BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY

Popeye Career Comics

2009-12-08T12:53:00.003-05:00

When we recently wrote about the issue of TIM TYLER'S LUCK that was only distributed through educational channels by Charlton and yet credited to King as publisher, I had completely forgotten about a 1997 article by Maggie Thompson in CBG that described these educational POPEYE comics from 1972. Since today is (if you've checked Google at all) POPEYE creator E.C. Segar's birthday (as noted in a piece by myself over at I.T.C.H. this morning-- http://superitch.com/?p=2564 ), I thought I'd share these oddball comic covers.

Review-The Art of Ditko

2009-12-08T08:55:00.003-05:00

Before writing a review of Craig Yoe's upcoming volume, THE ART OF DITKO, I should--in the interest of full disclosure--remind one and all that I am a member of I.T.C.H., Yoe's International Team of Cartoon Historians and, in fact, in future volumes from IDW's YoeBooks imprint, I'm actually listed as a "Media Associate" to Yoe Studios. I did NOT, however, have anything to do with THE ART OF DITKO.

That said, it's good. A nicely designed hardcover book with an amazing and unique self-portrait of the rarely seen artist on its cover, THE ART OF DITKO intersperses high quality full color scans from Charlton Comics of the 1950's, '60's and '70's with single page covers and original artwork, Being from Charlton comics, these scans are naturally better quality printing (on MUCH better paper!) than any of the originals ever were!

Content-wise, it's Ditko. If you are a fan, here's some good and little seen art spanning more than two decades. While the stories themselves often fall short, there's no denying the power of most of the art here. Although not printed sequentially, it's interesting to note the artist's rapid development as he led up to his arguable peak on SPIDER-MAN in the early '60's. You see his stock bits like floating eyes, dripping water and the DR STRANGE-style other dimensions but in the early strips you can also see the strong influence of fellow artists such as Joe Kubert, Mort Meskin and Alex Toth.

The introduction by Stan Lee, although entirely appropriate and quite flattering, may prove to be somewhat controversial in that its wording will no doubt enrage the artist's more militant acolytes in spots. Along with the continued careful wording over "Who created Spider-Man?," the legendary writer/editor/publisher makes reference to the fact that Ditko was "practically plotting the stories by himself" after awhile.

Others contributing brief essays are John Romita, P. Craig Russell and Jerry Robinson, all of whom give a little more insight into the artist and his work. Perhaps the best insights, though, come from Yoe himself whose anecdotal reminiscences of actually meeting and hiring the man come off as both amusing and telling.

With Ditko and his famously hardcore Objectivist values becoming more prominent on the Internet in recent years in a series of essays and more and more books and websites celebrating more than five decades of work from this singular comics creator, it is a grand time for fans old and new. If you're NOT yet a fan, this book may not be the one that will convert you but if you ARE a fan, it will be a necessary and most enjoyable addition to your library.

To see some pages and/or order the soon to be released book, go here:
http://theartofditko.com/

Steranko

2009-12-07T14:45:00.002-05:00

Not much substance to this post I admit but I ran across this photo of Jaunty Jim Steranko that I personally snapped circa 1980 and wanted to share!

Another Gross Cover

2009-12-06T12:32:00.004-05:00

Longtime readers may recall that we here in the Cincinnati area had the privilege of having several years of art from illustrator Daerick Gross (THE VAMPIRE LESTAT, GETTING IT ON) back in the late 1970's when he was a staff artist/editorial cartoonist for THE CINCINNATI POST. Here's yet another of his local TV mag covers, this one from January of 1977 with nice caricatures of Fonzie, Starsky and Hutch and the Captain and Tennille as well as the late Farrah Fawcett (-Majors at the time).

Addendum--this cover had to be carefully scanned as the cat had already scratched it nearly in half. After the scanning, however, it got caught on the edge of the scanner and ripped off the rest of the way. Sigh. Art can be so ephemeral.

Eerie Subscription Ad

2009-12-05T23:34:00.002-05:00

Uncle Creepy tries hard to prevent the emergence of Cousin Eerie in this mid-sixties Warren Publishing subscription ad drawn by Angelo Torres. Not sure if it really did include the first issue of EERIE which was, in fact, a glorified ashcan edition published just to establish copyright in the wake of word that a rival compamy was about to use the title. For all intents and purposes, EERIE # 2 was the first real issue of the mag.

Links-Links-Links

2009-12-04T17:45:00.004-05:00

Each and every day (more or less) one can find me over at ITCH headquarters early in the morning linking to a handful of cool comics site postings. It occurred to me that over here at my own home base it's been quite awhile since we recommended any links. Lots of new, nifty stuff out there during that time. Here's just ten for a start. Visit some of these and see for yourselves.

ALPHAVILLE is a heady mix of atheistic humor and humanistic commentary from a guy named after the lead character in the surreal cult sci-fi film from which the blog takes its name.

http://redcurtains.blogspot.com/

At VINNIE RATTOLLE'S RECORDS you'll find music and TV stuff, mostly from the seventies and late sixties. Some you can read, some you can read about, some you can download and watch or read.

http://vinnierattolle.blogspot.com/

LUBBERT-DAS guru Colin Lorimer's spanking new COMICS site is currently offering one post only--a preview of the Irish-Canadian writer/artist's new project UXB which looks and sounds like post apocalyptic fun indeed.

http://colinlorimerart.blogspot.com/

Artist Sam Henderson has a fun blog that mixes his own works (both previously published and otherwise) with historical and eclectic slices from his own comics and pop culture collections. Blow THE MAGIC WHISTLE at:

http://themagicwhistle.blogspot.com/

FUNKTARDS is a repository of often genuinely surprising and amusing (and NSFW!) nerd humor found on and around the Internet.

http://www.funktards.com/

Jim Hendrickson's pop blog, THE COMPLETEIST (sic) is a lot of fun, particularly with his regular posts of videos taken from the charting Top 5 in various years!

http://completeist.blogspot.com/

MARK KAUSLER'S CATBLOG offers comic strip reprints and histories along with some just general pop culture goodness on the side.

http://itsthecat.com/blog/

PANELOLOGICAL PANTHEON offers reprints and often very detailed commentaries on some little-known but fascinating comic book stories and series from the Golden Age.

http://panelologicalpantheon.blogspot.com/

MICHAEL BARRIER. COM showcases the historical animation perspectives of one of the most respected cartoon historians (and founder of the legendary FUNNYWORLD fanzine about four decades ago).

http://www.michaelbarrier.com/index.html

THE RAGGED CLAWS NETWORK deals with odds and ends from various comic book art legends but mainly serves as an archive of some of the lesser known (or lesser available) works of Jeffrey Catherine Jones, the great fantasy painter.

http://www.raggedclaws.com/home/tag/jeffrey-jones/

RIP- Eric Woolfson

2009-12-03T22:10:00.002-05:00

A nice fan-made video for my favorite song from THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, sung by co-founder Eric Woolfson who died yesterday of cancer.

The MSU Comic Book Collection

2009-12-03T16:53:00.000-05:00

No comment necessary.

The Great Anti-War Cartoons

2009-12-03T16:49:00.002-05:00

Here's a brief video preview of Craig Yoe's soon to be released book THE GREAT ANTI-WAR CARTOONS which I am proud to say I worked on behind the scenes in a couple of capacities. Order today over at SUPERI.T.C.H or check the usual online sources.

Don Adams-Electronic Detective Ad

2009-12-03T16:41:00.001-05:00

From the early days of home computing, here's Don Adams and Joey Forman advertising what appears to be a cheesy electronic version of the venerable CLUE.

The Who Tragedy

2009-12-03T16:23:00.003-05:00

With Kenny Jones on drums replacing the late Keith Moon, this version of the Who, here with their 1981 song "Don't Let Go of the Coat," is the one that played in Cincinnati, Ohio thirty years ago tonight. Eleven fans were killed in a rush to grab seats due to so-called "festival seating." Many more were injured but the concert went on as the band was not informed of any of this until after the show. A controversial move but I think it was the correct one at the time as the already fired up crowd would not have taken well to the news of the show being cancelled and more problems may have ensued. The band members each handled things in their own way but the event had long-lasting effects for Pete in particular, escalating his substance abuse for some time afterwards.

I knew a couple of folks who were there that night, one of whom suffered a broken limb and was interviewed by Walter Cronkite the next night on CBS News. A girl I dated a few years later told me she had flashed her boobs at a security guard around the other side of the Coliseum from where the tragedy would occur to get him to let her and her friends in earlier so she didn't know about the tragedy until the next day.

I myself had been knocked down in 1976 as I attended alone my very first actual rock concert--Wings. Every attempt to get back up as the crowds flooded the doors screaming failed and I was lucky enough that it happened near the door so I literally crawled inside and grabbed the first seat I could get. Not a great experience for my first concert. I left early even to avoid the crowds on the way out. Luckily I was just bruised up a little. That night in December of 1979 it was different.

http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=11611643

Cat Stevens-Father and Son

2009-12-03T16:18:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you just feel like a little Cat Stevens. Luckily, he's always back there for us in the seventies without all the baggage his very name (old or new) brings with it today.

RIP-Paul Naschy

2009-12-02T09:45:00.002-05:00

Movies That Fell Through the Cracks # 59

2009-12-01T22:24:00.004-05:00

I first noticed the quirky wonder of actor Christopher Walken in 1978's THE DEER HUNTER and by 1982's one-off TV comedy/drama entitled WHO AM I THIS TIME with Susan Sarandon, still one of my all-time favorite shows, he had completely won me over. Ever since, in projects ranging from THE PROPHECY to THE COUNTRY BEARS to the masterful WEAPON OF CHOICE music video, he's been enjoyable performer to watch.

Did you know he started out as a child star, though? IMDB says so! Or that his name was appearing above the title long before DEER HUNTER, including in this bizarre 1973 low budget sci-fi thriller, THE MIND SNATCHERS (aka THE DEMON WITHIN aka THE HAPPINESS CAGE) The plot is vaguely the story of a military experiment at controlling soldiers' emotions via CLOCKWORK ORANGE-style tactics.

Walken is top-billed with another quirky actor, the British Joss Ackland, as the mad scientist and third string old school leading man Ralph Meeker as the General. Ronny Cox who did DELIVERANCE around that same time also appears.

Behind the scenes, it's more interesting as one of the producers is listed as the legendary Broadway producer Joseph Papp, founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival! Equally legendary record producer Phil Ramone is one of the folks listed as being responsible for the film's score!

Based on a play by playwright Dennis Reardon who had worked with Papp before, THE MIND SNATCHERS turned out to be one of the final projects for veteran TV director Bernard Girard.

My First Bogey

2009-11-30T09:45:00.007-05:00

Often the young folk come up to me and ask, "Mister Booksteve, sir? What, pray tell, was the first book in your vast and virtual library? Huh? Tell me, tell me, tell me! What was it, huh? Come on, don't hold back, vat de HECK vas it, sailor?" Or words to that effect.

Well, that's hard to say. The first actual book I remember getting was a Bennett Cerf riddle book when I was roughly six but I'm sure there were books before that. A friend of my mother's gave me what turned out to be a rare edition of THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD around that same time. I was eleven when I spotted Steranko's HISTORY OF THE COMICS in a store window while my dad and I were waiting for a bus and just had to have it! Jules Feiffer's re-issued THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES and THE PENGUIN BOOK OF COMICS quickly followed. But does having a few books around the house constitute a "library?"

The book that I have long considered to be the cornerstone of my actual collecting days is in fact the book seen here--the 1974 reissue of Clifford McCarty's 1965 book BOGEY--THE FILMS OF HUMPHREY BOGART.

The Bogart cult had begun not long after the actor's 1957 passing, first exclusively amongst film buffs but quickly branching into the mainstream with the appearance of Jean Luc-Godard's BREATHLESS in 1960, in which Jean Paul Belmondo's character pays tribute to his idol throughout. By the time of this book's initial release, Bogart had ascended to a cultural icon with posters adorning college dorms throughout the world.

Things spiked again in the early seventies with Woody Allen's play and film, PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM in which Bogart's ghost is a major character. BOGEY was re-released and all of the classic movies started getting a lot of TV airplay again which is where I discovered them. The Allen film was probably what first piqued my interest and I remember running across this book in the basement of a bookstore soon afterwards right next to the whole Citadel Press line of filmography books!

At a cover price of $4.95, I bought it and devoured it, using it regularly as an adjunct to TV airings of Bogart's pictures. Then I discovered Errol Flynn and went back to pick up THAT volume in the series. Soon I was buying at least one film or comics based book per week--sometimes several! I started haunting used bookstores and actually had to beg my parents for my very first bookcase because the Library was growing! The economy may have slowed that growth finally and necessitated selling off large chunks of books and comics but at least once a month there are still new books coming into Booksteve's Library 35 years after BOGEY first appeared.

Here's looking at you, book!

UPDATE-Completely unbeknownst to me, Humphrey Bogart is TCM's Star of the Month for December! If you haven't yet discovered Bogey (or as more commonly spelled, "Bogie") Turner Classic Movies is running 64 of his films including DEAD END on Wednesday.

Captain Tootsie Rules!

2009-11-28T15:55:00.001-05:00

Haven't posted any of the Captain's strips in quite awhile so here's a trio for your Saturday afternoon enjoyment!

Prince of Stories

2009-11-27T11:09:00.004-05:00

We haven't done a random book off the shelf in awhile and technically we still aren't. Today's book is one of the growing stack of books we need more bookcases for so until we get them, they're just sitting around.

PRINCE OF STORIES-THE MANY WORLDS OF NEIL GAIMAN is a 546 page 30 dollar hardcover book from late 2008 that we picked up for less than ten bucks recently at Half-Price Books. Written and compiled by critic Hank Wagner, Novelist Christpher Golden and artist Stephen R. Bissette, it is a lovingly obsessive look at every single comic, short story, novel, article, interview, film and TV show that fan-favorite New York Times Best-Selling author Neil Gaiman has ever written. It offers detailed synopses, some critical reference, lots of trivia and behind the scenes minutiae and even some new interviews and comment from Neil himself. If you don't already know or like Neil Gaiman I can't imagine you would even pick this volume up but if you do you will appreciate all the love and, if you're like me, may even be pointed to some Gaiman works you haven't yet read! Rounded out with an intro from sometime collaborator Terry Pratchett (currently my son's favorite author), a cover by Gaiman's traditional cover artist (or untraditional depending on how you look at it) Dave McKean and some wisely chosen color and black and white photos and illustrations, it's a niche item for sure but if you're a Neil Gaiman fan, you need this book! I wish many more individual authors got references like this.

Random Panels of Comic Book Weirdness # 69

2009-11-26T23:01:00.002-05:00

Not all THAT weird this time around, I guess but still...How often does one see a comic book superhero--in this case the decidedly lower tier DC hero AIR WAVE--admit (as he does here in a late DETECTIVE COMICS appearance) that another hero might have been better for the rescue he just completed?

Comics Creator Photos of the 1970's

2009-11-24T18:10:00.007-05:00

Earlier today, I ran across some hitherto forgotten clippings that I took from the old pre-CBG TBG back in the 1970's--a treasure trove of vintage newspaper photos of comics creators of the period. I tried to enhance them as much as possible when i scanned them but the yellowed look remains for most. 53 of them (out of about 80) are posted in a photo album on my FACEBOOK page but I'm not sure if you can access that if you aren't FB friends with me. Since many of you ARE FB friends with me, however, I thought I'd bring it to you attention. Let me know what you think. Here are just a few.

In these pics--Jack Kirby with Jerry Siegel, Neal Adams and, in the group shot, Don Glut, Mike Gold, Joe Orlando, Mike Grell, Paul Kupperberg, Martin Pasko, Don MacGregor, Jennette Kahn, Stan Lee and Len Wein

UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE

Here's the public link to the photo album. You do NOT need to be on Facebook or be one of my Facebook friends to see it!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=348863&id=859435075&l=dd280aeafa

Congrats to Brittany Rose!

2009-11-23T07:00:00.003-05:00

Some of you may be familiar with my photo blog, BRITTANY ROSE AND ME which consists almost solely of cute pictures of my friend Brittany Rose....by Me (thus the name, you see). This morning we congratulate our muse for turning pro as she just had her very first paid professional model shoot this past weekend! We wish her all the best at this exciting time for her! If you haven't checked the blog (or haven't been there lately) take a look back over the pictures and someday you'll be able to say you knew her when! Here's a brand new cell phone shot I took of her yesterday, post-shoot.

http://brittanyrosepictures.blogspot.com/

Batman-Mansion of the Misbegotten-1971

2009-11-22T20:03:00.009-05:00

Behind this creepy Nick Cardy BRAVE AND BOLD cover (which manages to highlight the then-buzzword "Godfather") from 1971 lurks some really cool art by Jim Aparo, often described as the definitive artist for both BATMAN and THE PHANTOM STRANGER during that period. It's a shame that the story, MANSION OF THE MISBEGOTTEN is yet another "continuity be damned" classic by Bob "Zany" Haney!

In the beginning, we see Batman arriving at Birnam Towers, the great mansion home of the dying Roger Birnam, his lovely wife Clorinda and their son, Little Enoch. Roger, you see is one of Batman's oldest and best friends. NOT Bruce Wayne's mind you but Batman's. Yes, apparently the Caped Crusader used to hang out at Roger's pretty regularly. As one caption puts it, "...Batman's feet tread across old familiar floors where he'd often known happy moments."

Roger, upon seeing Batman, calls him "my oldest and dearest friend." He makes Batman promise to take care of his wife and son---who we discover is Batman's GODSON--and then he dies. At the funeral, Batman casually notes that he was surprised he'd never met any of the other mourners. Because, as we all know, Bats was clearly hanging around with the family all the time and should know all their friends.
After the funeral, the Dark Detective tells Clorinda he has to go but that she should call him on "the bat-line" whenever she needs him. He doesn't give her the number, however, so she must already know it.

Over the next page and a half, Batman discovers the death of one of the funeral but while he's hanging around Commissioner Gordon's office talking about the case, guess who calls him there on the "bat-line?" Yup! Clorinda! So Brucie boy (still in costume, mind you. It's like they don't even realize that mask comes off!) curls up in Gordon's chair for a long conversation. Clorinda says she's frightened about something. No details given. Batman, having sworn to protect her and little Enoch, drops everything immediately and heads back to Birnam Towers.

Seems a terrifying energy figure has been appearing and frightening Little Enoch. Batman gets zapped by it and then it disappears. The local Chief Constable then appears at the door to make sure everything's okay. He seems infatuated with Clorinda and jealous of the Cowled Crusader. Bats understands though, because after all, Clorinda IS "a fabulous female."

As Batman leaves, apparently having lost interest in the monster, we see him walking down the hill from the mansion. Ummm...did the Batmobile break down or what? Run out of bat-gas maybe? Anyway, whom does he meet on the road but...the energy monster! The thing points him back to the mansion where he looks through the window and sees what appears to be some sort of Satanic ritual. Like, um...yeah. They'd have time to pull that together in the time it took him to walk down the hill. He gets conked on the head and awakens inside where all seems normal again...except there are now a lot of guests everywhere!

Clorinda explains that her friends had all come to help her with her grief. One of them asks Batman for his autograph. After that---always in costume, remember!!-- Batman decides to have a bit of a lie-down and Little Enoch stays to keep him company because "he adores you so."

As he drifts off, he imagines his Godson pricking him with a pitchfork only to awaken to the energy creature taking it away from him and the boy shrinking and escaping through the keyhole. WTF??!! he thinks...or would have if the expression had been invented yet and the Comics Code would have permitted it.

At that point, the groggy hero sees the energy creature turn into the nattily dressed Phantom Stranger who informs him that Clorinda and Enoch have been riding herd over "a coven of witches and warlocks!!" He also says that when he gave his autograph to the one witch, she used it to hex him. The Stranger gives him the antidote which he just happened to be able to whip up easily on site. You see, he explains, he was the energy creature, a form he took on to protect himself from just such a "hex." Never mind that his seemingly limitless paranormal powers as seen before would seem to have been enough.

Then the Stranger informs the hapless Batman that "Enoch is the evil godling they all worship." Remembering his lifelong friend, Roger (whom we've never heard of before and never will again, mind you), he thinks how terrible it was that he had married a witch and didn't know it. I don't know about you guys but I've had a number of witch friends who'd resent that remark. The pair escape but the next night Batman returns with a court order to exhume Roger's body. Why? Who know? We aren't told and it never happens anyway as it turns out the local constable is in on everything, too and our hero gets decked again, this time ending up in an abandoned quarry stretched out on a sacrificial altar. All the coven members are wearing "traditional" robes except for...yep...Enoch. The cute li'l guy is all dressed up in a little short pants suit with a tie. Awwwww! His mother refers to him as "my whelp of darkness" and entrusts him to stab Batman to death. He cheerfully makes the effort but, as The Joker, the Penguin and a thousand others can tell ya, it ain't that easy.

That's when Satan appears. Seriously. As all educated folks know, witches and satanists are completely different things, one main difference being that witches do NOT believe in Satan! I guess these particular ones do, though, because when he claims the right to kill Batman, they let him take him away. It's okay, though, as Lucifer turns out to be our guest hero in disguise. The Stranger reveals himself and the two kidnap Enoch and take him in for tests. TESTS? He just tried to murder a super hero...twice!!

When he shows no signs of being anything but ordinary and not THE OMEN, they return to the mansion where they spot Enoch still there being toasted by his mother and the cop "on his satanic throne." Seems that while Roger had been away, his wife had twins and kept one hidden from him for what...five or six years? It's a big freakin' house, I know, but still...Tired of all this @#$!!, this time, the Caped Crusader just breaks down the window and goes after them but mother and child attempt to escape running up the stairs. There, they're thwarted by the Phantom Stranger who "had a psychic hunch they'd try to escape" that way. A sudden vision of the late Roger Birnam appears at the top of the stairs and scares them into falling off the railing to their deaths. At least that's what it looks like but Ol' PS claims it was just the moonlight hitting Roger's portrait and reflecting her guilt about everything.

In the end we see Batman back at Roger's grave, probably apologizing for having had to break his earlier vows and now vowing to look after Roger, Jr. forevermore. Roger, Jr. who, naturally (this being a Bob Haney story) was never seen again. Perhaps he was raised alone in the West Wing of Wayne Manor? In later years he would have become yet another Robin!

In the immortal words of Oliver Wendell Douglas, "OH, MR. HANEY!!"

Boris Karloff's Last Picture

2009-11-22T16:11:00.003-05:00

Did you know that this Monday would have been Boris Karloff's 122nd birthday? As it happens, over a hundred bloggers knew this and decided to stage a blogathon. I opted to use this as an excuse to reinvigorate my YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST PICTURE blog. ("It's ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!!!") Last updated in June with Peter Sellers, for some reason my next choice became problematic and perpetually backburnered. So finally, I decided to skip her for now and celebrate Uncle Boris along with my fellow bloggers! We even started a day early.
Check out
http://youreonlyasgoodasyourlastpicture.blogspot.com/2009/11/boris-karloff-incredible-invasion.html

Then visit
http://frankensteinia.blogspot.com/ for the updated list of all participating bloggers.

Bugs Bunny Bio

2009-11-21T13:38:00.003-05:00

Here, from a 1942 issue of Dell's LOONEY TUNES, is a single page bio of movie star Bugs Bunny!

Jack Benny and Friends From Life

2009-11-20T18:36:00.003-05:00

From the LIFE archives, here's Jack Benny and a few close personal friends. I recognize Van Johnson and Paul Douglas along with Dennis Day, Mel Blanc, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris and Don Wilson. Might be the Sportsmen Quartet in there, too, and maybe Phil's band (which wasn't really Phil's band exactly but that's another story.) Hard to estimate the date of the pic, however, as it seems to have been snapped on the occasion of jack's 39th birthday celebration...and as everyone knows, that was an annual occurrence!

Batcomputer Funnies

2009-11-20T10:52:00.003-05:00

Ms. Lisa Mynx (of the currently dormant but still interesting blog that can be found at http://lisa-mynx.blogspot.com/ )is the one who nicknamed my high-falutin' but often ineffectual PC "the batcomputer." She is also the one who took this image of my old coloring book from my blog and gave Robin something to watch after all these years. Thanks, Lisa...I think?