Spock by Finlay-1968

When one thinks of the great illustrator Virgil Finlay, one tends to connect him with the 1930s and 1940s and yet here he is as late as 1968 illustrating a familiar face in his distinctive style. This originally appeared in an issue of IF accompanying  poem called "The Elf On the Enterprise."

Neal Adams' Lost Art

We've all done it--left behind something of some value on a bus or a plane or in a cab. Chances are, however, it wasn't as valuable as what a certain legendary comic book artist accidentally forgot in the trunk of a cab a few weeks back. Now we're spreading the word, trying to help the great Neal Adams recover his missing artwork that included the pieces seen above. Go here for details of wheat happened and what to do if you know where it is or who has it or encounter anyone attempting to sell any of this missing art!

http://nypost.com/2013/09/26/renowned-comic-book-artist-searching-for-portfolio-left-in-cab/

Ding Darling Ad-1936

A few years ago I worked on a book entitled THE GREAT ANTI-WAR CARTOONS. Earlier this month, I worked on an upcoming book entitled CARTOONISTS AND THE HOLOCAUST. In the first, I was introduced to editorial cartoonist "Ding" Darling, who reappears in the second. Here's a 1936 ad featuring Darling,

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

It’s been over a year now since we gave up television. It was largely for financial reasons but there was also the sad fact that no matter how much time we spent flipping channels, there was rarely anything particularly interesting on.

Last night, for the first time in a long time, we fired up the set for one of the local channels we still have and caught the premiere of AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. It wasn’t easy. First we had to find the long-neglected remote. I started looking early on but we still missed the first few minutes.

What we DID see, however, was good!

The show was exciting and well-written...at least as much as I could hear the dialogue with the show’s overbearing and over-amped musical soundtrack seeming almost designed to drown out key words and plot points. If not for the fact that I could make out every word of the equally loud ads, I would have thought it was my hearing.

Of course, everyone was excited to see likable Agent Phil Coulson back from his movie death...and a hint in the dialogue gave credence to my theory as to how that happened. Foreshadowing.

Basically Phil puts together a new sub-team (thus allowing for the notable absence of Nick Fury) that, like Torchwood, appears designed to investigate unusual phenomena. The agents involved are all unique and there are some particularly amusing scenes. Ron Glass has a cameo—probably a nod to Producer Joss Whedon’s FIREFLY. Would have loved to see him more often but apparently not.

Speaking of Whedonverse actors, the would-be superhero the team searches for is wonderfully played with more depth than necessary by J. August Richards, “Gunn” on Whedon’s ANGEL series.

This first episode managed to squeeze in all the introductions as well as the plot without anything seeming rushed. There were perhaps TOO many Marvel references and some of them were pretty heavy-handed, but we ended with a moment that will make any long-time Marvelite smile.

The opening actually lists Lee and Kirby as creators and Steranko and others rightly get a nod in the later credits as well. Classy touch.

It may not be enough to make me turn on the TV for a whole season but I did put the remote somewhere where I could find it next week. AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. was fun and entertaining and has lots of potential. Keep your eyes on Agent Coulson and crew.

Banned Books Week

We here at the Library have long been supporters of Banned Books Week and encourage everyone to read something that someone doesn't want you to read! 

I'm reminded of the time at Waldenbooks back in the 1980's when I was in charge of putting weekly ads on the Mall's electric sign out facing the highway. It was Banned Books Week then too. Like Twitter, we had a very limited amount of space we could use. We had to fill out a form weekly that had the amount of letters and spaces pre-figured. I forget now exactly how many it was but, eleven of those precious spaces had to be taken up with the store's name so I had to be particularly pithy with what that left me. 

This time, I thought it was pretty obvious. I wrote, "Read a banned book while you still can…from Waldenbooks!" 

I turned it in as I did every Monday but on Tuesday, I noticed we were not represented on the sign. I contacted the Mall office and was told,"We can't put that up there!" There's a reason that certain books are banned, he said, and did we really want to go around promoting that we sell such books? Why, we could go to jail! Taking a deep breath, I attempted to explain to him the concept of the ABA and Banned Books Week and that the books we were talking about were more Huck Finn and Mockingbird than THE ANARCHIST'S COOKBOOK (although we sold quite of few of those, too).

He stood steadfast in his refusal to run our ad and insisted on another one. I contacted our home office and explained the situation and they contacted him and by late Wednesday--halfway through the week, the ad went up…reluctantly, I'm sure, on the part of the mall itself. 

My ad for Banned Books Week was almost banned itself!

Dick Tracy and the Monster

Cleavon Little

Hard to believe it's been more than 2 decades since the death of Cleavon Little, one of my favorite performers but one who, sadly, Hollywood never seemed to know what to do with. Remembered mostly for BLAZING SADDLES, a sore point to him toward the end, Cleavon was an Emmy and  Tony Award-winning singer/dancer/actor and deserved to be recalled for so much more. R.I.P.