Gasoline Alley

This old Gasoline Alley strip from WWII reminds us what it's really like to live in a time of shortages. Judy is looking for scrap metal "for the boys overseas". "I'm working to be lieutenant in the scrap drive." She asks, "Uncle Avery, have you got some metal for me?" Avery only gives her two bent bolts. Lucky Corky has a plan.

February Comic Reviews

February is a short month, but the weather makes it good for reading comics. Since the rain gave me a reason to read, here's what occupied my time.

Normally I don't like massive comic "events," since the story gets lost in ridiculous marketing frenzy and obscure sideline series. But, I accidentally got hooked on the Final Crisis and 52 story lines so I ended up reading & collecting them week by week. True to form, I tried to resist by not subscribing, so I missed some weeks, and picked up others later at comic shows. Luckily DC collected Countdown to Final Crisis for people like me. This multi-volume collection manages to have some spine, although huge sections of the story (War with the Amazons, anyone?) happen off-screen.
Still, I liked the sequence with Trickster & Piper on the run, as well as implications of Mary Marvel receiving her powers from Black Adam. 3.5 out of 5.

Kim Deitch is always a master of story and art, and 'Alias the Cat' didn't disappoint. Previously published as three separate stories this trilogy works great together. Drawn in a style reminiscient of Mickey Mouse circa Steamboat Willy (except, including genitals) and occasionally hearkening of Bill Griffith's version of Levittown, Alias the Cat jumps from ebay to the south seas, from early movie serials to a mysterious "midget town," all in search of the cartoonish devil Waldo that has haunted many of Deitch's work. 4.5 out of 5.



"The Devil's Panties" is the second volume of strips published from the eponymous web comic. Concerning the adventures of a woman who works in a comic book store, draws a strip called "The Devil's Panties," and goes to comic-cons, I was moderately amused, but didn't read the whole book. The stories started to repeat some of their themes in a way that grew old. Still, give it a try, see if you like it. 2.5 out of 5.





Batman: R.I.P. feels like a story that should be in the same category as "The Killing Joke." Grant Morrison is a heavyweight storyteller, and the arc -- ending with the figurative "death" of Bruce Wayne -- is pivotal. Unfortunately, this volume omits some of the issues that surrounded whole story, leaving it feeling thin. I re-read the stories that were included a couple times and they made more sense, but there were still some odd gaps. 3.5 out of 5.




I'm excited about starting Naoki Urasawa's "20th Century Boys" series. This is the epic story of a gang of friends who made a pact when they were in grade school that they would save the world.

Now adults, the suicide of one of the members brings them together to confront an unknown menace called "Friend". The narrative shifts back and forth through time, exploring Japanese pop culture of the 70s as well as events that formed the now middle-aged men. This story is so packed with references they include footnotes at the end of the books. 4.5 out of 5.

I remember first discovering the Freedom Fighters on a campout in Peter Benvenuto's back yard. He had a copy of Justice League #108, and I was blown away by Uncle Sam, the Black Condor, the Human Bomb, and the rest of the team. Little did I know then that they were assembled from the Quality Comics line of superheroes, but I've tried to explore the originals since then. In 'Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters: Brave New World' the plot focuses mostly on the Red Bee and her mutations due to an encounter with an alien insect race. I know that the original Red Bee was a guy who appeared in Quality's Hit Comics and used trained bees to stop criminals, but this version of the Bee didn't have the cachet of the regular Freedom Fighters. I liked the art, but the story held too many mutations. 3 out of 5.





I read the "The Incal Noir" by Moebius & Jodorowsky, but this story is so epic that I'll save a review for another time. Short blurb: "one of the best sci-fi graphic novels."









So many of the superhero "graphic novels" are not much more than a couple of issues square bound and slapped with a title. "The Flash: Emergency Stop" is not much different, but at least the story arc is interesting. There's a fun story with a villain called "The Suit," which might either be a haunted suit, or an evil spirit. The volume also includes the origin of the "Speed Force" uniform. These stories remind me of the old Flash comics from the 60's, so I give them a 3.5 out of 5.

Pacific NW Bell Telephone Ad 1961

This ad from for a phone in the bedroom by Pacific NW Bell from a 1961 Sunday Comics section is so obsolete in an era of constant contact via cell phones, internet and twitter.

...Betsy wasn't nervous by nature. In the daytime, she'd have tackled a tiger. But at night her vivid imagination turned every groan of the woodwork into a prowler, every whistle of the wind into a fire engine.
Then a friend suggested I get her a bedside phone. He said it gave his wife a "sense of security" -- feeling that she was just a reach away from friends, doctors, firemen, police, even the FBI and National Guard.

The ad says a bedroom extension costs only $1.25 a month, plus tax and a small installation charge. Or, if you wanted you could get the Princess phone which glows in the dark, lights up, and comes in 5 colors for only $2 a month.
It's weird to think of the days when the phone company owned the phone equipment, and you had essentially had to rent it from them.

From the mouth of Nancy

Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy plays a game of war. This is from a November 1943 Sunday Comics section.

Life During Wartime: The Sunday Comics Ads Part 2

Here are some more ads from Sunday Comics circa 1944. Historically we think of WWII as a "the last good war," a war where the planets aligned, good against evil. Juxtapose this with the current US conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan where the enemies are uncertain and the goals are unclear. Some people might yearn for the simpler days of the past, but even these ads from WWII seem to be selling an instant nostalgia for an earlier time, as if to say "use our toothpaste and everything is going to be all right!"

This ad for Lifebuoy has two separate strips, one targeting women and one for men. "See if you don't have more friends, more fun, more romance when you bathe daily with the only soap especially made to stop "B.O.""

I don't know what committee meeting "mom" is at, but can't the family make their own dang Royal Strawberry Gelatin?

As the kid brother says "Nothin' but mush, mush, mush. Sisters -- and sergeants -- sure are the craziest people." "Play safe," brush twice a day and before dates with Colgate "dental cream."

The military jargon in this story covers up a near Tailhook incident. "The way that gal blasted you out of formation was sure something to see." "Yeah, and all because I was gunning for a kiss." "Is that a reason for Sue to explode like that?" "Well, dames blow up easy when a guy's got bad breath!"

In this ad for Cheerioats there's a stamp in the upper left corner that reads "Produce and conserve...Share and play square...Food fights for freedom." This brings home the fact that, unlike today, there really were shortages during WWII.

Duz is a vanished brand of soap from Procter & Gamble. I like the etching along to top of the ad promoting war bonds.

The following ads are all from 1946, after WWII ended.
Like something from an old movie, this ad for Quaker Oats offers a chance to win a 1946 Nash Ambassador if you finish the sentence "Quaker Oats is America's Best Loved Cereal Because..." The Nash advertises the "famous In-A-Car Bed," which looks like you're sleeping in the trunk. By the time this ad was in the paper WWII had ended and people were probably relieved by the armistice. The federal government had ordered Nash and the other car companies to suspend passenger car production during World War II, so this was the first chance in over 3 years to buy a new car -- or win one!

For some reason this ad for Spic and Span seems to belong to the post-war future than to WWII and before. In 1945 Procter & Gamble bought the 10 year old product Spic and Span and began marketing it nationwide. So, this is the beginning of their campaign. Something about the box, the name, the graphics that feels more like an ad from the 50's or 60's than from the 40's. Maybe the ad is showing some of the optimism from winning WWII? Or, maybe they just want to sell more soap?

Read Part 1 here.

Life During Wartime: The Sunday Comics Ads Part 1

The following ads are from the Sunday Comics sections from 1944. This was, of course, the height of World War II, and they reflect a strange mix of concern with supporting the service men and women, while also trying to make your house and teeth the cleanest and brightest they can be. These ads are sponsored by major companies, not like the ads you'd see attached to the comics nowadays for the local car parts shop, or a Carl's Junior burger. You can judge the importance of the media based on the advertisers, and it's easy to see, with ads for cleansers, toothpaste and the latest Nash auto, that in the 40's Sunday comics sections were for the whole family.

Dreft was the first synthetic detergent sold in the US, and it was marketed as a miracle soap, used for dishes, hands and hair. The war put a crimp in the supplies used to make Dreft, so it was hard to find in 1944.

Ivory soap, on the other "hand", introduces Red 'n' Rough, two characters who show how tough the "washday" soap is on a woman's hands. As the housewife says "just 12 days with Ivory can make hands like mine softer, smoother and whiter."

In 1944 Cheerios were called Cheerioats. The name was later changed because of a trademark disputes with Quaker Oats. This ad spotlights how Dorothy Lamour worked as an elevator operator when she discovered by a talent scout. "You're much too beautiful to be running an elevator."

Several months after the first ad for Dreft, the paper ran an advertisement explaining that "Uncle Sam comes first," so they were suspending production of Dreft until after the war. Fortunately for the housewives, production of Dreft was able to resume less than a year later because WWII ended in 1945.

Ivory soap once again tries to gain the "upper hand" by selling softness. This time the ad is directed not to the housewife, but to the newlyweds. The young wife tells her sailor husband" I work and slave all day... wash those dishes in that strong washday soap...why'd I get married?"

The banner along the top of this next excerpt isn't tied to the ad. Slogans to buy war bonds were sprinkled throughout the comics section every week. I'm not sure why these joes are making the climb, but they're clear about the cigs: "I'm sure glad to be up here smoking a Camel."

Here's another Camel Cigarettes ad, aimed at women this time. The ostensibly true story of Petty Officer Phyllis ____ ("name omitted by regulation") joining the Waves. Six weeks later "So now you're a full-fledged sailor -- smoking Camels too! They're the Navy Man's favorite."

This Camel ad really puts smoking in perspective. After finding and detonating a booby-trapped landmine, it's a relief for the soldiers to take a drag on a Camel!

 

Gillette makes shaving a matter of national security as wells as personal hygiene. "Ever since our first mission this crew has always slicked up before a raid and had a date afterwards." "That gives us a swell reason for coming back."

Private: On KP and your girl's mad at you? Try Colgate tooth paste. You'll be a Sergeant in no time!

Read Part 2 here.

"The Book of Genesis" by R. Crumb at the Portland Art Museum

I recently read this article that claimed Portland is turning into a premier "comics town," and the latest announcement by the Portland Art Museum reaffirms this.  In June, 2010 the Museum will have an exhibition of more than 200 of the original drawings that went into R. Crumb's latest effort "The Book of Genesis."   This show, organized by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, will be on a "national tour," but the AP story only mentions LA, NY and...you guessed it, Portland, Oregon:

...the stunningly detailed, beautifully crafted black-and-white drawings that comprise its 201 pages will go on display at Los Angeles' Hammer Museum. After the exhibition closes in February it will move on to other cities, including New York and Portland, Ore.

If you haven't heard of Crumb's "Book of Genesis," or seen the art from it, there's a good review and excerpt in the June, 2009 New Yorker. If you have a digital subscription to the New Yorker you can see the article here.  Surprisingly, the story follows the Bible's book of Genesis pretty closely.  The art, however, is all Crumb.  This is the culmination of four years of work by Crumb to "illustrate every word of the fifty chapters that make up Genesis in the Bible."

You can read a review of the show in LA here, but I can't wait to see the work in person at PAM.

Online Stash of Goverment Commissioned Comics

A while ago I posted some scans of what I called "Public Service Comics."
The comics included topics on

• Careers, such as GE's "Science in your Future" from 1956
  
• Transportation like "The Wonder book of Rubber"
  
• Computer-related books such as "Tandy Whiz Kids"
  
• Health issues as illustrated in this drug tract "Hooked"
  
• Reading & comics
  
• Energy, such as "The Atom, Electricity and You" from PGE about Trojan Nuclear Power Plant"
  
• And blatant advertisements such as the "Adventures of Kool-Aid Man"
  

They're pretty cool, but I was completely blown away by a post from Cartoon Brew. They've found an online stash of 183 comic books commissioned by the US Government to educate and inform the general public!

Charlie Brown, Yogi, Dagwood and many other well known characters show up in these booklets, as well as obscure work by Walt Kelly, Dr. Seuss, Will Eisner, Al Capp, etc. All of it is downloadable via PDF files.

Click here to browse the comics.

The titles include "Li'l Abner Joins the Navy!", "Komrad Ivan", "You've Had it: The story of Basic Training", "Eat Right to Work and Win", "Ricky and Debbie in Sardineland" (sponsored by the Sardine Council) and "Dennis The Menace takes a Poke at Poison".

My favorite title so far? "Foxhole on Your Lawn" by Charles Biro (creator of Crime Does Not Pay, Daredevil). The summary says: "Shares ideas on how to conserve spending and lend support to the troops overseas."