBLDaiS0jq03P3kaidLiv9Z8sjvqqnhrsRw0X0-boH4_Ajzj_oZBirj9sXL2tqgQSUWGUWvj6dVvcTIM6x2K8UrLyXAXWHJmMY9dk6o9sgnZy9oMI3aYneJcRZ0/s640/IMG-0712.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div>The punch line is that it's a delayed reaction to events from the day before. Which is funny, taken at face value, but it makes me wonder what gave the author the idea for the story?</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The French have a phrase for when you think of the perfect comeback, but it's too late - you're already walking away. They call it <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27esprit_de_l%27escalier">l'esprit de l'escalier</a>, which might be translated as "staircase wit".</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes I feel like Uncle Slowman. Whether at work, at home or seeing an item in the news, sometimes things happen and I don't react immediately. Partly it's because I don't know how to react. It's a new experience so my subconscious needs time to process the event. At heart, this is the nature of experience and learning.</div><div><br /></div><div>We may experience something once without context. During this time we react slowly, or maybe not at all, because we don't know how to react. In subsequent times we have learned and can act more quickly. Whether practicing a piano piece, figuring out a math problem, or trying to learn how to cook a new dish, we have to live through it once to fully understand how to become more accomplished. Even in the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 we are learning how to react to this and our responses are delayed just like Uncle Slowman's.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wonder whether whoever wrote this story thought about it in the same way? Were they thinking of a particular comeback after an argument? Then they thought: This might make a good story gag. Unfortunately, the writer and artist is uncredited. Given the time frame, the art probably by <a href="https://www.lambiek.net/artists/c/colon_ernie.htm">Ernie Colón</a> or maybe Warren Kremer</div><div><br /></div><div>The winning attribute for the story is Casper's description of Uncle Slowman. He has a slow mind, but it's also the most forceful. Once Slowman has had time to learn and internalize the situation, he doesn't deliver a weak response. His "Boo!" responses are both quick and strong enough to scare the monsters away. </div><blockquote><div><i>We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. - Rick Warren</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. - Alvin Toffler</i></div><div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>According to Toffler's quote, I would say Slowman is literate for the 21st century. Despite his inability to move quickly, he still learns to adapt. When he and Casper set out on the return journey, he knows what monsters are waiting for them. But he doesn't fear the road. Instead, experience has helped him prepare for it.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Which brings me to my final quote:</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div><i>Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. - George Santayana</i></div><div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Did Uncle Slowman forget the past? He doesn't mention the monsters to Casper, or even worry about meeting the monsters. But he didn't forget them - he was prepared and as they situation arose he was ready to react to the present.</div><div><br /></div></div></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-21582114752997276572016-09-11T11:41:00.001-07:002016-09-11T11:42:21.954-07:00Review: Flex Mentallo by Grant Morrison <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1401247024&asins=1401247024&linkId=0d10f524dec295400f8edd984ef48d78&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;"></iframe>Flex Mentallo is Grant Morrison's exploration of what it means to be a comic book character. If you've read Morrison's autobiography, you will know that he believes the stories we tell have their own life, possibly in another universe, or even another dimension.<br />
<br />
The premise of Flex Mentallo is that the eponymous superhero has become real through the pscyhic powers of a young boy named Wally Sage who can manifest superheroes from his comics.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the adult Wallace Sage has decided to end it all, and is phoning in his story to the 911 operator. He's now a a pop musician, but he seems to be suffering from depression. In despair he takes a lot of drugs, who knows what, and then starts rambling.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7UdQ5LzkQ_fIdz5_C3_HDjBlm4Oudz-UwMr4heojHRBaBfLTDxwMtZLZj5nRmcHhPOM0Q5wkmbeePsW4xrKmHKWDgfZUcxuDgeEp7xXqTbXeOMQxQGUncMi9f_TsAACKEyNNbj5smwc/s1600/photo(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7UdQ5LzkQ_fIdz5_C3_HDjBlm4Oudz-UwMr4heojHRBaBfLTDxwMtZLZj5nRmcHhPOM0Q5wkmbeePsW4xrKmHKWDgfZUcxuDgeEp7xXqTbXeOMQxQGUncMi9f_TsAACKEyNNbj5smwc/s400/photo(1).JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
For some reason, Flex Mentallo is like a Coen Bros movie to me: I can't seem to remember the plot. Perhaps that's because there isn't one. The story simply exists as an exploration of a set of ideas and characters.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoSqU4jO02dEdHqRNDKadCFsBaqCY8bUEaujIGQB8y4ki77j9nMrarKG1LP8O3cbzoE32ZNnL_-GEVpWNySxU4FtTG4T5bmP5fTMuTeu1hp51CNMwCH98A5rhjJgxw0pCOo6m98nzwXE/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoSqU4jO02dEdHqRNDKadCFsBaqCY8bUEaujIGQB8y4ki77j9nMrarKG1LP8O3cbzoE32ZNnL_-GEVpWNySxU4FtTG4T5bmP5fTMuTeu1hp51CNMwCH98A5rhjJgxw0pCOo6m98nzwXE/s400/photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Morrison explores inside jokes pertaining to both the comic industry, and to his own personal history and philosophy.<br />
<br />
Wallace Sage, <br />
"Do you believe in superheroes? Imagine it real."<br />
"Imaging the technology... their culture impacting with ours...Dreamatrons and Boom Shoes, paraspacesuits and Omniscopes...imagine the music we could make...ultrasonics...infra-sound."<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Flex talks with the chief of police<br />
"The Whole of goddamn reality's coming unglued and I'm here on the night shift."<br />
<br />
Quitely's art is mesmerizing. It looks like a collage of super hero stories.<br />
I want to explore each and every thread shown on the page.<br />
Unfortunately, the story itself is a bit talky and static.Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-70300969598816070312016-09-11T11:25:00.000-07:002016-09-11T11:25:55.818-07:00Review: Patience by Dan Clowes<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1606999052&asins=1606999052&linkId=bd804fb02b0ce5d931309266bb21fcb7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 130px;"></iframe>After five years in the making, Daniel Clowes' new graphic novel "<a href="http://amzn.to/2cOetv6" target="_blank">Patience</a>" is out. It's about a guy, Jack Barlow, who loses someone, tries to make it right, and then gives up. Years later he gets a chance to fix that messed-up event and commits to resolve everything or die trying. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the back cover says Patience is "a cosmic timewarp deathtrip to the primordial infinite of everlasting love."<br />
<br />
"Patience" deals with many of the same themes as Clowes' earlier books. It starts with two relative innocents, Jack and his wife Patience, who learn they are about to have a baby. The scenes of them walking around town discussing their future is reminiscent of Enid and Rebecca in "<a href="http://amzn.to/2cmOVDS" target="_blank">Ghost World</a>" wondering about their futures and searching for meaning in the world. Anyone reading these pages would recognize them as classic Clowes.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMy2fFYgzTIARY1QFQa8nW7F6X93rBVbFKU6kXiSqFPOqdFZzSQqQELPGt4qw6q7bXR7m4zkuaaHNgZedTOehYbTFNZ-Mv84dTQpdVS7CN6NYPukUZv8p0WooUCN2NcGT0M9rEadhAYc/s1600/DSC_0740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMy2fFYgzTIARY1QFQa8nW7F6X93rBVbFKU6kXiSqFPOqdFZzSQqQELPGt4qw6q7bXR7m4zkuaaHNgZedTOehYbTFNZ-Mv84dTQpdVS7CN6NYPukUZv8p0WooUCN2NcGT0M9rEadhAYc/s400/DSC_0740.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Then the page turns and everything changes. In an interview with NPR, Clowes said he wanted it to be as shocking as the turn of events in Pyscho after Janet Leigh's character steals the money and hides out in Bates Motel. 'Nuff said there.<br />
<br />
After that, both the style and story are more aggressive than any other Clowes book, but "Patience" still has his signature themes. For example, both "<a href="http://amzn.to/2cmOcme" target="_blank">Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron</a>" and "<a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2011/04/re-reading-daniel-clowes.html" target="_blank">Ice Haven</a>" center around people who are searching for someone. In "Velvet Glove" Clay Loudermilk searches for his ex-wife after seeing her in a porn film. In "Ice Haven" a boy is kidnapped, and the story is wrapped around how this changes the town.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbeilK7nCZ5J0wrFh3JW0ZBYq9wTQRUm1FrDwzJ8fEeKxhLwxuaJTjSNxJ5Hn8Vp_gIIyZS7nFRMaXXnc87HOmLn3lJkstScHNb8YLxrCeJVJXfhYi706wBGhoYMgTeUvg3YpaB9VU7I/s1600/DSC_0741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbeilK7nCZ5J0wrFh3JW0ZBYq9wTQRUm1FrDwzJ8fEeKxhLwxuaJTjSNxJ5Hn8Vp_gIIyZS7nFRMaXXnc87HOmLn3lJkstScHNb8YLxrCeJVJXfhYi706wBGhoYMgTeUvg3YpaB9VU7I/s320/DSC_0741.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Even "<a href="http://amzn.to/2cmOfOE" target="_blank">Wilson</a>" is recaptured in "Patience." Wilson is described as a misanthrope who desires deep connection with people, but fails due to his abrasive personal style. The older Jack Barlow is much like Wilson. He has no time for niceties or small talk. He either wants oblivion (through drink and drugs) or answers to his own personal mysteries and problems. Given a chance, Barlow will go to the end of the universe and change time and space to solve his own personal problems -- which in fact is what he ends up attempting.<br />
<br />
In "Wilson" Clowes played with changing drawing styles to underscore themes in different scenes. Sometimes it was cartoonish, sometimes sparse, other times much more true to his standard detailed line art. "Patience" has a more consistent drawing style, but in this case Clowes pushes the content. He has fist-fights, ray guns, drug-like freak outs and space babies a la Stanley Kubrick's <a href="http://amzn.to/2cmO6ea" target="_blank">2001</a>. Is this Clowes trying to grow, or is he simply reflecting back on the comics he used to read as a kid? Maybe "Patience" is an example of what superhero comics look like when drawn by Daniel Clowes.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHaKdxrBHuqnmX2MtX1KgSqJHrFvUEVRJm1ruTjXXkF5dMsB2VmWpCCHRHmt7rz_OWclQJp1-NHwmcAf_ZLVLKnq4Kweqw5nXIAl0eX_NkoQa6t3HExGJVHFag699Yn4TgBSBOTB5U-E/s1600/PATIENCE_P79-80_Colors-copy-650x418%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHaKdxrBHuqnmX2MtX1KgSqJHrFvUEVRJm1ruTjXXkF5dMsB2VmWpCCHRHmt7rz_OWclQJp1-NHwmcAf_ZLVLKnq4Kweqw5nXIAl0eX_NkoQa6t3HExGJVHFag699Yn4TgBSBOTB5U-E/s400/PATIENCE_P79-80_Colors-copy-650x418%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Patience is an amazing story of love and destiny that both reflects Clowes' existing body of work, and also pushes his boundaries. The hardback book is nicely printed, and the weight of the volume is appropriate to the story contained in it. Even if you were previously mixed about Daniel Clowes' graphic novels, you will find something new and wonderful in "Patience."<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-41363898256426219832016-09-10T18:08:00.000-07:002016-09-10T18:08:23.279-07:00Review: The Zoo Box by Ariel Cohn and Aron Nels Steinke<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="10" marginwidth="10" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1626720525&asins=1626720525&linkId=fa074131383c2fa199ed1a71672fccdc&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;"></iframe><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Zoo Box is a fun, but familiar story of some kids who accidentally open a pandora’s box of zoo animals. The world is filled with elephants, penguins, alligators and especially birds dressed as security guards. The kids travel amongst these animals until they discover a chilling secret. The illustrations are filled with details that younger kids will enjoy searching for and pointing out. Overall, the book has quite a bit of energy to it.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-c8dacb49-7a6e-0d18-9fb1-507a825d5382" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nominating The Zoo Box for the Oregon Book Awards in the Graphic Literature category, however, seems to be a mistake. Graphic Literature may be the more cultured version of the now-common category Graphic Novels, but I still prefer calling them comic books. The Zoo Box does not fit with my idea the comic book format.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNTSPT5MeaCGV8UMmXjQwytN5hmzOpCRodJ7rEhQOjfc4w3xs0_a3Em-ZpXe4-pkTqwQifCw-6ZBAb6RWeZTAZD6DpsN1Lwu00tvuQLEusnK8dbO3NNhsEuxKrcKiR_ZdDwK1WrJQytk/s1600/DSC_0244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNTSPT5MeaCGV8UMmXjQwytN5hmzOpCRodJ7rEhQOjfc4w3xs0_a3Em-ZpXe4-pkTqwQifCw-6ZBAb6RWeZTAZD6DpsN1Lwu00tvuQLEusnK8dbO3NNhsEuxKrcKiR_ZdDwK1WrJQytk/s320/DSC_0244.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't put my finger on the dividing line, but one has to ask what are the attributes that define a graphic novel? As Scott McCloud so eloquently put it, the medium must have panels that are juxtaposed. The spaces between the panels allow the reader to fill in the action. Comics are not required to have word balloons. Some, such as Jim Woodring's Frank can be entirely mute, or others like Hal Foster's Prince Valiant fill in the story with text within the panel. But if the characters speak in balloons, this pushes into comic book territory. And the pages are generally arranged portrait, although this too is not a requirement. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnBMCm2wxqX4L7yUBjCXWYR5SQ-l0U0f4z_7msZngDr3F9WW4a_-BEwsJ7r_TAOT0K_unVhupHNWmroEh7cA_PGpKBfKjRww2L_UNUJ2L_7yrue6O7XrJ2LGFVl61ZDgge6KvaXg6xVY/s1600/DSC_0245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnBMCm2wxqX4L7yUBjCXWYR5SQ-l0U0f4z_7msZngDr3F9WW4a_-BEwsJ7r_TAOT0K_unVhupHNWmroEh7cA_PGpKBfKjRww2L_UNUJ2L_7yrue6O7XrJ2LGFVl61ZDgge6KvaXg6xVY/s200/DSC_0245.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there was some text accompanying the pictures, it would be a slam-dunk children's book. Since the characters speak in word balloons, there is a valid argument for putting The Zoo Box in the Graphic Literature category.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="line-height: 1.38;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, the layout looks like most children’s books. The hardbound, landscape format would be recognizable to most kids who browse school library shelves. And the "Graphic Literature" category should promise more depth than a children's book. The Zoo Box may be graphic, but it is a stretch to call it literature. The only tie to comics is that the publisher, First Second Books, publishes mostly graphic novels. My opinion is that it should have been nominated in the Children’s Books category.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.38;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently read the <a href="http://www.literary-arts.org/2016/08/judges-comments-2016-oba-finalists-in-graphic-literature/" target="_blank">OBA judge's notes</a> about this book. Gabriel Bell writes (my emphasis):</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #58585b; line-height: 28.16px;">This is a delightful, perfect <i>children’s book</i>. Two children misbehave and nearly unleash all kinds of unspeakable havoc on the world and themselves, but just barely manage to avert it. Not only that (spoiler alert:) they totally get away with it, which means they get to go to the zoo the next day and are never punished. Is this even allowed in <i>children’s books</i>? The artwork is masterful in its simplicity. The story is fun and playful, and likely to be a great delight to comics fans of a certain age."</span></span></blockquote>
I emphasize that she calls it a children's book, and it should have been judged within that category. <br />
<br />
Bottom line: An enjoyable kids book, possibly mis-categorized as graphic literature.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 1.38; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFnCsRsf8uektiWWSc_ZIFA_kD8Gk_7vI0SnNqBYCWIvHHwpP9605_UJsPgUPgWTx4JBhdXnCGysyuiFpLxgtYNjRe8PDJCvRHj64yarf9yyTfO0ew38AVRVcr-K6MRnozzPNK_Lit7w/s1600/DSC_0246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFnCsRsf8uektiWWSc_ZIFA_kD8Gk_7vI0SnNqBYCWIvHHwpP9605_UJsPgUPgWTx4JBhdXnCGysyuiFpLxgtYNjRe8PDJCvRHj64yarf9yyTfO0ew38AVRVcr-K6MRnozzPNK_Lit7w/s320/DSC_0246.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the first book by Ariel Cohn and Aron Nels Steinke.</span>Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-71207224084023415642015-11-25T00:13:00.001-08:002015-11-25T07:51:47.985-08:00Darth Vader Was Wrong!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1NDA-U-ALucxoJuH_FNDjOeLaFzLraXbExZpYQoW2bNpTpzhTFMtSbWucVkCBtp7jjviTTbFReP8rtjII8fsms9za-ywAA772blbNcEq5yYyWXq6YdZAMGxXJPqrDrvO7qcB6RKa_Oc/s1600/Scan-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1NDA-U-ALucxoJuH_FNDjOeLaFzLraXbExZpYQoW2bNpTpzhTFMtSbWucVkCBtp7jjviTTbFReP8rtjII8fsms9za-ywAA772blbNcEq5yYyWXq6YdZAMGxXJPqrDrvO7qcB6RKa_Oc/s320/Scan-007.jpg" width="233" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9657U-XkWKTvvxYzOjOit1gHjtbH190o6M6Hi3vNqS9DWvpurH8PwZo55Us7UbSgGG_R8k35nDEzO5RfNuiTFqE-HC7kNMngdDGQb70uGU5PG6Si6Xx36ziruaDKSMeF9i_rmpt56Lkg/s1600/image0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9657U-XkWKTvvxYzOjOit1gHjtbH190o6M6Hi3vNqS9DWvpurH8PwZo55Us7UbSgGG_R8k35nDEzO5RfNuiTFqE-HC7kNMngdDGQb70uGU5PG6Si6Xx36ziruaDKSMeF9i_rmpt56Lkg/s320/image0.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In June, 1979, Starlog (tagline: “The Magazine of the Future”) ran an interview with Dave Prowse, the massive British actor who played Darth Vader in Star Wars IV (“A New Hope”). This interview was done before much production had begun on Star Wars V, “The Empire Strikes Back.” During the interview, one of Prowse’s answers seems particularly naïve, especially in retrospect. </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Starlog</b>: Have they signed you up for any of the future Star Wars sequels? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Prowse</b>: They’ve offered me Star Wars II and III. As you probably know, Star Wars I, II, and III are actually the fourth, fifth and sixth in the Empire’s chronology. And then they’re going back to do the first three. I’ll do the fifth and sixth, but I probably miss the first because they’ll be going back in Empire history. Then I’ll likely do the second and third. So I could be <i>Star Wars</i>ing for the next…10 years?</blockquote>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In fact, Prowse played Darth Vader in the next three movies, but due to production conflicts on both V and VI, the first three movies took nearly 7 years to complete. After that, Lucas backed off Star Wars, and Prowse was not in any of the prequels. It's also notable that he thought the next five movies could be produced so quickly. To compare, the James Bond films of the 60's were released almost on a yearly basis.</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Although Prowse can be seen in many movies, such as A Clockwork Orange, and as the monster in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, his face never appeared in the Star Wars movies.</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
According to IMDB, when Sebastian Shaw was revealed in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) as the "man behind Darth Vader's mask", Darth Vader became the first recurring role in a movie series to be played by three actors at the same time: body by Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones and face by Sebastian Shaw.</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here's the full interview from Starlog, 1979.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwftNbPsQcmpC8aGDdHWwwZRufsC4HVgETo3f9IVCFZGYLN0Jz4qXZFFfiLkC3h7I2kRwPOrC3Qv9IatdhqcUfuH29FZzCJJFgp3AXfnZfJWYwzpwRj4oku_EQzrt9MMvsuKfbAsNyL8/s1600/Scan-017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwftNbPsQcmpC8aGDdHWwwZRufsC4HVgETo3f9IVCFZGYLN0Jz4qXZFFfiLkC3h7I2kRwPOrC3Qv9IatdhqcUfuH29FZzCJJFgp3AXfnZfJWYwzpwRj4oku_EQzrt9MMvsuKfbAsNyL8/s640/Scan-017.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3IipQmHiVdfVdM52TEFqvhyphenhyphenA4PcjcLgtu_SBCEl68j6_MfmNNbQM5rMn5reXpOBTlnOTlhK4OGYM2ZGDYd9ejmw0g8snrg6FTMaCFUxacrRlmKWzCLd9WU-gz8m5PMrY13Clqo3c90c/s1600/Scan-018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3IipQmHiVdfVdM52TEFqvhyphenhyphenA4PcjcLgtu_SBCEl68j6_MfmNNbQM5rMn5reXpOBTlnOTlhK4OGYM2ZGDYd9ejmw0g8snrg6FTMaCFUxacrRlmKWzCLd9WU-gz8m5PMrY13Clqo3c90c/s640/Scan-018.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYmh_d5A0Gx_0LdsFKubeuXbGPSTC3DH_3XtH9MwhHi6biFTjJwyeKTEmf4QXrLal-dvaWLoPQupErO1MOAKfE70qtbayrZ1QwTJOZ0IZlt7uJwKV65XgftXcsw_hjFo3c8PwsUB09n8/s1600/Scan-019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYmh_d5A0Gx_0LdsFKubeuXbGPSTC3DH_3XtH9MwhHi6biFTjJwyeKTEmf4QXrLal-dvaWLoPQupErO1MOAKfE70qtbayrZ1QwTJOZ0IZlt7uJwKV65XgftXcsw_hjFo3c8PwsUB09n8/s640/Scan-019.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-20749009238189643722015-09-21T16:34:00.000-07:002015-09-21T16:34:11.842-07:00Star Wars Cereal : Breakfast Review<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00ZA18XL2&asins=B00ZA18XL2&linkId=XGZZXAS5YSQQU3LT&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe> Normally this blog reviews comics and graphic novels, but this morning is a chance to check out something else: the Star Wars special edition breakfast cereal.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtIUVa551V8rnEfWeYh8dFPkqQvaxrFrUDj34I-bcH74473yCVgrx4h3IGDKZ1Zw2gAkbWbjyU0uzZcjIJ71zGrjlx_5wN8qevq5sdzdhUckNC02IcoXzEctXu9swoU8q94Y_68yhPXA/s1600/DSC_1853%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtIUVa551V8rnEfWeYh8dFPkqQvaxrFrUDj34I-bcH74473yCVgrx4h3IGDKZ1Zw2gAkbWbjyU0uzZcjIJ71zGrjlx_5wN8qevq5sdzdhUckNC02IcoXzEctXu9swoU8q94Y_68yhPXA/s320/DSC_1853%257E2.jpg" width="221" /></a>I picked up a box of this at my local Fred Meyer. I first noticed the seriously bad-ass Yoda in the cereal aisle. Then my eyes dropped to the sale sticker: $2.50, and I had to try a box.<br />
<br />
From the box label, I imagined the cereal was a Star Wars-version of Lucky Charms, except with Forcefully tasty Lightsabers and marshmallow-y good R2-D2s. I was unperturbed by the banner that promised "First Ingredient Whole Grain." Marshmallows, right? So that was a plus.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlz-CZBGtyoGmiYuciXKCE07x_fpqX7p69ususzm1zr3T5IAGoUKo3Xl7OeK85cFnoHZKS9VXr2R1RbmbcSQrXmW2kgO40_oPPA84oXfmZv3VqwioGWA8f3Eg58v5eO2UPQPYTUlA4cCY/s1600/DSC_1854%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlz-CZBGtyoGmiYuciXKCE07x_fpqX7p69ususzm1zr3T5IAGoUKo3Xl7OeK85cFnoHZKS9VXr2R1RbmbcSQrXmW2kgO40_oPPA84oXfmZv3VqwioGWA8f3Eg58v5eO2UPQPYTUlA4cCY/s320/DSC_1854%257E2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Next, I scanned for the words "Free Prize Inside!" but I was sorely disappointed. Apparently the two big Gs (General Mills and George Lucas) don't give anything away for free any more. I also noticed the "Disney" signature in the upper right of the box. Could this be the pop-culture singularity? Only if it also had Spider-man....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfp3lXy58dPE66HuwxnLrFTrn1UmqHrVEhLzndBFYdc__RORHL0AwrNlcQQaIFLyLNWlvAX2xU7bJKmBkuTyrvNqCKZilQZo4-crVQICN_-teOZxe_yZc2mKzSU5wtLShnrElNkuRCg5w/s1600/DSC_1855%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfp3lXy58dPE66HuwxnLrFTrn1UmqHrVEhLzndBFYdc__RORHL0AwrNlcQQaIFLyLNWlvAX2xU7bJKmBkuTyrvNqCKZilQZo4-crVQICN_-teOZxe_yZc2mKzSU5wtLShnrElNkuRCg5w/s320/DSC_1855%257E2.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVi4yjhpG4eQJdcj52VDx4n1A-Rtejtv-vJJhIt6Egw2TFvWSGIQhZTC2MOR-MXYuZ1NS8UNMEjh5OYgq_MLwRRpkkxu8tz1tDL-Jx5wB_3VuZEjb8MkaOtVEFfNvsVH220IYPudZmnkg/s1600/DSC_1855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVi4yjhpG4eQJdcj52VDx4n1A-Rtejtv-vJJhIt6Egw2TFvWSGIQhZTC2MOR-MXYuZ1NS8UNMEjh5OYgq_MLwRRpkkxu8tz1tDL-Jx5wB_3VuZEjb8MkaOtVEFfNvsVH220IYPudZmnkg/s200/DSC_1855.JPG" width="185" /></a></div>
I checked out, ran home with my box, and tore it open. The cereal itself was surprising. It was more like a non-sugary version of Captain Crunch. In fact, it reminded me most of a health-food cereal: Barbara's Puffins, except with less crunch. The shapes are apparently a TIE fighter, a rounded AT-AT, and what I hope is the outline of an X-Wing fighter.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYRf87SiC4bI8IB-HVX3OhA8vLnLpuKMdbBtoyr8zslFSl9wZmZ1Ydzy4hubQn_sV22dtutA57cIJejDeiRF-XactBzyP9K-CpJKx9YlIWjZxyK9zUiyiYRDDG1rj_ZbwD-NqLFjcdy54/s1600/DSC_1856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYRf87SiC4bI8IB-HVX3OhA8vLnLpuKMdbBtoyr8zslFSl9wZmZ1Ydzy4hubQn_sV22dtutA57cIJejDeiRF-XactBzyP9K-CpJKx9YlIWjZxyK9zUiyiYRDDG1rj_ZbwD-NqLFjcdy54/s320/DSC_1856.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serving Suggestion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
While I munched my breakfast (serving suggestion) I did the Star Wars quiz on the back of the box. I scored 14 out of 15, achieving the rank of Jedi Master. <br />
<br />
I had one bowl, and it satisfied me nearly as long as the knock-off Cheerios that I normally have for brekkers.<br />
<br />
Bottom line: Marshmallows = excellent. Cereal wasn't bad. Fun quiz on the back. Bad-ass Yoda a plus. I might buy the Darth Vader box next time.Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-83723019231606067592015-09-05T15:44:00.001-07:002015-09-05T15:44:15.234-07:002009: The Year in ComicsWhat did I read in 2009?<br />
<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0810982498&asins=0810982498&linkId=EHEIYYGBHI4FMXEI&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>Read "The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga". This book is fantastic.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0785135707&asins=0785135707&linkId=J3KKEJCMDL4PITO7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>Got "Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus Vol. 1" for my birthday. Beautiful! First issues Marvel Comics from Timely. Has the origin of the Human Torch, Namor and other early Timely Comics before they became Marvel Comics. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1560979712&asins=1560979712&linkId=BUIXVQYBZ75VQ6VG&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>Read "Supermen!: The First Wave of Comic-Book Heroes 1939-1941". Before superheroes were deconstructed, there were these guys: the Flame, Rex Dexter of Mars, The Comet, and Fletcher Hank's inimitable Stardust.<br />
<br />
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1606991604&asins=1606991604&linkId=2ZCJJLAPPK5AK726&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>
Speaking of Fletcher Hanks, also read "You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!". Hanks has an awkward style that grows on you. The stories are fantastic, almost surreal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0285638580&asins=0285638580&linkId=RHQELOK5BUXGEAEO&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>Elsewhere on my blog I have a review of "<a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2009/09/book-review-beats-graphic-history.html">The Beats: A Graphic History.</a>"<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0307377326&asins=0307377326&linkId=HHGFYLQ4DWDYPRK4&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>
Also a review of the graphic novel <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2009/09/book-review-asterios-polyp.html">Asterios Polyp</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1401206298&asins=1401206298&linkId=R7B44VW3ZJTHYR66&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
If you have never read The Incal Noir by Mobeius and Alexandro Jodorowsky, I urge you to get it. This odd sci-fi epic may remind you of "The Fifth Element," except for a couple things: the comic came first, the conclusion is so much more satisfying, and there's no Bruce Willis or Christ Tucker. Pure genius!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1563893673&asins=1563893673&linkId=L32IYLAYLN7N5UV6&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
Go ahead, read "A History Of Violence". This is the book that the movie is based on. Cripes it's gripping! Art is sketchy, but effective. Totally engrossing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B000VJ33QS&asins=B000VJ33QS&linkId=XALPIEFO3TC6BQ6R&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
Fleep is described as "a complex and subtle yarn about a young man trapped in a phone booth." It's a short comic of mystery, self-discovery and redemption. Drawn by Jason Shiga, author of The Bookhunter. Shiga consistently tries to take storytelling in comics to the next level, and this work doesn't disappoint.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0345510925&asins=0345510925&linkId=K77W4JWFPSTYSHTH&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1401223826&asins=1401223826&linkId=LSSAQLL22VVXSHB2&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
Elsewhere I also reviewed "<a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-spring-at-stumptown-comics-fest.html">Inifinite Typewriters</a>" and "<a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-spring-at-stumptown-comics-fest.html">Bayou</a>" <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0307279863&asins=0307279863&linkId=2FOXZ7GM5MOHZ53Y&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>
The comic book novels "Soon I Will be Invincible" explores superheroes and villains in a "realistic" world. Funny!
<br />
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1401227473&asins=1401227473&linkId=CK3ZYMR462JCZOIL&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
The collection of Wednesday comics. It was interesting to see other artists try the classic DC superheroes. Nice, also, to see something in the format of the Sunday Comics, except worth the newsprint space. I liked the Metamorpho facts section.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I also read:
<br />
<ul>
<li> Dark Avengers written by Brian Michael Bendis</li>
<li> <a href="http://bit.ly/E0p2P">Captain Marvel Adventures from December 1950</a>. Interesting TV-based issue</li>
<li> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/lgsogu">Capt. Marvel Adventures #28</a> (Oct, '43)</li>
\
<li> Peter Bagge's "<a href="http://tinyurl.com/l4elqb">Everybody is Stupid Except for Me</a>."</li>
</ul>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-24082399913642806702015-05-02T17:00:00.003-07:002021-07-02T09:48:16.503-07:00Review: Robert Moses - The Master Builder of New York City by Christin and Balez<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZ3QxG_nSlb4N0Je07zwoKhEqMXliYTkIw4Iw9XchdCAOsRaJmcGTmwX4CajcNd3yjP8nhluxZi2S2Rmak0jfSNZkGTJEQryiR261iUBychZXMbGirYx4AcIm1e8b3TnBiX8XwzKjrK0/s1600/DSC_0633.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZ3QxG_nSlb4N0Je07zwoKhEqMXliYTkIw4Iw9XchdCAOsRaJmcGTmwX4CajcNd3yjP8nhluxZi2S2Rmak0jfSNZkGTJEQryiR261iUBychZXMbGirYx4AcIm1e8b3TnBiX8XwzKjrK0/s1600/DSC_0633.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1907704965&asins=1907704965&linkId=PWYM7E2GL744LB7G&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>I recently read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1907704965/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1907704965&linkCode=as2&tag=moss0e7-20&linkId=TZJZCDLIY54B56F3">Robert Moses: The Master Builder of New York City</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1907704965" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> written by Pierre Christin with art by Olivier Balez.<br />
<br />
The story is how Moses, the son of a Jewish-German family of the Haute-Bourgeoisie (money) who was always an outcast in the WASP Ivy-league schools, struggled to make something that mattered. He meets Mrs. Belle Moskowitz, a social activist, who introduces him to Alfred E Smith, governor of New York state. Moses brings his zeal for building the future to the administration, and learns from Moskowitz how to lobby and politic to get the projects accomplished.<br />
<br />
Through his vision, he builds public beaches, parks, swimming pools and airports for New York City, and the surrounding areas. Part of his vision, however, includes demolishing the tenements of NYC and replacing them with modern apartment housing. He also plans wide highways and freeways to connect all these modern projects. This vision for growth, replacing the old with a newer better version sets up a conflict that is ultimately his downfall.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuYMURMQdMYmZ6HwccPwoBy0mOFlwc7jmXfPlL0em_a8jix2ncVY_Z3Yg7vgrJZAf1s4q7lBhOAcZHMlWdp66Vd_yLi4cl91o9xfPlgYh4-99yMaifrRt34h0r5anixnqTJbCeb_Ttl0/s1600/DSC_0631.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLuYMURMQdMYmZ6HwccPwoBy0mOFlwc7jmXfPlL0em_a8jix2ncVY_Z3Yg7vgrJZAf1s4q7lBhOAcZHMlWdp66Vd_yLi4cl91o9xfPlgYh4-99yMaifrRt34h0r5anixnqTJbCeb_Ttl0/s1600/DSC_0631.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
The book does an excellent job of setting the tone and history for the different eras. Moses's career ran from the 30s to the 60s, and the art is consistent, but clearly represents the styles of each time. During his lifetime Moses met and worked with many famous men. His public works took place during five mayors of New York, six state governors, and seven presidents, all represented in the book. There's even an interesting scene with Guy Lombardo, apparently a close friend of Moses.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVesd5ijYkehXTtdFJahs_yoQb_6O9-XqQoCUETgOcyN1kAR5mj0vAdaERkQOKk8rAy89GV8-DU5tl7143VChgL_pTwfY_Fga-k6EzynJi0o3TiT0uUEjZ8HIJ9_V7iJUArr3c_UVNh-o/s1600/DSC_0632.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVesd5ijYkehXTtdFJahs_yoQb_6O9-XqQoCUETgOcyN1kAR5mj0vAdaERkQOKk8rAy89GV8-DU5tl7143VChgL_pTwfY_Fga-k6EzynJi0o3TiT0uUEjZ8HIJ9_V7iJUArr3c_UVNh-o/s1600/DSC_0632.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The one caveat is there's not enough dialogue. I'd like to see more scenes set at a personal level. Still, this may have been a choice by Christin, since Moses seemed to work on a grand scale.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGDW7pXF_GJ_ypXJqOnpPYxpTTq2vlemB_jDJDXL3fOQ5m24GvpTSjpXh4Iko9XI0MWaKGcrqaWKCnGU3AYTU7CEa0OWI1AH-CWM-SAGksUNHTthBbOCWyTXVmIJT1GI9RcSylGLTRO4/s1600/DSC_0630.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGDW7pXF_GJ_ypXJqOnpPYxpTTq2vlemB_jDJDXL3fOQ5m24GvpTSjpXh4Iko9XI0MWaKGcrqaWKCnGU3AYTU7CEa0OWI1AH-CWM-SAGksUNHTthBbOCWyTXVmIJT1GI9RcSylGLTRO4/s1600/DSC_0630.JPG" width="174" /></a></div>
The book's final section casts an interesting light on Moses' accomplishments. His plans to bulldoze SoHo and Washington Square and replace it with a Lower Manhattan Expressway seems shocking in hindsight, but city administrators found it acceptable. It was only due to grassroots opposition, spearheaded by activist Jane Jacobs, that the project was cancelled. Moses, the original activist visionary, was blocked by a new era's vision for livable cities.<br />
<br />
Bottom line: great art, interesting and well-structure biography on the man known as the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City and surroundings.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-40913693893404363872015-03-21T12:37:00.000-07:002015-03-21T12:37:04.187-07:00A surprise in the letters from Batman #235<h1 class="sCaption" data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #222222; font-family: freight-sans-pro, proxima-nova, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px -8px 0px 0px; max-height: 160px; overflow-y: auto; padding-right: 8px;">
<span data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1.$text0:0:$text0:0">Whenever I'm reading old comics I check the Letters to the Editor to see if there's someone I'd recognize. Surprise, in Batman #235 (1972) there are two future </span><a data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1.$text0:0:$entity0:0" href="https://instagram.com/explore/tags/comics/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(63, 114, 155, 0.298039); color: #3f729b; text-decoration: none;">comics</a><span data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1.$text0:0:$text1:0"> creators: Bob Rozakis (misspelled in the comic) started working for </span><a data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1.$text0:0:$entity1:0" href="https://instagram.com/explore/tags/dc/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(63, 114, 155, 0.298039); color: #3f729b; text-decoration: none;">DC</a><span data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1.$text0:0:$text2:0"> in 1975 as the Answer Man, and Dave Sims began Cerebus in 1977.</span></h1>
<div>
<span data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1.$text0:0:$text2:0"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Y0WrJqg9nZFzXcaXmGF1wHTQpcy4NxM6qnnof7I_XS4wGQIWcvXxF4IS0uJTJXay5TVGHbqcrYKtpKq5PYJlf2ZkU8UCE_OYYYguK-nuZqe6j6FWopF7IJEBIqlew_x181b8DY8IGMU/s1600/tumblr_njhpxqSoHC1s6fzb6o1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Y0WrJqg9nZFzXcaXmGF1wHTQpcy4NxM6qnnof7I_XS4wGQIWcvXxF4IS0uJTJXay5TVGHbqcrYKtpKq5PYJlf2ZkU8UCE_OYYYguK-nuZqe6j6FWopF7IJEBIqlew_x181b8DY8IGMU/s1600/tumblr_njhpxqSoHC1s6fzb6o1_1280.jpg" /></a></div>
<div>
<span data-reactid=".0.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.0:0.1.2:1.$text0:0:$text2:0"><br /></span></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-87367463640880827722015-03-16T22:13:00.002-07:002015-03-16T22:13:43.008-07:00Mary Jane and Sniffles in Noteville<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JTV6SlDjC5A-HfSk5tE-Rb08Ws8ia0km-yZPrrCywaxLZji2x3b6ZGMy_F2TofZ5geQcnOACvpZlQyPetsNEYvGrSTBkrBGACEll12TVqnQiKT82XbrTrSz3o6zGLdD_XN5WkcEsUEQ/s1600/DSC_0376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JTV6SlDjC5A-HfSk5tE-Rb08Ws8ia0km-yZPrrCywaxLZji2x3b6ZGMy_F2TofZ5geQcnOACvpZlQyPetsNEYvGrSTBkrBGACEll12TVqnQiKT82XbrTrSz3o6zGLdD_XN5WkcEsUEQ/s1600/DSC_0376.JPG" height="155" width="200" /></a></div>
Here's my favorite "Mary Jane and Sniffles" story, the one that<a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/is-comic-mary-jane-sniffles-about-drugs.html" target="_blank"> I started to mention at dinner</a>. Mary Jane is listening to the radio, but her mother reminds her that it's nap time. When the girl shuts off the radio, the notes rebel and run away. As Sniffles reminds here "We've got to get those notes back in your radio or it won't ever play music again." They discover Noteville, where Mary Jane is tried and sentenced for interrupting the music. It seems like a very odd moral to me.<br />
<br />
This story originally ran in <a href="http://www.comics.org/issue/173241/" target="_blank">Four Color #474</a> "Mary Jane and Sniffles," but the copy I have is from a giveaway from the Bob White Theatre in Portland, Oregon. Here's the cover:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvgCqHFj4b_GccvhEzbBgz-0qd_CuJkRViHgbirlNSbzsIv7gZGijs1nt2fAtWaYi9E33JgMF-DR-BGjyFmKAoEtFOwndjK9KtZPWFnrqnCc93hFdGs3lYUy7tkCfh_6f7R0WVYiUnTY/s1600/DSC_0365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvgCqHFj4b_GccvhEzbBgz-0qd_CuJkRViHgbirlNSbzsIv7gZGijs1nt2fAtWaYi9E33JgMF-DR-BGjyFmKAoEtFOwndjK9KtZPWFnrqnCc93hFdGs3lYUy7tkCfh_6f7R0WVYiUnTY/s1600/DSC_0365.JPG" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's the full story. Click on a page to see the larger image.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWz077NC27dgRZtWTba7qz4uuEYMEA9RUb1A5LqYX5AdCDnK1JpQyB9DdHYly-IFKYJzNAQTyEEW1h6FQ5TY9Mg38BIC2JO16dq4FiZmbi3EEmhLgWkunmyu-Y6eefqlhnitKTIA3zolE/s1600/MaryJane1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWz077NC27dgRZtWTba7qz4uuEYMEA9RUb1A5LqYX5AdCDnK1JpQyB9DdHYly-IFKYJzNAQTyEEW1h6FQ5TY9Mg38BIC2JO16dq4FiZmbi3EEmhLgWkunmyu-Y6eefqlhnitKTIA3zolE/s1600/MaryJane1.jpg" height="320" width="221" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR15gIhZPh4ZGXnx4Q1Bq5u421LKO9Q6Tg5iFnmFs17fVUjtuzE5gV3Q_CWcWfpgo35W-Ww0fEsI3BdjZZHy5o05dQWSYUmAksCvSGnmXqmTax-fDXDwKbUCfHhXdrSCFOtiMpbjyDkuo/s1600/MaryJane2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR15gIhZPh4ZGXnx4Q1Bq5u421LKO9Q6Tg5iFnmFs17fVUjtuzE5gV3Q_CWcWfpgo35W-Ww0fEsI3BdjZZHy5o05dQWSYUmAksCvSGnmXqmTax-fDXDwKbUCfHhXdrSCFOtiMpbjyDkuo/s1600/MaryJane2.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxK3zaLitcUuAlgFaLoGRDeo3nWSeiNo9PJpXEwEE2AEDVf1oncrJD5hsjZlkFIqpTUzhAVMT5KL8perXmt0CGGj52JD8AwVbfLaQwV16soKvY9qhAcEd-ALwE9uQeOAl6YRNeogMlAc/s1600/MaryJane3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxK3zaLitcUuAlgFaLoGRDeo3nWSeiNo9PJpXEwEE2AEDVf1oncrJD5hsjZlkFIqpTUzhAVMT5KL8perXmt0CGGj52JD8AwVbfLaQwV16soKvY9qhAcEd-ALwE9uQeOAl6YRNeogMlAc/s1600/MaryJane3.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoWHdfJnz2gLJzy11Cv2ROlwdLplh1AH7QuBqkteSc49Te-UCKbiFJDsMbYo2zg8P5YH-N5-uAqsONDxgadg_JoXJj9TuxY2yMu06pHXtpXEtVdinfN3y_83mizL5vJqd6KpajFAc-xw/s1600/MaryJane4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoWHdfJnz2gLJzy11Cv2ROlwdLplh1AH7QuBqkteSc49Te-UCKbiFJDsMbYo2zg8P5YH-N5-uAqsONDxgadg_JoXJj9TuxY2yMu06pHXtpXEtVdinfN3y_83mizL5vJqd6KpajFAc-xw/s1600/MaryJane4.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcmfph50A5ggeoGdQZCDIBV9hiRzm_Fsa3RpWDFyo8zr2sCy50Rhrm2oDmnYYzeJuVdAxac7TpdFP7-k4Gf9URrq6NIPQ21Xw_-fGWj1_5ndtwZzaBNhMxEbnaPzIK01-hsdFWlJhOQ4/s1600/MaryJane5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcmfph50A5ggeoGdQZCDIBV9hiRzm_Fsa3RpWDFyo8zr2sCy50Rhrm2oDmnYYzeJuVdAxac7TpdFP7-k4Gf9URrq6NIPQ21Xw_-fGWj1_5ndtwZzaBNhMxEbnaPzIK01-hsdFWlJhOQ4/s1600/MaryJane5.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDG5wrnPgtFTIDlGjvMo0iswbqv0LjZ6gLED78ztlLV6QLqDQIRRSfBuosIowTkx3EptCObNU-2N0TiC9b2pqGRqOp9hI1j19D675uhRSWieyX57kKnsM2S5LDxT5OqmzhGtt4a0RMmo/s1600/MaryJane6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDG5wrnPgtFTIDlGjvMo0iswbqv0LjZ6gLED78ztlLV6QLqDQIRRSfBuosIowTkx3EptCObNU-2N0TiC9b2pqGRqOp9hI1j19D675uhRSWieyX57kKnsM2S5LDxT5OqmzhGtt4a0RMmo/s1600/MaryJane6.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGL3-gkH9GBGqWeIpHAduBRwvFVXc5OuSpyZjqzzpBT8yiqLhHfqSfFsRhV4xiIt4FRjIRTkuz0aii0ZVpIenxm4ULCFAhqVTImXzgr4tB0B9h1b-IwFUAX_FAjKrSB8roY9kSLC2W7EE/s1600/MaryJane7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGL3-gkH9GBGqWeIpHAduBRwvFVXc5OuSpyZjqzzpBT8yiqLhHfqSfFsRhV4xiIt4FRjIRTkuz0aii0ZVpIenxm4ULCFAhqVTImXzgr4tB0B9h1b-IwFUAX_FAjKrSB8roY9kSLC2W7EE/s1600/MaryJane7.jpg" height="320" width="227" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6hWOMbfnzZPEzd-pbffCBQlUxpnIEVFAAp2oX1W-E-UKwBoAo816mvoQFh38WjnlFM-YtTQ7nbhqr-kv02Aq726uceTe0jvjeWT34fgvFSpzJea6_lIXarB-qtpkZGXvrTOL8p-dgiA/s1600/MaryJane8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6hWOMbfnzZPEzd-pbffCBQlUxpnIEVFAAp2oX1W-E-UKwBoAo816mvoQFh38WjnlFM-YtTQ7nbhqr-kv02Aq726uceTe0jvjeWT34fgvFSpzJea6_lIXarB-qtpkZGXvrTOL8p-dgiA/s1600/MaryJane8.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-2873443450471080522015-03-16T22:07:00.000-07:002015-03-16T22:07:08.799-07:00Is the Comic "Mary Jane & Sniffles" About Drugs?The other day at dinner I was reminded of a Mary Jane and Sniffles story and started to talk about it when my wife interrupted:<br />
<br />
"Mary Jane and Sniffles? That's so obviously marijuana and cocaine. C'mon, it's about drugs, isn't it?"<br />
<br />
Well, that's a good question.<br />
<br />
If you don't remember, "Mary Jane and Sniffles" stories were found in Looney Toons and Merrie Melodies comics of the 40's and 50's. Mary Jane is a human girl who has a mouse friend named Sniffles. When Sniffles wanted to go on an adventure he'd ask Mary Jane to accompany him, and she would make herself small. They would then travel into the miniature world of the forest animals and bugs, or a story book, or some fantasyland where they could solve a crisis. The adventure usually ended with Mary Jane's mother waking her after the crisis was averted. Sometimes when Mary Jane woke from her adventure she was dazed as if it were a daydream, but often there was some concrete evidence of the episode.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmN2IeH3sYOFgdGzYVhfncEPKY4rUlmvtaOhJuVYhIfoRpl4r6zXI-CJ84tEnsdxEjjzgvjp-cIDALbBi5IWFREhkIfTlzfeR2DIYzvqbFxG9-DY7VGbmRM-CGgGrSmL223_AKeTo70M/s1600/DSC_0377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmN2IeH3sYOFgdGzYVhfncEPKY4rUlmvtaOhJuVYhIfoRpl4r6zXI-CJ84tEnsdxEjjzgvjp-cIDALbBi5IWFREhkIfTlzfeR2DIYzvqbFxG9-DY7VGbmRM-CGgGrSmL223_AKeTo70M/s1600/DSC_0377.JPG" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Mary Jane's exact technique for getting small varied. Originally she sprinkled herself with magic sand, saying "Magic sand, magic sand, make me small at my command!" or sometimes "Oh, magic sand upon me fall, and make me very, very small!"<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmS99kmsSziOHL-C1ut18q2u-FUMgGcVzf2CCIde0OLmcyvy9G3JRAnZPvo1XgHBmszKR84uuwQK-6onPY0ChQRxFEPyYOKWhFPHQLbvfiG2oy_ELBeFQtihFlU5qCw1sLubfH_X6V3zY/s1600/DSC_0369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmS99kmsSziOHL-C1ut18q2u-FUMgGcVzf2CCIde0OLmcyvy9G3JRAnZPvo1XgHBmszKR84uuwQK-6onPY0ChQRxFEPyYOKWhFPHQLbvfiG2oy_ELBeFQtihFlU5qCw1sLubfH_X6V3zY/s1600/DSC_0369.JPG" height="253" width="320" /></a>In 1949, the words became:<br />
<i>"First I shut my eyes real tight,</i><br />
<i>and then I wish with all my might,</i><br />
<i>Magic words of Poof, Poof, Piffles,</i><br />
<i>Make me just as small as Sniffles!"</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqaAPDEOSh3H8T03yEkWGDHOAnqfpMX-jhAJPom5eHO6mXfgk053ytkS_bAimsOHPZ2tryx5UJngfPdKdwmXilTztGx0wLI1hkwBqs381rhct5aLUAVxKQKOQ42JRrj1I9_x-sOjdv5w/s1600/DSC_0346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvbkl2bylAs2iauDAANDDog8n2ig7YK6XpqTHKUmueS_9rfPIH8cDVApthfu9CsMotpSHvXF7hlaJlpxexiLzJSVOvnbdx7gc_bWNcfAnH9BuxCG1LHf0RT3MEnpCBxGiFiYQABFyvUM/s1600/DSC_0359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvbkl2bylAs2iauDAANDDog8n2ig7YK6XpqTHKUmueS_9rfPIH8cDVApthfu9CsMotpSHvXF7hlaJlpxexiLzJSVOvnbdx7gc_bWNcfAnH9BuxCG1LHf0RT3MEnpCBxGiFiYQABFyvUM/s1600/DSC_0359.JPG" height="186" width="320" /></a>The magic was external to Mary Jane, since one time when Mary Jane was already asleep, Sniffles took it upon himself to make her small.<br />
<i>"Oh, magic words of Poof Poof Piffles,</i><br />
<i>Please grant my wish, for I am Sniffles,</i><br />
<i>Make Mary Jane as small as me,</i><br />
<i>So Alphabet Land we both can see."</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQhRHHOvZc4l0BSD3wvDmPNI3lJOG1ipWa3dDIybBgxT_yIrIVMYqUS7oNgIUzAM6MABVSsUS5uaHYP8kVYvn83anADRDmxGTzVWogYEArBV2hyfjYnJLaoK85StaqQm2oZlkfVT-0_A/s1600/DSC_0360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQhRHHOvZc4l0BSD3wvDmPNI3lJOG1ipWa3dDIybBgxT_yIrIVMYqUS7oNgIUzAM6MABVSsUS5uaHYP8kVYvn83anADRDmxGTzVWogYEArBV2hyfjYnJLaoK85StaqQm2oZlkfVT-0_A/s1600/DSC_0360.JPG" height="276" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7Ds_7w9zHdEW1jChIPTIsPFhDS6nzchFCm59yeupOonzcsVtJRhF9lq20T04BztNry1XoVa_loX8bHhZy7CO_uym0HX6wdaNpk2I95jmqCUxP1Yiq3ogQYO34_-bqbFUo19BYnjLaaM/s1600/DSC_0361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7Ds_7w9zHdEW1jChIPTIsPFhDS6nzchFCm59yeupOonzcsVtJRhF9lq20T04BztNry1XoVa_loX8bHhZy7CO_uym0HX6wdaNpk2I95jmqCUxP1Yiq3ogQYO34_-bqbFUo19BYnjLaaM/s1600/DSC_0361.JPG" height="232" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
OK, thinking about it, I have to admit there could be some covert drug references there. Maybe I'm influenced by Steve Martin's exhortation to "<a href="http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/steve_martin/lets_get_small.html" target="_blank">get small</a>!" which obviously came much later. Or, was Mr. Martin was unintentionally recalling Mary Jane?<br />
<br />
But looking more closely, there are other possible drug references. Magic sand is conceptually cocaine.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqaAPDEOSh3H8T03yEkWGDHOAnqfpMX-jhAJPom5eHO6mXfgk053ytkS_bAimsOHPZ2tryx5UJngfPdKdwmXilTztGx0wLI1hkwBqs381rhct5aLUAVxKQKOQ42JRrj1I9_x-sOjdv5w/s1600/DSC_0346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqaAPDEOSh3H8T03yEkWGDHOAnqfpMX-jhAJPom5eHO6mXfgk053ytkS_bAimsOHPZ2tryx5UJngfPdKdwmXilTztGx0wLI1hkwBqs381rhct5aLUAVxKQKOQ42JRrj1I9_x-sOjdv5w/s1600/DSC_0346.JPG" height="183" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Additionally, Sniffles is on record as having a drinking problem. In his debut, the 1939 short <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031711/" target="_blank">Naughty But Mice</a></i>, Sniffles has a cold and is searching for a remedy. He eventually stumbles upon an alcoholic cold medicine, drinks it, and becomes intoxicated. </div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xte1l1" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
Even in the 50's Sniffles still liked drinking, as seen by his preference for the punch as this party.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhD1rl6CR6bpFNXR4wkOEQi6opc1ma7aByXnJU9RUmKaHatamnrfACnjmeMZXT65eAWNgEFO3Iju78fThI2YhY2ytG-17mRyej9bZMQp4u0ut7l_xVgpcC-3cq9NVGqmf4vlfpu5d7H4/s1600/DSC_0353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhD1rl6CR6bpFNXR4wkOEQi6opc1ma7aByXnJU9RUmKaHatamnrfACnjmeMZXT65eAWNgEFO3Iju78fThI2YhY2ytG-17mRyej9bZMQp4u0ut7l_xVgpcC-3cq9NVGqmf4vlfpu5d7H4/s1600/DSC_0353.JPG" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The stories seem feature a lot of mushrooms. For example, on this cover they are having "tea" under a giant mushroom<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCKL6BP5HXK4b-cyRa_vdM23RPgHSfDINPNPpzlhkG4wWoBp-YIV8pI6giShHYdQgRfOPwlLY-6lmTDP-gs8Bw1Q_W7-L_W85JAgnlivhIqcfB-GJ9u3xOF3Jt5GLOImY93C8TrmS3fY/s1600/2592751-fourcolor402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCKL6BP5HXK4b-cyRa_vdM23RPgHSfDINPNPpzlhkG4wWoBp-YIV8pI6giShHYdQgRfOPwlLY-6lmTDP-gs8Bw1Q_W7-L_W85JAgnlivhIqcfB-GJ9u3xOF3Jt5GLOImY93C8TrmS3fY/s1600/2592751-fourcolor402.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYgbUbuo6HUmoCCAIvLgL4w_H8eBw0xFfM_ttvzbIxxSg80ky4PXAGsdSnd7nvirlaICkXvKGM3N5LktZBRlmzomX4qGieHueYgkhEkeCaKd8S2dnV3IiPdHVHzEVJ2_0mHBmMphCEkW8/s1600/DSC_0348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYgbUbuo6HUmoCCAIvLgL4w_H8eBw0xFfM_ttvzbIxxSg80ky4PXAGsdSnd7nvirlaICkXvKGM3N5LktZBRlmzomX4qGieHueYgkhEkeCaKd8S2dnV3IiPdHVHzEVJ2_0mHBmMphCEkW8/s1600/DSC_0348.JPG" height="277" width="320" /></a>Consider too, whether the story is real or hallucinated. When Mary Jane returns from being small she's sometimes groggy or confused, like she has been asleep, or daydreaming. One time Mary Jane and Sniffles battle some graham cracker animals. When she wakes up it seems obviously a daydream. Another time Mary Jane awakes and we see her mother on one side of the panel, and Sniffles hiding in the other corner, so they must exist in the same reality.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Although the comic was for kids, kids were not writing & drawing the stories. Chuck Jones, famed director of many Bugs Bunny cartoons, created the idea of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniffles" target="_blank">Sniffles </a>for the Warner Bros. cartoons in 1939. Sniffles was designed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thorson" target="_blank">Charles Thorson</a>, who also designed Bugs Bunny. Did either of them want to subvert the youth of America with hidden drug messages?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Probably not. Sniffles faded from cartoons, and didn't seem to get popular until he met Mary Jane in the comics in 1941. So, Sniffles was named before he met Mary Jane, although it could be that someone in the comics decided to pair them up as a joke.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Many of the post-1951 "Mary Jane and Sniffles" stories were drawn by Al Hubbard, but he's not the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Matthew_Hubbard" target="_blank">Al Hubbard</a> known as the Johnny Appleseed of LSD. <a href="https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hubbard_al.htm" target="_blank">Allan Hubbard</a> had a long career as an animator at Disney, artist on Looney Toons, and then later an artist for Walt Disney's Comics & Stories. Hubbard's style reminds me of Walt Kelly's. Compare the beetles in the Mary Jane story with Kelly's little Weevil child.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEyqKNC_fsimvgDwQqBfqsnr9QEifaV04yCc4MARYFR6TpRuHRZNWydlc3NPxC3nSBSgAnBUlZx2KrXj-OBoK9qtbLaPc7K7PQPI7Dv4Rs1qGHfUMFPXdVCErJvFuDInaxPWP4mmROu4/s1600/DSC_0363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEyqKNC_fsimvgDwQqBfqsnr9QEifaV04yCc4MARYFR6TpRuHRZNWydlc3NPxC3nSBSgAnBUlZx2KrXj-OBoK9qtbLaPc7K7PQPI7Dv4Rs1qGHfUMFPXdVCErJvFuDInaxPWP4mmROu4/s1600/DSC_0363.JPG" height="236" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Al Hubbard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKUyvxgfKjPhtEfRoCcusKRQRw40CemnxrB9HFCgzVgtLL60I6L1KMKL0c9i7yb9bCGL_9qq4ZVaTdPX9LtgzVezxhLIlKfZof5Ha3EAeRagL2MzV2Lio065jkvp-UA9-6f2DZXULzOo/s1600/WaltKelly_Pogo_BugTroops_01_100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKUyvxgfKjPhtEfRoCcusKRQRw40CemnxrB9HFCgzVgtLL60I6L1KMKL0c9i7yb9bCGL_9qq4ZVaTdPX9LtgzVezxhLIlKfZof5Ha3EAeRagL2MzV2Lio065jkvp-UA9-6f2DZXULzOo/s1600/WaltKelly_Pogo_BugTroops_01_100.jpg" height="200" width="187" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walt Kelly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhir0_E0Eubm5iWX_Llu5zklmoEHnR_Gc1nv_V3cfmzWfb5DWkMePC-LwEwAPuM5lnK_LzsR5XopP2MsXCroBrrQ4WOr9IelPif6bWiOk2P7fPjawNEQ7fykCbJdip9ca8VYOL5tPLzT0g/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhir0_E0Eubm5iWX_Llu5zklmoEHnR_Gc1nv_V3cfmzWfb5DWkMePC-LwEwAPuM5lnK_LzsR5XopP2MsXCroBrrQ4WOr9IelPif6bWiOk2P7fPjawNEQ7fykCbJdip9ca8VYOL5tPLzT0g/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG" height="204" width="320" /></a>Hubbard gave Mary Jane has a certain <i>je ne sais quoi</i>, almost an adult allure at times. Take for example her "hep" lingo when talking about be-boppers, or the way she posed and talked.<br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ESUVsCklefibfdRKIyUsqix7O2G_f3cIbvRM-AKO8tbUjdXXWMMmFg1IDpz_8mJNsj7IQPiXipHn6q4XvfEcPxPH9BqIpNA81tZl98mi1XFIQ917FKMnuC73y24lP89CuTEKmS0_Ar0/s1600/DSC_0355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ESUVsCklefibfdRKIyUsqix7O2G_f3cIbvRM-AKO8tbUjdXXWMMmFg1IDpz_8mJNsj7IQPiXipHn6q4XvfEcPxPH9BqIpNA81tZl98mi1XFIQ917FKMnuC73y24lP89CuTEKmS0_Ar0/s1600/DSC_0355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ESUVsCklefibfdRKIyUsqix7O2G_f3cIbvRM-AKO8tbUjdXXWMMmFg1IDpz_8mJNsj7IQPiXipHn6q4XvfEcPxPH9BqIpNA81tZl98mi1XFIQ917FKMnuC73y24lP89CuTEKmS0_Ar0/s1600/DSC_0355.JPG" height="235" width="320" /></a>But Hubbard seemed to avoid the drug references. For example, whether due to his writing, or from complaints, Hubbard dropped the magic sand, leaving just the words, which Mary Jane would pronounce with her fingers crossed.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1geDTDdPpkONT2H540ZdRkgvEYVyFl-FlALkJz2pvqhCqTUeYxRMqhgRlQDQ2w3TkqIkBlCzYIQhDlrXTnk9llc1b_QZDab6iEyrSQhXM_QoDNS8QtovK6rDVehwuy1lGYEslzcF_P4/s1600/DSC_0367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1geDTDdPpkONT2H540ZdRkgvEYVyFl-FlALkJz2pvqhCqTUeYxRMqhgRlQDQ2w3TkqIkBlCzYIQhDlrXTnk9llc1b_QZDab6iEyrSQhXM_QoDNS8QtovK6rDVehwuy1lGYEslzcF_P4/s1600/DSC_0367.JPG" height="232" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
To discover the real answer, we have to look at who paired up Sniffles with Mary Jane, and that is the editor/writer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_Craig" target="_blank">Chase Craig</a>. Craig was later known for editing "Magnus, Robot Fighter" at Gold Key. When he started working on the Merrie Melodies comics, he added a lot of backup Warner Brothers characters to the comics for filler. His newlywed bride's name was Mary Jane Green, so he used her name as the inspiration for Sniffles's companion Mary Jane.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
So, the answer is No. It's not about drugs, it's about a young comics writer and his post-WWII newlywed bride -- a sweet love story after all.<br />
<br />
Although... consider a retcon reboot? A story about Mary Jane as an adult, and the troubling memories she has about her childhood...?Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-42406800706704418002015-03-14T11:35:00.001-07:002015-03-14T11:35:29.097-07:00Fort Mentality (Part 3)<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1591169224&asins=1591169224&linkId=VWRGMYKKWZ66ICG3&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Since the beginning of the 21st century, with the omnipresent Internet, the virtual world has become much more explored, perhaps to the abandonment of the physical world. So, it’s interesting to see comics today that touch on this theme of a fort, a secret physical place which plays a pivotal role in the psyche of a group of friends. Two examples are Naoki Urasawa’s <i>20th Century Boys</i> and <i>The Bunker</i> written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and illustrated by Joe Infurnari.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWvai4N0WvKSYCVHaolhcKppP7CB3VxMLBr4OUuln6Jqs3emmH7MwrxNNhq9pwGJ3HEpqukClI0fGNZakKWSNB9p2Lo9odKysqAhlKc_cceVPF44Hv2IsQoVWlIgAJUH1laGwrAwt7OQ/s1600/20th-century-boys-1563243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWvai4N0WvKSYCVHaolhcKppP7CB3VxMLBr4OUuln6Jqs3emmH7MwrxNNhq9pwGJ3HEpqukClI0fGNZakKWSNB9p2Lo9odKysqAhlKc_cceVPF44Hv2IsQoVWlIgAJUH1laGwrAwt7OQ/s1600/20th-century-boys-1563243.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><i>20th Century Boys</i> starts in Japan the summer before Expo ’70. A group of kids, Kenji, Otcho, Yoshitsune and Maruo, build a fort in an abandoned field and call it their secret base. They read manga, ogle porn, and share secrets and aspirations. Otcho draws a logo for their group, and together they create a comic called <i>The Book of Prophecy</i> where in the future Earth is threatened by plagues, bombings and giant robots controlled by an evil mastermind. Together, with summer ending and high school looming, the kids wonder about the future. This theme is echoed in both their Book of Prophecy, and their thoughts as they visit the World’s Fair Expo '70 and marvel at the exhibits and rides. The future seems to hold so much promise that they agree if the world is ever threatened they will work together to save it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">The story skips forward to 1999, the turn of the new millennium. Kenji’s dream of becoming a rock musician has died and he works at a convenience store, occasionally playing guitar, but mostly working and taking care of his baby niece Kanna. The other kids have had various success in life, one is a lawyer, another a scientist, another is missing. They are brought together when one of the friends ostensibly commits suicide, although Kenji has doubts. The suicide makes them aware of a mysterious cult figure called "Friend" who is using their childhood logo for his organization. More than that, events that they described in <i>The Book of Prophecy</i> are actually occurring, and the group believes that Friend is one of their former schoolmates. On New Years Eve, Friend orchestrates an attack on Tokyo spearheaded by a giant robot, and Kenji and his friends are the only ones who can fight him.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4yXBTyol9XEhvDToCvisTb57AN7ctn3EtMAwilEmPt5bBhDxdZUQ1jxHGAYAo2LdIEyJ2aSx0zxqZcx7-xVnZJjGzcLpGYl7gP1zTz-_jhJvw_B-Ap5vQOz1cSlbHjjr5hjZXQ-MBXk/s1600/21st-century-boys-136420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4yXBTyol9XEhvDToCvisTb57AN7ctn3EtMAwilEmPt5bBhDxdZUQ1jxHGAYAo2LdIEyJ2aSx0zxqZcx7-xVnZJjGzcLpGYl7gP1zTz-_jhJvw_B-Ap5vQOz1cSlbHjjr5hjZXQ-MBXk/s1600/21st-century-boys-136420.jpg" height="185" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">The narrative oscillates in time, between 1970, 2000 and 2015. This gives Urasawa an epic canvas to paint his story, exploring Japanese pop culture of the 70's as well as events that formed the now middle-aged men. The 22-volume story is so packed with pop culture references that the publisher includes footnotes at the end of each book. Like Lethem’s <i><a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-mentality-part-1.html">Fortress of Solitude</a></i>, the title itself a reference, in this case a T. Rex song. Other mentions include food, wrestling stars, songs, world events, such as the 1969 moon landing, and the kinds of fads that might last for only a couple months, but stick in a kid’s imagination for the rest of his or her life. I imagine that Urasawa, as a kid, made a fort in a field, much like the kids in his story, and that stuck with him until he could expend it in this epic comic.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><i>The Bunker</i> has a theme similar to <i>20th Century Boys</i>, but begins on a dark note. Friends Daniel, Natasha, Heidi, Grady and Billy have place that special to them. On the eve of graduating from college, they return to that spot to bury a time capsule but instead discover an underground bomb shelter, a bunker – something they didn’t know was there. It contains artifacts that appear to be from the future, and letters from their future selves explaining how they will change the world, possibly bringing about the end of civilization.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKrjxR_QZNJtjloxRhQD5_TG_5klscoR3iO1HkROpHte3YYot6JSYqHQZe7PL4SlKCGoWFZAzluZV-KV6g_2i0n9R3Z59QeT_bLtF1ham1lUDPh0lG_UHnBIqbudPd9ntLZ9CM69KTrc/s1600/BUNKER_Page_06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKrjxR_QZNJtjloxRhQD5_TG_5klscoR3iO1HkROpHte3YYot6JSYqHQZe7PL4SlKCGoWFZAzluZV-KV6g_2i0n9R3Z59QeT_bLtF1ham1lUDPh0lG_UHnBIqbudPd9ntLZ9CM69KTrc/s1600/BUNKER_Page_06.jpg" height="363" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1620101645&asins=1620101645&linkId=MFHX6N5K3GJYSORC&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Unlike Urasawa’s story, <i>The Bunker</i> starts in the present and moves into the future. Instead of the metaphorical time travel of flashbacks, the story appears to involve actual time travel. Like <i>20th Century Boys</i> the story jumps in time, but it’s much more abrupt, sometimes jumping multiple times per page. Since it’s about the future, there’s not much nostalgia woven into the story. Like Urasawa, Fialkov explores the bonds of friendship, but not by creating a shared past. Instead he chooses to begin with immediate conflict. The shocking news in the letters begins an argument that results in Natasha, who has been seeing Daniel, to run off and have sex with Grady. Meanwhile Heidi has to confront the reality that she was molested as a child, which puts a damper on her sex life with Daniel.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Since <i>The Bunker</i> is just beginning with volumes 1 and 2, there seem to be many juicy possible routes for Fialkov’s tale. One of the characters says “apparently there’s going to be a zombie apocalypse…” In volume 1 we learn that one of the group of friends becomes the President of the US and another may be the cause of the apocalypse. And anyone who hears the title is probably reminded of Hitler's </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Führerbunker</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">. This is fertile ground, and it seems to be ready to produce a story of power-struggles, world-shaking science fiction, and possibly an allegory for our post-9/11 isolationist country.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDh32bRGRiNhkfKykk1yxNiGFXIOgI5_UfxeUQ5sXg4GlMRl4-To3lPWg4S0uxQFYRZMMxmqn8ey4Yc4wASJShBVJoIYaGjR__q7el9-tO_UHtN0JCWtaLCs_m9ns4V7eX4m2ylO44sg/s1600/BUNKER_Page_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDh32bRGRiNhkfKykk1yxNiGFXIOgI5_UfxeUQ5sXg4GlMRl4-To3lPWg4S0uxQFYRZMMxmqn8ey4Yc4wASJShBVJoIYaGjR__q7el9-tO_UHtN0JCWtaLCs_m9ns4V7eX4m2ylO44sg/s1600/BUNKER_Page_10.jpg" height="253" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Out of the two comics, I prefer <i>20th Century Boys</i>. In <i>The Bunker</i>, </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Infurnari's</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> art is deliberately sketchy, as if it’s still in flux. In <i>20th Century Boys</i> the fort is the thing that originally brought them together, and the thing that keeps them together. Their pact, shared history, and their secret origin all orbit around the sun of the fort that the kids built in a grassy field on a hot summer day. Urusawa seems to use this as both the instigation and the heart of the story. Without the fort, these 20th century boys would be adrift, without a place of their own. Whereas <i>20th Century</i> mixes anticipation and anxiety of the future, <i>The Bunker</i> seems much more dystopian. The discovery of the bunker is what starts to drive them apart, and may ultimately lead to an apocalypse. This fortification built to protect people becomes the path to destruction. Does this say something about the shift in our culture in only the past decade? Have events like 9/11 changed the world such that optimism is no longer an option?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">As mentioned, the Internet is so pervasive that kids today spend more time in the virtual world than IRL. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Now, when kids build forts they are in a virtual world of Minecraft, and their </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">“domain” is literally a server domain address. In some ways, I envy them. The</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> creations are much more impressive, and have a structure that works so much better than having to deal with things like boards, nails, saws and drills. A couple of kids can get together and construct an amazing world, literally a place of their own. Is this</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> the next generation’s way of inspiring others to build a fort, a domain, a place of one’s own, over which they have complete control?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">What gives me the most optimism is that these are shared forts. Rather than the divisive world of <i>The Bunker</i>, the virtual worlds of Minecraft lean toward a shared world, like <i>20th Century Boys</i>. Hopefully the 21st century boys and girls will learn, in this way, to play and work and live together. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Read <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-mentality-part-1.html">Part 1 </a>and <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-mentality-part-2.html">Part 2</a> of <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-mentality-part-1.html">Fort Mentality</a> here.</span></span></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-33181661840208434602015-03-13T22:50:00.000-07:002015-03-14T11:43:41.130-07:00Fort Mentality (Part 2)I think back to all the forts I had as a kid. When I was six or seven my dad nailed a platform into the fork of an apple tree and hammered some two-by-fours on the trunk for a ladder. I added plywood walls and a shelf for comic books and it was the perfect tree house. Many summers my sisters and I made forts out of clearings under bushes, bringing in some small chairs and peanut butter sandwiches to make a living space. On rainy days a blanket draped over the dining room table made for a luxurious hideout, furnished with the cushions off the couch. Even the most simple structure: tying together high grass to form a tepee to sit in, brought a secret joy at having a place of one’s own.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOBaLrjXVBVZ7EA7l6PG3zQXO6uQsktPHdTA98TU1AYetLjJjwTKdvsmBs2pOhzZWMFGmaIIpJKcX6RToj2h42Ohd8-oS8BpZuWA9uFuTL8tweA9io4vjsY95ASldTl2CFFylT1ZiB-Q/s1600/BestFortBW.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOBaLrjXVBVZ7EA7l6PG3zQXO6uQsktPHdTA98TU1AYetLjJjwTKdvsmBs2pOhzZWMFGmaIIpJKcX6RToj2h42Ohd8-oS8BpZuWA9uFuTL8tweA9io4vjsY95ASldTl2CFFylT1ZiB-Q/s1600/BestFortBW.PNG" height="320" width="273" /></a></div>
My neighbor Tod had a fort for a while, a wooden handmade camper top removed from his step-dad’s pickup truck and deposited in the empty yard next door. It was painted pink and was only slightly better than Tubby’s clubhouse in Little Lulu. His dogs, Dobermans, had a tendency to use the camper as a landmark when they were doing their business, which made for a stinky fort.<br />
<br />
But the best fort of all was inspired by superhero headquarters, as well as by the Monkees and a short-lived Saturday morning TV show called The Kids From Caper. The house where I grew up was on the edge of the town. Across the highway began the suburbs, but on my side of the road were mostly commercial buildings, a few spare houses, and empty fields. Next to our house were two vacant lots. Our immediate neighbors used to have a small house that felt like setting for a Dorothea Lange photo, but it was struck by lightning one rainy night and burned to the ground. Beyond that was an abandoned house with a plethora of detritus out back. The yard held a rusted tractor from the 30’s, a couple discarded lawnmowers, threadbare car tires, miscellaneous derelict building supplies including a pile of asbestos tiles, and a structure that used to be a combination chicken coop and horse stable.<br />
<br />
In the logic of childhood, since no one appeared to own the property we assumed it was available for exploration. I spent hours digging up odd bits of machinery and equipment from the yard. The wire chicken cages were intriguing, large enough for a chicken, but too small to climb in. It was my neighbor Tod who got the idea of using the asbestos tiles as throwing stars, with a satisfying result when they shattered on impact with the side of the house. I imagine that Tod got bored and left after the stack was gone, but I continued to explore the barn. I discovered that by standing on the wall of the stall I could pull myself through a hole in the ceiling into the empty hayloft. It was the perfect spot for a hideout, second only to a secret cave in a hidden mountain.<br />
<br />
Pretty soon I had the place spiffed up. The upstairs was my hideout. I swept out decades worth of dust, and replaced the hole with a trapdoor made from cut floorboards and a couple spare hinges. The roof was mostly complete, but a decayed bit of tarpaper and shingles provided an opportunity to mount a home-made periscope crafted from plastic tubing and some mirrors. It gave a 180 degree view of the neighbor’s burned down house and yard – a perfect spot for spying on any intruding evil villains, or my sisters if they showed up. <br />
<br />
I hauled up some chairs and used hammer and nails to make shelves for comics, the Hardy Boys Detective Handbook, and a Boy Scout first aid kit. I made my own version of a the Baxter Building’s communication by bringing in some Realistic brand walkie-talkies and a crystal radio built from a kit. To complete the crime lab I put together a fingerprint kit: an ink pad, some typewriter paper, a makeup brush and some baby powder. The best feature, in my opinion at the time, was the burglar alarm. Purchased from Radio Shack, I adapted it to mount on the trapdoor so it would go off whenever the door was opened. I rigged up some fishing line to enable the alarm whenever I left the fort.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyyj2hIHhxhb9PJdeBubM0lKfBvTjDHwKUF7oyn_2xBtdRWSory9towABClsRm3FUUqM0TirgJ2IOG5t9-XjSYOf_t8FuypZlVhaYEagWNB6sSVl0CnvmeFx7apJAEI-xliBrwpcX5Z9o/s1600/BestFort.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyyj2hIHhxhb9PJdeBubM0lKfBvTjDHwKUF7oyn_2xBtdRWSory9towABClsRm3FUUqM0TirgJ2IOG5t9-XjSYOf_t8FuypZlVhaYEagWNB6sSVl0CnvmeFx7apJAEI-xliBrwpcX5Z9o/s1600/BestFort.png" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
I don’t remember how long I had the fort, probably only a couple months. I do remember more than once bringing friends to it where we’d share a tin of sardines on Saltine crackers, or maybe some peanut butter sandwiches. It was my middle-school creation of a super-hero team’s headquarters: crime lab, communications center, security system, secret passageways, and, if you count the tractors, even some vehicles. My team wasn’t so much of a team as a series of guest-stars, but it was still fun. Most importantly, it fulfilled my need for a headquarters, a base. It was a place of my own, my fortress of solitude, my cave, my domain over which I had control.<br />
<br />
Click here to <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-mentality-part-3.html">read the exciting conclusion</a><br />
<br />
Click<a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-mentality-part-1.html"> here to read Fort Mentality - Part 1</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-41311190330644337152015-03-13T22:44:00.000-07:002015-03-14T11:38:17.834-07:00Fort Mentality (Part 1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudS3w2h0F_Pu8PHmpRl9PM-jQIEL5UVGrLa8BVZvJ1BqZDkoLikbEyQdSvPIWMXaYPZXuS23SSNTDKhMtlrnxe6SndD1sSwpZkunCUNKCVmGXc_uTexPlkAoxIsUbX9wCoPILZRqI0z4/s1600/Superman187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudS3w2h0F_Pu8PHmpRl9PM-jQIEL5UVGrLa8BVZvJ1BqZDkoLikbEyQdSvPIWMXaYPZXuS23SSNTDKhMtlrnxe6SndD1sSwpZkunCUNKCVmGXc_uTexPlkAoxIsUbX9wCoPILZRqI0z4/s1600/Superman187.JPG" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
I recently read Jonathan Lethem’s “Fortress of Solitude,” a novel that combines autobiographical elements of his life with an exploration of the gentrification of the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn. Of course, the title refers to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, the only place where the hero could truly be himself. Lethem explores the time and place, 1970s Brooklyn, with such autistic intensity that I feel I know it as well as Superman’s Fortress, but it also reminded me of my own childhood goal to “build a fort.”<br />
<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B000FC27T0&asins=B000FC27T0&linkId=DFLRN5OYZLNOFV7G&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;"></iframe><br />
Perhaps kids have always built forts. Maybe for boys it was a way to play house without acknowledging it’s playing house. During World War II the fort was a bunker, a place to fight the Nazis and Japs. In the 50s, with a glut of Westerns on TV, the fort became a cavalry outpost or a cowboy hideout. As the US space program took off, kids imagined space stations and interstellar vessels. Any hidey-hole could become the conn of the Enterprise. The only requirement for a fort was a place that kids could call their own, protected from intruders.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKUhjMGwOEHmSgL4Cv096J0kV7jDEVUiG3PbheQjfHJ6XBVrsmSSTtTEvrwZoZS1a9FKPohp3qJpktJ6S942DY_tqLIkYkoEp0KCo1dH1_Y2KUhu9cZS9cw2Si6nFuDd16z2LB_JOmOI/s1600/DSC_0399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKUhjMGwOEHmSgL4Cv096J0kV7jDEVUiG3PbheQjfHJ6XBVrsmSSTtTEvrwZoZS1a9FKPohp3qJpktJ6S942DY_tqLIkYkoEp0KCo1dH1_Y2KUhu9cZS9cw2Si6nFuDd16z2LB_JOmOI/s1600/DSC_0399.JPG" height="184" width="320" /></a></div>
The silver age comics of the 60s had many templates for kids to use in play. Aside from Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, the other most famous secret hideout is the Batcave. I can’t count how many times I pored over four-color schematics of the Batman’s headquarters rendered in Ben-Day newsprint. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodhUb0VvWGIv1ea1W7qrV-m0pZEL05DosNVkEop1pThmcinjg2adem8zPzoKWTpxqkzoULg_7ZGwG-c5gniu6ChwofW_jr56wNmdMa06JaYu1gFsFsaIn77TfES1hHyTo8m7b8f80TNg/s1600/DSC_0387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodhUb0VvWGIv1ea1W7qrV-m0pZEL05DosNVkEop1pThmcinjg2adem8zPzoKWTpxqkzoULg_7ZGwG-c5gniu6ChwofW_jr56wNmdMa06JaYu1gFsFsaIn77TfES1hHyTo8m7b8f80TNg/s1600/DSC_0387.JPG" height="254" width="320" /></a></div>
The Batcave was a natural formation under Wayne Manor, but Batman collected all the essential ingredients to success: a crime lab, computers, an underground garage with Bat-vehicles, and a trophy room with memorabilia from past cases, including a giant penny and a T-Rex. But more importantly, the Batcave had secret passageways for entering, and security that included booby traps and alarms. No villains could enter without suffering harm and alerting the Batman.<br />
<br />
The first mention of the Batcave in comics was in a daily strip as early as 1943, so it’s no surprise that when the Fortress of Solitude was introduced in a 1958 story in Action Comics by Jerry Coleman and Wayne Boring it closely followed the Bat-template for a super sanctum. Carved into the polar ice, only Superman’s strength can heft the key used to gain entry. Primarily a place to retreat from the world and think, the Fortress of Solitude also eventually housed a lab for researching an antidote to Kryptonite, a place for recuperating after battles, and a collection of artifacts honoring Krypton, including the shrunken city of Kandor. Superman also keeps a manly diary, a book with steel plated pages which he writes on using his super-strength finger.<br />
<br />
At DC, aside from Superman and Batman, super-hero teams had the monopoly on secret headquarters. Before the Justice League of America moved to their geosynchronous satellite (orbiting at 22,300 miles above the Earth) their headquarters were in a secret cave near Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. The Challengers of the Unknown occupied Challenger Mountain, hidden deep in the Colorado Rockies. In the 30th century, the Legion of Super-Heroes had a clubhouse paid for by eccentric millionaire R.J. Brande.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKzcCaI98rfgFVQfaSGgn4RuAcb0M-aRnu2uQRa279Ka88OGtyFVw7p0XOnjCpsY4H6SNBumYPQzqNeCd0X4PoUztOkPxk09UPrYuhIaHnypCc3BUcskTeODZo4S4mVwT8O9kyuhM1vo/s1600/DSC_0391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKzcCaI98rfgFVQfaSGgn4RuAcb0M-aRnu2uQRa279Ka88OGtyFVw7p0XOnjCpsY4H6SNBumYPQzqNeCd0X4PoUztOkPxk09UPrYuhIaHnypCc3BUcskTeODZo4S4mVwT8O9kyuhM1vo/s1600/DSC_0391.JPG" height="316" width="320" /></a></div>
Similarly, the super-hero teams at Marvel comics staked out their own territory. The cut-away view of the Baxter Building from Fantastic Four Annual #3 shows “New York’s most famous skyscraper tower…headquarters of the most colorful super-hero combo the civilized world has ever known.” One-upping the Batcave, it has multiple labs, several hangars for vehicles including one for the Pogo Plane, and even a home theater labeled as a “projection room.” <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnvGu0wj8EAvSkGgiw3GCJR64GxJKwTfxF0sWVkxBLug_lI0VDnfVanLp1cf1ZxXuyWrXvhXLLq_YfU6LBLiRoIZ6Yllj8xZ-tJxTUyDyqVesO_hLc3aja1QDpcogkyNrDdzBhcNktWw/s1600/Baxter+Bldg.+B.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnvGu0wj8EAvSkGgiw3GCJR64GxJKwTfxF0sWVkxBLug_lI0VDnfVanLp1cf1ZxXuyWrXvhXLLq_YfU6LBLiRoIZ6Yllj8xZ-tJxTUyDyqVesO_hLc3aja1QDpcogkyNrDdzBhcNktWw/s1600/Baxter+Bldg.+B.JPG" height="400" width="268" /></a></div>
Less exciting, but no less plush is the Avengers Mansion, originally Tony Stark’s personal mansion but donated to the team as a place to crash, sometimes literally. Even the junior heroes get in on the action. Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is the public name for the X-Men’s home base. Although it has been shown in the movies, the most alluring part of their school was the Danger Room. Before it became sentient, it was described as "a huge unfurnished chamber which houses countless hidden perils!" This allowed for the artist of the month to draw pretty much whatever he wanted in terms of danger.<br />
<br />
Of all the heroes who had secret hideouts, it’s perhaps ironic that the youngest hero of the 60’s, Spider-Man, the one who most needed a place of his own, didn’t have one. This link, from the 70’s, emphasizes this need.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EGkJhcpeDaX_FODhnNOa9wu203q8S6vhngl4XKfmPL-mC9kMuycdpSv3fNgLm1TJ4Y3cXO3t8uTdR-zVRgXAEP9wyP3kXFCHQdIx77Wl_0awFsHBzFfb8q8VDq5qyKqC1tdpqcVtJvE/s1600/SpideyFort.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EGkJhcpeDaX_FODhnNOa9wu203q8S6vhngl4XKfmPL-mC9kMuycdpSv3fNgLm1TJ4Y3cXO3t8uTdR-zVRgXAEP9wyP3kXFCHQdIx77Wl_0awFsHBzFfb8q8VDq5qyKqC1tdpqcVtJvE/s1600/SpideyFort.JPG" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<br />
But there was one for fort me that was the best... (<a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/03/fort-mentality-part-2.html">continued on next page following</a>)<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-45725011735608946202015-03-08T17:39:00.002-07:002015-03-08T17:42:48.671-07:00When the X-Men Met Frankenstein<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AB7Yn9hmIQY/VPufrFvvV0I/AAAAAAAASDM/xt6BfS1HcZY/w421-h642-no/DSC_0374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AB7Yn9hmIQY/VPufrFvvV0I/AAAAAAAASDM/xt6BfS1HcZY/w421-h642-no/DSC_0374.JPG" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
X-Men #40 (1968) has perhaps one of the best examples of an intergalactic facepalm.<br />
<br />
The X-Men meet Frankenstein's monster, which turns out not to be a living monster, but an android built by an alien race on a wandering planetoid 150 years prior.<br />
<br />
These ancient astronauts figured that a grotesque monster would be the perfect way to test the humans of Earth. "If <b>he</b> is received with understanding by them -- we will then establish <b>personal contact</b>."<br />
<br />
Of course, what really happened is that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#Lake_Geneva_and_Frankenstein" target="_blank">Mary Shelley</a> spotted this android near Lac Leman in Geneva Switzerland, wrote her story, and inspired a dozen <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(film)" target="_blank">Universal movies</a>, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_and_Costello_Meet_Frankenstein" target="_blank">Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein</a>. Does that count as understanding? I'd have to say it's a resounding "Yes!" so where are those tropical aliens? We'll come back to that in a moment.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bz--bt7z_w0/VPufKjeExhI/AAAAAAAASDs/k2JAHpt-SLU/w659-h642-no/DSC_0372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bz--bt7z_w0/VPufKjeExhI/AAAAAAAASDs/k2JAHpt-SLU/w659-h642-no/DSC_0372.JPG" height="311" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
For some reason Frankenstein's monster was popular in the early 60's, possibly because he represented a tragic hero to the counter-culture. Hammer Films revived the monster (sans neck bolts) in a series of films starting in 1957, spawning an interest in Gothic horror. On a lighter note, both <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057729/" target="_blank">The Addams Family</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057773" target="_blank">The Munsters</a> appeared on TV in 1964. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEL9uJjuuA_Mx-GCgze3N1y2eCr0jVeP9E34Jw5qLuOgTwCFA6sW7kiy6DlyU-3j8lPMYnMiZu0bMvMloSV2Ws1rz35BLktAuqqCDsbDVUddceYJ8q6cg8MPRw9SBaL60c_OsGyw6VAUA/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEL9uJjuuA_Mx-GCgze3N1y2eCr0jVeP9E34Jw5qLuOgTwCFA6sW7kiy6DlyU-3j8lPMYnMiZu0bMvMloSV2Ws1rz35BLktAuqqCDsbDVUddceYJ8q6cg8MPRw9SBaL60c_OsGyw6VAUA/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></div>
Frankenstein's monster was also appearing in other comics. DC had Frankenstein's monster appear in Superman No. 143 (February 1961), in a story entitled "Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!" When I was a kid, DC's later<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-Hip" target="_blank"> Bob Hope comics with Super-Hip </a>were totally confusing. These comics mashed together movie monsters, super-heroes, and Bob Hope in a near stream-of-consciousness plot that didn't always make sense, but looked like fun.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It is surprising that both DC and Marvel got away with presenting Frankenstein's monster with the green skin, flat head and neck bolts. Although Mary Shelley's version was written in 1810, long enough to be out of any copyright, the description in the book is not the same as in the movie. Universal's representation of Frankenstein's monster is unique enough that they have tried to enforce their rights to the look of their movie monster. That's one reason why the monster has a different look in the Hammer films.<br />
<br />
According to a <a href="https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/10/24/how-universal-re-copyrighted-frankensteins-monster/" target="_blank">recent report from a book publisher</a>, Universal is clamping down on any monster that has all of the following elements:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Green Skin</li>
<li>Flat Top Head</li>
<li>Scar on Forehead</li>
<li>Bolts on the Neck</li>
<li>Protruding Forehead</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ebBAq00DLao/VPufZcROkJI/AAAAAAAASDc/pyQjuguXHhQ/w756-h642-no/DSC_0373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ebBAq00DLao/VPufZcROkJI/AAAAAAAASDc/pyQjuguXHhQ/w756-h642-no/DSC_0373.JPG" height="270" width="320" /></a></div>
So, did Earth receive Frankenstein's monster with understanding? Did the mutant X-Men succeed in representing the human race. Short answer: the X-Men meet the monster, battle it out, and obliterate him. Only at the conclusion does Professor X unearth the secret. As Cyke bemoans at one point "If only we could somehow have <b>reasoned</b> with him...". Sorry Earth, but Mary Shelley did a better job.<br />
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-84652981954184073442015-01-17T14:18:00.002-08:002015-01-17T14:18:56.476-08:00The Magic of Cartoons<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B000T4G3JO&asins=B000T4G3JO&linkId=ZRAEJ4UUEHUXZG2D&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>
Others have written oodles on how comics work and the mechanics of the comic book medium. Scott McCloud, for example, has several books examining how layout, composition and the space between the panels affect what works, what has been tried, and how to use the "rules" of comics. I'm not going to attempt to add or refute any of that. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Considering the <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2015/01/we-are-all-charlie.html" target="_blank">recent attacks in Paris at the offices of Charlie Hebdo</a>, however, one has to ask how is it that cartoons can have such an impact? What is it about a cartoon that causes someone to hate so much they end up killing? I can barely comprehend it, but I understand the power of cartoons to focus ideas and emotions. Look at any comic book convention to see how comics and cartoons gather people together to flock among their tribes. For example, I offer my own personal anecdote on how cartoons can bring us together.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
One Christmas, years ago, I received a copy of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=Ten%20Ever-Lovin%27%20BLue-Eyed%20Years%20with%20Pogo&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ATen%20Ever-Lovin%27%20BLue-Eyed%20Years%20with%20Pogo&tag=moss0e7-20&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&linkId=CH6C4LILERYMPA4M" target="_blank">Ten Ever-Lovin' BLue-Eyed Years with Pogo</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />" by Walt Kelly. As a kid, I thought this was the best book ever. "Pogo" which started in newspapers in 1949, relates the antics of Pogo Possum and his friends who live in the Okefenokee Swamp. Characters include Albert Alligator, a turtle named Churchy La Femme, and the self-declared wise Howland Owl. The daily strips have a goofy mix of foreground earnestness often undercut by minor or unnamed swampland folk. Kelly used multi-week story arcs punctuated by daily humor, a storytelling formula which kept readers hooked for years. And best of all, the strip had an edge which made it unpredictable. Often the edge consisted of skewering national political figures, but other times it was a chance to comment on national fads or opinions such as atomic energy, the Communist witch hunts, and even when Armistice Day was renamed to Veteran's Day.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
One particular daily sticks with me, so much that I often quote it. Here it is:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAbFUvFcfP__Cli_4XaK9aFW8zMFMppcRpOH8ioCtqVFFZbUvXwYAkBH03qg2Ks4jVTNcKXp8zCoWV0hXCW2Yynzx1UkGyfl0KPs6u7TSg_sSJMy4W8MBoBKXVRqsnmAjSokInBW-1Sw/s1600/Scan.BMP-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAbFUvFcfP__Cli_4XaK9aFW8zMFMppcRpOH8ioCtqVFFZbUvXwYAkBH03qg2Ks4jVTNcKXp8zCoWV0hXCW2Yynzx1UkGyfl0KPs6u7TSg_sSJMy4W8MBoBKXVRqsnmAjSokInBW-1Sw/s1600/Scan.BMP-002.jpg" height="190" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I find so many great things in this strip. The line art is amazing - cartoony without slop. So many curved lines: in the characters, the speech balloons, the desk, even down to the panels, it all feels organic. Yet, the lines are spare, not a lot of hatching, no cross-hatching, no grays. The art was designed for appearing on newsprint in a poorly printed daily. The images have been distilled to the most essential, distinctive elements. For example, see how Pogo at the typewriter in the background of the first panel is clearly identifiable. Despite the swamp setting, this is some kind of office. Meanwhile, in the foreground Churchy and Owl carry the action, and the black field of grass makes the foreground pop even more.<br />
<br />
The dialogue is also engaging. Owl's first balloon: "A cat! Phoo! You calls that news? Everybody must of seed a cat sometime." It's not at all grammatically correct, but it captures a distinctive voice. How does he pronounce "Phoo"? Is is "poo" or more like "foo"? Perhaps Kelly himself doesn't know the answer, but the reader's internal voice knows what someone like Owl would say when his reporter has a cat story, and it is "Phoo!"<br />
<br />
Of course Churchy has something more than a cat story, but there's a fact-checking problem. Churchy explains, and then challenges. Owl, the self-proclaimed brains of Okefenokee, doesn't want to admit his ignorance, and after a perfectly timed awkward pause decides to run the cat story. Is Kelly commenting on the superficiality of the news, deciding to go with the easy story rather than pushing the comfort zone? Or is it just a funny animal story? "Can you spell armadillo, chief?"<br />
<br />
The best part of this strip is that there's something funny in every panel, and some panels have multiple funny bits. In panel one I find the following funny: Owl's dialogue, the sign that says "Noose Desk" (news desk), the "Gloo + Ink" pot, Churchy's snappy reporter outfit, and the fact that I can read the entire news items on the page ("my pa saw a cat las yr"). The humor is strong through final panel: we have not only the punch line and the frog child in the wastebasket, but check out Churchy's expression - he considers it "another job well done". I can't tell from Pogo's expression whether he's going to question the story or not. He looks like he'd going to question it, but knowing Pogo's a pretty easy-going 'possum so he might accept it at face value.<br />
<br />
Now, when I'm in a situation where people are avoiding the central topic because it's a hard question, I think "My daddy saw a cat last year."<br />
<br />
The magic of a cartoon is that it is an effective method of communication. It uses at least two modes -- graphics and text -- to share an idea between the author and the reader. As a reader, my brain can't not read the words, but the images support the story, filling in any information not contained in the dialogue. Together they are a one-two punch straight to the brain.<br />
<br />
Effective cartoons use images and text in a complementary way, but also distill them to the essence. <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2014/11/cartooning-philospohy-and-practice-by.html" target="_blank">Ivan Brunetti's "Cartooning"</a> spends pages discussing how to refine drawings until every line is absolutely necessary. Before cartooning, Walt Kelly worked as both a journalist and as an animator and storyboard artist for Disney. Journalists have to learn how to write concise stories that still convey all the information. At Disney, studios artists had plenty of practice drawing but also learned how to capture the personality of a character in the sketch. This comic strip is not an owl, a turtle and a possum. It is a set of lines on paper, but through his artistry Kelly has given them life and set them in a milieu that exists for us, the readers.<br />
<br />
Years later my own son was looking for something entertaining to read and I gave him my copy of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=Ten%20Ever-Lovin%27%20BLue-Eyed%20Years%20with%20Pogo&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ATen%20Ever-Lovin%27%20BLue-Eyed%20Years%20with%20Pogo&tag=moss0e7-20&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&linkId=CH6C4LILERYMPA4M" target="_blank">Ten Ever-Lovin' BLue-Eyed Years with Pogo</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />." He loved it as much as I did, reading it multiple times. One day we read the cat strip together and we both laughed. But then something interesting happened.<br />
<br />
Much later, we were having a family discussion and we came to some hard topic. I said, "My daddy saw a cat last year." My wife, who may or may not have read Pogo, was baffled. But my son understood the reference immediately, and the humor from the strip spilled into the discussion and gave us some perspective. This is also the magic of comics: The one-two punch stays in the brain, and even when only part of the work is referred to, the rest comes along for the ride.<br />
<br />
So, from the genius of Walt Kelly, I not only receive his vision, but get to share it with others, and in sharing it becomes a common point of reference in our lives. Much like Brady Bunch was to a generation of kids, or like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=caddyshack&linkCode=ur2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acaddyshack&tag=moss0e7-20&url=search-alias%3Daps&linkId=HZVOKOBNVYV4TFEL" target="_blank">Caddyshack</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> is with my college pals, or The Simpsons, Star Trek, and Wonder Woman are to millions of fans.<br />
<br />
The advantage of cartoons, however, is that cartoonists are the original auteurs. In the 1960's the French New Wave film school said that<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary 'auteur' (the French word for 'author'). In spite of—and sometimes even because of—the production of the film as part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through studio interference and the collective process." </i></blockquote>
In comics, the production process is small enough that one or two or a few creators can work together to ensure the artist vision.<br />
<br />
So, this is the magic of cartoons: a cartoonist can create a world using only a few pen strokes and this world is transmitted directly into our brains using both language and imagery. It's a direct feed to the brain, and that's why it inspires both so much love and hate. Cartoons are a medium, and used effectively that medium can bring people together, or divide them; cause them to question the establishment, follow a religion, or brush their teeth. It's a powerful magic. Remember that next time someone says they saw a cat last year.<br />
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-50449412657978688642015-01-07T12:26:00.001-08:002015-01-17T14:22:48.538-08:00We are all Charlie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEeRmuMvxDh7sZRaj9HxNcIl6JySzSt17SAPezA7vUiFvBRdYP1RXLpIEC0lGvwm_0pBtFtGYseg1dDieqzs6D4_UvwlBv55JyKzpxihPzhtsd4Tnm5qYUol8KvNEpnuW5Klq1uOqNBs/s1600/charia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEeRmuMvxDh7sZRaj9HxNcIl6JySzSt17SAPezA7vUiFvBRdYP1RXLpIEC0lGvwm_0pBtFtGYseg1dDieqzs6D4_UvwlBv55JyKzpxihPzhtsd4Tnm5qYUol8KvNEpnuW5Klq1uOqNBs/s1600/charia.jpg" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/07/375561888/10-dead-after-shootout-at-satirical-magazines-office-in-paris" target="_blank">attack</a> on Charlie Hebdo is a coward's act.<br />
<br />
Using guns and violence to silence voices who are seeking to explore and enlighten the world is the result of someone who fears their own reality.
The result of someone who can't reconcile their thoughts with the world around them.
Unfortunately, people use religion and weapons as a way to justify their actions.<br />
<br />
As <a href="http://www.englishpen.org/campaigns/salman-rushdie-condemns-attack-on-charlie-hebdo/" target="_blank">Salman Rushdie writes</a>,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. ‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.”</blockquote>
The <a href="http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/paris-shooting-charlie-hebdo/?_r=0" target="_blank">details of the attack are unclear</a>. This is known: three masked gunmen attacked the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine similar to early Mad magazine or the National Lampoon.
The result, twelve people dead, many more in mourning.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.charliehebdo.fr/index.html" target="_blank">magazine's site</a> now has a black page that says "Je Suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie").
If you click on the link for the pdf, you will see the same phrase in Arabic, German, Spanish, and other languages.<br />
<br />
I recently <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2014/11/french-comic-magazines-ninth-art.html" target="_blank">wrote a blog post </a>about the evolution of comics in France. Despite its age, Charlie Hebdo is still admittedly edgy A 2011 issue was renamed "Charia Hebdo," guest-edited by Mohammed. So, I was surprised to hear it mentioned on the morning radio news. Then saddened. Then devastated.<br />
<br />
We are all Charlie. Art makes a difference. Look at the world for enlightenment.
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-79507652768696572042014-11-30T22:24:00.000-08:002014-11-30T22:24:08.951-08:00"Blacksad" by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=159582393X&asins=159582393X&linkId=XJ27VZQVUTOGKNQF&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>Blacksad is a volume of three graphic novelettes written by Juan Diaz Canales and drawn by Juanjo Guarnido centered around the character of John Blacksad, a tough detective who lives in a tough town.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSsZejo4MSOD9LY7M6BK1WHVkKRuDLERpLWidIFL-xNcj6w-DOkPh2kiDHJ8I12c4E0i5stJX36yCgDh7qJBB7e6I50O3rzj0XcTgurktvzsciaDhJrq4OV8KfGWeAf6bU2GGfN7H_ZqY/s1600/noir-comics-blacksad-via-paul-charles-smith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSsZejo4MSOD9LY7M6BK1WHVkKRuDLERpLWidIFL-xNcj6w-DOkPh2kiDHJ8I12c4E0i5stJX36yCgDh7qJBB7e6I50O3rzj0XcTgurktvzsciaDhJrq4OV8KfGWeAf6bU2GGfN7H_ZqY/s1600/noir-comics-blacksad-via-paul-charles-smith.jpg" height="123" width="200" /></a>The first story, "Somewhere Within the Shadows," centers around the death of an actress with whom Blacksad was once romantically involved. "Arctic Nation," the second story, is more forced but manages to work in the fact that the characters are animals a lot better. It deals with a small town where white power animals, such as weasels, polar bears, foxes and goats, are clashing with black activists such as crows, horses, and bulls. The black vs white conflict also involves the local sheriff, a missing girl, and incestuous relationships. Of all the stories, this feels the most like a Dashiel Hammet story. The final story "Red Soul" is set in the mid to late 50's, and concerns atomic research, communist bashing, and a small circle of poets, artists and intellectuals. A rooster named Senator Gallo does a good job impersonating Sen. McCarthy. I also enjoyed the characterization of the ferret reporter.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8voQIUj7_vJFN-hK9XWNAlPQCeoU1O2b4NEL-_n98WW5V5nYe18F-HM-IEZjRk_xRGTaYb0Pthr8KPzBcP5GiQoU5L02ix5mDazF4aUniYv5ZO5FRb9E7hw855RLER2iRjzyVN6k-6Qk/s1600/blacksad_pagina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8voQIUj7_vJFN-hK9XWNAlPQCeoU1O2b4NEL-_n98WW5V5nYe18F-HM-IEZjRk_xRGTaYb0Pthr8KPzBcP5GiQoU5L02ix5mDazF4aUniYv5ZO5FRb9E7hw855RLER2iRjzyVN6k-6Qk/s1600/blacksad_pagina.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Canales seems to have a lot of fun matching the characterization with the appropriate animals. Guarnido's art is lushly watercolored with amazing detail, yet the characters don't get lost in the composition. The stories seem, to me, obviously a European, although I couldn't put a finger on why. <br />
<br />
Just the art itself is worth buying the book, but like Dashiell Hammett, the way the character and plot is woven together makes it worth reading and re-reading the stories.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-78849608500874171762014-11-30T13:13:00.001-08:002014-11-30T20:48:14.649-08:00"Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice" by Ivan Brunetti<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0300170998&asins=0300170998&linkId=XCY4HUD4W4HITAFS&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>In the 1970s I got a copy of Marvel's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671530771/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0671530771&linkCode=as2&tag=moss0e7-20&linkId=6UK5ZSLTWDB62AE2">How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0671530771" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> which I was sure would turn me into a superstar artist and get me a place on the next issue of the Punisher. From that book I learned some ideas - three point perspective, using "heads" to measure height, good composition and action poses, but somehow the book didn't inspire me to draw. My results didn't look like John Buscema's or Jack Kirby's artwork (surprise!) and I gave it up. <br />
<br />
Flash forward thirty-plus years to when I found Ivan Brunetti's "Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice." Brian Michael Bendis was at Stumptown Comics Fest <a href="http://comicsbin.blogspot.com/2011/08/cinematic-approach-to-comics.html" target="_blank">talking about teaching comics</a> and mentioned "Cartooning." He emphasized the "Philosophy" portion of the title. Brunetti believes that images should tell the story, adding dialogue only when it naturally evolves within the story line. Intrigued, I had to get a copy.<br />
<br />
This is not a beginner's art book or a "how to draw" book. It's specifically for people who want to cartoon -- those who want to distill a story to the simplest necessary artwork, yet still convey the artist's message. The book is based on Brunetti's 15-week class on cartooning.<br />
<br />
If Jack Kirby is the Wagner of the comics world, Brunetti is more like Philip Glass. His images are distilled to only the most necessary lines, leaving lots of white space to for emphasis. Achieving similar results is deceptively difficult. Exercise 1.1 in the book is to draw a car in 3 minutes. Then draw it again in 1 minute, then 30 seconds, then 15, then 5 seconds. This exercise helps you understand what is essential to the "car-ness" of the drawing. The second chapter explores doing a similar exercise for a story. He presents his version of "Catcher in the Rye" in a single panel.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuH6Nl5XhSp13dhccrcwWGrBjHZk1zLW2UDUSjda0fCgLmlzMxsK9KE8eDLRSjCwlXB6ZdyH3p-O22e96YZuVtHdIhXrAWunzMAjRnb5cd8Ki-o-qAhy0KDeso2505ksCqgFrUm83efxA/s1600/Scan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuH6Nl5XhSp13dhccrcwWGrBjHZk1zLW2UDUSjda0fCgLmlzMxsK9KE8eDLRSjCwlXB6ZdyH3p-O22e96YZuVtHdIhXrAWunzMAjRnb5cd8Ki-o-qAhy0KDeso2505ksCqgFrUm83efxA/s1600/Scan.jpg" height="640" width="492" /></a></div>
<br />
The lessons cover spontaneous drawing, single-panel cartoons, four-panel strips, pages, grid layout, and more. He includes tips on his tools, and talks about cartooning on computers versus paper.<br />
<br />
Even for people who don't aspire to be artists, it is enlightening to do the exercises proposed in the book. Brunetti covers most of the questions that artists have to answer when putting together a visual story, and provides a vocabulary for discussing the problems. Trying the exercises will give the reader a better understanding of the problem space. Even without doing the work, "Cartooning" can be read cover-to-cover (70 pages) or used as a reference or inspiration. It's worth owning.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-2801403250237253212014-11-30T12:30:00.002-08:002014-11-30T12:30:56.239-08:00"Lazarus" by Greg Rucka<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1607068095&asins=1607068095&linkId=NFXDYLGGM2CFAYLO&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe> "Lazarus" volume one begins with a plot like a roller-coaster chased by a tidal wave. Set in the nearish future, drought and famine has left the US collapsed into feudal clans, with the rest of humanity considered waste. Among the top soldiers of the clans are the bio-engineered assassins. The Father of Clan Carlyle is trying to hold his kingdom together while manipulating the Lazarus named Forever ("Eve") and the rest of the family into doing his bidding.<br />
<br />
I bought a signed copy from Rucka and the inscription says "Hope you enjoy the world." I have to confess, it's an interesting place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. The family members are ruthless opportunists, and for the most part the landscape presents as desolate plains. In retrospect, it's like the TV show Dallas, except food is the new oil.<br />
<br />
Like a roller-coaster, I'm looking forward to volume two, and the next terrifying ride.<br />
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-86426386328265035652014-11-02T22:35:00.000-08:002014-11-02T22:35:40.651-08:00French Comic Magazines - The Ninth Art<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B004S7F1TQ&asins=B004S7F1TQ&linkId=4WK7QDFSFG6Q7CIJ&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe> For as long as I can remember, people always told me that comic books in France were more respected, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1985-03-07/news/mn-34459_1_comic-books" target="_blank">read by grown men on the Metro on their way to work</a>. When I finally visited France for the first time in the 1970s I found out this wasn't entirely true. In fact, comics in France cannot be compared to the floppies published by Marvel, DC and Dark Horse in the US. One reason is that the form of the "comic" is different.<br />
<br />
From early in the 20th century, European floppies were published weekly or monthly, but contained only a couple pages of any particular story. The publishers found a couple benefits in this: they could have a wide variety of stories in each magazine, readers would buy their favorite stories and discover other characters, and the artist could be paid a little at a time. When the story finally ended, it was often published in a hard-bound album. For example, Herge's Tintin stories were originally published in Le Petite Vingtieme, and then were later bound in the volumes readers in the US are familiar with.<br />
<br />
Since the mid 1980s US publishers have begun to embrace the square bound compilation we call a "graphic novel," or trade paperbacks (TPBs). Now, it's so ubiquitous that for the past 15 or 20 years Marvel and DC have regularly republished story arcs from monthly titles as compiled TPBs.<br />
<br />
Aside from the form of comics, what about the content? Are comic stories and creators more respected in Europe?<br />
<br />
In France and Belgium comics are referred to as BDs (<i>bay-days</i>), an abbreviation of phrase <i>bandes dessinées</i> which translates from the original description of the art form as "drawn strips". Since the 1960s comics in Europe have been recognized as "<a href="http://www.francetoday.com/articles/2011/06/07/the_ninth_art.html" target="_blank">the ninth art</a>." This phrase comes from a series of articles by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_(comics)" target="_blank">Morris</a>' (Maurice De Bevere) about the history of comics, which appeared in Spirou magazine from 1964 to 1967.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrqQkWaoZjViEF57o0jvuKvMn69NOfhrTb8t8kwY1MzBMm-kgtBAGH4_a7URdCydIEBrtWjFmZlLY8086-Wyvz8Hrmhx7280MmtinLfPQh5nCtGaOBM4oiavRfRppmzcG9q6hyphenhyphen96V4l0/s1600/Couv_116073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrqQkWaoZjViEF57o0jvuKvMn69NOfhrTb8t8kwY1MzBMm-kgtBAGH4_a7URdCydIEBrtWjFmZlLY8086-Wyvz8Hrmhx7280MmtinLfPQh5nCtGaOBM4oiavRfRppmzcG9q6hyphenhyphen96V4l0/s1600/Couv_116073.jpg" height="200" width="153" /></a></div>
For years comics were primarily for kids. For example, one of the earliest French comic magazines, <b>Le Petit Vingtieme</b> published before WWII, had the original appearance of Tintin. Other popular comics were (and are) <b>The Journal Mickey</b> and <b>Donald Magazine</b>, which published many of the same Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck stories as <b>Walt Disney Comics and Stories</b>. These comics may have been read by adults, and in later years the stories were more sophisticated and often by artists not found in the US, such as Floyd Gottfriedson, Don Rosa, but they were still primarily marketed toward kids. Other popular magazines for kids were Spirou, Tintin Magazine, and Pilote.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jdUCPtZUCSPVzXnL6_2Kk9aQpPeFAsaSk2LLci4-9lEi-kFRwziM9_ba7qS-c5mauypgBQol52mTmpwSEY1uWqhxrK0AjSlwWS7tnjZ60zxb2tqpVTSGEioOgbiFQf8EUR7wwGuoH_4/s1600/Revue_2276.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jdUCPtZUCSPVzXnL6_2Kk9aQpPeFAsaSk2LLci4-9lEi-kFRwziM9_ba7qS-c5mauypgBQol52mTmpwSEY1uWqhxrK0AjSlwWS7tnjZ60zxb2tqpVTSGEioOgbiFQf8EUR7wwGuoH_4/s1600/Revue_2276.jpg" height="200" width="138" /></a></div>
Spirou magazine (<a href="http://www.spirou.com/journal/" target="_blank">Le Journal de Spirou</a>) is still published, a weekly Franco-Belgian comics magazine. Starting out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirou_(magazine)" target="_blank">in 1938</a>, it was an eight-page weekly magazine with a mixture of short stories, gags, serial comics, and some American reprints. Some of the more notable characters that ran in Spirou were Lucky Luke by Morris, the Smurfs by Peyo, Gil Jourdan by Maurice Tillieux, and Gaston Lagaffe by Andre Franquin. These artists were often stylistically grouped as the Marcinelle School - a counterpoint to the ligne claire of the artists who appeared in Tintin magazine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioh8_Y5So3Ts2GVI_GoBME_vjNkMT1MgxblbWLvonaH-gRwH034GbbMEfQPlOPQQ2MFt5fmvogBbgNr_3lV5Ph3ld06JMBecRh0UUUzilBBpBoVitg26hLevK-1CNiudFgZB212BIKRUo/s1600/Tintin_magazine001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioh8_Y5So3Ts2GVI_GoBME_vjNkMT1MgxblbWLvonaH-gRwH034GbbMEfQPlOPQQ2MFt5fmvogBbgNr_3lV5Ph3ld06JMBecRh0UUUzilBBpBoVitg26hLevK-1CNiudFgZB212BIKRUo/s1600/Tintin_magazine001.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a></div>
Tintin Magazine (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_(magazine)" target="_blank">Le Journal de Tintin</a>) was published weekly from 1946 until 1993. In addition to publishing some Tintin stories, some artists and characters that might stand out were Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese, Will Eisner's The Spirit. Also, Willy Vandersteen's Bob et Bobette was a long-running popular comic.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilote" target="_blank">Pilote</a> was published in France from 1959 to 1989. While it was a magazine for kids, many of the artists who had work in the magazine went on to become major talents drawing stories for adults and beyond. Most of the major French or Belgian talents of the magazine introduced major series in Pilote. The examples are astounding: Astérix, Barbe-Rouge, Blueberry, Achille Talon, and Valérian et Laureline. Major writers like René Goscinny, Jean-Michel Charlier, Greg, and Jacques Lob, and artists such as Jijé, Morris, Albert Uderzo, Jean (Mœbius) Giraud, Enki Bilal, Jean-Claude Mézières, Jacques Tardi, Philippe Druillet, and Marcel Gotlib published in Pilote.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4SswpS-Ybu-Top0Z8eZn0EcMdTvrCtxwoVBsVI3Fqa18rOzLI6lyDiYWXSs4PKFXexrXa_DTExfwLMm__tLzZetWW8e43T2KNFFLoAcpTt_EFETsuEUpU7a5bSbEBQj1FzzYCgq6peYw/s1600/RecueilPiloteAlbumDuJournal17_11052006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4SswpS-Ybu-Top0Z8eZn0EcMdTvrCtxwoVBsVI3Fqa18rOzLI6lyDiYWXSs4PKFXexrXa_DTExfwLMm__tLzZetWW8e43T2KNFFLoAcpTt_EFETsuEUpU7a5bSbEBQj1FzzYCgq6peYw/s1600/RecueilPiloteAlbumDuJournal17_11052006.jpg" height="200" width="145" /></a></div>
In a way, Pilote was an incubator for the more mature European comics that began to appear in the 1960s. Pilote also published several international talents such as Hugo Pratt, Frank Bellamy and Robert Crumb. Some of the characters seen in Pilote were Asterix (1959–1973), Lucky Luke (1967–1973), Iznogoud (1968–1977), Petit Nicolas (1959–1965), Blueberry (1963–1973), Lucky Luke (1967–1973) and Lone Sloane (1970–1974). You can find an <a href="http://bdoubliees.com/journalpilote/" target="_blank">index of Pilote issues here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So, where is the cultural legitimacy? <br />
<br />
Perhaps it started with the left-leaning satire magazine <a href="http://www.charliehebdo.fr/" target="_blank">Charlie Hebdo</a> (1969-present) and its precursor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hara-Kiri_(magazine)" target="_blank">Hara-Kiri</a> (1960-1970). These were satirical magazines similar to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Kurtzman#Help.21_and_Little_Annie_Fanny_.281960.E2.80.9365.29" target="_blank">Harvey Kurtzman's magazines</a> Trump, Humbug or Help! The magazine ran under the title Hara-Kiri, but it was banned after they ran a cover joke about French president Charles de Gaulle's recent death. To side-step the ban the publisher renamed the magazine to Charlie Hebdo - an inside joke referring to a magazine that ran Charlie Brown comics called Charlie Mensuel (Charlie Monthly), and also to Charles De Gaulle's death. Charlie Hebdo<a href="http://www.charliehebdo.fr/news/hors-serie-famille-1233.html" target="_blank"> is still published</a>, and apparently it's still edgy - a 2011 issue was renamed "<a href="http://www.charliehebdo.fr/news/blaspheme-tekbali-807.html" target="_blank">Charia Hebdo</a>," guest-edited by Mohammed. <br />
<br />
After 1970, the market for mature, envelope-pushing, and bizarre comics seemed to explode with publications such as L'Echo des Savanes, Metal Hurlant, À Suivre, and Fluide Glacial.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2mRaTuO8qdkJhqJfzXOsuqIG2JZNkM2lB1qMdql2fw0oo1dabd5-aGjyFZa5l65S2GsY1VTN0au9pLGUKlmlWA8T5ac8e5h_jf1gavEvPh7_wuKjeawRxbQOjAo1bwTK5taeGU99RYM/s1600/Revue_11200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2mRaTuO8qdkJhqJfzXOsuqIG2JZNkM2lB1qMdql2fw0oo1dabd5-aGjyFZa5l65S2GsY1VTN0au9pLGUKlmlWA8T5ac8e5h_jf1gavEvPh7_wuKjeawRxbQOjAo1bwTK5taeGU99RYM/s1600/Revue_11200.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a></div>
<b>L'Echo des Savanes (1972 - 2005)</b><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27%C3%89cho_des_savanes" target="_blank">L’Écho des Savanes</a> featured the work of French and international authors and graphic artists in mature-oriented comics over the course of 34 years, temporarily ended publication in 2006 and relaunching in 2008.<br />
<br />
In the early 70's notable artists were Alexis, Harvey Kurtzman, Jean Solé, and Moebius. From 1975 to 1976 the magazine published work by Neal Adams, Richard Corben, Robert Crumb, Dick Giordano, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jeff Jones, Gérard Lauzier, Jacques Lob, Georges Pichard, Jacques Tardi, Martin Veyron, Wallace Wood and Berni Wrightson. The late 70s and early 80's saw stories from Jean Michel Charlier, Guido Crepax, Jean-Claude Forest, Carlos Giménez, Tanino Liberatore and Art Spiegelman. Later issues had work by Baru, Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Frank Miller, Jean-Marc Reiser, Alex Toth, Jano and Alex Varenne. In addition to "adult" comic strips, issues contained articles featuring photographs of semi-naked women. Here is a link to <a href="http://bdoubliees.com/index.html" target="_blank">an index of the issues</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYm1ygv5yPVUiyq0iHdc9W9NL92ev9DGm4G8qBhzIB3OzKqvb5pt4QhnCDa80RnzPn-pf6k_yWCsus0IB1G_rMm_Um7Z9emkaGhJMXoBAMHv85eCz7RLwLLhI_5O9nFpVjPSbNtbGTEI/s1600/Couv_181679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYm1ygv5yPVUiyq0iHdc9W9NL92ev9DGm4G8qBhzIB3OzKqvb5pt4QhnCDa80RnzPn-pf6k_yWCsus0IB1G_rMm_Um7Z9emkaGhJMXoBAMHv85eCz7RLwLLhI_5O9nFpVjPSbNtbGTEI/s1600/Couv_181679.jpg" height="200" width="154" /></a></div>
<b>Metal Hurlant (1975 - 1987; 2002-2006)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.bedetheque.com/BD-Recueil-Metal-Hurlant-Tome-15-Recueil-Metal-Hurlant-n71-a-76-181679.html" target="_blank">Métal Hurlant</a> ("Howling Metal") was an anthology of science fiction and horror comics stories, created in 1974 by Jean Giraud (better known as Mœbius), Philippe Druillet, journalist-writer Jean-Pierre Dionnet and financial director Bernard Farkas. These four were collectively known as "<a href="http://www.humanoids.com/" target="_blank">Les Humanoïdes Associés</a>" (United Humanoids), which became the name of the publishing house releasing Métal hurlant. The magazine is perhaps best known in the US as "<a href="http://www.heavymetal.com/" target="_blank">Heavy Metal</a>", and inspired the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K7X03FC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00K7X03FC&linkCode=as2&tag=moss0e7-20&linkId=CU2KVJ6EE67ESJJV">movie by the same name</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00K7X03FC" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. Many of the artists who published in L'Echo des Savanes can also be found in Metal Hurlant. Here is a link to <a href="http://bdoubliees.com/metalhurlant/index.html" target="_blank">an index of back issues of Metal Hurlant</a>. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmfUxX3vRxSqjFqx1ASvt1DY_Ahqu-4iXQnv8g91PuZXaLE_zwgnwvJSBYVSu2C7CMz-M1hEWhf9SqU-oaYnh3_w_zdSrNYNXgyNvZCdgBM-DBKUTZ1GbEjEmHzZsCDFOlRH3G_V06rI/s1600/Revue_982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmfUxX3vRxSqjFqx1ASvt1DY_Ahqu-4iXQnv8g91PuZXaLE_zwgnwvJSBYVSu2C7CMz-M1hEWhf9SqU-oaYnh3_w_zdSrNYNXgyNvZCdgBM-DBKUTZ1GbEjEmHzZsCDFOlRH3G_V06rI/s1600/Revue_982.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<b>(a suivre)... (1977 - 1997)</b><br />
"<a href="http://www.bedetheque.com/revue-A-SUIVRE.html" target="_blank">À Suivre</a>" ("To Be Continued") is considered to have been one of the major vehicles for the development of Franco-Belgian comics during the 20th century. It published major European comic book artists including Hugo Pratt, Jean-Claude Forest, Alexandro Jodorowsky, Milo Manara, Jean (Mœbius) Giraud, Jacques Tardi, François Bourgeon, F'Murr, Ted Benoît, Guido Crepax, Vittorio Giardino, François Schuiten, Benoît Sokal and François Boucq. Here's a link to <a href="http://bdoubliees.com/asuivre/index.html" target="_blank">the index of past issues</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJ7vUXv-P3g9BwPz2-fUX7mApLQkewHk4n4b7Uy-EiyvPgaynJWm4AuAXTYNEbqLUYsY9VJvU7epvoG6-8t8guo0-etriiFLZ4Otp4VvkbHjRrBUkF8mTdXGm0DigGWU_0yX1dLXERqk/s1600/superdupont03_12012004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJ7vUXv-P3g9BwPz2-fUX7mApLQkewHk4n4b7Uy-EiyvPgaynJWm4AuAXTYNEbqLUYsY9VJvU7epvoG6-8t8guo0-etriiFLZ4Otp4VvkbHjRrBUkF8mTdXGm0DigGWU_0yX1dLXERqk/s1600/superdupont03_12012004.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<b>Fluide Glacial (1975 - present)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.fluideglacial.com/lebeaujournal" target="_blank">Fluide Glacial</a> is what might happen if Al Jaffee and Rod Serling were friends and talked Bill Gaines into doing a monthly anthology comic. The stories are offbeat, sometimes infantile, and are often disturbing or have a shock twist ending. During its years Fluide Glacial has featured the work of French and international authors and graphic artists such as Jacques Lob, Luc Nisset, Édika, Claire Bretécher, Jean Solé, François Boucq, Moebius, Jean-Claude Mézières, Loup, Daniel Goossens and André Franquin. It now sells some 120,000 copies a month. Here's a link to the <a href="http://bdoubliees.com/fluideglacial/annees/index.html" target="_blank">index of past issues</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZhte36gW7qro0CHAt9W4V3lZEKZhWMcspy9gEeGeh4UagV5ioLXrFWWDIa_5hOLqSw6NxEE6Fw2_h1YGIGp7FtKuEyuRQpjsCnYqbS48SDpjbBlw7uYX8H4OjvyQdduIcJAu02llEII/s1600/Revue_10675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZhte36gW7qro0CHAt9W4V3lZEKZhWMcspy9gEeGeh4UagV5ioLXrFWWDIa_5hOLqSw6NxEE6Fw2_h1YGIGp7FtKuEyuRQpjsCnYqbS48SDpjbBlw7uYX8H4OjvyQdduIcJAu02llEII/s1600/Revue_10675.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<b>B.D. L'hebdo De La B.D. (1977, 78)</b><br />
This short-lived series, <a href="http://www.bedetheque.com/revue-BD-L-hebdo-De-La-BD.html" target="_blank">BD</a>, offered a platform for many influential artists, including Al Capp, Zippy the Pinhead artist Bill Griffith, Art Spiegelman, and Dutch cartoonist Joost Swarte. Jacques Tardi first introduced his character <a href="http://bdoubliees.com/bd/series/adeleblancsec.htm" target="_blank">Adele Blanc-Sec</a> in BD. Here's the <a href="http://bdoubliees.com/bd/index.html" target="_blank">index of past issues</a>.<br />
<br />
So, do adults read comic books on the Metro in Paris? Probably not so much. But they do read comics, and many comics are written specifically for French-speaking adults. From this list of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Belgian_comics#Notable_comics" target="_blank">notable Franco-Belgian comics</a>, perhaps only a third of them are for children, so there must be a market for more mature material. This list of the top <a href="http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/top10.htm" target="_blank">20 "coolest" French comics</a> has a similar makeup.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, a lot of the anthology magazines have given up publishing. This may be due to the internet, and it could be that many artists are trying their hands at publishing digital comics. So, the time for reading comic books may be passing. Instead, adults will be reading comics on their phones and tablets on the Metro. What's the French word for iPad?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-69466237786849076372014-10-18T10:01:00.003-07:002014-10-25T13:51:55.362-07:00"Dear Creature" by Jonathan Case <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00AK3ATAS&asins=B00AK3ATAS&linkId=S6RQHYXHFN7OQQYI&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe><i>“Teach me, dear creature, how to think and speak; </i><br />
<i>Lay open to my earthy-gross conceit, </i><br />
<i>Smother'd in errors, feeble, shallow, weak, </i><br />
<i>The folded meaning of your words' deceit.”</i><br />
<i> - Wm Shakespeare "Comedy of Errors"</i><br />
<br />
Shakespeare's dialog appears in a scene in <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=comedy%20of%20errors%20kindle&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Acomedy%20of%20errors%20kindle&sprefix=comedy%20of%20errors%20kin%2Cstripbooks%2C277&tag=moss0e7-20&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&linkId=HSB6ZNIUAYG4BNT5" target="_blank">The Comedy of Errors</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i> where a stranger in town meets a woman who mistakes him for someone else, and he becomes enchanted by her beauty. In Jonathan Case's graphic novel "Dear Creature" the stranger is an ocean-dwelling mutant monster and the woman is an agoraphobic spinster who lives with her sister in a dry-docked boat in a California seaside town circa 1960.<br />
<div>
<br />
Using a quote from Shakespeare is appropriate, since the sea monster, Grue, has a penchant for the Bard and speaks mostly in iambic pentameter. Giulietta attracts his attention by throwing pages of Shakespeare's plays packed into soda pop bottles into the ocean in a twist on the message in a bottle. Unfortunately for these sea-crossed lovers, more than just family stands between their happiness. Like many movie monsters, Grue has a hunger for human flesh, and it gets worse when pheromones are in the air.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNL_haGoAw-u-PVyZkH1rJfxG03qOloEIGwHlxbygfCTD3FOEmebabGKHV1e3ZrufLSeUgc4OKsvDa1G3ruOUIFIO3aOfd7xRBAmNbhOw8hyKEC0CI6MAdBIcjB1W5dqRqSNxC1k9ncuU/s1600/Dear_Creature_J_Case_59b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNL_haGoAw-u-PVyZkH1rJfxG03qOloEIGwHlxbygfCTD3FOEmebabGKHV1e3ZrufLSeUgc4OKsvDa1G3ruOUIFIO3aOfd7xRBAmNbhOw8hyKEC0CI6MAdBIcjB1W5dqRqSNxC1k9ncuU/s1600/Dear_Creature_J_Case_59b.jpg" height="305" width="320" /></a></div>
Both the art and the story are solid. Grue's dialogue in iambic pentameter seems appropriate for this monster. In counterpoint, Grue's chorus of crabs talk more like Damon Runyon. The family, Giulietta, Zola, Joe and Roberto, act as if they've lived together for years on the boat. Characters that pop in for a page or two have distinctive dialog. Even the slightly wooden policeman Craw has a depth that we understand. He wants to marry Zola, but society of the time shuns woman who have been left behind by men. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Case explores a plethora of early 1960s references. Characters mention Beach Blanket Bingo and go to the drive-in. Of course there are allusions to atomic bomb tests, and mutant monsters as seen in the movies. Giulietta and Zola's backstory explains that they were orphans in Italy at the end of World War II, and were whisked away to California by a rich suitor whose family made their money in soda pop.<br />
<br />
The black and white drawings work in many ways. They remind me of the black and white Universal monster movies. The shadows also carry enough weight to bring the story to life. Sometimes it's so dark, the panels seem be white on a black background -- with the image in relief like a woodcut.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRINZKD3POCaWY449R7GT3bgWqpJU1M7ip231adCUIXgQy9ydwYloKBfGMDTBDxJiou7CZRjWVs6Zajrr0AAfkmTDkPHYbSnZtPPNj3l0xAs1vbCRWayvFRNI4sIySZx5xScpbzdkmCI/s1600/Dear_Creature_J_Case_53b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRINZKD3POCaWY449R7GT3bgWqpJU1M7ip231adCUIXgQy9ydwYloKBfGMDTBDxJiou7CZRjWVs6Zajrr0AAfkmTDkPHYbSnZtPPNj3l0xAs1vbCRWayvFRNI4sIySZx5xScpbzdkmCI/s1600/Dear_Creature_J_Case_53b.jpg" height="198" width="400" /></a></div>
Case has some unique comic skills. An iconic male/female/harpoon symbol always shows up when men and women get together. This pheromone harpoon is often Grue's undoing, symbolically stabbing him in the brain and urging him into a blood lust. At these times Grue is truly a monster, and the icon is a neat way to bring attention to this violence.<br />
<br />
During a panel called "Composing Comics" at Stumptown Comics Fest 2013, Case talked about his craft. "Comics should be easier to read than not read." He felt the art should facilitate the story. Comparing repetitive panels versus clarity, he feels that repetition works for comedy. The third beat comes around and you have a surprise. Whereas action scenes should have a clarity -- a clear focal point improves and increases dynamics. He also mentioned he's a big fan of leaving areas of negative space. He compared the composition styles of Alex Toth with Wally Wood, referring to the latter's "22 Panels that always work"<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUC2a-xNmfr6TYsDD75YgX8LAdqSCnzV7Dz_QR7YR-pVv4ynZgnbOooox5LFsWk8kyWDwQmbuA3dO44W20kMrESSsUeF86CkswGz4-CLO_QA04a4aN5bk42IroFmw9czkUBBjyY8zNN1E/s1600/Dear_Creature_J_Case_54b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUC2a-xNmfr6TYsDD75YgX8LAdqSCnzV7Dz_QR7YR-pVv4ynZgnbOooox5LFsWk8kyWDwQmbuA3dO44W20kMrESSsUeF86CkswGz4-CLO_QA04a4aN5bk42IroFmw9czkUBBjyY8zNN1E/s1600/Dear_Creature_J_Case_54b.jpg" height="320" width="315" /></a></div>
"Dear Creature" is a lot of fun. The monster's face is stretchable and humorous. The puns, especially from the crabs are groan-able. And Case seems to especially enjoy the macabre humor that arises from the crabs wanting to feast on the remains of the teenagers killed by Grue, and Grue's unwillingness to face the facts. As a reader, I felt invested in the fate of all the characters. I wasn't disappointed by the conclusion.<br />
<br />
"Dear Creature" is Case's debut graphic novel. He has also worked on the "Green River Killer" and done a stint as artist on the recent Batman '66 from DC. His website is <a href="http://www.jonathancase.net/">www.jonathancase.net</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-5385475057218236632014-10-14T22:03:00.000-07:002014-10-25T13:51:10.662-07:00"Anya's Ghost" by Vera Brosgol<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=moss0e7-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00CNTSVA2&asins=B00CNTSVA2&linkId=TL6UMHYHCHN3OM7N&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 250px; width: 130px;">
</iframe>In “Hamlet,” Shakespeare uses a ghost to dramatize the young prince's internal struggle. The ghost of Hamlet’s father claims he was killed by Claudius, and urges Hamlet to take revenge. As the story unwinds, however, we find the ghost is unreliable and it seems to others that Hamlet is acting irrationally. In “Anya’s Ghost,” Vera Brosgol uses a ghost in a similar way, as a friend, mentor and a danger for young Anya as she tries to fit in at high school.<br />
<br />
Anya's troubles start at home. Her family emigrated from Russia to the US when she was five, and she has worked hard to lose her accent and look like an American girl. Unfortunately, her mother feeds her heavy Russian foods, makes her go to church, and encourages a friendship with Dima, a nerdy Russian boy who goes to the same school. Anya has one friend, Siobhan, but their friendship is based more on cutting class and shared cigarettes than on shared interests. After they have a disagreement Anya storms off to smoke in the woods. Unfortunately, she falls down a well and discovers not only a skeleton, but Emily, the ghost of the bones. Although at first Anya is petrified, but after she escapes from the well she and Emily strike up an uneasy friendship.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhVJKQYJpNQnf5ZQu1qU7tZVZVLjPyXjnkK8Zg3gj39mdzc-2OzC7NQ9legDFKg6mOKqprlOmq195EU9tzkWMQAccJfJk_8sduM6gqInrCvFWkVFEOC-6ygfyFcV7uqmzcpIUclUPLVo/s1600/Ghosts1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhVJKQYJpNQnf5ZQu1qU7tZVZVLjPyXjnkK8Zg3gj39mdzc-2OzC7NQ9legDFKg6mOKqprlOmq195EU9tzkWMQAccJfJk_8sduM6gqInrCvFWkVFEOC-6ygfyFcV7uqmzcpIUclUPLVo/s1600/Ghosts1.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
The theme of ghosts, whether literal or symbolic, weaves nicely through this book. At first the ghosts of the old country, embodied by Dima and Anya's mother, seem to be holding Anya back, but then she realizes she appreciates and loves them. Brosgol was born in Moscow, and it seems she has put some of her own experiences into the story. <br />
<br />
"Anya's Ghost" also explores what it means to be a teen, both 100 years ago and today. It asks whether there is a schedule for falling in love, getting married, and taking on responsibilities. Emily's ghostly origin provides a mirror for Anya to reflect on her own feelings and path.<br />
<br />
Best of all, this is a ghost story, and at times it becomes genuinely scary. Much more effective than a shocking surprise in a movie, Brosgol provides some psychological terror, which is effective no matter what age, young or adult. The result is truly haunting.<br />
<br />
I saw Brosgol talk about her book several years ago in Portland. She says that inking is her favorite part, and it's evident by her clean, dark, lines. (You can see a <a href="http://verabee.com/2011/06/process/" target="_blank">presentation of her process here</a>.) She spent three years working on "Anya's Ghost" and the beautiful black and white with shades of lavender result is worth it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6LiB0EU9uikvEUIxqbZs21CXgeoBoq-57WDTL6E2A_8JQZkkvW7Wc7Mvhpnib2rcqLZ2Bx45e2RbVTxSPowAnhxYNeyChC0iDGeOUNUcUgwB5WIJiMWi0rlLDm5LUOpP856h7VbfEvE/s1600/Ghosts2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6LiB0EU9uikvEUIxqbZs21CXgeoBoq-57WDTL6E2A_8JQZkkvW7Wc7Mvhpnib2rcqLZ2Bx45e2RbVTxSPowAnhxYNeyChC0iDGeOUNUcUgwB5WIJiMWi0rlLDm5LUOpP856h7VbfEvE/s1600/Ghosts2.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
According to her talk, she likes to focus on the expressions. She has a mirror at work, and even if she's not looking in the mirror she's making the face of the character she's drawing. Like many artists, her day job takes priority over personal projects, and drawing at work uses the same part of her brain. Her real passion is telling her own stories. The problem us just that she's chosen an inefficient method of telling stories. At the time she was working on a revised version of a web comic she did in high school called "Return to Sender."<br />
<br />
Brosgol is also a storyboard artist at LAIKA, where she worked on the films Coraline and ParaNorman. Her twitter handle is @VeraBee and her website is <a href="http://verabee.com/">verabee.com</a>. You can also check out her minicomic, "raised by wolves," at <a href="http://verabee.com/wolf/">verabee.com/wolf/</a>Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-54870799759557388032014-09-21T21:37:00.000-07:002014-09-21T21:37:52.022-07:00Rose City Comic-con 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here are some of my sketchnotes from Rose City Comic Con, 2014.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIgpVqbApDuSP6uRrOZG-4joB922uM15ssMXgav12MZsPLWnIZBF7EUNOHzcJpt99eXlTIktCakAFF2g4wRgUgJELRu931Gz6DaBxIRNuVG6gpKdsrrT-GnBpxerP85eXD8xIoF9sHoc/s1600/photo+1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIgpVqbApDuSP6uRrOZG-4joB922uM15ssMXgav12MZsPLWnIZBF7EUNOHzcJpt99eXlTIktCakAFF2g4wRgUgJELRu931Gz6DaBxIRNuVG6gpKdsrrT-GnBpxerP85eXD8xIoF9sHoc/s1600/photo+1.PNG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: start;">Gigi Edgley, who played Chiana on Farscape, as well as appearing in The Lost World, Beastmaster and Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, was very charming.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJN7YsHoue2cmu30XspuH1P0gVnkaoG7_530nLVo4JOTNGnMB8R0Gwyqglp4tkyuokyQDP7xsVyUZoYkceKk3tH2vGVEojRmAIeGafSVmbREQVSe-LIub4860XnCMoJ3LzgRsNUp7vx9c/s1600/photo+2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJN7YsHoue2cmu30XspuH1P0gVnkaoG7_530nLVo4JOTNGnMB8R0Gwyqglp4tkyuokyQDP7xsVyUZoYkceKk3tH2vGVEojRmAIeGafSVmbREQVSe-LIub4860XnCMoJ3LzgRsNUp7vx9c/s1600/photo+2.PNG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: start;">Will Wheaton is known for playing Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as appearing on Big Bang, and producing and directing other TV shows and podcasts. He's also known for Wheaton's Law: "don't be a dick." The moderator led him into discussions of mental health, step-children, pets and board games.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcg93y1LjZkWIFxYjlzgMEDdGD6n88LSUvmLfm7vI1eLCMHTfTj-c4l3O6KC_5txjwVfW_f04TbaGb81aoPd09ROI-vGcRoktuRzYkC_9HDfIwXjO37kdHIxetFJhJaqFcuq3lTRwwgE/s1600/photo+3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcg93y1LjZkWIFxYjlzgMEDdGD6n88LSUvmLfm7vI1eLCMHTfTj-c4l3O6KC_5txjwVfW_f04TbaGb81aoPd09ROI-vGcRoktuRzYkC_9HDfIwXjO37kdHIxetFJhJaqFcuq3lTRwwgE/s1600/photo+3.PNG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: start;">Greg Rucka is a well-known thriller author as well as a voluminous comic-book writer. During this talk he shared some gems of inspiration and sweat on writing My favorite comes from his thesis adviser at Vassar.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJjWVnx38E-aZrr_xyBXY3v5Oc4VYko8MhW6jWJNLlTRGGAI43cNNe1sFbT3NyrWLI_QUx9kBZEXRaSBbQjaRbq1wkRHYs0VMvfyl-VlNxW5ZJOKXmh-QOlIWU5gAD9Lj52zziuhPbiQ/s1600/photo+4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJjWVnx38E-aZrr_xyBXY3v5Oc4VYko8MhW6jWJNLlTRGGAI43cNNe1sFbT3NyrWLI_QUx9kBZEXRaSBbQjaRbq1wkRHYs0VMvfyl-VlNxW5ZJOKXmh-QOlIWU5gAD9Lj52zziuhPbiQ/s1600/photo+4.PNG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: start;">Tom Cook worked for Hanna-Barbera and Filmation studios in the 70's and 80's. He worked on nearly every episode of Filmation's He-man and the Masters of the Universe. He talked about the process of making a cartoon for Saturday morning in the era before computers and animation software.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvlNTkdp1e_OX4BLnFVQZbM0-nou5zMkXPkFAR9VOEm6WGtIPy4kK57Q1X9kltELmEbpT5_9o4Z87vGKwPVj_JdqQZDytvtNq4vP7hAd9wFaPTmsoEEq0pnYGWpsIJ06-L5PgmVQL-CA/s1600/photo+5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvlNTkdp1e_OX4BLnFVQZbM0-nou5zMkXPkFAR9VOEm6WGtIPy4kK57Q1X9kltELmEbpT5_9o4Z87vGKwPVj_JdqQZDytvtNq4vP7hAd9wFaPTmsoEEq0pnYGWpsIJ06-L5PgmVQL-CA/s1600/photo+5.PNG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: start;">Jeff Parker is a comic-book writer currently working on Aquaman, Batman '66, and his own project Meteor Men</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wQOkPM9F7gRrDHjyBJTgqBhlntSaaH4XdIkToNIVPbJtHp2eFttwDUL__8nQNy1nR2lWBR2sRKeYNQUO-UlndBsPt9d0EnOBxX1eGqwBDkuJk2SgW_yXY4F_JHihc-8nMFjgjoC_YJQ/s1600/photo+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wQOkPM9F7gRrDHjyBJTgqBhlntSaaH4XdIkToNIVPbJtHp2eFttwDUL__8nQNy1nR2lWBR2sRKeYNQUO-UlndBsPt9d0EnOBxX1eGqwBDkuJk2SgW_yXY4F_JHihc-8nMFjgjoC_YJQ/s1600/photo+(9).JPG" height="400" width="322" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
While at the con, I picked up a copy of Rucka's Lazarus, Natalie Nourigat's A Boy & a Girl, Jen van Meter's work on JSA, Jeff Parker's Meteor Men and Batman '66, and special thanks to Eric Trautmann for a copy of his work Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhD-3J4guiPcXZRFXZR82U3xVvxrWuiiW5Br3h9TFfCpvRRwHadXyn07YmWcmHquO-fbZ_sSYXDD_q7dSdwUQ3-8geoIWWwR4BNoxhr7o653YuF9NlR2VPgGtyKqQXplaWJvncRrw0LBU/s1600/SeanAstin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhD-3J4guiPcXZRFXZR82U3xVvxrWuiiW5Br3h9TFfCpvRRwHadXyn07YmWcmHquO-fbZ_sSYXDD_q7dSdwUQ3-8geoIWWwR4BNoxhr7o653YuF9NlR2VPgGtyKqQXplaWJvncRrw0LBU/s1600/SeanAstin.JPG" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Oh, and here's a crummy photo of Sean Astin, Joe Pantalione, and Garret Wang talking about The Goonies and the Lord of the Rings. The talk was interesting, but I was too far back to (a) get a good photo or (b) see clearly enough to sketch Astin and Pantalione.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Speaking of crowded rooms, Ben Saunders' talk on Secret Identity Politics was surprisingly popular. I was approximately 120th in line, in a room that held 120 people. I decided to forego the talk, but having seen him speak before, I figured it must have been interesting. He needs to bottle that. Or, at least <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZIOXJ2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004ZIOXJ2&linkCode=as2&tag=moss0e7-20&linkId=V35LLEFO6TISWFBK">write another book.</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=moss0e7-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004ZIOXJ2" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582312831391581739.post-92013547682087198752014-04-24T12:29:00.004-07:002022-06-17T16:14:49.631-07:00Secrets of the Batcave 1968<div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I always found Batman's tags and labels helpful and inspiring to a kid who wanted to build his own Batcave. At one point I worked with some friends to renovate an abandoned horse shed into a secret hideout. Although fun, it was never as impressive as Batman's Batcave from 1968. Under Wayne Manor, Batman has it all: a lab, computerized crime files, trophy room and Batplane hangar.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNesM1ZhqfxEr_LV1p09GeIghHUApajdq_e16CWJLTp3nB2tbGN-knbtRi7y0C68cml2ZAZYBmIgS0ltgyViSOnk5gTGw_udX779Q_VaHrdzT3hxquoYpR8nVzbHipCuM6ffVdZ72p-yk/s1600/image0-006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNesM1ZhqfxEr_LV1p09GeIghHUApajdq_e16CWJLTp3nB2tbGN-knbtRi7y0C68cml2ZAZYBmIgS0ltgyViSOnk5gTGw_udX779Q_VaHrdzT3hxquoYpR8nVzbHipCuM6ffVdZ72p-yk/w400-h286/image0-006.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
While the Batcave was awesome, the Dynamic Duo's utility belts totally confused me. They always seemed to have the right gimmick stowed away, but these detailed drawings are pretty limited.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Time hasn't been kind to the utility belts. "Self-sealing flaps" are about as fancy as Velcro, and nearly everyone has a two-way communicator (cell phone, duh!).</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEsw8c-hdS1G9X-JG4hk-zIa1yfLoY79z6Oh1l9ogxXQLmjX90PvHD7FqpVyitWCF8Q0-B_PrQmtGwmnr7UNSsGwc3MaPAzmEKrzCSoGjpvK7e4pQ5JSxXWSwGwfCgOrS9duMVePPrx4k/s1600/image0-003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEsw8c-hdS1G9X-JG4hk-zIa1yfLoY79z6Oh1l9ogxXQLmjX90PvHD7FqpVyitWCF8Q0-B_PrQmtGwmnr7UNSsGwc3MaPAzmEKrzCSoGjpvK7e4pQ5JSxXWSwGwfCgOrS9duMVePPrx4k/w418-h640/image0-003.jpg" width="418" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEeRlSaRdGR2RJxS3dmGNbQmnDQgaqkaxB0SKHNpz_td_jOcuGKOoOnkbwdhRKTctV_5tr5OZPnONT3eY3MQSfsSjih-LlDI4jOn_ziKpzy0a1tfc0E6C8-KKcTIQ3sy76dvh8MP9yTpg/s1600/image0-004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEeRlSaRdGR2RJxS3dmGNbQmnDQgaqkaxB0SKHNpz_td_jOcuGKOoOnkbwdhRKTctV_5tr5OZPnONT3eY3MQSfsSjih-LlDI4jOn_ziKpzy0a1tfc0E6C8-KKcTIQ3sy76dvh8MP9yTpg/s1600/image0-004.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
This last panel is from a story where Batman and Robin design a new Batplane. I don't think I'd like to have to use the "human ejector tubes."</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8qPYL2oDIv1C-KHC4jaBwE8sVOgAI0KKqawBL6fAJJRkCPBipNBybCn89h3EHjKNRjfnxOh68uUJ6xwgsUmvfQJLNaXD4vkPKGPeTgfHXS-dm3Od_iwIz0jT3nf3fm-H-9iNxn2UbAY/s1600/image0-005.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8qPYL2oDIv1C-KHC4jaBwE8sVOgAI0KKqawBL6fAJJRkCPBipNBybCn89h3EHjKNRjfnxOh68uUJ6xwgsUmvfQJLNaXD4vkPKGPeTgfHXS-dm3Od_iwIz0jT3nf3fm-H-9iNxn2UbAY/w400-h183/image0-005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09666661574424894941noreply@blogger.com0